Club Prive Complete Series Box Set: Alpha Billionaire Romance by Parker, M. S. (5)

Club Privé Book 5

By M.S. Parker

 

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 M.S. Parker

Published by Belmonte Publishing.

 

 

Chapter 1

 

 

Howard

June 13th 2008

This was not the way I’d wanted to spend my day. It was a beautiful June afternoon in the Big Apple, but the atmosphere around me and my lunch companion was anything but pleasant. Earlier this month, after almost seven years, suspects in the attack on this city were arraigned. Today, there were rumors of a breakout of more than two hundred Taliban members from prison. Neither of these things made New Yorkers more inclined to be friendly to the Saudi man across from me.

I wasn’t talking to him at the moment, however. No, I was on my cell phone trying to figure out how much more damage control was going to be needed for the disaster that had happened several hours ago.

“Were you able to move the car without being seen?” I kept my voice low even though the surrounding tables were empty. One could never be too careful.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Weiss.” Gene was my fixer, the man I called when things went to hell like they had earlier today. “And I heard from my police contact, too.”

“And?” I asked impatiently.

“There’s a witness.”

I swore, my hand tightening on my phone.

“Sounds like he didn’t see much,” Gene continued. “It’s the woman’s fiancé. He was so busy with her, all he could tell the cops was that it was a black Bentley. He didn’t even get a single letter on the plate.”

I relaxed a little. Bentleys weren’t exactly common, but I was hardly the only person in the city who owned one. I owned more than one, in fact. If we played our cards right, this could go away.

“Tell your contact to keep you informed,” I instructed. “If the witness remembers anything else, anything that could come back on us, take care of it.”

“Got it.”

The call ended and I pocketed my phone. I turned back to my business partner, a smile on my face. It was almost all genuine. “Everything is clear. We can move on as planned.”

“Excellent,” he said in his heavily accented English. He leaned down and retrieved a suitcase. He slid it across the table to me. “The price we agreed upon.”

I opened the case, my smiling widening into completely genuine as I saw the neat little bundles of bills. “It is always a pleasure doing business with you,” I said as I closed the briefcase.

Now, if the little incident went away, it would turn out to be a good day after all.

Chapter 2

 

Carrie

Present Day

 

Shit, shit, and double shit. I silently cursed as my brain scrambled to figure out what to do. If I didn’t act fast, I was going to be caught with my hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Except the cookie jar was a locked filing cabinet, and instead of a cookie, I was holding in my hand the file of a missing girl. A file that contained some pictures that would be pretty good circumstantial evidence saying that Howard Weiss had been in contact with Patricia Vinarisky around the time of her disappearance.

I shoved the file back into the cabinet and closed it, hoping it locked automatically. Now I had to find somewhere to hide. The voices in the hallway had stopped in front of the office door and someone was turning the doorknob. Thankfully, the person on the other side of the door paused.

I ran across the room as quickly as my elegant evening gown and high-heeled shoes would let me. The door on the other side of the office led to a closet or bathroom, either one of which was fine with me. I just needed to be somewhere out of sight.

I ducked inside without looking behind me. The room felt bigger than I’d originally assumed, but I didn’t take the time to see why. All of my attention was focused through the thin crack in the door. I’d considered closing it all the way, but a part of me felt the need to know what was happening.

The door to the office opened and I watched two people enter. One was Howard Weiss, the handsome billionaire whose office I’d broken into. The other was his personal assistant, Annie. Like all of the other women I’d seen with Howard, she was beautiful. Tall, slender, with honey blond hair and light blue eyes. She could have been a model.

At first, I was so focused on hoping they didn’t look my way that I completely missed the angry expression on Howard’s face. It wasn’t until he spoke that I realized he and Annie were in here for something other than a quick grab of some papers or taking a memo. Something had happened while I’d been away from the party.

“How in the world do you lose a person?” His voice was low and angry, more so than I’d ever heard it before. The charming mask that he wore all the time had slipped away, and even though he still had his classic movie-star good looks, there was something ugly about him.

“I double-checked the flight manifests myself, sir. She was checked in.” Annie sounded nervous.

Howard took a step towards his assistant, his eyes darkening to almost black. “I don’t give a fuck if she checked in. I want to know why, when my client went to the airport to pick up his package, she wasn’t there.”

I pressed my hand over my mouth to stifle my gasp. Was I hearing correctly? Or was I just reading into it because I didn’t trust Howard?

“Do you have any idea how much money this is costing me?” The rage in his voice had slipped away and now his tone was flat, and it was somehow more frightening. “My top girls, like her, bring in thirty thousand a night in Saudi Arabia. She was supposed to serve my client for three months. Do the math, Annie. That’s a hell of a lot of money.”

“Yes, sir.” She nodded, her face pale.

“And it’s not just the money.” He stepped around behind her, using his body to turn her towards his desk. “You know Saudi Arabia is my biggest country of export. That’s why we have a partner there. We don’t want to disappoint him, do we?”

When he put his hands on either side of the desk, encircling Annie in his arms, my stomach clenched. What the hell was he doing? This wasn’t flirting or even inappropriate comments, this was full-blown sexual harassment.

“No, sir.” Anna’s face turned even paler.

“If I can’t provide assurances to my clients regarding delivery of their merchandise, they’re going to go elsewhere.”

He put his mouth against Annie’s ear as his hands moved up to take her wrists. He put her hands flat on the desk. I couldn’t see all of her face, but I could see enough to notice how her expression had changed. She didn’t look annoyed or frightened now, more like she knew what was coming and wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“If they go somewhere else, Annie, that would be very bad.” Howard’s voice was almost too low for me to hear. He slid his hands up Annie’s hips, over her ribcage, and then around to cup her small breasts through the thin silk of her dress.

I swallowed hard, wanting to look away but unable to actually do it. Annie wasn’t fighting to get away, but rather arching her back, pushing her breasts further into his hands.

“I want to keep you here with me, Annie.”

Howard dropped one hand, moving it low enough that it was out of my line of sight. I was able to see, however, the material of the dress shift, and then Annie caught her breath. I didn’t need to see what was happening to know where Howard’s fingers were now.

“But I need a replacement for my missing girl and unless you can find one for me, I’ll have to send whoever I happen to have on hand.”

Annie made a noise half of protest, half of pleasure. Her face was flushed, her eyes closed.

“And I’d have to make sure they know I punished the person responsible, so I’d be forced to hurt whoever is being sent.” He wrapped his free hand in her hair and pulled, yanking her neck back until she gave a cry of pain. “I’d have to mark their skin with a cane, and still, my client will likely negotiate for their time and inconvenience.”

He pulled his hand from between her legs and she made a sound of frustration. He pushed her forward until she was bent over the desk. He ran his hands over her body, his fingers flexing and squeezing.

“Because of your mistake, I might even have to give them that replacement permanently.” One of his hands went back up her skirt, this time from behind, and she yelped in pain, her nails scratching over his desk. “Do you know what they do to their permanent girls? The ways they fuck them? How many men use them at a time?” He chuckled, and I could see on his face that even though he was angry, he was enjoying himself. His hand moved under her skirt, continuing to do whatever it was that was hurting her.

