Authors: Opal Carew
Tags: #Romance, #Erotica, #Fiction, #General, #Contemporary, #Sex (Psychology)
Secret Weapon
To Allie,
Thank you
for the love, support,
creative discussions, and
kick-ass character names!
“For Helpers see the anguish of a dream that’s never freed,
So they find the dream’s creator and they gently plant a seed.”
Acknowledgments
I’d like to give a special thanks to my wonderful editor, Rose, for her patience and enthusiasm for my books, and especially for arranging this wonderful book cover!
Thanks to Emily, my great agent, for inspiring ideas and keeping me on track.
Thanks to Mark and Colette for their love, support and quality assurance.
Thanks to Allie for helping me get unstuck with helpful, creative conversations, for some great ideas for character names, and especially for her warm and generous nature!
Contents
One
Sloan Granger hung up his uniform and closed his locker. He was still getting used to life on the police force in the beautiful town of Kenora, Maine. He’d moved here two months ago and didn’t regret his decision to leave L.A. at all. It was quieter here and more relaxed, which meant he could focus on more important things than the stresses of the job.
Derek Jameson, still dressed in his own uniform, walked into the locker room.
“Hey, Sloan.” He opened his locker a few down from Sloan’s, then sat on the flat wooden bench and untied his shoes. “Any big plans for the weekend?”
“Not really. You have something in mind?”
He and Derek had gone out for beers and worked out at the gym a couple of times.
“That depends. Are you seeing anyone right now?”
Sloan raised an eyebrow at the question. “No. I’ve been too busy settling in.” But Sloan knew exactly whom he intended to start dating. Derek didn’t know it—none of his new friends did—but Janine was the reason Sloan had chosen to move to Kenora.
Janine and Sloan had history. They’d grown up together and, if things hadn’t gotten screwed up because of devastating events, they would be in a relationship right now. But fate had kicked them both in the butt and sent them in different directions. Janine had moved to Kenora six years ago. Mostly to get away from Sloan. He knew that, and he was here to fix it.
“Great. I was wondering if you were free on Friday night.”
“Are you trying to fix me up with someone?” Sloan asked. “Because I’m really not interested.”
“First, this isn’t a fix up … exactly … and second, if you’re not interested in what I’m about to suggest, you need to have your head examined.”
Sloan sat down on the bench, too. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s on the table?”
Derek leaned toward him. “I go out with this really hot woman and … she really likes pushing the envelope, if you know what I mean.”
“So you’re suggesting what, exactly?” Sloan hadn’t been with a woman in quite a while—how could he since all he could do lately was think about Janine? He intended to win Janine’s heart, but a wild, no-strings-attached hookup with Derek’s woman sounded hot. He had to admit, he was tempted.
“She has this fantasy of having sex with a stranger. We’ve done it where she’s had a blindfold on and we pretend she doesn’t know me, but she’d like to try the real thing. I told her I could find someone I trust, and who would be discreet.”
“So it would be just her and me?” That would be a bit weird. Making out with a total stranger, knowing she was Derek’s girlfriend.
“No, I’ll be there. Watching. And getting involved if that seems comfortable once things get started. She’ll be blindfolded, at least at first, to heighten the situation. That should make things less awkward, too.”
“Sounds like you have this all planned out. You do this a lot?”
“Not the stranger thing. This is the first time. But we’ve done threesomes before.”
“Wow, you’ve got a really hot one there.”
Derek grinned. “Hot in attitude and looks.” He pulled his wallet from his pocket and flipped it open to a picture of a beautiful blonde with an angelic smile.
Sloan’s heart stopped as he stared at the picture of Janine.
* * *
Sloan’s heart thundered in his chest as he climbed behind the wheel of his car then sat staring out the windshield at the gray brick wall of the police station.
Derek was dating Janine. Worse, Derek shared her with other men. Sloan’s stomach twisted. His sweet, wonderful Janine.
God, she’d always pushed the boundaries as a teen. Staying out late. Trying to get attention from Ben and from Sloan. Of course, she’d always had Sloan’s attention, but she had an impish side that required her to torture Sloan as best she could. Or so it had always seemed to him.
Later she always seemed to have a lot of guys around, but he’d never dreamed …
She’d never appeared to get serious about anyone. He’d always hoped it was because she was waiting for him. If things had been different … If Ben hadn’t—
His throat closed and he shook his head, scattering the painful memories before they settled into his mind again, dragging him through hell.
Sloan’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. God damn it. Things should have gone differently. She should have been his. If only he hadn’t been such an idiot and delayed pursuing a relationship with her for so long.
