by Anna Brooks
“Good.” She pushes up on her toes and kisses my jaw. “I was coming to grab the pudding.”
“Let me,” Dad says, opening the fridge. “I’ll meet you in the living room.” He walks out, and I wrap my arms around my girl.
I could hold her forever. Just stand here with her and thank God or Buddha or baby Jesus that I got so lucky to have another chance with an angel. Even though I don’t deserve her.
* * *
“Carter!” She screams my name and tries to pull my head away, but I grab her hands and hold them at her sides. “It’s too much, oh my God.”
I lap up her sweet cream as her orgasm rips through her and swear I must be dead because I’m in heaven. Her hips relax, and she falls back onto the bed. “Roll over, baby.”
She sits up on her elbows. “What?”
“Roll over. I told you every inch. Just did the front of your beautiful body, and now I need to give the back just as much attention.”
“I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“You can take it.”
I need to be inside her so fuckin’ bad, so I flip her over and tilt her hips up, then slide into her. “Goddamn, you’re so fuckin’ beautiful.” I hold her still and pound into her until she’s writhing beneath me, then stop. My dick hates me right now, but I told her what I was gonna do to her, so I intend to do exactly that. “Just needed a little of that pussy to hold me over, honey.”
I swipe her hair and hold it off her neck, then start kissing my way down. Once I reach the end of her spine, I grab her ass in my hands and spread her open. “Carter.”
“Told you every inch, baby.” My mouth hovers over her puckered hole, but I drop my hands and ignore it, then move back up her body. When the tip of my cock nudges between her legs on the way back up, I know there’s no way I can make my way back down without getting in there again.
“Tilt your hips, baby, and take me.”
She does that, the arch in her back a work of art, and I slowly tease her opening before I slide in. She’s so wet I can feel it dripping down my balls. I feel like I’m going to explode but gather enough strength to pull out of her again. “What? No. Don’t stop.”
“I missed a spot.” Working back down, I nip at the underside of her ass cheeks and go all the way to her ankle, paying attention to the back of her knee on my way up. When I reach my destination, I pull her back up, supporting her worn-out body as I’ve been working her over.
I spread her open again, and her thighs shake as I fuck her with my tongue. “Oh, my Lord.” She chants those three words over and over. But when I bring my mouth up and slide it over her backside, she bucks against me.
I bring a hand down and gather some moisture from between her slick folds and tease her. She convulses under my touch, and I fuckin’ love it. “You ever been taken back here, honey?”
“No.”
Sliding my finger inside until the first knuckle, I grit my teeth together. “We’ll have to work up to that another day. I need to be inside you too bad right now.” Then I flip her onto her back and throw her legs over my shoulders, crossing her ankles. Nudging between her folds, I slide all the way in and hold still.
“Hold on, honey.”
She reaches above her head, grabbing the headboard and arching her back. I hold her ankles together with one hand and bring the other down to grab onto one of her breasts. Then I fuck her. It’s not long before she’s screaming, and I shout her name as I fall into ecstasy right along with her.
Chapter 13
Carter
I didn’t want to leave her this morning, but I had to go to work. I have the event with Senator Walden tonight, but before I go there, I need to have a chat with Graham. “Hey, man.”
“Hey.”
“You got anything?”
“I do, and you’re not gonna like it.”
I lean on the wall across from his desk.
“My FBI contact has a man inside. Fuck, Car, it’s a fuckin’ human trafficking gig.”
My stomach drops. My skin tingles. My throat dries up. I can barely even speak. “She’s home alone right now.”
“She’ll be fine there. They don’t kidnap. They lure these girls in somehow, then auction them off. It’s sick as fuck, and if the feds weren’t already on it, I’d personally bust it up… fucking perverts.”
“She’s supposed to go back for another audition tomorrow night.”
“Don’t let her go.”
“No shit.”
He taps his pen on his desk. “They have a bust set up, and hopefully, once they nail these guys, they can recover some of the women who have already been taken.”
Jesus Christ. This shit makes me wanna puke. “Shit, I don’t want to tell her now. It’ll freak her out, and I’m not there.”
“So wait. Your event only goes until what, ten? Just tell her then. If I dropped that news on my girl, I’d definitely want to be there for her, so I don’t blame you.”
I take a couple of steps to the closest chair and fall into it. Resting my elbows on my thighs, I scrub my hands over my face. “Fuckin’ A, man.”
“You all right?”
“No. Jesus, if I wasn’t here… I’m just imagining her alone and scared and at the mercy of some sick motherfucker… and I. Fuck, it hurts to breathe.”
He comes around and leans on his desk. “That would only happen if you couldn’t stop her from going. But you’re going to, so you don’t have to imagine shit.”
“I love her.”
“I know you do.”
“I can’t lose her, man. I… I’m fucked up over Zoe, but if something happened to Billie, I don’t think I could live with myself.”
He clears his throat. “It ain’t the same thing, but do you know why I became a PI?”
I shake my head, still staring at my shoes.