“What about that new woman, Carrie?” Annie asked, her voice strained.

I caught my breath. She couldn’t be talking about me.

Howard scowled. His hands both moved to the front of his pants, but I wasn’t really paying attention to that now. I wanted to hear why Annie had said my name.

“Carrie’s not ready yet,” he said. “I thought for sure she’d be groomed by now. Gavin has really disappointed me. I’m starting to doubt that he’s the one to take over as my recruiter after all.”

Chapter 3

 

My head spun and, for a moment, I was afraid I was going to pass out. I stayed at the door, staring into the office, but I barely registered what Howard was doing to Annie now. Her cries and his grunts were background noise to the chaos in my mind.

Howard was selling women. He’d probably sold Patricia. The women downstairs recruited for him. Gavin recruited for him. Everything between us had been a lie. Every touch, every kiss. It all fit. He’d been grooming me for Howard, teaching me how to submit and obey, conditioning my body to respond to commands. His comment about spanking made perfect sense now too. I was learning obedience. Next, he needed to teach me how to enjoy pain.

I put my hand over my mouth and tried not to throw up. My stomach was churning, the champagne I’d drunk threatening to make an appearance. I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths. I couldn’t leave any evidence that I’d been here. Howard was just as dangerous as I’d thought, but now I couldn’t even count on Gavin to protect me. He was part of this.

A sharp cry of pain drew my attention back out in time to see Howard finish. Annie was slumped over the desk, her face turned away from me so I couldn’t see her expression. She had to hate what he’d done to her, had to want him to pay. Maybe I could get her to talk to me, give me the evidence I needed. I wanted everyone involved to pay for what they were doing to these women. My nausea faded as my anger flared. I wanted everyone to pay.

Howard took a step back and I heard Annie suck in a sharp breath of air. He didn’t bother to fix her dress, but rather slapped her ass hard enough to make her jump. “Good girl.”

My hands curled into fists. If I thought I could physically take him, I would’ve been out there in a minute, but all that would do would give him one more victim. I knew self-defense, but this dress would hamper any sort of movement I tried to make. No, I had to bide my time. I needed that file, and I needed to see if he had any more records of what he was doing. When he left, I was going to grab as much as I could carry and then figure out what to do next.

A knock at the door startled all three of us. Annie straightened, a pained look crossing her face before it became blank. Her make-up wasn’t even smudged. For a moment, I thought maybe they’d just been role-playing, that he hadn’t really hurt her, but then she took a step and I saw her wince.

“What is it?” Howard asked sharply, raising his voice to be heard through the door.

I wondered if whoever was out there had heard the end of what had just happened and what they thought about it.

“Sir, one of your guests has a concern regarding the origin of the fruit being served. He’s worried about whether or not it’s organic.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he snapped. He wheeled on Annie, who flinched a little. “Since apparently none of my employees know how to do anything on their own, I need you to go handle whatever the hell this is and then come back.”

She nodded without looking at him and started for the door. When he spoke again, she paused.

“And, Annie, darling, remember, if this situation isn’t resolved, what I just did to you is going to seem like a picnic compared to what will happen.”

I saw her shoulders stiffen, but she gave no other outward sign that she’d heard the threat. How could she let him do that to her? Hurt her, threaten to sell her off? And it wasn’t like she was some escort he’d hired or one of those bimbos downstairs. That would’ve been bad enough. Annie was his assistant. She had a legitimate job with him and he hadn’t even hesitated to hurt her. I was no psychologist, but I could tell this hadn’t been the first time he’d done this. She couldn’t actually care about him, could she? Was that why she hadn’t gone to the police? Or, the thought came to me, was it something more basic? Howard wasn’t only rich and with friends in high places, but his family’s history meant he probably had friends in low places too. Even if someone did believe her, she’d never be safe. I realized that meant the same for me. If I tried to follow through with this, there was a good chance I could get hurt. I could just walk away, tell Mimi that my relationship with Gavin had ended and I couldn’t be objective. I’d stay away and pretend like none of this ever happened.

The thought was fleeting and immediately followed by the images of Patricia, that sweet-looking girl, and how she’d been degraded and used. I knew now that those pictures didn’t even tell a small portion of her story, and if she was still alive, she was experiencing things worse than I’d just seen. I squared my shoulders and set my jaw. No, I wasn’t going to let fear of what could happen to me keep me from doing what was right.

I turned my attention back to Howard. He opened the filing cabinet and began shuffling through its contents. I took a moment to look around while he was occupied. I needed to know more about my surroundings in case he decided he needed something from wherever it was that I’d hidden myself.

I’d been right when I’d thought the space I was in was too big for a closet. It was actually a small bedroom. Well, more accurately, a room with a bed, a double that took up most of the room. The only other thing was a small table to one side of the bed. There was another door, and what little I could see in the dark interior told me that it led to a bathroom. A bathroom off of his office made sense, but if I hadn’t just seen what Howard had done to Annie, I would’ve been puzzled by the bed. After all, he was in his house. It wasn’t like he needed it in case he worked too late. I knew, though, that this bed wasn’t for sleeping. I had a feeling if I looked closely, I’d find the same kind of restraints on this bed that I’d seen on Howard’s yacht and at the club.

A noise from the office pulled my attention back. Howard had set a stack of files on his desk and was putting them into a briefcase. I hoped that meant he was about to leave, even if he was taking the files with him. As long as I could get out of here in one piece, I could figure out a way to find those files again. Howard struck me as the kind of man who’d never deign to destroy anything, no matter how incriminating. He was more of the “keep a trophy and brag” type.

He turned towards the bookcase and my heart started to pound. I knew where he was going even before his fingers brushed over the spine of the book. He frowned as he pulled it out, and I felt a stab of fear. Had I put it back in the wrong place?

Shit.

He opened the book and I could see his body tensing.

The article. What the hell had happened to the article?

With panic threatening to take over, I watched him looking around. When he bent over, I knew he’d spotted it. Would he think that it had just fallen when he’d opened the book and he hadn’t seen it, or would he realize that someone had been snooping? The moment he straightened, I knew that he was suspicious. I needed to hide better.

I started towards the bathroom, but stopped. I didn’t know if it was just a toilet or if there’d be a shower I could hide in. And what if the shower doors were glass? No, I needed somewhere else.

My eyes fell on the bed, then dropped lower. There wasn’t much room, but it was the best I had. I dropped and wiggled underneath. The frame scraped against my back, but I could fit. I pushed myself back as far as possible and waited.

What seemed like forever passed, and then the room flooded with light. I scrunched back into the shadows, trying to make myself as small as I could. I could see his feet as he entered the room and crossed to the bathroom. The light went on there as well. I heard running water, then the light went out again. He stood in the middle of the room for a moment, then walked back towards the door. The light went out and I sighed in relief. Still, I stayed under the bed.

I might not have been able to see Howard anymore, but I could hear him as he called out for Annie to come back in. I really hoped he wasn’t going to bring her in here for a second round, this time right above me. I wasn’t sure I could handle that. He didn’t, however. Instead, he told her that she would be flying back to New York tonight and she was to take the files to his Manhattan office.

