The first time she came was in the middle of a particularly frustrating case. They'd spent two days going round in circles, failing to find any new leads, knowing that virtually everyone was lying to them but unable to get anyone to tell the truth. She'd sent him a text first to make sure that she wasn't interrupting anything and he'd put some white wine in the fridge expecting a venting session, like they'd done so many times before.

But it wasn't that sort of stress relief that she was looking for. Gerry had no sooner shut the door than Sandra had pinned him against the wall, kissing him ferociously. He had kissed her back, then winced as she bit his bottom lip. She smiled at him and said derisively,

'Too much for you, Gerry?'

'No.'

He could feel his arousal building but he held her off for a moment, saying,

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

The word was curt and Gerry could see the rage and frustration in her eyes.

'One rule,' he said, 'You stay for breakfast.'

If he was only ever going to get one night with her then he wanted the whole night not just an hour or two.

'Fine.'

She kissed him again, pulling his shirt out of his trousers and raking her nails across his stomach, hurting him. At the same time, she bit the side of his neck, marking him. He grabbed her hands and reversed their position, pinning her against the wall with her hands above her head. He saw something flicker across her face and then he knew. He pulled her into his bedroom and stripped her, then used his tie to tie her hands to the headboard above her head. Then he used his years of experience to give her what she needed. He made sure that he wasn't too careful with her (he'd played these games before and was very good at being just rough enough) and he gave her plenty of love bites so that she could tell herself that that was why she had come. It made perfect sense after all; where else could a female police superintendent go for some rough sex but to a close friend? Anywhere else was too dangerous, either in the purely physical sense or because she would lay herself open to blackmail. So when it all got too much, she came to Gerry knowing that he wouldn't judge her for needing to take a walk on the wild side occasionally.

Except that Gerry knew that that wasn't what she needed. She needed to give up control, to lose it completely just for a little while. So that's what he did, he used his superior strength to take control and kept it until she lost herself in ecstasy.

Afterwards, he held her as she slept, wishing that he were a young man again so he could keep going all night. He considered taking some Viagra but he was comfortable lying there, with Sandra snuggled in his arms and before he could summon up enough energy to move he had fallen asleep.

The next morning, they ate then Sandra gathered her stuff and left, simply saying,

'Thank you.'

Gerry kissed her gently on the cheek and said,

'Whatever you need, Sandra.'

That night he dug around in his wardrobe and found his padded handcuffs and put them in the drawer of his bedside cabinet.

After the third time he knew the signs, could predict almost exactly when she would come over. It was always triggered by frustration with a case and Gerry found himself wishing for harder and harder cases, delighted when they were given something virtually impossible to solve because it meant that he might get to spend a night with Sandra.
Each time he would take complete control, giving her the release she needed, doing his best to make sure that each time was better than the last.

They never discussed it and at work Sandra was always in charge. Well, except when Gerry ignored her orders and when he did, she bollocked him just the same as she always had.

The seventh time was when it all changed. The case had been heartbreaking. Sloppy police work had let a child murderer go free, which was bad enough but when they started finding the other bodies and realised that they had a serial killer on their hands, they all found it hard. For Gerry it was sheer hell. The killer had abducted five-year-old boys, abused them and then killed them. Boys the same age as his grandson was now. And as if that wasn't bad enough, one of the bodies had turned out to be a boy who had gone missing from Amelia's primary school; Gerry had joined in the hunt for him all those years ago, along with all the other parents and the killer. When Brian had joined up all the clues and they had gone to arrest him Gerry had recognised him and for a moment Sandra had thought that he was going to kill him. She had forbidden him from coming near the interview room and had sent them all home the instant that the killer had been charged.

When she came through his door and kissed him tenderly he was so upset that he didn't even notice that it wasn't like the other kisses. Pushing her gently away, he said,

'I'm sorry, Sandra, I can't. Not tonight. I'm sorry to let you down.'

Sandra smiled gently at him and said,

'I'm not here for me tonight, Gerry. Tonight it's about what you need.'

Stepping forward, Sandra put her arms around Gerry and hugged him. Feeling weary and defeated, Gerry said,

'I need a bleedin' time machine so I can go back to the first investigation and tell that moron, DCI Jenkins, to get off his lazy backside and do some sodding work.'

