by Tess Oliver
I hug him tightly. "You're real, you big, wonderful smoothie delivering sight for sore eyes." My throat tightens and I hold back a sob. I finally work up the courage to let go of him, afraid he might vanish if I release him too fast. "Where have you been? I was worried Mr. Freestone did something terrible to you and all because of my stupid stunt."
Blake walks me back to the bed, seeing that I need to sit. "God, you're as weak as a half-starved pup."
"Yeah well, no one is bringing me smoothies. Just plates piled with greasy, salty food. And then there's my fun night in the desert." The last part makes his eyes grow wide. I shake my head. "I don't want to rehash it. I just want to sit here and hug you." I throw my arms around him again. "I'm so glad you're back."
He stiffens slightly from the last declaration and kisses my forehead before squirming free of my koala style grasp. "Let me bring you the smoothie." He moves gracefully across the room in a way only Blake can pull off with charm.
He hands me the drink. I stare at it for a second, not sure if it'll go down well.
Blake crosses his arm and taps his foot. "You might as well get sipping because I'm not leaving until you are sucking out the last drops."
I take hold of the straw and smile up at him. "Promise?"
His smile fades some and he sits. "I'm only here for a few hours, darlin'."
I lower the glass. He pushes it back up and practically jams the straw between my lips. "Drink a third and I'll tell you where I've been."
The smoothie is cold and refreshing on my parched throat. I drink half before taking a breath. "Wow, that's good."
"Glad you like it. I had the cook add in an extra dose of honey for some calories."
I stir the dark pink concoction with the straw and take another sip. "Now talk. Where have you been and why did you desert me?"
His brow arched. "Uh, who deserted who? And what on earth possessed you to climb into the truck with those two losers?"
My shoulders lift with a shrug. "Desperation, I guess. It seemed my only chance to get away and—I don't know. That nectar is putting me through all kinds of mood swings."
Blake nods. "I noticed and I should have said something. I've seen it happen before. You are just one of those people who reacts profoundly to all of the drug's side effects."
I take hold of his hand. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to get you in trouble. You have to believe that."
"I believe ya, darlin'." He takes the empty glass from my hand and puts it on the nightstand. "But it actually turned out all right in the end." He squeezes my hand. "With the exception that I don't get to take care of you anymore. I did love that job."
"You're my only friend in here," I say. "I wish you were back for good. What have you been doing?"
"After the little"—he clears his throat—"runaway incident, Freestone was pissed at me. I was sure he'd just send me away. Instead, he put me in charge of the parties for the homeless women. I love it. I have a nice little apartment near the warehouse. Mr. Freestone pays for the whole thing."
"At the risk of sounding like a spoiled brat—so you're not coming back here?"
He drops his arm around my shoulder and rests his head against mine. "Just to visit. I promise." We sit quietly for a second. "Tawny, where were you going to go if you got free of Freestone? Back to the streets?"
His question pushes me unexpectedly back into reality, something I easily fall out of when I've had a lot of nectar, which, from the liquid haze in my head, I've had plenty. I think quickly about my apartment, my job, my life, Angie's life and a moment of homesickness squeezes my chest. "I'm not sure, Blake. I just think I should probably leave here. It will be better for me. And Kane. He says I'm his poison."
Blake's arm tightens, pulling me closer. "You aren't anyone's poison, darlin'. I think you're just the first person to break through the man's stony heart."
How often have I convinced myself Freestone was a controlling monster only to have him do something totally out of character? Last night I was firmly in the monster category when he suddenly emerged from the shadows with the confession that he'd been keeping an eye on me the entire night. I'd started the assignment to take down Freestone's shady, murderous business. It's an assignment that seems so distant and foreign to me, I easily push it out of my conscience whenever convenient. Like now.
"But is it really a stony heart, Blake? You were left for dead, and he brought you under his roof." I smile. "And underground. Now you're working and thriving and happy. How stony can his heart be if he helps people who have nothing?"
