Blackmailed Into Bed Read online

  Blackmailed Into Bed

  by

  Lynda Chance

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  SMASHWORDS EDITION

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

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  Blackmailed Into Bed

  Copyright © 2011 by Lynda Chance

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author or publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

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  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  Dedication

  To Clayton,

  My hero in real life.

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  Chapter One

  Amy sat in her stalled car on the side of the busy interstate and tried not to panic. The big, black pick-up truck easing up behind her caused a sense of fear and relief at the same time. Her phone was dead, and she'd been sitting behind the wheel of her disabled vehicle for twenty minutes. It was going to be dark soon. She needed help, and she needed it now, before her situation became dangerous. Baton Rouge wasn't exactly a hotbed of crime, but in a city this large, anything could, and often did, happen.

  Her nervousness increased as the truck stopped, but the man behind the wheel didn't get out. She could see him talking on the phone in her rearview mirror. All she could make out was jet black hair and aviator style sunglasses.

  Oh, that black hair. Unbidden images of the man that haunted her fantasies every night came to her. The many times she touched that dark hair and tangled her fingers in it. Her hands gliding over the buttons of his uniform, and undoing them one by one. Intellectually, she knew that a man in uniform was just a cliché, but emotionally, she suspected that there was a lot more to it than that. That cop, in his uniform, had the power to make her hands tremble and her legs shake.

  In reality, she hadn't exchanged more than a few simple pleasantries with the D.A.R.E. policeman that came to her school and talked to her fifth graders every week. It was best that she kept the interaction between them to a minimum. Past events that formed who she was, wouldn't allow a man in law enforcement into her life.

  But the temptation. Oh, the temptation. Ten weeks. One hour a week. For ten long weeks, just the thought of him being in the building had been enough to cause a provoking blend of fascination and distress. But she had persevered, and the program was finished for the school year. She wouldn't have to see him again.

  Her thoughts focused on the present as the man in the truck stepped out of his vehicle. His body unfolded to his full height as he looked around and surveyed the scene. Her heart nearly stopped beating as she got a better look at him. Same height, same fantastic build, same arrogant swagger.

  It was him!

  He wasn't dressed like the man she knew from her school. He was off duty, for one thing. The street clothes emphasized his maleness in a way she wasn't used to. Her breath became snarled up in her throat.

  Her eyes detailed the differences. The jet black hair was the same, but that was about it. His eyes were hidden by those aviator sunglasses that all cops seemed to wear. He wore faded jeans and scuffed boots. His torso was covered in a black tee shirt that molded to his chest. And he had a leather shoulder holster and pistol clinging to his left side. Amy began to hyperventilate.

  He strolled toward her and reached out to place a hand on the roof of her car. He leaned down and looked in the window where she sat. That massive chest and gun were directly in her line of vision.

  "Mrs. Sanford. Having problems, Ma'am?" His words were low. Respectful. He had one of the deepest voices Amy had ever heard. It was the most prominent detail in her dreams.

  "L-lieutenant Fontenot, y-yes, I am." She couldn't keep from stammering with that big gun in her face. He was by far, the sexiest man Amy had ever met.

  "What happened?"

  "It just started spluttering. I p-pulled over and it died." Her words were shaky.

  "It's okay, Ma'am. You'll be all right." His words soothed. "Have you called your husband yet?"

  Amy paused at the question. Oh, God, here goes. "I'm not m-married." She felt like she was confessing a sin.

  Primal satisfaction engulfed him at her words. Not Married! The one and only thing that had kept him from pursuing her until she was naked and flat on her back in his bed was the husband he had erroneously believed she had. He had taken cold showers every night for ten long weeks after watching her sexy little body moving around the back of the classroom. Ten weeks of seeing her dressed in demure skirts or drab slacks and flat shoes. Teacher clothes. But nothing could hide those smooth curves and her hot, unconsciously sensual movements. It was like trying to contain fire behind cardboard. It burned through. It burned him. And now he could have it all.

  "Why the M.R.S.?" He bit out the letters in rapid succession and waited for an answer.

  Amy's confused mind tried to make sense of the letters. The acronym suddenly made sense. Her nerves cranked up a notch. He wasn't wasting any time. "Oh. Um, well, I was married. And I've worked at the school a long time. It just kind of stuck after the divorce. And I thought it was better for Kayla. My daughter." Relief washed through her as her voice didn't noticeably shake.

  "Where's Kayla now?" His voice was deep, patient.

