HotTango (4 page)

He ground his teeth then. Where were the other four
suspects? Five if they didn’t count the woman.

They began a sweep of the house, finding no one else. A full
meth lab had been set up in the den at the back of the house, with a damn
cradle next to one of the cook areas. It made Cole sick to think of a child in
those conditions.

The entry team continued its sweep, going from bedroom to
bedroom, each more disgusting than the last. There were stashes of cook
materials, mattresses with a pile of used condoms in the corner and rotting
food.

One last room.

He positioned himself to cover the entry to the bedroom. Two
officers pushed the door in and did a visual sweep.

“Clear,” one called.

“Holy shit, Sarge, look at this,” Aaron said.

Cole followed them into the room and stopped cold over the
threshold.

A six-foot-long table was set up with four folding chairs
positioned around it. Pipes, wires and packages of what appeared to be C-4 lay
scattered.

This was beyond his skill level.

Cole grabbed Aaron by the back of his vest and opened the
radio channel. “Everyone out now. I need the bomb squad, yesterday.”

A mass exodus began, everyone rushing out of the house.
Officers sprinted to the neighboring homes, evacuating the inhabitants.

The whole game had just changed.

* * * * *

Cole stared at the black box sitting on the bed—the
companion box to the red one Tanya had purchased but refused to show him.

He’d taken it in from all sides, studying it, contemplating
what it meant. It appeared innocent enough, but experience had taught him that
bad things came in pretty packaging. With the initial surveillance complete, he
stood at the foot of the bed to consider his options and make a mission plan.

Why had Tanya purchased a Bondage for Beginners Kit?

Last night she’d scrambled to hide it after he’d embarrassed
her, but she hadn’t returned it yet. Of course it had been hidden, but he’d
gone searching on the off chance it was still around. He’d located it in the
coat closet along with her derby gear. The perfect place since he stayed away
from that closet. Usually. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone looking.

Cole hadn’t expected the kit, but there had to be a reason
she’d purchased it.

Pandora’s Box still sat on the foot of the bed. He grabbed
one of the cards at random. Chances were he could handle whatever it suggested
better than the box.

“Try something new in bed,” he read under his breath. “Being
adventurous in and out of bed has its perks. The body produces a spike in
dopamine, a neurotransmitter that improves muscle movement, attention and
concentration. Now, aim that at your partner.”
Well, fuck.

Cole tossed the card onto the TV table where the one from
last night lay.

It would be so much easier to go grab a glass of iced tea
and settle in to watch a little of the games since he wasn’t on duty at the
Olympic complex. But last night after he’d come home and found Tanya curled up
in the bed, her hand splayed over his pillow and a sweet smile on her face,
he’d known he needed to step up to the plate. She was trying, so he should too.

He took a deep breath and reached for the black box again.

“Contains velvet restraints that can be attached to a
bedframe or mattress. Let your partner bind your body and heart at the same
time.” He dropped the box back onto the bed and stalked out of the bedroom.

What was he supposed to do with that?

Though Cole knew he might regret it, he went to the office
and pulled out his laptop. He had at least another hour before Tanya returned
from a pancake fundraiser. He couldn’t remember if this was charity-related or
derby. Either way he had time to do a little homework. He typed the product
into a search and brought up several retailers but also the manufacturer’s
website. Two words stuck out to him in the text below the maker’s website.
Fantasy scenarios.

He clicked it and glanced over his shoulder. There was no
logical reason for anyone to be in the house with him, but he couldn’t shake
the feeling that someone might be watching him research sex games. As if he
were a teenager.

The webpage was sleek, not sleazy. Even the picture of a
woman blindfolded and restrained on an antique metal framed bed was artistic
and beautiful. Not like the BDSM porn he’d gotten an eyeful of as a teen. He
breathed a sigh of relief and scrolled to where the text began.

Whether you want to ease into the bondage lifestyle or
merely spice up your intimacy, the Beginner’s Bondage Kit is a stepping stone
to fulfilling your fantasy. Below are five scenarios to get your creativity
going. Follow the link to the forum to post your own scenarios or share tips
and tricks with other customers.

