James, for his part, was thinking about how hard it was going to be to let her go again. But he would think about that later. Right now, he rolled off her and gathered her into his arms kissing the top of her head, wanting to be a close to her as he could for as long as he could.

Neither of them spoke. Their bodies decided for them what would happen next. Exhausted and finally sated once again, they fell asleep wrapped in each others arms.

Joanna awoke abruptly to the sound of her front door closing. She whispered, "Someone"s in the apartment." She reached her hand behind her, feeling only cold sheets and empty s.p.a.ce. Throwing her robe around her, she moved through the apartment to find it as empty as her bed. In the middle of the coffee table was a single sheet of paper reading: It"s too dangerous for us.

Sorry.

J.

"What the h.e.l.l?" she asked the empty room. So what, this afternoon was it? That was all she got? No explanation, no nothing?

She had really thought that somehow James was back in her life. That somehow, now that the misunderstandings of the past were cleared up, they"d be together. Ok, so he ran with a biker club that is almost definitely running c.o.ke through their town. The clubhouse was clean after the raid, right?

She called the station for an update and confirmed what James had already told her. Officer Amanda Dailey, the only other female officer on their small police force, said the Free Vipers were clean. No drugs, no guns, nothing illegal. In fact, it was like they knew the cops where coming last night. It was like they"d been tipped off.

She asked a few questions ended the call and headed for the shower. She was going to get information out of James whether he wanted to give it up on not. She"d worked too hard on this raid for it to come to nothing. She"d worked too hard to get over him to let him slip into her life and back out in the s.p.a.ce of an afternoon.

Stepping out into the bright sunlight of late afternoon, Joanna crossed the parking lot and slipped behind the wheel of her black coupe. She drove the few miles to the address she got from Officer Dailey to the squat 3-story apartment building that James called home. She cruised through the lot and spotting his bike, she parked on the opposite side of the lot while she decided what to do next. Should she go in and confront him and maybe get some answers on her case, or follow him and see if she could get a handle on what was going on.

Her choice was made for her when she spotted him come out of his building and cross the parking lot to his motorcycle. Straddling it, he kick-started it with a rumble she could feel in her chest. She watched him pull out of the lot then followed him at a safe distance keeping a car or two between them as a buffer.

While she tailed him down the main thoroughfare through their small town, she wondered how long he had been here. Just how long had he been in town without her even knowing it. Did he know she was on the force now? Joanna had questions, so many questions, and she was determined to get answers.

An even more important question she needed the answer to was how deep was he in with the Free Vipers? What did he have himself mixed up in and could she help him figure out a way to get out of it?

She pulled herself out of her reverie in time to see him turn from the two lane blacktop to a small paved side road across from an abandoned gas station. She had dropped back even further when he rounded a bend up ahead. By the time she had done the same, he had disappeared. First lesson in tailing someone: pay attention!

Driving past the several places he could have turned she slammed her hand down on the steering wheel in frustration. She had lost him. She had two choices now, wait for him on the main road to hopefully appear again or go back to his apartment.

For two hours, she waited behind the boarded up gas station far enough back to be not be seen, but still affording her ample view of the road. Her irritation at her failure only grew as she sat there and eventually Joanna realized he probably wasn"t going to come back this way. After a few minutes of indecision, she decided to go back to his apartment building.

To her surprise, when she arrived, his motorcycle was parked in the lot. d.a.m.n! Her evening had been wasted sitting beside a defunct gas station! She wondered vaguely if he had caught her tailing him or if she just really sucked at it. Surveillance is a major part of a detective"s job and if Joanna wanted her shield, she was definitely going to have to get better at it.

She parked in the same spot she had earlier and stared at the building almost willing him to come out again. She"d been there for about fifteen minutes when her pa.s.senger side door was abruptly yanked open and James slid into the seat.

"When I said it was too dangerous, I meant it." James"s voice was gruff and he sounded angry.

"How could you sneak out and leave me a stupid note?" Joanna retorted with an equal measure of anger.

"Look, I really don"t have time for this right now." he paused as he looked at her an idea lighting up his eyes. "You drive."

"Drive? Drive where? I"m going to need a little more than you barking orders at me."

"I need a vehicle that won"t be recognized and this car blends." James smiled, "This could actually be good."

"What are you talking about? Where are we going?"

"Start the car, put it in drive and pull out of the parking lot." Realizing that it was either this or follow and probably lose him again, she did as he asked.

When she got to the exit, she asked, "Which way?" Turned in the direction he indicated Joanna asked impatiently, "Are you going to tell me where we"re going or what?"

