Tightrope [Black Ops Brotherhood 6] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Bella Juarez

  PJ watched Seth leave. After the door closed behind him, PJ called for another round. It was time to put that dyke bitch in her place. Jax looked at PJ. “Tell me more.”

  Chapter 8

  Naco Border Patrol Station

  Bisbee, Arizona

  June 20, 2010/1017 Zulu

  “We were expecting you yesterday,” Commander Alvarez said.

  “Sorry about that. Thank you for meeting me on such short notice. Who did you say the agent was who handled the call?” Special Agent Gavin Walsh asked.

  “The CBP agent on record is Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Rio Jensen.”

  “Is Agent Jensen in today? Is there any way I can talk to him?” Gavin asked.

  Alvarez smiled. “No. Agent Jensen is on mandatory leave as a result of the shooting incident that occurred during that call but is due back in the office today for the official determination of the internal affairs investigator. I’ll let you know as soon as Agent Jensen gets here.”

  While Gavin waited, he sought out Friday and found him busy looking at the documents the CBP had on the suspects still in custody. They looked over all the cash and passports as well as the EMP devices. A few short minutes passed before Commander Alvarez’s office called for Gavin. Agent Jensen had arrived and waited as he’d requested.

  Gavin and Friday entered one of the conference rooms where most of the office space was located. He paused in surprise when he saw Agent Jensen. Somewhere along the way he’d missed that he’d be meeting a female CBP agent. Her back was to him, and as he sized her up, the first thing he noticed was her stature. She was small, five-two, maybe five-three.

  “Agent Jensen?” Gavin asked as he shut the door.

  When she turned, he’d been unprepared for how young she appeared. He’d been expecting an older, more seasoned federal agent. Gavin quickly noted she’d already sized him up and had come to some sort of conclusion about him. She glanced between him and Friday. He observed with some interest how she might’ve looked young, but her eyes were those of a seasoned professional.

  “I’m Special Agent Gavin Walsh,” he said, extending his hand.

  The firm handshake he got in return surprised him, again.

  “How can I help you?” she asked, taking a seat.

  “Can you tell me about the incident involving the three Middle Eastern suspects currently in the hospital?”

  “Sure.” Gavin caught her suspicious glance at Friday. Interesting.

  Agent Jensen detailed how Dan Gamez had reached out to her when he’d seen suspected illegals hiding in the desert. Her account had been routine, and she gave no indication of anything else she’d seen or heard.

  “What kind of weapons did they reach for?” Gavin asked.

  “AK-47s. They also had various small arms, a couple of pistols, and combat knives,” she said.

  “What else did you find?”

  “Agent Walsh, your boy sitting next to you over there was on the scene. He knows what I found, and I’m sure he’s told you. This case is yours going forward, and the paperwork is done.”

  The abruptness forced him to reevaluate her. He sat back and studied her for a moment, and liked what he saw.

  “I’ve already got his side of the story, I want yours,” he said.

  “I found three handheld EMP devices, which should be stored with their belongings. I had all the evidence crated and properly sealed so no one would set one of those things off accidentally. The intra-agency transfer paperwork is done, and you can take the detainees and the devices into custody any time. Is there anything else?”

  “Stand by Agent Jensen. If there is, I’ll let you know,” Gavin said.

  * * * *

  Rio packed up the food she’d been making throughout the day and sent Danny a text as promised. She loaded up Schotzie, and before she could slide into the driver’s seat, he answered. She giggled as she started the engine because it was as if he’d been waiting for her text all day. The Jensen family ranch lay in between Naco and Bisbee. The hunting shack lay out toward the back most isolated part of the ranch. When the guys were in college, they’d christened it the “hunting shack” because it was where they took their girlfriends. Now the Jensen family used the shack whenever someone needed to escape for a stay-cation.

  While unpacking her overnight bag, she recalled how she’d refused to come out when Danny and Davey were home from college. Davey would always ask her to come and join the parties he’d throw, but she couldn’t stand the idea of seeing Danny with another girl. And there were always girls. Then she remembered the discussions they’d have in front of her about their latest babes. It hurt every time she heard him talk about Sylvia.

  Things would be different for Danny this time. She would be the only girl here, and she planned on testing his resolve. She needed to find out how serious he intended to be about a relationship with her. Schotzie’s excited bark drew her out of the bedroom. She stood next to the door, wagging her tail, doggy smile in place and waiting for it to open. Rio glanced out the window and saw Danny had arrived. She turned away and hurried to the kitchen determined to ignore the butterflies as the door opened. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and refused to go liquid when she heard his deep voice greet her dog,

  “Hey, Schotzie! Where’s momma?”

  The dog pranced to the kitchen gladly showing him the way. Rio concentrated on the beans as she returned to the stove. Stay calm and cool…

  “Hey,” he said, looking a little uncertain.

  Wiping her hands on a towel, she turned around, put her arms around him, and pulled him close. While she embraced him, he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her. When he buried his face in the curve of her neck, she shivered when he kissed her sensitive throat. She closed her eyes. This one simple kiss sank down and shook her to her core. He’d managed to undermine her self-control. Kissing her there could cause her to lose the delicate balance of power she was attempting to establish, so she released him and turned her attention back to the stove.

