Table of Contents
Dangerous Love
Chapter 1 – Cute, blonde guy...
Chapter 2 – Friends...
Chapter 3 – Just one night...
Chapter 4 – Fearless...
Chapter 5 – Rash decisions...
Chapter 6 – Fantastic dream
Chapter 7 – Reporting an incident...
Chapter 8 – Kidnapped...
Chapter 9 – Found!
Chapter 10 – Safe house...
Chapter 11 – Missing person...
Chapter 12 – Car crash...
Chapter 13 – Re-united
Chapter 14 – Healing...
Chapter 15 – Recuperation...
Chapter I – Wading in…
Dangerous Love
A Studs & Steel Novella
Kindle Edition
Heather Mar-Gerrison, Copyright 2017
Beautiful front cover
Courtesy of Shutterstock designs
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.
Prologue
“Let yourself off the hook for the night, Hendrix.” Brendan said, smiling at me.
I gave him a watery smile back. “Yeah, right.” I scoffed, “And get beaten black and blue when I go back tonight with half the money Lenny’s expecting? No thanks.”
Brendan whipped out his wallet at the speed of light, “I know I can’t tell you how to live your life. I never stepped up when you were born and I have no rights over you – but you’re still my flesh and blood – and I don’t want you living like this. You’ve got brains, Hendrix. Use them – get the fuck out of this city and make a new life far away from here.”
I nodded, “I will. That’s what my plan is. But I can’t take your money, man...”
He thrust a wad of twenty-pound notes into my hand, “Call it a loan, then.” He said with a wink, “You can pay me back when you make your first million, okay?” He got up to leave.
I grinned. Sometimes I really wished things had been different and that Brendan had been my dad growing up but wishing for things was futile and actually there was nothing wrong with Henry – the guy who raised me as his own – apart from dying on me when I needed him the most and only months after Mum was killed in an accident. Oh, yeah – as fucked up lives went – mine was right up there...
But I decided that for once, I was going to let myself off the hook. I was going to dance – and let loose a little. I’d got a pocketful of money thanks to Brendan’s generosity and I was going to have a drink and a little fun that didn’t involve blowjobs and hand jobs for money... I said goodbye to Brendan who was heading home and I headed for the bar. I wasn’t going home at all tonight if I could help it – it was so lonely there.
“Hi.”
I glanced to my right and found myself nose to nose with an incredibly attractive young guy around my age. “Oh, hi.” I nodded to him.
“Fancy a drink? My treat.” He said.
I frowned. Fuck did he recognise me from a previous hook up or worse – had he been a client of mine?
“No thanks.” I said sharply, “I can pay my own way.”
He blinked and looked a little hurt, “Okay, Jeez.” He murmured, “I was just...”
“What?” I snapped, “Looking for a fucking freebie?”
He stared at me with a completely confused look, “Uh?”
I felt my face heating up. Ohhh, shit. He was a regular guy, hitting on another regular guy... that was all this was. Only I wasn’t a regular guy. I was trailer-trash. I was a prostitute. I was so far beneath him with his beautiful skin and his beautifully made up eyes and his clean clothes and his delicious scent that I could smell from here it was pitiful... “I’m sorry.” I said, “Just chat up someone else – someone worth your effort, mate.” I’m scum...
He smiled at me, his eyes looking into mine and I could just tell that he liked what he saw for whatever reason... “That’s what I was doing.” He said.
Oh, God... Why me? Why today when I have no commitments? This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go down... I was getting out of here, not meeting someone that would make me want to stay. Don’t be nice to me. Please don’t be nice to me. I’m not strong enough to resist you...
But he was nice to me – and I did stay – because I wasn’t strong enough to resist him. And I stayed for far too long...
Chapter 1 – Cute, blonde guy...
Mason
I’d seen the cute guy with the big blue eyes and the cropped blonde hair way before he spotted me. He was chatting to another guy, about fifteen or sixteen years older than him maybe – who looked really quite similar now that I came to think about it. Maybe they were related... or not... Whatever. I didn’t care about him being related to the guy – I was just kind of fascinated with him. He was very attractive. He was of medium height and build – not too big, not too small. Perfect, a little voice in the back of my mind piped up.
The excitement in my stomach as he headed away from the older guy and approached the bar was hard to contain. I had to speak to him. I had to...
I blurted out the first thing I could thing of – which thankfully was actually appropriate to the situation. I offered to buy him a drink but he wasn’t exactly what you’d call approachable. He looked at me suspiciously and told me in no uncertain terms that he really wasn’t interested. But I didn’t believe him. A flicker of interest in his eyes belied his words – I know because I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his. Azure blue... incredible...
Still, it was time to tread carefully, “Jeez, I was just...”
He snapped something about me wanting a freebie, which was a bit weird since I’d offered him a drink and I looking at him in confusion. What the fuck was he on about?
He sighed and apologised, “I’m sorry.” he said, “Just chat up someone else – someone worth your effort, mate.”
Ahh, A mystery man with a murky past. He thought he was saving me from my bad self... I smiled, “That’s what I was doing.” I said.
