by Dale Cadeau
Turning her head toward Clay, she asked the same question that James had just uttered. “What is so important that we have to have company first thing in the morning? And I would like another cup of coffee, if I have to sit here.” She pointed at the coffee pot at Clay’s elbow.
Instead of pouring her a cup, Clay grabbed her pointing arm, which just happened to have the charm bracelet on. James rose to his feet when Clay made his move. Clay waved him back in his chair as he held Avery’s arm out and pointed out the charm bracelet. “Do you see this?”
“Yes, I noticed it last night when she wore it to the opera. It’s very pretty, but what the hell is so important about it? It’s just a plain bracelet that lots of girls wear.” James was looking at the bracelet as Clay moved the charms around.
Suddenly Angel reached out for the bracelet also. He noticed the small gold-plated key sitting between two normal charms. Angel could see that it wasn’t made of the same material that all the other charms were. Turning it this way and that, Angel examined the key between his large fingers.
Avery didn’t know what to make of three big muscular men paying so much attention to her charm bracelet. Pulling her arm back from Clay and Angel, she undid the clasp and started to pass the bracelet to Clay. “Here, have at it. I think they still make them like this, if you all want one.” Avery gave them all a crazy look.
Angel grabbed it out of her hand before she could give it to Clay.
The big Native American held the delicate bracelet up in one of his big hands, his other hand holding the small key that was attached. “This does not belong, and if I’m right this is a key to a safety deposit box. It has been spray-painted gold to match the other charms, but the paint is starting to come off. This could be what we are looking for.” Angel’s black eyes turned to Clay, then James
James, who had been only looking at Avery and not paying attention, finally took in Angels’ words. Putting his hand out James took the bracelet from Angel and also fingered the key.
James held up the key and looked at Avery. “Where did this come from? It’s not the same as the other charms,” he said, his mind back on the job.
“Like I told Clay this morning in bed.” James got a steely look in his eyes, so Avery amended her sentence.
“When I was in bed alone, Clay handed me my coffee as he stood beside the bed. I have no idea where it came from. My parents gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday. It was originally my mother’s. She added charms whenever something that she thought was important happen. This key, to my knowledge, has always been on the bracelet. I didn’t add it.”
James tried to twist the key off the bracelet, but it was welded on. “Hey, don’t break my bracelet, that’s all I have left after last night. If you want the key so bad, take it to a jewelers and have them remove it. Just don’t pry it off and wreck it.” Avery had got to her feet and tried to take the bracelet away from James.
“Sit down, Avery.” Clay put his arms around her waist and helped her back to her seat. “He won’t break it. He knows how important it is to you.” Turning to James still trying to pry the key off, Clay said in a harsh voice, “And don’t break it.”
James let off on trying to get the key from the bracelet, handing it back to Angel. “This could be our break, Angel. Do you think after we have it off, that you can get Grant to trace it? I think it has numbers etched on it, but it is hard to see with the gold paint covering it.”
Angel left the couch and walked toward the door. “Only one way to tell. I’m taking it down to the office. I’m going to try and clean it, then put it under a microscope and see what it reveals.” Angel disappeared out the front door.
“I don’t know what you’re going to find out from the key. If you think it has anything to do with my father, I think you’ll be sadly disappointed. The Feds went over everything that my father owned, bank account, house, cottage. They didn’t find anything.” Avery was speaking directly to Clay, she was still ignoring James.
“You might wish I wasn’t here, but it doesn’t change the fact that I am and I’m not leaving this time. You may think that Clay will protect you from me. But you’re wrong, we are all in this together. We are a team and it’s about time that you know that you can’t set one of us against the other. If you have a problem with that, it’s too bad. You’ll just have to wait this out, and then you can turn back into your bratty self again, but until then, I’m the boss,” James told her in a stern voice.
Avery took his words to heart. She was being a brat. But she was just so tired of all the intrigue surrounding her since her parents died. She just wanted peace and if helping James and the guys brought it about sooner than later, she would have to try. “What would you like to know?”
“The Feds said that your parents were going to visit friends when they had their car accident. Do you know the people they were meeting?”
“I already told the Feds that Father had just mentioned a Carlos in passing. But who he was or where he lived I don’t know. I wasn’t paying too much attention when they left. I was more concerned with going to the beach.
“Are you sure that was the name that he used? Think, Avery, I know the Feds asked all these questions, but really try and remember, anything that would help.”
“I’ll try. I just remember that Dad was watching a football game before they left. He remarked to mother that the Steelers were wining and he was going to get some of the windfall from the game. I don’t know what he meant by that, but Mom just laughed and went to get ready. Then they got in the car and left.”
“Do you know if your dad was into gambling? Did he and your mom go to any casinos around Florida or up here in Detroit? “
“Oh yes, they did, they called it Carl’s Casino. They went there when we were on holidays in Florida. I suppose it must be somewhere around the beach house.”
“Did you tell this to the Feds?” James inquired of her
“I don’t think I did. I don’t remember them asking any questions other than about the drugs and where my father might have kept his shipments.”
