by Sky Robinson
High on You
Sky Robinson
Revisit the dangerous drug-smuggling world from Caribbean Heat.
Blake Sierzan knows better than getting involved with an informant but Crystal’s tempting curves are just too much to resist. The feisty woman from the streets turns out to be a natural sub in the bedroom and it doesn’t take long for Blake to have her tied up beneath him. But can he keep her safe from the cartel that wants their drugs back and Crystal dead? Running from danger shouldn’t feel this good.
A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
High on You
Sky Robinson
Chapter One
Crystal walked up the docks hesitantly. Engine noises rumbled and voices echoed in the air as she worked at trying not to let her nervousness show. Blake Sierzan wrapped his strong fingers around hers and gave her a little comfort but she barely knew the man. She sure as hell shouldn’t be letting her guard down just because he was tall, dark and sexy. Her mother had proven time and time again that being attractive was no guarantee a man was any good. In fact, she pretty much proved the opposite.
But Crystal didn’t have much of an option other than to trust Blake. It was either that or go straight to prison, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, and all because she had been transporting drugs she didn’t want to have anything to do with in the first place. She was forced into it, had no other option, but she knew the law wouldn’t likely see it that way.
Prison is where they threw people like her, even when they were semi-innocent. She was well aware that the justice system favored the rich. She wasn’t rich. Not by any stretch of the imagination. She worked as a cocktail waitress, not very far off the bottom rung of society.
Blake stopped walking suddenly, grabbed her by the shoulders and pressed Crystal up against the solid brick wall of a building. He buried her beneath his strong, solid body and forced his lips against hers. Not some nice-to-meet-you or a glad-we’ll-be working together kiss, but I-want-you-now as his mouth pressed hard to hers, hot, making her lips part for more of him without the consensus of her mind. She shouldn’t be so accepting of his brash move but the way his tongue tangled with hers felt too good to even try to stop it.
One of his hands wrapped around the back of her neck and the other grabbed her ass, pulling her tighter against him. Her heart pounded and her pussy started to tingle. Kissing him felt so good, so right, but it wasn’t right. Not at all.
This shouldn’t be happening, couldn’t be happening, and her pussy sure as hell shouldn’t be pulsing like it was, wanting more from this man who had no right to even touch her.
Maybe he was like all the cops in her mom’s life. Thought because she had played a short stint as a drug mule and since she worked as a cocktail waitress, that he could have whatever he wanted from her, he thought she was easy.
Blake was no better than the guys who brought her mother confiscated drugs in exchange for sex when she was a little girl, no better than the men who had her transporting drugs now. And Crystal sure as hell wasn’t going to fall into that way of life with anyone. Prison would be better than getting sucked into that dark and out of control place.
Her body protested as Crystal put her hands up to Blake’s chest and tried to push him away.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Crystal hissed, but even the hiss had more need behind it than she intended to let him see. She couldn’t want this, it was wrong.
“You know you want it, baby.” Blake growled and pulled her against him tighter.
Crystal could barely breathe, didn’t know what the hell to do. Struggling wouldn’t do a damn bit of good. He was as solid as the brick wall her back was pressed against. She had no chance of escaping his grasp. And then there was that stupid part of her that didn’t want to escape, that wanted him to keep touching her body until she screamed his name.
Blake moved his mouth down to her ear and whispered. “They’re watching us. Play along.”
The words shot a shiver of fear straight to her core. Crystal sucked in a breath and glanced around the parking lot.
She didn’t know if it was true but it wasn’t as if he was going to get some ass right there. He was a cop, sort of. DEA to be exact and he made it this far in life in a good career so he had to be smarter than to force himself on a woman in broad daylight where he could be caught by any person walking by and their cell phone camera. That would put him on every news outlet and end his career. He was definitely smarter than that. All the dirty cops were. That’s how they kept their jobs and got away with all the evil things they did.
Her intuition said Blake wasn’t one of them though. She could sense things, read peoples’ body language, voice tone, see things most people couldn’t. It was the only defense she had against the world for her first fifteen years of life, the only way she survived. Those signs said Blake could be trusted.
Crystal forced herself to relax and it didn’t take much before she was playing along wholeheartedly, kissing Blake with the same intensity he kissed her, tongues tangling and her pussy humming. Playing along shouldn’t feel this damn good.
Crystal opened one eye to look around, to search for someone suspicious, but mostly because she needed a distraction from the sensations surging through her body, the ones that wanted her to try to jump Blake right there. She couldn’t see anyone familiar, anyone who looked as if they were watching her, but there were people walking around all over, men standing and talking near cars. Any one of them could be there to watch her. After the way her afternoon was going, she knew she had to play it safe.
The sun was going down, casting an orange glow across the sky and making the air above the asphalt of the parking lot bearable. Any other time the orange and pink streaks over the ocean would give her a sense of peace, but not today. Not after she had narrowly escaped an attack on the beach by four men who wanted to steal the contents of her backpack. They were willing to kill anyone who stood in their way. Then she got caught by a DEA agent with a backpack full of cocaine to top off her day. Relaxation wasn’t even a remote possibility.
