Tactical Maneuver Read online

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  About the Author

  Look for these titles by J.C. Wilder

  For him, it’s all about the chase. Until one good woman trips him up.

  Men of S.W.A.T., Book 2

  Just days away from finishing her temporary assignment in Haven and returning to her safe, lonely life in Columbus, office efficiency expert Emma Taylor toys with a deliciously sexy idea.

  According to local rumor, decorated SWAT officer Jay Barnes is a dynamo in bed. Maybe he’s the man to unleash her inner wild woman—and maybe, finally, show her what the “big O” is all about.

  From the moment Emma volunteers to play hostage for a S.W.A.T. training exercise, Jay itches to loosen her conservative bun and remove her uptight blouse. A sizzling weekend locked away in her apartment uncovers the woman of his wildest dreams—literally—and suddenly he realizes letting her go isn’t an option.

  But while he’s thinking “forever”, she’s thinking “forget it”. He’ll have to come up with a whole new set of moves to convince her this bad boy is ready to settle down.

  Warning: Contains slippery curves, dangerous fantasies and handsome men with copious amounts of…equipment.

  Tactical Maneuver

  J.C. Wilder

  Dedication

  For Niki.

  Acknowledgments

  My heartfelt thanks go out to the Delaware Tactical Unit, one of the premier S.W.A.T. teams in the United States. Thank you for letting me participate in your training and pester you with nonstop questions. Your patience is endless. Any mistakes contained herein are entirely my own.

  Chapter One

  Justin slid his hand along the curve of Madeline’s thigh, enjoying the feel of her baby-soft skin. She writhed beneath his touch as his fingers moved to tease the curly hair at the apex of her thighs.

  “Do you want me to touch you, my slave?”

  She made a noise of protest, and her arms and legs strained against the velvet bonds when his hand covered her. He would go no further until she acquiesced to his every command.

  “Please…” Her voice was faint. “Touch me.”

  “Nay, my sweet.” He flexed his fingers against her curls with just enough pressure to send her hips arching toward him. “You have to ask…properly.”

  “Please touch me, M-m-master.”

  Her stammer brought forth a primal rush of satisfaction as he parted her heated core—

  “He’s baaaacccckkkk.”

  Emma Taylor jumped as her coworker’s voice broke into the sensual spell woven by the paperback lovers. Her cheeks burned as she fought the urge to squirm in her chair in a halfhearted attempt to relieve the slight ache between her thighs.

  “Who’s back?” Brenda, the office manager, asked, her gaze glued to her computer screen.

  “Who do you think?” Their other coworker, Tiffany, stood with her nose almost pressed to the window that overlooked the back lot of the fire station. “And he’s in S.W.A.T. gear.”

  Brenda looked up, her eyes rounded. “No, not—”

  “Oh, yeah…” Tiffany sighed. “I’d heard this morning he’d just gotten back from training in Missouri. Get your backside over here, girl, and get an eyeful of Mr. Wonderful.”

  Brenda leapt out of her chair and hurried to the window. “Heavens.” She fanned her face with her hand. “I do believe he picked up some muscles while he was gone.”

  “Now, if I could just get him to pick me up,” Tiffany drawled. “Oh! He’s walking into the smokehouse. Oh yeah, that is one grade-A butt. He can fill out a pair of fatigues like nobody’s business.”

  As both women laughed, Emma stashed her book, then slid out of her chair and moved to stand behind them. Her height made it easy to see over their heads.

  Behind the fire station was a three-story wooden structure everyone called the smokehouse. Almost every weekend it was used for some type of fire training. Life-sized rubber dummies would be placed in the structure that was populated with furniture and common household appliances. The building would then be filled with smoke and the firefighters, in full turnout gear, would have to enter and rescue their victims.

  But the group of men near the smokehouse weren’t dressed in familiar firefighting turnout gear. Ten good-sized men were standing around a picnic table dressed in military-style fatigues and bulletproof vests emblazoned with either POLICE or SHERIFF. They had guns strapped to their waists and rifles casually slung over their shoulders while they talked. This could mean only one thing.

