The End

About the Author.

Daisy Philips lives in Canada and is the author of numerous books of erotic romance both as Daisy and as Diane Leyne.

In addition to writing, she is an avid reader of all genres and loves to travel.

Follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/daisyphilipsbooks Or go to her website: DaisyPhilipsbooks.com

Other Books by Daisy Philips

The (Almost) Thirty Year Old Virgin

Billionaire Doms Club Billionaire Dom's Club 1 Hidden Diamond Billionaire Dom's Club 2 Diamond Mine Billionaire Dom's Club 3 Rough Diamond Billionaire Dom's Club 4 Diamonds Aren't Forever Billionaire Dom's Club 5 The Price of Diamonds

The Dave & Lida Books: Turning Tricks Crawl for Me Bad Teacher Doctor, Doctor Love in the Afternoon Lida and the Deputy

Kinky Book Club.

Written Submission.

Make-Believe Submissive (Part of the Dominant Persuasions anthology) unSubmissive.

Undercover Submissive.

In His Custody.

by Fiona Archer.

English teacher Mercy Jones has sworn off men, especially the edgy ones. So why does the new substitute history teacher have to be dangerous, raw, and challenging-on every level? His uncompromising masculinity and questioning mind captivate Mercy, tempting her to risk her heart.

Detective Aidan Shaw is a cynical bastard. But when working undercover to eradicate a high school drug network, Aidan meets an intelligent, feisty blonde. Mercy's warmth and generous spirit awaken a part of him buried deep for too long.

But as he closes in on the criminals manipulating innocents for profit, the stakes grow ever higher.

Acknowledgments.

I'm ever grateful to my amazing critique partner, Cherise Sinclair. From brainstorming the plot to beta reading, she ensured I stayed on target. Babe, you're the best.

A huge thanks to Brenda, Andrew, and Maddox for helping this Aussie to understand the American high school system and football. You are all legends!

Thanks, Saya, for taking all my late night phone calls and working the long hours to get this baby all shiny.

And last, but in no way least, to Lori King. Your capacity to meet challenges and unceasing enthusiasm leaves me in awe. Thank you for inviting me to take part in this anthology and to be a part of Cuffed and Claimed with such wonderful authors.

1.

In his wildest dreams, Aidan Shaw never thought he'd be back at high school. But one kid in a coma and another jailed on charges of distributing drugs changed that.

His gaze swept down the long, fluorescent-lit corridor in the English and History building of Seattle's Macarthur High. Teenagers, now settled in weeks after the end of summer break, crowded around lockers, caught up in conversations with friends or hunting for a book for their first class of the day. He didn't miss the assessing looks from three girls. One of them painfully shy, her gaze flicking between him and her sneaker-covered feet every few seconds, but the other two-seniors, a year or more older, he guessed-stared back with more confidence.

"I'm still not happy about this, Shaw," the balding man dressed in a suit and tie said from beside him.

Aidan stiffened at the use of his real surname. He part pushed, part guided the man into the nearest classroom and assured they were alone before speaking. "My name is Sean Gallagher, Principal Frasier." He speared the school official with a hard stare as the man startled at his obvious mistake. "And you signed off on this deal with Seattle PD."

"And you think you're the obvious candidate to teach Civics classes to my students?"

Hell, no, but what choice did he have? Working undercover in Vice required he go where the case took him. This time around, that meant as a substitute history teacher and assistant football coach at Macarthur High.

"Mr. Hernandez fully briefed me on my duties." The history teacher, close to retirement and now on agreed family leave, had taken his suspicions of a possible drug problem at the school to SPD-after being ignored by school officials. "He, unlike others, took this situation seriously."

Frasier drew himself up as far as his five foot six inches allowed, which was fuck-all compared to Aidan's six foot three. "I hope you're not insinuating I was derelict in my duties, Mister Gallagher."

Hell, yes! But he was saved from alienating the self-important little shit further by a knock on the classroom's door. Hearing someone entering, he turned around.

And Aidan's day suddenly got a fuck of a lot better as he locked his gaze on the curvy blonde who stopped a few feet past the doorway and stared back at him.

She was gorgeous, and his blood heated as he allowed himself a precious second or two to take in all that was before him.

