Stockholm Surrender

by Lily Harlem

  There he was, standing in the shelter of a bank doorway on the other side of the street. Staring straight at me.

  What the hell is Ty doing here? In Bangkok?

  It was too damn risky for him to be this near Dad and Phil.

  “Gosh,” Mum said, clasping her hand over her chest. “That was rather loud, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Dad said. “Glad we’re in here and not out there.”

  I continued to stare out the window at Ty. His gaze was locked on me. People whizzed past him, shoulders hunched, feet scurrying. The storm raged on. Rain streamed down the glass in obese dribbles, blurring his face. But he just carried on staring, looking into the Shangri-La, directly at me.

  He was playing a perilous game.

  “Penny,” Mum said. “Penny, would you like some more wine?”

  I tore my gaze from Ty. My knees were weak, even though I was seated. My mind was in a whir, my heart thumping. “What? Oh, er, yes, please.”

  A waiter topped up my glass. I reached for it and took a big slug.

  I must have been mistaken. Ty wasn’t there. He was just a figment of my sexually frustrated, besotted imagination. I’d hallucinated. It was the only explanation.

  I turned back to the window, my gaze darting over the rushing crowd.

  He was gone.

  Shit.

  After the shock of seeing him, the shock of him disappearing was just as startling. I searched the stream of people around the bank doorway. There was no one with a shock of blond hair. No tall, hunky guy with broad shoulders and a face that haunted my dreams.

  How had he melted away so quickly? Perhaps he had been a hallucination, a weird Bangkok mirage.

  I’m going mad.

  “Penny, are you okay?” Dad asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Oh no, I’m quite okay,” I said, drawing in a tight breath.

  Except for the fact that my grip on sanity was becoming rather tenuous.

  “Are you sure? I know you’re not a fan of thunderstorms.”

  “Yes, yes, fine, I just got a bit of chili in my last mouthful, that’s all.”

  Glancing around, I saw Phil chewing on a kebab and scribbling in his crossword book. A Western couple to my left were looking our way—they probably recognized Dad. The long bar had filled with people escaping the rain. Three barmen zipped about serving drinks, their reflections in the mirrors behind the rows of optics adding to the sense of frenetic movement.

  I took a sip of my delicately fruity sauvignon blanc and watched a new customer seat himself at the very end of the bar. Near the sign to the restrooms. A tall, slim man with a perfect triangular-shaped torso, a cute denim-clad butt and a mop of sun-bleached hair.

  For the second time in as many minutes my heart stuttered.

  No way.

  Ty had come into the damn restaurant.

  I watched him shove his hand through his damp hair causing it to stick up messily. Spots of water peppered his pale-green t-shirt, wetting it enough so that it clung to his skin and outlined the deep gutter of his spine. He pointed at something and the barman set a tall bottle of beer in front of him.

  “Would you like a glass of water?” Mum asked.

  “No, I’m okay,” I said, dragging my gaze from Ty. Was the man an idiot? Seriously? In here? With us?

  “But it would help with the chili,” Mum said.

  “No, no, really I’m fine.” I wished she would quit fussing. I needed to think.

  Surely Ty wasn’t planning on pulling any foolish stunts tonight. Not with Dad and Phil around. Not to mention the Thai police and severe justice system. He would never get away with it. It would be a disaster.

  I risked another look and our gazes connected through the mirror. His reflection was bedraggled but insanely gorgeous just the same. A tremor ran up my spine. My traitorous body buzzed for him, despite the dreadfully hazardous situation.

  As he lifted the beer and curled his lips around the end, I remembered exactly what that mouth had done to me last time I’d seen him. When I’d been tied to a chair, legs spread, knickerless and panting for his administrations.

  “I’m really looking forward to seeing the sights tomorrow,” Dad said.

  I squirmed on my seat, my clit tightening at the memory of Ty’s tongue licking strong and steady. Exploring all my folds and teasing into my entrance. God, the man could win Olympic medals with the things he could do with his tongue.

  “Yes, it will be lovely. We must remember the camera,” Mum said.

  Ty set his bottle back on the bar, his eyes unblinking as he observed me. I couldn’t help but wonder if he too was remembering our last encounter.