“I want you spending the rest of the weekend giving me a short list of replacement candidates,” he added. “I’ll make the final decision on Monday. And remember, if I can’t find anyone suitable, you’re going to be taking a little trip.”

I heard a sound that I didn’t want to try to identify, and then I heard the door close. I stayed where I was, straining my ears to hear anything that might indicate whether or not Howard had left the room as well. When several minutes passed and I didn’t hear anything, I slid out from under the bed. I brushed off my dress and crept over to the door. I peeked out and didn’t see anything. It was time for me to return to the party. I just hoped I could lie as well as I thought I could. If Gavin suspected I knew the truth, I didn’t know what he’d do.

Chapter 4

 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I grimaced and nodded my head. The concern in Gavin’s voice was tearing me up. How could he pretend to care like that? It was beyond cruel.

From the moment I’d left Howard’s office and headed back down to the party, I’d known that I might be able to smile and make nice, but the moment Gavin had touched me, it had taken everything in me not to recoil. My body was torn, wanting to respond to his touch, to the pleasure I knew he could bring, but I was at the same time repulsed by what I’d discovered. When he asked if I was feeling all right, I’d realized that I had a cover.

The remainder of the weekend, I’d played sick. It had been painful having to watch him hover and act like he wanted to take care of me, but I just reminded myself how much worse it would have been to have followed through with our plans. If I couldn’t stand having him touch me in a nonsexual way, I never could have gotten through a kiss, much less fucking. And that’s what it had been, I reminded myself. No matter how tender he’d pretended to be, how often he’d said he wanted to pleasure me, it had all been a scam. He’d fucked me over as thoroughly as he’d fucked me physically, and I refused to let myself consider that it could be anything else.

The only thing that kept nagging at me was the story about his fiancée and daughter. If I hadn’t seen the article, I would’ve just assumed he’d lied about the whole thing, that the initials and date meant something else. Maybe that he was married or the very least had a girlfriend. But I’d seen the article, and everything he’d told me matched. Sure, there’d been a couple of details he’d left out, but nothing contradicted his story.

It hadn’t been until the early hours of the morning, after he’d fallen asleep in the chair next to the bed, that I’d realized what the truth most likely was. All that Gavin had told me about Camille and his daughter was true up to the reasoning behind why he didn’t have custody of Skylar. I was willing to bet that when Howard had approached him after Camille’s death, he’d given Gavin purpose all right. He’d given him a job where he could make a lot of money and, twisted and bitter as he’d become over Camille’s death, Gavin had chosen that over his daughter. I still hadn’t been able to figure out how a father, especially one of a little girl, could not only allow such horrible things to happen to others’ daughters, but participate in preparing them for it. What made it even worse, I had thought, was that he’d used the story of what had happened on women like me, ones who wanted to see a vulnerable side to the big, strong man. Ones who were stupid enough to fall for his bullshit.

I’d still been berating myself for being so gullible when I’d fallen asleep. I’d kept up the charade all through the next day and was doing it now even on the plane. Gavin had kept asking me if I needed to go to the emergency room, but I’d managed to keep finding excuses as to why I didn’t need to go. Now, as we were heading home, his hovering was getting worse. I was pretty sure he’d thought it was either something I’d eaten or a stomach bug, but it had been more than twenty-four hours and I was still telling him that I wasn’t feeling well and that I didn’t want to be touched. I knew I was going to have to come up with something better.

“I really think I’m on the upside of this.” I gave him a weak smile. “If I’m not better by morning, I swear, I’ll have Krissy take me to the doctor.”

He leaned over me and I avoided looking at his eyes. It was bad enough that he could lie with his face and his body. The fact that his eyes had fooled me made everything so much worse. His hand brushed over my forehead and I closed my eyes, hoping he’d think it was because I wanted his touch rather than because I couldn’t lie with my eyes like he could. The sick thing was, part of me still did crave his touch.

Tears burned at my eyelids and I fought to keep them back. If he saw me crying, he’d know it was something more than just me feeling sick. I’d made it this far. We were only a few minutes out. Once we landed, a car would take me home and then I’d be safe.

One of the other things I’d been thinking about while I’d feigned my illness had been how much to tell Krissy. The heartbroken girl inside wanted to fall into her best friend’s arms and sob out the entire story, but the harder me, the one forged by this betrayal, wanted to keep it all to myself. I told myself it was because I didn’t want Krissy to get hurt, but if I was being completely honest, I knew it was because I wasn’t sure that I wanted justice over revenge, and I didn’t know what side of that argument Krissy would take.

I’d finally decided on something halfway between. I would continue the lie I was telling Gavin, and tell Krissy that I wasn’t feeling well. I’d then spend the rest of the evening in my bedroom, pretending to rest. I’d get up before her and leave a note saying that I had to stop by Howard’s office to pick up some files for Mimi. I didn’t want to get her involved by telling her what was going on, but I also wasn’t going to be dumb enough to walk into the lion’s den without a bit of insurance. If things went smoothly, she’d never know what had happened until it was all over. If things didn’t go smoothly… well, I was counting on Krissy to worry and tell someone where I’d gone.

With my plan firmly in place, I gathered my strength and waited for the moment I was alone to finally succumb to the tears that had wanted to come since the moment I’d learned the truth.

Chapter 5

 

I didn’t have any problem getting up before Krissy because I hadn’t really slept at all in the first place. I’d thought that maybe I could cry myself to sleep, let the toll of the last couple days take over. I’d had times in my past where emotional exhaustion had let me sleep when nothing else could. This time, however, I couldn’t get my brain to shut down enough to doze for more than a quarter of an hour or so at a time. Then I’d wake up, the same old thoughts repeating over and over in my head. Finally, when my clock said that it was five o’clock, I decided it wasn’t worth it to keep lying there, waiting for the five-thirty alarm.

I got up and headed for the bathroom. I’d showered the night before, but ever since I’d heard Howard say that Gavin was grooming me, I hadn’t been able to shower enough. I felt like there was a film of filth covering my skin and, no matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn’t get rid of it.

I dressed for work, but in one of my old boring outfits. Since I’d started seeing Gavin, Krissy had been able to convince me to put a bit more color and sex appeal into my work attire, but I didn’t want that today. I wanted to go back to the way I’d been before I’d met him. So, a plain skirt that stopped just above my knees and a tailored, but not sexy, white blouse. I’d gotten rid of the pantyhose because Krissy had said there was no good reason to keep them, so thigh-high stockings were the only option I had other than bare legs. I pulled my hair back and pinned it into place. No make-up other than what I needed to cover the bags under my eyes. And, finally, sensible shoes. A modest heel that made me look professional but not enough of a heel to draw attention to my legs.

I looked at myself in the mirror. The young woman I saw peering back at me was familiar, but not the person I’d been seeing over the past few weeks. She looked like the girl I had been before. Confident in the courtroom but timid in life. The girl who’d only talked to the handsome stranger because her friends had pressured her. The girl who’d enjoyed sex but had never really had a problem going without it.