A cold chill ran down her spine and mingled with the warm tingling that shot to her fingertips from Blake’s touch.
“I think that was a good enough show.”
His words were strained, as was the fabric at the fly of his jeans. Good. At least she wasn’t the only one affected by the kiss. It felt wrong and oh so right at the same time to be completely turned on by this man.
Blake set her down, released Crystal from his grip, and she instantly missed his touch. It was crazy that the thing she wanted most right now was his strength. But she couldn’t deny it, his touch setting her body on fire was a pleasant distraction. Crystal didn’t need it, shouldn’t want him. He was a DEA agent and she was a drug mule. There was no way a relationship could have any chance.
She was actually studying to be a social worker, but that wouldn’t matter now. This situation would probably end any chances of that dream coming true.
Hell, she’d be lucky if she didn’t spend some serious time in jail after this was all over, even though she was forced into it, didn’t have any option but to carry drugs for the men who threatened to kill her mother. They beat the crap out of the woman who gave birth to her and threw her mom in jail to prove just how serious they were about forcing Crystal into this job, but none of that could be proven. It would be her word against theirs. They were men of the law and had an automatic trust that went with the title whether it was deserved or not.
“Yeah. Good show.” Crystal didn’t know why she said those stupid words. Her body still felt good from the show but she didn’t need to speak like a parrot, a woman who didn’t have a sensible thought of her own. But her head was still sp
inning a little from his kiss and all blood flow was still concentrated in the lower half of her body.
Blake took Crystal’s hand, held it solidly while he walked to his car and then opened the door chivalrously. He waited while she climbed in and she wondered if it was because he was a gentleman or so she didn’t consider running. Either way, she liked it.
Just because she couldn’t have a relationship with Blake didn’t stop the surging attraction for the six-foot-tall, solid-as-a-rock man. Not even a little.
“To your house?” He said the words as a question, but his tone told Crystal she didn’t have much choice but to take him straight there.
“Just head toward the airport and I’ll give you directions when we get closer.” Crystal wiped her hands on her shorts nervously. This wasn’t going to be easy. Setting up men on the bottom rungs of an organization was risky. The ones at the top of the organization, the cops, the ones who had a lot to lose, would pose extreme danger. Could she trust Blake to get her through it in one piece?
“Do you live alone or have roommates?” His voice was all business and he definitely looked like a man who could take care of business.
“Alone.” Luckily he didn’t ask anything too difficult because she was an emotional basket case right now.
Blake seemed satisfied with her answer and she studied him as he drove. Strong fingers wrapped around the steering wheel, his driving confident as he easily maneuvered through the traffic.
There was nothing about him that screamed for her to not trust him, no creepy glances in her direction, no body language that told her to run, but that didn’t mean she would stop being skeptical.
“Turn off at the next exit and go north about a mile.” Crystal was nervous about letting Blake—well, pretty much anyone—see where she lived. It wasn’t great. Much better than the cockroach-infested apartment where she grew up, but not nice by any standards.
“This is kind of a rough area. Do you feel safe here?” Blake exited the freeway and turned up the road that took them by rental car places, warehouses and run-down apartments.
“Not really, but it’s all I can afford right now. I was planning on spending most of my time on the boat.” It would have been the perfect solution, safe, secure, except for that whole drug-running aspect. Crystal was no stranger to risk, no stranger to violence. She could handle whatever life threw her way. Everything but getting caught, anyway.
It killed her that this situation was more than likely going to ruin any chance of her getting a stable, legitimate, professional career. She had worked hard for the past three years, struggling to work a job and study and keep her grades up so she could earn a degree, make something of her life. They probably didn’t hire ex-cons as social workers. She might as well not bother going back to school after this. Her future was over, all because she felt the need to protect her mother, the woman who didn’t do all that much to protect her growing up.
Life sure as hell wasn’t fair.
“Turn left at the next street.” Crystal wouldn’t be able to avoid letting Blake completely in on her living situation, not that that was the worst of her problems, anyway.
They were getting close to her house. She normally wasn’t ashamed of where she lived because she worked hard, overcame some pretty crazy odds to attend college and pay for a place of her own. But when it came to Blake, those things wouldn’t be enough and where she lived now just proved how wrong she was to be interested in having the man kiss her again, touch her again. And those were things she still wanted. Badly.
“This is it. The tan building on the right.” She lived in a fourplex that was in desperate need of new paint, had garbage and kids’ bikes and toys littering the tiny front lawn, just like every other house on the street. It was home.
“You’re going to want to bring anything valuable inside with you and I can’t guarantee your car will be safe here.” It wasn’t a real nice car but she felt the need to give him fair warning, anyway.
