Arrested Heart Read online

  She’d been content in this town for a year, until Robert returned.

  Focusing once again on Brantley, she stepped toward his desk. “Ha! Your humor makes me laugh to the point I could vomit.” She rubbed her stomach. “Is that your lunch box there?” Leaning towards it, she pretended to get sick.

  Snatching his Spiderman container away from her reach, he growled, “Stop playing around people’s food, Danielle.”

  Shimmying her shoulders, she said, “Oh, it’s Danielle now. Watch it, Mark. I might think you’re sweet on me.”

  Danielle and the rest of the day team laughed as Mark’s face started to match his hair color.

  “Don’t give her a hard time, Brantley,” the chief barked, his words rough and gravelly from years of smoking. “She might keep herself model pretty, but she’ll be the one to squeeze into a bathroom window to save your big ass. If someone ever found a way to hold you hostage.” Chief Dennison walked up, causing the room to fall silent and the onlookers to begin fumbling around their desk to look busy.

  Brantley grumbled, but kept his mouth shut.

  Danielle hid her smile behind her hand.

  “Glad to see you’re well rested, Smith.” Chief Dennison moved in front of her, his massive shoulder, almost as wide as Brantley’s, blocked her view of everyone else behind him.

  “Thanks, Chief, for allowing me to come in a few hours late. It was just what I needed.” She was glad he didn’t know she’d spent her free hours having sex on the course instead of in her bed. For a moment, she wondered if he would’ve been pissed about how she used her time, but pushed it aside. Even if she had been caught, feeling Robert inside of her was always worth it.

  “Is the moon still orbitin’ Earth?”

  “What?” Danielle cleared her throat. “Sir? I’m sorry I didn’t hear you.”

  “That was evident.” His eyes squinted as he viewed her. “I said, the two men are bein’ transported to Tallahassee tonight. I want you, Brantley, and Willis to take’m down. You up to it?”

  She was supposed to meet with Robert tonight, but for the first time Chief Dennison seemed to be recognizing her existence. Since the day she showed up for work, she’d known the department hadn’t been expecting her. Danni Smith, as she’d been called at her last unit, a decorated officer in Atlanta must not have appeared to be a black woman on paper. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. I’ll let you all know what time. I’m waitin’ on word from the other end.” Turning, he started to head back to his office, then stopped. “By the way, Smith, you stepped up last night into a situation that could have turned deadly.” He eyed her petite frame as if assessing her worth as a cop with new eyes. “Good work.”

  “Thanks, sir.” She watched him walk away. Sitting down in her rolling chair, she didn’t attempt to hide the bold smile on her face. Someone whistle softly, and turning her head, Danielle glanced at Mandy Franklin, the other female cop.

  Mandy licked her finger and made a mark in the air.

  Nodding, Danielle let the other woman know she understood. By her heroic actions last night, she had not only brought recognition to herself but the other female officers on the force. The women were finally on the scoreboard. In a small town like Claremont, opportunities didn’t come around often.

  With hummingbirds of excitement buzzing in her stomach, Danielle pulled out her caseload and started working.

  Chapter Two

  Robert shuffled the documents on his desk. Tomorrow he needed to stop by the courthouse to drop off some papers. As a family and property lawyer in Claremont County, he didn’t get many grand cases, but they were usually time-consuming. Getting married was easy. However, once people added in money and children, things got complicated fast.

  “Alright, Wright, I’m outta here.” Lincoln Knowles, one of two senior partners, called from the door, chuckling at the humorous play on his name. “Margaret’s made my favorite dinner and I don’t like cold steak.”

  He glanced at the older man, one of his dad’s best friends, and took note of his immaculate state of dress. It was late, but Lincoln’s jacket was still on, his tie was straight and in place, not to mention the few strands of hair gracing the top of the man’s head hadn’t moved since nine o’clock that morning. Knowles appearance was a complete reversal of his own.

  “I don’t think there’s a red-blooded male who does.” Robert’s own stomach growled.

  Knowles laughter rumbled in the room. “I guess you bes’ be gettin’ out soon, too. Otherwise, your stomach’s goin’ to start eatin’ you from the inside out.”

  “I can’t let that happen.” Robert rubbed his vociferous belly. “I’ll call an order into Smokie or Jack Rabbit Pizza before I head home.”

  Scratching the stubble on his jaw, Knowles sighed. “See, that’s what’s wrong with you single guys, too much bad eatin’.”

  “Long hours at work, then longer hours over a hot stove, not for me.” Robert settled back in his chair.

  “That’s because you need to get you a wife.”

  Robert groaned.

  Knowles continued. “On Saturday, the general and I were talking about that on the green.”

  I bet you all were.

  “You know, Stephanie Maxwell has blossomed out to be quiet a lady.”

  “Has she. I can’t say that I’ve noticed,” he lied. Stephanie had made sure he noticed every aspect of her surgically perfected body, at every turn. “She’s been my sister’s best friend since childhood. Snaggletooth Stephie is all I see when I look at her.”

  “Well, that’s a shame.” Knowles shook his head. “Take a better look the next time you’re around her.”

  “I’ll try to remember,” Robert replied, not committing to anything, especially when it came to Stephanie.