"I don't mean stony like that. I mean stony against falling in love."
I have a good laugh as I stand up from the bed to walk to the closet. "That's hilarious. He doesn't love me."
"Right." Blake walks past me and pulls out a pair of shorts and t-shirt for me to put on. "Old habits," he says with a shrug. "Anyhow, I've got to go. Next party is in a week. I've got caterers to deal with. I've left very detailed instructions for your smoothies." His brows scrunch with worry as he looks me up and down. "Talk to him about cutting back on the doses. It might help you eat more."
Tears well up in my eyes as he heads to the door.
"Take me with you, Blake."
He looks back. "I wish I could. But you're safe here, darlin'. Just try and eat more." He blows me a kiss and walks out.
22
Maddox
I'm pacing a groove in the polished wood floor of the penthouse. A knock pulls me out of my trance. I practically yank Clark into the apartment. He's holding a heated pizza delivery bag. "What the fuck took you so long?" I ask.
"Had to convince the owner of the pizza restaurant to rent me the shirt, hat and pizza carrier."
I grab the pizza carrier. It's light as air. "Really? Water in wine bottles and empty fucking pizza boxes?" I toss the carrier on the table.
"Do you know how much this undercover thing is costing the department?" he asks for what I'm pretty sure is the millionth fucking time. "Pizza and wine are extra. What do you have? Sounded urgent."
I comb my hair back with my fingers and pull up a chair as he sets his big ass on the couch.
"She's there. I saw Ten."
Clark sits forward. The usual red in his face blanches white. "Is she all right? How did she look?"
I shake my head once. "She was wrapped in a big coat. Only saw the top of her head as she was being carried from a van in the garage. He was carrying her. Fuckface Freestone."
Clark looks as stunned as I felt when I saw the red hair poking out from the coat. "If you only saw the top of her head, how do you know it was her?"
"Because I know. If I saw the tip of her pinky, I'd know it was her."
Clark stares at me oddly. "Boy, you've got it bad, don't you, kid?"
"Fuck off. I'm going back to the club in two days. Freestone has the place covered with cameras and guards. But I'll figure out a way to find her."
"And that's just what I don't fucking want to hear, Maddox. Look, let's just shut this down. We know she's there. She's alive. Thank God for that. I've got a team working on the airport schedules to find out what airport Freestone's plane takes off from and more importantly where it lands. It's not easy. The guy covers his tracks. He uses shell companies and every other trick in the book to stay off law enforcement's radar."
I get up and swing the chair back to the table. I pace in front of the couch. "She was right fucking there. Close enough to touch. She was right there and I couldn't do a fucking thing."
"It's a damn good thing you didn't do a fucking thing. I would have lost two detectives." Clark gets up from the couch. "What do you say, huh? Let's shut this down and wait until we figure out the location from the flight logs."
I shake my head. "That could take awhile. I'll be back there in two days. Give me another chance."
He opens his mouth to protest.
"I won't do anything crazy. Let me just get in the doors one more time. I've come this far. Don't shut me down yet."
&n
bsp; He nods weakly. "One more time. You didn't tell me many details. What did you see when you were there?"
Most of the night was wiped clean from my head the second I saw Ten's red hair swaddled in the black coat, her body cradled in the asshole's arms. "It's basically a high-end escort club. Food, drinks and scantily dressed women who are more than anxious to please. Most of them pretty damn high from what I could see in their eyes. But they seemed content and healthy."
"Why do you think Angie wasn't with the other women at the party?"
"The same fucking question has been eating at me since I walked out of there." I walk to the refrigerator and pull out my last beer. I've come up with a number of theories but the one that sticks in my gut, the one that makes me want to tear Freestone limb from limb, is the one that keeps coming to the top of the heap. I gulp half the beer and smack it down on the counter. "I think he's keeping Ten for himself."