  Jay Barnes was back in town.

  “Why are they out there again?” Emma asked. “They were here last week and weren’t due until next month.”

  “I heard something about a big operation going down in the next few weeks, so they’re packing in all the training they can,” Brenda said. “I just love watching them work. It’s fascinating.”

  “And the fact that they look good enough to eat doesn’t even enter your head,” Tiffany teased. “Of course, the best part is when they need volunteer hostages for their scenarios. There’s something about being crowded by a group of sweaty men in Kevlar with really big…guns.”

  Brenda gave Tiffany a playful nudge. “You’re so bad.”

  “You don’t even know the half.” Tiffany gave a squeal. “Here he comes, Haven’s most eligible bachelor, J-J-Jay Barnes in the flesh.”

  Two men exited the smokehouse and Emma’s throat tightened. While both were good-looking and built for sin, one stood out by his height alone.

  His hair was black and fashioned in a near-military buzz-cut and dark sunglasses shadowed his eyes. His limbs were muscular and he moved with the easy, predatory grace of a man at home in his own skin. A black T-shirt clung to his broad chest and well-defined arms, and a gun belt accented his slim waist. A handgun strapped to his right thigh looked lethal, almost as lethal as the man who wore it.

  Now here was a man who could inspire steamy fantasies in any woman, and he had in Emma. For the past six months, she’d been working at the fire department helping to convert them to a paperless office. The first week on the job she’d seen Jay, and he’d captivated her imagination with his heart-melting smile and muscular body.

  The second thing she’d noticed about him was that his teammates seemed to respect him. On countless occasions she’d watched as Jay took command of the group during their training sessions. When he spoke, everyone listened, even Lieutenant Brice, the commander of the team. And he always seemed to have time for everyone. She’d never seen him blow someone off when he was busy with something else. If someone needed to speak with him, he made time for them, no matter who they were.

  Not that she’d spoken to him, of course. What would an office efficiency consultant have in common with a police officer? Nothing. Now she had only a little over a week to go before her job was completed and she’d leave this cozy little town and she still hadn’t said a word to him.

  “He is so hot,” Brenda said.

  “You said it, girl.” Tiffany nodded toward the men. “I hear Jay’s a real stud in bed too.”

  Emma cleared her throat. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Anne, the head cashier at the Pick ’n’ Choose. They dated for several months last winter. She said he likes nothing better on a cold evening than to settle in for a marathon lovemaking session.” She grabbed an equipment catalog and began fanning herself. “I guess he really knows how to pleasure a woman.”

  “Well, that would
be a first,” Brenda drawled. “A man who believes foreplay means more than bellowing, ‘Brace yourself, baby, here I come’.”

  Emma couldn’t help but laugh. Her last boyfriend had believed foreplay consisted of a beer and pizza, then reaching for her breasts and twirling her nipples as if tuning a radio. The worst part was when they’d broken up he’d accused her of being cold in bed.

  She folded her arms across her chest. It wasn’t easy getting hot when her lover had thought oral sex was an obligation, like mowing the yard or paying taxes…unless he was on the receiving end, of course. Then he’d expected her to spend the day.

  She shuddered. Never again would she go through that. Her next lover would be skilled, very skilled. He’d be attentive to her needs and show her the joys of that oh-so-elusive phenomenon—having an orgasm with a partner. If nothing else, the earth should move at least once in her lifetime with someone else as a witness.

  Brenda’s squeal brought Emma out of her reverie.

  “Eeew!” Brenda wrinkled her nose. “Jimmy-Joe Boyd actually tried to kiss you with chew in his mouth? What did you do?”

  “Kicked him in the shin right in the middle of the dance floor.” Tiffany fluffed her bleached-blonde hair. “Then, when I asked him to take me home, he tried to look up my skirt while I climbed into that monster truck of his.” She rolled her eyes. “I swear that’s why men have those lift kits installed on their trucks, for a cheap thrill.”