"Fine. I"ll tell you, just drive." He went on to explain that he"d been following a member of the Free Vipers known as Snake for several months now trying to figure out how he was getting drugs into town. "Today, I think I"ve found it. He"s making his pick-ups down at Turner"s Landing by the abandoned steel mill. Then he pa.s.ses the drugs to some other members of the club and they sell for him."

"And this is going down tonight? I have to call this in, James." Joanna reached for her cellphone.

"No, not yet. I need to know which members are involved." he looked at her earnestly, "I only want to take down the guilty, not the whole club."

Joanna considered him for a long moment, judging his sincerity, before agreeing to wait until they had they ident.i.ties of Snake"s cohorts.

Parking out of sight of the boat landing, Joanna retrieved her service revolver and a pair of cuffs from the glove box before they crept forward quietly to get a better look. Crouched down behind some crates outside the old steel mill they watched as three men wearing Free Vipers colors hauled a half dozen boxes off a small speedboat.

Joanna felt James move behind her a moment before he whispered, "Jo, call for backup now." She moved silently back to the car and radioed their situation and location to dispatch.

When she was back by James" side, he laid out his plan for her. They would wait as long as they could to give backup time to get there, but would move if it seemed as though they criminals were leaving.

Laying her hand on his arm, Joanna pulled him close and whispered in his ear, "I can"t let you go anywhere, Jimmy. You"re a civilian."

Her breath was warm on his neck and a flash of heat bolted through him before he could contain it. Her eyes glittered in the near dark mesmerizing him for a split second before he remember where they were and that danger stood just a short distance away.

Joanna watched as he pulled a small brown wallet from his boot and handed it to her. Her eyes widened as she realized just what she was holding.

"DEA!" She whispered angrily. "You"re DEA!"

"Yes, but this is unofficial. I"m doing a favor for a friend." He lips were so close to her ear, she shivered. "If you don"t keep it down they"ll hear us!"

She watched him with furious eyes as he reached around to his back and pull a gun from the waistband of his jeans. "Why didn"t you tell me earlier today?" She hissed.

"We really didn"t do much talking earlier, did we?" He said through a c.o.c.ky grin before growing serious, "Look, they"re getting ready to wrap this up. We have to move now. Stay down and cover me, ok?"

Before she could agree or argue, James was up and stepping into the light, "DEA! Put your hands where I can see them!"

Joanna saw the gun in Snake"s hand and, as if in slow motion, watched it come up and fire. James threw himself to the side, but she could see his shoulder thrown back by the impact of a bullet. Time slowed down to a crawl as she stepped out from behind the crates and began firing. Her first shot went through Snake"s chest and she dispa.s.sionately watched him crumple to the ground. "Police! Hands where I can see "em!" she shouted and fired again as the boat driver jumped back in the speedboat. She hit him in the leg and watched as he collapsed in a heap on the deck.

She repeated her command as she noticed the two remaining suspects inching their way toward the truck. She shot out the tire and the man closest to her stop and put his hands behind his head, while the other took off at a dead run. A blur of motion flashed past her and she realized James was up and chasing him.

"On the ground, hands behind your back." This time he did what he was told and she knelt down with her knee in his back and shoved her gun into the back of her jeans. By the time she had him cuffed she could hear the rapidly approaching sirens. Not taking her eyes off her prisoner, she walked over to Snake and felt for a pulse, surprised when she found one.

James came out of the trees with the last suspect in cuffs and threw him down on the ground beside his accomplice just as the first squad car pulled into the clearing. After requesting an ambulance for Snake and the boat driver, Joanna walked over to where James was trying to explain himself to her boss, Chief Erickson.

She may live in a small town with a small police force, but Chief Erickson was one tough cop. He didn"t like it when he officers went rogue. He was shouting at James, "Unofficial! You could have gotten on of my best officers killed!" His face was red and there was a huge vein standing out on his forehead. Joanna was afraid he was going to have a stroke.

"Chief," she said in her most soothing voice, "calm down, you"re gonna blow a gasket."

Chief Erickson looked at her and took a deep breath. "Fine," he said outwardly calm, but still seething, "I"ll be calling your superiors to let them know just what you"ve been up to here."

He swiveled his head in Joanna"s direction and continued in the same calm and reasonable voice, "And you; you"ll be in my office first thing tomorrow morning. I"ll let you know then what I"ve decided your punishment should be."

"Yes sir." Joanna answered automatically. "The ambulance is here, can I field dress this gunshot and get him to the ER now please?"

Chief blew out a sigh, "Go ahead, but I"ll expect both of you in my office tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir." Joanna answered again before leading James by his good arm over to the ambulance. The paramedics had already loaded the driver of the boat inside and one of them was calling ahead to the hospital. When he was done Joanna asked him to look at James" shoulder and visibly relaxed when he announced it was just a graze. The paramedic offered to dress it, but with his own patient to look after was relieved when Joanna said she would do it.

