DOUBLE DARE: The Chronicles of Katrina (Book Two) Read online

  Abruptly she turned off the blow dryer and clipped her damp hair on top of her head. Heavy tendrils fell down her back. She didn’t care. This ridiculous obsessing about a man she didn’t even know except carnally was for the birds. He was probably as big a jerk as Evan. Except since he was bigger—all over—he had more to be cocky about.

  She smirked.

  Stop.

  Yeah, he was all that and a big bag of chips, but he was history and she needed to stop thinking about him! Her body, however, was still on Simon vigil.

  The workout and cold shower had done nothing to suppress the restless heat in her body. And with that, the need to keep as much stimulus off her skin as possible drove her to her closet in search of the lightest piece of loungewear she could find. Her closet was large and full of designer suits and casual wear. Evan said she dressed like a million-dollar librarian. What did he think she was supposed to wear to the lab? Corsets and leather? She dressed in classic styles and understated colors. Professional, respectable, and classic. It was what was comfortable for her. He had never understood that.

  She pulled out a white terrycloth tube-top dress and slipped it on. She didn’t bother to put on a bra or panties. The less pressure she had on her skin right now, the easier it would be to endure the tension burning through her like wildfire.

  If she had a dog, she’d take it for a walk. If she had a treadmill, she’d run until her legs fell off. If she had Simon, she’d fuck him until they were both raw.

  Stop.

  “Argh!” she screamed, yanking the clip from her hair and throwing it across the room.

  The doorbell rang, startling her. It was 9:30. She was a hermit. No one except Rosie stopped by and she always knocked before walking in. Sometimes Lily Sommerland, the teenage girl from the second floor, came by selling something for some fundraiser or another.

  It rang again. It wasn’t the doorbell from the front porch downstairs but the one outside her apartment door, so whoever it was had a key to the building … Most likely Lily.

  She shook her long hair from her shoulders and strode from her bedroom through the apartment to the front door. She didn’t care that her body was clearly outlined beneath the fabric. Or that her erect nipples poked the fabric, creating mini-tents. If a man stood on the other side of that door he was in trouble … If it was Lily, she’d know not to ring someone’s doorbell so late on a work night.

  Yanking open the door expecting to find the Sommerlands’ daughter selling overpriced chocolates to fund a class trip abroad, Katy hissed in a deep surprised breath.

  “I’m looking for Cinderella,” that deep, sexy as sin voice she would never forget, drawled.

  Katy gulped, swayed backward, and grabbed the door handle to keep herself from falling face-first into the arms of the charming police captain.

  He didn’t flinch when it looked like she might fall. Instead, he leaned casually against the corner wall, his long legs crossed at the ankle, and dangled her lost Louboutin from the index finger of his right hand. Katy gulped. He was dressed in black leather shoes, tailored black slacks, and a fitted mint-colored collared shirt that accentuated the deep green of his eyes. It was unbuttoned just enough to show the tan hollow at the base of his throat. The yummy package was topped off with a sexy smile she wanted to lick.

  “Would you happen to know where I could find her?”

  Katy opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no words came forth. She could not believe he was standing here, in front of her apartment. All she had to do was invite him in and—Oh my, the things he could do to her. Heat flushed her cheeks and she suddenly felt overexposed. Crossing her arms across her chest, she retreated a step. Thankfully, she thought, he did not pursue her. To hide her desperate embarrassment, she used her tongue to put him on the defensive. “Oh, really? And who might you be: Prince Charming?”

  He grinned, flashing those beautiful white teeth. Her knees shook. Good lord he was good looking. “Never confuse me with Prince Charming, Cinderella. I’m the Big Bad Wolf.”

  She gulped again and nearly choked on her dry throat. “Very funny,” she muttered, feeling completely out of her element. Both times she was with him she’d been drunk. Okay, the second time she’d entered his room drunk and even though she’d slept it off, her vulnerable state had allowed her to be charmed back into his clutches. That was then, this was now. She was sober and no longer at his mercy.

