Blindfold: The Complete Series Box Set

by M. S. Parker

  However, if Toni was here, I couldn't be. I couldn't even be in the same fucking house, no matter how far away she was from me. I could feel her.

  Yet I didn't want to tell her to leave. She was here for Isadora and it felt...right. It felt right that somebody else was here for my sister. I couldn't tell her to leave. Besides, some crazy part of me liked knowing she was here. It was that same stupid part of me that had enjoyed waking up with her in my bed.

  It had nothing to do with common sense, and everything to do with some base instinct that I didn't even know I possessed. The same base instinct that had me locked in my shower while I fantasized about the woman downstairs.

  I dragged my hand up and down my cock, imagining that I had Toni in front of me. On her knees. Her hands tied behind her back, those wide blue eyes staring up at me as I slowly fed my cock into her mouth. She was so good at it...and she enjoyed it. My penis jerked in my hand and I gritted my teeth.

  Thinking about her had me coming quick, maybe too quick, because I wanted to draw it out. But it was over and done in minutes, and then the shower was washing away the evidence. I hadn't come that fast since I'd been a teenager. Frankly, it was annoying.

  Yet another reason to get the hell out of the house and stay out while Toni was here.

  Less than thirty minutes after she'd arrived, I was jogging back down the stairs, dressed in a suit and ready to go to work. Well, not particularly ready, but I was going anyway. I doubted I would get much done at the office, but if I stayed here, I knew I'd say more things to Toni that I didn't necessarily mean.

  Or I'd do things that I'd end up regretting.

  I’d definitely enjoy them at the moment, and I was already itching to do them again, but all of this had to stop.

  A relationship with her just wasn't possible. I didn't have sex with employees, and while she wasn't my employee, she was close enough that it just wasn't going to happen again.

  And I didn't do relationships at all. Not in years. Not since...

  I paused at the door, and no sooner had I stopped she looked up. An eyebrow rose. The look in them was so icy, it was a wonder frost didn't fill the room.

  “Yes?” she asked coolly.

  If I'd thought her eyes were cold, then her voice was doubly so. An apology came to my lips, but I grabbed it back. It was better this way. I'd been a jerk, and I knew it, but keeping distance between us was for the best.

  “Are you planning on being here for most of the day?” I asked.

  “Why?”

  There was no softness left in her now, no humor, no gentleness, no understanding. She managed to pull off the business-like exterior that I'd been struggling, and failing, to find.

  There was absolutely no emotion to her right now and I hated it.

  She picked up her phone and studied it. Hardly anybody wore a watch anymore, except those smartwatches. It was always the phone. Toni pursed her lips as she continued to gaze at the screen although what took so long to judge the time, I had no idea. Then she shrugged.

  “I’ll be here until mid-afternoon at least. Unless...” she paused and arched her eyebrow. “You would rather I leave, Mr. Lang.”

  She said my name mockingly, somehow managing to turn it into an insult. I had no idea how she did that. She could probably tell me I was the best fuck she’d ever had and she’d still manage to pull off that snide, insulting tone.

  “You don’t need to leave.” I slid my hands into my pockets. If I didn’t keep them occupied, I was likely to wrap it around her neck and throttle her. Or something worse. “Actually, I need you here, if you don't mind. Since you’re already occupied with...well, occupied, I have to go into the office. I need somebody by the phone.”

  I didn’t really need somebody by the phone, but I’d feel better if somebody was here. Somebody besides the staff. They all cared about Isadora too, but it wasn’t the same thing. And since she'd already talked to the kidnapper...

  “Are you expecting a call?”

  I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. In the few seconds between her comment and the time I forced myself to calm down, I saw the glint in her eyes. She was going to twist that knife as much as she could. I’d bet my left nut that she knew exactly what the problem was, exactly why I was being such an ass.

  “Are you able to stay or not?” I kept my voice calm this time, casual. If she could pull of that ice princess routine, I could manage some control myself.

  “As I already said, I’m available until mid-afternoon.”

  With a terse nod, I turned and left.

  As I walked to my car, I couldn’t stop from thinking just why in the hell she had to leave by mid-afternoon. She never had to leave at a specific time when she’d been here with Isadora.

  Was she meeting someone? A male someone? Who wasn't her brother? A man who wouldn't treat her like...

  I shut the thought down before it could finish. It didn’t matter. The vicious tug of denial and envy was already there.

  I didn't want there to be another man in her life.

  ***

  “What do you think, Ashford?”

  It took me a good thirty seconds to realize he’d been speaking to me.

  He being one Anton Phillips. He was the son of the man who owned the law firm that represented Phenecie-Lang on all fronts and they’d come by to talk to me about...something.

  I hadn’t been able to hold a thought in my head all day.

  Every time I closed my eyes, it was like I saw a giant calendar and the days that had passed since Isadora had disappeared were slowly being X’d off with a blood red marker.

  Over and over.

  The marker would hit today and then it would start all over again.

  How was this happening?

  And why was I here?

