Undercover Obsession (12 page)

“You still owe me lunch,” Haley told her as
she followed her through racks of summer wear to the front of the
shop. “Tomorrow?”

“See you then.”

Brody found a parking spot in front of the
Post Office on what appeared to be Hope’s main street, aptly named
‘Main Street’, still fuming over the way Piper had so blatantly
disregarded their order not to take off by herself. It had never
dawned on him that she wouldn’t simply comply with his dictate. The
woman he used to know would have meekly agreed and that would have
been the end of it, but Piper had changed in more ways than just
physically, something that he realized rather forcibly when he
knocked on her workroom door and got no answer. His second surprise
had come when he opened the door and saw she had crawled out the
window and slipped right by them. He now realized he had made a
mistake by telling her how things were going to be instead of
asking, but that didn’t negate her impulsive foolishness which he
was hoping hadn’t landed her in trouble again.

“Relax,” Ian said, “she’s smart enough to be
careful. Those missing days had her shook. She’ll be careful.”

“She’s still going to learn to listen to us,
whether she thinks she can handle this on her own or not.” Getting
out, Brody looked up and down the quaint brick sidewalks, noted all
the small shops with flower boxes on the window sills, tree shaded
benches and the laid back atmosphere as well as attitude of the few
people milling about.

“It’s fucking Mayberry,” Ian complained as he
too looked up and down the street.

“I like it.”

“You would,” he replied, his lip curled in
disdain.

Grinning, Brody pointed to the corner shop.
“You check there, I’ll head down to the bar and question the
bartender who took her home the other night. Hopefully one of us
will run into her.”

“And when we do?”

“Then I plan to show her what happens when
she’s so careless with her safety, especially after I specifically
told her not to go anywhere alone.”

“She’s made a life for herself here, Brody,
independent of Sandoval. She’s not going to turn the reins over to
you without a fight,” Ian warned him.

“Then she’s going to have trouble sitting
down the next few days until we find out what’s going on.” And
damned if he wasn’t looking forward to meting out those
consequences, Brody thought as he pictured her draped over his lap,
her ass bare and wiggling. The easy part would be administering her
punishment, the hard part would be controlling his reaction to the
feel of her ass warming under his hand, to the sight of that soft
white skin turning redder with each swat, especially if she took to
that painful pleasure as lustfully as she had the last time. Still,
it would be worth the frustration of putting aside his own lustful
reaction to make sure she didn’t pull this stunt again.

“Can I watch?” Ian’s grin was knowing and
contagious.

“Of course, but we’re not fucking her. It
wouldn’t be right under the circumstances.”

“While I agree with your reason, if she turns
those needy green eyes on me after you turn her down, don’t expect
me to be so chivalrous.”

“Call me if you find her,” Brody responded
tersely then grew irritated with himself when Ian smiled knowingly
before heading up the street. He had developed a fondness for Piper
the first time he met her in Geneva, a fondness that had not,
apparently, diminished over time and abstinence. But his obsessive
attraction would have to be put on the back burner for now. Until
something broke on the case they had been building against Pasquino
and, indirectly, Sandoval, sorting out his personal feelings where
Piper was concerned would have to wait.

Brody spotted the man named Crack as soon as
he stepped into Rowdy’s. With tattoos visible on every inch of
exposed skin, long grey hair pulled back in a ponytail and sporting
a pierced ear, he had the weathered look of a man who had lived a
hard life as well as biker gang member written all over him and
Brody suspected the Harley parked out front belonged to him. The
bar looked like a million others with tables and booths taking up
most of the space, leaving room for a small dance floor, an even
smaller stage that looked like it might be used for Karaoke, and a
long, mirror backed bar which the bartender was currently standing
behind, eyeing him.

“You Crack?” he asked the gruff looking man
as he took a seat on a stool in front of him.

“You FBI?” Crack asked even though he knew he
was. The sheriff had let him know as soon as he heard they were on
their way, setting Crack’s mind at ease. That girl needed someone
out there with her since she insisted on living outside of
town.

“I go by Brody, and yes, my partner, Ian and
I are with the bureau. You heard Piper’s back safe?”