"Fucking hell, Maddox. Why the hell did I give in and let her go? I'll never forgive myself."
"That makes two of us." I toss back the rest of the beer.
"Yeah, yeah, you can kick my ass after we get her back safely. Pizza man has been here long enough." Clark stops at the door. "One more time and then I'm cutting you off. Besides, I need you back on the streets. Silvana is about as productive out there as my mom would be. In fact, at eighty-five, she can think faster on her feet than him."
"Silvana's all right," I say, garnering a surprised look from the captain.
"High praise indeed, considering the source. Get word to me the second you're back this time."
"Yep."
23
Kane
She's had three days to recuperate from her desert adventure. Long enough. I head toward the bedroom corridor with one thing on my mind.
"Sir," Jason's voice calls from behind.
I turn around. "What is it?"
"Sir, I just thought I'd let you know," Jason hesitates.
"Out with it, Jason. I'm on my way—" I stop. "What is it? Can it wait?"
"It's quick and probably meaningless. The lab just got a delivery of hair dye. They said the women had put it on their lists."
I'm staring at him wondering if he crowned himself on one of the lower doorways. "Why are you telling me about this?"
He takes a breath and seems ready to drop the subject. "It's just that it's red hair dye. Some of the women have decided to dye their hair red."
The mention of red hair grabs my interest. "I'm gathering, by the look on your face, you might know why they've decided to go red."
"The new club member, Haverton—"
"Yes, what about him?"
"On his first night here, he told the women that he had a thing for red hair."
"I see. Well, I guess my plan worked. The women are getting kind of bored so I thought he'd spark some enthusiasm." I can tell Jason isn't finished.
"Anything else?"
He shakes his head. "No. I just thought you should know."
"Great. See to it that everything is ready to go for tonight." I head toward her bedroom. My mind and body have been so focused on her I'm not thinking straight. But, it seems my loyal bodyguard is. Red hair. The new member just happens to have a thing for red hair. Interesting.
24
Angie
I stand like a statue under the shower head hoping the hot water will wash some sense and reason into me but it's impossible. Sense and reason went long ago when the first squirt of nectar entered my body. I can't logically figure out a way to get free of this existence. A good deal of that is because I can't imagine leaving him. But the poison analogy works in both directions. He is the worst and yet the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me. And sorting those feelings out is like untangling the mystery of the universe, impossible and out of reach. Occasionally, when I'm feeling stupidly out of touch with reality, I convince myself that I like being here because he needs me. He wants me and it's all unconditional.
Kane moves so quietly, so confidently I don't hear him walk into the room, or, for that matter, the bathroom. "I'm almost finished," I call and instantly my body reacts to the notion that he is standing in the same room. He's cut down my doses from three to two, hoping to help me gain back some appetite, but this morning's injection is still coursing strong through my veins. Seeing him through the steamy glass of the shower makes it pump harder. Even standing under a waterfall of hot water, I can feel my pussy throb with moist heat.
He's standing just outside the shower watching me with those stark blue eyes. His jaw is set firmly. His shoulders look rigid and hard. I smear away the condensation and smile at him. There's no smile in return but then there rarely is.
He starts to unbutton his shirt, not taking his eyes from me as he undresses. My breath is coming in short, frantic puffs by the time he has stripped naked, revealing the lethally hard physique beneath the business shirt and slacks.
The shower door opens and a rush of cool air is followed by the waves of heat rolling off his body. There is more tension than normal in his body.
I open my mouth to speak but he covers it with his. His hands take hold of my wrists and he lifts my arms up over my head as he maneuvers me between the tile wall and his body. His kisses are wild and rough. He wastes no time and thrusts into me. I cry out but his mouth smothers the sound. He holds my wrists with one hand as the free hand grabs hold of my ass to lift me higher and hold me tighter in his grasp. I absorb the impact with each blow as he pumps into me with a ferocious need that I've never experienced from him. My mind is playing tricks as I talk myself into believing that it is just naked, uninhibited lust rather than the alternative, punishing anger.