“Because my fiancée was murdered. It’s been unsolved for eight years. I dedicated my life to finding her killer and had to quit the FBI because I had to follow the rules there. Look at me, man. I’m thirty-six years old and can’t let it go. And the reason I can’t let it go is because I can’t find an answer. You, Carter, have your answer. It was a fucking accident. Move on.”
Goddamn, I didn’t know any of that about him.
“I’m trying to.”
“Try harder and try faster because once you realize you wasted even a second with a woman you love, you’ll never forgive yourself.”
His phone rings, and he reaches over to answer it. I get up, bump fists with him, and leave his office with a horrible fucking feeling in my gut. Picking up my phone, I call her, needing to hear her voice and know she’s okay.
“Hello.” I can feel my heart rate slowing just knowing she’s safe.
“Hey, honey.”
“Hi. Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
She manages to pull a small smile from me. “I am, just wanted to check in before things got crazy.”
“Are you not looking forward to your thing tonight?”
“I’d rather be with you. What are you doing tonight?”
“Just watching some movies until you get home. Job hunting. I’m tired, though, so I’ll probably fall asleep waiting.”
I get into my office and close the door, then lean against it. “You need me to pick anything up from the store on the way home?” So you don’t leave the apartment.
“No, I’m good. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing since I’m talking to you.”
She sighs. “Are you sure? You don’t sound like you normally do.”
“How do I normally sound?”
“Laid back,” she answers immediately.
I rest my forehead against the wall. “I’m just stressed about this event. It’s the last assignment I’ll have with this guy, and there will be a lot of people. And I don’t like being away from you.”
“You’re sweet.”
“I’m yours, so that means I look out for you. Make sure you keep the door locked and wait for me
, okay?”
“Carter, what’s going on? You sound freaked.”
I can’t pull shit over on her, and I don’t want to. But right now, I just want her safe. It’s only about eight hours until I’ll be home, and then I’ll tell her. “Nothing. I just don’t like being without you, especially at night.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be safe sitting on my butt.”
I glance at the clock, knowing I have to go but really not wanting to lose the connection with her. “Shit, I have to go, babe.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later. Have fun at your thing.”
“It won’t be fun, but thanks anyway.”
“I’ll be here. Stay safe.”
I hang up and blow out a breath. I’m in love with this girl. And she went to a goddamned undercover human trafficking setup. If anything happens to her, I’ll go fucking crazy. I can’t lose her.
Billie
I fall off the couch when my phone rings. Reaching up to the coffee table, I find my phone and bring it to my ear. “Hello?”
Then it rings again, super freaking loud since I didn’t hit the answer button. “Hello?”
“Ms. Bishop, Roger here. Listen, there’s been a change of plans. Auditions are taking place this evening. Same time, but a different location. Unfortunately, if you can’t make it this evening, we’ll have to call an end to the audition process for you.”
I jump up and spin in a circle until I see the green from the VCR telling me it’s six thirty. “I can try to make it, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Well, I mean, I was supposed to be there at seven. It’s six thirty now.” And Carter wanted to come with me.
“Like I said, if you can’t make it, it was nice meeting you, but we do hope to see you there. It’s 867 Westmoore.” The line goes silent, and I hang up.
“Shit.”
I call Carter, and it goes straight to voicemail. Then I send him a text. I bite at my thumbnail as I pace around my apartment. What am I supposed to do?
Grabbing a glass, I fill it with water from the sink, and my eyes land on the photo of my mother and me. I have to try. If this doesn’t work out, I don’t think anything ever will. I know Carter is going to probably be mad that I go, but I have to do this.
I call him again, but this time when his voicemail picks up, I leave him a message telling him where I’ll be. Then I run to my bedroom and get ready.
* * *
Deep voices echo as they laugh, and cigar smoke burns my nostrils along with an overabundance of cologne. The lights are blinding as they focus solely on me, the heat from the bulbs uncomfortably warm. I have never felt so alone and so much the center of attention all at once.
But the bottom line is, the only one who actually cares about what happens to me in this scenario is me. So I am alone. Stupidly… so stupid, I came here alone. And even surrounded by disgusting dogs of men, I have never felt lonelier in my life.
The black bikini I’m wearing is riding up my ass, and the silver wedge heels are so high I nearly topple over my own two feet. If I didn’t see guns on the guards, I’d run out of here so fast. This is bad… it’s so bad, and I’m freaking the hell out right now.
One thing, the only thing I have going for me is I’ve been through so much shit in my life that’s made me tougher than I ever thought I’d be, and I won’t let these perverts ruin everything I’ve worked for.
I won’t let them take away my shot at being happy.
The feeling I got walking into this place was ominous. The air is thick and the décor dark. Instead of handrails, tight chain takes its place and leads me out from the changing room to the stage. My fear, the one that’s suddenly hitting me, is too much. It’s not real… it can’t be real. Can it? I have to focus. I need to breathe.
I squint my eyes and get a fuzzy glimpse at the tables, and I see men… maybe a dozen of them, with tumblers filled with ice and amber colored liquid. Phones are all face down, and from what I can see, every man is wearing a suit.
