Forbidden Fires Read online

  Her whole body shivered, and he swore he could almost hear the pulse pounding in her neck. Could see it, anyway.

  He was glad their temporary office was down at the end of a dead-end hallway, and no one would pass by here accidentally, because the sound of her unsteady breathing made his cock even harder. Yeah, they were in the office and on duty, but he had to touch her, get closer to her, even if only in a small way. He slid one hand up her arm, wishing the soft shirt wasn’t hiding her even softer skin. He remembered that feel, craved it sometimes as he lay in his bed in the dark, alone.

  She trembled and her breath quickened, but otherwise she was still and silent. Above the low scoop neckline of her shirt, he drew his fingers lightly over her collarbone, to the small notch where her necklace lay. He got a jolt when he realized it held the tiny gold four-leaf clover he’d given her on a whim one day.

  “You still wear this?” he murmured.

  “E-every day.” Her voice was uneven, and her color still high. “Colin, I—”

  “Shh.” He rubbed the charm between his thumb and finger and settled it back against her throat. “I’m glad.”

  He continued to trace her skin, skimming his knuckles against the swell of her breasts, over her swollen nipple through the soft shirt and back up the side of her throat until he tangled his fingers in her hair.

  She licked her lips and looked at him with wild, wide eyes, and he was lost.

  He lowered his head and kissed her lightly, growling deep in the back of his throat. She tasted like coffee flavored with her favorite hazelnut creamer, sweet and rich. Need pounded through his veins and he increased the pressure, urging her to open to him. She parted her lips and he swallowed the moan that came from her mouth.

  She put her hands flat against his chest, but to his utter and complete shock, instead of pushing him away, she tightened them into fists that grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. Their tongues touched and he felt the jolt straight to his balls.

  The kiss went on, blissfully unhurried, until his cell phone rang, breaking the potent moment. Dee sprang back, breathing hard, her face nearly as red as her hair. Not with embarrassment, though. Guilt.

  The same guilt that clenched his own gut and warmed his ears. “I’m—”

  “Don’t apologize.” She pointed at his waist when the phone chimed again. “You’d better get that.”

  He frowned but picked up the call, watching her every movement as he listened to his boss rant about lack of progress in the case. He was so focused on her, on the protective arms crossed over her chest and her bowed head, that he missed part of the conversation. One word, though, caught his attention. Undercover.

  “Could you repeat that, sir?”

  Dee looked up from her computer, and they locked eyes.

  A giant ball of stress settled in his stomach while he listened to his boss’s directive. “Yes, sir. I’ll check my email. Yes, I’ll keep you posted.” He disconnected and clipped his phone back to his belt.

  “What’s up?”

  He took his time answering, using the fifteen seconds it took him to walk around the desk, sit down and open his email program to collect his scattered thoughts. “With this latest incident, they want us to step up the investigation.”

  She frowned. “We’re working as fast as we can. What more do they expect, given it’s just you and me looking at it?”

  “Now that we’ve found a likely pattern, they’re putting together a full task force. They want us to brief everyone on what we have, get them started chasing down leads. I’ll send you the email.” He looked up at her. “And then they want us to get on the inside track.”

  Understanding dawned in her eyes. “Undercover? You and me?”

  “Yeah.”

  Two clicks and ten seconds later, he heard her computer ding. While she read the note he’d just forwarded, he ran through some scenarios. A bondage club seemed the easiest and most likely way to get them a foot in the door. Then an unsettling thought crossed his mind. Did Delia already have a presence in that world? She knew an awful lot about it, more than he figured she’d shared with him. He slid a glance her way, his stomach tight at the thought, possession clawing at his insides, tearing his calm to shreds. The idea of her tied up didn’t bother him in a bad way. It made him hungry for her, and hard as stone, intrigued on many levels. But the thought of who’d introduced her to that life? That didn’t sit well.

  He must have made some kind of noise, because she looked up and flinched. “What?”

  “Who taught you about it, Dee?” he growled.

  She frowned, looking truly puzzled. “About what?”

  “About bondage. Who did you trust enough to allow him to tie you up? Because it sure as hell wasn’t me.”

  Her eyes widened, and for a minute he thought the top might blow off her head. And his dick, but he ignored that part. Instead, she laughed. Laughed, tweaking his tail and sending his blood pressure skyward.

  “You think that’s funny?”

  “I think the fact that you’re acting all possessive about it is hysterical. We broke up a year ago, so who I date and what I do is none of your business. And I’ve told you more than once that what I know, I learned from cases. I don’t know why you don’t believe me.”

  Frustration zinged through him. “Because you get this look in your eye every time we run across something bondage-related. When I told you about what we saw at the club, your eyes lit up and your whole body went rigid and aroused. It’s the same look you got in that hedonistic bathroom in Baltimore. You know more about all of this than you’re letting on.”

  Her eyes widened innocently. “So, for the sake of the investigation, you want me to bare my soul to you, tell you my deepest, darkest secrets? It’s important for the case for you to understand what I could possibly find sexy about being bound and gagged?”

