Marisa Chenery: Jagers Mate

Having come close enough to the two men that she would be able to catch them if they decided to take off running, Daylen aimed the beam of her flashlight at their faces.

“All right, boys, time to put the swords down,” she said in her best, loud, and authoritative police officer voice.

Both men lowered their swords and turned to face her. Daylen opened her mouth to ask what the hell they thought they were doing when the black-haired man spun around, ran down toward the opposite end of the alley and disappeared into the darkness. Daylen blinked. The man had run so fast she’d had a hard time tracking him with her eyes. She’d never seen anyone move that fast before. She hadn’t even had a chance to yell at him to stop.

Knowing the other man hadn’t moved from where he stood, Daylen focused her attention on him. With her flashlight once again aimed at his face, she had to admit he was one good-looking kook. A male model came to mind when she took in his chiseled cheekbones, straight nose and firm, full lips. Against her will, her gaze settled on his lips for a few seconds longer than necessary. If he hadn’t been a kook, and she wasn’t on duty, Daylen would have liked to get to know him better. She might be a cop, but she was a woman also, and right now, she found herself more than a little attracted to the man that stood before her.

Putting her mind back on the task at hand, Daylen said, “Put the sword on the ground and take a step away from it.”

The man’s nostrils flared slightly when he took a deep breath. His gaze latched onto her, staring at her so intently Daylen found herself reacting in a way she shouldn’t. His light blue-eyed gaze looked her up and down, leaving a trail of goose bumps under her uniform wherever it touched. Her breasts seemed to grow heavy, and her nipples tightened when his gaze settled on them. Daylen’s breath hitched at seeing the look of arousal that lurked in the man’s eyes. He made no move to put down the sword he held.

She cleared her throat and tried again. “Put the sword down,” she said louder.

This time he slowly brushed the left side of his duster aside to reveal a scabbard that hung at his side. He sheathed the sword in it while he kept his gaze locked to hers. For a brief second, Daylen swore she saw his light blue eyes glow mutedly as he started to close the distance between them. With the beam of her flashlight still shining on his face, she had to think it was a trick of the light.

She put her right hand on top her gun. “Stay where you are and put your hands behind your head. If you don’t do it, I will draw my gun.”

“What are you going to do? Handcuff me?” he asked in a deep, sexy drawl. “I may like that.” He continued to slowly move toward her.

Daylen had yet to fire her gun in the line of duty. She didn’t want tonight to be the night that she had to, but if the man in front of her decided to pull out his sword again and think to use it on her, she would do whatever was necessary to take him down.

“Carrying a concealed weapon is a major offense. Resisting arrest will make it that much worse for you. Why don’t you just cooperate and make it easier for the both of us?”

A grin spread across his lips that Daylen had to admit made the man look even sexier. “Sorry, but I’m not going to let you arrest me,” he said.

Figures. The kooks never wanted to be taken away without kicking up some kind of fuss. Not wanting this to draw out any longer than it had to, Daylen waited until he came within range. She dropped her flashlight and grabbed him by one arm as she used a karate move to kick his legs out from under him. Having caught him off guard, she managed to get him down face first on the ground with his hands behind him. She sat on his back, pinning his arms between her legs as she reached for her handcuffs that were in a leather case attached to her belt. With her other hand, she kept the side of his face pressed to the ground.

The handcuffs now out of their case, Daylen started to read the man his rights. “You have the right to remain silent. Everything—”

She never got to finish. One second she had him pinned, ready to cuff his hands behind him, and then the next, he had bucked her off. With a move faster than she could react to, he had her on her back with his large body on top of hers. He manacled her wrists in one strong hand as he grabbed the handcuffs and tossed them away.

Shit. Now she was in trouble. Even though his grip didn’t hurt, Daylen couldn’t break free of his hold. She tried to buck him off like he had done to her, but he was solid muscle and didn’t budge an inch.

Daylen gazed up at him not sure what he would do next. Instead of seeing malice in his eyes, he stared down at her with intense longing. Against her will, her heart started to beat a little faster. The longer he held her gaze the more her body reacted. Instead of being afraid of what he would actually do to her, she found herself becoming aroused. An ache pounded between her legs, and she started to breathe faster. And, if she was not mistaken, he was aroused as well. She could feel the hard length of his cock pressed against her thigh where he had her legs pinned between his.

He felt way too good pressed against her body. That had Daylen once more trying to buck him off. She shouldn’t be getting turned on by a guy who obviously had a few screws loose. She had to stay professional. He was the bad guy, and she was the cop.

When she arched her back again to try and throw him off, he made a low sound deep inside his chest that sounded pretty damn close to something a wild animal would make.

She instantly stilled beneath him.

He shook his head. “Keep doing that and I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.

I’m barely holding back as it is.” He shoved the collar of her shirt aside with his hand before he buried his nose in the crook of her neck and took a deep breath. He dragged his tongue across the skin where her shoulder and neck met. “God, you smell good.” He then lifted his head and looked down at the name tag pinned to the front of her shirt. “Officer Daylen Reardon, I would like to continue what’s started here, but I don’t think you’ll be as cooperative as I want you to be. We’ll have to finish this another time. But I’m not going to leave before I’ve gotten a taste of you.”

Before Daylen knew what he was about to do, he brought his mouth down to hers and kissed her. His lips moved over hers gently before his tongue came out and pushed its way inside her mouth. He swept the inside of it, tasting her thoroughly, twining his tongue with hers.

The man might be a kook, but he sure knew how to kiss a woman senseless. Unable to stop herself from kissing him back, Daylen felt her body go up in flames with each stroke of his tongue. He licked and sucked at her lips as she found herself sinking deeper and deeper into a fog of arousal. Her brain seemed to only be functioning at half power.

A part of her knew this was so very wrong, but another baser part of her had taken over and wanted more. The feel of his well-muscled body pressed against hers just sent her arousal to greater heights. She moaned softly into his mouth.

Then his lips were gone, along with the weight of his body that had been pressing down on top of her. Now free, Daylen sat up and caught sight of the back of the man’s duster as he ran down the alley in the same direction the other man had taken. Then he was gone.

What the hell is wrong with me? Daylen stood and grabbed her flashlight that lay on the ground not far away. Using its light, she found her handcuffs. If another cop had been present to see what had taken place, Daylen knew there would be questions as to whether or not she could do her job. And she wouldn’t have been able to blame them. She’d just let a criminal kiss her stupid while she basically did nothing to stop him. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d gotten away on top of it all.