by Ellen, Tracy
“This incredibly smart Princess,” I supplied helpfully, wiggling on him.
My hands are squeezed in warning. “…had the hottest, little body but a tendency to blab, instead of concentrating on pleasing her man like a good girlfriend should. He decided to kidnap her for a couple of days. His plan was to tie her up and train her to behave.” Luke spoke low in my ear, “He’d take his time and do whatever he damn well pleased to this smart-mouthed Princess regardless if she begged and pleaded,” I moaned into his neck, “or tried to time him or make deals.”
“But doesn’t the Hero love her smart mouth and her deals?” I protested, licking along his neck and blowing softly.
Luke pulled my hands up higher above his head until he had me stretched out full length on top of his body, nose to nose, while his cock rubbed slowly up and down my cha-cha. “What the hero loves is for that smart mouth to be busy showing him the love, so listen up, Princess.”
“Yes, sir.” I replied meekly, and pressed my thighs tightly together around his erection to create a loving, if friction filled environment.
I felt his body still at my movement, and then sounding matter-of-fact, Luke told his bedtime story. “I was sitting in the truck in that narrow alley across the street from Bel’s Books rear parking lot and waiting for you to come home. I’d picked up some coffee at the gas station.” Luke murmured against my cheek, “Here’s a tip for your first lesson in self defense. There’s nothing glamorous about guard duty or surveillance. It’s boring. You’ve got to keep alert however works best, so caffeine helps.”
At this moment, his erection rubbing against me was working impressively well at keeping me alert, and I stored this fact away for future reference. If Luke and I ever do joint surveillance it could come in handy.
He lifted his hips. “Are you paying attention?”
“Of course I am! I love your tip. Tell me more,” I breathed out eagerly.
Luke squeezed my hands again, but his voice is all business. “I’ll tell you what I tell the operators and other DDL employees that I train; the key component to effective surveillance is not to let the boredom of inaction dull your brain because then you get complacent. During intense spurts of dangerous action, complacent people tend to die first.”
This statement actually made me forget the action going on between my legs. Keeping my voice detached, I asked, “Is there as much danger with your current position at DDL compared to when you were on active duty?”
Luke’s chuckle was brief. “Ah no, I’d say the risk factors are considerably less now when I’m out on a field assignment with DDL, but I still practice the skills that have kept my ass relatively whole and alive up to this point.”
“Huh. Anyway, thanks for the…coffee tip.”
I have a vague concept of what Luke does at his private security company, but it’s based on TV shows with muscular mercenaries dressed in black and wearing Ray-Bans. I have no idea how boring or dangerous the reality of his job may truly be. One thing I’ve learned when talking to men; if you want to get the real scoop on what’s going down, showing it scares you or worries you is the fastest way to get nothing but lip service and platitudes. Men don’t want their women freaking out at home about danger and possibly spoiling their fun.
I rubbed my nose to his and encouraged, “Go on.”
Luke’s starting to get into it. “I’m sitting there and something had my spidey sense prickling, but I didn’t see anything out of place. So I just kept drinking the shitty coffee and thinking about how I could really use a good workout because it had been two days.”
I prompted, “And...?”
Luke raised and lowered his hips again, poking all my buttons while teasing, “And what?”
“And you were missing your brainy girlfriend,” I supplied helpfully, spreading my legs to loosen the love grip my thighs had on Luke’s manhood, and then pressing them together again.
“Oh yeah, and I was thinking about how less boring surveillance is when the prize at the end is this incredibly cute woman with these perfect breasts and the tightest...”
“Get on with the story!”
Luke’s murmur in the dark was seductively caressing, “Your cheeks are blushing right now, aren’t they, tough girl?” I could feel his smile, even with my head buried in the crook of his neck. “I know you hate compliments like that,” His low laugh had an edge, “but if I live to be a hundred, I’ll never forget you dancing for me in the barn. You were so hot; I thought my dick was going to explode. When you went down on me, it was so good that I got possessive. I wanted to kill any man that’s ever felt your mouth. Christ, and that was before you did cause my dick to explode.”
