Brothers in Blue: Marc Read online

  His tongue played along her lips, dipping and retreating into her mouth, sparring with hers. She finally had to rip her mouth away to gasp for breath as another climax crested.

  “I’m about to come,” she warned him.

  “You’re not the only one,” he groaned, his lips shiny, his mouth forming a grimace.

  She tucked her face in the crease of his neck and bit his flesh hard. His hips shot off the bed, as far as the restraints allowed, the bed almost jumping from the movement. She moved her lips down to his pec and bit again.

  “I’m fucking coming,” he cried.

  As the pulsations began at the base of his cock, her own powerful orgasm made her jerk, the throbbing deep inside her was a heady combination of the two of them.

  She released a shuddered sigh and a moment later let her weight rest on him. Her body rose and fell along with his labored breath. She wiped the sweat off her brow and the hair out of her face as her heartbeat started to slow.

  “Damn. That was just…awesome.” His words vibrated through his chest into her cheek. She could listen to his baritone voice all day. She closed her eyes and the sudden sense of wanting to cuddle overcame her.

  She should release him so they could do just that. She should…but not yet.

  Without raising her head, she released the knots on the necktie that was attached to his nipple rings. His nipples looked a little red and puffy from all of her attention.

  She brushed a finger around each nipple, curious. “Do they hurt?”

  “No. It’s such a turn-on when you play with them.”

  “Did it hurt to get them?”

  “It felt like a pinch when I got them done. But they took a while to heal. But now that they’re completely healed, they’re like the best thing ever.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why did you get them?” she clarified.

  “I had a girlfriend who had hers done. She had the barbells. She fucking loved it when I played with her piercings. I had the bars at first too and I can switch them out. But right now I’m liking these rings. I am really liking these rings and what you do with them.”

  And she really liked doing it.

  “Did you get them done locally?” She was almost tempted to get them done herself and if he had them pierced nearby, she’d go talk to the studio.

  “Oh hell no.” His laughter echoed through his chest and the corner of her mouth lifted. “In this town, everybody knows everything. You want to do something and keep it private, believe me, you drive a long, long way.”

  “So just your family knows?”

  He shifted underneath her. “Not quite.”

  He probably didn’t want his parents to know. She didn’t blame him. How do you explain to your mom and dad that you got your nipples pierced because it enhanced sex? You don’t.

  “You can release me any time now. My arms are going numb.”

  She kind of liked keeping him shackled. Under her control. She thought of all of the possibilities.

  But a question came to mind that she’d been dying to ask him and hear the honest answer and not just him blustering. No time like the present. Especially since he was a captivated audience.

  “So now that I have your undivided attention…I want the truth and no bullshit answer. Deep down what is your honest opinion of women in law enforcement?”

  “They should find another career.”

  Blunt. Direct. And a bit hurtful. But Leah shouldn’t expect any less from him. She was good enough to fuck his brains out, but not to be his backup.

  She slid off of him and sat up, looking down at his face. He wasn’t joking. He was turning out to be the perfect partner. In bed, though. At work was still debatable.

  Tomorrow they were back on daylight after their three days off.

  She knew she had to train with someone who didn’t respect women in his career. It was easier before their sexual attraction came to the forefront. Work with him. Go home. Now things were more complicated, which was to be expected anytime bodily fluids got exchanged.

  She shook her head, flattening her lips into a frown. She worked hard to get where she was. Sacrificed financially to become a cop, to follow in her father’s footsteps. Only to work with someone who dismissed the fact that women were capable of doing anything that a man could do.

  She was dedicated, motivated, a quick learner…but that wasn’t good enough. He was stuck with some archaic view that women were the weaker sex. The disappointment created an ache in her chest. Her hope for him ever seeing her as an equal quickly dissolved.

  “What. You already knew that.” He lifted shoulders off the mattress in a semi-shrug.

  Leah stood and ripped the condom off his now flaccid dick. She went to the bathroom to dispose of it and wash up.

  “Leah, you knew that! Especially after what happened with the search. It just cemented my opinion,” he called out from the other room.

  She pulled a hand towel off of the rack and went back to stand beside the bed. “Yeah, I knew that, but I just wanted to hear it from your lips.”

  “Grab the cuff key and let me out of these.”

  “I forgot to bring one.”

  She didn’t. She had one in Ron’s coat pocket.

  “Very funny.” He wasn’t laughing. “I probably have one in the junk drawer in my kitchen.”

  She nodded and got dressed silently. Not that there was much to put on. Her panties and his father’s jacket. Screw the heels she had kicked off amidst their sex play. She had sneakers and socks waiting for her on the porch.

  She used the hand towel to wipe him off a little and tossed it over his pelvis area to cover him.

  “What are you doing? Look for the key in the drawer and I can clean myself up.”

  “Sure.” She left him and headed to the kitchen. Instead of searching for the handcuff key, she pulled his cell phone off the charger that was on the counter and headed back.

  Marc’s light blue eyes widened when he spotted her carrying the phone. “You’re not going to take pictures!”

  “No. I’m not. What’s your password?”

