Prisoner of Desire Read online

  Sighing, she got dressed. There was no use in her dwelling on this. It would just bring her down. Heading to the kitchen, she grabbed a cup of yogurt and piece of fruit on her way to work. Warning herself not to waste time in ruminating on a moment in time that probably would never happen again, she got into her patrol car and headed to the station. She’d play this situation at a distance and see if something came from it. However, doubt was already tickling the edges of her mind.

  Chapter Three

  The sound of a basketball smacking against the high-gloss wood flooring greeted Steve as he entered the gymnasium at the fitness center. This was just what he needed: a little physical endurance to relax his body and take away the anxiety of still not being able to figure out his mystery woman over the last two weeks. Hell, he didn’t even know where to start. She was an elusive scent that continued to haunt him.

  The usual crowd was already on the court. Wyatt McCall, Dale Moore, and Mark Brantley—their town’s Shaq when it came to basketball, he was a mountain of a man. As usual, Chief Dennison, Peter Somerton, one of his tellers, and the only female player, Mandy Franklin. She was better than most guys. That wasn’t unexpected since she’d been MVP her last two years in high school on the girls’ basketball team and was always here on her days off playing pickup games, like now. It was almost laughable to see Dale Moore, a short stout guy, trying to guard her.

  “Hey, Steve, why don’t you jump on in and cover Mandy and help Dale, because he’s getting pummeled.” Wyatt called out as he dipped past Peter and drove toward the basket.

  “Yeah, Steve, you’re her size, you’ll have better luck. She’s walkin’ over top of me.” Dale ran off the court and sat down on one of the wooden benches on the side lines and tried to catch his breath.

  Tossing his towel onto the bench, Steve laughed at Dale. “Don’t worry, I came here for a challenge. Let’s see if Mandy is up to giving it to me.”

  Trash talk was part of the game and he loved it. Smiling at Mandy, Steve crossed the line onto the court to square off with her.

  Mandy didn’t respond with any of her normal flippant manner and Steve considered that only for a moment as he got into the game.

  As the game progressed, his side had gone from 4 to 11 and turned it around to 15 to 13. He’d managed to get a three-point shoot past Mandy and she barely gave him any defense. There was something about Mandy that disturbed him on a pure elemental level. Instead of admiring her skills with the Spalding, he had caught himself watching the sway of her hips when she had the ball. It was what he was supposed to be doing to judge which direction an opponent may shift, but that hadn’t been the kind of watching he’d become aware he was doing. The scores he had added to the board amazed him since he wasn’t feeling completely on his game. He’d played with her too many times to go and get hormonal now.

  “Get your head in the game, Mandy,” Chief called out to her.

  “You know this game isn’t for little girls.” Steve reverted to his comfort zone, smack talk. Maybe he could keep his own mind in the game.

  “Whatever,” Mandy finally commented, and she dribbled the ball as her eyes darted from his to the area around him as though trying to plan an escape to the basket. Beads of sweat slipped down her neck and disappeared below her t-shirt collar. The urge to see where it went assailed him.

  Unlike the other players on the court whose faces were dripping with perspiration, Mandy’s only carried a light sheen of moisture.

  “I’m more man than Dale, if you want that basket you have to work for it.” He threw his hand out toward the ball.

  She shifted away from him guarding it.

  He shuffled and stepped back in front of her.

  She smiled. “Sorry, guess I lost you for a minute there.”

  “I can handle anything you give me, Mandy, darlin’.”

  Her gaze locked with his for a moment.

  Shit, why’d he call her darlin’? This was basketball, not an evening out at the Dirty Dozen.

  “Bring her to me, Steve. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get that shoot.” Brantley the mountain called out.

  That was normally how it worked. Brantley was his side’s defense strategy, it was almost impossible to get a shot off with him eclipsing the basket. Her side recognized that, so they played a three-point game.

  This whole time he had been slowly pressing Mandy inside the three-point line. It made sense, dig into her so hard that she had no choice but to go for the basket or pass. Lead her to Brantley, his mind kept shouting to him.

  Instead, he continued the chase. He couldn’t let her go. By the time she went for the hook shoot over the rim, he was standing so close she bumped against him. Her stomach pressed against the side of his face and he was caught up in a fog of sensual delight as Mandy’s scent enveloped him. Aroused him.

  He wasn’t sure, nor did he care whether or not she had made the shot. His senses were inundated by the smell of ginger and honey, a spicy mixture that was all woman. It was normal for her body to graze along his as she came back down to her feet, but the intensity of blood filling up his cock in his shorts was not normal whatsoever. But, what else would he have expected to happen when his member realized what he was pretty certain of…Mandy was his mystery woman.

  There she stood before him, breathing hard, her gaze locked with his. The rapid rise and fall of her breasts tempted him. For a moment, he could swear there was something in her gaze, as if she wanted to say something.

  “Good game, Mandy. We could have had them if not for the giant.” Chief Dennison’s voice interrupted them and Mandy turned away.