Once she had his wound dressed, she piled him into her car and headed for the hospital. They drove in silence for a while before James realized something that had been in the back of his mind since he saw Snake go down.

"You"re a good shot."

"Why are you so surprised? Wait, let me guess, girls can"t shoot." she replied her voice tinged with sarcasm. "I was at the top of my cla.s.s in the academy and I hit the shooting range at least once a week."

"I"m not surprised because you"re a woman, I"m just surprised because I never pictured you shooting a gun." He shrugged and winced in pain.

"When your arm is better, we"ll hit the range and I"ll show how good I am. I"ll even bet I"m better than you." She teased.

"Yeah, we"ll see."

Being a cop, she was able to get James in and out of the ER a little faster than if he had been a civilian. When he was st.i.tched up and had his prescription for pain pills, she loaded him back into her car and pointed the car toward his apartment.

When she got him home, he backed her against the closed door saying, "I want to shower." He smiled a devilish smile, "I"ll probably need help."

He kissed her and Joanna wasted no time helping him off with clothes and putting a waterproof bandage on his st.i.tches. She made his keep his arms to his side as she bathed him. She shampooed and rinsed his hair then soaped her bare hands and washed every inch of him.

She stood behind him, her hands were warm and soft on his body as she ordered him to close his eyes so she could wash his face, then tilted his head back to rinse it. She ran soapy fingers behind his ears and down over his neck, ma.s.saging him with mild pressure. He shivered when he felt her warm hands against the skin of his shoulder blade and her thumbs running down the length of his spine. She ma.s.saged and washed all the way down to his feet and reaching around him washed the front of his legs, her head resting against his b.u.t.tocks.

She knelt down behind him and lavished kisses his beautifully muscled cheeks. One hand washed his hips and the other snaked up between his legs soaping his b.a.l.l.s before sliding up his quickly hardening shaft. Her other hand came to join the first and he groaned as she ma.s.saged his sac while manipulating him into full hardness.

She stopped just then and stood, moving around to the front to face him. She looked up into his eyes, reflecting the heat that burned in his own and began washing his chest. Joanna swiped her thumbs across his nipples a few times to gauge his reaction. When he sucked in his breath at each swipe, she smiled and rinsed his chest before clamping her warm lips on his nipple. No one had ever thought to touch his nipples before and he was surprised at the visceral reaction it caused. She moved her lips to the other side and he sucked a breath in again. It was different, pleasant, and was sending little shock waves directly south with each flick of her tongue.

He almost missed it when she stopped, but quickly recovered when she kissed her way slowly down over his abs. Her lips and tongue explored every ripple of his six pack before tracing a path over the muscled "V" that pointed the way to the prize she sought. She teased him by kissing and licking everywhere but the one place he really wanted her lips. He thought he would lose it when she kissed the inside of his thighs.

Just when he thought he could take no more, she took his c.o.c.k in a loose fist and slid her hand over the head and slowly down the entire shaft. He watched as her tongue flicked out and laved the bulbous tip. Then, looking directly into his eyes, she slid him into her mouth and he felt, rather than heard, her "MMMMM" as she did. He put his good arm on the shower rod to steady himself as she took more and more of him into her mouth, stopping only when he b.u.mped against the back of her throat. She grasped an a.s.scheek in each hand and shoved him down her throat.

"Jo!" he whispered, "f.u.c.k! It"s so good!"

She "MMMMM"d" again and the vibration ricocheted through him like lightning. Pulling him out of her mouth Joanna moved his c.o.c.k out of the way and licked and sucked on his b.a.l.l.s while slowly stroking him. He pulled harder on the shower rod and when she heard it rattle, she stopped abruptly and reached around him to turn the water off.

"What! Wait! Why did you stop?" The disappointment in his voice almost made her feel bad.

"Get out. We"re moving to the bedroom."

They stepped out onto the bathmat and Joanna pulled a clean towel from a shelf beside the tub. "Bend your head down a little."

He did as he was told and she towel-dried his hair like a child. She then dried the rest of him, leaving no place un-dried, before wrapping the towel around his waist and drying herself. She looked down at the tent he made of the towel and giggled. "Looks like I still have work to do."

She lead him to the bedroom and shook her head when he tried to grab her. "No," she said, "you"re the patient and I"m the nurse. You"ll lay there and take your medicine."

She made him slide over to the middle of the bed as she climbing on beside him. She kissed him softly on the mouth before turning and straddling his head and lowering herself onto his waiting tongue. She leaned down over his body and took him into her mouth again. He had lost none of his erection and she slid him as far back into her throat as she could before sliding him back out again.

