“Actually, sweetheart, the badge I showed you is a little out of date. I work for the State Department on occasion, but in an advisory capacity.” Hunter put his finger across her lips before she could ask her question. “I am an attorney, licensed in several states. But primarily, I’m a controlling partner in a private security firm.”
“You haven’t really answered my question. Was it a ruse to get me into your bed?” She was withdrawing from him, closing off her feelings and wearing her poker face. He couldn’t let that happen, not after the intensity of their physical and emotional connection.
“It’s complicated. I’m unofficially working for a friend on this case—with the unofficial assistance of the State Department. However, when I asked you to help the other night, it wasn’t a line.”
One brow lifted above those amazing blue eyes. She was unconvinced.
“Pretty girl, I was being honest that night. The woman assigned to help me does work for the State Department. She popped up pregnant and can’t do field work until after her baby’s born. If you’d like, I can arrange a phone conversation with her.”
“And your job at Hudson, Handleman, and Meers?”
He sighed. “Real, as far as they know. Someone higher up the food chain within the firm set up the cover.”
Kerri tipped her head, eyes never leaving his. To his relief, she didn’t appear angry, just perplexed. “How is that possible?”
“I can’t help you there. I wasn’t told who set up the job, just sent to interview with the partners about six months ago. I had no idea you were related to the partners when I approached you outside Velvet Glove.”
He watched her think, admiring the way her expression masked her thoughts. She’d make a damn good lawyer, never giving away her plan until the adversary was trapped and wrapped.
“And this?” Kerri’s hand swept through the air in front of them, alluding to their personal circumstances.
“An unexpected perk?” A flash of irritation had him backing away from humor. “It wasn’t planned. You’re young, innocent of the lifestyle. Frankly, I was surprised you agreed to continue assisting with the investigation.”
Hunter cupped her face, pulled her to him, and nuzzled her cheek. His mouth moved to hers, licking then devouring her with his kiss. “I’m constantly amazed by your submission. You’re much stronger than I thought you’d be, Kerri.”
“What do you mean? I’m not strong. I melt into a puddle when you start this—” Her words became a moan as his mouth moved to her collar bone, then on to the swell of her breast.
He nibbled for a moment, enjoying the feel of her in his arms, the softness of her body against him. “It takes a strong woman to give up control of her body.”
She squirmed slightly under his mouth and sighed. “I need to know about the investigation, Hunter.”
He lifted his head with a hint of a raised brow, a quirk of his lips, and palmed her breast. “Don’t worry about the case. I’ll take care of everything and make sure you’re safe.”
Soft fingers encased his wrist, their strength belying their soft texture, and lifted his hand from her breast. “No.”
“Kerri, don’t tell me no unless you mean it.” His tone brooked no room for doubt.
“Hunter. I agreed to be submissive—sexually submissive, but that’s where it ends. If I’m going to work with you on this investigation, I need details. I should be able to protect myself, at least intellectually.”
“Won’t work. You need to be submissive in every way to make this believable.”
“I’ll be believable without a problem. You overwhelm me with your dominant attitude and sexuality. But if I get into a mess, I need to know who the players are and who I can trust.”
“Trust me.”
* * * *
He was exasperated but she didn’t care. “I do. Now tell me who else is on your side.”
She held his gaze until Hunter dropped his hands to her waist and set her on her feet. “Let’s go inside and get something to drink. We’ll talk.” Kerri let him walk her into the house, intent on getting some answers. Granted, the sex was unbelievable, but to actually participate in the investigation, Hunter had to give her information.
He stalled for time, making iced tea and setting out sandwich fixings while Kerri fidgeted. She pulled two plates out of the cabinet and dumped four slices of bread on them, then slapped a little mayo and mustard on each. From the corner of her eye, she could see him watching her, his body tight, his brow flat. He was trying to figure her out, find a way to manipulate the situation in his favor. And he was a pro at it, she knew that for a fact. But she wasn’t going to allow him to use sex to manipulate her anymore. She wouldn’t refuse the great orgasms, but her eyes were wide open.
Kerri took her plate to the table and began to eat, watching the waterfall in the pool area, watching him while he avoided her demand for information. She didn’t speak, just waited.
“Kerri. Look at me.” He was using the same voice he used at the club, and in the bedroom.
“Don’t try to seduce me into blindly following your orders. I have a brain that works quite well.”
“Of that I have no doubt.” He flashed a grin, then sighed heavily. “Richard Menton is a silent partner in the security firm I manage. He’s also an electronics genius, something not too many people know about him.” The look he shot her was a clear message that what he told her was in the strictest confidence.
“I’ll keep whatever you tell me to myself. I’m not a gossip.”
“I wouldn’t be telling you if I thought you were.” Hunter reached for her hand across the table and intertwined their fingers. “Richard has homes in several parts of the country, particularly in cities where he owns clubs like Velvet Glove. For security purposes, he has electronic monitoring devices in those establishments to ensure the safety of his guests and the security of his employees.”
“Do the members know about these monitoring systems?” Kerri couldn’t imagine what kind of information was stored in those systems, probably enough to blackmail more than one political figure or televangelist.