  I glanced at Phil. He was still immersed in his crossword book.

  “You don’t seem very enthusiastic, Penny,” Dad said. “It was your suggestion originally.”

  “Sorry, what?”

  “Seeing the Emerald Buddha temple, dear,” Mum said with a sigh.

  “Oh yes, of course. No, I am looking forward to it. It will be lovely.” Not half as lovely as it would be to satisfy the burning hunger inside me. Hunger for a man who was my forbidden fruit, my captor, my lover, my enemy and my, dare I say it, friend.

  Am I insane?

  Yes.

  Insane or not there was something I had to do, otherwise I would simply explode with frustration. And why not do it? It was my right, what I was due. Ty had said he wanted progress. Well, here it bloody well was. Dad was in Thailand, with an appointment with not just the Thai foreign minister tomorrow but also James Hill’s brand-spanking-new human rights lawyer.

  And it was all down to me.

  If that wasn’t progress then I didn’t know what was.

  “Excuse me,” I said, standing. “I’m just going to the ladies.” I reached for my purse.

  “Oh, okay,” Mum said. “We’ll hold the next course if it comes. Wait for you.”

  “No, please, go ahead.”

  I looked at Phil. At my movement his attention had snapped away from his puzzle. I nodded in the direction of the ladies. He bobbed his head once and swept his keen eyes over the route I would take. I knew he would follow my every move and that of those around me. But he was relaxed, there was nothing to arouse his suspicion, so I should be able to carry out my plan. It wasn’t as if he knew the thug who kept stealing me was sitting at the end of the bar looking like every filthy thought I’d ever had come true and causing my heart to swell like a balloon rising to popping point.

  Feeling slightly floaty from wine and apprehension, I maneuvered my way through the busy restaurant, winding around tables and chairs and all the time getting closer and closer to Ty. But as I approached then passed him, I didn’t pause. Despite his gaze burning into my butt cheeks, I stalked into the restrooms not slowing my momentum whatsoever.

  Barging into a cubicle, I immediately started rummaging through my purse, searching desperately for a scrap of paper and a pen. Balancing my bag on my knee, I delved to the very bottom and found a pen. Paper? No. I grabbed the toilet tissue, tore off a corner, spread it out on the wall and hastily scrawled, Rm 802, Mandarin. U OWE ME! XX.

  After quickly reapplying my lip gloss, I strolled back out—heart semi-controlled and breathing steady-ish. My heels clicked on the tiled floor as I came back into the muted lighting of the restaurant.

  He was still there, head slightly dipped, hovering over his near-empty beer and his penetrating gaze fixed on me. A quick glance at Mum and Dad told me they were tucking into the next course. Phil, however, was looking my way.

  I gulped down a bite of bile.

  Damn.

  I’d intended on dropping the note on the bar, but that couldn’t happen. So instead, as I clicked past Ty, I let it flutter to the floor.

  I could only pray that he noticed and picked it up. Because with Phil’s gaze on me, there was nothing else I could do.

  *

  “I’m going to put connection alarms on your doors,” Phil said after Mum, Dad
and I had bid good night outside our hotel rooms. “Usual routine. It will scream blue murder if the door opens and I’ll know to come check you out. So if you order room service or nip out to the bar,” he glanced at me, “then let me know on the cell first and I’ll come disconnect.”

  “Good idea,” Dad said, shaking Phil’s hand. “But I don’t think you’ll hear a peep out of us, we’re exhausted.”

  “Yes, absolutely shattered,” Mum said, stifling a yawn and heading into her room.

  My heart sank. The alarm wasn’t usual routine but neither was it totally out of the ordinary. Phil had used these alarms on several occasions. It usually meant he was totally knackered and it would take an earthquake to wake him. But why tonight of all nights? We were eight floors up. Ty had Spider-Man abilities but even he couldn’t scale eight stories. There was no way I would get him into my room tonight and hell, the man had some debts to settle.

  I went in, shut and locked the door, then heard Phil fiddle for several seconds on the other side before walking away. Irritation swarmed over me. If that door opened it wouldn’t be just Phil appearing. Hotel security would no doubt be on full alert too and come racing to the rescue.