As she lavished her attention on him, he did the same for her. His tongue was furiously sliding in and out of her as she rubbed her c.l.i.t against his chin. It was not long before she was moaning, "Oh, make me come!" He redoubled his efforts and sucked her c.l.i.t hard into his mouth and she couldn"t hold back any longer. "Yes!" she cried out as she came, her juices rolling over his tongue.

Joanna pulled off of James and moved down to straddle his waist. She leaned down and kissed him, tasting herself on his lips and tongue. She pulled up and held herself over his beautifully erect c.o.c.k positioning him at her entrance. She then slowly, oh so slowly, lowered herself down on him until she had welcomed all of him into her soft, moist heat. She stayed there a moment, enjoying the feel of him filling her again. She clasped her p.u.s.s.y muscles around him, squeezing and releasing until neither could take any more.

James pulled her down to kiss her and thrust his c.o.c.k deep inside her at the same time. She braced her hands on either side of his head and met him, thrust for thrust. The heat between them was scorching and she knew there was only one way to extinguish the flames. Every nerve ending was aflame with pleasure and pa.s.sion as she ground herself on him with a fervor that melded their two bodies into one. Both ceased knowing where one ended and the other began.

A wave of rapture built up in rapidly approaching swells and they moved together toward its crescendo. And when it finally broke, an ocean of ecstasy crashed down drowning them in each other.

"I love you Joanna." He said softly, kissing her. "Don"t ever leave me again."

Touched by his vulnerability she answered, "Never."

They lay like that, in silence and in their own thoughts for a long while before sleep took them both.

James woke to sunlight shining through the bedroom window, his heart plummeting when he found the bed empty. He pulled some sweats on and walked out into the living room half afraid of what he would find. He spotted the note on the coffee table and stood there for a moment staring at it. Finally, he picked it up and read it.

I went home to shower and get ready to meet the Chief. I"ll pick you up at 8:00.

Love J.

He hadn"t realized he was holding his breath until it came out in a sigh of relief.

He took a quick shower and was dressed and waiting in the front of the building when Joanna pulled into the parking lot. He was dressed in a dark grey suit accented with an electric blue tie and she past him by a few feet before recognition dawned on her. She slammed on the brakes and backed up so he was even with the car door. Realizing her mouth was open she snapped it shut as he angled himself into the pa.s.senger seat.

Looking her up and down, James was sure he"d never seen a hotter cop in his life. The uniform was not supposed to be s.e.xy, but the vision beside him was making the blood in his brain rapidly migrate southward. Maybe it was the gun. No, it was the handcuffs; definitely the handcuffs. He was wondering if he could convince her to use them on him later when he realized she was talking.

"h.e.l.lo! You"re looking at me like I"m lunch." And watching him lick his lips was making her wish they could just go inside and eat already. Oh boy, she better get a grip before she cuffed him to the headrest and had her way with him.

"Sorry, you just look so..." He couldn"t finish the thought, he was already treading dangerous waters. "G.o.d, just drive, ok?"

"Yep. Good idea." She put the car into gear and giving him a sideways glance said, "But you look amazing in that suit. I really like the tie. You should tie me up with that tie." With that she pulled out of the lot leaving James to realized he was now the one with his mouth hanging open.

As they walked into the station together, James drew an appreciative smile from Officer Dailey. Joanna knocked on the chief"s open door and he waved her in saying to James, "I need a moment with my officer Agent."

Closing the door behind her, Joanna sat in a chair in front of the Chief"s desk, nervously gripping the armrests. The next 45 minutes were one of the worst of her life. She had never been in trouble before. Never. Not once. She had a spotless record and was upset with herself for spoiling it.

In the end, when Chief Erickson had yelled himself hoa.r.s.e, he told her to decide whether or not she really wanted to be a cop in this town. Because, in this town, cops went by the book and didn"t go off half-c.o.c.ked with some rogue DEA agent. She said, "Yes sir." and meekly left his office.

James stood when Joanna came out of the office and she briefly touched his hand and said, "I"ll be out in the car when you"re done." She had no desire to witness his humiliation while still feeling the sting of her own.

Less than an hour later James was slipping into the pa.s.senger seat of her car. "Well, that was the most thorough reaming I"ve ever had. I was double-timed by your chief and my captain." He gave her a small smile, "I"m not sure if either cared that we had broken a major drug ring."

"What"s the bottom line? Do you still have a job?"

"Yes, but I"m suspended for two weeks without pay." He continued, "I heard what the chief said to you. He doesn"t care much about sound-proofing does he?" James considered her for a moment before asking, "So, what now?"

"I"ve been sitting here thinking about it," Joanna began, "I have vacation time coming to me. I think I"ll use it to decide if I want to be a cop in this town."

He smiled and kissed her, "So what do you say? You, me and my bike on the open road for a couple of weeks?"