Arrested By Love (15 page)

"Happy Birthday, you sick fucker," she growled, then stormed out of the precinct.

Kyle wanted to go after her, except as angry as she was, he knew confronting her now would only make things worse. So, he let her go and put the box she'd given him down on nearby table that held public pamphlets on crime prevention.

Scowling down at them, Kyle realized there was one crime he'd like to commit right now, however, he'd definitely go to jail for murdering a woman who was already being restrained in handcuffs.

Determined to seek out Tiffany later, once she'd cooled down enough to at least hear him out, Kyle gathered his patience with an indrawn sigh and returned his attention to Jim.

Afraid that they'd become a bit of a circus act with Jim still restraining Kelly on the floor, Kyle made a suggestion. "Why don't we take Kelly into one of the interrogation rooms, so we can stop being the center of attention."

Jim looked down at the woman he had tackled and gave a nod. Then, with a motion that looked smooth and controlled, he picked Kelly up in his arms and tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

Casting a glance back at Kyle, he said, "Bring the bag, bud. I don't think this is over, yet."

Though Kelly clearly didn't like being carried over Jim's shoulder, her efforts to pound Jim's back in protest were met with a disciplinary sharp smack on her buttocks. Arching her back, she let out a healthy yelp.

"Give me any more trouble, sub, and I'll bare your insolent butt and spank you proper right here, in front of everyone," he warned. When Kelly's only response was a sob, Jim added, "And you know I'll do it, too." Though Kelly let out a small whimper, she lay absolutely still in abject resignation on Jim's shoulder.

Chapter Ten

Kyle followed the two of them into the nearest interrogation room and set Jim's bag down so he could easily reach it if he needed to.

Putting Kelly back on her feet, Jim next applied firm pressure on her shoulders, which forced her back down to her knees.

"Stay there!" he ordered quietly. "And do not move an inch unless you want your bottom bared and paddled until it hurts too much for you to even scream." When she glared back at him, Jim leaned toward her and added menacingly, "'Cause let me tell you right now, woman, that I am itchin' to do that real bad."

"I hate you!" Kelly spat back at him, but wisely kept to the spot he'd placed her in.

Jim sat back in his seat with a scowl, but made no effort to punish or scold Kelly for her outburst, probably because he was too mad and didn't trust himself not to hurt her.

"What happened?" Kyle finally asked, drawing Jim's attention away from Kelly for a moment. "I know you intended to be firm with her, but what caused her to go off like that?"

"Well, bud, it sorta happened like this. Kelly came in to the station and, all sweet and polite-like, asked to see me. When I stepped out into Reception, she charged and leapt up to straddle her legs about my waist, then gave me kiss that would burn my papa's whiskers. I was on the phone at the time, so I reacted without thinkin' and firmly pushed her off me, expectin' her to land on her feet. Instead, she dropped to floor on her butt faster than a bag of cement on mixin' day. I felt real bad about that, but was too riled up over the fact that she'd actually disobeyed me by comin' here to even think about apologizin'."

When Kelly turned and glared up at him, Jim raised a cautioning finger before her nose. "One more word outta you, darlin', and the gag goes back on."

She grit her teeth in anger and turned away from him, but managed to refrain from saying anything that might challenge Jim to make good on his promise.

"Anyway," Jim continued a little more softly, "she was spread eagled with her ass on the floor when I bent over to tell her how little I thought of her actions. I made no offer to help her up, and didn't intend to at that moment. Well, even though I sorta expected her to cry and beg my forgiveness, as she's done before, I was fully prepared for her to throw one of her spectacular tantrum's and yell some at me for bein' a brute. What I didn't expect or even consider was that she might actually launch herself at me in a rabid fury, then begin screamin' and hittin' me like a demented banshee."

Kyle saw Kelly whip around to glare at Jim again, so he bent forward and said something quietly to her that only she could hear. She shook her head and started softly crying again as she looked away.

Jim straightened back up and crossed his arms over his chest. "I guess she thought I'd be so delighted to see her that I'd dumb-plumb forget I'd ordered her not to show up here."

