“I’m not ashamed. It’s just complicated. You know that. If anyone I work with saw me here with you, it’d create a whole host of problems.”
There was understanding in his eyes before he bent to whisper in my ear, “Let me drop your friend home and then take you back to mine. I need to be inside you again.”
I shivered at his words, but I knew I couldn’t say yes. Having sex with him had been even more intense than I’d imagined. Going home with him was too close, and I knew that if I spent the night in his bed, I’d end up falling for him.
“I can’t,” I said, my throat constricting.
His thumb rubbed back and forth over my hip. “Don’t make me beg.”
“I have a, uh, a thing early tomorrow morning,” I said, my brain scrambling for an excuse but coming up empty. There were too few plausible commitments that took place early on a Sunday morning.
Lee didn’t say anything as we walked around the corner to where he’d left his car. I spotted it right away, but frowned when his arm around my waist tightened. That was when I noticed the guy standing there. He was all alone, wearing a black hoodie and dark jeans. A peaked cap shielded his face from view, but somehow I felt his eyes fall on me with interest.
“You all right there, mate?” Lee called, his voice hard. Everything in him was coiled tight as he scanned the figure standing on the footpath.
“Just passing through,” the man answered, twisting his head to take a leisurely look at Lee’s car before he turned and walked away. Lee was frowning, and Trevor seemed just as tightly wound. They shared a moment of silent communication.
“Who was that?” I asked, a feeling of unease coming over me, and I wasn’t quite sure why.
Lee wore a faraway expression as he answered, “Someone trying to send a message.”
“What does that mean?”
Shaking himself out of it, he blinked before replying, “Nothing, Karla. Come on, let’s get you home.”
I knew instinctively that there was something he wasn’t telling me, but I allowed him to lead me into the car anyway.
Nine
Lee spent several minutes checking out his car before finally starting the engine. He seemed distant, his mind elsewhere as his fists white-knuckled the steering wheel and he drove in the direction of Reya’s house. She lived with a couple of other students and was always complaining about how messy and rude they were. I didn’t envy her.
Glancing through the overhead mirror, I saw Trevor with his arm resting along the back of the car seat while he asked Reya questions and she gave him tentative answers, trying not to blush at his attention. I was jolted out of watching them when I felt a warm hand grasp my knee, and looked to the side to see Lee’s eyes flickering from the road to the hem of my dress. His thumb grazed the inside of my thigh, and I was suddenly remembering our time in the office room, how good it felt to have him inside me, invading every one of my senses.
God, I wanted to go back to his place so badly. Being with him tonight hadn’t quelled my hunger at all. On the contrary, it only grew stronger.
A few minutes later, we were stopping outside Reya’s. Trevor got out and walked her to her door. When he returned, he let his head fall back, grinning like the cat that got the cream.
“Okay, this is probably verging on TMI, but that is the finest rack I’ve ever seen.”
Lee chuckled at his brother, and I twisted around in my seat to eye him. “That’s my friend you’re talking about, and she’s more than just a pair of tits, so show some respect.”
“Oh, calm your knickers. My intentions are pure – purely sexual.”
I narrowed my gaze at him as Lee warned, “That’s enough, Trev.”
The younger brother flopped back in his seat, muttering, “Your girlfriend needs to chill out.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I protested at the same time Trevor’s gaze wandered to Lee’s hand firmly grasping my thigh. He shot me a cynical look that said it all. Sure you’re not.
A second later, his phone beeped and he pulled it out to read the message. I turned back around in my seat.
“Hey, where are we, bruv?” Trevor asked.
“Just coming up to Bethnal Green.”
“Pull up here and let me out. Got a few things to take care of.”
Lee stared at Trevor through the mirror, and they shared a moment of that weird silent communication again. Without questioning him, Lee stopped the car and his brother hopped out. When we were back on the road, I shot him a curious look.
“Where’s he off to?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“It’s almost two o’clock in the morning.”
“And Trevor’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”
Now that we were alone in the car, Lee’s hand moved farther up my thigh. My skin prickled with goose bumps and I closed my eyes for a second, trying to summon the ability to think straight. When I opened them again, the engine was off, and I looked up to see we were parked outside my building.
“Come here,” Lee said, his voice a low command.
“I’d better get inside.”
“Not yet,” he argued, and grabbed my hand.
He lifted my body deftly until I was sitting astride him in the driver’s seat, his fingers trailing up and down the outside of my thighs. I heaved a shuddering a breath. He stared up at me with his mouth hanging slightly open. Looking like that, he was more or less impossible to resist. The adoration in his eyes made my chest feel too tight, and when he began to harden against me, I was done for.
It was late, and there was nobody around. Still, I shouldn’t have been considering having sex with Lee Cross in the front seat of his car where anyone could see.
“I can’t do this,” I said, shaking my head.
Reaching forward, Lee gripped the back of my neck and pulled my mouth to his for a quick, hard kiss. “Break the rules, Karla. Just this once,” he said breathlessly as his hands trailed down my body to palm my arse.
I whimpered when he squeezed, pulling me tight to his erection. Before I could protest further, he slid my underwear to the side and plunged two fingers inside me.