  His jaw tightened at her low, sultry tone, and his heart pounded triple time.

  She cocked her head, staring at him as if she could see right through him. “Tying me up holds some appeal for you?”

  “Right now, punishment sounds even better,” he muttered. “I get it. Fuck, I know I have no claim to you and what you do anymore. I’m just trying to figure out how the hell to get us into this world I know nothing about.”

  “Now I’m the one who doesn’t believe you. There’s no just about any of this.” She relented, shaking her head. “I’ll tell you, not that it’s really any of your business personally, but because I see the reason how this could help the case. Are you listening, because I’m only going to say this once?”

  He nodded.

  “I don’t have any personal experience. I’ve never been tied up, I’ve never been flogged and I’ve never been dominated by anyone. Sorry to disappoint you.”

  “I’m not disappointed,” he said, and it was the absolute God’s honest truth. Relief poured through him, and why the hell was that? He pushed that self-revelation away. He’d deal with it later. “But that’s going to make this undercover gig harder, because I was hoping you had some way into this world, and some comfort level with it.”

  Her sexy, smug smile took his breath away and sent another stab of lust low in his gut. “I didn’t say that. I said I had no experience with it, and that’s true. But I do know someone who might be able to help us out. And there’s nothing wrong with my comfort level.”

  Chapter Seven

  Delia sat on a bench in Baker Park, waiting nervously for Marcus Aiello to arrive. She’d known him a long time, had been a year behind him in school. He was one of the best firefighters around, a top-notch paramedic and a genuinely nice guy to boot. But it wasn’t his job or that facet of his personality that brought him to mind.

  She’d seen him recently, at a housewarming party for mutual friends. He’d been with a pretty, dark-haired woman wearing an engagement ring. Delia hadn’t meant to spy on them, really she hadn’t, but when she headed upstairs to use the bathroom, she saw them at the end of the hallway and froze to
the spot.

  The woman boldly cupped the erection Delia could see straining against Marcus’s jeans, and twisted the fingers of her other hand in a leather choker around his neck. Marcus’s cheeks were red, and his body and hands were flat against the wall, unmoving except for his heaving chest.

  “I own this cock, don’t I?” the woman said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Marcus replied, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.

  “And if I told you to turn around so I could play with the plug in your ass, would you do it?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Even with our audience?”

  Dee flinched. Busted.

  His eyes met hers, widened slightly in panic when he realized who it was watching them. She’d never have guessed Marcus was submissive, but he was what he was. And at least he was being honest with his partner, not like she’d been with Colin. She didn’t know why she didn’t leave right away, didn’t give them their privacy, but she locked eyes with him, incredibly turned on by the scene in front of her.

  Marcus blinked once, then gave a slight nod. He turned his eyes back to the woman wearing his ring, his voice husky. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She’d left then, but that scene had stayed with her. In the course of their respective jobs, she’d run into him a few times, but they’d never mentioned what had happened.

  She was so lost in thought she didn’t notice him until he sat on the bench beside her.

  “Hey, Delia. I was surprised to get your call. Is everything okay?”

  She took a deep breath and jumped in the deep end with both feet. “Everything is fine, but I’m working with the state fire marshal on a case and I need your help.”

  “I’m flattered, but shouldn’t this request go through my boss first?”

  She smiled tightly. “I don’t think you’re going to want me to go through official channels. I don’t need your fire expertise for this. And you may not be willing or able to help me, but then again, you may.”

  Marcus looked completely baffled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dee. Just spit it out.”

  She felt herself turn beet red. “Do you and your fiancée play at any bondage clubs?”

  His whole body jerked as if she’d struck him, and he scowled. “Excuse me?”

  “I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”

  He blew out a deep breath. “Why do you need to know?”

  “My partner and I need an in, and he was thinking a club. High-end, big money. This is confidential information I’m sharing, but each of the fires we’re investigating has bondage elements to it. Rich people, fancy club, and some fires were in estate homes with private dungeons.”

  He whistled, slid a look in her direction. “We don’t run with that crowd. Hell, I’m a hose jockey, and Bella’s a librarian. We don’t make the kind of money that goes with fancy. And we don’t play at any local clubs because of our jobs in the community. So you’re looking to go undercover?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Since you’re asking me about clubs, I guess you’ve never been part of the public D/s scene?”

  A snort burst free. “I’ve never been part of any D/s scene.” She paused. “Other than what I saw between you and Bella, and what I’ve read.”

  He leaned forward, hands clasped loosely between his thighs, deep concern on his expressive face. “Dee, how do you think you’re going to pull something like this off, if you have no experience?”

  “I have no idea, but we have to try. We have ten victims, and something has to give.” She swallowed hard, forced herself to meet his solemn eyes, to speak the truth when it would be so much easier and less painful to lie. “And what I lack in experience, I make up for in interest and desire.”

  He sat back again, gave her a long, assessing look that made her squirm, and finally nodded. “I may have an in for you, but it isn’t going to be easy. What’s your relationship like with your partner? You comfortable getting naked with him?”

