Handcuffs and Haints Read online

  “Get down.” He spoke in a whisper before disappearing outside.

  Zoe did as he said, inching toward the door. The thought of him outside and the loud noise…

  He’s a big, bad deputy. He can take care of himself…

  Nick came back inside, looking grim. “Someone was out there, but I think it was meant to scare you.”

  “Don’t they know you’re here?”

  “Probably not. I moved my car off into the woods a little.” He gave her a wicked grin.

  “My God.”

  “Now you see why I wanted to stay with you, Zoe?” Nick moved toward her, and her legs trembled as she remembered she was half-naked.

  “Yes, but…”

  “No buts about it.” He took her into his arms and picked her up. “Do you think I’ll need to handcuff you to make sure you stick around?”

  His words made Zoe’s mind go blank with desire for a moment. She pictured him on top of her…

  “No.”

  “Just in case, let me go outside and get them.” He kissed her, his tongue teasing hers as he lay her down on the couch.

  She watched him walk outside again.

  “Oh my goodness.” Zoe put her head in her hands, overwhelmed by lust and tenderness for him. When was the last time a man had made her feel so wanted, protected, and hot?

  Nick came back in, the handcuffs dangling from his hands. “Shall we go upstairs? I have some ideas for these.” He winked at her, and heat flooded her body.

  Without a word, she nodded, and he followed her upstairs.

  I can’t believe this. Her mind was racing as she felt his hand against the small of her back, and heard the jingling of the cuffs.

  They didn’t bother turning on the lights. Nick unbuttoned her jeans as soon as they got near the bed. He pushed her down gently, and she stared up at him, a fully clothed silhouette which was all man and muscle.

  “I’ve been wanting to do this since the first time I saw you.” Nick pulled the handcuffs out and moved Zoe up the bed as he kissed her. Spreading her arms, he cuffed her to the bed posts. She whimpered, a bit scared, but mostly exhilarated. “Now you can’t run away from me.” He laughed softly under his breath as he slowly undressed.

  Zoe watched his every move as he shed the uniform shirt and revealed his tight, dark chest once again. “I think I’ll wait on the rest, Zoe.”

  She moaned, wanting to see the rest of him, to feel his skin against hers.

  Instead, he knelt between her legs on his knees. She strained against the cold metal of the handcuffs.

  “Just relax.”

  “Not so easy to do.”

  “Try.” He gave her a long look and then bent over, his fingers on her inner thighs, rubbing and teasing her. The touch of his tongue on her clit gave her a shock, and she yelped with the hot sizzle of it. He applied himself to her clit and stroked her labia as she whimpered.

  “How are you feeling, now?”

  “Amazing,” she managed to answer as he pushed two fingers inside her.

  His tongue against her clit, twirling and teasing and his digits probing brought her to the edge of pleasure within minutes.

  “Come for me, Zoe. I want to see your face.”

  She gasped, straining against the cuffs as her orgasm threatened.

  “That’s right. You’re so sexy.”

  Her world exploded as his low, seductive tone washed over her.

  “Please let me out of the cuffs.”

  “I don’t think so. I want to make sure you don’t run away.”

  His words thrilled her, and she waited for his next move as he stroked her trembling thighs. She ached to see him naked, to feel him against her.

  “Please…”

  “Please what, Zoe?” He stood up, looking down at her as he ran his hands over her stomach and up to her breasts, massaging and teasing the nipples between warm fingers.

  “I want to see you naked.” Zoe eyed the large bulge in his pants and imagined touching him, putting him in her mouth. She moaned softly.

  “You will, and more than that, too.”

  He shucked his pants, putting the holster on the nightstand. Nick slid his pants down, and Zoe hissed at the sight of his erection clad in white briefs.

  “You like what you see, baby?”

  “Oh, yeah.” She moved against the cuffs, wanting her hands free to touch him, to feel him.

  “Good. I’ll let you see it up close and personal in a minute.”

  She waited for him to take his shoes off, her pussy growing wet again at the thought of his cock and what he would do with it.