I knew I couldn’t be her again, but I wanted to. I wanted to go back to who I’d been, pretend that none of this had happened. Now that I’d been with Gavin, I knew I could never experience sex the way I had before. He’d played my body like a musician playing a fine instrument. He’d made me feel things I’d never felt before, want things that I hadn’t realized I’d wanted, and now that I knew these things, I couldn’t un-know them.

I closed my eyes against the tears I could feel coming and took a deep breath. No crying. I’d done my crying the night before and I was done. I had a job to do, and it had nothing to do with Howard’s divorce case.

I was going to take the bastard down.

With that thought firmly in my head, I headed out to the living room… and saw Krissy waiting for me. She was seated at our kitchen table, still wearing her cute little bunny pajamas, feet pulled up on the seat and a mug of coffee in her hands. She looked half-asleep, but I knew the caffeine would change that fast.

“Oh, hey.” I tried to keep my voice nonchalant. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

She shook her head. “I was hoping we could have breakfast together and talk.”

I tensed. Had she figured out that I’d been faking sick?

Then she grinned and I knew it wasn’t about me. “I’ve been wanting to tell you about this insane weekend I had since you got home, but I wanted to let you rest last night.”

I glanced at the clock. I could spare a few minutes. “I don’t have time for a full breakfast, but one cup of coffee won’t make me late. I just have to get some files from Mr. Weiss before work.” I went and poured myself a cup while Krissy began telling me her story.

“So, I figured since you were off on a sex-adventure all weekend…”

I winced at her phrasing, but my back was still to her, so she didn’t see my face.

“…I was going to have a little fun of my own.”

I really hoped she wasn’t going to regale me with tales of her sexual exploits going from one guy to another. Krissy wasn’t a slut, but when she wanted to have a wild weekend, she could get pretty crazy. I’d once seen her make out with three different guys and take a fourth back to our hotel room. Granted, we’d been juniors on spring break at the time, but still.

“I called up Pete to have that cup of coffee you promised him.”

I turned towards her, not trying to hide the surprise on my face. “Detective Pete Connors? The hot geeky guy you didn’t want to see again. The one who lives with his mother and goes to comic book conventions.”

“That’s the one.” Krissy sighed and turned in her seat so she was facing me when I sat down. “You reminded me how gorgeous he was with his golden hair and green eyes. And, of course, that body. He really does take the fitness part of his job seriously.”

Out of all of the guys Krissy had been involved with for longer than a one-night stand, I’d liked Pete the best. He wasn’t like any other guy Krissy had dated, which was, of course, the problem. Krissy tended to gravitate towards rich men who had more money than class. I was honestly surprised she hadn’t liked Howard.

“Anyway, we go out for coffee and the next thing I know, we’re back at his place.”

“His place?” I almost smiled. “With his mom?”

Krissy held up a hand. “Let me tell my story.”

I nodded and began to sip my coffee. I wasn’t hungry and didn’t think I could force myself to eat with these knots in my stomach, but the warmth of the liquid and the rush of caffeine did me good.

“Well, our coffee date turned into me trying to loosen him up by taking him to a bar for something stronger than an espresso. I challenged him to a drinking game, but apparently he can hold his liquor better than I thought. We were both a little buzzed and when we were walking out to catch a cab, I kissed him.”

I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

“It was the alcohol,” she protested. “And he just looked so cute with his hair falling in his eyes and those tight jeans showing off his firm ass. I couldn’t help myself. It had been too long since I’d gotten laid.”

I couldn’t stop a smirk. I had to duck as a balled-up napkin sailed across the table towards me.

“Anyway,” Krissy continued as she glared at me. “He has the basement at his mom’s house set up like an apartment. There’s a separate entrance and everything. So we go down there and start making out.” She gave a dramatic sigh. “I don’t know how a comic book geek ever got that good at kissing.”

My smile this time wasn’t about amusement at Krissy’s expense, but just the enjoyment of the moment. I’d almost forgotten how it used to be. Us sitting down to breakfast while she told me about her latest conquest, often while said conquest was wandering around the apartment, half-naked, looking for his pants. It was always me living vicariously through her sex life, wondering what it would be like to have someone make me sound the way Krissy’s partners made her. I wished things had never changed, that I’d never even laid eyes on Gavin that day at Huggins. I wouldn’t be sitting here, hoping I wasn’t going to throw up when I stole files from my firm’s client. I wouldn’t have this pit in my stomach that burned every time I thought about how Gavin had used me.

“Carrie?” Krissy sounded concerned.

I pulled myself back. “Sorry, continue.”

For a moment, I thought she’d see right through me and ask what was really going on, but she didn’t. She just continued with her story.

“Anyway, he’s rambling on about how beautiful I am and I finally have to tell him to shut up and get on with it. And holy shit, does he.” Krissy shivered and I knew it was because she was remembering how good it had felt. “I swear, he’d been good the last time we were together, but this was phenomenal. I came twice just from him going down on me and then when we started fucking… It was amazing. He rubbed on all the right spots and I saw stars.”

My face flushed. I’d forgotten how detailed she liked to be in her retellings.

“We must’ve done it in three different positions and I came every time. I’ve never had that many orgasms that weren’t fake or courtesy of myself. I ended up nearly passing out, and trust me, it wasn’t from the alcohol.” She sighed. “And then it was morning.” Her expression of bliss faded.

I was puzzled, and a little annoyed. Was she seriously going to regret her amazing night with Pete just because he was a bit of a geek? I wanted to tell her that was a stupid reason. Better someone who liked comic books and didn’t have his own place than an asshole like Gavin.

“I woke up to his mother coming downstairs and asking if we wanted breakfast. She was making heart-shaped pancakes.”

I choked on a laugh and Krissy scowled at me.

“It’s not funny, Carrie. I was buck-ass naked, half-lying on top of her equally naked son. His bits were covered but I gave her an eyeful.”

Now I did laugh, and, after a moment, she joined in. “What did you do?” I asked.

“What do you think I did?” She grinned at me. “I asked if she had strawberries to go on top.”

We laughed even harder and I was surprised by how good it felt. It reminded me of something I’d nearly forgotten. No matter how much damage my heart took, my best friend always had my back, and she would cheer me up, even if she didn’t know she was doing it.

As I got up to put my cup in the sink, I was grateful I’d taken the time to talk to her this morning. I’d needed something positive to get my mind off of what I was about to do. I could tell by the look on Krissy’s face that we were going to have a more serious version of this conversation at a later time, but for now, we were good. I didn’t know exactly what she was thinking, but I had a pretty good guess that she wasn’t sure how she really felt about Pete and wanted my advice. I wasn’t sure I was the best person to ask, but that was another conversation I didn’t have time for now.

I said I’d see her later at the office and then headed downstairs. I took a cab to Howard’s office, again partly out of convenience but also because I wanted a record of where I’d been and where I was going. If Howard reported me stealing from him, my leaving a trail might backfire, but I’d followed enough cases where people disappeared without a trace that I was willing to take the chance. If Patricia had made sure her moves could be easily traced, she might not have disappeared, or at least would’ve been found by now.