Shocked by this revelation, I lifted my head and state baldly, “You are!”
Luke went quiet for a moment, and then his hands squeezed mine. “I am what, Anabel?”
“You are the only human I’ve ever given a blow job.”
This silence lasted longer. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but does that mean you’ve given blow jobs to something…not human?”
I giggled and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Finish your story, please.”
“Don’t think we’re done with this conversation, Princess,” Luke warned and shifted his shoulders back on the pillows. He bent his arms until our joined hands rested on either side of his head. “There wasn’t much traffic, so I took note when this white panel van drove by the alley again. The driver was a lone white male in his late twenties and wearing a ball cap. The large painted sign across the passenger side of the van read “Take the Plunge and call Plumber Bob!”
“He drove at a normal speed down Fourth St. and took a left on Division St. I figured the man was going home after running an errand, nothing unusual about that to cause the back of my neck to tingle.”
“So you’re saying you had a feeling something was wrong?” I asked curiously, since most men don’t admit to having feelings; although I believe men have as much intuition as women do. My theory is we just think men don’t have “feelings” because the situations that interest men enough to listen to their guts are action based, and not emotion based like women. Sports, hunting, and fighting; these types of activities often don’t include females, so we don’t get to see men in intuitive action.
Luke answered easily, “Yep, I don’t know why, but something felt off.”
I nodded against his neck. “Hmm, I felt that way, too, but about the lighting in the back parking lot. There was nothing wrong with my motion detector light, it was brighter than ever, but it just didn’t seem right.”
“Would this be a good time to let you know that was my doing?” In response to my surprised exclamation, he said. “I’ve never liked how dark that area was in your back lot and had picked up some higher wattage bulbs. I had some time while I was waiting tonight, so I changed them out.”
“Well, thanks, I guess,” I muttered and Luke chuckled.
He lifted his head up off the pillow and pressed a lingering kiss on my lips. “Here’s the second tip of the night, Anabel. Situational awareness is the single most important aspect of self-defense. I saw when you noticed the lighting because I was watching from across the street when you drove up, followed by James Byrd in his SUV.” His voice only subtly changed, but I heard the question in there about James. “It’s a good sign you picked up on the difference in the light. You’ve got great instincts.”
“Oh.” I said brilliantly, aware of a warm feeling spreading throughout at Luke’s thoughtfulness and praise, even if it had messed with my mind. “Yeah, James and Jaz followed me home because Lady Liberty was acting up.”
“I didn’t see Jazy since the windows were tinted, but Byrd’s presence changed my original plan.” He added dryly, “I couldn’t exactly kidnap you with an audience, so I decided to stay put in the truck.”
I got irked seeing serendipity at work against me. Most people never know for sure what the end result in their personal universe may be when they choose left versus right, or
say yes instead of no. Tonight, I was only too aware that it was mere seconds that made the difference of me being kidnapped for My Turn and tied up at Torquemada’s mercy to be trained, or tied to a chair by a man named Dickie and my ass riddled with splinters.
I wondered what bad things I’d done in a previous life to deserve such rotten karma, and then I wondered nervously, ‘What does Luke mean by trained?’
I’m fascinated at the concept of a man trying to train me, but can’t get the image of Luke holding a bucket of small fish, maybe sardines, that would be thrown my way after I performed a new trick. My only consolation was my trainer’s buck naked in this image.
“If you keep wiggling we’re not getting to the end of this story.”
I laughed and went obediently still.
“I watched you talking to James Byrd. I saw you point behind to the lights, listen, and then pat your purse. I’d hoped this meant you were carrying your gun.”
“For all the good it did me,” I responded glumly, letting loose of Luke’s hands to push my hair out of the way behind my shoulders, one side at a time.