  I glanced at the huge queen-sized bed. It was draped in a beautifully embroidered cream-and-gold eiderdown and stacked high with pillows. The brass slatted headboard was against a wall painted the color of sapphires and the tall bedside lampshades reminded me of emeralds. It was a fantastic room. Spacious and lavish, with a separate seating and dressing area. It would have been perfect for entertaining company—hot, male company.

  Sighing, I kicked off my shoes, threw my purse on the bed and wandered to the window. I wasn’t even tired after my afternoon sleep. My body clock was all over the place.

  The thick gold-weaved curtains were drawn and I pulled the left one back to stare out at the rain-splattered Bangkok skyline. I needed something to distract me from my fractious state.

  “Don’t scream.”

  I registered sparkling blue eyes a split second before hungry lips hit down on mine.

  Oh my god, Ty!

  I grabbed the front of his t-shirt as his arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. His kiss was intense and frantic. I stared at his closed eyes and long lashes and rejoiced in the heady wave of excitement, relief and lust spiraling through my system.

  Ty was already in my room.

  “Oh Penny. I can’t believe what you’ve done,” he whispered breathlessly, sliding his hands up my spine and cupping the back of my skull. “You really got your father to Thailand, a meeting set up and a new lawyer.”

  “Yes, of course.” I felt as if I would burst with joy. Ty was here.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

  “How did you get in my room?” I asked breathlessly.

  He kissed my cheek, trailed his warm, soft mouth to my ear. “I just told a cleaner my girlfriend was downstairs in the bar and had the key to our room in her handbag.” He gave a naughty smirk. “She let me in.”

  “So much for Phil’s security.”

  “Phil?”

  “Dad’s bodyguard.”

  Ty pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Shit, there was no one else with you at dinner.”

  “He was sitting a few tables away.” The look of panic on Ty’s face tugged at my heartstrings and I touched his cheek.

  “Where is he now?” he asked.

  “Next door. It’s okay.”

  Ty glanced at the wall behind the bed. “You expecting to see him again tonight?”

  I stroked down to his jawline and grinned. “Absolutely not.”

  Ty drew the curtain shut, hiding us from the world and gave a sexy grin. “Good. Then you’ll have no objections to me giving you what you’re owed.”

  In one swift movement, he hoisted me upward and began kissing me again. I wrapped my legs around his waist. My dress slid up my thighs as my ankles crossed in the small of his back. This was what I’d been dreaming about, what I’d been crying out for. I could hardly believe it was really happening.

  “I’m gonna settle every one of my debts,” he murmured between kisses, stepping toward the dressing table just behind me.

  “Too right you are,” I whispered, pulling his t-shirt from the waistband of his jeans. His smell, his taste, the heat pouring from him was driving me wild. There was something about Ty that was drug-like to me. My hormones went crazy whenever he was near and my body cried out for his. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before with any of my previous boyfriends—although who the hell was I kidding? Ty was hardly a boyfriend. He was a crazy, kidnapping adrenaline junkie who I craved with every fiber of my being.

  He backed me against the wall to the left of the dresser. It was cool on my bare shoulders but I hardly noticed. I was too intent on getting to Ty’s flesh. Yanking and tugging, I dragged off his t-shirt. Smoothed my hands over the wide planes of his shoulders, whimpering in appreciation at the acres of perfect, tanned skin. I wrapped my hand around the vibrant dragon tattoo on his right biceps and hung on.

  He palmed my breast through my thin dress. “I love your outfit. You looked so damn sexy in the restaurant I nearly followed you into the restroom and fucked you there.”

  “Seriously?” I threaded my fingertips into his hair and held him tight.

  “Yes, seriously, and I’ve been so damn hard ever since.” He slipped his fingers down the neckline of my dress and found my nipple. Tweaked and twisted it to a hard point.

  “So do something about it,” I managed. “But tell me now if you can’t finish what you’re about to start, because I don’t think I can take what you did to me last time. Make me crazy with lust, just about to come and then leave. That was just plain cruel.”