“No, although the fine print in their membership contracts mentions the possibility.” He grinned again, making her smile in return. He was charismatic, and Kerri knew what she’d said about resisting his control was a lie. She’d follow him anywhere, but she wouldn’t admit it to anyone.
Hunter drummed his fingers on the table. He was weighing his words, trying to decide how much to tell her, and she understood his reticence. Kerri kept her eyes on his face and waited. “A year ago, he overheard two members discussing an online auction. It drew his attention because he thought it was an art auction and he’s a collector.”
“Stolen artwork?” she asked.
“No. Laborers. He couldn’t identify the voices and no names where spoken, but they were discussing a shipment of young workers from South America. He’s been tracking similar conversations, using a computer system he developed. But now the parameters have changed.”
“The woman last night at Velvet Glove said something about buying me at auction. I didn’t put it together then.”
Hunter nodded. “He brought me in to find out who was running the operation, using the club as a secure location to conduct business.”
“How can that be, if they know they’re being recorded?” she asked.
“Not everyone reads the fine print, and they assume anonymity because the membership fees are so high that law enforcement can’t get inside to investigate until after the fact. By then, their tracks are covered and they’ve moved to another location. Unfortunately, that’s what’s happening to Richard’s clubs. These people are moving their operation from site to site to avoid being caught.”
“And they’re selling people.” A cold shiver slid down her spine at the thought.
“Yes. From what little information I’ve gathered, they’re bringing people into the country and selling them to sweatshop owners in the States and abroad. A few m
onths ago, they began abducting women and selling them to private individuals.”
“Just from the clubs or from the surrounding area, too?” she asked, disgust eating at her equilibrium. What those women would go through was horrifying.
Hunter released her hand and leaned back in his chair, fingers drumming on the table again. His eyes were dark with anger. “I think they’re being targeted at the clubs. One of the girls actually left the club with a member, but video shows he only walked her to her car. She drove herself home, but never actually made it to her apartment complex. The other three women spent time in the clubs, but were taken from different locations.”
Kerri shook her head. “How can you be sure they weren’t random acts?”
“At first, that’s what Richard assumed. His staff was questioned when evidence showed the girls had been in his clubs, but they weren’t members.”
“How is that possible? I thought you had to be a member to get into the private side of the club. Or were they a member’s guest like me?”
“True, you go in with me, without paying for membership, but it’s with Richard’s approval. He doesn’t give that option to just anyone. These women were in the bar area, where your friends were headed when I snapped you up.”
Kerri choked on her iced tea at that remark and he chuckled. She coughed and sputtered until he got up and patted her back. When she could finally speak again, she said, “It could still be random. What evidence links it to his particular locations? Have you looked at similar crimes in the same cities? Were the victims killed or found alive? What do the local police think?”
Hunter smiled and pressed a warm, luscious kiss to her lips. “You’ll make a helluva lawyer, or maybe a detective. Yes, we’ve looked at all the data and nothing correlates. One woman was taken every month, never from the same city or with the same circumstances. However, none of them have been found. It’s as if they were removed from the planet. No body, no sightings, no credit card usage or cell phone signal.”
“You still haven’t told me why you think it’s the same person doing this.”
“Local law enforcement ruled each incident as a missing person. With no other evidence, there wasn’t anything else they could do. Richard got involved last month when a parent contacted him at the club in Chicago. The father was hoping he had some sort of surveillance that could help the police. Up until then, I was focusing on finding who was running the human trafficking scam under cover of the club. When he asked me to take a look at the missing woman’s case, I started looking at all the clubs and realized it was happening in a purposely random pattern. And all the victims fit the same general profile. All are in their midtwenties, dark hair, blue eyes, between five-five and five-nine, slim build, and have been to the bar side of the club less than three times.”
“Oh my God.”
“I didn’t completely see it until I asked the local departments to e-mail me a picture of their victims for my files. It was amazing how similar they were.”
Kerri paced across the kitchen, unable to sit any longer considering the subject. Her mind flew through possibilities, trying to think of a reasonable explanation for those women to be missing. “Who handles crimes like this that are all over the country?”
“Depends on the circumstances. FBI. Homeland Security, maybe. I’ve got friends in a few of the agencies and they know what I’m working on, waiting until I find something substantial here while they look into things in the other cities.”
“And they haven’t stepped in to take over?”
Hunter laughed. “No, they have plenty on their desks without my suspicions. When I have something to give them, they know I’ll call. Until then, we have work to do.”
“Tell me how this investigation thing works. What should I be doing?”
Hunter pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. “Just do what you’ve been doing. Keep your eyes and ears open, be submissive, and act like you can’t get enough of me.”
Kerri pushed back from him. “Well, aren’t you sure of yourself?”
“Yes.”
Each and every nerve ending she owned went on high alert as hot hands skimmed up her hips and pulled her bare body against his half-dressed, all-hard torso. Her nipples peaked under the barrage of sensations, the heat of his chest, the press of his tight abs rubbing against her, the rough silk of the dark hair spattered across his chest. His mouth devoured hers, tipping her body into overdrive as the need for him soared.