Kelly glanced back up at him and said tearfully, "I only wanted to surprise you. I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Jim sighed. "Did I give you permission to speak, sub?"

"No, Sir," Kelly answered as she lowered her head in a show of submission.

Keeping his arms crossed, Jim merely stared at her and waited. When she snuck a look back up at him, she realized immediately what it was he expected. "I apologize for speaking without permission, Sir," Kelly whispered in a small tremulous voice.

Jim rolled his eyes, then gave a sigh and a nod. ""Very nicely said. Apology accepted, sub." When Kelly's eyes welled with tears again, Jim regarded her closely. "However, since you've already disobeyed me by speakin' without permission, what is it about 'if you come to my workplace, be prepared to spend the rest of the week unable to sit down' that you did not understand, darlin'?" he asked almost gently.

"I just wanted to see you. We already agreed to spend the weekend together, and I managed to get some extra time off thinking we could sneak away early. I didn't really think you'd get that mad at me," she answered on a sob, as big unhappy tears rolled down her cheeks. "After last night, I thought you'd enjoy being with me," she finished in a small uncertain voice.

Uncrossing his arms, Jim bent closer to her. "My feelin's for you are not what's at issue here, Kelly. You deliberately disobeyed me, and I will not tolerate that."

She bent her head and sobbed as if he'd just broken her heart. Jim just scowled at her for a moment, then straightening he looked back at Kyle. "I just don't understand. What is it about sobbin' women that makes men feel like shit? She just attacked me like a rabid she-wolf, and now I feel like I've kicked a puppy."

That admission made Kelly sob even harder.

Jim shook his head, then placed a gentling hand on her hair. "All right. That's enough. I want you to just settle down and be quiet for awhile. You've done more than enough carryin' on for one afternoon."

She bent her head as large, wet sobs continued to pour out of her. With her hands still cuffed behind her Kelly couldn't wipe her nose, so Jim grabbed the box of Kleenex on the table, and ordered her to look at him.

"You're a god-awful mess right now, darlin'," he scolded softly, then held a tissue to her nose. "Blow."

She obeyed. Crumpling up that one, Jim grabbed another tissue and held it. "Again."

After she did as he ordered, he grabbed another tissue and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Then lifting her chin to examine her critically, he said, "Better."

When she merely stared up at him, he pressed a hand to her head until her cheek rested against his thigh, then continued to stroke her hair. "Just relax now, and you and I will have a nice long talk about the many pitfalls of disobedience, later."

Kelly let out a slightly watery sigh. Then, with her head resting comfortably against Jim's knee, she closed her eyes.

The floor was probably hard on her legs, and no doubt those handcuffs hurt, but she made no complaint as Jim continued to stroke her hair like she was his pet.

"Sorry 'bout what happened between you and Tiffany," Jim commented quietly.

Kelly lifted her head to look up at Kyle again.

"Kellly...," Jim warned ominously. She obediently laid her head back down and closed her eyes again. "Good girl," Jim praised and resumed his light stroking.

Kyle sighed. "Yeah, that's going to be a tough one, I'm afraid. She heard Kelly say that she expected us to be together last night. Unfortunately, I actually had to break a date with Tiffany to be with the two of you at the club, so I think she's going to have a bit of trouble understanding exactly what was going on."

Jim merely nodded for a moment, then said, "I need to finish up with this little hot-tempered termagant." He said, jerking his head in Kelly's direction. "Don't think it should take too long for me to finally get my message across. She ain't stupid, just stubborn. But I don't expect she'll feel up to partyin' much after our "talk," he grumbled, actually mimicking quote marks with his fingers before and after the word talk.

"So, later, if you'd like to go for a drink together tonight. I'm game."

"Thanks, but I think I need to straighten out the mess with my girl before I attempt to do any other socializing." Kyle rose to his feet and Kelly immediately lifted her head, but laid it back down the moment Jim gave another light press of his hand.

"I guess you won't need any help carrying out your 'discussion,' right?"

"No. But thanks, bud. I think I can take it from here without any more problems."

Then Jim gazed down at the woman on her knees at his side and gave her a light tap on the head. "Kelly, I believe you owe an apology to Master Kyle. We'd like to hear it now, please."