“It’s not mine. It’s my undercover vehicle, but thanks for the advice.” He grabbed his phone and keys and climbed out of the car and strapped his black duffel bag and her bag over his shoulder. Blake hit the lock button after Crystal grabbed her backpack and solidly slammed the door on her side. The sound of the slamming door was swallowed by the roar of a jumbo jet coming in for a landing at Miami International Airport, exactly two and a half miles away. It was such a common noise that she barely noticed it anymore unless one came in extremely low like the one above them right now, rattling nerves that didn’t need any more rattling.
“Come on in.” Crystal pushed the building door open and climbed the stairs to the second floor with the bag of cocaine hoisted onto her back and Blake right behind, carrying her suitcase and his bag with ease. Did he have an overnight bag? She really preferred the thought of him having to sleep naked if he stayed.
Crystal shook her head and dug through her purse until she felt the familiar metallic smoothness. She hesitated, then slid the key into the lock and opened the door. Her place was clean, could even be called minimal, but she didn’t see any reason to spend good money on decorations or possessions. They weren’t that important and she was saving up to go back to school when classes picked up again in the fall.
“Welcome to my humble abode.” The words weren’t said with sarcasm. It was humble. “Can I get you anything to drink? Beer? Water? Juice?” She didn’t have many guests, wasn’t prepared for this. “Sorry, the options are kind of limited.”
“I’ll have a beer.” He grinned at her, seeming completely comfortable in her apartment and putting her at ease.
She shouldn’t feel this at comfortable around a man she didn’t know but her body kept reacting to him in very positive ways. But should she be comforted by that fact, or scared? Crystal grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, opened it and handed it to Blake. She poured herself a glass of water and then sat on the chair that faced the couch where he was sitting, all sprawled out, like he owned the place.
“You’re not going to have a beer with me?” He raised his eyebrows and looked damn sexy sitting there, muscles bulging, legs spread.
“I’m not much of a beer fan. I only have them because my former roommate left them in the fridge when she skipped town.” And skipped paying her share of the rent for last month, and Crystal needed to find a roommate soon. When bad luck hit, it hit hard. Not that she could blame it all on luck, she got herself into the drug-hauling incident knowing full well the possible consequences. She just didn’t know how to get out of it, didn’t know whom she could trust. When the guys doing the dirty business were cops, there was really no place to run.
“Tell me again about your mom and how she got hooked into all this.” Blake took a long, slow sip of the beer and waited for her answer.
Crystal blew out a breath, considering just how much she would tell Blake, but there wasn’t really a reason to hide any of it. The more he knew, the better he would be able to help her out of the situation. “My mom always had issues with drugs. When she was young and beautiful she would have sex with some of the local cops and they would pay her with drugs they had confiscated. She was almost always high. It was a pretty shitty upbringing, but hey, I survived.”
That in itself was an accomplishment. The fact she stayed clean, stayed out of trouble until now was a miracle. Not many kids she knew growing up had.
“My mom sold herself to pay the bills and to get her fix. The second always being more important than the first. She tried to get clean a few times but always went back to it. With the help of our social worker I moved to North Dakota as soon as I turned eighteen, to a different world, to start a new life for myself and get an education. I wanted to make it in the world, have a safe place to sleep every night and not worry about being hungry.”
She sure wasn’t hungry now. Wasn’t anything like the scrawny girl she had once been. Crystal had all the curves her mother once flaunted to get the things she needed in life but Crystal didn’t want to use
hers for that.
Blake tipped the bottle back, took another long, slow sip of the beer, his lips pressed to the top, and damn if she didn’t wish she were that bottle, wanted so badly for his lips to be pressing against hers again. Stupid.
“She must have started transporting drugs when she wasn’t as attractive, couldn’t get the things she needed with her worn-out body.” It was a sad life, but even worse were the men who enabled her, the men who were supposed to be serving and protecting the city. They took advantage of a sick woman.
“I got a call last summer that she was in trouble and needed me. I scraped up all the money I had and bought a bus ticket back home to come take care of her. Her health was failing. I’m sure it was because of the drugs. Anyway that’s how I got started doing the deliveries. At first I didn’t know what was in the packages and once I did, it was too late, they had me. They beat up my mom, threatened to kill her.” Crystal sucked in a deep breath and forced her emotions down. “I couldn’t stop doing it.”
Was he checking to see if her story changed from when she told it to him on the boat? It wouldn’t change, it was the truth.
“Would you like another beer?” Crystal offered and got up from her chair to take his empty.
He stood up at the same time. “No thank you. Just tell me where your garbage is and I’ll throw this away.”
“It’s okay. I got it.” She put her hand over his on the bottle, could feel the heat of his skin against hers. He didn’t release the bottle, didn’t move away, but pulled her down close to him, as if he was going to kiss her.
And damn if she didn’t want him to. She tilted her head up, leaned in, inviting Blake to kiss her, needing him to touch her again.
He didn’t disappoint, kissed her as if he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Tongues tangled, explored. He tasted like beer and for once she didn’t mind the taste. She just needed more. More of his heat. More of his touch.