  When he stood back up, Zoe grinned at the sight of him. He was long and thick. He gripped her hips without a word, staring into her eyes. His fingers worked at her clit for a moment, and she grew wetter at his touch.

  Whimpering, she wrapped her legs around him to urge him on. “Damn these cuffs. I wish I could touch you.” She smiled at him.

  “You don’t have to.” He slid into her then, his cock filling her as he angled her hips up and thrust deeply. Nick stopped, sitting inside her. “How’s that?”

  “Perfect.” She whimpered as he slid slowly in and out of her, his fingers making swirls over her clit.

  “Good.” He pulled her even closer to him, making her moan with a little pain as the cuffs bit into her wrists.

  “How you doing?” he whispered as he thrust into her again, driving her once again to the brink of ecstasy.

  “Better than fine.”

  “I’m going to come. Are you ready?” He smiled at her as he pressed against her clit, sending volts of sensation through her.

  “Yes, and when I get out of these cuffs, I’m going to get you.”

  He laughed as he grabbed her ass tightly, impaling her on his dick. “We’ll see about that.”

  “Oh, it’s a certainty.” She moaned as she reached the edge of orgasm.

  “Come for me, baby.” Zoe did as he said, screaming with the sensation of it. She wasn’t sure if it was his body, what he did with his hands and cock or the handcuffs, but her orgasm was earth shattering.

  “Sounds like it was a good one. Your pussy is so tight.” Nick gripped her against him, shoving into her one more time as he came and she felt his hot juices explode inside her.

  “Oh, yeah.” Zoe moaned, so turned on by him she didn’t know what to do.

  He finally released her hips and put her down on the bed gently. Zoe watched him through half closed eyes as he crawled onto the bed and lay beside her.

  “What are you thinking?” He massaged her breasts, making her moan again.

  “I’m thinking you’re amazing, and I don’t know how I lived most of my life up North without you.”

  Nick laughed, kissing her nose. “Let’s get you out of these cuffs. Have you ever done anything like this before?”

  Heat rose in her cheeks. “No, but I’d always wondered about it.”

  “And now you know.” The cuffs came off with a click, and Zoe stretched and sighed.

  “Yes, and I liked it.”

  “Good because I do, too, and I plan to use them on you again.”

  She rolled over on her side, facing him as she ran a finger down his muscled chest. “Not before I use them on you first.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  “There’s a first time for everything. Is this something you’ve done a lot?” Zoe bit her lip, almost afraid to hear.

  “Honestly? No. I’d thought about it, but when I met you, it was all I could think about.” He chuckled softly, and Zoe kissed him.

  “I’m honored, I guess.”

  “So you want me to stay now?” He gave her a wry grin.

  She sighed, laying back with a groan. “I think so. I mean, after all that, I feel like I know you.”

  He took her into his arms. “I know you, too, Zoe, and I really care about you.”

  “This fast?”

  “Yep, this fast. Sometimes you just know, don’t you think?” He stro
ked her back, and she pressed against him.

  “Maybe. I’ve never known before. I’ve just run when I felt pulled to someone. I don’t like being tied down.”

  “I won’t tie you down. You can go or stay here as you like. I can visit. We’ll work it out.”

  She kissed his warm neck, tears flooding her eyes. “You make so much sense that I don’t want to run.”

  “Good, because I have the cuffs anyway.”

  They giggled and talked for a while before they drifted into sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Sometime during the night, Zoe heard muffled voices, and realized Nick must have gotten a call on his cell.

  “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

  He kissed her on the forehead, she mumbled, only half awake.

  “I’ll be back soon. I got a call I have to check out in town. If I’m going to be long, I’ll have an officer ride out here. Don’t worry.”

  Zoe hugged him, not wanting him to leave. “Please come back soon.” A frisson of fear at being alone after the events of the day ran through her.

  “I will. I promise.” He kissed her long and hard before he slipped out of the bed.

  Zoe heard the front door close a few minutes later as she drifted back into sleep.

