The Firm Hand of the Law Read online

  “You’re such a brat,” he said, kissing her affectionately. The kiss deepened into one with more passion as they wound their arms around one another, there in the dark and dangerous parking lot of Paramor. “We should get out of here,” he said. “Jasper’s going to call some people in on this. We don’t want to be here when they arrive.”

  “No? Scared of a few criminals?”

  “Not scared,” he said firmly. “Just interested in keeping you safe, my horny little witch.”

  She was horny, terribly so. All the excitement and adrenaline had been turned into a rush of arousal which was making her inner thighs gleam in the shine from the single streetlight.

  “Let’s get you to safety,” Gareth said, reaching down and tossing her over his shoulder in one powerful movement.

  Pouting, Lily was dumped in the passenger seat of Gareth’s car. It wasn’t fair. She wanted more. She wanted him. As he sat down in the driver’s seat, she reached across and squeezed his crotch, finding him as hard as she was wet.

  “Pull over somewhere,” she said, biting her lower lip.

  “You want to do it in the car?”

  “I don’t care where we do it, as long as we do it now.” She wanted him inside her so badly she felt like a junkie needing a fix. Gareth pulled the car over in a quiet spot near the river and she climbed atop him, ignoring the way the steering wheel poked into her back as she fumbled with his zipper.

  Gareth managed to get the seat back a few inches by the time she had freed his cock, and was pressing hot kisses to her lips and neck as she rose above him, pushed her panties to the side, and slid herself down on his erection with a sigh of satisfaction.

  “You’re soaking,” he exclaimed, his hands moving to her hips to help her as she started rising and falling atop him. In this position, she was in control. Her hips and thighs determined how hard, how fast they went. Her skirt rode up around her waist, leaving her bottom bare for him to caress and spank and slap. He did all three as she fucked him with a passionate intensity directly linked to the danger she’d been in. It was the hottest thing in the world to ride a cop’s cock after having turned on Jasper. Finally she was in control. Finally she had some measure of power in her life. The bar no longer held her back, Jasper had been ceremonially dispatched, and all ties were broken. She was free to love whoever she wanted, and it was the man surging beneath her, sharing himself with her completely.

  He reached for her top and pulled it up over her breasts, baring them to his touch. She ground against his cock as he lightly squeezed her nipples, sending jolting shocks of arousal straight to her clit. “Fuck me…” she gasped against his mouth.

  “There’s not enough room,” he said, pushing open his door. Lily squealed as he put one arm under her bottom and lifted her out of the car with him, carrying her around to the hood.

  “Hands on the car, Brannigan,” he said with mock harshness.

  Lily obeyed, grinning with excitement as she stood, bottom out, breasts bared in the middle of the night while Gareth slid up behind her and started fucking her against the hood of his car. There was nothing safe or lawful about what they were doing; though it was a remote area, anyone could have come along and seen his cock penetrating the hot wet lips of her eager cunt over and over again, her breasts pressed against the cool hood, her legs spread wide and hobbled by the ridiculous shoes. She knew what she looked like, she looked like a wanton slut being treated precisely as a slut should be treated—and she loved every minute of it.

  Gareth leaned forward, grabbed a decent amount of her hair to use as a hand hold, and slid his cock out of her pussy. Her whine of complaint was met with a hard slap to her bottom, and followed by several more as he spanked her bottom bright red.

  “This is what bad girls get, Brannigan,” he said, catching her pussy lips with the flat of his fingers once or twice. “Bad girls get their pussies spanked and fucked by mean policemen.”

  His words made her cunt clench around the empty air. She needed to be filled, but Gareth had regained control of the situation and he was not going to satisfy her, not yet. His fingers were scooping up wetness from her pussy and moving it to a much more tender spot—her tight little anal bud.

  “Ever had your bottom fucked before?”

  “No,” Lily squeaked as he slid his fingers around that sensitive spot.

  “This is where bad girls get fucked,” he informed her, pressing a single finger slowly into her bottom. “Bad girls have their bottoms fucked nice and long and hard.”