Kerri heard a ragged moan then realized it was hers. Hunter’s hand slid between their bodies, his mouth never leaving hers as his tongue plunged in and out in a mating dance. Then that dance was repeated as he palmed the smooth core of her sex and one long finger circled her entrance before slipping inside. Kerri cried out again.
Hunter whispered words of encouragement. “So ready for me, Kerri. Damn, you’re so wet. I have something special planned for you tonight, pretty girl. Let’s go upstairs and I’ll give you a preview.”
Bending, he lifted her in a fireman’s carry over his shoulder, his fingers still moving within her as he mounted the stairs.
* * * *
Hunter laid her on the bed and let his fingers slide out of her body. Kerri’s wide blue eyes were hazy with need, her breath lifting her lovely breasts with each rough inhalation. Just where he wanted her, on the edge of desperate lust.
He leaned over the bed and took possession of her mouth, delving inside while his hand reached past the bed pillows and found the restraints. Lifting his head, he watched until her eyes opened to him. “Arms up, sweetheart.”
Confusion clouded her eyes so he slid his hands down her arms and lifted them above her head. In seconds, the padded cuffs clicked into place around her delicate wrists.
Standing beside the bed, Hunter admired her. In this position, her rosy nipples pointed to the ceiling, her lips waited for his next kiss, and her wet pussy was begging for his touch.
“What are you doing?” Kerri said, her voice a ragged groan. “Let me out of these things, Hunter.”
“Do you trust me, Kerri?”
“Yes, but you don’t have to tie me to the bed to have sex with me. I’ll participate willingly.”
He couldn’t help but grin at her comment. She had no idea how good it would be. “Sometimes being free to feel without reciprocating can be intoxicating. Trust me.”
Feeling her gaze follow his movements, Hunter reached under the bed and pulled the leg restraints up and through the low footboard. Quickly wrapping the supple leather around one ankle, he ignored her complaints and captured the other ankle to finish the job.
The doorbell chimed.
Kerri stilled, her eyes wide with panic. Hunter fought a grin, managing to turn it into a slight smile.
“If you make any noise, whoever’s at the door will feel compelled to investigate. While I’ll enjoy every minute of seeing you like this, spread out for my pleasure, I can’t be sure the guest downstairs will feel the same.”
Kerri watched him turn to the door, fear inching through her body to replace the excitement she’d been denying. Surely he didn’t mean to bring a stranger here to see her like this. Or worse yet, to participate in whatever he had planned.
“Hunter?” Her voice cracked, a sound she hadn’t heard since her parents first left her with her grandparents. She’d been ten. She reddened, embarrassed to show him her fear.
His expression as he turned to her went straight to her heart. In two steps, he was back at her side, his fingers tracing her cheekbone with the gentlest touch. “You know I would never hurt you, Kerri.”
Her chin dipped, the slightest hint of agreement. Knowing and trusting were two different things, hard to reconcile in this position. She felt completely exposed, her body and soul bare to him.
Hunter leaned over her to press a kiss to her lips, warm fingers sliding between her upthrust breasts, across her abdomen, and hovering above her mound. Perched on a precipice, Kerri felt the slow glide of one finger dip
around her clit and sink into the wet depths of her body. A moan of anticipation competed against the chime of the front door, and Hunter lifted his head. “Wait for me.”
Watching his broad shoulders slip through the door, hearing his tread as he crossed the foyer, listening to the muffled male voices had her senses flickering between need, fear of the unknown and wicked desire. Would he bring the other man into their room? Would he allow someone to watch or participate? Or would he simply make her wait and wonder?
Her body hummed with impatient desire. The feel of his fingers dipping into her and the reaction they caused within her played over and over like a movie clip on a loop. She tried to think about work, tried to distract her lust-hazy brain with multiplication tables and grocery lists. But every time his voice rumbled across the foyer, her body clenched and begged for his return.
An eternity passed before she heard footsteps. Her mind couldn’t determine how many feet moved up the stairs, and no conversation preceded him. Kerri closed her eyes, waiting for his touch.
Then it came.
Kerri flinched, caught unaware.
Fingertips caressed the skin just above her left ankle, circled the edge of the leather holding her feet apart, then whispered their way to her knee. She moaned, a soft exhalation she couldn’t contain. They slipped around her calf, caressing the back of her knee before sliding to the edge of her ankle cuff. Her need intensified, the feel of his hand against her skin driving her into a near breathless state of hyper-awareness.
A warm palm caressed her inner thigh, squeezing the muscle before moving higher. Just below the juncture of her thighs, the hand lifted. Kerri whimpered, frustration screaming through her brain. She was being tortured.
Her eyes flew open at the sound of a drawer opening. A quick glance assured her that Hunter had returned alone. He lifted a black mask from the drawer and placed it over her eyes with an admonishment. “Just feel, Kerri. Don’t think, don’t worry. Just feel.”
The complete darkness was unnerving. Kerri listened for his steps, strained to hear his breathing, any sound that would tell her he was still in the room.
Daye, Lavender - Bound By Trust (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 11