  “A man starting out in his career needs to have roots, family.” Not waiting for a response, Knowles turned and left.

  Leaning forward, Robert ran a hand around the back of his neck and squeezed. Knowles didn’t say anything to him that he hadn’t said to himself over the last few months. He was ready for a wife, more than ready, but he doubted if the woman he wanted to marry would want him. He probably should set his sights on Stephanie. She’d at least be an easy catch. However, he didn’t desire Stephanie. Not because of the reason he’d given Knowles, but with Stephanie what you saw was exactly what you got. There was no depth to her.

  Danielle. She had depth and layers that he’d yet to peel back. Just thinking her name stirred places deep inside of him that not only made his cock come to attention, but squeezed his heart. Sitting back in his chair, he dragged a hand through his hair. She was supposed to call him Saturday but hadn’t. Sunday nights he always spent with his family, but when he got home, he’d been greeted by the delicious sound of her voice on his answering machine wishing him a good night.

  Refocusing on the affidavits in front of him, he attempted to keep himself from clock watching.

  When Kenny Roger’s The Gambler began to play, Robert reached over and grabbed his cell phone as it blinked and bounced around on the side of his desk.

  Reading the name in the screen, he answered. “Hi, beautiful.”

  “Hi yourself.”

  Danielle’s soft husky whisper caused his blood flow to head directly south. “Are you still at work?”

  “No, I’m in the parking lot of Duncan and Knowles.”

  Springing from his seat, he crossed the carpet to the window and pushed the blinds back to see Danielle sitting in her burgundy Altima. His office window faced the back of the building. The parking lot was his only view. It was empty except for Danielle’s car next to his midnight blue F-150.

  She waved and he smiled.

  “Do you want me to come out?” He stared at her across the twenty-five foot gap.

  Shaking her head, she opened her car door. “No, I want to come inside and play.” Standing beside her car, she waited. “May I?”

  The erotic indications in her voice and the view of her standi
ng in a light orange summer dress with her hair still pinned back in her normal work style made heat race down his spine. It let him know she’d rushed to change, he hoped in anticipation to see him.

  “Undress.”

  “Out here?” she asked, a slight hesitation apparent in her words. Her head turned slightly to the left looking at the parking lot’s single entryway, then returned toward him.

  “Yes. Complete nudity is your access pass. Will you pay it?” He knew this request was bold, but they had done things that made this simple request minimal in nature. All of the other times had been in the privacy of one of the hotels in a neighboring county, except the night she’d asked him to have sex with her on the golf course. That had added another arena to their playing field.

  Danielle didn’t respond, instead she closed her cell phone.

  He watched her as she turned back toward her car. At first, he thought she’d decided to go home, but he noticed she pulled a small rolling case from her backseat. Then moved to the front of her car, she paused and glanced around again.

  Her slight nervousness heightened his level of arousal.

  Looking directly at him, she slipped the tiny straps of her dress off her shoulders. His dick twitched to life. Pushing and wiggling, the garment moved down the length of her small luscious frame. The sight of her bare breasts bouncing with the movement of her body thickened his shaft to an almost unbearable degree. Soon he would need to undo his slacks.

  Stepping out of the dress, she placed it in a simple fold on top of the bag. Clad only in panties and white sandals, she settled into her roll of seductress. Smiling, she turned, giving him her profile as she hooked her thumbs in the side of her pearl white underwear. The pale color next to her cinnamon skin made his mouth water to taste the hidden treasure behind the lacy material.

  Bending forward, she pulled her feet out of the leg holes and gave him a delicious view of her round plump ass. One he’d enjoyed being inside many times. Lowering his hand, he stroked his hard length behind the stretched fabric of his pants.

  Dialing her number, he called her as she deposited her underwear on her dress.

  “Leave the heels,” he instructed when she answered. “Come to me.”

  “I’m close to that already.” Her giggle was breathy, letting him know she was just as aroused.

  “Can’t wait to see.” He snapped his phone shut, then walked to the back door of the firm.

  Strutting to the door with confidence, Danielle walked as if she were an executive strolling through the airport to catch a flight. She paused before him. “Do I meet the pay requirement?”

  Lowering his eyes to her erect chocolate nipples, he said, “And then some.” Winking, he asked, “What’s with the bag?”

  Moving through the open door so he could close it, Danielle pressed her body against his. “I thought you might want something to eat.”

  “You were right. But, at this moment what’s between your legs seems more appealing than whatever you have in that bag.”

  Laughing, her hands slid up the front of his shirt, squeezing the muscles of his chest as she passed. When her hand wrapped around the back of his neck, she pulled him down to her.

  Placing her lips on his, she kissed him deeply and passionately. She nipped at his bottom lip until he opened for her and permitted her tongue entrance. Dueling with her, his tongue conquered and entered her mouth. He took command of the kiss and her body. Pulling her closer, his hands circled her small waist, loving the supple warmth of her skin.

  Venturing lower, he cupped her firm ass, holding her in place along his hard length. His hand moved down between her thighs and stroked her pussy, discovering her words had been true, she was soaking wet. The exhibition had turned her on as much as it did him.