  “Good game. We’ll get them next time.” Peter Somerton, his employee, smacked her on the ass.

  Steve wanted to break his fucking hand off, the powerful urge shocked him. Dragging his hands across his face and burying them into his hair, he attempted to clear his mind. He was letting one scent get him out of control.

  “She’s tough to defend. I knew you could handle her.” Dale brought his towel to him.

  “Thanks, man.” Steve wasn’t thanking him for the towel, more for breaking his thought pattern. If it was true that Mandy was the woman from the moonwalk exhibit, he had to figure out what to do about the situation.

  “You liftin’, Steve?” Brantley stood by the door leading to the weight room.

  “Yea, I’m comin’.”

  “See you later,” Dale called out.

  All the players yelled out goodbyes as they broke-up and went separate ways. Mandy disappeared into the women’s locker room.

  Did she know it had been him? He considered that thought as he headed up to the weight room with Brantley.

  It was doubtful that she could see any more than he could in that exhibit.

  So, what was he going to do now? Did he want to pursue her or just leave well enough alone? His body vetoed the thought of leaving her alone. He’d never considered Mandy anything other than a friend, another player on the court. After what happened on the court today he knew he would no longer be able to think of her as “just one of the guys.”

  Thoughts ran through his head as to what he should do. He couldn’t see himself approaching her and confessing being the freak that had accosted her at the Fourth fair. She was a cop. She would probably have him arrested on the spot. It most likely would be best for him to leave it alone. Leave her alone.

  Memories of how hard she had come in his hand and how willingly she’d obeyed his commands seduced his mind and body. If he wasn’t careful, the erection that had just subsided would be back once again. He had a lot to think about. There were valid reasons on one side why he shouldn’t go after her and just as many reasons or positions on why his body wanted him to pursue her.

  * * * *

  Mandy sat on the long bench in front of her locker. Her heart was pounding as if it planned to leap out of her chest at any moment. She’d been operating on half a brain since the moment he walked into the court area. Her senses were like radar honed to his fr
equency. It had taken every ounce of thought to remember the basic skills of the game and not get lost in his golden eyes. Who had golden eyes?

  Steve did. Beautiful golden eyes that she didn’t get a chance to gaze into in that darkened exhibit. Sexy eyes that made her panties wet. It had taken most of her strength to continue to play the game with him surrounding her, all in her space, when what she really wanted to do was drop the ball and run her hands over his body. See if his eyes darkened when he became aroused. Hell, could she arouse him? Was there anything about herself that might turn him on?

  Could she cause this same needy feeling she was experiencing in Steve? For a moment when their bodies had connected she’d thought she felt something between them, an electric charge. Sighing, she looked to her right at a long mirror against the wall and studied herself. Her hair was black, long and thick, almost to the center of her back. With all of the sweat and running around, there were wavy strands sticking out around her like a frizzy halo. Some of the strands were stuck to the side of her face. Her light brown skin was flushed from exertion and her neck was drenched with sweat that had saturated her shirt.

  She shook her head at the image she portrayed. There was no way this exhibited a sex kitten look. Picking up her towel, she wiped her face and neck, looking away. Whatever she had felt between them had been one-sided and purely from her own imagination. Gathering her things out of her locker, she headed toward the door. A million and one thoughts were running through her mind, most of them surrounding Steve. If she didn’t like what she saw reflecting back in the mirror, it was time for her to make some changes. She’d played the tomboy long enough now, it was time for her to see if she could discover the woman within and make Steve want her.

  * * * *

  “Danni, can I talk to you about something?” Mandy asked as she slipped into the passenger side of the vehicle alongside Officer Smith, soon to become Officer Wright after her marriage. Too much love was in the air in Claremont County, maybe that was her problem.

  “Sure you can.” Danni, the other black female cop on the force, turned and smiled at her. “What’s up?”

  Chief Dennison had assigned them to town patrol and Mandy planned to use this time to her advantage. “How do you look like you do every day?”

  Brows scrunched, Danni eyed her for a moment, then backed up the patrol car and steered it out the gates behind the station. “Like what?”

  Mandy waved her hand along Danni’s form. “Like you do. Pretty. Attractive. Even your uniform doesn’t fit like mine.”

  “You’re not about to come on to me are you, Mandy?”

  She would have taken offense to the statement if it wasn’t for the wink from Danni. But, it wouldn’t have been something she hadn’t heard before. As a black female who played basketball and worked as a cop, she’d heard the rumors about herself in town. She’d always brushed those comments aside, but now she wanted to prove to everyone and herself that she could be just as beautiful and feminine as any other woman in the county.

  “You’re cute, but not my type. You’re missing one major piece of equipment. About ten inches worth.”

  Danni joined her in laughter as they headed into town, driving a few miles lower than the speed limit to scan the streets. It was summertime; teenagers were always up to no good. In the last year a lot of drug issues had been coming up as well in their small town and changing the climate of Claremont. There was always a hidden edge of danger as if something was going to happen.

  “Are you calling me the Barbie doll of the station and saying how you don’t understand why I became a cop, or is there something else?”