'I've referred the case to Internal Investigations. It won't bring those little boys back but at least that bastard won't get to retire on full pension.'

'Good. As long as it doesn't get sat on.'

'It won't. And Strickland's going outside channels so that Jenkins won't be tipped off.'

'Good for him. Strickland's not a bad bloke really.'

'He's the best DAC I've ever worked for.'

'Same here but don't ever tell him I said that.'

'I won't.'

He was hugging her back and suddenly he knew what he needed. He led her into the bedroom and said,

'I don't know if I'll be any good for anything but will you spend the night with me?'

'Of course.'

They undressed and got into bed together and Gerry ran his hand through Sandra's hair as they held each other and talked. After about half an hour, Gerry realised that the contact with Sandra was having its usual effect; he was starting to get aroused. He tilted Sandra's face up to his and kissed her. She responded and Gerry began to gently caress her, telling her how beautiful she was. He took his time, running his hands over her body then using his mouth to send her spiralling higher before eventually joining their bodies. He flipped them so that Sandra was on top and then had to desperately hold on to his self-control as the sight of her like that drove all thought out of his mind. Smiling down at him, Sandra said,

'See something you like.'

'Not half. I'd stay like this forever if I could.'

'Somehow I don't think forever's on the cards.'

She began to move and it became clear to Gerry that not only was forever certainly not on the cards but that letting Sandra get there first might even be a problem. Trying to think of other things, he reached up and caressed her and then watched, entranced as she climaxed. Seconds later he was arching upwards as his climax shot through him.

They collapsed together in a panting, sweaty heap and Gerry wrapped his arms around Sandra, keeping her tucked firmly up against him as he waited for his brain to start functioning again.
He was determined not to say the wrong thing so he needed his brain at full function. Of course, he'd probably say the wrong thing anyway but they'd just made love instead of merely having sex and he really didn't want to screw it up. The trouble was that they both knew that he had an endless stock of cheap chat-up lines and easy lies so what could he say that wouldn't drive her away?

In the end he realised that the only thing to say was the truth,

'I don't know if you've realised, Sandra, but you're my best friend.'

'Really?'

Sandra's expression was slightly bemused and Gerry hurried on before he lost his bottle,

'Yeah. I mean I've got plenty of other mates but you're always the person I think of when I want a chat or someone to go somewhere with.'

'Except when you're on the pull.'

'I'm hardly going to pull if you're with me, am I? No one's going to believe that I want to be with someone else if I'm with you. You're far too beautiful for that to be believable.'

'Thank you.'

'Thing is, Sandra, I don't just want to be friends any more.'

'Gerry…'

The warning note in her voice was clear and Gerry tightened his hold on her to stop her from moving away from him. It wouldn't have any effect if she was serious about leaving but for now she stilled and he continued,

'Hear me out, yeah?'

'All right.'

'I know we can't have a normal relationship because of work…'

'So?'

'So, how about… what is it the kids call it?… friends with benefits?'

'Friends with benefits?'

'It's only an extension of what we're doing now, after all. We already call each other when we fancy some company, now we'd call each other if we fancied a bit of the other too. Obviously, the other person would be able to say no if they weren't in the mood or had plans or whatever.'

Gerry waited nervously as she thought about it. After a couple of minutes she said,

'All right but we have to keep it out of the office.'

'Agreed,' said Gerry, leaning down and kissing her gently, feeling a bubble of exuberant happiness building inside him.

'No romantic texts.'

'Absolutely not. And I don't want you sending me flowers, neither.'

'Tosser.'

The insult was accompanied by one of the sweet smiles that always completely melted Gerry and Gerry grinned mischievously before letting Sandra tell him all the things that he wasn't allowed to do, all of which basically boiled down to, 'Don't out us at work' and 'Don't be soppy because I hate it'.

As they drifted off to sleep, Gerry was the happiest he'd been for a long time. Sandra Pullman was an extremely complicated woman but if he couldn't convince her that regular sex with him was easier and more fun than trawling the pubs and clubs for a date then his name wasn't Gerry Standing.

And maybe one day she'd be ready to hear that he was in love with her.

Please let me know what you think. I wrote this as a one-off but let me know if you want to hear Sandra's side of the story.