“Lawful Pleasures” in the Curvalicious anthology (Parker Publishing)
Genre: contemporary
Length: novella (25k)
Legal secretary Lia Delgado has reasonable expectations in her life: French fries from In-N-Out will always taste the same, passing the bar exam will change her life, and the jerks who vandalized her condo will pay. She has no idea why a local gang would target her, but sexy Decective Dario Martoni is convinced she knows something incriminating–and he intends to stick by her side until she remembers.
When a witness against the gang is killed while in protective custody, Dario takes extreme measures to keep Lia safe. He tries to convince himself that his motivation is based on his case; deep down, he knows better. Lia has entranced him unlike any other woman. With her sassy attitude and curvy body, he can’t stop thinking about her, or the danger she’s in.
As they piece together the evidence, a chilling picture of betrayal and greed forms, placing Lia in even greater danger. Lia’s concern, however, lies in protecting her heart from Dario, at least until a greater threat emerges. But can she survive long enough to admit her feelings for the detective?
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Excerpt (rated R)
Detective Dario Martoni was so fuckin’ tired of dumb broads. He was hauling ass to a North Hollywood condo where some idiot had just contaminated a crime scene, trying to play Xena. Evidently this chick’s place had been broken into, but instead of waiting for the police like any sane person would have, she’d stormed in wielding a bat and an attitude.
And if it had been any normal B&E, maybe her actions could have been excused—maybe. But this wasn’t some punk looking for petty cash and electronics to pawn. It was La Hermanidad del Diablo, according to the threat painted onto her bedroom wall. That kicked his protective instincts into high gear; Hermanos was known for its all-action-no-talk way of doing business, and since they controlled most of the LA drug trade, Dario knew them like he was a member. He snorted at the irony.
He was already on edge from the gang violence that had escalated then disappeared a few months ago. As a narcotics detective, he’d been up to his eyeballs in punk-ass dealers shooting each other up over drugs and turf wars, the likes of which he hadn’t seen since last decade when Hermanos took over their competition. He had a gut feeling that they were behind the new violence; he just hadn’t found evidence to back him up yet. Yet. Not to mention that the sudden lull in crime didn’t convince him the fighting was over. Oh, no fucking way. There was something big going on, and until he had more than bits and pieces of the picture, Dario would stay on high alert.
He arrived on the scene, which painted blue and red with the squad car lights. Neighbors dressed in pajamas gathered around the yellow caution tape that barred the path leading to the Delgado chick’s door. Luckily, no news vans had gotten there. That was a goatfuck he wasn’t ready to deal with. They’d be there eventually, but at least he wasn’t being harassed with questions. Dario Martoni was not a people person.
He flashed his badge to the cop guarding the tape before ducking under and stalking to the open condo door. Dario, as a detective, was now the ranking officer on site. One of the original men on scene, a newbie grunt getting his first taste of cop life, scampered over to give Dario the rundown of events. God, had he ever been that green? That excited to be riding the streets and “fighting crime”? Fifteen years after his first day as a cop, Dario honestly couldn’t remember.
“Detective Martoni, the victim, Lia Delgado, arrived home around six to find her door unlocked. She said when she turned the lock, she realized there must’ve been a break-in and called the police.” The rookie looked at him incredulously and continued, “Then she grabbed her bat from the garage instead of staying on the line with the 911 operator as she should have.” Women. Dario rolled his eyes. He bet this Delgado woman was some psycho new-age broad who thought men were all knuckle-dragging idiots trying to repress feminine power or some shit. At least that’s what his littlest sister, the feminist, kept telling him. He rolled his eyes again for good measure and steeled himself to deal with this nutcase.
“I got it from here, kid. Which way is she?” The rookie simply pointed down the hallway branching off of the small living room. “She’s that way,” the kid muttered, “and hopefully you can talk more sense into her than the rest of us.”
He took in the scene as he headed to the back rooms. Her couch cushions had been shredded, tables and chairs overturned. Red paint covered the walls in bloody streaks. The first door on the right held an office—chair overturned and papers strewn across the floor
Dario stopped cold in the doorway of the last room—her bedroom. The roundest, most delightfully luscious ass was presented to him as a woman bent over to dig through the bottom drawer of an armoire. Hot damn, she had JUICY written across her backside in cotton-candy pink. He bet she tasted like cotton candy…Dario’s mind wandered while keen eyes took in curve upon curve encased in sweatpants, bare feet, and—oh, hell—lingerie spilling out from the open drawer. The tips of her curly dark brown hair danced amid the thongs and boyshorts and bras and teddies he could spy peeking out from the mass of sexy underthings. The lacy barely-there wisps of fabric sent blood rushing away from his head, to places best left forgotten during a crime scene investigation. Damn, he could just imagine her ass framed by that little pink number, rounded cheeks peeking out from the lace edges. Her legs would stretch for miles, and her ass would overfill his greedy palms. If this was Lia Delgado, he was in trouble.