  The finger was a strange intrusion, but it didn’t feel bad. If anything it felt good, a secondary way to be filled. She squirmed back against him as he slowly began to probe her ass, the ample lubrication of her pussy juices making the process a slick, smooth one.

  A second finger soon joined the first, and then a third. She was starting to be filled very tight, but Gareth paid no heed to her whimpered complaints. Instead he pressed the head of his cock to her clit and then slid it inside her, fucking her pussy slowly as he filled her ass.

  “Oh God, oh Gareth, oh my fucking…” her cries went from the divine to the completely incomprehensible as he slowly slid out of both holes, then pressed the head of his cock to her bottom hole.

  “Easy,” he said as she squirmed. He pressed himself in, sliding smoothly into the tightest hole she had. Lily moaned as the intrusion grew in length, feeling completely vulnerable and spread around his hardness. “Just relax your bottom and take this cock like a good bad girl.”

  Lily couldn’t help but giggle. She heard him grunt as the motion made her ass clamp around his cock. His fingers went to her pussy, rubbing her clit in slow circles as he fucked her bottom in the moonlight.

  “This is where I’m going to cum,” he told her, “right in your tight little ass.”

  Lily didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything. Aliens could have landed next to them and all she would have cared about was Gareth’s fingers pleasuring her clit to the point of climax. She was so close, her body shaking and trembling with the effort of holding herself up as Gareth filled her bottom over and over, thrusting a little harder now, making sure she knew who she belonged to and how he was going to use her.

  He came with a shout, filling her bottom with hot spurts which she could feel splashing inside. She was on the verge herself, her wetness slowing down the process.

  “More,” she moaned. “More!” Gareth rubbed her pussy firmly, then began spanking her clit. That was what she needed. Each swat brought her closer to climax, her bottom full of cock and seed, her bare wet pussy being punished just as it needed to be. She came with a long wail, pressed hard against the hood of Gareth’s unmarked car, the wet swollen lips of her well spanked and fucked pussy pulsing with her heartbeat.

  Gareth slid out of her bottom, buttoned his pants, and looked instantly respectable. She did not. With cum dripping from her bottom, her pussy wet and puffy, her bare breasts leaving imprints of warmth on the hood, she was a complete mess.

  “Wait a second,” Gareth said. He went to the trunk and retrieved a blanket, which he draped tenderly over her well used body. Then he wrapped her up in a tight hug and sat with her on his lap. They looked out over the river together, enjoying the midnight afterglow.

  “This is a mess,” she said, snuggling against his chest, “but I’m glad I’m in it with you.”

  Gareth smiled and dropped a kiss on her head. “These things always look like a mess until you get one final piece of the puzzle. Then it all makes sense.”

  “What’s the final piece of this puzzle?” She looked up at him curiously, wondering if he held any more secrets.

  He shook his head. “I wish I knew.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The day everything finally fell into place began uneventfully enough. It was three days after the sting had gone wrong and then oh so very right. Lily was eating a bowl of cereal when Gareth walked in the door and dropped his keys onto the kitchen counter. He looked concerned, more so than ever b
efore.

  “What’s wrong?” She almost didn’t want to know what the answer was. Whatever had happened was bad enough to make him resemble a defensive pit bull, hackles up, entire body on alert.

  “Jasper was found dead this morning.”

  “What?” Lily clapped her hands to her mouth. She’d hated Jasper about as much as it was possible to hate anyone, but she’d not wished actual death on him. “Who killed him? I didn’t kill him, did I?”

  “No,” Gareth said. “He didn’t die from a blow to the crotch. As to who did it? Someone who didn’t want to be found,” Gareth said grimly. “It’s something of a standard operating procedure. As soon as the heat starts getting close, they start killing people off. Better to get rid of someone entirely than to risk them turning into a witness for the state.”

  “So what does this mean?”

  Gareth sighed, running his hand through his short cropped hair. “It means that this case is not over. It means that the chief isn’t going to make DA anytime soon. And it means you’re going to have to stay with me. You could be next on their list.”