  “I need to finish what I’m doing.”

  “Where am I sleeping?” he asked.

  “Didn’t you volunteer to sleep on the couch?”

  He gave her a sidelong look through his long black lashes. “It gets cold out here. Don’t you want me to keep you warm and cuddle?”

  Damn the flirt! Cuddling with him would be like curling up with a python. She knew the only time he intended to keep that promise was after hours of unbridled fucking. The idea of cuddling with this handsome, ripped badass was almost more than she could take; most women would never turn down such an offer. But Rio wasn’t most women. Things needed to be on her terms, not his. This boundary would be hard to draw, but it had to be done.

  “I’ll come and get you if I need to cuddle,” she said.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Leaning against the counter, he watched her work and behaved himself. Thankfully, he seemed to be respecting the boundaries she’d laid for him. He touched her when she allowed and stopped when she said so. He also didn’t push getting into bed with her, although he clearly enjoyed the game he played.

  Davey walked in, and she was rendered invisible for the rest of the night. Danny would be the perfect distraction for her brother and all of his demons.

  Rio and her brother were close. After she’d visited two years ago, she heard he was coming back and leaving the military on medical discharge for severe PTSD. It didn’t surprise her. In fact, it had relieved her because maybe he’d get the help he needed so badly. She also decided it was time to move back home to be close to Davey and try to help him heal.

  While she put the food away and cleaning up after they’d eaten, she peeked outside where they were sitting and smiled as she watched Danny draw Davey into his jokes. It was good to hear her brother laugh, and he needed a friend right now. She hoped Danny could work his way around Davey’s walls and get him to open up a little and talk about what had happened over there to chang
e him so drastically.

  She decided not to go out and sit with the guys and retreated to her bedroom where she settled in with her laptop and watched movies until she realized it was after midnight. After taking a quick shower, she noticed the house had gone still and quiet. She went to the kitchen and took a look out the back window. Noticing the empty bottle of tequila on the counter, she knew they’d turned in. She switched off the outside light, walked back to her bedroom, and found Danny passed out in the middle of her bed.

  Obviously, he’d forgotten where he was supposed be sleeping. Remembering this had been his bedroom whenever he and Davey stayed out here, and taking the size of the empty tequila bottle into account, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. She shook her head. I’m amazed he made it to a bed. Watching him as he slept, she wanted so desperately to cuddle up next to him and have him wrap his arms around her as she slipped into dreamland, but she’d drawn the line in the sand, and she couldn’t cross it. She toyed with waking him up and making him move, but the longer she watched him sleep the more heartless that idea felt, so she decided to take the couch.

  Quietly moving around her room, she went to the closet to pull out the pillows and blankets she’d need so she could sleep on the couch. He shifted in bed, and when she turned around to look, the blanket she’d been reaching for tumbled off the shelf and hit the peg where her duty belt hung. She managed to catch it by the cuff case before the heavy belt holding her service weapon clattered to the wooden floor. Without a sound, she readjusted it on the peg. As she went to snap the cuff case shut, the metallic glint of the handcuffs caught the light. Rio froze as she stared at them.

  Glancing at Danny behind her, she closed her eyes and forced the thought out of her head. All of the visions of restraining him and having her way with him came screaming back into her mind’s eye. He’d been driving her crazy with all of his hints and innuendoes. She remembered his reaction and the way he’d hissed when she asked him if he wanted her to handcuff him. As he lay there helpless, the urge to turn the tables on his pranks could not be ignored. Like a decadent piece of chocolate, she couldn’t resist savoring him just this once. Even though she didn’t want to be a temporary hook-up for him, she couldn’t refuse the opportunity now presenting itself. She justified her decision by reasoning that she made the rules, and he deserved a taste of her handcuffs for making her sleep on the couch.

  Walking around the bed, she worked out how to give him what he’d been hinting about for the last couple of days. Wanting him as much as she did, she couldn’t help giving in to the sudden surge of arousal between her legs, and the visions of him helpless only intensified her lust. Instead of handcuffs, she reached into her backpack and took out zip-tie cuffs. If she did this, there would be no turning back because she’d go all the way. She tiptoed down the hall to her brother’s bathroom and sure enough, there they were.

  “Like a Boy Scout, always prepared. Thanks, big brother.” With a self-satisfied grin at her reflection in the mirror, she slipped the box of condoms into her pocket.

  Danny hadn’t moved and slept soundly. She carefully tied the cuffs around a couple of the headboard slats. Guiding his hands upward to meet the opening in the cuffs, she secured his wrists. Blindfolding him would be more of a challenge, so she pulled the sash off her bathrobe, doubled the material, carefully laid it over his eyes, and waited a moment to see if he would move. He remained dead to the world, and she smiled in evil satisfaction. Now that he was fairly secure, she braced herself because, if her suspicions were correct and he was, in fact a SEAL, she was pretty sure he’d come up fighting. Lifting his head to run the makeshift blindfold underneath him, she gently secured it enough to hold it in place. Just as she intended, he woke as she tightened the sash. Sure enough, he tugged violently at the cuffs as he immediately became fully conscious.