And now he looked panicked but his eyes were still gazing at me with longing. And I felt that pull. It really was love at first sight... This was the one I’d been looking for my whole life. Someone who needed me as much as I needed him. It was like magic...
Of course when magic comes along in your life – it’s laced with a little of the black magic too – and he sure as hell had his very own evil wizard in his life – his cousin, Lenny Roblinski. I’d heard of the Roblinskis and the McCarthys come to that – but I had no idea that the beautiful guy sitting at the bar was the younger brother of the guy who’d been shot here a couple of years ago until he started talking to me.
“Hang on a minute,” I frowned at him as I took a sip of my cocktail through the fancy straw, “your cousin is Lenny Roblinski?” Fuck. That guy had been suspected of being involved – albeit allegedly – with Lionel Hessey and his associates – a really evil bastard that had been sent down for trafficking young men, selling them as sex-slaves.
Sadly the cops had never been able to get anything concrete on Lenny but it was widely known that he was – again, allegedly – a pimp...
He shrugged and nodded, “Someone’s gotta be related to him,” he muttered, “Guess I just got really fucking unlucky.”
I nodded, “And your brother was...?”
He raised his massive blue eyes to mine and nodded again, “Ye
ah.” He said, “Callum McCarthy. We weren’t really what you’d call close – what with him only having a relationship with heroin and crystal meth in the end but he was still a buffer...” he shrugged. His face had gone very red. Clearly thinking he’d said too much, he changed the subject, “So, what do you do?”
I smiled shyly at him. I really wasn’t one for talking about myself. I’d always kind of thought that I had nothing to tell anyone worth listening to, “Well, I live up at Northcote farm on the east side.
He nodded, “Oh, yeah.” He said, “I know the place.”
I rolled my eyes, “Mum wants me to take over the running of the place when she retires...” But I wanted more... I wanted to go places. Travel the world, get my degree in art and be an artist...
Hendrix (I know – who has a name like that? So fucking cool.) looked at me with interest, “Oh, wow.” He murmured, “What sort of farm is it?”
I blinked. What sort of a farm did he think it was? Farms were farms... “Well, you know – we do potatoes and carrots and swedes and beetroots – we supply the markets and we have a couple of lines of the ‘posh’ veg in the supermarket in the town. We don’t have much in the way of livestock. Just a few sheep, goats and chickens. We had to get rid of the dairy herd after dad passed – it was too much work for Mum and I.”
His eyes widened, “Oh, wow.” He breathed, “It still sounds amazing.”
Amazing? It was hard work and pretty damned boring as far as I was concerned. But I guess I’d grown up with it. He was looking at it with fresh eyes – and through a pair of (very heavily tinted) rose-tinted glasses... I shrugged. I didn’t want to dismiss his enthusiasm. My jaded views were down to the fact that I wasn’t exactly living my dream, “Yeah, I guess it’s pretty cool – but getting up at five in the morning soon starts to piss you off.” I grinned. It was no joke getting up that early to go around the farm before heading off to college – and particularly in the winter – it was a killer.
It had been nice when we were kids. My sister was two years older than me and she’d left for university two years ago. She was doing really well and she really didn’t want to come back for anything more than a visit these days, having met the man of her dreams.
Sadly, Dad died a year ago – leaving us financially quite well off – but still with the working farm to manage between me and Mum.
Mum was passionate about the place but I really wasn’t. My passions lay in the beauty of the place. I couldn’t deny that. I could spend hours sitting in the fields, sketching the landscape and watching the birds in the trees and the hedgerows going about their business. The lake was utterly beautiful and I couldn’t deny that it was an idyllic place to grow up but it wasn’t really where I wanted to spend the rest of my life – just me and Mum. I wanted to spread my wings and fly. And meet the man of my dreams... And yet, hello! I think I just had...
He was looking back at me with a little smile on that gorgeous rosebud mouth of his. I really wanted to kiss those beautiful lips. They were so red in his pale face. He was like a model. All golden haired and massive blue eyes. He looked like a doll. “Yeah,” he agreed, “I can see how that could become a little wearing. I’m usually just getting in at that time.”
I chuckled, “Party animal.” I joked.
He sighed and shook his head, “Well, not really.” He muttered, “I’m just trying to survive.”
I frowned, “Want to come back to the farm?” I offered, “I could show you around?” It was lame but hell, what else did I have to offer?
I was convinced he’d tell me to fuck off but he didn’t. He nodded his head, “I’d love that.” He said enthusiastically, scrambling off his barstool. “Now?”
His eyes were sparkling and he suddenly looked like a little kid at Christmas. My heart melted, “Sure.” I agreed. I reached for his hand but he snatched it away from me, “Not in here.” He muttered. “I’ll go to the bathroom – you head out and wait for me.”
I blinked, “Oh, okay...”
He nodded and disappeared to the bathroom.
I headed for the doors. Buzz looked at me in surprise, “Going out for a smoke, mate?” he asked.
I shook my head, “Nah, I’m off, mate.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Already?” he asked in surprise. I didn’t usually leave this early even though I was always up at the crack of dawn to start working on the farm.