“Wet,” he hissed, and I melted against him, my face falling to the crook of his neck.
“Look at me. I need your eyes,” Lee said, and I pulled back, watching while he coaxed me to orgasm. He continued fingering me, and when his thumb moved over my clit, I moaned. “That’s it — give me those eyes. You’re so beautiful.”
His chest rose and fell as he watched me, his gaze glittering in the dark. The intensity in his expression made me flush, my breaths and sighs filling the small confines of the car. I bent down and kissed him. When I slid my tongue inside his mouth, I was rewarded with a deep, masculine groan, and the next time he circled my clit, I came with an unexpected ferocity right on his hand.
It took me a long time to recover, but Lee just held me, one hand running soothingly up and down my spine.
“Come on, I’ll walk you up to your flat,” he said, finally breaking the quiet.
I was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was still hard. Moving my hand to his crotch, I rubbed and whispered, “Do you need something?”
Lee groaned but grabbed my hand, stopping my movement. “As much as it pains me to say this, I’ll be okay.”
Staring at him, I watched his Adam’s apple as it bobbed in his throat, and I knew it really had taken a lot for him to say no. I wondered why all of a sudden he wanted the night to be over. Dark shadows flickered in his expression, and I knew he had other things on his mind. Things that hadn’t been there earlier tonight. It was the guy who’d been standing outside his car; something about the whole encounter had been just downright off.
My voice was quiet when I asked, “Do you have a lot of enemies, Lee?”
He turned back to me, his face intense as he answered, “It comes with the territory, Karla.”
It didn’t take me long to fall asleep that night, but the next morning when I woke up, e
verything came crashing down on me like a tonne of bricks. I couldn’t believe what I’d done, couldn’t believe I’d given in so easily. I may not have been the strongest woman in the world, but I’d always prided myself on living my life by a firm set of principles. Then Lee came along and threw a bomb on my rules, reducing them to a pile of meaningless rubble.
Now I wasn’t sure I had it in me to resist him, but really, it was all my fault. I never should have started texting him so regularly. It had allowed me to get to know him, but, more importantly, it had allowed him to get under my skin.
Seeing him in the club last night after interacting with him remotely for so long had felt drugging; I’d been completely under his spell.
Anyhow, at least I had the day off and could take some time getting my head around everything. Alexis and I went grocery shopping, and then we caught a movie and got gelato on the way home. If my best friend hadn’t been so wrapped up in her own problems, I was sure she would have noticed there was something wrong with me. I’d deliberately left my phone off all day, telling myself it was because I wanted to go unplugged for a while. The truth was, I was afraid of Lee calling, and even more afraid of the fact that I wouldn’t be able to resist answering.
Remembering the man standing beside his car the night before, I knew I had to stop this before I got in too deep. He had enemies, and if any of them discovered Lee was conducting a relationship with a cop, it wouldn’t end pretty for either one of us.
Several days passed and I was back to work, finding a strange sort of relief in keeping busy. Tony and I were sent on call after call, from burglaries to street muggings to road accidents. We’d just pulled up outside a high-end clothing boutique, where a young woman was being held after a shop assistant caught her trying to steal some lingerie.
“You want to take this one?” Tony asked, shifting uncomfortably in the passenger seat.
“Hey, I took the lead on the last call, and I need a break. You should go in. Fair’s fair.
He frowned. “Fine. I’ll be back in a few.”
Getting out, he slammed the car door, disgruntled, and made his way inside the boutique. Picturing him having to question the woman on the nature of the items she’d stolen made me grin, and I realised it had been my first proper smile in days. My phone chimed in my pocket and I pulled it out, finding a message from Alexis asking if I could grab milk on my way home.
I’d received a number of calls and messages from Lee, but nothing in the last two days. After I’d consistently ignored him, perhaps he’d given up. A guy like Lee didn’t need to pine after any woman; I was sure there were harems just waiting for a chance to keep his bed warm. All of a sudden, my grin faltered and I found myself frowning. I rubbed my thumb across the screen, scrolling through the texts he’d sent and feeling forlorn. I wanted him, but this was for the best. As I’d said, nothing good could come of us being together.
It was just as I was sliding the phone back in my pocket that I heard the car door open and Tony climbed inside.
“That was quick,” I said, lifting my head. When I saw who’d entered the car, all thought fled my mind. It wasn’t Tony. It was Lee. How the hell had he found me here?
I swallowed thickly, a bunch of gobbledygook coming out of my mouth, “You…ah…what the…huh?”
Lee didn’t smile at my fluster, but instead he stared forward, his lips set in a firm line as he slammed the door closed. He didn’t say a word as I gaped at him, and when the silence became too much, I finally managed to ask, “What are you doing here?”
His eyes slid to the side. “You’ve been ignoring my calls, so I had to get creative.”
“Uh-huh, and how did you know where I was? Just happened to be in the neighbourhood, did you?”
One eyebrow rose sardonically. “Nah, I had to bust out the old police scanner.”
I sputtered a laugh but went silent when he shot me a serious look. “You’re not joking.”