He bypassed the forum and skimmed the scenarios. The first
two were innocent enough, suggestions for how controlling his partner’s body
could increase arousal and freedom, indulging in forbidden desires. The third
was straight-up role-play that made the skin between his shoulder blades crawl.
He wasn’t going to throw stones at people he didn’t understand, but the capture
fantasy screamed of Stockholm syndrome. The last two were obviously geared
toward those interested in graduating to more extreme bondage. The kind that
left bruises and made him question a person’s sanity.

Cole would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that the
idea of Tanya tied to the bed, unable to escape and enjoying what he did to
her, was arousing. He was comfortable with the fantasy. But could he bring it
to reality? He thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t a bad idea, but he
didn’t know how far Tanya wanted to go.

It was the path that led to a more hard-core type of bondage
he couldn’t bring himself to accept. It could be professional suicide to dabble
in the alternative lifestyle. He’d also pledged his life to protecting people,
and where the second path led went against his morals.

He went back to the first two scenarios and mulled them
over.

These he could do.

But what did Tanya want?

Cole’s gut reaction to the last three scenarios told him
that if she was interested in something more than a little bedroom play, there
were problems ahead. He devoted his life to keeping people safe, and those last
three scenarios stood on the other side of the line for him, no matter that it
would happen between two consenting adults.

“Innocent until proven guilty,” he muttered as he cleared
his browser history and shut down the laptop.

He spent the next half hour gathering a few odds and ends,
trying not to dwell on what was going to happen when Tanya got home. He told
himself often enough he loved her too much to let her go.

Every now and then he wished for their old condo, the one
he’d bought after scrimping and saving pennies once Tanya’s school bills were
paid. They’d spent their happiest years together in that two-bedroom home. When
she’d quit One World and started her company, they’d begun talking about buying
a new home. They had the money, but nothing was what they wanted and the more
they looked, the more Tanya researched green housing options. So they’d built
this place.

She loved their new house, but it wasn’t a home to him. It
was too big. Too fancy. He didn’t fit here. It didn’t help that he hadn’t paid
a single dime toward the cost of the home. No, that had all come from Tanya’s
new paycheck while he improved their old place to sell. It evened out in the
end, but he wanted to be able to provide for her in all ways. It was a constant
war with himself, being proud of Tanya for achieving everything she set out to
do and wanting to be the man she leaned on.

Once upon a time, Tanya had needed him. She’d needed his
support, his money, the house he gave them. These days, she didn’t need anyone,
least of all him. He consoled himself with the small fact that she wanted him,
which would have to be enough.

The alarm system beeped as the front door opened and Cole
braced himself for the unknown.

“Cole?”

“In the bedroom.”

He could hear the
click click click
of her shoes on
the floor as she approached.

Tanya stepped through the door. Her business casual attire
eliminated roller derby from the list of possible morning’s activities.

“How’d it go today?” he asked.

She crossed to him and kissed his cheek. “Good. I never
heard you come in last night.”

“You sleep like the dead.” He patted the bed and sank down
on the edge. “Have a seat.”

Tanya perched next to him, crossing her ankles daintily.
“What’s up?” Her gaze flicked to the box beside him and her face drained of
color. “I said I was going to return that.”

He pushed the box farther away. “I want to talk about it.”
Hadn’t she said she wanted to talk more?

“Look, I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“Buying that. I’m going to return it.”

“Why?”

“Because I shouldn’t have bought it.”

Cole studied his wife, the flush of her cheeks, the way she
wouldn’t meet his gaze. He reached over and smoothed her hair behind her ear,
grounding himself in the feel of her.

“You bought it because you wanted it. I just want to talk
about it. I went online and looked at their website.”

Tanya gasped and stared at him with wide eyes.

“I’m just confused because I’m not sure where this is coming
from. Can you explain this to me?” He had to give himself props for not
freaking the fuck out. The discovery had knocked him on his ass.

“Ohmygod.” She buried her scarlet face in her hands. “I got
the idea from these romance books I read.”

“Romance books?” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d
seen Tanya read.

“Yes. Romance, okay? I get them on my tablet because, well,
they’re the hot kind and usually have a half-naked man on them.”

Cole stared at her. If she grew another head or laid a
golden egg he didn’t think she could surprise him more. Talk about shock of the
decade.