When the doors opened on the top floor, I fixed a smile on my face and walked into the reception area in front of Howard’s office. Annie was sitting at her desk. I hadn’t seen her since that incident in Howard’s office. When I looked at her now, all I could picture was how he’d bent her over the desk and used her.

“I’m here to see Mr. Weiss.” I made my voice professional and chose my words carefully. I wanted it to sound like I was here on business.

“Mr. Weiss isn’t in yet,” Annie said brightly. Her eyes didn’t meet mine though, and I wondered if she was thinking about what Howard had said regarding me not being ready enough to be the replacement “package”. “He should be here shortly, if you’d like to wait.”

“Thank you.” I turned and walked to the chairs that sat across from Annie’s desk. So far, so good. I’d hoped Howard wouldn’t be in this early and I’d been right. I picked up one of the magazines and pretended to read it while I scanned the room, looking for any way I could get into that office before Howard showed up. At least I had a cover story. He had asked me to come to his office this morning to discuss his job offer. Obviously, there was no way in hell I was even considering it, but it would at least keep him from being suspicious as to why I was there.

I was starting to get concerned that I’d never find a way in when Annie stood and walked away from her desk. I didn’t know where she was going, but that wasn’t my concern. Before I could talk myself out of it, I got up and hurried over to the door. For a moment, I was afraid it was going to be locked, but it wasn’t. The doorknob turned easily and I pushed the door open. I glanced behind me and didn’t see Annie, so I slipped inside.

The office was just as neat as the one in his mansion, though I doubted this one had a side room with a bed. Then again, maybe it did. Not that I was eager to find out. I just wanted that briefcase. Fortunately, it was sitting on the desk… right next to a stack of files. Forgetting that I wasn’t supposed to be here, that I was trying to find evidence to incriminate the man I’d been falling in love with, I crossed to the desk with only one thing on my mind: Patricia. If I didn’t have anything else, I needed her file. Her father deserved to know that he was right about her not running off, and the file would at least give the police somewhere to start looking again.

I started going through the pile. I planned on taking all of them, but I had to make sure hers was there first. A wave of relief went through me when I saw it. I picked it up and opened it to make sure that the contents were there.

That was when I heard noise behind me.

An arm wrapped around me.

A cloth came towards my face, the sickly sweet chemical smell telling me this wasn’t going to end well.

Before I could scream or move or fight back, my vision grayed, then the darkness swallowed me.

Chapter 6

 

My head was pounding before I was even fully aware that I was waking up. My tongue felt thick, my mouth dry, filled with a cloying medicinal taste. I almost gagged as the darkness that had enveloped me started to recede. I managed to stop myself from making any noise. I couldn’t remember what had happened, but I knew it hadn’t been anything good. I searched my memory for clues and it all came back to me in a rush.

Files at Howard’s office.

Someone grabbing me from behind.

Fuck.

Now I wanted to know if it had been Howard or Gavin who’d grabbed me.

Before I opened my eyes, though, I needed to further assess my situation. I didn’t feel any pain other than in my head, and that was fading. At least that was good. As I continued to take my inventory, I realized that I was lying on my back. My arms and legs were spread out and I felt something around my wrists and ankles.

Panic flooded through me. I was tied up, spread-eagle, and since the surface beneath me was soft, I was willing to bet I was in a bed.

Shit.

I tried to stay calm by telling myself that at least I was wearing clothes, but it wasn’t working. I just kept thinking about how I was tied up and all of the horrible things it could mean.

I heard a soft chuckle and tensed. It wasn’t Gavin. I knew that now. That meant it had to be Howard. A flare of anger burned through the panic, and I let it. I thought of all of the things Howard had done and let myself get more and more angry. Then, when all of the fear had been replaced, I opened my eyes.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at me with a cold smile and colder eyes. I quickly looked around and saw that we were in the members’ room at club Privé. He hadn’t taken me back to his place, which was good. Being here was bad, but not as bad as it would’ve been if I’d been someplace completely unfamiliar. I knew the layout of the club and if I could get free, I could escape.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t take you long to wake up,” he said. He reached out and brushed the back of his knuckles across my cheek. I jerked my head away, half-expecting him to hit me. Instead, he just laughed. “This is going to be fun.”

I swallowed hard and tried not to let him see how much his words freaked me out.

“I knew you were there, by the way,” he continued in a conversational tone. “Back at my mansion, in my office.”

I couldn’t stop the look of surprise. He’d known? Why hadn’t he done something then? I’d obviously been somewhere I didn’t have permission to be. He could have easily thrown me out.

That was it, I realized. He hadn’t wanted to make me leave the party. He’d wanted me here, like this. What I didn’t understand was why he hadn’t just tied me up back at his place. No one would’ve noticed that I was gone, and it could’ve been an easy excuse that I was sick. Why wait the whole weekend and let me come back to the city?

“I can see those wheels turning in that pretty little head of yours,” Howard said.

Now he didn’t just look like one of those old-time movie stars. He sounded like he was spouting some of their cheesy dialogue. How did he get women this way?

“Did you really think I wouldn’t have cameras outside my office and that my security staff wouldn’t let me know the moment someone went inside?”

Embarrassment mixed with horror flooded me. How could I have been so stupid? Of course he’d have cameras, if not in the office, then outside of it.

“I didn’t know exactly what you’d been looking for, but when I saw the book had been moved and the clipping was on the floor, I knew I needed to give you something to come after.” He shook his head. “I’d told Gavin you weren’t right for us, that you were the kind of person who meddled in things that didn’t concern her. You ask too many questions, and don’t know your place.”

At least he running his mouth was keeping me pissed off enough to not give in to the fear hovering at the edges of my mind.

“I figured that if you saw me tell Annie to take the files to my Manhattan office, you’d suddenly decide to take me up on my offer to talk about a job.” He ran the tip of one finger down the underside of my arm. “I got there early and told Annie to pretend I wasn’t there yet. I knew that as soon as she gave you the chance, you’d come in to get those files. Even if they weren’t what you’d been after originally, you wouldn’t be able to resist snooping. You thought you were so clever, but I was one step ahead of you. I’m always one step ahead.”

“You’re a bastard, you know that?” It was hard to come across as tough tied to a bed, but I thought I managed pretty well. “Preying on innocent girls. Raping them. Selling them to the highest bidder.”

“You see, Carrie, that attitude is exactly what Gavin was supposed to fuck out of you.” He leaned closer so that his mouth was against my ear. “I do have to ask though, before I get too caught up in our fun and games. Did you like what I did to Annie?”

I didn’t say anything, but he didn’t seem to actually want a response.

“That little show was all for you, you know. Since I knew you were there, watching, I wanted you to see that I can do what I want, and no one can stop me.”

His tongue flicked against my earlobe and I shuddered in revulsion. Up until that moment, I’d been telling myself that he’d just tied me like this to restrain me, that he wasn’t going to do anything. Now I knew that was a lie.

“Not that she wanted me to stop,” he continued. “All of my girls are trained to love what I do to them, what I have them do to me.”