  His eyebrows rose to his hairline, and he seemed to pale. Just a little bit.

  “I’m not giving you my password. Leah, seriously, this isn’t funny. Let me off of this bed.” His face went from washed out to red as the frustration began to build.

  “Password or I’ll leave you here as you are until someone finally comes looking for you. Which may not be until tomorrow morning when we’re expected for our shift.”

  “Fuck!” The muscles in his neck strained as he lifted his head to glare at her. He slammed his head back into the pillow and yelled at the ceiling. “6969.”

  Leah fought back the burst of laughter that wanted to escape. Instead she shook her head while unlocking his cell phone. She scrolled through his contacts and found the person she was looking for.

  “Leah, uncuff me,” he pleaded, his fingers clenching and unclenching above his head.

  She pursed her lips, pretending to contemplate the idea. After a second, she shook her head, “Nah.” She hit Send, hit the speaker symbol, and then laid the phone by his head.

  “What do you mean nah? You can’t leave me like this!”

  But she did.

  * * *

  She left him wearing nothing but his tattoo.

  “You know this is war!” Marc yelled to an empty house. He violently jerked against his restraints, but the movement only succeeded in sliding the little towel further down.

  A voice came through the phone. “Do you know what time it is, fool?” Marc’s older brother sounded pissed. “This better be an emergency.”

  Marc turned to eyeball his clock radio. One a.m. Shit.

  “It is.”

  “What? I can’t hear you clearly. Do you have me on speaker phone? Take me off before I hang up,” Max threatened.

  “No! Don’t hang up. I…I can’t take you off of speaker phone.”

  �
��Well, what do you want?” Marc heard Amanda’s sleepy voice in the background. “I know, baby. It’s Marc. I don’t know. Make it quick, dude. You don’t know what it’s like to deal with a pissed off woman. You’re interrupting her sleep.”

  Pissed off woman. Yeah, he might know a thing or two about it.

  “I need you to come over here and…bring a cuff key.”

  “A what?”

  “You heard me,” he said to Max before he yelling at the phone, “End call!”

  “I’m still here, asshole. You did say cuff key, right?”

  “Yes. Now hang up and get over here.”

  Marc heard laughter on the other end before the phone went silent.

  He would rather Leah had kicked him in the nuts. Yes, that would have been debilitating, but the pain would have gone away eventually.

  This, on the other hand, he was never going to live down. Never. It would be painful forever. He might as well move to Siberia and raise yak.

  Marc simmered for the twenty minutes it took for Max to show up. He knew exactly when his brother had arrived because Menace thundered through the house to the front door as it opened.

  “Hey, asshole junior, where’s asshole senior?”

  Marc was both relieved and embarrassed at his brother’s arrival. He was never using handcuffs during sex again. Ever.

  Okay, well maybe if he was sure there was a key nearby.

  Marc sighed loudly. He was so not ready for Max to see him. “I’m in the bedroom,” he called out.

  Dread filled him as Max’s heavy footsteps came down the hallway. He closed his eyes and just waited for that moment Max came through the doorway and spotted him.

  Three. Two. One…

  “Uh…” There was an awkward pause and then Max bust out laughing. “What the fuck?”

  Marc couldn’t look at him. “Just release me. I don’t need a whole bunch of commentary.”

  “Though I find this highly amusing, I’m actually also embarrassed for you.”

  Marc reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at Max, whose expression was now serious.

  Max approached the bed. “What are those?”

  “Cuffs.”

  “No shit. I meant those.” Max flicked both nipple rings. His older brother shook his head. “I have so many questions. I just don’t know if I want the answers.”

  “Can we get to the part where you unlock the cuffs?”

  “I don’t know. I might have to take some pictures first for future use. At least whoever did this covered up your little winky.”

  “My winky is the same size as yours, Brother. Remember?”

  And he knew that because when they were teens all three brothers had lined up and compared each other with a ruler to see who was the biggest. Youngest brother, Matt, won. But not by much.

  “Okay, enough with the chatter. Just release me and get home to that wife of yours.” Mentioning Amanda might get him moving faster. Especially since she had Max by the balls. Something that will never happen to him.

  “Damn. This is something Amanda would do. You will have your hands full with whoever this one is.”

  At least Max didn’t have a clue it was Leah. Small consolation for the moment. “It’s just sex.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “It is!” Marc insisted.

  “Right.”

  Max removed the ties from Marc’s ankles and being able to finally move his legs felt awesome. Part of his body had become numb, the other tingled painfully.

  Max pulled a cuff key out of his pocket. Never in his life had Marc felt as relieved as he did at that sight. At least until Max moved up to the headboard, leaned over and…

  “Holy shit, you idiot! What are you doing? Are those department issued?”

  Shit. Shit. And double shit. “Maybe. Release me, will you?”

  “Who did this?”

  Marc refused to answer or meet his brother’s eyes as Max released his arms. With a sigh of freedom, Marc came to his feet, holding the hand towel in front of his junk. He pulled a pair of boxer shorts out of his dresser and slipped them on.