  “How did you find out where I live?”

  Sliding his hand into his trouser pocket, he pulled out a gold and silver star. “Cop,” he said, and before she could make out which jurisdiction it was, he slid it back into his pocket.

  Katy scowled. Of course, he probably knew what she had for breakfast, too.

  “I suppose you’re armed?”

  He grinned and nodded. “Never leave home without it.”

  “And where is home?”

  “Wherever the chase takes me.”

  “No moss gathers on your shoes?”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  Ah, the charming loner with a huge case of wanderlust. If circumstances were different, she’d take advantage of that fact. But they weren’t. “That’s my shoe. I’d like it back,” she said, extending her hand, palm up.

  He shook his head and schooled her. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

  “Oh, so you’re here on official business?”

  “I’m just saying …”

  Grrr, there was that smile again.

  “It’s my shoe!”

  “It’s only yours if it fits,” he said, unwinding his big body from the wall.

  She set her jaw. “You know it fits.”

  He grinned again and stepped toward her, then dropped to one knee before her, his body still in the hall. “Like a glove if I remember correctly,” he said softly, grasping her foot gently in his hand, then lifting it to slide it into the shoe. Katy caught a sharp breath at the double meaning of his words, and just like that, the sublimity of feeling as he entered her the very first time permeated every part of her being. And with the sensation, every warning signal in the city screamed Danger. Danger. Do Not Indulge. Heat flared from his fingertips along her skin and straight up her leg to her womb. Hissing in a breath, Katy became unsteady on her one leg. His hand slid up her calf to her thigh, steadying her.

  “Please,” she begged.

  He looked up at her, his green eyes on fire, reflecting her own raging desire. Her arousal by this man was so complete and so uncontrollable, she squeezed her eyes closed in utter embarrassment when she felt her moistness drip down the inside of her thigh only to be halted by his fingertip.

  “Oh, Dr. Winslow,” he taunted. “You are in such denial.” He settled her back against the door frame and traced the damp fingertip along the creamy trail on her inner thigh, stopping just shy of dipping into her. “Complete denial.”

  She clenched her teeth to keep the moan in her throat from escaping her lips. “Leave me alone,” she hissed, then stepped back through the door and quickly shut it behind her.

  Her chest heaved as she attempted to breathe. Oh God, that was crazy. Her body thrummed with energy. Every facet of her being was turned on.

  The ping of her cell phone on the kitchen table alerted her that she had a text. Heart racing, body aching, she ran to it.

  It was from Simon. I want you, too.

  Katy moaned and plopped down on the chair. Why couldn’t he make this easy and leave her alone?

  Her cell pinged again. Are you touching yourself?

  Biting her bottom lip, she closed her eyes and sat back in the chair.

  It pinged again. Spread your legs, Kitty Kat …

  Oh, if she did … She spread her legs.

  Open the door and let me in, Kat …

  No.

&nb
sp; I promise you won’t regret it.

  That’s what I’m afraid of.

  Let me in, Cinderella … I dare you.

  Katy couldn’t respond, because if she did she would tell him where the spare key was hidden in the planter by the elevator.

  I double dare you.

  I can’t.

  What are you afraid of?

  You.

  You should be.

  Please, leave me alone.

  I can’t stop thinking about you.

  You have to.

  I don’t want to. You can’t stop thinking about me either. I saw it your eyes. Heard it in your gasp. Felt it in the tremble of your body when I touched you. And Kat, I could smell your desire. You smell so lush and sweet …

  Please stop.

  I can’t.

  I’ll call your supervisor.

  I’ll give you her number.

  Stop!

  You stop first.

  I. Can’t. I hate you!

  Do you have a toy?

  A toy?

  A sex toy.

  No!

  Then you’re going to have to use your fingers …

  Heat flared in her cheeks.

