Today’s Saturday Snippet is a scene where characters are at work or play. Well, my snippet is sort of both.
I chose a scene from UNRESTRICTED ACCESS in the Most Wanted anthology. Jackson Barrows, the hero of the story, is a cop. As is his best friend (who was the hero in SEX AS A WEAPON from The Cop anthology) In this scene you see them both, playing while at work – sort of. Read on, and you’ll see what I mean.
“Unrestricted Access”
Jillian Furst has lusted after detective Jackson Barrows long enough and decides it’s time for some female seduction. She sends him flowers and a steamy letter with explicit instructions for a sexual fantasy that keeps them busy in bed all night long…
“You’re going down, Barrows.”
Shifting his weight Jack kept his muscles relaxed while he balanced on the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action in an instant. He eyed the blond, and some would say built man in front of him. “In your dreams, Pip-squeak.”
“Fuck you,” Kane Michaels threw back a split second before he lunged.
Jackson’s chuckle echoed through the hallow room, bouncing off the walls and drawing attention to them. Not many people would call the almost six foot wall of solid muscle in front of him pip-squeak, but Jackson had a whacked sense of humor. Besides, Kane might have twenty pounds on him, but Jackson was taller, and he was a dirtier fighter.
A solid punch landed on his cheek, and the fight began in earnest. Fists swung out, kicks were blocked and strikes were parried as the two men matched skills. Blood heated, chased through his system by fast and furious adrenaline as sweat began to break out on his forehead.
Sucking in his gut, Jackson jumped back just in time to avoid a hard right to his solar plexus, his own left snapping out to connect with Kane’s jaw. The lightweight gloves they used offered only minimal protection, and Jackson felt that connect all the way up his arm.
Using his forward momentum he stepped in, wrapped an arm around his opponents neck and took him to the ground.
A loud oof! told him he’d timed it right and Kane would be winded. They grappled briefly but Jackson quickly got the upper hand with a combination arm bar-choke hold. He applied pressure slowly until Kane grunted and tapped the mat.
Jack’s focus widened and he became aware of the sporadic clapping and voices talking around them. The gym in the basement of the downtown cop shop was busy, and they’d gained some spectators during the sparring match, as usual. His and Kane’s weekly sparring match had become a bit of a ritual, with some of the other cops placing bets on who would win.
Jackson ignored them as he stood and held out his hand to Kane. His partner took it and Jackson helped him to his feet. They’d agreed long ago to never bet on their own matches, or to keep score of who won more often.
“You were lucky,” Kane said with a mock scowl.
“Your grappling skills suck, Kane. I’ll win every time it goes to the ground until you admit it, and let me show you some technique’s.”
It was true. Kane was a good cop, and a good fighter. But he was a boxer. It was the classic boxer versus martial artist debate. Kane thought a solid punch was the best offense. Jackson was more the “˜whatever works, use it.’ school of thought. If Jack could get him on the mat, he had the upper hand.
“Ohhh, Jackson,” a fake falsetto sing songed. “Flower delivery.”
Jackson pulled the small towel he’d been using away from his face and looked around. “What the hell?”
Mitchell, the desk sergeant was sashaying toward him with a huge vase full of flowers. A cop…in uniform…sashaying with flowers. It was a fucked up sight that had everyone’s attention.
Mitchell stopped in front of Jackson and thrust out the vase. “Flowers were delivered to the front desk for you, pretty boy.”
“Is it your birthday?”
“What’d you do to rate flowers, man?”
“You’re supposed to send the ladies flowers, Jack. Not make them send them to you.”
Kane nudged him, grinning and laughing. The comments and catcalls rang in his ears, but he ignored them, flashing a self-deprecating grin. Sure, he had a bit of a reputation as a player. Women liked the way he looked and he was a single guy who enjoyed their company. But he’d never had flowers delivered before, especially to the station!
He grabbed the flowers and set them down on the bench without looking at them.
“Aren’t you going to read the card?”
He glared at Mitchell who’d lifted an envelope from within the bundle. He snatched the card from the guy’s hand and opened it.
I look at you and fantasize about your body being my personal playground.
Do you like to be played with?
Your secret admirer.
Heat flooded his system. Not the heat of standing in a basement full of sweaty, panting men in the middle of August, but the heat of a desire long buried resurfacing…hard.
“Holy shit! Are you blushing?” Kane crowed, which of course made more heat rush up Jackson’s neck. “He’s blushing!”
“Fuck off,” he muttered to his partner. He folded up the note and clenched it in his fist before anyone could try and grab it or read it. He flipped his towel over his shoulder and started to walk away. “I’m hitting the showers.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Kane called.
“What?”
“These.”
Jackson turned to see Kane three steps behind him the overflowing vase full of flowers in his hands.
MORE SNIPPETS from some other fabulous authors:
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Kelly Maher
McKenna Jeffries
Michelle M Pillow
Moira Rogers
Shelley Munro
S. J. Day
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Lauren Dane
I love this story 🙂 Actually I love all of the stories these characters are in! lol