He started the car and put it into gear, then pulled out of the parking lot and turned left on Jarvis Street. He’d told Derek he’d let him know later. But for God’s sake, how could he show up out of the blue as Janine’s fantasy stranger? When she saw him, she’d …
He turned on Bloomington Street. What would she do? She was an experienced woman, pushing the sexual envelope. She thought nothing of having sex with more than one man at a time, or of having sex, blindfolded, with a total stranger. His fingers tightened around the gearshift as he shifted into fourth.
What would she do if she took off the blindfold and saw Sloan?
His groin tightened at the thought of Janine lying naked beneath him, a blindfold covering her eyes, his swollen cock gliding inside her. He sucked in a deep breath. God, he wanted so badly to make love to her. To experience that with her.
The stranger thing was her fantasy. Would it be so wrong to suggest to Derek that he agree to do the fantasy as long as she kept the blindfold on the whole time? That way she’d never know it was him and he’d get a chance to do what he’d always wanted to do with Janine. Make intense, passionate love to her. Even if she didn’t know it was him.
On the other hand, if he didn’t do it, Derek would find someone else, and that thought drove Sloan crazy. He didn’t want another man touching her. It was bad enough that Derek made love to her on a regular basis, but some stranger …
God damn, the fact that she was in a relationship with Derek …
How serious were they? He turned from Bloomington Street onto Carriage Drive, a beautiful tree-lined street of large, stately houses.
Given that they invited other partners into the relationship, he would guess they weren’t all that serious. If they were, they wouldn’t be looking for excitement outside the relationship.
That meant he just had to wait it out.
Maybe he could find a way to become a regular third in their bed, since she seemed to be okay with that kind of thing. Then when her relationship with Derek waned, Sloan would be right there.
He’d had a chance to have her in his life—to love her and be loved by her—but he’d blown it. Now nothing would stop him from winning her love. He would convince her he was the right man for her, the one to make her happy for the rest of her life.
Somehow he would convince Janine to marry him.
But this Friday night, he would be her fantasy stranger.
* * *
“What do you think of this?” Janine stood in the doorway to the kitchen wearing her sexy leather harness, which covered nothing of importance.
Derek’s gaze shifted from the newspaper he’d been reading at the kitchen table to her. A wide grin spread across his handsome face, lighting up his chocolate brown eyes. She wanted to run her fingers through his thick, black hair and kiss those full, sexy lips of his.
“Sensational.” He stood up and walked toward her, his gaze wandering the length of her body.
He looked incredibly sexy in his dark blue police uniform. Six foot two, thick muscular arms, broad shoulders, and a solid chest. Her nipples rose, tightening, sending tingles through her. He tucked his fingers under the swell of her breast, then lightly stroked her sensitive flesh.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you should cover these up.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Really?”
His hand stroked over her breast, then tweaked her nipple, sending sharp sensations spiraling through her.
“Well, I think it will be too much for my friend all at once.” Derek’s hand glided down her belly, then cupped her mound. “This, too.”
His finger stroked her, then pushed in a little.
She grabbed his tie and tugged him forward, then thrust her tongue into his mouth as their lips merged.
“If you keep doing that”—she sent him a fierce smile as she cupped his balls through his pants and squeezed—“then I’m going to pull out that big cock of yours and fuck you right on the floor.”
Derek chuckled and drew his hand from her moistening slit, but she noticed the bulge in his pants had extended. He loved it when she acted aggressive and talked dirty.
“When is your friend coming over?” She unfastened the strap around her neck, then turned her back toward him. “Would you get the snaps at my waist?”
He unfastened them. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but you did these up on your own when you put it on.”
“Sure. But this is way more fun.”
The harness fell away from her body and he handed it to her.
“He should be here in about half an hour.”
“Okay.” She turned to face him, then ran her fingers over the black leather pouch attached to his belt. “I see you have your handcuffs.”
“Yep. I always carry them when I’m with you. Though I don’t know why I bother. You have at least two pairs of your own.”
“Yeah, but mine aren’t real police handcuffs like yours.”
“Actually, they are. Except the pink ones.” He grinned. “Well, they are, too, but not ones any cop I know would carry around.”
She shrugged. “But mine haven’t been used by real police to keep people captive.” For some reason, the thought that his handcuffs had actually been used to restrain people always turned her on. When Derek snapped them around her wrists, she felt like he was really taking her prisoner.
His brown eyes darkened and he dragged her naked body against his and plundered her mouth. “The thought of my handcuffs is making you hot, isn’t it?”
She grinned up at him. “You know it.”