  Her moan vibrated into his mouth as the kiss continued. The sweet recess of her mouth tempted him just as much as her moist sex. Danielle’s legs parted wider, allowing him more access to her slick womanhood. Pushing two fingers into her tight cunt, he used his other hand to smack one enticing globe.

  She gasped into his mouth at the impact of his hand. He continued to kiss and fondle her, not allowing her a reprieve.

  His thumb lay along the crease of her ass as he pumped his fingers in and out of her pliant sex. The second slap came with more force. She squeezed the column of his neck with one hand and his shoulder with the other, but didn’t cease in returning his kiss this time. Arching her hips out, she availed herself to his discipline.

  Leaning back onto the wall behind him, he found his rhythm between spanking, feasting on her mouth and stroking her sex. The sound of each strike echoed in the hallway. By the fifth slap to her ass, she started trembling. Before he arrived at the eleventh whack, her flesh was hot to his touch and her kisses inconsistent. She was close to coming.

  “Stay with me, beautiful.” He refused to allow her a reprieve, knowing the longer she held off, the greater the orgasm would be. The words were for himself as well, he was so hard it was painful not to release.

  The fifteenth time his hand met the heated skin was Danielle’s undoing. She climaxed screaming into his mouth as her thigh trapped his other hand in a vice-like grip. Pulling back, he placed a kiss on her cheek as he petted her tender behind. Resting her head on his shoulder, her chest rose and fell as she filled her lungs while her body calmed.

  Once the trembling quieted to an occasional tremor, he set her away from him.

  “Follow me.” He led her past the other offices until they arrived at his own. Closing the door behind, he stopped in front of his desk. “Would you like to show me what’s in the bag, now?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’d prefer to bring your arousal to a tolerable level as you did for me.”

  “What do you suggest?” If she asked him to get inside of her, they would never eat. He would be making love to her for hours. After they ate, he wanted to take her to his house and stay between her thighs until the sun came up.

  Rolling her bag beside his desk, she approached him with bright eyes glowing from her recent climax and seduction. “However you want it.”

  “On your knees.”

  “You must have read my mind.” Smiling, she lowered herself and sank down to the carpet.

  Chuckling, he told her, “Then show me what you’ve been thinking about.”

  “My pleasure.” Reaching out, she made quick work of his belt and fastenings, then pushed his slacks to his thighs.

  A rush of air entered his mouth when her hands pulled his hard length out of his underwear. Her touch was gentle but firm. The same confidence she’d shown in her walk, she exhibited in her stroke. Since the summer after his graduation when he’d shown her how he liked to be touched, she’d never forgotten.

  Pulling the pins from her hair, he dropped them to the floor, not caring how they scattered. In a few hours, the cleaning crew would come in and find them. He and Danielle would be nestled in his bed by then. Fingering the hair around her shoulder, he watched her pump and squeeze him from base to tip.

  When the clear bead of moisture seeped out, she leaned forward and captured it on her tongue. For a moment, he shut his eyes, feeling the smooth glide of her tongue as it licked the slit, then circled his engorged head. Her mouth closed over him and slid down his length.

  Opening his eyes only enough to observe her, his spine tightened as a significant amount of his cock disappeared between her full lips. Drawing on his stiff rod, her head bobbed back and forth and her fingers continued to contract, pulling him at the base.

  If her mouth wasn’t providing torture enough, her other hand caressed his thighs and balls, clutching and rolling them. Humming, she let him know how much she enjoyed pleasuring him.

  Her fervent attention was his undoing. Gripping her hair, he held her in place as he fucked her delicious mouth. Pumping and rotating her hands in time with his thrusts, she brought him to his breaking point.

  His growl was almost animalistic as he came.

  * * * * />
  Pure delight swirled in the pit of Danielle’s stomach as Robert’s cum coated the back of her throat thick and warm. Swallowing, she continued to suckle him, loving the jerks his body made in response.

  “Enough,” he barked, his voice rough with exertion. Robert pulled away from her.

  Giving the glistening semi-erect length one final squeeze, she released him. Rising, she brushed her thumb below her bottom lip and removed the small droplet of Robert’s fluid that had escaped.

  After straightening his clothes, he pulled her into a hug. She settled herself against his chest. She loved his height and strength. His embrace always made her feel protected and supported. Those emotions had always been missing from her life. Until Robert.

  “How was work?”

  Glancing up at him, she said, “Good. Yours?”

  Kissing the tip of her nose, then her lips, he gazed into her eyes. “Even better now.”

  “So, are you ready for some food?”

  She laughed as his stomach answered for him. Walking over to her bag, she moved her clothes to his chair, opting to stay nude, then opened the case. Removing a blanket, she placed it on the floor. Curling up on the side, she began to unload the contents.

  “Oh, baby, what did you do, clean out Southern Pride Restaurant?” Robert sat beside her on the blanket, idly rubbing her legs. “Millie probably had to close down for the night.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, darlin’, but I cooked all of this.” Smiling at his shocked expression, she popped the lids off the array of food, showing him the fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans and rolls.

  Dancing his fingers up her thighs, he asked, “When did you have time to do all this?”