He cleared his throat. “I didn’t even know you read romance
books.”

“I started when I was traveling a lot.” She stared at the
blanket, and if possible her face grew even redder. “They’re the really hot
kind. Anyway, I started reading them because I missed you. I read them and
imagined you were the hero. I know, crazy, but whatever.”

Cole sat there stunned. He’d begun the slide down the
slippery slope of resentment toward these fictional men who stole her away for
a few hours, only to be turned on his head. Again.

He didn’t know what she read, but the idea of her in a tent
in the middle of nowhere thinking about him doing nine kinds of naughty things
to her—it did something to him.

And he was willing to help fulfill a fantasy or two.

Cole cleared his throat and struggled to get back on track.

“Uh, I see. So this bondage kit?”

“I cannot believe we’re having this conversation.” Tanya
huffed out a breath, visibly collecting herself. She turned toward him, staring
at the ceiling rather than him. “Okay, so I’ve been reading a lot of BDSM
books. They’re—interesting. The characters have these deep, really close
connections and I just—I just wanted to get back there. With you.” She swiped
at her face and Cole felt his whole world shake.

“Hey, babe.” He slid to his knees and cupped her face.
Wetness greeted his touch. “Tanya, please don’t cry.”

What kind of bastard was he that he made his wife cry? She
hadn’t cried in years. Not since the funeral they’d attended for a fallen
officer who’d been a close friend. How had they gotten to this point?

He gathered her up in his arms and held her. She muttered
what sounded like apologies and hugged him back. Part of him was relieved she
didn’t want a physical result out of the bondage kit. It was intimacy she
craved.

Cole could work with this.

After a few moments Tanya pulled herself together and sat
up. She wiped at her face and darted glances at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I didn’t
honestly know what to think when I found the box.”

She nodded. “That was not how I wanted that to go. Ohmygod,
you probably think I’m hiding kinky sexual fantasies from you, don’t you?”

“The thought did cross my mind. Won’t lie. I’m a little
relieved you don’t want to call me Lord Master of the Universe or anything.”

Tanya sputtered in laughter and he cracked a grin.

Cole schooled his face into a stern expression, or as close
to it as he could get. “You could stand to follow a few orders though.”

That silenced her, but from the wide-eyed hopeful look she
was giving him, Cole was willing to bet he’d stumbled on to something.

Cole studied her, the flushed quality of her cheeks, lifted
eyebrows, dilated eyes. “Is that what you want? To follow directions? Do what I
tell you to?”

Tanya licked her lips and glanced at the bedroom door.
“Maybe.”

“Hm.” Cole wasn’t a saint. He’d had a few fantasies himself
that involved tying her up, but he’d never imagined they would become reality.
“I read one of the cards. It said to try new things in bed. Tanya, I think this
means I’m going to tie you up and make you scream.”

Tanya’s knees were pressed tight together and her mouth
formed a little “O” he was learning to adore.

He slid his hand up the hem of her skirt and caressed her
thigh. “What do you say, babe?”

“O-okay. If you want, I mean.”

Cole kissed the top of each knee. “Oh, I want. But, babe?
This isn’t sweet lovemaking.”

She shivered and her gaze widened, but he didn’t see any
fear there. No, she was aroused.

He forced his knee between hers and reached up to feel the
crotch of her panties. The delicate fabric was damp.

“Is that what you want, babe?”

“Yes,” she said with more force than was necessary, as if
she had to expel the answer from deep within.

“Okay, I want you to stand up.”

Cole pushed to his feet and backed up a few paces. Tanya
sucked in a deep breath and stood on shaky legs. He directed her to stand in
the middle of the open space between the bed and the bathroom.

He was glad he’d thought ahead.

“Wait here and don’t turn around,” Cole directed.

Tanya frowned but didn’t turn around. “What are you doing?”

He reached into the basket on top of his dresser and
selected the leopard-print mask that had come as part of the Pandora’s Box set.

“I’m not telling you. Just go with it.” He stepped up behind
her and placed the mask over her eyes.

Tanya’s hands flew to the mask. She didn’t say anything so
he took her silence as permission to continue.

A thrill of excitement shot through him. Did she feel half
as excited about this as he did? The reality of her doing exactly as he
requested was a dose of power straight to his ego. Of course she could always
say no or stop and he would, and that’s when it hit him.