  “Jay has one of those big trucks,” Brenda teased.

  “He might be the exception.” Tiffany shrugged. “Why would he need a quick thrill when every woman in town would love to get him between the sheets? I personally am dying to find out about him myself. Think I should offer my services as a hostage for their scenario today? This outfit would look good with handcuffs.”

  “Oh no, you don’t.” Brenda shook her head. “When you started here, you made me promise that I wouldn’t let you date any of the boys from Fire or Police. You said you wanted to make a career here, remember?” She turned away from the window. “If you ask me, Emma is the one who should make a play for Jay, not you, Tiff.”

  “What?” Emma frowned at Brenda. “Why me?”

  “Yeah, why her?” Tiffany protested.

  “Because she isn’t from around here, she has no family in town, and her job is temporary.” Brenda sat at her desk. “It’s the perfect time for Emma to indulge in a wild affair. There are no career ramifications and she walks away at the end of next week.” She gave Emma a wicked glance as she rubbed her engagement ring. “What do you think, Emma? Care to allow me to live vicariously through your love life?”

  Emma laughed. “You have a point, Brenda. My last relationship was less than fulfilling—”

  “This isn’t fair.” A pout was forming on Tiffany’s glossed lips.

  “Fair? Didn’t you just tell me that you had a date this evening with Brett Smiley, the head of the school board?” Brenda turned back to her computer. “He’s the type of man you should be dating, someone serious and stable. Let Emma play with the bullet-boys and you just keep doing what you’re doing, Tiff. Before you know it, you’ll be married and driving a Volvo station wagon complete with a Baby on Board sign in the window.”

  A look of revulsion crossed Tiffany’s face and she gave a delicate shudder. “Not me. I—” Tiffany gasped, then jumped backward and slammed into Emma. “Here he comes. Jay’s headed for the office.”

  Emma stepped aside to avoid being run over when Tiffany raced to her desk. As she passed, the other woman knocked a stack of fire-related periodicals off the corner of a low filing cabinet to scatter across the floor. Within seconds, she was seated at her desk, touching up her lipstick.

  “I don’t think she heard a thing I said,” Brenda mused.

  Amused, Emma crouched and began gathering the glossy pamphlets and magazines. Maybe she should touch up her makeup too. It couldn’t hurt. Not that she was into recreational sex, but Brenda had a valid point. She was temporary here in Haven. Once her job was done, she was gone. Taking the job here was just the break she’d needed.

  After her disastrous relationship had gone down the tubes, she’d felt the need for a hiatus, a breathing space where no one knew anything about her. Living and working in this sleepy little town had been exactly what she’d needed. And since she didn’t foresee coming back in the future, anything she did here was strictly off the record, so to speak. So maybe a steamy affair wasn’t out of the question.

  “Afternoon, ladies.”

  Emma froze, half of the brochures clutched in her hands. Jay had a voice that would melt butter. Low and deep, with the faintest tinge of Southern heat. His drawl evoked images of humid nights, sweaty skin, long, heated kisses and tangled sheets.

  She blinked, forcing the erotic images away. That’s what she got for reading erotica in the middle of a workday. She continued gathering the rest of the brochures, all too aware of the man standing several feet away.

  “Hi, Jay. Glad to see you’re back.” Tiffany leapt to her feet and walked toward him, a saucy sway to her step. With her short, hot pink dress and tottering heels, she was the type of woman most men would look at twice. Emma scowled at Tiffany’s dainty foot as the other woman almost stepped on her hand in her haste to get to Jay.

  “I’m glad to be back,” he said. “How are you feeling, Brenda? How’s your back?”

  “Much better, thanks, though I am stiff from time to time,” the other woman said. “That’s what I get for trying to move too many boxes at once, I guess. But the doctor said with a few more physical therapy appointments, I should be good to go.”

  As Emma leaned forward to reach one flyer that had slid almost all the way under the cabinet, Tiffany stepped back and jarred her arm. The pamphlets slid out of her grasp in a glossy waterfall.

