Page 153 of Beyond the Badge: Crew

His palm struck her so hard, she jolted against him. “Damn!” Once she breathed through the sting, she urged him to, “Do it again.”

“Are you in a position to make demands?”

Actually, she was since she was sure he’d comply with anything she asked. However, this wasn’t serious, it was all play to her.

Foreplay they both got off on.

“I’d say yes.”

“Wrong.”

His serious, even slightly dangerous, tone made her laugh, but she choked on it as he swatted her ass again. This time on the other cheek.

Holy shit.It hurt so damn good.

She might have a bruise after this. Not on her ass, but on her lower stomach where his cock pressed. If possible, he was now even harder.

She wiggled against him just enough to cause him to groan. “Now I see why you couldn’t do this naked.”

As she waited for the next strike, it didn’t come.

She figured he was holding off so she wouldn’t anticipate the next one. But as the seconds ticked off, she didn’t feel the movement of his body as he lifted his arm or the rush of air as he let it drop.

“Crew…” As she tried to flip over to see what the problem was, he pressed a hand against her back to keep her in place.

Could she get free? Of course. It wouldn’t take much.

But something was up…

Was he having second thoughts? A panic attack? Was he frozen in fear?

Holy shit…

“I knew it,” she whispered, then repeated it a lot louder. “I knew it!”

“Shut up, Cami.”

She’d been right. He was scared to death about where this was headed.

If she had to admit it, she was, too.

But unlike him, her reason didn’t have anything to do with an evil ex making her life miserable. Wasn’t the saying… Once burned, twice shy?

She might not have escaped a bad relationship—though, he’d never really escape since he shared two children with his ex—the point of her coming to Pittsburgh was to catch bad guys.

Not feelings.

That was exactly what happened. And blazing quick, too.

They were supposed to be keeping things simple, but once emotions became involved… Shit could get complicated.

Fast.

“Crew…” she tried again.

“Cami, no.”

Oh yeah, the Teflon armor he most likely donned whenever he had any kind of intimacy with a woman must have dislodged and left a gap just large enough for those feelings to slip through.

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