“I saw her face, Howard.” I spoke through gritted teeth. “Trust me, that wasn’t enjoyment I saw.”

He grabbed my hair and yanked on it, twisting my head around so that our faces were less than an inch apart. “Then why is she sitting there in my office instead of going to the police?”

“Because she’s scared of you,” I said. “But I’m not.”

He laughed and released my hair as he sat up. “You think that was the first time I’ve fucked her? How do you think she got the job? I don’t hire anyone who doesn’t bend over and spread them in the interview.” He stood. “Well, women anyway. I don’t do men.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. My heart began to pound. Maybe he wasn’t going to rape me. Maybe he was just going to kill me. At the moment, I wasn’t sure which one to hope for.

“Shall we move this along?”

I realized now that he’d already taken off my shoes and thigh highs while I’d been unconscious. Easier to tie my ankles, I supposed. I would’ve wondered why he hadn’t just stripped me completely, but I already knew the answer. He wanted me to be awake when he cut off my clothes. He got off not only on the power, but on the fear and pain as well.

He ran his free hand up over my calf, then over my skirt and up to my blouse. I tried to jerk away when his hand reached my breast, but there wasn’t anywhere to go. He grabbed one, squeezing hard enough that I let out a hiss of pain, then did the same to the other.

“Do you have any idea the time and effort that goes in to training someone for what I have them do?” He lowered the knife and cut off the top button. “I’m not some pimp who grabs girls off the street and turns them out to any trick with ten bucks. I only cater to high-end clients with refined taste.”

“So you’re a high-class pimp?” It probably wasn’t a good idea to backtalk to someone with a knife just above your chest, but I couldn’t just lie here in silence. I may not have been able to move, but I could talk, and words had always been my go-to defense mechanism.

Howard scowled. Apparently he didn’t like my question. “My girls don’t just lie on their backs and take it. I groom them to learn how to read a man’s desires and respond accordingly. I do train some for specific purposes, ones whose masters want to humiliate them, I don’t degrade, leaving that pleasure to my client. Ones who are to be left intact, I don’t fuck. But most of my clients are looking for women who can and will do whatever they are told without complaint.”

The last button fell away and my blouse was hanging open, exposing my bra and a pale strip of skin down my stomach. Howard leaned down and put his knife through the thin cotton, easily ripping up one sleeve, then the other. He let the ruined shirt lie in pieces under me and moved down the bed.

“You saw firsthand some of that with Annie,” he said. He began to cut my skirt off. “I groomed her to please me, but in a pinch, she could do the same for my clients. Do you want to know the things I’ve done to her?”

He was trying to get a rise out of me, and I knew I shouldn’t respond, but I couldn’t just do nothing. I really didn’t want to hear what he’d done to his assistant. I shook my head, but it didn’t stop him, just like I’d known it wouldn’t.

“The first time I made her take off her clothes in public, she cried.” He pushed the two halves of my skirt away, leaving me in just my bra and panties. “I bent her over my knee and spanked her for it right there in that park.”

I squeezed my eyes closed, as if I could block out his words. Then I felt his hands on me, the cold metal of the knife against my skin, and had to open them. He wasn’t trying to cut me; it was only the flat of the blade. He was touching me though, running his hands over my legs and stomach, never touching anything covered by my underwear.

“She learned quickly.” He sounded almost proud. “I rarely had to punish her, and never as harshly as the first time. She’d refused to go down on me at a restaurant, even after I’d told her that she would be punished for saying no.”

His hands now moved to my breasts. I pressed my lips together as he touched me. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of a response. Not for this. I would fight him later, but this I could endure.

“I took her into a storage room in the back, took off her panties, pulled down the top of her dress and tied her to one of the shelves.” He slid the knife under one strap and pulled, cutting through the material. He did the same to the other side. “I let everyone who worked there use her, and then they called their friends. I sat and watched, listened to her scream and beg and plead with me to stop them. They took her every way you can imagine. Two, three at a time. I had to have her carried to my car when they were done.”

If he’d meant this to scare the shit out of me, it was working. I’d known he was a sick fuck, but this… it was worse than I’d imagined.

“The next time I told her to blow me in public, she just opened her mouth… then swallowed.”

My stomach roiled. If I’d eaten anything, I would’ve thrown it up. Somehow, I doubted even that would’ve stopped him.

The blade slid between my breasts and I held my breath. He didn’t even nick me as he cut the last bit of cloth keeping my bra in place. It fell off on its own, exposing my breasts.

“I’m going to have fun with these.” He used the tip of the knife to poke my nipple. He didn’t break the skin, but the threat was still there. “Do you want to know what I’m going to do to you?”

After what he’d told me, I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn’t answer him. Of course I didn’t want to hear it, but it wouldn’t matter what I said. He was going to tell me anyway.

“You need to be punished,” he said as he ran his hand over the length of my body. “And if I had the time, I would spend days with you, teaching you your place.” He cut one side of my panties, then the other. “I would make you beg for what was done to Annie.”

I clenched my hands into fists as he removed my last article of clothing.

“A natural blond, I see.” He smirked. “Not too much hair to bother me, for this anyway.”

He put his knife back in his pocket and walked over to one of the chests. I remembered what was in that one. He opened the drawer and pulled out a pair of nipple clamps, metal with jagged teeth.

“First, I’m going to put these on you. We really should work up to them, use soft ones until your body’s conditioned to enjoy pain, but I don’t have the time. These have a nice chain I can use to pull on them whenever you’re bad.”

When he turned to the wardrobe, I tried tugging on the restraints, but they didn’t give. He came back to the bed a moment later, his arms full. He set the clamps down and then began to lay out an array of dildos ranging from medium to the insanely massive one I’d seen when Gavin and I had been in here that first night. It was bigger than Gavin’s cock, and that was saying something. He was almost too big for me. What Howard had would hurt, no matter how much he stretched me first.

“I’m going to fuck you with every one of these, working up to this beauty. We want to make sure you’re nice and loose.” He put his hand on my stomach, just below my belly button, but not quite between my legs. “Then I’m going to flip you over and spank your ass until it’s black and blue. I’ll probably use a belt or one of the paddles. I won’t stop until you beg me to fuck your ass, and trust me, you will.”

His fingers slid just a bit lower so that they were skimming over the top of the thin layer of curls that covered me.

“Maybe I’ll even use some of these on your ass.” He motioned to the dildos on the bed. “If you’re a good girl and can prove to me that you’re going to behave, I won’t kill you. Instead, I’ll send you to my client in Saudi Arabia whose package was lost. You’ll be a gift to him. One he can keep.” He removed his hand and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I hear that the things he does to his permanent girls ruins their bodies and their minds.” He straightened and smiled down at me. “But that’s getting ahead a bit, isn’t it?”

His gaze traveled up and down my body, as if he had a thought in his head and was trying to decide what to do with it.

“This isn’t right,” he said finally. “After all, I’m not the only one you’ve been so rude to. Gavin should be here to enjoy your punishment as well.”

“No, please.” I couldn’t stop myself from speaking. I couldn’t bear to have Gavin here, have him watch and know that he was enjoying watching Howard rape and abuse me.