“Yeah, Gary made sure we all knew.” At his
raised brow, Crack added, “Hope’s a small community. We look out
for our own. That girl had a lot of us worried. Can I get you a
beer?”

“Not today, thanks. That girl is why I’m
here. Have you seen her?”

A grin split Crack’s lined face. “Gave you
the slip, did she? I’m not surprised. She’s always been fiercely
independent. Nope, she hasn’t been in today.”

Brody checked his anger and his worry and
hoped Ian had better luck. He rose, started to leave, then he
turned back to ask, “You took her home Tuesday night?”

“Sure did. She and Haley hung around a little
later than usual and it was getting dark by the time they started
out. I saw Haley to her apartment above her shop then drove Piper
to her cabin, waited until she went in. She was fine when I
left.”

“She wasn’t drunk, or even tipsy?” he asked
remembering how only a few glasses of wine had affected her.

Crack laughed outright at the suggestion.
“That girl could drink me under the table. She does love her beer,
but no, she only had two and she went home completely in control.”
Sobering, he looked Brody in the eye, stating, “You watch out for
her, you hear.”

“I’ll do my best,” Brody said. That is, he
thought irritably, if he could find her.

Ian held the door open for two women exiting
the small store then cursed Brody a blue streak when he entered. To
his right were racks of women’s clothing, to his left a sales
counter which held an assortment of aromatic products women liked
to wear and men liked to smell. It was the kind of shop he wouldn’t
normally step foot in and was determined to step right back out of
as soon as he talked to the woman standing behind the counter
staring at him out of wide, frightened blue eyes. He had championed
enough victims to recognize one and this woman was silently
screaming victim. He could have told her it wasn’t wise to
advertise the fact, then again, fear rarely allowed for rational
thinking.

“The way you’re shifting your eyes, looking
for a way to escape, tells me you’re here alone. Suck it up and
look me in the eye,” he ordered her gruffly. Her backbone stiffened
and anger overrode the fear, which was what he wanted. “That’s
better. It’s okay to be afraid, just don’t advertise it. All that
will do is give a potential assailant more power over you, which is
what he wants. Your hands are shaking. Put them down, behind the
counter where they can’t be seen,” he said as he approached the
counter slowly, his eyes never leaving her very attractive
face.

“Who are you?” Haley managed to ask with some
semblance of outward calm. Men rarely came into her store and she
knew the ones who were locals and came and shopped for their wives
or girlfriends. When tourists came to Hope, the women browsed the
stores and the men went fishing or sat in Rowdy’s waiting for their
women. This man was a stranger, a very tall, very big stranger with
dark brown hair and eyes and a hard, chiseled face. While one part
of her, the biggest, most controlling part, instantly feared being
alone with such a man, another, much smaller, definitely much more
insignificant part of her was responding as any normal, red blooded
woman would. And that shocked the hell out of her since she hadn’t
felt any inkling of sexual interest in anyone in over six
years.

“Ian MacGregor. I’m looking for your friend,
Piper. She seems to have slipped away from us.” Ian smiled at her,
a smile that had drawn more than his share of women, but wasn’t
surprised when she didn’t take the bait. He was a good eight inches
taller than her, which put her at about five six, yet she managed
to keep her eyes on his. She was a slender, small boned woman and
he had trouble controlling his anger as he wondered what, and who,
had been responsible for her fear. At least she had stopped
shaking, he thought ruefully.

“Oh. You’re one of the agents Sheriff Nolan
called to help look for her when she went missing. Sorry, you just
missed her. She’s headed back home.” At his frown, she
instinctively took a step back even though her fear had subsided
when she realized they were Piper’s guests.

“Damn it, I’m not going to hurt you,” Ian
snapped even though he knew he shouldn’t. Whatever happened to make
her so skittish, it wasn’t his problem, even though nothing pissed
him off faster than the abuse of women or children. “Was she going
home through the woods?” he asked in a calmer, softer tone.