  A noise woke Zoe up later, a thumping from downstairs. She clutched the sheets and then decided to get out of bed. Nick wouldn’t have been so quiet. The sounds from below were random as if someone was searching for something.

  She bolted out of bed on quiet feet, glad she was naked and quieter that way. Wrapping the sheet around her, she inched out of the bedroom and darted across the dark hall into the guest bedroom. She got into the corner behind the half open door, thankful for the nightlights in the room and in the hall.

  Footfalls sounded on the steps, slow and deliberate.

  I’ll run when he gets up here.

  A shadow passed across the doorway. She knew he was heading to her room. When she thought he would be past, Zoe darted out of the room and shuffled down the steps, trying to be quiet.

  She heard the light flip on in her room as she gasped for air, panicking. Throwing the front door open, she ran toward the woods beyond the side of the house. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wondered if the intruder would follow.

  For a few minutes, all was quiet. Zoe fought to control her breathing.

  “Zoe, where are you, girl?” She stiffened behind the tree. Cletus Pool was calling her.

  She clamped her lips together, praying he would leave and wishing she had a cell phone.

  “I just want to talk to you! We need to come to an agreement. There’s stuff on this land belongs to me, and I don’t want you here. Ain’t gonna hurt you.”

  As his words died, the sound she had heard the night before started again. A team of mules or large animals snorting and whinnying.

  “Woah there! Woah.” The voice was foreign to her as if from a dream.

  Ghosts…

  A high pitched scream split the air, and the clopping of mules’ hooves rang out for another minute. All went silent. Zoe didn’t move.

  A truck pulled up.

  Nick. Please be Nick.

  Zoe started out of the woods just as Nick called her name. “Zoe! Zoe, are you out here?”

  “I’m here.” She ran to him, stopping short at Cletus Pool’s mangled, crushed body. “Oh my God.”

  Nick took her into his arms. “Shh. It’s all right. What did you do to him? Are you okay? Why are you wearing a sheet?” He held her away, looking into her eyes, his expression grim.

  Zoe laughed, the pitch high and hysterical. “I’m fine. The sheet is because it’s all I could get to. And I did nothing to him. I swear. He came into the house. I managed to get out and into the woods. Then I heard…well, I heard the team of mules and driver again.” She swallowed, wondering if he would believe her.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Would I lie about a dead man, even one as scummy as Cletus Pool?”

  “I don’t think so.” He kissed her, and she melted into his arms, exhaustion rolling over her. “So now you believe in ghosts, huh?” He touched her chin.

  “I do. I think one and his team saved me tonight.”

  “Maybe you’re right.”

  “I know you have to make some calls, but what do you think he was doing here?”

  Nick snorted, leaning against his truck. “Looking for treasure. There’s a rumor the old couple who lived here at the turn of the century left some.”

  “Are you serious?” Zoe sighed.

  “I am, and knowing him, he didn’t mind stealing something real in the meantime…like your computer. Maybe he thought he’d run you off by coming out here.”

  “That’s what he hinted at before…” Zoe shuddered, and Nick pulled her into his arms. “Shh. Let’s get you inside with some warm milk while I make the calls.”

  They walked into the dark farmhouse, and Zoe decided then and there that she wasn’t going to run away again, even if it meant staying in Georgia with her deputy.

  She stopped at the door, kissing him long and hard. “I love you.”

  He whistled. “It’s pretty soon for declarations of love. You’ve had a long night…”

  “Shh. I know what I want, and I’m going to make sure you know it, too.” She snatched his cuffs from his belt, and he grinned as she let the sheet fall to the floor.

  “Don’t worry. You don’t have to cuff me, ’cause I’m not going anywhere, Zoe.”

  “That’s what I wanted to hear, deputy.”

  About the Author

  Thalia Frost is a multi-published romance/erotic romance author under several names. Her tastes tend toward the dark side of life, and she likes to probe the complexities of human desire. Follow her on Facebook: Thalia Frost, Twitter: ThaliaFrost, or contact her at:

  www.thaliafrost.com

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  title page

  Copyright Information

  Warning

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  About the Author