James turned to Clay, “Do you think what I’m thinking? I think this is bigger that just drugs. It sounds like Avery’s dad was into illegal gambling also.”
Clay rubbed his chin, “I know that the Feds only suspect that Carlos has a place around Florida. They have been trying to find out about it for some time now. Maybe they didn’t connect the drugs with Carlos down there.”
Just then Angel walked back into the apartment with Grant dodging his footsteps. “I think we have it.”
Grant held up a piece of paper. “From what I could find out, the key is from the Second Street bank in Florida. They have very distinct keys. From the number on the key, from Avery’s bracelet, it’s an old bank deposit box. I hacked into their records and the box hasn’t been touched since Avery’s parents’ accident. I think this might be what we were looking for.”
“How did you find out all the information? I didn’t even know my parents had a safety deposit box or even dealt with that bank,” Avery asked in amazement.
“Grant is something of a genius when it comes to computers. There’s not much that he can’t find out with a little digging.” Clay bragged about Grant’s talent like a proud father.
“Now Clay, you have to thank the army for some of that talent and I think his parents would have something to say about it also.” James grinned at Clay.
“Since Clay is the oldest, he likes to think he taught us everything,” James explained to Avery.
“I’m not that much older than you, James, just smarter and better looking. I make you guys look good.” Clay was now razzing them all. Now that they seem to have caught a break, Clay was letting loose a little.
“Let’s not party too fast,” Angel spoke up. “We don’t know what we’ll find in that box.”
“I think we should all head to bed early tonight and get a fresh start in the morning. We can take the jet down to Florida. I’ll call and have it ready for
8:00 a.m. We don’t want to get there too early and we don’t want to let anyone know what we’re doing until we have to.” James looked around the living room. Clay was the first to rise and start for the door, Angel and Grant following him.
“Clay, where are you going? I thought you were going to be looking after me,” Avery asked before he could get out the door.
Clay turned and looked at Avery, “We all know that the only one looking after you will be James. You just have to come to accept it.” Saluting at James, Clay shut the door of the apartment.
Chapter Nineteen
Avery looked up at James, who had risen when the guys had started to leave the apartment.
“I hope there is another bedroom in this place. I haven’t had time to scope out the whole place. But I’ll let you know now, that I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Don’t you think it’s polite to wait until you’re asked?” James answered back, walking down the hallway toward the bedroom. He stopped before a door to the left of the bedroom and pulled a key out of his pocket. Turning the lock, James entered the room and closed the door.
Avery waited a while for James to appear. When he didn’t, Avery got noisy and wanted to know if he had just left her hanging all alone in the living room. Well, that was just rude, she was going to tell him.
Avery got to her feet and stomped down the hallway. Gripping the handle of the door she had seen James disappear behind, she turned it and peeked in. James was standing in the middle of the room bare chested and testing a paddle on his hand, his back toward the door. Avery turned her head back and forth and tried to look at all the mysterious items in the room before James could detect her.
“I know you’re there, Avery. Please come in.” James turned to her, rolling his shoulders like a fighter loosening up before a bout, and straighten up to his full height. His face was a mask of determination, his intense blue eyes were looking her up and down, and he was starting to scare Avery.
“No, It’s OK, James, I will just leave you alone with your…well I don’t know what’s in this room, but I won’t disturb you anymore.” Avery started backing out of the door and pulling it closed.
James moved with a speed that amazed Avery. She found herself pulled into the center of the room, picked up and place on a funny bench. Before she could even think to squirm, both her arms and feet had been handcuffed to the bench. She found herself with her head down and her ass pointing toward the ceiling.
Avery screamed at James, pulling on the cuffs. She realized they were fur lined. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Let me out right now. You have no right to do this. Just wait until I tell Clay and the others what an asshole you are.”
James hand was now petting down her back as if he wanted to soothe her.
“Who do you think thought this would be a good idea? Clay though it was past time that I took you in hand. I’ve been very lax in your training. I let you walk all over me and you’re getting out of hand. You are not being smart when it comes to your safety. You were trying to seduce me last night with your hooker outfit, then to top it off you didn’t stay in the car, where I left you. Do you know how much danger you put yourself in getting out of that car, when all my attention was on finding the guys and the fire? I couldn’t protect you, anyone could have grabbed you while my attention was diverted. Did you forget about Danny? What about whoever set the fire. You didn’t stop to think and that has to stop. If you’re not going to look after yourself, I’m taking the job and the first lesson will start now.” James undid and pulled his expensive tie from around her waist. Flipping up the T-shirt, he grabbed her panties and pulled them down to her knees.
“I would tear them off, but I think you’ve lost enough.” James was now rubbing her ass.
“I don’t get off on this kinky stuff, James. Let me go. I won’t tell anyone about your kinky side.” Avery tried to reason with him, even as her body started to warm up with each pass of his hand on her ass.
James laughed. “We all have kinks, some just show it in a different way. Don’t let Clay’s smooth attitude fool you, he’s kinkier than me. And how do you know that you don’t like it? Have you tried it before?”
“No, but maybe I’d like it better if your ass was tied down. Maybe we should try it!” Avery sarcastically screamed back at him.