After several minutes of me standing awkwardly, I’m ushered off stage and back into a dressing room. The guy leading me lets his hand roam down and cup my backside. I don’t respond, knowing guys like him want the reaction. Instead, I just walk into the room and stand awkwardly. Roger walks in and holds his hands out, smiling like what’s happening is normal. Like he didn’t totally screw me over by tricking me into thinking the last audition was how it’s supposed to be in this industry.
I should have run. No, I should have taken Carter’s car, but again, I’m an idiot. The second the cab dropped me off, I should have gotten back in and screamed at the driver to take me away, but it was too late. He drove off before I could go with my instincts, and now I’m completely fucked.
“Boss, we’ve got a problem,” a man with an earpiece says to Roger, whose smiling face drops immediately as he turns toward the door. I hear a lock engage from the outside, and I don’t know how much time I have, so when I reach my clothes, I grab my phone as fast as humanly possible. Hiding as best as I can, I dial Carter and pray to the Lord above that he shows me some type of mercy just this once.
I’m so thankful that I had slid my cell in my knee-high boots because they rummaged through all my stuff looking for one. Intuition told me to lie, so that’s exactly what I did, and they bought that my cheap piece of crap died, and I didn’t have it on me. I never do keep my phone there, but I had my purse shoved full with the script they gave me and a couple of extra changes of clothes in case they wanted me in something aside from jeans and a t-shirt.
Carter has his work thing tonight, which is why he didn’t answer when I called him earlier to tell him the change of plans, but I’m really hoping he can help get me out of this… whatever this is. And God, I didn’t want to have to need him, but I do. I wanted to just be with him, wanted to be happy, not rely on him for something like this.
I dial him right away and continue to pray for a miracle that he answers. If he doesn’t, I’ll call Royce. “Hey, honey.”
The huge boulder that’s digging into my chest shatters, and I suck in a breath. “Carter, I don’t know what’s happening, and I’m afraid to run out because they have guns.”
“What?” His voice takes on a sinister tone that I’ve never heard from him. “Who? Are you home? You said you were going to be home!”
“No, god. It got switched. I’m at that audition. But I don’t think that’s what it is. Oh my God, Carter, I’m so scared. They’re parading me around in front of men, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Why the fuck are you there? Jesus fucking hell.” His breaths become louder, like he’s running. “Is it at the same address that it’s supposed to be tomorrow?”
“No, they changed it last minute. Oh God, it’s on Westmoore Drive. Behind the outlet mall. The building is old and stinky. It’s really dark in the room, and when you first come in, there’s like three security guys. I don’t think I can get past them to meet you outside.”
“Shit. No, don’t try. I’ll be there soon, okay? Don’t panic. Just go along with whatever they tell you, and I’ll come get you.”
The metal on metal sound of the lock makes me jump, and I hang up and toss it back into my bag, shoving the dress on top of it.
“Follow me,” Roger says. “Someone wants a closer look.”
I can’t believe this. This is… this is insane. I should have listened to Carter. I never should have come here without him. I tried to call him to tell him, I was that smart at least, but when he didn’t answer, I shouldn’t have come at all.
I shake my head because I don’t want to go anywhere else, and he grabs my arm, fingers digging in tight enough to leave a mark. “This would be a lot easier if you’d just cooperate.” If I wasn’t so scared he’d shoot me, I’d laugh. This is nothing. A hand around my arm, fingers bruising me. If he thinks I’m going to wince at that, he’s mistaken.
“You will come with me. I have shit I need to do, and I will not have you holding me up
.”
I shuffle my feet along with him, and he pushes me into a dark room. One man, creepy and old, stares at me. He actually licks his lips and adjusts his crotch.
“Strip.”
“No.”
I cross my arms, giving Roger the perfect opportunity to slap me across the face. The sting makes me take a step back. Jesus, it’s been a while since that’s happened. My skin used to be tough, almost like it had built a callus over it. But three years of not getting beat has made it soft.
He pulls a knife out, and that makes me whimper. “Please, don’t,” I whisper, fear starting to overpower everything else. I can fight back against fists but not weapons.
Coming directly at me, he doesn’t say a word. Lifting the blade, he slices the bikini top. My fingers automatically go up and cover my breasts, and his go down as he cuts the material of the bottoms.
Tears gather in the back of my eyes, but I won’t cry. Not for this. If they see that, they’ll think I’m weak. And I am not weak.
“Let me see,” the man says, and Roger puts the knife away. He stands behind me and yanks my arms down and holds my wrists together with one hand behind my back.
Then he kicks my legs apart, and the material falls to the floor.
I drop my head, refusing to let him see me with tears in my eyes and struggle to get out of his grip. After a moment of sheer humiliation, Roger drops my hands. “Follow me.”
I try to hold some of the material in place as I stay as close to him as I can. Not that he offers protection, but because he blocks me from the view of anyone else. When we get back to the dressing room, he pushes me into the room and then puts his hand around my neck. I revel in the pain he causes because I’d rather be pushed around than looked at like that again. “Don’t you ever talk back to me again.”
He grabs a dress from a rack behind me. “Put this on.” He stands here as I slide the material over my head, and as the silk falls, I blink and let the material absorb the tears. “And stop crying, for fuck’s sake. It makes you look even older than you are.”