“When they left and you were heading back to your jeep, I got out of the truck and took cover in another dark spot by the back entrance of Bel’s while I waited for you.” I heard the amusement in his voice. “That’s when you started banging something metal around in the back of the jeep and arguing with yourself.” His hands started rubbing up and down my back in long, soothing strokes from my shoulders to my hips while he laughed at me. “Have I told you lately that you kill me? I was too far away to hear what had you so riled up,” he paused and then said seriously, “but thank you.”
“Happy to hear I alleviated your boredom,” I responded dryly, but I was smiling. He can laugh all he wants at my efficient and effective analytical skills; I was just relieved he didn’t overhear me muttering about my problems. “But thank me for what?”
“For bending over and flashing me repeatedly. Now that really alleviated my boredom.” His voice was husky, “But then, I think you already know how much I love your stockings.”
“You quit talking to me like that or I won’t let you finish your story,” I warned on a little, breathless laugh.
Luke’s arms tightened around me and his mouth was against my ear. “The garage was about fifty feet diagonally away from my current position. The immediate area around you was lit up like daylight, so I was thoroughly enjoying the show of your ass peeking out of that short skirt.” I made another warning noise and he hugged me closer. “Something sneaking in the shadows from the direction of the alley behind you caught my attention. I saw this man with a baseball cap pulled down low step into the light. He was carrying something in his right hand.
“I automatically started to move and yell out a warning, but then I stopped. Instinctively, my brain had kicked in. I knew I couldn’t get to you before the man did whatever he was going to do.”
“Holy Hannah, how scary for you to witness that happening to me,” I whispered, never having thought about it from his perspective.
Luke’s voice was flat, “I haven’t felt so powerless since I was a kid. My gun was in the truck and so was my knife.” Even knowing the outcome of the night, I can hear that he’s still pissed and blaming himself. “I’d left them deliberately, not knowing how wild you’d get when I kidnapped you.”
“That was smart, I do go a mite wild,” I agreed, rubbing his shoulders and hugging him close. “Remember the bat on my first turn? Given half a chance, I would have knocked your block off without a second thought.”
Snorting a little, Luke’s said, “Yeah, and shouting out a warning would have probably only confused you and panicked the attacker, so bottom line, I knew I was too far away to prevent what was going down.”
I waited in silence for him to go on, my heart pounding.
“The professional in me concluded that if killing you was the attacker’s intention, I couldn’t stop him. But fuck the facts, I wanted to run over there and protect you anyway. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I had to clamp down on these emotions, Princess, because there was no way to hide my approach across the open parking lot to the garage. Not knowing then it was Dickie, it was almost guaranteed the attacker would spot me coming and could do something drastic.” His hands were moving again on my back and I snuggled into Luke’s warmth. “I wasn’t willing to take that risk. My only option to save you was to stay hidden and wait for my chance.”
“I’m glad I didn’t have to make that kind of decision.”
Luke laughed shortly and it wasn’t a happy sound. “I buried the rage to kill him and did what I’m trained to do--observe.”
“My war-god,” I murmured in admiration, this time kissing both his cheeks.
“Dickie was good, I’ll give him that,” Luke said grudgingly. “He stepped up from behind, dropped that burlap bag over your head, and took off into the alley. All in all, it took maybe three seconds. I saw your purse was hanging over your shoulder by the strap, and I remember praying that I was right about you carrying.”
“That F’ing burlap bag,” I growled into Luke’s ear.
Luke’s voice lightened up. “At least you got in one solid kick. I heard Dickhead yell out something before he threw you over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.” He patted my hip. “That had to hurt.”
I sniffed. “I’ll say—it knocked the wind out of me.”
“I caught a glimpse of Dickie’s face when he kicked those trays under the jeep before running off with you. That’s when I saw it was the same man from the plumbing truck.”
“So your spidey sense was right about the van.”
Luke’s reply was quiet with disgust. “Yeah, for all the good it did us.”
I patted him consolingly this time. “Hindsight’s a bitch.”
