Being Tempted

By AnitaB

Chapter two: Sweet Knowledge

He knew exactly how badly she wanted this. It was written in every line of her body and hidden in the depths of her hot brown eyes. Charlie loved how Dani looked at him all the time, but this look, right now, was his favorite. His partner, his lover looked at him out of the corner of her eye at the first red light they hit on the way home. Her eyes burned over his lips, down his chest and arms to his hands. He knew she loved his touch, his kiss. And he loved that almost as much as he loved her. Charlie watched her hands clench on the steering wheel and her tongue drag over her lips. //Oh, yes, that's my bad girl.\\ He was going to love every minute of teasing his girl was no doubt going to use to pay him back for the at work temptation. Just like last time, just like always. "Eyes on the road, Dani, or should I drive?"

She laughed and he adored the sound. "Like hell, Crews. Just stay on your side of the car 'til we get home."

//Home. Our home. I love having you in my bed.\\ He let his hand edge across the seat to rest on the warm line of her thigh. "Yes, ma'am, whatever you say, officer." His fingers played up and down the tense muscles under rough denim and smooth skin. Soon, but not soon enough, he would get to strip off those clothes and put the mouth she loved to his favorite use. Dani was better than any fruit he'd ever tasted. He loved the taste and feel of her skin against his lips, his tongue. "But only if you hurry."

"Charlie," He adored the hitch of her breath in her throat as her hand left the wheel to capture and contain his. Small fingers wound their way through his, holding him tight with a strength that never surprised him. His Dani was a force of nature and he wouldn't have it any other way. "Be good or I will handcuff you to the headboard when we get there. I'm driving here."

"But you like it better when I'm your bad boy." Charlie needed a quick taste or he wasn't going to be able to wait 'til the end of the drive. Lifting her hand to his face, he nuzzled and kissed her palm, stroking a sampling tongue over the inside of her wrist to feel her pulse leap against his lips. "I love you, Dani."

The pulse against his tongue did more than leap, it raced. The wheels squealed against the road and the car pulled hard and fast into a random parking lot. The second the car stopped moving, Dani was out of her seatbelt and in his arms. "Goddamnit, I love you, Charlie." Small hands cupped his face and her gorgeous brown eyes held his even more tightly. "You know that, Charlie. You know I love you, right?"

//Yes, my girl, my love, my sweet Dani.\\ Her lips caught his before he could drag in enough air to speak. But the words could wait until after he'd gotten enough of the taste of her kiss. Until he'd drunk in enough of the heat and power of this woman in his arms to get him through the drive. Fisting one hand in her hair and the other in her shirt, Charlie pulled her closer and deepened this heavenly kiss. Nothing in the whole world tasted better than she did. Nothing felt better than her touch, her kiss, her skin under his hands. His fingers twitched and moved to slide under the hem of her shirt and up the smooth, hot skin of her back. If he moved one inch higher, they were not going to make it home first. "Yes, Dani, I know you love me. And I know that we're going to get arrested for public sex acts unless you get behind that wheel and get us home."

Fighting his hands, Charlie pulled them out of her clothes and helped her off his lap and back into her own seat. "You were tempting me, Charlie, and you knew it." Her seatbelt snapped closed and her hands returned to the task of driving. "Just stay on your side of the car and I'll get us home."

"Yes, my sweet Dani." Fisting his hands, he shoved them into his pants pockets. "For you, I'll try."

It wasn't easy, but the two of them managed to keep their hands to themselves until the car was properly parked in the garage under Ted's apartment, until the front door was closed behind them. Until both their jackets hit the floor at the foot of the spiral staircase. His sweet Dani gave him a soft twist of a smile from far too far away. "Bring the apples." Then she turned on one heel and fled up the stairs out of his reach. //That's my playful girl.\\ A quick detour to the kitchen fruit bowl later, Charlie raced up the stairs after her with an apple in one hand and his unknotted tie in the other. It took all his will to keep his grip on the apple at the sight presented to him through his open bedroom door. The tie fell to the floor unnoticed as his jaw dropped and his heart race. //Dear beautiful torture.\\

Dani, his gorgeous, brilliant girl was kneeling in the middle of his bed without a single stitch of clothing covering her skin, dangling a pair of handcuffs from the tip of a beautiful finger. "Dani, you are…"

"Waiting for you, Charlie. Are you ready for your punishment, my bad, bad little boy?" If he had any control left over his body, he would already be in the bed pinning her beautiful body to his sheets. As it was, Dani seemed to have all his nerves trapped in the shiny metal in her hand. All he could do at the moment was stare, fight to breathe, and nod. "Then bring me that apple and take off all your clothes."

"Yes, my love." One pretty little hand moved into reach and he put the apple in her palm with a slow stroke of his fingers along her skin. His hands were shaking as he fought down the long row of tiny buttons. His shoes thunked against the floor as he kicked them off. His belt clinked and clanked over the foot of the bed as his pants fell. Almost bare he stepped out of the bulk of his clothes and moved to climb into the bed.

"No, Charlie. I didn't give you permission to come to bed yet. Completely bare or you can't touch me."

She was definitely the one in control here. //That's my strong woman.\\ Charlie gave her a quick smile and traced his hands down his own chest on the way to his waistband. He loved the way her eyes followed the motion and her tongue licked her lips. Dani wanted him, wanted this… and it was beautiful. "Everything, Dani? As naked as you are?"

Her breath caught and he couldn't help a soft laugh at her rasp of a groan. "What do you think, Charlie? That I'd be here naked and not want you to join me?" Now he was the one groaning helplessly, watching her tiny gorgeous hands stroke down her thighs to dip between them. He wanted to be the one touching her. And if it took losing his clothes to do so… well, that was more than a fair trade.

"Anything, darling, but only if we save the cuffs for later. I need to touch you tonight. Cold metal just won't cut it for me right now." He watched her hands clench, knew the silky heat she was feeling around her fingertips, and nearly lost his ability to stand still. She had about two second to answer him before he would have to tackle her back to the sheets and plunge his fingers or his tongue between those gorgeous thighs. After he'd made her scream his name, then and only then he'd plunge the erection she was asking to see so deep inside her that they would both see stars. "Answer me, Dani, or I'll make the choice for you and you'll be wearing the bracelets."

She hesitated, her eyes trailing along his arms. Maybe she was imagining him in the handcuffs, all naked and desperate. Just like he wanted her. "Deal," Dani tossed the bracelets with a heavy clatter over the side of the bed. "Now lose the boxers and get over here."

"Always, Dani. You know that."

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