  As Anton opened his mouth again, I held up a hand. “Look, I don’t think now is the ideal time for this meeting.” We’d kept Isadora's kidnapping from the media, and I planned on continuing down that road as long as I could, but I needed something. “My head isn’t on the job today, Anton. I've had family issues going on recently and, to be honest, I shouldn’t have even come in.”

  This time, it was Anton's father who stopped him from speaking.

  Brooks Phillips was the reason I continued to use the firm. Once he was gone, I’d find someplace else, because I just didn’t like Anton. I had to wonder how a man like Brooks had managed to raise a kid as spineless and useless as Anton. But then again, my parents had raised a total bastard – me – and a total sweetheart – Isadora.

  And, of course, it was her who'd been taken.

  “Are you feeling well, Son?” Brooks asked, his voice gentle.

  Usually, I didn't let people call me 'son,' but with Brooks, I didn't mind. He didn't say it in a condescending way.

  “I’ve been better, Sir.” I managed a tired smile as I stood up from behind the desk. I went around to shake his hand before looking at Anton. “I know you’ve got your heart set on me endorsing this charity event, but I need to look at it harder and I just can’t right now.”

  It took a few more minutes to get them out of there. It took even less for me to wrap up what little I had going on. I couldn’t pretend to work anymore.

  I wanted to go home. I wanted to see Toni, assuming she was even still there. But I couldn’t do that. I’d wedged some distance between us and it needed to stay there.

  I’d go to the club. If nothing else, I could find a Sub and burn off some of this restless energy.

  Chapter 13

  Toni

  “The clock strikes four, he’ll walk through the door and then he’ll call me a whore...”

  I made up a nonsensical tune to the beat of Hickory Dickory Dock as I checked one more thing off my list.

  It was edging up on three-thirty and Ash was usually home by four. I wanted to finish up before then so I could be ready to go as soon as he stepped inside. I didn’t want to have another confrontation.

  Well, part of me did. Par
t of me wanted to go head to head with him, challenge him, make him back down. But I was afraid if I kept pushing things, I'd be the one backing down. Not just about how rude he was, but about everything.

  He’d pushed me away, then he’d reached for me. I knew that's how things would go if I faced off with him. He’d do it again and again. And I’d take him back again and again.

  And I’d grow to hate myself because of it.

  I had too much self-respect for that.

  I had to get out of here.

  Gathering up my files and notes, I took a few minutes to document everything that had been done. When Isadora came back, she’d want to know, and I was going to make sure she didn’t miss out on anything.

  Soon, I thought.

  She’d come soon.

  She had to...right?

  On my way out, I lingered at the door a few moments longer than normal. But I wasn’t really waiting for him.

  That was what I told myself. I didn’t believe it, though.

  ***

  Deacon and Franky were settled down, doing the responsible daddy thing. Part of me was wistful with envy at the lives they had. The one between those two was Kory. He didn’t even live in New York anymore. In high school, he'd decided that he didn’t want to live in the city, and he’d gone to a small arts school in Ohio before settling in Michigan.

  Then there was Vic. I knew it sometimes confounded people, but out of all of my brothers, the one I was closest to was Vic. We were only three years apart in age, and we’d fought like crazy growing up. For a while, I’d hated him a little. I would have gone to one of the best Ivy League colleges with a full ride if it hadn't been for him.

  But Vic wasn’t the man now that he’d been then. He was a different man now, a better one.

  It wasn’t much surprise that I knew exactly where to find him that evening. He'd finished work – I still wasn’t entirely sure what he did, and sometimes, I thought it was better that I didn’t. I had my brother’s schedule memorized. Twice a month, he got to see his son. Fridays, he and I hit the same place: our parents’ house for dinner. Once or twice a week, he’d hit a pub.

  But Mondays and Thursdays, Vic had one place he’d go and that was the basketball court in the park near where we'd grown up.

  Moving up to the fence, I curled my fingers around the chain link and watched the game in progress. A few people called my name or shouted greetings. I waved but kept my focus on the game.

  It was pretty obvious I couldn’t get Ash or Isadora out of my head on my own, so I needed help.

  Nothing did it quite like family.

  I hadn’t been there more than ten minutes before Deacon showed up.

  “You in the mood to kick his ass?” My oldest brother slid me a sidelong look, a smile crooking at his lips.

  “Eh, well. It was this or go pick a fight.” I shrugged. “I figured I should avoid getting arrested again since I'd lucked out Friday.”

  “Try to avoid punching cops in the future, sweetheart.” He hooked an arm around my neck and hugged me.

  I snorted.

  The game ended and Deacon and I moved onto the court. Deacon met Vic’s questioning look with a cocky grin before he looked at me.

  “What are you up to, Toni? Hanging out with that loser?” He jutted his chin toward Deacon and fired the ball at me.

  I caught it and shot it back almost as hard. “Was in the mood for a game. You up?”

  “Any time.”

  I didn't know when Franky hit the court, but I heard his wife, Yvette, hollering out my name in the distance. “Kick his ass!”

  “Which one!” I shouted back. Then I was scrambling to grab the ball before Deacon had it, and all I had in my head was the game.

  Two long, sweaty hours later, I collapsed back against the door of my apartment and closed my eyes. My legs felt like noodles and my arms had turned into cement weights.