  “Shh, settle down. You’re okay.” As soon as his head stopped moving, she brushed his cheek with a soft kiss.

  “Rio?”

  Hearing him say her name in his sleep-roughened voice vibrated down to her core. To do this right, she had to curb her own lust, so she called on her dog-training experience, likening his reaction to leashing a dog for the first time. They didn’t like it, but they eventually adjusted and realized it was for their own good. Just like with her dogs, she had to convey through touch that he was safe and she wouldn’t hurt him. She rubbed her cheek against his and slowly drew her hands over his chest, soothing him. It worked. His body eased and went slack as she calmed him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Since you like pranks and games so much, it’s your turn to get a taste of your own medicine.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Stroking his chest to still him made her lose her train of thought. The sizzling need that shot from her fingers straight to her pussy caused her to drift and fantasize about how she would carry out her plan. Gathering herself, she pulled back to let him think about his predicament and her words. His breathing became shallow, and once more, he tugged and traced his fingers over the cuffs around the slats. She understood the psychological training of the military’s Special Forces. He would recover quickly from his drunken state once he felt threatened, and he’d use every bit of that intense training to assess his situation and find a way out.

  By the way he moved his head, she knew he was testing the blindfold for a weakness, and when his fists clenched, she knew he’d figured out that, if he tugged hard enough, he might be able to break the slats that held his arms up. Grabbing his wrists before he could break her bed, she pushed them down.

  “Na-uh, don’t do that. If you want out, I’ll let you go. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. Understood?”

  As she held him down, she didn’t need to see his eyes to read his feelings. The muscles in his arms were tense, and the wrong step would cause him to fight the restraints. Being so strong, there would be nothing she could do to stop him.

  “Do you understand?” she asked more firmly.

  “Yes,” he said as he visibly began to relax.

  “My rules. You will say you understand after each one. Rule one involves your consent to play and is a yes or no answer. Do you want me to let you go right now?”

  Danny bit his lower lip before he answered. She ached to take his lower lip in her mouth and help him with that love bite. It was reasonable that he’d hesitate before giving her an answer, but she was pretty damn sure she knew what he’d say. Encouraging him to respond, she touched the locking mechanism that would release the zip-tie binding him to the slats.

  “No! I’ll play,” he said.

  “Okay.” She brushed his arms as she worked her way down to his chest. “Next rule. You agree to answer all my questions with the truth. If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll have to think of some way to punish you. Do you agree to these terms?”

  “What kind of punishment?” he asked.

  “Depends on the lie you tell me.”

  “There are things I can’t tell you.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not asking for national secrets.”

  Straddling his hips, she slithered her pussy against his erection. He threw his head back and groaned. Even though they were both dressed, his hard cock against her pussy made her shiver. She bit her lip to suppress a moan, then grabbed his face and kissed him. He tried to say something but she swallowed the words as her tongue invaded his mouth. She sucked on his lower lip and bit gently. When she stopped and looked him over, she noticed he’d balled his fingers into tight fists. His chest heaved, and he was breathless.

  “I want to know your secrets,” she whispered against his lips.

  “Okay,” he breathed.

  “Am I a temporary thing for you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Are you serious or are you just messing with me again?”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “Answer my question.”

  Hesitating for a moment, she sensed some
thing unusual coming from the new Danny, fear. He finally answered, “I’m serious.”

  “Why are you in my bed?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Don’t play dumb; answer my question.” She lifted his shirt and lightly smacked his belly.

  Danny hissed and groaned. Seeing his ripped abs, she paused for a moment to appreciate the sight. She licked her lips. She wanted to run her tongue over each one of those muscles as they tensed with his shallow breathing.

  “I don’t know!”

  She smacked his belly again. It was no more than a light slap, and as tight as his abs were, it wasn’t hurting him.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Harder,” he panted.

  What the…

  His response froze her in her tracks. Rio’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. She sat back and looked at him, trying to absorb what he’d just asked her to do. Why did this turn her on so much? Deep down inside, she knew there was no way she could hurt him and wondered what had driven her to smack him like that in the first place. She refocused herself and considered an alternative to what he’d just asked of her, and decided on a different path. Running her hands over his belly, she leaned forward and kissed the ripped abs. She found herself in a quandary; she’d told him she wanted to know his secrets, and he’d just given her one that stopped her cold.

  “Please don’t stop,” he groaned.

  * * * *

  Dan’s initial panic at finding himself restrained and blindfolded passed when he was kissed. Strangely, he didn’t sense danger; this was a dream come true. His cock stiffened in record time at being in this position, but the training buried in the recesses of his intoxicated mind kicked in instinctively. Since his sight had been taken from him, he knew he had to use his other senses to function, so he inhaled and caught the scent of something familiar and comforting.

  He’d learned in SERE training to take control of his breathing when in a heightened emotional state. With his sense of sight cut off, his other senses were kicked into overdrive five times more than usual. The feelings of touch, taste, hearing, and especially smell were much more sensitive so that, when he inhaled this time to assess his situation, something familiar was an instant trigger. The warm, soothing, sweet smell of…apple?