  “Drat,” she muttered. She lunged for the shiny pages, hoping to retrieve them before someone stepped on them and they were only good for lining the trash can.

  “Who do we have here?”

  To her right, a pair of shiny lace-up military boots appeared. She froze when Jay dropped into a crouch beside her and began gathering brochures. Her toes curled as she caught the scent of warm male skin and healthy sweat. Her gut clenched. She’d never been this close to him, and she felt like jumping out of her skin.

  “I’ve seen you around, but I don’t think we’ve been introduced. What’s your name, beautiful?”

  His tone was teasing, but Emma stiffened. She knew she was passably pretty, definitely chubby, but beautiful? No way. Jay Barnes was obviously a shameless flirt and if he thought she’d fall under his spell like Tiffany, he was sadly mistaken. She raised her head, ready to set him straight when their gazes clashed and all coherent thought escaped her.

  He was even better looking up close. His face was strong, his cheeks and jaw well-sculpted and lightly bristled with a beard. Under dark brows, his heavily lashed eyes were a beguiling shade of pale blue. His nose was long and neat, no bumps marring its perfection, and beneath it, he had the sexiest mouth she’d ever seen. His lower lip was slightly larger than his upper and, with his beautiful eyes, combined to give him a sexy, sleepy look.

  Any woman, including her, would look at this man and automatically think sex. Hot, sweaty, multi-orgasmic sex.

  Jay cleared his throat and Emma flushed. She lurched to her feet and he followed, his hands full of the brochures.

  “Emma Taylor.” Her voice came out with an uncharacteristic huskiness. “And your name is?”

  His brow arched and his eyes glinted with amusement. “Jay Barnes. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emma. I’ve seen you around a few times. How long have you been working here?”

  “Emma’s temporary.” Tiffany slipped between the two of them, her gaze fastened on Jay. “In fact, her last day is next Friday.”

  “Temporary or not, I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay here.” Jay moved away from Tiffany and effortlessly shuffled his load before stacking them on a file cabinet. “It
’s a beautiful town and who knows? You might decide to stay.” He crossed his arms over an impossibly broad chest and leaned against the cabinet. “Well, ladies, I’m in need of a volunteer for our exercise today. Are any of you free to assist the tactical unit?”

  “I’d love to—” Tiffany started.

  “But she has to go over to the municipal building to pick up some paperwork for the chief.” Brenda’s tone was firm and the look she gave the blonde brooked no argument. “And I’m out thanks to my back.”

  “That’s too bad, Tiff. Maybe next time.” He offered her a slight smile, then his gaze landed on Emma. “I guess that leaves you. Are you up for some fun and games?”

  Emma opened her mouth to refuse when she caught the flash of challenge in Jay’s eyes. Her mouth slammed shut. He expected her to refuse, which was exactly what she’d been about to do. In reality, she wasn’t terribly busy. Her afternoon was booked with endless filing and assisting Brenda with the department newsletter. Nothing that couldn’t wait. But that didn’t mean she wanted to play games with a group of trained killers. Then again, it would be her last, her only chance to get close to Jay.

  “Chicken?” he asked.

  “You wish.” She propped her hands on her hips and tilted her chin upward. “Sounds like fun to me.” Inwardly Emma cringed even as she spoke.

  “Great. Let’s get moving.” Jay straightened. “We have a few things to cover before we get started.”

  “Now don’t you break Emma, Jay, or I’ll come after you with a broom,” Brenda called.

  “Don’t worry, we haven’t broken anyone yet,” he said. “She’ll be safe in my hands.”

  Emma grabbed her sunglasses and headed for the door. A treacherous longing unfurled in her gut as Emma stepped out into the wall of humidity that was an August day in Ohio.

  With her gaze glued to his trim backside, she wondered what it would be like to be in Jay’s arms. Would he be a considerate lover as Tiffany had heard? Or was he a playboy, more interested in bedding women than seeing to their satisfaction?