Blackmailed Into Bed (Louisiana Liaisons 2)

"I am not. I c-can't believe you just said th-that." Her voice was shaking.

"Well, I can arrest you for having an open container-"

She cut him off. "I can't get arrested. I'm a teacher!"

"I don't want to arrest you. I want you to follow me to my house and we can decide what the penalty is going to be for letting me believe you had a husband all this time." He reached through the open window and touched her for the first time. His big, rough hand slid to her ear, and his thumb rubbed across her top lip. Lightning speared through her.

"That's blackmail." It was whispered. The movement of her mouth brushed her lips against his thumb. She stared up into his eyes.

"Semantics. I've wanted you for a long time. You knew I thought you were married. That bullshit lie won't work anymore. Follow me home. Now." He turned and walked away.

Chapter Two

Amy parked her car in his double driveway next to his pick-up. The drive to his house had been accomplished in under five minutes. The whole way, she tried to contain the hysteria so close to the surface. She didn't really think he would arrest her. But she didn't know for sure. Was that just her excuse to come here, to be alone with him?

She turned the key off and pulled it out of the ignition. She sat in shock while he came around and opened her door. Her hand trembled as he picked it up and helped her out. She stood next to him. She couldn't remember ever standing this close to him before. He was always so intimidating with his height and build. She tended to stay across the room when he and his partner had control of her kids. Before tonight, she had never touched him. Not even a handshake. When they were introduced, she had been standing in front of her students, and never came close. She remembered smiling at him, but she was too nervous to get close. Even in a classroom setting, he always looked ready to pounce.

"Okay Amy, inside." He reached across her seat and grabbed her bags. The car door slammed with a final click. He took her hand again and started dragging her to the back door. She looked around in a daze as he unlocked the door and stepped back to let her enter. She hesitated, then crossed the threshold into the kitchen. The door slammed shut. She turned to face him, like she was facing her executioner. Trepidation colored her eyes.

He lounged indolently against the door. "I've got you now."

Fear and excitement slid through her. Her fantasies had never been this bold, this tangible. Her heartbeat slammed into her lungs making breathing difficult.

She watched him leaning there, his posture oozing satisfaction. She knew. She always knew he wanted her.

He was so tall. He was at least a couple of inches over six feet. And she was--well, she was very puny. His shoulders were wide. His biceps bulging through the sleeves of his tee shirt. The holster wrapped around his shoulders, the gun clinging to him, part of him. His jeans molded lovingly to his thighs, his booted feet were crossed casually at the ankles.

"I don't remember telling you my first name. How did you know?" She tried to make her voice sound casual. She was a mess inside.

"I ran your plates." His voice was clipped.

"Oh. I see. And do I get to know your name, Lieutenant?" She would be just as cool as he was. She could do this. Even if her thoughts were racing and her nerves were screaming.

"Jake." His short, concise answers were starting to make her tension escalate. She wanted to demand an explanation for his actions, but was afraid to. One wrong word from her might provoke him.

Jake watched the gorgeous woman in front of him. He had wanted her from the first moment he saw her. She was maybe medium height, fine-boned, and delicate. He knew he could pick her up with one hand. Her hair was dark, almost black, like his. It was long, and fell in soft waves around her face and shoulders. Her eyebrows were delicate slashes emphasizing those cat shaped eyes. She was so fucking hot. He felt another rush of blood to his groin and tension started to grip him. Shit, when she had said she wasn't married, he felt like he had hit the jackpot. Never before in his life had he even been tempted to commit adultery. She was a temptation that had fucked with him for ten weeks.

He stared at the curves of her body.

She wasn't dressed like a teacher tonight. No, she was dressed like she was going out with her friends. Her single friends. Good thing he had stopped that. If she ran around Baton Rouge looking like that, some asshole would snatch her up before he even got a chance at her. It was a good thing she fell into his hands tonight.

He pushed off the door and straightened to his full height. Amy took a step back in alarm. It was one thing to innocently dream about this. It was another thing, in reality. He started walking toward her, his intention obvious. She backed up and looked around in agitation.

"Stop." She held her hand up to ward him off. "Wait." She sucked in a breath as he stopped. He looked at her and waited.

"What?" His one syllable answers were going to be the death of her. "Why do you want me to stop? You want it just as much as I do." She shook her head in denial. He started toward her again. "Don't lie to me. It's why you tried so hard to ignore me for ten weeks."

She backed up until she hit the wall. He followed.

He reached out and took her chin in his hand and lifted her face up to his. His eyes tangled with hers. "You know I want you bad. You knew it the day we met. Why would you deny this?" His finger ran down one smooth cheek. He lifted her hair away from her face and gripped her scalp. "All that time. All those weeks. I could tell I did it for you. I thought you were just trying to be a good little wife, and stay the hell away from me." He pushed his pelvis into her stomach. She gasped and closed her eyes. "So why have you been running scared?" He ran his hand from her scalp down to her neck. He encircled it with one big hand. Her eyes flew open. His eyes blazed into hers. Their inhalations became audible. He moved to caress her face again. He put his other hand on her waist and gripped her.

A fine tremor gripped her body as she turned her face away from him to look at the wall. She shook her head in denial. "I don't have to answer you. I don't want this." Her eyes slowly turned back to his. "And you're scaring me." She turned her face away from him again.

Jake let out a hiss of frustration. He moved back from her body and lifted his hands in the air in slow exaggeration. "I'm not going to rape you, babe. Believe it or not, I've never had to force a woman to have sex with me. You're safe." His eyes roved over her body, held so stiffly away from him. "As safe as you want to be."

Silence met his words. He could feel the apprehension gripping her. This wasn't going to get him what he wanted. "I swear, sweetheart. I'm not going to hurt you." He tried to inject a teasing tone. "In fact, you'll have to beg me to so much as kiss you." Her breath came out in a sigh at

his words. She turned to face him and slowly looked up. "You believe me, don't you?"