  “I doubt it,” Lily said. “I never knew anyone above Jasper.”

  “You might not know what you know,” Gareth explained. “It’s very possible that you’ve seen things and heard things and—”

  His phone rang. He held up his finger and answered it gruffly. It was obvious to Lily that whoever was on the other end of the line wasn’t a friend, but he was important.

  “You’re kidding me.” His eyes slid over to Lily and widened slightly. “Really? You have proof? Mm-hmm… mm-hmm… no… yes… okay.” He hung up and turned to Lily. “We need to go out,” he said. “Now.”

  Lily didn’t ask questions. She could sense that it was not the time for questions. It was the time to get moving as quick as possible. She was in the car before he was, ready for whatever was coming next.

  “This isn’t going to be easy,” Gareth said. “But we have to go see your grandmother.”

  “Gammy? Why? Is she in danger?”

  “Not likely,” he said. “But we need to get there now.”

  Confused, Lily waited out the car ride, her stomach churning nervousness. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to Gammy. She bounced out of the car as soon as it was parked, ready to dash up to Gammy’s apartment.

  Gareth stopped her. “I’m coming up,” he said, “in my official capacity.”

  “Gammy won’t like that,” Lily said, concerned.

  “I bet she won’t,” Gareth agreed. He kept walking, apparently unconcerned about Gammy’s feelings on the matter. Worried, Lily followed him up to Gammy’s apartment. A nurse let them in and was brave enough to risk Gammy’s wrath by turning off the television in the middle of one of her shows.

  “What do you want then?” Gammy gave Gareth a hard look. “I don’t know you, do I?”

  “Gammy,” Lily said. “This is Gareth. He is a police officer. He’s investigating what happened at the bar.”

  Gammy screwed her face up in annoyance. “I thought I taught you better than to let the police get involved.”

  “They tend to get themselves involved, Gammy.”

  “Only if you’re careless…” Gammy squinted daggers of disappointment at Lily.

  “Millicent Brannigan,” Gareth interrupted what would no doubt have been a lecture detailing Lily’s shortcomings, “do you have any knowledge of the events concerning Jasper Woodcock’s death?”

  “What’s a Jasper Woodcock?” Gammy cackled as if she’d made a joke.

  “I have reason to believe that you might know something about it,” Gareth stated flatly.

  “I don’t know anything about anything,” Gammy replied. “These days it takes three nurses to tell me I’ve wet myself.”

  “Gareth, please…” Lily tried to intervene in the conversation, not seeing the point. Interrogating Gammy was pointless. There was no way she could have known anything about Jasper. It had been years since she was involved with anything with the business.

  “You want to keep the charade up?” Gareth’s tone started becoming harsh. “You’ll let your grand-daughter take the fall for you? Go to prison for murder?”

  “Lily has an air-tight alibi,” Gammy said, suddenly not sounding frail or fuzzy. “She lives with a police officer who keeps her nice and safe at home. She won’t see any time for this.”

  “Gammy!” Lily gasped, shocked to her very core. “How… what? Did you…?” There were so many questions, but they all had the same increasingly obvious answer. It was Gammy. It had always been Gammy. The old woman hadn’t retired, she’d just moved to a nicer apartment with better service.

  “Don’t look so shocked, dear. Brannigans do not rot in old age homes.”

  “But… they know…” Lily pointed at Gareth. “He’s a police officer, Gammy. You just confessed!”

  “You can’t prove anything,” Gammy crowed. “Nobody will testify against me.”

  “Gammy! Jasper is dead!”

  Gammy shrugged. “That’s his fault,” she replied simply. “If he’d wooed you like this officer did, instead of being a slimy smut peddler, he’d be the new head of the Brannigans. Jasper crossed me and he threatened you.” Gammy’s eyes glittered with unfettered anger. “Nobody does that.”

  “No offense, ma’am, but I’m not interested in leading a smuggling cartel,” Gareth interjected. “Especially not one where the leader puts out a hit when she doesn’t like what’s going on.”