  Mandy knew what her friend referred to, but not many of the guys razzed Danni about it much since she had saved Liza Wright from a bunch of kidnapping drug runners. “Something else.” She glanced across the seat at her friend, then out the window of the squad car. It was hard for her to ask for help. “I want to be a woman. Feel like a woman.”

  “Unless you’re packing extra equipment, I’d say you already are a woman.” Danni smiled.

  Sighing, Mandy kept staring out the front window. “Physically I am, but I want to be more.”

  “More. In what way?” Danni spoke quietly.

  Unsure if the other woman was matching her tone or not, Mandy went on to say, “It wouldn’t hurt to walk into a room and have men looking at me for longer than a glance.”

  Silence echoed in the car.

  “First, I’d like say that I consider you a friend and I make it a point not to lie to my friends.”

  Biting the side of her lip, Mandy gazed at Danni, trying to decide if she wanted to hear what honesty her friend would provide.

  “You are more beautiful than you know. I think you hide behind your tough exterior and your gun. I believe a lot of guys look at you, but aren’t sure how to approach you or if you will take their head off if they do.”

  Mandy figured that was probably part of the reason she always attracted weak men who wanted her to control them. Not her cup of tea. “I agree. That’s why I’m coming to you. So, now what?”

  “Now, I help you discover who the real Mandy Franklin is outside of her uniform.”

  Laughter bubbled up from her stomach. “Be warned, I’m not even sure who she is. Hell, I don’t even know if I’ve ever met her before.”

  Danni’s giggle was light and airy, feminine. “Have no fear, you’ll love her.”

  Not responding, Mandy continued to observe the streets as Danni maneuvered the car into a parking area so they could walk around. She wasn’t so worried about if she liked herself or not, instead she considered for a moment what Steve would think of her.

  * * * *

  Steve’s spine was on fire. He awakened with his dick as hard as a brick. It throbbed inside of his fist now as he thrust into his own tight hold. He felt like a mad man. His dreams had been abducted by the titillating scent of ginger and honey. Mandy’s scent.

  He could still hear her moans replayed from the night of Independence Day as she had climaxed, responding to his command. His fingers recalled the clenching motion of her sex and the sensation of being drenched by the liquid running from her pussy.

  Damn, he wished he’d had a chance to taste her. Lick her from clit to ass.

  Now, she had a face, and every night he dreamed of her since discovering the truth on the court. Every morning without fail, he awakened in near panic as he fucked his own hand.

  Shit, this is insane. He couldn’t go on like this. His mind attempted to rationalize with him, but his body only cared about one thing, finding release.

  He couldn’t stop the madness. Discovering a blissful end was the only way for him to be functional throughout his day. He’d stayed away from the gym until he figured out how to approach Mandy without his cock waving its head high. He had to keep his distance.

  The blaze moved from his spine and shifted down into his balls, making them draw up below his shaft. His climax was imminent.

  Flipping himself over, he gripped the top of the bed with one hand underneath his pillows, and the other remained locked around his member as he thrust his hips forcefully against the mattress. In his imagination he envisioned the sight, sound, and experience of fucking Mandy. Imprinting her body with his and driving every inch of his dick into her until he had marked her with his scent. Possessing her. Claiming her as his.

  He came hard with the words, jerking and roaring his release.

  “Fuck!” Sweet pain erupted through his entire body as he pumped his semen onto his sheets.

  Trembling, he lay replete, yet unfulfilled.

  His own hand could give him release but not satisfaction.

  Finally able to get up from the bed, he removed the sheets and chucked them into the laundry basket as he stumbled his way to the shower.

  * * * *

  “I brought reinforcements.” Danni announced on Mandy’s porch, standing with her soon to be sister in-law, Liza.

  Great, another person she would tower
over. Mandy frowned at both ladies, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. “Any reason you two are here at the ass crack of dawn?”

  Pushing past her; Danni entered the house trailed by Liza. Liza had recently dyed her hair a brilliant red color for her pending wedding.

  “Good afternoon, Mandy.”

  Grumbling, Mandy closed the door and glanced at the clock on her wall. “It’s barely eleven.” This was still prime sleeping time. Mandy had three days off to regulate herself to the next shift she would begin next week.

  “That’s right, doll-face. We have already lost precious time at the mall,” Danni announced.

  “Which means all the good clothes on sale will be gone,” Liza told her.

  Mandy ran her hand over her hair. She had no doubt it was a mess. Last night she had dropped into a dead sleep after getting off work and never put it into a French braid to keep it tamed. Tossing and turning most of the night, she worried if she had done the right thing in asking Danni to help her.

  “Come on, girl, we have a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time,” Liza finished.

  “Can’t we just order online?” Mandy asked.

  “Not going to happen.” Liza gave her a shove in the direction of her room.

  For a pint sized woman, she was strong, Mandy discovered.

  “Fine!” Mandy called over her shoulder, she realized she didn’t stand a chance at backing out with the two miniature forces of shopping nature in her living room. “Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge.”