The person tying up the other wasn’t the person in charge.

It was the person being tied up.

The revelation left him blinking over Tanya’s head at his
reflection in the full-length mirror.

He shook himself. Now was not the time for theoretical
revelations.

Cole lowered the zipper on her skirt and slid the tube of
fabric off her hips. He grasped her elbows. “Step forward.”

She moved with him, stepping out of the skirt and stopping.
He paused to admire the firm curve of her ass, and chuckled at the panties that
read “Talk Derby to Me” across the butt. He patted her hip and came around to
stand in front of her.

“Arms up.” He grasped the hem of her shirt and drew it up
over her head.

Cole loved his wife’s body. She was athletic, yet her curves
were soft, womanly. He kept physical contact with her, a finger down her arm, a
hand on her back, tweaking her nose as he circled her a few times. Left in her
bra, panties, wedge heels and the mask, she was his toy.

He unfastened the clasp to her bra and guided that bit of
fabric to the floor. Standing behind her, he cupped both breasts. She arched
her back and leaned her head against his shoulder. He plucked at the tight
beads of her nipples.

Tanya’s palm rubbed against the length of his cock. He liked
where this was going already.

Cole shoved her panties down, leaving her in the mask and
heels. She shimmied and kicked out of her underwear, freeing him to grip her
hips and grind against her ass. He groaned and gave her a little push toward
the bed.

“We’ve got to get this show on the road,” he muttered.

Tanya giggled and shuffled toward the bed, letting him guide
her as she went.

“Do I get to take my shoes off?” she asked.

He considered it for a moment. “This time, yes.”

“This time?” She leaned forward and slipped one shoe then
the other off.

“There’s an awful lot of those cards to work our way
through, babe. And that’s not even considering the book or whatever else is in
that box.” He gently swatted her ass and she yelped.

“Oh!” Tanya sputtered and laughed, but didn’t move from her
bent position at the edge of the bed.

“Did you like that?”

“I didn’t expect it.”

“Oh yeah?” He held her hip with one hand and swatted the
other side of her ass. Not hard, just enough so it turned her skin a soft pink
color. “Do they do this in your books?”

“Ohmygod.” She let her head hang forward and giggles shook
her shoulders.

Cole leaned over her and massaged the abused skin. He had an
idea, one that might backfire. “Do they?”

“Yes. Yes they do, okay?”

“Do you like it?” He wasn’t against getting more physical.
He was getting pretty damn turned-on himself.

“I don’t know.” She squirmed against him.

Cole brushed his knuckles up and down her pussy. It was as
though they were teenagers all over again, when they’d been nothing but horny.

“We’ll have to figure that out. Maybe you should show me
some of your favorite ‘hot’ parts, hm? See what you’re really interested in
trying out?”

“Ohmygod.” She froze, her body going rigid.

What was in the books she read?

“Tanya?” He rubbed her back, offering the assurance of his
presence.

“I don’t think you’d like everything in them,” she said in a
rush. “It’s fantasy, not reality.”

Cole filed that information away to handle later. “Okay, so
we’ll talk about it and you can show me parts later. Get up on the bed.”

Tanya climbed up into their bed and crawled to the middle.
Cole blew out a breath and grabbed the box. He broke the seal and made quick
work of pulling out the restraints. They were fairly straightforward nylon loops
made to go around an attachment point with velvet ties on the other end. They
wouldn’t seriously hold someone who wanted to get away. Hell, he’d break them
if he sneezed, but it wasn’t about securing someone. It was about the
experience.

Cole would give her the fantasy and more.

Tanya lay in the middle of the bed and listened to Cole
moving around the room. He went from one side to the other. Little chimes, like
metal striking metal, sounded every now and then. She didn’t know what he was
going to do. Hell, she was still reeling from being in this situation.

“Roll over, Tanya.”

“What?”

“Get on your stomach.”

The low, dangerous note to his voice elicited a shiver and
brought to mind a hundred different bondage scenes she’d read involving strong
alpha types. The difference was that this time, she knew exactly how far she
could push her man.

Not a single inch.

“O-okay.”

She twisted onto her stomach and tilted her head toward her
husband. The bed dipped and she listened to him do something to the headboard.