  “Of course not. It’s a great pity. A great pity and a shame, but that is how these things tend to go with offspring. Terrible disappointments, most of them. Jenny Brown’s granddaughter is a waitress of all things.”

  Lily and Gareth exchanged looks. Gammy’s idea of positive and negative was incredibly skewed. Of course, she was from another time. More than another time, an entirely different mental space. She was rotten to the core, old Gammy Brannigan—but it was also certain that she would come up clean as a whistle if she were actually brought to trial. Lily couldn’t help but admire Gammy’s gumption.

  Gammy folded her liver spotted hands in her lap and gave Gareth a hard look. “So, are you going to arrest an old lady? Or are you going take your loss and leave her with your tail between your legs like the dog you are?”

  “Gammy!” Lily’s tone was full of shock and disapproval. Gammy did not care about either one of them.

  “I’ll never consider this case a loss,” Gareth said calmly. “I found the love of my life and I shut down your ring. You won’t be able to breathe without it being recorded from here on out, Brannigan. Your criminal days are over. You’ve put out your last hit, and you’ve taken your last shipment.”

  “Maybe there won’t be a railroad,” Gammy conceded, “but there’s always bingo. Those balls don’t call themselves you know.” She winked, managing to look arch even under dozens of wrinkles.

  “She’s going to rip off every person in this place,” Lily muttered to Gareth. “She deserves to go to jail.”

  “Unfortunately, she’s right,” he murmured back. “This would never stick. No jury is going to convict an old woman on the quality of the source I have. If she’d denied everything, we would be back to square one.”

  “I guess she doesn’t think she has anything to lose,” Lily replied.

  “Turn the TV back on and talk about me behind my back somewhere else,” Gammy grunted. “I’m missing my show.”

  Lost for anything more constructive to do, Lily turned the TV back on. They left Gammy contentedly watching television, as happy as any black-hearted old career criminal could be.

  “Do you know what the hardest part of my job is?” Gareth posed the question as they walked back to the car.

  “No.” Lily was feeling strangely deflated. So Gammy had been behind it all the whole time. The old lady’s twisted sense of justice must have been what eventually lead to Jasper’s untimely passing. And now it was over. All over. It was almost anticlimactic in a way. Worse
than that, it made her a fool. All these years she’d been working her fingers to the bone for Gammy, and it turned out that Gammy was playing her the whole time. Things were certainly going to be frosty next Sunday visit.

  “The hardest part is sometimes the bad guys win,” Gareth said. “Sometimes a tie-breaker is actually a good result.”

  “So she’s going to get away with it?”

  “There’s no evidence, and there’s nobody who will give evidence. Her confession could so easily be written off as the ramblings of a demented old woman.”

  “Then there’s only one way for her to lose,” Lily said firmly. “She needs to live knowing that it’s all over. There will be no more criminal Brannigans from here on out. In fact, I’m not sure there will be any Brannigans at all. Maybe the line will end with me.”

  “Hey,” he said, pulling her close and hugging her tight. “I know you’re upset, but let’s not write off the future generations just yet. Besides, they won’t be Brannigans. They’ll be Knights.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Gareth smiled down at her, his eyes lit with fondness. “I’m saying you’re a woman like no other, Lily Brannigan, and I want you to be my wife. I’m saying I want you in my bed, by my side, and in my mind and heart every day of my life. That’s what I’m saying.”

  She looked at him, blinking through tears. “You what?”

  He held her hands and looked deep into her eyes. “I love you. I love you for all that you are, and all that you choose not to be. I love you for your strength, and your spunk, and your spankable little ass,” he smiled wryly. “And I’ve decided to make you mine.”

  “Oh you have? Well, I don’t know about that.” She had pulled away, but the sparkle in her eye and the curl of her lips said that her objection was playful. He played along.

  “Then maybe I’ll have to spank you into accepting my proposal.”

  “How barbaric.” She grinned as he made a grab for her, dancing away from him. He gave chase, catching her after just a few strides and slinging her over his lap.