  For what?

  To give yourself what you won’t allow me to give you.

  She didn’t masturbate. She—wasn’t comfortable with it. Another in her string of hang-ups.

  I don’t do that.

  There you go denying again.

  I’m not denying! I’ve never been comfortable doing that kind of stuff.

  Then how can you know what your body likes if you don’t know your body?

  I know what it likes.

  So do I. It especially likes it when I stroke it and suckle it and kiss it. You come alive when I touch you Kat. Your skin flushes pink and your nipples get so hard. I love your tits.

  Stop.

  I can’t.

  You won’t.

  I’m leaning against your door, all you have to do is open it, just enough for me to slide in … you know you want to.

  What I want doesn’t matter.

  Sure it does.

  I don’t do casual sex.

  ?

  Okay, well, with you I did b/c I couldn’t help myself.

  I told you I have that effect on people.

  Yes! You do and it’s driving me crazy and I don’t like to feel that way.

  Is that why you didn’t wait for me?

  She inhaled sharply and exhaled. No, the reason she’d left was because he had lied to her about not having a girlfriend. Yet she’d seen the picture on his laptop, heard the Mandy ringtone, and seen the definitive evidence: Him all cozy with the woman, right before her eyes. And it was that image that cooled her libido enough so that she had the willpower to end the texting.

  Yes, and I need for you to respect that.

  Good night, Dr. Winslow. Sweet dreams.

  Argh! How dare he kiss her off? She’d wanted to kiss him off first!

  She ran to the door, skidding to halt before she slammed into it and made a bigger fool of herself. Pressing her cheek and ear to it near the deadbolt, she closed her eyes and slowly inhaled. Simon’s clean woodsy scent infiltrated her nostrils. Her body warmed. Oh, why was she such a mouse? Why wasn’t she strong enough to sport-fuck the sexcathalon gold medalist, and just walk away?

  Impulsively, she yanked the door open and ran out into the hallway just as the elevator door closed in front of Simon’s burning green gaze. He didn’t flinch. Not even a muscle in surprise. He didn’t crack a knowing smile. Instead, stone-faced, he watched her watch him until the doors closed completely.

  As the elevator dropped to the first floor, so did her belly and her heart. She knew this time, he would not come back. Not unless she gave him a reason to. And knowing she would have to take a seat behind the blonde, she refused to chase after him.

  The next several days dragged by. Every time Katy turned a corner, heard a deep voice, thought she caught a clean woodsy scent, her heart quickened and she turned hoping to catch a glimpse of Simon. But he was not there. He had respected her word and damn it, she needed to respect herself!

  On the fourth day since Simon had come to her apartment, Katy found herself walking along the Castro. Making sure no one she knew saw her, she ducked into a “toy” shop. Heat flushed her cheeks. She turned around to run out of the store when a lovely, effeminate man said, “Sweetheart, don’t fight it. Embrace it. Tell the Sugar Plum Fairy what mama needs, and she’ll fix you right up.”

  “I—ah—I don’t know.”

  Sugar Plum, who lived up to the name with his spiked purple hair, wearing a pink, purple, and white striped Spandex unitard stuck into a pair of white patent leather Peter Pan slipper-style boots, eyed Katy skeptically. “Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but you appear educated, refined, gorgeous under those awful glasses and that terrible … I hesitate to call it a hairstyle. It’s more like a Bitch bun. It needs to go, girlfriend, along with the uptight vibe.” His discriminating brown eyes raked up and down her body. “I bet you have killer curves under that trench coat.” His eyes shone when he looked down at her Jimmy Choo-clad feet. “Oh, my, my, there she is, the little tiger. I have the same pair in leopard. You must get them in leopard; they will drive your man wild!” He pursed his lips. “Oh, wait, you don’t have a man, do you, hence your reason for being here. So, I think I have just the little friend for you!”