I shrugged and nodded, “early start tomorrow.” I said.
He nodded, “Yeah, I’ll bet.” He agreed. He knew I lived on a farm. “Say hi to your Mum for me.”
I nodded and grinned. Mum was quite well known around the community. She did farmers markets on the first Saturday of every month in the town square and I helped her out for most of them. Buzz was a regular customer along with his cute little boyfriend and Mum adored the pair of them. She often told me I should look for a guy like Buzz. But there was only one Buzz and he already had his happy ever after...
Well, now I might have found mine – but there were things about my mystery man that I needed to figure out before I allowed myself to fall in love...Ahh, who the hell was I kidding? I was halfway there already.
Chapter 2 – Friends...
Hendrix
What the fuck was I doing? This was utter madness. If Lenny found out that I was making friends that he hadn’t chosen for me, he’d likely rip me a new one... Not that you could call the guys I was introduced to friends – acquaintances was a bit of a push. I had a couple of regular guys that came back week after week and if I’m honest, I was quite comfortable with that but I’d much prefer to have a completely different life. Still, I was stuck with this one until I’d saved enough money to escape and the less I tried to argue with Lenny, the better it was for me...
But I couldn’t have stopped myself from getting involved with Mason even if I’d tried. He was like a planet with a really powerful gravitational force and I was totally in his orbit... I honestly couldn’t help myself from wanting to be with him – he was adorable. He was so sweet and so genuinely nice and caring – and fucking gorgeous...
He held his hand out to me but I couldn’t allow myself to touch him yet.
I didn’t think any of Lenny’s crew were here tonight but he had people pretty much everywhere and I couldn’t put Mason in danger.
If he thought it was weird, he didn’t say so. He just headed for the exit as I headed to the bathroom.
I took a piss and then washed my hands. I looked up into the mirror, wondering what it was that Mason had liked about the way I looked.
I thought I was too baby-faced for someone to actually take me seriously. Okay, so I was a sleazy little rent-boy that had sex for money – most if which went to Lenny – but I could understand the guys that paid for it. They were generally lonely bastards who just wanted their dicks sucked or whatever it was they were paying me for that day. Not all of them were. Some were married men with children who had never accepted the fact that they were actually not straight at all; some were old, some were young. None of them mattered to me.
Mason didn’t have to give me the time of day. He was a decent guy – from a decent family. He lived on a farm for fuck’s sake, Could he be any more wholesome? Christ, he was living the dream... And yet he saw something in me – and it wasn’t a quick blowy for a few quid either. He didn’t even seem to know who I was... it was very refreshing.
Taking one last look at myself in the mirror – and still only seeing a shock of golden blonde hair standing up like some sort of weird halo, a pale face and too-red lips I shook my head and headed out towards the exit.
Buzz nodded to me as I passed him. I nodded back. I didn’t think the guy liked me very much and that wasn’t surprising. I came from bad stock... Well, let me correct that – I was raised by bad stock. My biological father was actually quite a decent guy.
I stepped outside. Mason had wandered across the car park and was just putting out a cigarette. I was a little surprised that he smoked. It didn’t fit with
my pre-conceived idea about him being wholesome. I frowned, “That’s bad for your health.” I said.
He shrugged, “yeah,” he nodded, “I know – I’ll give up one day.”
“Make it soon.” I said before I could stop myself, “How long have you been smoking?”
He smiled, “Why?” he asked, “Are you worried about me?”
I shrugged, feeling my face heat up. Inexplicably, I was... “Not especially,” I said, trying not to make things weird, “how long?”
He narrowed his eyes at me, “Since I was about fourteen, so what? Five years? Six?”
“You’re nineteen?” I was surprised, “I thought you said you were at college...”
He nodded, “I had to take a year out when Dad died to help Mum run the place. Katie was already at university –that’s my sister – she couldn’t have helped like I could anyway. So, I re-took the first year – I’m hoping to go to uni one day but I don’t know...”
“You should.” I said firmly, “The farm will still be waiting for you when you get back. Your mum can hire help.”
He nodded, “Yeah, I guess. We’ll see...”
I leaned in towards him. Like I said, he was kind of like a gravitation force. “Can I kiss you?” I asked.
He nodded, “Sure, but it probably won’t taste great. My breath will stink of cigarettes.” He murmured, his eyes gazing into mine.
“I’ve tasted worse,” I murmured back as I closed my eyes and leaned in.
Fireworks! Colours like I couldn’t imagine exploded behind my eyes as he leaned in and touched his lips to mine. Holding me around the waist tentatively, he pulled me in towards him gently until I was flush to his body and he angled his head so our noses didn’t bump. It was the sweetest thing in the world I’d ever experienced. There was nothing pushy about the way he kissed me, but it was packed with feeling. I opened my mouth to let him in and he explored lazily with his tongue, licking into my mouth, making the most adorable little needy moans as he did so. His hands had found their way to my hips and he gripped me firmly, but just as gently as before, as he continued to kiss me.
Dangerous Love... Page 1