"I...ah..." Her blue eyes were wide. Startled. She licked her light rose-colored lips and opened her mouth again, as if she'd been about to say something, but stopped just as the words were coming out. He liked that. Liked the way they invited a man to take possession of her mouth and taste what was inside.

"Miss Jones, good morning. My apologies for using your classroom, but we needed a moment of privacy." Principal Frasier waved his hand toward Aidan. "Meet Sean Gallagher. He's substituting for Mr. Hernandez until Jose returns from family leave. Sean, this is Mercy Jones. She teaches AP English Literature."

A lover of the classics? He glanced down at her white shirt where she had a silver necklace with a pendant of Edgar Allan Poe around her neck. Definitely. And damn, that was cute as hell.

Yet that moment of charm didn't change the fact that she, along with everyone else in the school, was a possible suspect.

The name Mercy Jones wasn't on Hernandez's list of those to possibly look out for, but that didn't clear her outright.

With that note of caution in the back of his mind, he held out his hand. "Miss Jones."

"Mercy." She smiled and transferred a couple of folders she held in her right arm to her left to shake his hand.

"Mercy," he repeated, memorizing the fit of her smaller hand in his and the way her fingers skimmed his palm as she let go.

The faint floral hint of her perfume wafted between them as she juggled her folders again.

"Jose was assistant football coach. You covering for him there, too?" she asked, Now that he could look forward to. "You guessed right. I went to UW on a partial football scholarship. Let's hope I'm more help than a hindrance and Coach Parker doesn't bench me after the first practice session."

Her mouth turned down. "Coach Parker cares about winning. If you can assist him to achieve his goal, he'll be happy to have you around."

"Football's an important morale builder for the school, Mercy." Principal Frasier's tone held a note of reproach.

"Sure," Mercy agreed with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I just wish sometimes the guys on the team were encouraged to give as much value to their academic achievement." Her chest rose and fell with her sigh. "If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I need to get myself ready for my first class." With a glance at both men, she turned and headed toward the front of the classroom, the long, shining layers of her blond hair flowing down her back as she moved away.

Dismissed.

Not a fan of football then. Or maybe just Coach Parker? Or both?

Be a damn shame if it was football, but her loss.

Aidan stepped back and gestured for Principal Frasier to precede him.

Two doors down, the older man showed him his new classroom before making a welcome exit. Principal Frasier offered little encouragement and besides, this wasn't Aidan's first visit to the school. He'd first inspected this room on Sunday, three days ago, with Hernandez giving him a tour of the school and his classroom. No way he'd go into this case unprepared, especially in front of a bunch of teenagers, who seized on any visible weakness in a teacher like sharks tasting blood in the water.

He was no wounded seal waiting to be devoured.

And there were real victims in this case. Like Heather Raynard. Aidan had visited her family in the hospital with the goal of asking some questions. He had stood in the doorway to Heather's room as the student, a senior, lay in a bed with tubes down her throat helping her breathe. Two ecstasy tablets were all it had taken to wreck such havoc on the girl. Her parents had looked up from their bedside vigil, the mother's gaze filled with a desperate hope, as if Aidan might somehow have news to make everything better. The girl's father sat with his shoulders hunched, his expression blank, as if mirroring his shock that something so horrible had happened to his little girl.

Aidan clenched his jaw as he drew out one of the lesson plans Hernandez had provided. He'd never forget the sound of the mother's crying as he left them to their vigil.

If being at Macarthur High helped catch the bastards behind the drug network here, he'd swim with as many deadly creatures as the case needed.

Right on cue, a group of four teenage boys, seniors by the looks of their builds, entered the classroom. They spied Aidan and moved to a cluster of desks at the back.

"Morning." He walked forward, stopping a few feet from the kids, two of whom nearly matched him in height, and although muscled for their age, they didn't have his bulk. The kids wore t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers, typical attire. "I'm Mr. Gallagher. Substituting for Mr. Hernandez for the next three months."

"Coach Parker told us yesterday you'd also be taking Mr. Hernandez's place as assistant coach." The tallest boy, his blond hair shaved short on the sides and an inch long on the top, raked his gaze over Aidan.