  Ten minutes later, Katy hurried from the toy store with a brown paper bag full of battery-powered dildos in every shape, color, and size. She’d tried telling Sugar Plum she didn’t want an assortment, maybe just one to start with. He hadn’t wanted to hear it. In fact, every time he’d asked her a question, before she could answer, he’d answered for her. When he’d tossed in several tubes of lube she’d blushed to her roots.

  “Trust me, you’ll be glad you have that on hand,” he assured her, then sent her on her way, smiling like a proud parent sending their precious child off to college.

  Now she sat at her kitchen table with the “toys” strewn across the butcher block top, looking like circus swag.

  “Katy?” Rosie called from the other side of her door.

  “Crap!” Quickly, Katy scooped the colorful array of toys into the brown bag as Rosie let herself in.

  “Hi, Rosie,” Katy nervously said, pushing the bag across the table as far away from her as possible. “What’s up?” It occurred to Katy that she probably looked like a guilty five-year-old, the way she stood there with her hands clasped behind her back looking down at her bare feet.

  “What’s in the bag?” Rosie queried, looking around the kitchen as if she would find a man hanging from the light fixture.

  “Just a few sundries from CVS.”

  Rosie’s nose twitched as if she had caught the scent of something, like her lie, or worse: the contents of the bag. Of course, that was ridiculous unless she had a nose for latex and AA batteries.

  “Mr. Kabo on Three said he saw a strange man the other night coming out of the elevator at approximately 9:59.”

  Katy bit her bottom lip and nervously moved around to the side of the table. As she glanced at the bag, she shrugged.

  Rosie stalked closer, glancing at the bag, then back at Katy. “Said he was a big one, and he had a gun.”

  “A gun?”

  “Yeah, a gun.”

  “Maybe he was a cop?”

  “Elliot’s dusting for prints and he’s going to run them through Live Scan.”

  “Okay, well.” Katy maneuvered between Rosie, who was eyeing the bag a little too keenly, and the table. “I hope he was a cop and not a bad guy.”

  “Me too, but what I really want to know is how he got in here, since no one said t
hey let him in.” She watched Katy suspiciously. “You didn’t happen to, did you?”

  “Me? No! Why would you ask? You know I’m not involved with anyone, Rosie. Why the fifty questions?”

  “I just don’t want to see you get tangled up with the wrong guy on the rebound.”

  “Oh for God’s sake, Rosie!” Katy grabbed the bag and pulled out the biggest dildo of the lot and stuck it beneath her friend’s nose. “There’s my rebound boyfriend, okay?”

  Rosie smiled and nodded. “Elliot and I have gone through three of those. They’re great while they last.”

  “Rosie! I don’t want to hear about your sex life.”

  “You should,” her friend said, and winked at her. “You might learn something.”

  “I’ll learn all on my own, thank you very much. Now is there anything else? I’m late for the gym.”

  “No, just keep an eye out for tall dark handsome strangers with a gun.”

  “I will. Now see yourself out, please.”

  As Rosie was about to close the door she called to Katy, “If you need batteries, we have them by the flat!”

  “Goodnight, Rosalinda!”

  For a long time Katy stared at her “toys.” Even alone with them, her cheeks warmed in embarrassment. She had never thought to use a vibrator or a dildo–even after Sugar Plum’s detailed instructions she didn’t know which was which. Until Simon, her libido had been mellow and manageable. Of course, until Simon she had never had an orgasm. The body wants what the body wants. And right now, her body didn’t want battery-powered plastic, no matter how many ways it pulsed, vibrated, and thrust. Her body wanted the real thing.

  As she had every night since her return home from San Diego, Katy worked her body to exhaustion at the gym. While it did little to ease her libido, it worked wonders on her glutes and abs, not to mention it was a good way to spend two hours without staring at her cell phone waiting for it to vibrate with a text from a man who was not going to contact her again.

  If he really wanted me, he would text me, she told herself.