  “Marc…” Max’s low warning still didn’t do the trick. Marc grimaced as his chief inspected the two sets of handcuffs, reading the serial numbers.

  “Well, I think these are yours. I hope the other set isn’t a certain rookie’s.” He tossed one set to Marc, who had to act fast to catch them. He’d been too busy rubbing his sore wrists. Max peered closer at the tiny engraved numbers. “Christ! These are Grants?” His eyes narrowed and a look of anger crossed his features.

  He slammed Marc against the wall, pinning him with a forearm against this throat. “What are you doing? What are you getting yourself into, you idiot? You better not be screwing around with my new officer.”

  A flush crept up Marc’s throat. His brother’s angry face was inches from his. “She was just getting back at me for something I did the other day.”

  “She was, huh? She thought it would be funny to tie you up? Okay, so tell me this: why were you naked?”

  “Why does any man get naked?” He refrained from adding a duh to his question. His answer was already flippant and clearly his brother was not in the mood for childish humor.

  “Damn you, Marc.” Max finally eased back, stepping away from Marc. Max’s hands fisted as he paced to the other side of the bedroom. “Don’t screw this up. She was the top cadet in her class. Do you know how long it will take to get another recruit if she leaves? There isn’t another class starting for six months and then there’s four months of training and…”

  “I know! Sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  “It had better not. Otherwise, I might not have to worry about replacing Grant, but replacing you instead.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Try me.”

  Marc never expected him to get this upset about what happened. And to threaten to fire him? “Max.”

  Max held up a hand, stopping Marc’s words. “I’m going to have a talk with her too. I swear if you guys are caught diddling on the job that will be the last straw.”

  “Seriously, you can’t tell me that you and Amanda—”

  “Keep my wife out of this. And no, we never did anything while I was on duty.” Max let out an explosive curse. “Now I have to counsel her on two issues. The one was enough!”

  With that, Max strode out of Marc’s bedroom and, within seconds, Marc heard his front door slam and windows rattle.

  He couldn’t wait to show up for his shift in the morning. He looked at his clock. It was almost two a.m. The day was already turning into a shit show.

  Chapter 10

  “Grant, don’t make me regret hiring you. Top cadet or not, you know how hard it is to get hired in law enforcement when you’re a woman. Just let me tell you, I didn’t have to fight off any other departments.”

  “I’m sorry, Chief. I regret the danger my actions put everyone in. And promise to be more vigilant in the future.” She had practiced those lines for the past three days since she knew this sit-down would happen. She truly did regret what transpired, but she hadn’t wanted to sound like a bumbling fool when she stated that fact.

  Her boss nodded, shifting through some paperwork on his desk. “I read through Corporal Bryson’s notes, you seem to be doing well. Though it’s only been a week since you’ve started.”

  Leah schooled her face. She was surprised that her FTO had marked her favorably in her evaluations, but she didn’t want her chief to know.

  The man’s forehead wrinkled as he read. “Though, I’m not sure what this…demerit system is all about. I’ll have to speak with him on that. Even so…” He looked up with a serious expression. “Your search was hardly text book, but he said that you handled everything else calmly and efficiently during the incident. I’m pleased to hear that.”

  “Thank you, Sir.” The chief cocked a brow. “I mean Chief.”

  Max nodded and buried his head back in the file. “When you’re done with training, or w
hen you’re off duty, you can call me Max. Especially since I’ll see you at my parents’. How’s that working out, by the way? I know they love having you there.”

  She fondly thought of Ron and Mary Ann and how much they already treated her like one of the family. “It’s great. They’re very warm, giving people. I appreciate you finding a temporary place for me until I’m off of field training.”

  Max looked up again, rubbing a hand over his short dark hair. “Yeah, well. Don’t worry about rushing to find your own place; they like the company. Empty nest syndrome, I guess.”

  Leah nodded her head. She understood that. Her mother was going through it ever since Leah left southeast Pennsylvania, first for the academy and then for this job.

  “So, are you having any issues with your training officer?”

  Leah squirmed under Max’s perceptive stare. “No, Chief, none that I can think of.” She knew exactly what issues he was bringing up. It was his number she dialed last night to come rescue Marc. She was sure he knew by now she had been the one there with Marc.

  Plus, she left her cuffs behind. Which were very identifiable.

  “None at all?”

  What a dilemma. Lie to her superior or admit that she’d had sex with her Field Training Officer. And more than once too. She needed to deflect somehow.

  The office door swung open with force and a whirlwind blew in. Amanda Bryson strode in on high-heeled knee-high boots like she owned the joint. Leah tamped down a smile. She liked her. And how could she not? The woman just saved Leah from saying something stupid.

  “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had anyone in your office, honey.”

  Chief Bryson’s eyes narrowed at his wife’s syrupy tone. It was even clear to Leah that the other woman was up to something and Leah had only met her once.

  “Amanda, I’m busy.”

  “Too bad.” Amanda gave Leah a blinding smile.” Hi! I’m Amanda.” She pointed a thumb in the chief’s direction. “This one’s wife. I’ve heard all about you.” She held out her hand, acting like they hadn’t met already.