  If nothing else, a couple of hours with my brothers were able to accomplish something nothing else could. My brain felt empty now and I was so tired, it was an effort just to walk across the room and lock myself into the bathroom to shower.

  Not even twenty minutes later, I collapsed face down on the bed.

  I slid into dreams.

  And in my dreams, I slid into Ash’s arms.

  Although, really, it wasn’t his arms that held me so enraptured.

  It was...everything.

  Chapter 14

  Toni

  I couldn’t move my arms.

  I couldn’t move my legs.

  I could move my head, though.

  My head and my mouth were under my control, as were my eyes.

  When Ash had told me that he’d spank me if I didn’t watch my mouth, I'd laughed.

  Then I'd moaned.

  Moaned, shook, shuddered...

  His hand came down on my ass and the hot lick of pleasure was so intense, I almost couldn’t stand it. His voice slid over me like liquid sex.

  “You’re going to come. Don’t try to fight it. You’re going to come and I’m going to feel it. I’m going to draw it out and you’re going to be wet and hot...”

  “Just do it already!” I snarled.

  He laughed and the sound of his laugh wrapped around me, sending tendrils of heat racing through me and I wanted to reach up, grab him by the back of his head and pull him down so I could kiss him.

  His mouth on mine. His tongue rubbing against mine.

  His hands...then his hands were on me. Fingers plucking at my nipples until I was arched up and whimpering. His knee came between my thighs.

  I’d been on my belly. Bound. Tied.

  Now, I was free and I intended to take advantage of it.

  “Kiss me.” I shoved my hands into his hair.

  His cock was inside me. Stroking deep and hard, stretching me and burning me. He was hotter than he’d ever been, his hands firmer. He gripped my hips as he lifted me up, then dragged me down. “You’re going to come,” he said again. “Come for me.”

  An electronic peel cut through my head, out of place and discordant.

  I twitched.

  It sounded again.

  My phone. Shit.

  The dream shattered and I jerked upright in bed as the phone rang again.

  Grabbing at it, I brought it to my ear. “What?” I demanded.

  The need to come was riding me hard and I was breathless, aching and empty.

  “Toni.”

  The sound of Vic’s voice was like the coldest of cold showers. Nothing like a brother to cool the libido.

  Groaning, I flopped back on the bed. “Is this urgent?”

  “No. I just…”

  “Fine. Call back in twenty.” I slammed the phone down and flopped back on the bed, desperate to take care of the need twisting inside me.

  Memories flooded me as I slid my hand down the middle of my body. There were dreams and there were dreams. Sometimes, you just had to let your body have what it needed.

  ***

  “You are so not a morning person.”

  I looked at the clock before answering. “The clock might read two a.m. but that doesn’t make it morning. You’re calling in the no-man’s land hours, pal. What’s the deal?”

  “Well...”

  Blowing out a breath, I reached for patience. When it came to my brothers, especially Vic, patience was crucial. Fortunately, I'd had a lifetime of practice.

  “If you’re mad I kicked your ass on the court...”

  “You wish,” Vic shot back at me, his voice amused. “No, it’s just that picture you gave me. It’s weird, Toni. I’ve been asking, and I’ve been asking a lot of people, the right people. Nobody knows him. Nobody's seen him. That’s not normal.”

  “What do you mean, it’s not normal?” Knuckling at my eyes, I tried to coax my brain into waking up. I had to get better about this. There would be times I’d be dragged out of sound sleep in the coming years and I’d have to make some seriously crucial decisions. Psychological emergencies
weren't for wusses. “Plenty of people don’t exactly make a career out of the criminal life.”

  “Yeah, but almost everybody has an electronic fingerprint anymore, Toni.” He hesitated, then added, “I called in a couple favors to some people who specialize in tracing those fingerprints. Just about everybody in the modern world has them. Their face is somewhere. Driver’s licenses, passports, you name it. Not this guy. He’s like a ghost.”

  An icy hand gripped my heart. If the only suspect was a ghost, I was afraid Isadora was already as good as dead.

  D as dead.

  Blindfold Vol. IV

  By Cassie Wild and M.S. Parker

  Chapter 1

  Ash

  The sidewalk slapped against the soles of my shoes with a rhythmic familiarity.

  It was predawn. Way too early to be up and way too early to be running, much less thinking, but I was doing all of those things. And why not? It wasn't like I could sleep.

  I hadn’t heard from the kidnapper again since that one phone call and the ransom letter. No contact about a drop off point or how the money should be delivered.

  No proof of life.

  I was starting to lose hope.

  And I was pretty sure I was losing my mind.

  The rare times when my mind wasn’t occupied with my sister and what might have happened to her, what could be happening to her, I was mentally kicking my ass over the way things had gone with Toni.

  It was a never-ending fucking loop.

  That was what had driven me out of the house and onto the streets rather than down into my personal gym for my morning run. Being down there made me think about how it had been sparring with her. Then it made me think of how badly I’d screwed things up. I'd been an idiot virtually every step of the way, and then, when I'd almost gotten things on an even keel, I'd let my dick take control and made things even worse. I hadn't even realized that was possible until I'd done it.