My boyfriend’s sigh was loud in the dark room and he said, “The fact you were kidnapped rather than outright murdered meant you were wanted alive, and that gave me some time.”
“Which was the only advantage you needed,” I murmured, running my hands through his hair and kissing him softly.
He smiled against my lips. “I’d already run back across Fourth St. and was at my truck when the van came barreling out of the alley by your garage. It roared off to the left. This time, Dickie didn’t turn on Division but caught the green light and kept going straight on Fourth. He was going for the bridge to cross the Cannon River and heading to the intersection at Hwy 3. The van would pass right by the cop shop, but I didn’t call 911. The last thing I wanted was to deal with the cluster fuck of a high speed car chase.”
I heartily agreed, wincing at the thought of a spastic Dickie driving the van while being chased by the police. Rolling around in the cargo hold, there was just no happy ending in that story for Bat Girl.
“I gunned the truck and had just taken a right onto Fourth St to follow the van when another car flies out of the alley from across the street.” Luke snickered and said, “Christ, tires squealing, this little car barely slowed when it hung a sharp left. Fish-tailing all over the place, the driver went racing past my truck into the oncoming traffic lane on my left side. That’s when I recognized your cousin, Candy MacKenzie behind the wheel.”
“Ex-cousin,” I said softly, smiling while envisioning Luke’s surprise.
Luke ignored my interruption and said, “She flew by the truck and didn’t give me more than a quick, wild-eyed look before wrenching the Civic to the right. She cut in right ahead of my truck,” he exclaimed, the disbelief still in his voice. “I had to stand on the brakes to avoid ramming several tons of steel right up her ass. Without a backward glance, that crazy woman caught the tail end of the yellow light and zoomed off across Division St. in the same direction as Dickie.”
“Then what?” I urged on a laugh.
Luke snorted. “I stomped on the gas, followed them both, and called Stella to get Candy’s cell number. I spent the next twenty minutes dealing with Candy while we both tailed the van. She d
id nothing but argue with everything I said.”
“Poor Luke, now I don’t blame you for being so grumpy when you arrived to rescue me tonight,” I said, oozing sympathy for my fed up Hero. “A dark night, an abandoned house, a convenient patsy in Dickie to take the blame…did snapping her neck ever cross your mind?”
Luke retorted, “Too quick and too painless.” He did a masculine version of a shudder. “Now I don’t blame you for warning John off hitting on any Northfield girls after being around your…ex-cousin.”
The reminder of John getting it on with Crazy Woman could put a damper on anyone’s good mood. “Yeah, I didn’t want Northfield women to get any incurable diseases. So, John told you about our little talk, huh?”
I heard the grin when Luke replied, “Oh yes he did, and that’s another conversation I wished I’d overheard.”
“If you like, I’ll be happy to do it again when I see John next. I’m sure he could use the reminder,” I offered demurely.
“Trust me, whatever you said hit home.” Luke’s laughter was deep and loud. “In all the years we’ve been friends; I’ve never once seen John pass up a signal from a woman that was marginally attractive. If he was drunk enough, even that didn’t matter.” He chuckled and said, “I saw this miracle happen a few days ago.”
“What happened?” I asked skeptically.
“We met for a beer after work. This knock-out of a girl was giving him the eye over the bar. She was too young and innocent for my tastes, but the type John would usually be all over like white on rice. I asked him why he wasn’t hittin’ on that, and if he was dying. He told me to fuck off and went back to watching the game on TV.”
“Wow, that is proof the snake’s shedding his old skin,” I murmured, earning a hard squeeze from the hands idly stroking my lower back. “Do you think it could be due to Jazy?”
Luke stilled and repeated cautiously, “Jazy?”
“Yes,” I replied, grinning in the dark. “I think John’s smitten with my sis.”
After a beat, he answered, “That’s news to me, but I also don’t give a damn who John’s interested in.” He ran his hands up my sides and then through my hair, tilting my head to the side to place a kiss on my exposed neck. “Story time is over, Anabel.”
