Lovers in law by Exley Avis

she said, implying she’d known quite a few. “Maybe you just
need taking in hand and punishing a little.”
    Adrenaline surged in my chest
at the thought of Allie literally cracking the whip. “The love of a
good woman, you mean.”
    “Goodness has absolutely nothing to
do with it.” Her green eyes widened invitingly as she slid a hand
behind my neck and pulled me close. “But right now, you have a very
dangerous case of prison pallor and I need to get you alone
somewhere so I can put some colour back in your cheeks.”
    “Your place or mine?” I asked.
    “Neither. I don’t want to be
interrupted again so I’ve booked a suite at Claridges and there’s a
bottle of champagne on ice. I thought we’d celebrate your release
in style.”
    “We’ll stop off and pick up a bag
on the way.”
    She shook her head as if I’d just
made a huge mistake. “Trust me,” she said with a glint in her eyes
that spoke volumes. “You won’t need a thing. Clothes will be
completely unnecessary for the next forty-eight hours.”

Chapter Seven
     
    All good things come to those who
wait, or so the saying goes. And Radford Byrne was certainly worth
hanging around for.
    A policeman brought him out into
the reception area where I’d been sitting on a hard chair for
hours. I’d almost given up hope of seeing him again but as soon as
I set eyes on him, I was very glad I’d waited.
    His clean shaven jaw line was
clouded with an early morning shadow that instantly made me wonder
how those bristles would feel working their way up the inside of my
thighs.
    He also did that thing that
handsome men do in dinner suits. All the girls know what I mean –
the collar open and the bow tie hanging loose. Not forgetting the
shirt buttons undone to reveal just enough of a hairy chest to get
you really interested.
    Even if I hadn’t had a taste of the
delights under those clothes, I’d be dying of hunger by now.
    On the advice of Stephen Mercer,
Radford and I had played down our relationship in our statements –
not that a couple of epic snogs and some very wonderful oral sex
could be described as a relationship. I therefore kept my hands off
Radford, even though I went straight into flirt mode as soon as I
saw him and started babbling about having him in handcuffs
again.
    However, I’d already worked
out that Radford wasn’t a man to shock easily and the sooner I got
him alone, the better. He didn’t put up any resistance when I told
him about the hotel and, within five minutes of his release, we
were in the back of a taxi speeding towards the West
End.
    “Are you sure you want to do this?”
he asked. “There’s still time to back out.”
    I laughed at the idea. “You and I
both know that’s not going to happen. From the minute we laid eyes
on each other, this was inevitable.”
    Radford grinned. “What happened to
waiting until the case is over?” he asked.
    “So far tonight, our biggest client
has tried to force himself on me, had his nose broken for the
pleasure and got us both arrested. You’ll have a really nasty black
eye by Monday and I have a bump the size of an egg on my cheek.
What else are we waiting for?”
    I heard the rumble of Radford’s
laughter. “When the clients invited us to dinner, I never imagined
the evening would end up like this,” he agreed. “So much for being
discreet.” He laced his fingers through mine and kissed the back of
my hand. “You’ll have a lot of explaining to do when you go back to
the office.”
    I slid my hand up his thigh, my
fingers inching towards his groin. “I don’t even want to think that
far ahead. Anyway, I have a lot of apologising to do first,” I told
him. “I need to say sorry properly for having dragged you into this
mess in the first place.”
    “Always happy to help out a damsel
in distress.” He thought for a moment and then narrowed his eyes
playfully. “If I remember rightly, when the police arrived you were
also half way through thanking me for saving