  "I just took her to the airport. Since she turned fourteen, her father and I have been letting her fly by herself to see him in Dallas." This was more conversation than they had had in all of the previous ten weeks.

  "What about your boyfriend? Have you called him?" He knew he was digging, but didn't give a damn.

  "My phone is dead. And I don't have a boyfriend." His dark eyes burned into hers. She started shaking, and lowered her lashes in self defense.

  He moved his hands to the car door and looked his fill. She had on more make-up than usual. Her hair was loose and wild. He looked around the rest of the front of the car. She had a stack of school books and folders. And a small overnight case and a soft, material bag next to it. The top of a bottle stuck out of the bag.

  "What's in the bottle, Ms. Sanford?" The emphasis he put on the 'Ms' was markedly noticeable.

  She looked over at the bag in question. "It's a bottle of wine."

  "You haven't been drinking tonight, have you?" His voice was nonchalant.

  "No. Of course not. I brought it with me because I'm going to spend the night with my friend Renee tonight. I never drink and drive."

  "It looks like it's been open." His voice was still neutral, bored even.

  "Oh, yes. I opened it last weekend. I only ever have one glass of wine at a time. It usually takes me a month to finish a bottle." Her voice became strained with nerves.

  "You can't have an open container in your vehicle, Ms. Sanford." Again with the 'Ms.' He drawled it, spread it out over three syllables.

  "I don't have an open container. It's closed. See?" She pointed over to it.

  "Open container means the seal has been broken, Ms. Sanford. From now on, you might want to remember that. You're breaking the law." He watched a flush run over her
cheeks. She started to stammer again.

  "I'm s-sorry. I didn't know that. I don't ever break the law." She looked like she was going to cry.

  "Don't do it again. Now, pop the hood and let me take a look." His voice was distracted, already moving on to the problem at hand. She did as he said. He walked around to the front of the car and pushed up the hood. He fiddled with something for a few minutes. He looked around at her and said, "Give it a try." She turned the key and it started. He slammed the hood and walked back around to her.

  "You definitely need to have it serviced. It'll hold for now, but it's going to die again. I'm going to pull around and you can follow me to my house." He turned and started to walk away.

  "W-wait." She yelled at his retreating back. He slowly turned and sauntered back to her. He raised his eyebrows in question. "W-what do you mean, follow you to your house?"

  He stood there, looking in at her. His booted feet planted solidly apart. He was blatantly male, his biceps sinewy and bulging. The weapon strapped to his shoulder solidifying his stance of authority.

  "Well, Ms. Sanford, it's like this. Your bag is packed. It's Friday night and your daughter is away for the weekend. And you don't have a husband. You can forget your girlfriend tonight, you're coming to my house." His words were final.

  "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?"

  "Not really."

  "Not really? Are you serious? You think I'm desperate?" he teased her.

  He saw her mouth curve into a slight smile. Some of the tension ran from her body. It was all the opening he needed.

  He reached out and gently put his hands on her waist. He was careful to keep some space between them as he ran his hands up and down the curves of her waist. Her breath splintered as she felt him caress her. His hands ran from her waist to her shoulders and back again. Back down to her waist and slowly over the sides of her hips to her upper thighs. There he stopped and momentarily gripped her. Her legs trembled and the inside of her thighs flooded with a wet heat.

  He slowly pulled her body into his as he felt the sexual tension grip her.

  "You're sweet. You smell sweet, babe." He leaned into her hair and breathed in her scent. "Say my name." He held her waist in an uncompromising grip. "Say it."

  She trembled in his arms. "J-Jake." Her voice was wobbly. His lips moved to her ear.

  His mouth spoke into her ear. "Ask me to kiss you." His arm moved around her waist and lifted her pelvis into him. She gasped and hung in his arms. "Ask me, Amy."

  "Pl-Please." Hunger attacked her senses. She pressed her body more fully into his.

  He lifted her and pushed one strong thigh into the vee of her legs. He slowly let gravity ease her down until she was caught, straddling his leg. Lightning speared through her. He pushed his chest into hers and caged her within his arms. "Please what, babe?"

  "Kiss me, Jake. Kiss m-"He slammed his mouth down on hers. He pushed his tongue in and attacked her mouth like he had been waiting forever. Their tongues and teeth dueled. His body pushed against her. She felt his gun biting into her shoulder. She whimpered. His hand moved to her hair and pulled her face up so he could have her mouth more fully.

  She whimpered again and pushed against him. She broke her mouth free. "Stop."