“Yes.” Her gaze went to the door when the
bell rang. Another tall, large man walked in, this one with hair as
black as Piper’s, piercing grey eyes and a goatee framing a mouth
Piper claimed was to die for. Brody Pearce was exactly as her
friend described. Even though Haley knew she was in no danger of
physical harm from either man, she still had trouble swallowing
past the large wad of fear stuck in her throat, still couldn’t
steady her erratic pulse and she found herself desperate to have
them leave. “You’re looking for Piper too? I just told Agent
MacGregor she just left.”

Brody was as good at reading people and body
language as Ian and he had no trouble spotting a woman with an
abusive past. At least, he hoped it was in the past. Remaining by
the door, he visibly relaxed at hearing Piper had been here and was
already headed back to her cabin, but his anger and worry over her
continued obstinence still simmered.

“Thank you,” he told her before turning his
gaze to Ian. “I’ll drive back if you’ll take the woods.” Brody
recognized Ian’s anger on behalf of Piper’s friend, knew he was
itching for physical release, and hoped the walk would cool him
down.

“Can you give me directions?” Ian asked her
tersely.

Haley quickly gave them directions and
breathed a sigh of relief when they left. Piper hadn’t seemed to
mind having both men living in such close quarters with her for the
time being, and Haley wished she could be that open and easy going
around men again. For the first time in six years, her body had
seemed interested in the opposite sex. Now if only her mind could
get on board.

Brody pulled in front of Piper’s cabin and
quickly noted she hadn’t returned yet. Leaning against his car, he
folded his arms across his chest and kept his eye on the path where
she would exit the woods into her yard. He was coolly composed
having gotten his anger under control by ceding that he shouldn’t
have dictated to Piper the way he did. That concession didn’t mean
there wouldn’t be consequences for her foolish rebuttal.
Consequences he was itching to deliver despite knowing he was going
to have a demanding cock aching for release by the time he was
done. When Piper emerged from the woods a few minutes later, her
startled eyes met the intent in his.

“What’re you doing?” Piper asked him warily
as Brody pushed away from a bright red vintage car that looked to
be in mint condition and slowly stalked toward her. She had
high-tailed it back here as fast as possible, but obviously hadn’t
been quick enough.

“Did I or did I not tell you not to take off
by yourself?” he asked silkily, smiling slightly when she retreated
a step before clenching her jaw in determination.

“I don’t answer to you. Where’s Ian?” Damn
it, Brody had a gleam in his eyes that had her nipples puckering
and her pussy dampening and she didn’t know whether to be pleased
or pissed off. Only he had been able to arouse her so quickly and
it was only him she had trouble resisting. Unfortunately, he had
proven he didn’t suffer the same affliction when it came to
resisting her.

“He should be along shortly, depending on how
much of a head start you had. And, I’m afraid you’re very much
mistaken, darlin’. Until we find out who was behind your
disappearing act, you are very much answerable to me.” Brody
grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the small garden bench in
front of her porch.

As soon as he sat down and tugged her arm,
throwing her off balance so she landed sprawled across his lap,
Piper knew what he intended. Her body responded almost instantly to
the memory of the last time he had spanked her, of how that heated
pain had increased her arousal, but her mind was shying away from
the humiliating, vulnerable position as well as the fear of losing
control. When he pulled her backpack off and easily shoved her
elastic waist shorts down to her knees, her mind‘s resistance took
precedence.

Struggling to get off his lap, she demanded,
“Let me go, Brody. You’re not doing this.”

Clamping one arm across her lower back, he
pinned her kicking legs with his leg and brought his other hand
down in a resounding smack on her right, wriggling buttock. “It
looks like I am,” he stated calmly even though the sight of that
lush ass clenching tightly had his dick thickening painfully
already. Another smack landed on her left cheek followed by one
right in the middle. “Be still or this’ll take longer. Although, I
know Ian won’t mind watching our little scene.”

At the mention of the other man, Piper
stilled, but not out of worry about being seen. Her traitorous body
seemed to like the idea of having an audience, of having other eyes
on her ass as Brody continued to slap her with sharp, steady
strokes. It took only moments for her pussy to pulse achingly for
release, for the pain he was building to feed the burning ache
until it was out of control, fueled even further by the thought of
Ian catching them. “Brody, please,” she pleaded as she shifted her
hips on his hard as rock thighs, the feel of his denim covered
rigid cock against her side just egging her on.