Howard smiled. “That settles it. I’ll go get him.” He started towards the door, then stopped and turned back. “By the way, there’s no point in trying to scream for help. In case Gavin hadn’t told you, the room’s fully sound-proofed.” He pointed towards the lights above the bed. “Oh, and there are cameras everywhere, recording everything that happens in here, so feel free to struggle all you want. I’ll enjoy watching the tapes later.”

He left and as soon as the door closed behind him, I let the tears come. I screamed, knowing no one would hear me, but unable to keep it inside any longer. I pulled at my restraints as the tears ran down my cheeks, but I wasn’t thinking about escape. I couldn’t think about anything but the anguish and panic flooding me. No one was coming to save me. This was going to happen and nothing I could do would stop it.

Chapter 7

 

I had no idea how much time had passed because there were no clocks in the room, but I knew that I’d been screaming long enough for my throat to hurt. When I stopped, a sense of calm came over me. Actually, it wasn’t really calm; it was more a lack of feeling anything. No fear. No panic. No anger. Nothing. It was as if by allowing myself to have what was basically a breakdown, I’d bled away the emotions that had overwhelmed me.

I didn’t know how long this feeling would last, only that I had to take advantage of it while I still could. I tested my restraints again, but this time more methodically. I pulled on one leg first, though I didn’t have high hopes for the restraints around my ankles. Slipping my feet out would require a decent amount of give. After I confirmed that I didn’t have any room to move with my left leg, I tried my right with the same result. Frustration crept in, starting to chase away the emptiness. I knew other emotions would soon follow. I pulled with my left hand. I had a bit more movement, but it was still too tight for me to be able to slip out.

“Come on!” I growled, switching my attention to my right. Time had to be racing by. I didn’t know where Howard had gone to get Gavin, and that meant I had no way of knowing how much time I had before they came back.

I twisted my right hand and felt the leather slip on my wrist. Hope flared so sharply inside me that it almost hurt. I rotated my hand back and forth, gauging just how far I could get. My skin burned from the friction, but I didn’t care. If I could get it only a little further, I had a trick up my sleeve that could make the difference…

The door opened and I stopped. If Howard caught me trying to escape, things would go from bad to… who was I kidding? Things really couldn’t get much worse than this. My heart thudded painfully against my chest as I saw Gavin follow Howard into the room.

“All right, what’s this big surprise that couldn’t wait…” Gavin’s voice trailed off as Howard stepped to the side and let him see me.

I didn’t want to look at him, but if I had to go through this, I was as sure as hell going to make sure he looked me in the eye. He didn’t even try to conceal his shock.

“What the hell, Howard?”

Howard grinned and crossed over to the bed. He picked up one of the dildos. “She’s been quite the problem child, Gavin, and needs to be punished. I was going to do it myself, but I figured that she’s caused problems for both of us, so we should both get to enjoy ourselves. Maybe even take her for a ride at the same time.” He held out the toy. “I just want her ass first. Why don’t you start warming up her pussy?”

Gavin didn’t take the dildo, but that didn’t make me think any better of him. After all, he was bigger than that particular toy. Maybe he wanted to do it himself. I glared at him, but he wouldn’t look at my face. In fact, he was staring at a spot to one side of my head, his expression blank.

“What’d she do?”

That was what he had to say? Anger boiled up inside me, proving that it hadn’t disappeared, only slept. “You fucking asshole!” My voice was rough.

“I told you not to bother screaming.” Howard sounded vaguely chiding, as if I truly was a misbehaving child. He turned towards Gavin. “She’s been playing detective. Snooping around my business… our business.”

“I see. And this is what? You getting in some fun before you kill her?”

I wanted to keep yelling obscenities and insults at him, but the nonchalant way he was talking was making it hard for me to breathe. I’d known about his betrayal, but to see it in his face like this was so much worse.

“I promised that if she was good, I wouldn’t kill her,” Howard said. He gave Gavin a sideways glance, as if measuring him for something. “I, or I should say, we have a client who could make good use of a naughty girl. He knows a thing or two about taming disobedient women.”

“A client? Are we talking about ‘The Caretaker’?”

Howard looked surprised. “You know about him?”

What were they talking about?

Gavin answered Howard’s question without looking at either of us. “I saw him mentioned in some papers a few weeks back and figured it must be the handle for your top client. I never found his real name though, or where he’s located.” Now he looked up at Howard. “If I’m sticking my neck out to help you here, don’t you think it’s fair you let me in on who he is and where you’re sending her? I don’t want to risk her coming back one day.”

I felt sick. My body slumped down on the bed. He hadn’t just been playing me. He was willing to let Howard sell me. Gavin really hadn’t felt anything for me. Tears burned against my eyelids.

Howard furrowed his brow, but nodded. “Fair enough. His name is Abdulla Mahaj, one of the richest people in Saudi Arabia. He’s more like a partner than a client, but you’ll learn more about that as you take on more responsibilities.” Howard glanced at me. “Shall we get started?”

Gavin didn’t move or speak. I saw some emotion playing through his eyes, but couldn’t identify what it was.

“Fine. I’ll do it.” Howard started to turn towards me, the flesh-colored toy in his hand.

Gavin moved then, faster than I’d seen him move before. His hand went around Howard’s throat and he threw the smaller man across the room. I stared, open-mouthed, as Gavin crossed to Howard in just a few long strides and put his hand on Howard’s neck again. He picked Howard up and shoved him back against the wall, raising him high enough that Howard was on his toes.

What the hell was happening?

“Finally!” Gavin’s face was inches from Howard’s and he was practically spitting the words into the other man’s face. “You have no fucking idea how long I’ve waited to get that name, your precious Saudi connection, and I think you know why.”

The pieces fell together in my shocked brain even as Gavin confirmed them.

“He was the driver who killed my fiancée, and he was driving your Bentley.”

Howard’s eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed, as if he wanted to say something, but Gavin wasn’t letting him.

“For years I’d been looking for the car that killed her, but found nothing. I already knew it couldn’t have been you since you had a rock-solid alibi at the time of the ‘accident’. You were giving a business presentation in Manhattan that day and at least a hundred people saw you. It wasn’t until you approached me about opening the club together that I stumbled on something that changed everything.” He smiled, but not a nice smile. “That’s right. I checked you out. With all those barely legal women you dated, I knew you were a sick bastard, and I wanted to find out just how sick before getting into more business with you. Using the exact same software you helped me finance when we first met, I hacked into your computer. I went through some of your old emails, and imagine my surprise when I found an email from just before the accident confirming a meeting with your mysterious Saudi… and you offering him the use of one of your Bentleys for his stay. I dug deeper, and there it was, right in front of me: an email from him thanking you for the ‘clean up’. It didn’t take much deduction to figure out he was the driver who’d killed Camille, and you’d helped with the cover-up.”

I’d been right. Sort of. Howard had been involved with Camille’s death. I just hadn’t realized that Gavin had known already.