“Nope.”
I sat up straighter. “Well, be that as it may, you need to go. Tony will be back any minute, and if he sees you here, it won’t take him long to put two and two together.”
Lee bristled, working his jaw. “Do I look like I give a fuck?”
His question angered me as I twisted in my seat to glare at him. “Well you should give a fuck! If you have any feelings for me at all, you’d care whether or not I lost my job.”
His expression softened, and he seemed remorseful for his flippancy. “It’s not like they can fire you for having a sex life, Karla.”
“Maybe not. But my superior has it in for me, and if she ever caught wind that I was seeing someone with a record, she’d use it against me. Not to mention she’d probably start looking into you and your business,” I said, pausing to eye him meaningfully. “Is that what you want? Do you want police sniffing around your garage, Lee?”
“They could sniff all they wanted. They wouldn’t find anything.”
“Right, because it’s all above board.”
His expression sharpened. “Not what I said, Snap.”
A leaden silence fell between us. I wanted to tell him to leave, that he was committing an offence by the simple act of coming inside a police vehicle without permission. At the same time I didn’t want him to go. I’d missed him. And every night my dreams had been full of his voice and heated looks, how it felt to finally be with him.
“Why does your boss have it in for you?” he asked, breaking the quiet.
I turned my head to see he wore a fierce look, and for some reason it made me thaw slightly. Letting out a slow breath, I answered, “She and my dad have had some feud going on since like, forever. So, even though I was barely out of nappies when it happened, she hates me just as much as she hates him.”
Lee’s brows drew together. “What did he do to her?”
“Beats me. Everyone says they had an argument and he’d called her some pretty horrible names, but that’s hardly the sort of thing you carry around for decades.”
“I dunno, your old man’s quite the fucker. He’s pretty much universally hated by everyone I know. And to be honest, with the amount of big players he’s put away, I’m surprised he’s still breathing after all these years.” He paused and slid his eyes to mine, picking up a pen that had been resting on the dash and flicking it between his fingers. “Though as they say, the devil can wait for his own.”
I stared at him, conflicting emotions warring within me. At once I wanted to agree, because he was sort of right about Dad. But then again, this was my own father we were talking about, the only one I was ever going to have, and the insinuation that he was going to hell pissed me off. Any of the warmth I might have felt toward Lee vanished as I told him sternly, “You need to leave now. Otherwise, I’ll have no other choice but to arrest you.”
“Any excuse to slap a pair of cuffs on me, eh? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were something of a fledgling dominatrix,” Lee joked before leaning in close to whisper, “But we both know that’s not true.” A pause. “Fucking beautiful sight to see you give yourself to me like that, Karla.”
I swallowed thickly and closed my eyes, memories of the nightclub flooding my mind. They were so visceral I could almost feel his fingertips digging into my hips, taste his tongue as it invaded my mouth. Suddenly I was too hot, unable to find enough air. I desperately wanted to undo some buttons on my shirt, but I wouldn’t give Lee the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to me.
“I can’t do this. It needs to end before it begins.”
Moving closer, he closed his hand over my knee, his voice deadly serious. “This started a long time ago.”
Before I could react, he reached out and grabbed my chin, turning my face to his and laying a quick, butterfly-inducing kiss on my lips. After only a second of hesitation, I pushed him off me.
“Get out,” I told him, breathless.
“So this is how it’s gonna be, then?”
“There isn’t any other way,” I replied.
/> Without another word, he opened the car door and slid out. Only a minute later, Tony returned. He opened the door and guided a handcuffed brunette into the back before coming around the front and dropping into the seat Lee had just vacated. I sent him a tight-lipped smile, noticing he seemed a little perplexed.
“Everything okay?” I asked, nervous tension coiling inside me. Had he seen Lee?
“I just don’t get it.”
“Don’t get what?”
“Why someone would risk being arrested for the sake of a piece of string to stick between their arse cheeks.”
The woman in the back seat scowled furiously while I burst into laughter, a small part in relief that he hadn’t spotted Lee.
“People are bonkers.”
“Tell me about it.”
The next few days on the job were fairly quiet, and Tony and I were practically chomping at the bit for some action. It wasn’t like I wanted anything dangerous to happen, but when your day consisted of dealing with minor incidents and paperwork, you needed something to break up the monotony.
I was about to get my wish.
We were sitting in the patrol car, having a quick coffee break, when a call came in about a Gran Coupe that had just been reported stolen. Apparently, it was headed in our direction, and when the vehicle went sailing by seconds later, I immediately hit the sirens and started the engine.
As soon as the assailant saw us following he increased his speed. I’d been driving since I was seventeen, and, not to brag, but learning how to drive in London gains you a lot more skill than learning to drive in other places. I could park in the smallest space known to man, but more importantly, I could manoeuvre my way through narrow streets and cobbled alleyways at high speed like nobody’s business.
“I think we need some music,” said Tony as I yanked on the gear stick a little too hard.
“Don’t even think about it,” I told him, unable to stop the smile from spreading across my face.
He smiled right back. “But it’s tradition. You can’t break with tradition.”