“Actually, sit up and give me your hands.”

She got to her knees and extended her arms. Cole grasped her
wrists and pulled her forward until her palms rested on the wooden frame.
Velvet bands wrapped around and between her wrists. She could grip the headboard,
but there wasn’t a lot of give to her bonds.

Holy shit!

She really was tied up.

Cole left her there on her knees. She listened to him moving
around again.

Tanya could smell his cologne, the scent of fabric softener
and the delicate aroma of the air freshener from the closet. They blended
together to create the comforting fragrance she took for granted, but something
about the moment, the blindfold, made her more aware of things she couldn’t
see.

She could imagine what Cole was doing based on the sounds,
but sometimes she had no idea what he was up to. Why was he rummaging around in
a drawer? Was that
thud
him kicking off his shoes?

Her imagination ran wild with the possibilities.

Tanya yelped when something touched her hip.

“It’s just me,” Cole said, quick to comfort her.

She laughed and leaned forward. “You startled me.”

“Good.” He kissed her waist.

“Meanie.”

“You’ll change that tune. Spread ’em.”

Arousal sent a fresh wave of wetness to her pussy. She
scooted her knees out.

“Wider.”

She scooted her knees out a little more.

“Keep going.”

“Cole, what are you doing?”

The room resounded with the
crack
of palm meeting
flesh. She yelped and rocked forward against the headboard.

“Cole!”

“I told you to spread ’em.” She could hear the barely
contained laugh in his voice.

Part of her wanted to tell him to go to hell, while the
other half loved him playing into this fantasy of hers. She scooted her knees
out a third time.

“There. Was that so hard?”

Velvet wrapped around her lower thigh, just above her knee.
He repeated the same tie on the other side. She squirmed and tested the hold,
but had only an inch or so of give.

This wasn’t the romantic idea of being restrained on her
back, staring up at her lover. This was a carnal assault on her senses,
anchoring her in place to take the power of him.

And she loved it.

Cole’s touch returned. His hands coasted over her back, down
around her hips.

All the frustrated sexual tension from yesterday redoubled
on her, and the only thing she wanted was Cole, deep inside.

“Oh please, fuck me,” she said, just as she’d read a hundred
bound heroines say.

She felt the bed go still and could imagine her husband in
coiled readiness, assessing the situation, his wondrous brain working a
thousand miles a second, testing and discarding possible outcomes and
scenarios.

The only one she cared about was with him. Inside her.

“Since you ask so nicely, very well.”

Tanya bit her lip at the first caress to her pussy. Cole’s
fingers tested her readiness, and she knew how wet she was. She could feel it.

“Damn,” he muttered.

“Yeah.” She grinned and chuckled.

Cole spread her open and the next thing she felt was the
head of his cock. She wiggled her hips and he flattened a hand against her
stomach, positioning her just so. He slid in and kept going. They both groaned
and the sound of their heavy breathing filled the room.

He recovered first and leaned forward to place a kiss on her
shoulder. He flexed and slid the rest of the way until they were as joined as
they could be.

Tanya’s head reeled. Without the ability to see, all she
could do was feel the thick length of his cock inside her, caressing nerve
endings and rubbing that hidden spot. His hands were rough against her
sensitive skin and when he leaned down to touch his face against her, the
stubble scraped across her shoulder.

“Ohmygod,” she panted, gripping the headboard.

Cole withdrew and her breathing stopped. He thrust and
sensation rushed through her body like wildfire. He started a heavy, hard
rhythm, and if it weren’t for the bonds tying her to the bed, she’d have slid
forward.

Tanya dug her nails into the wood and moaned.

“Fuck yeah,” he muttered.

“Mm, keep going.”

“You like this?”

“Yes,” she wailed as he changed the angle and hit The Spot.
“Ohmygodohmygod.”

His hands closed around her breasts, pinching her nipples
and setting off a veritable score of fireworks all contained inside her body.
She thought she might have screamed as the orgasm crashed into her and took her
under to a whole new place she’d never seen before.

Cole continued to pump into her, his motions growing choppy,
uneven until he surged forward, climax rippling through him. She heard his hand
slap against the wood and felt his breath against her shoulder.