Stand By Your Man by Susan Fox Read Free Book Online Page B

stuff like movie stars and singers, or tried to persuade him to tell undercover stories even when he said those were classified. Some, like Marion, just wanted to have sex. Those were the ones he liked best.
    As for Karen . . . Yeah, of course he’d like to go to bed with her, but he enjoyed her stories. She didn’t push him to talk about dangerous assignments, but instead wanted to know about him. The man, not the cop. Earlier, she’d asked if he wouldn’t like to be with a woman who understood and cared about him. Now, he kind of saw what she meant. “You make me think,” he admitted.
    A surprised laugh jolted out of her. “Should I say ‘thank you’ or apologize?”
    â€œNot sure.” He rubbed his head, grinned ruefully. “It’s confusing. But maybe it’s a good thing. You make me see . . .” He swallowed, and then a word slipped out, soft as a sigh. “Possibilities.”
    â€œI do? Tell me.”
    Did he dare think about possibilities? “Oh shit, woman. I never talk about stuff like this.”
    â€œIt’s time you started. Jamal, you decided to take a promotion and do less undercover work. Weren’t you thinking that you could have more of a life now?”
    Not consciously. But maybe, somewhere buried deep. That image flickered into his mind again: the basketball hoop, the kids, the dog. The woman. Possibilities. Seductive and dangerous. He shoved them aside and said gruffly, “Don’t think I’m suited for all that home and family stuff. Yeah, it sounds nice, like those stories about your family sounded nice. But hell, I don’t think it’s something I could do.”
    â€œYou could if you wanted to. It’s good to have dreams and goals to guide us.” Then she grimaced. “Not that having them is any guarantee of achieving them. I’m proof of that.” A sigh. “Even if by some miracle I did find a man who was interested in me, not everyone can handle being married to a cop. The divorce rate in the RCMP is pretty high.”
    He hated seeing discouragement on her pretty face. “Don’t give up on the dream. Not all cop marriages fail, and not all guys are crazy. One’s going to come along who realizes how special you are.” Whether that man would measure up to her high standards was another issue.
    â€œYou’re good for my ego,” she said softly.
    Oh hell, she was too damned irresistible, from the warm glow in her golden-brown eyes, to the interest she’d shown in him, to that touch of insecurity about her own attractiveness. “I could be good for more than that.”
    She pressed her lips together.
    â€œNo sex,” he said quickly. “I get it, Karen. But one kiss . . .” He leaned toward her slowly.
    Her eyes widened, but she didn’t move away.
    And when his lips touched hers, they were soft, warm, and giving.
    He smoothed back a silky strand of hair that had fallen forward, then slid his fingers through her hair to the nape of her neck. He’d touched women’s necks before, yet the skin had never before felt so soft and feminine.
    Karen, the cop who cared fiercely about her job, was also one hundred percent woman. One hundred percent desirable.
    Pulse hammering, he struggled for control as his tongue teased the crease between her lips until she opened. Her sweet, warm breath sighed against his face. The tip of her tongue met his, tentative at first, but quickly engaging in a dance of exploration and desire.
    In the back of her throat, a whimper and moan combined to make a wordless sound that spoke of pleasure, hunger, need. To him, it said “more.” As lust slammed through him, that was exactly what he wanted.
    He explored her mouth thoroughly, then let her taste his. His lips sucked the ripe center of her bottom lip, teasing it, laving it, doing to it what he longed to do to her nipple. Then to her clit.
    He’d never been really big