  “I’m so sorry, baby.” He treated my other nipple to the same luscious attention. “But it worked, you’re here, and now I can do what I really wanted to do that night in your bedroom.” He glanced at the door.

  I pressed my fingertips to his cheek and turned his head back to mine. “No one is coming in. It’s locked and bolted.”

  He swallowed and pulled his brows low. “Sure?”

  I nodded.

  “Then lord help us, Penny, ‘cause I am going to fuck you so hard and so good you’ll not only forget your damn name you’ll forget what fucking planet you live on.”

  If I’d thought I couldn’t be any more turned-on or any more excited, I was wrong. His words and the way he said them in his sexy, murmuring Australian accent spread lust like an electric current to my clit. It twitched and tingled and all I could think of was getting him inside me, fucking me hard and good. Making me forget my name and which planet I lived on.

  Our mouths connected and I tangled and twisted my tongue with his. We both groaned at the relief of finally being able to give in to our primitive, desperate urges. Still pressed up against the wall with my legs wrapped around him, I fumbled with his fly buttons. I managed to shove my hand into his pants and cup his erection through his boxers. It strained against my palm, hot and hard and gloriously thick.

  He found the gusset of my knickers, pulled it to one side and probed into my pussy. My slick entrance welcomed him and I clamped around his finger, thrusting my hips for more. He added another finger and shoved in higher.

  But it wasn’t enough. I needed his cock in me—now.

  “You got a condom this time?” I asked breathlessly, thinking of the secret stash I had in my washbag.

  “Already dressed for action, baby.”

  I struggled and shoved at his pants and boxers. When his cock got caught on the fabric, he grunted in frustration. Finally though, his shaft sprang forward into my hand and sure enough, his was already wearing a condom.

  Pulling back, I looked into his face. There was a flush of red on his cheeks and his eyes flashed wildly.

  “Presumptuous,” I said.

  “Baby, there was only one thing gonna happen tonight between us and that’s this.” He tugged aside my knickers, release
d his cock fully and positioned the head at my pussy. “Of course it makes a change not to have you tied up.”

  I locked both my hands around his neck and tightened my ankles in the small of his back. He felt so big, holding me, surrounding me, about to thrust into me. “Maybe later,” I managed.

  For a split second he looked as if he might grin, but then his expression turned to one of agonized concentration.

  He pushed into me.

  I gasped and balled my fists. Damn, I’d forgotten how fucking big his cock was.

  “Oh, sweet Jesus,” he groaned, withdrawing slightly then pushing in some more. “You feel amazing.”

  He kissed down my neck and shifted me in his embrace. I fluttered my eyes shut and tilted my pelvis, willing my pussy to relax for him. He gained more entry.

  “Oh god, Ty,” I said. The pain-pleasure was the sweetest torture. “Please, just…”

  “Just what?” He tightened his hold, held my trapped body between his chest and the wall. I couldn’t move. I was pinned. “Is this what you want, Penny?” He thrust right the way in, hard, and I had no choice but to take all of his formidable length—every last inch.

  “Argh—” I started, then he caught my surprised, bliss-infused cry in his mouth. He kissed me hotly, hungrily, absorbing all my moans and groans. I returned his passion, met him kiss for kiss.

  He explored my thighs and my butt, then squeezed his fingers between our bodies, pulling at the flesh beneath my pubic hair. He tugged it upward, exposing my raw, distended clit to his pelvic bone then set up a jackhammer pace. The pressure was so concentrated I felt possessed, owned by him, and handed myself over to the pleasure I knew he could give me.

  He didn’t stop kissing me as he rammed into me, over and over, harder and harder. Fleetingly, I was grateful we weren’t fucking against the wall between my and Phil’s rooms. But the thought lingered for only the smallest amount of time, because an almighty orgasm was blooming. I was so wet now, slick around his cock. His thrusts were smooth and filled me to capacity. Each time our pelvic bones met his hardness connected with my clit in a wonderfully intense way, spinning me toward a state of ecstasy.

  “Oh yes, yes,” I gasped into his mouth. I couldn’t move much but my hands were all over him. Touching every part I could reach—grabbing, scratching, pulling.