Kelly glanced up at Jim, then looked back over to Kyle. "Forgive me, Master Kyle, for my rude behavior and language earlier."

Kyle simply nodded at her. She was Jim's now and he no longer had a right to touch her, not even to give her a pat on the head for forgiveness, unless Jim gave his permission first.

With a glance down at her, Jim said, "If you forgive her, Master Kyle, you may touch your hand to her head. If not, I will add her earlier show of disrespect to our list of discussion topics."

Struggling to hide back his smile despite his own problems, Kyle managed to look stern as he stepped forward to touch his hand to Kelly's head. "You're forgiven, sub."

When Kelly merely mouthed, "Thank you," Kyle gave them both a nod, then turned and left, confident Kelly would be firmly handled, but not mistreated.

As Kyle strode back to Reception, he saw Tiffany's box and walked over to open it. The cake she'd created not only looked delicious, but she'd made it into a real work of art. Kyle smiled. "So that's what the little vixen's been up to these past few weeks," he murmured, feeling proud of her and shamed he hadn't gotten the chance to acknowledge the specialness of her gift and thank her.

Calling out to the group, he yelled, "We've got cake, guys, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'll put it in the break room for everyone to enjoy."

Several of the officers got to the break room first and were already lined up for a piece before Kyle got there. Kyle laughed, but said, "Hey, guys, it's my cake, my birthday, so I get dibs on the first piece."

They ribbed him good-naturedly but let him take the piece he wanted. Kyle laughed over the small police car, and the phrase Tiffany had put on his badge, "Police Officers do it by the book," which would never be found on any cop's badge, but she got his number right.

Cutting himself a corner piece, Kyle placed it on a paper plate and headed toward his desk. He needed to get out and see Tiffany, but it would have been rude not to at least sample her masterpiece before he thanked her for it.

Both the chocolate cake and icing were so good, they practically melted on his tongue. He was really proud of his girl, and hoped she'd calmed down enough to at least let him explain. And, since he could definitely understand why she was so upset, he would be as patient as was possible with her.

Once Kyle finished his cake and cleaned off his desk, he left the station and headed over to Tiffany's house to talk with her. He knew the conversation wouldn't be an easy one, and he expected a lot of tears and recriminations, but somehow he would get her to understand. He had to.

When he rang the doorbell, Tiffany's dad answered. Seeing who it was, he stepped outside on the porch with Kyle and shut the door.

"Evening, son," Mr. Morgan said easily. Kyle could tell from the man's face that Tiffany was having a hard time and it made him feel even worse.

Taking a deep breath, Kyle asked, "How is she doing, sir?"

Mr. Morgan shook his head. "Not so good right now."

Then Patrick Morgan placed his arm about Kyle's shoulder and walked him down a step or two away from the house. It wasn't exactly the direction Kyle wanted to be heading, but he figured the man preferred to discuss matters privately with him, so he went along without comment.

After they were about twenty or so steps from the house, Mr. Morgan said, "I have no idea what went on between you two, Kyle, but my little girl is in there bawling her eyes out, and she's been at it since she got home two hours ago."

When Kyle opened his mouth to speak, Morgan shook his head. "Let me say what's on my mind first, son, then I'll give you a chance to say your piece. All right?"

Kyle nodded, although he didn't really have much choice.

"Tiffany has loved you since she was about ten years old. She actually idolized you. And I watched as those feelings for you only grew stronger and deeper as she developed into the woman we know and love today.

"Oh, I'm fully aware that she did some things she shouldn't have, just so she could get a chance to see you. She'd even come home crying sometimes because you'd been upset with her, but she always blamed herself--not you. She loves you, son. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about that. But something happened today that has practically destroyed her.

"As near as I can tell she is under the impression that you broke your date with her last night so you could be with another woman." Morgan held up his hand when Kyle opened his mouth to speak. "Let me finish. I'm sure you had excellent reasons for doing what you did. I have no doubt you could prove to Tiffany that you were totally innocent of that charge, and I'm certain once she'd heard you out she would forgive you even if she didn't fully understand what happened. But right now, Kyle, she is just too upset to even listen to you, let alone see you.