“Now what would be the fun in that? You have a nice soft ass, baby, and it’s going to look so good when it has a red tinge to it. Putting this off is harder on you than me. So let’s get started. And I will try to forget your last words.”
James didn’t give her time to brace. The paddle came down on her right cheek.
“Ow, that hurt, you bastard.”
Whack, the paddle came down on her left cheek. “I’ll have you know that neither my brother nor myself are bastards. You can come and meet the folks at the next holiday.” He had stopped with the paddle when he was speaking and was now rubbing circles over both ass cheeks. The warmth was rapidly started to spread down to her clit.
Avery squirmed at the sensation. She didn’t want this, she really didn’t, she told herself, but deep down in her mind she knew that she loved James taking control. As James continued to paddle her ass, she felt herself start to float to a place where she felt safe, her worries leaving her. The paddle no longer hurt, it had created a tingling she felt spread all over her body, and her clit was now throbbing. All she knew is she wanted James, desperately now.
James stopped, as he realized she had reached sub space. He started running his hand down her spine, over both ass cheeks, and dipped into her vagina. She was so wet he could hear his fingers as they dipped in and out.
“What do you want, James? I give up.” Avery admitted defeat as she floated back into herself. She knew when to fight and when to give in and her position told her the sooner she gave in, the sooner she could get James to give her some relief.
“Will you think first, next time I tell you to stay put?” James asked as he kept his finger dipping in and out of her core.
“Yes, I think I got the message.”
“And what do you think of my kinky side now, and don’t lie, your body tells its own story.”
“OK, I liked it. Is that what you want to hear?”
“Avery, if I were you, I would watch your mouth. You’re still tied up and I still have the paddle. Now do we continue or do we go on to the pleasure part of the evening?”
Avery knew he wouldn’t let up, if she didn’t answer, “The pleasure, please. You have me so worked up, I can’t think. Let me out of this contraption, I want to feel you.”
“Oh you’ll feel me, but I still don’t think that you have earned the right to be able to touch me. We’ll do this my way.” James opened his pants zipper. Grabbing a condom, he suited up quickly and clutched both of her hips. He could tell she felt the same way when she looked back and groaned with a look of pure lust on her face. His cock didn’t have to find its way. It always seemed to be pointed in her direction. Dipped into her warmth, James also groaned as he thrust the rest of the way in. Home. His cock knew it the minute it felt her sheath gripping him and the welcoming heat surrounding him. Now James realized it too, he would never get enough of Avery. She might be a brat, but he was looking forward to every bratty thing that she did. Losing himself in her warmth, James reached around and fingered her clit. He circled it until he knew he couldn’t hold on any longer, James knew Avery was just as desperate as he was when she started pushing back as far as the restraints allowed her. Grinding her clit under his finger, he felt her go stiff and shriek as she went off like a rocket, he was a second later and lost all feeling in his legs.
Becoming aware of his own body, after the most intense orgasm he had ever felt, he found himself bent over melted on top of a well-satiated Avery. Wrapping both his arms around her, he squeezed her tightly. He didn’t want to relinquish this peaceful feeling surrounding them. Straightening his legs, James finally righted himself and undid Avery’s bonds, checking and making sur
e she hadn’t hurt herself when she had been trying to reach him. Sweeping her up in his arms, he made his way through the bedroom and into the bathroom. Turning on the taps in the bathtub with his toe, he stepped in with Avery still in his arms. He gentle washed her, then stepped out and dried her with a warm fuzzy towel he had left just for this purpose. Walking into the bedroom, he laid her down in the middle of the bed. James spent the rest of the day making love to her, taking only brief stops to satisfy their other hunger. Finally after a late super, Avery talked him into a horror movie. She was getting sore from their workouts. Sleep claimed them both as the credits of the movie came up on the TV.
Chapter Twenty
The next morning at 8:00 a.m., James escorted Avery with his hand on her back up the stairs and into the plane, the others trailing in behind them. James was surprised when he spotted Chase sitting in one of the overstuffed leathers chairs drinking coffee. “What are you doing here?”
“When I got wind of the flight plan booked for this morning. I thought I would just tag along. You always tell me to live a little and I’m always hearing about the great adventures that you have from Dad, dodging bullets the way he did in the line of duty. I think he’s reliving his years as a cop through you. So, here I am.” Chase noticed Avery besides James and rose from his seat. “And who is this lovely lady?”
“Put your charm back in your pants. This lovely lady is called mine. You’re just jealous that Dad seems to think my career is more exciting than stock and bonds.” James led Avery to the seat across from Chase and sat beside her, keeping hold of one of her hands in his.
Clay walked up to Chase and reached out and shook his hand. “Great to see you, I hear you got the same speech that we did about hands off.”
Clay looked Chase up and down. “But man, I can tell you right now, if you don’t want to stick out, you’ll have to change from those fancy duds you’re wearing. A three-piece suit and those fancy shoes are not going to allow you to keep up with us. And just ignore James, I still think you’re the smarter brother.” Slapping Chase on his back, he took the seat next to him.
