Page 41 of Out of Control

“Hands where I can see them!” I demanded. She held her hands up, eyes wide, while she backed up several paces into her living room.

I slammed the door closed behind me and took out my handcuffs, gesturing for her to turn around so I could cuff her. Only then did the fire returnto her eyes.

“I don’t fucking think so!” she shouted, lowering her arms and folding them across her chest. “What are the charges?”

“Obstruction of justice,” I growled, following her retreat as she rounded first her little coffee table then the couch, me the hunter and her the prey. “Lying to a federal agent with intent to interfere with an official investigation. Tampering with evidence. Annoying the shit out of me. Take your pick.”

“I doubt you have a warrant for that last charge,” she challenged.

“I have reasonable suspicion that you’re frustrating as fuck, and I don’t need a warrant to enter and do what I need to with reasonable suspicion or risk of imminent danger,” I returned, shaking the cuffs in front of her face. “Give me your wrists.”

“I told you before, Lucas.” Why did the way she said my name make my stomach feel hot, my dick start to harden? Arresting a criminal shouldn’t turn me on, but I couldn’t remember her ever using my first name before. “There’s only one place I let a man give me orders, and certainly only one way I’d ever let him put handcuffs on me.”

I fought to keep in the groan. I’d like that, her being completely under my power, naked except for the metal of the handcuffs. I could imagine it with such clarity.

“I don’t care about your kinks,” I lied. “You’re under arrest, and when you’re my responsibility and under my control, you’re going to wear these cuffs like a good girl. I don’t want to deal with any more of your Krav Maga bullshit while we’re processing you down at the station.”

She scoffed, continuing to circle around the room until she was in front of some sort of whiteboard display, the couch and coffee table between us.

“Come on, Athena. Be a good girl for me,” I cajoled, fully expecting that to piss her off. Maybe the anger would be enough to keep me focused on what was important: bringing Athena in for questioning. “Do you want to put on the handcuffs for me or do I have to make you?”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Then we can add resisting arrest to the list of charges against you.”

I vaulted over the back of the couch, then stepped from the cushions to the coffee table until I was right in front of her, her body tensed for a fight. Good. I was primed and ready for it, aching to let some of this built up tension out.

“I don’t think you have it in you to actually arrest me,” she taunted. No matter what she said, she was waiting for it, ready for me to come at her. She was rolling her neck, shaking her head to flip her wavy hair back behind her shoulders. The brunette strands were really starting to curl again in some places, leaving her looking unkempt, a little rumpled, like she just slithered out of her bed again.

“Last chance, Athena. Turn around, put your hands against the wall, and spread your legs for me while I check you for weapons.” I wouldn’t be surprised if she hid a knife or ninja throwing stars or some shit on her person. Looking at her skimpy house clothes, I let my imagination wander as I imaged where she'd hide something. I could just see her splayed against the wall, back arching and ass sticking out of those tiny littleshorts with a knife holster strapped to her spine, or to each of her thighs Lara Croft-style.

But she hadn’t moved an inch during my moment of daydreaming, so I spoke again.

“Now, Athena,” I said, meeting her fiery gaze dead on.

She narrowed those eyes at me. “I swear if you put your hands on me you’ll get so much more than you bargained for.” Was it just me or were her nipples just so fucking hard as they pebbled against her top?

“I’m counting on it. Go ahead. Assault me. I’m ready to throw the book at you, baby.” I held my hands out palms up in a come-and-get-it motion, urging her to come at me. I learned my lesson from the airport. She needed to make the first move if I wanted that last charge of assaulting a federal officer to stick.

Her eyes blazed, thinking hard. She was a smart woman and knew what I was waiting for, but still lifted one hand, placing it against my shoulder to give me a firm shove backward. “Back the fuck off of me and get the hell out of my house, Lucas.”

Lucas.The way she said my name still sizzled down my spine. I thought I was alert before, but that one word had enough passion and intensity to keep me going for the rest of my life.

But she made the first move, so what I did from here on out could be classified as justifiable force as she resisted arrest.

I grabbed the wrist connected to the hand that shoved me, but she broke free from my grip before I even had a proper hold, twisting around so she had my arm locked behind my backinstead.

“Did you take Krav Maga and martial arts classes for self-defense for five years?” she taunted playfully in my ear. “Because I did. You won’t pin me unless I want to be pinned.”

“Not true,” I grunted. “I could always fight dirty.”

I threw my head back. She dodged the hit like I knew she would, but I still made contact with her clavicle. I didn’t have much momentum with the hit, so it probably surprised her more than hurt her, but she let go of me, backing up a few paces.

“You’d hit a girl?” Her look of shock was over-dramatized as she tried to hide a smirk. She was clearly enjoying this as much as I was.

“I don’t think of you as just any girl, Athena. I think you’re averybad girl and I need to teach you the consequences of your actions.”

I stepped into her circle again and she swiped out with her leg. I let it make contact with me, ready for the inevitable loss of balance as I was knocked toward the floor, but I was prepared, tensing my back to take the brunt of the fall so I could use both hands to grab her bare thigh on the way down, my fingers gripping her smooth skin to pull her down to the carpet with me.

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