  * * *

  “Let me get this straight. We’re going to take a bondage class at a bed and breakfast in Virginia? How is this going to help our case here, in Maryland?”

  They were sitting in his hotel room, him on one bed, her on the other. It wasn’t an ideal meeting place, but he sure as hell wasn’t having this conversation in the office.

  Delia sprang from the bed and paced the floor. “My friend said the guy who runs this place is Dom who gives lessons to people interested in exploring what BDSM means, but don’t know how or where to start. He’s something of a local expert, and he knows people and clubs. He knows what we need to know.”

  “So why don’t we just get the information we need from him, and go in from there? Why lessons?” He watched her pace, could almost see the wheels spinning in that amazing brain of hers. She was leading up to something.

  “Have you ever tied someone up? Think you could pass for a Dom in a club?” A sexy, sly look landed on her face. “Or a sub? I could be the Domme.”

  “Over. My. Dead. Body.”

  “And that’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid,” she said quietly, all humor gone from her face. “Any more dead bodies. If we want to attract the right kind of notice, we have to look like we know what we’re doing.”

  She was right, he knew that. He was quiet for a minute, thinking about the information she’d gleaned from the source she hadn’t shared with him. She mistook his silence for hesitation, and continued pleading her case.

  “I know this is going to be awkward and uncomfortable since we have to pretend to be lovers again.”

  Arousal zinged through him. Those weren’t exactly the words he’d use. Yes, it was a case. Yes, the situation was deadly serious and he’d do this to stop a killer even if his partner wasn’t Delia Robinson. But the thing was, it was Delia Robinson, the woman he’d never been able to erase from his mind. The woman he feared had ruined him for all other women. The woman who still owned a huge chunk of his heart. It wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable that gave him pause.

  It was pretend.

  He forced himself to focus. “That’s not why I’m questioning it. If D/s is anything like I’ve read over the past few days, you and I are going to get closer than we’ve ever been. Emotionally, and physically. And it’s going to be hard to keep the lid on our personal shit.”

  She frowned at him, her mouth an angry slash. “Are you questioning my ability to do my job again, to be professional?”

  He laughed, the sound flat and humorless. “Hell, no. I’m questioning mine.”

  Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. She looked shocked, then intrigued and then totally flustered. “I have no idea what to say to that.”

  “Don’t say anything. Let’s just figure out how we’re going to approach this, and get things moving.”

  * * *

  It was amazing how fast things could happen when the brass decided to kick things into high gear. Within a few days, their small borrowed office had been traded for the large conference room to handle the influx of new team members. Laptops, printouts and coffee cups littered the tables in controlled chaos.

  When she’d been asked her opinion about a local firefighter to add to the team, Dee had suggested Marcus Aiello. He’d joined them yesterday afternoon, and Colin thought the guy seemed both capable and smart. And he’d admitted he was the one to suggest the B&B to Delia, too, so he seemed like a good resource. Colin wasn’t sure how he felt about the looks that passed between them, but any worries about competition had been quashed when the guy had taken a call from his soon-to-be wife. Not that he should be worrying about shit like that, but there it was.

  A state trooper, another fire marshal and a deputy from each of the counties that had had an incident rounded out their team.

  Colin looked over at Delia, who was talking quietly with Aiello on the opposite side of the room, away from everyone else. He felt his gut clench, then mentally smacked himself for the stupidity. This was work, and the guy w
as as good as married. They fell silent when he stopped beside Dee, and his gut twisted again.

  “Got anything?” He forced his voice to stay level, but he must not have been successful because Delia frowned.

  Aiello shook his head. “Not yet, but Dee and I were just talking about your plans for the undercover piece of this. I don’t like the idea of keeping your real purpose from Gabe McConnell. He’s a good guy, a friend, and he was a hell of a firefighter. He’ll tell you what you need to know to pull this off, without any problems. If he knows people in the lifestyle are being targeted, he’ll want to help.”

  Colin shook his head. “I was considering it, but this came in while you were out looking at the bomb scene.”

  He handed the printout to Aiello, and Dee read over his shoulder, her eyes rounding.

  Aiello crushed the paper in his had. “No fucking way. This doesn’t mean anything, I’m telling you.”

  Colin lifted a shoulder. “The brass thinks it might. Other than the wealth angle, which may or may not have anything to do with this, the only thing all these people appear to have in common is a stay at Bondage and Breakfast. We’re still sorting through all the financials to see if there’s any other link, but we ran credit card statements, and the homeowners each stayed there the same weekend two months ago. They all know him, Aiello. He’s the only common link we have. And the fact that he’s a former firefighter doesn’t rule him out, according to the profile we were given.”

  “Fuck me, I’m telling you, he’s not involved.” Aiello scrubbed a palm over his tight jaw. “And even though I’m not a trained investigator like the two of you, I’m going to do my damnedest to prove it.”

  “Good,” Colin said, nearly smiling at the look of surprise on the firefighter’s face. “To be honest, it doesn’t ring true to me either. Which is the only reason we’re still going undercover there. Like you, I think it’d be better if we tell McConnell what and why, but I’ve been overruled.”