My head taps against the hard tile, but it doesn't stop my body from reacting. His fingers dig into the flesh of my ass holding me firmly against him as he rocks into me bringing me to orgasm.
"Kane," my voice coasts through the clouds of steam as he drives into me, keeping the pulsating waves at full throttle and bringing me again to a peak of ecstasy. His grasp on my wrists and ass intensifies as he groans with release. I can feel his muscles shudder and tremble as he spills his seed inside of me.
The hot water, steam and intense heat between us makes me feel as if I'm on fire. Dizziness sweeps over me. Reluctantly, he releases my wrists. I drop my arms around his neck to keep from slipping to the floor.
He slams off the water and carries me out into the cool air of the bathroom. The stark change in temperature causes a shiver to race through me. It doesn't stop him from carrying me into the even cooler bedroom.
I expect him to place me on the bed where I can at least tuck my wet body under the quilts. Instead, he carries me to what I jokingly call the 'mighty fuck' chair. He has pulled it out only twice and both times were memorable. But I'm cold and wet and the tension he stormed into the shower with has not dissipated. If anything it's worse.
He sets me onto the seat of the chair and lowers the back so I'm at an incline. The seat of the chair is in two partitions which he spreads wide to part my thighs.
"I'm cold."
He ignores my complaint. He hasn't lifted his eyes to my face as he focuses on his task.
"Kane," I say, "look at me. What's wrong?"
His gaze locks with mine for a cold second. He storms to the dresser and pulls out one of the satin blindfolds he has stored in the top drawer. He returns and quickly covers my eyes with the blindfold. Fear is overtaking the trembling from the cold. Instinctively, I reach up to pull down the blindfold. He snatches my wrist first and binds my hands behind me on the chair.
"Kane, you're scaring me." My voice sounds weak.
His mouth presses against my ear. "After all this time, Sweet Sin, do you still think I'm going to hurt you?"
I swallow to relieve the dryness in my throat. "You don't seem yourself. You left me in the desert," I add, then gasp as his warm mouth presses against my pussy. He has learned my body so well he knows just how to relax me, how to bring me back to the heightened
state of arousal where everything else melts away and all I can think about is what's happening between my legs.
He pushes the parted chair seat wider, spreading my pussy. He slips his hand under my ass and penetrates the tight hole with his thick finger. I push against the pressure of his invading finger, while the thumb of his free hand strokes my clit, strumming it teasingly and bringing me close to climax. I squeeze his finger in my ass as I push my pussy harder against his mouth.
My arms are bound behind me. I struggle to get even closer to his mouth. It's all at once frustrating and thrilling. "Kane, please," I say. He knows exactly what I'm asking for. He keeps his hand on my ass, impaling me from behind, but he pulls his mouth free. I can sense his shadow over me through the satiny fabric of the blindfold. If I could move my hands, I would reach for him and pull him down over me.
He stays on his knees as he drives his cock into me. My body shudders with release as my pussy contracts around him. As the pulses slow, he finally lowers his warm body over me, giving me that sense of security and affection I crave.
His mouth is next to my ear. His breathing is fast and shallow as he pumps into me. "My Sweet Sin," he groans. "I just need all of you before they take you away from me." He stiffens and comes inside of me. My mind is trying to sort out his ominous words.
He reaches down and unties my hands. I push the blindfold off my eyes. He's staring down at me as if he's trying to memorize my face.
I reach up. He leans his cheek harder against my touch for a second but then pulls away.
I rub my wrists. "I don't understand. What are you talking about?"
He pushes abruptly off of me and heads to the bathroom to get dressed. I'm in a daze and still weak from the sex as I climb off the awkward chair. I walk to bathroom and grab the robe from the hook.
Kane is buttoning his shirt, once again avoiding eye contact. The tension is back in his shoulders.