“The problem was, I’d gotten the information under less than legal circumstances, and the emails were vague enough that I knew that by themselves, they wouldn’t be enough evidence. I needed more, but I couldn’t find much else.” Gavin continued, “I knew I had to gain your trust and get the name of your Saudi guy. Unfortunately, you were good enough to keep your sex-trafficking business with Abdulla under wraps. I had no idea what you were really doing, what you were using me to do, finding women with your ‘desired personality traits’.”

My stomach twisted as I realized what his words meant. He hadn’t known the truth. He wasn’t a part of selling these girls. Then it hit me. Howard had known I was in his office from moment one. What he’d said about Gavin grooming me had been a lie. Gavin might have been using Howard’s attraction to me to get closer to Howard, but he hadn’t been grooming me for Howard’s twisted enterprise.

His voice was thick with disgust and contempt. “I’d thought you were a horny old bastard who liked them barely legal, but when Carrie couldn’t find any information about some of the girls, I got suspicious. A couple days ago, I did some more digging into your files, and this time, I struck gold.”

I startled when he said my name, but neither he nor Howard looked at me.

“I found the location of one of the girls. Wouldn’t you know, Melissa was in Miami, stashed in a cheap motel, far from your mansion. She was being prepared for a ‘shipment’. The digging also finally led me to your dark secret. It was right there in your files. Every single detail about all the women. Their locations, what you had them do for you. The only thing still missing was the name of your Saudi connection.”

Howard looked furious, but that could’ve been because his face was starting to turn red from lack of oxygen.

“I flew into Miami early Friday and met up with Melissa. I had to warn her about your plans abroad for her. She had no idea, and told me everything. How you’d made her dependent on drugs and slowly introduced her to the degrading work of servicing your perverted clients. Now, she’s talking to the cops, the FBI, Interpol, and whoever else wants a piece of your ass.” The triumphant note in Gavin’s voice was impossible to miss. “I’m sure they’ll be coming for you soon, but I’m glad she didn’t have your partner’s name. He’s mine now.”

Gavin had saved the girl that hadn’t shown up at the airport. The one that was supposed to be sent to Saudi Arabia. The news hit me hard enough to make me catch my breath. Even if he’d used Howard’s interest in me to try to get on the inside, I couldn’t hate him, not when he’d risked everything to rescue this girl. Saving her could have resulted in him never finding out the name of the man who’d killed Camille, but he’d done it anyway. The man I’d fallen for wasn’t all an act.

“As for you.” Gavin’s voice lowered to a near growl. “I was going to just let the cops deal with you, but walking in here and seeing Carrie–”

To my complete and utter shock, his voice broke on my name.

“I’m going to break every fucking bone in your body.”

I shivered, and not because of the temperature. I hadn’t known Gavin could sound like that.

“You took one woman I loved away from me. I’ll be damned if I let you get away with hurting this one.”

I was still trying to process what this all meant when Gavin’s body suddenly jerked and he cried out in pain. He staggered backwards, clutching his arm. Howard dropped to the floor, his bloody pocketknife in his hand. He reached behind his back even as he got his feet underneath him. Gavin took a step forward, then froze. The gun in Howard’s hand wasn’t big, but it would be enough to do the job.

“Now,” Howard wheezed. “We’re going to have some real fun.”

Chapter 8

 

The gun was pointing straight at Gavin. “I was going to bring you into my business as a partner.” Howard straightened and steadied his gun hand. “I’d originally befriended you to keep an eye on you, but then I saw all of that potential and realized that we could do great things together. I was doing all right before you came along, but your software made finding women so easy.”

Gavin looked like he was going to be sick, and I didn’t think it was because of the cut on his arm. I didn’t blame him. He’d just found out that something he’d created had been used to find victims for Howard and men like him.

“I suspected you wouldn’t have the balls to do what needed to be done though,” Howard continued. “Then I saw you with Carrie and hoped that you were starting to do what I’d suggested you do months ago and sample the goods. That’s why I brought you here. It wasn’t just to make it worse for her, but because I needed to know that you hadn’t developed any real feelings for her. If you were willing to help me punish her, then I would know I could trust you, train you, make you my replacement one day. It seemed my faith was misplaced.”

My heart was pounding in my chest but I didn’t want to let myself hope. Just because Gavin didn’t want to help Howard rape me didn’t mean he actually had feelings for me, only that he was a decent human being. What Gavin had said – it could’ve meant a lot of different things, and I didn’t have the time to try to figure it out now. I needed to stop listening to Howard talk and start working on getting free. I began to twist my right hand back and forth, the friction burning my skin, but I didn’t make a sound. What I did next was going to hurt a lot worse than this.

“About Melissa – I’ll have one of my people in Florida do the dirty work. She might talk to the police now but not for long. I know a couple of people who’d love to have some one-on-one time with a piece of ass like her.” Howard shifted his stance so that he was angled away from me. “You two, I’m going to take care of personally.”

Gavin clenched his fists and took a step forward, but Howard shook his head. “You really don’t want to do that.”

The restraint was loose enough now. I gritted my teeth and applied pressure to my thumb. I felt the pop, and gut-churning pain ran down my arm. I gave myself a few seconds, knowing I needed to be fast once I got one hand free. I took slow, steady breaths as Howard continued to talk. He really did love the sound of his own voice.

“I’m going to get a pair of handcuffs and you’re going to cuff yourself to that chair.” He motioned with the gun. “I want you to have a front row seat to what I’m going to do to your little bitch. When I’m through with her, I’m going to make sure you’re unrecognizable.”

I closed my eyes and began to pull my hand through the loop, fighting back whimpers from the pain in my dislocated thumb.

“It’s too bad, really,” he said. “Abdulla would’ve loved her, and he might’ve been able to find some uses for you too. He doesn’t fuck men, but he knows plenty of people who would like nothing more than to be able to abuse a rich American man. The stories he’s told me would make you sick.”

“I’m going to kill you.” The words were flat.

Howard laughed. “You’re not going to do anything to me. Not for your fiancée, not for yourself, and not for Carrie. You’re going to watch her die a slow and painful death, and there won’t be anything you can do to stop it.”

The blood flow back down my arm and into my fingers was almost as painful as the thumb, but I’d gotten used to it enough that I could push it to the back of my mind. I popped my thumb back into place by pushing it against my chest, and then I reached up to the other restraint. They weren’t made for keeping actual prisoners, so from the outside, they were quick to release. It took only a few seconds to get my left hand and both of my feet free. I thought for sure Gavin or Howard would’ve noticed what I was doing, but both men were still focused on each other.

“I’m not going to let you hurt her,” Gavin said.

“And if you try to stop me, I’m going to shoot out your kneecaps.” Howard lowered the gun. “It won’t kill you, but it’ll be painful as hell and you won’t be able to run.”

Gavin took a step forward and I knew he was going to rush Howard. I didn’t know how well Howard could shoot, but I wasn’t about to take any chances. I grabbed the first thing I could lay my hands on and swung it as hard as I could at Howard. The giant, heavy, and solid rubber dildo hit him in the back of the head hard enough to make him stumble to the side. I then shoved him as hard as I could and he fell back against the wardrobe. The sound his head made when it hit the wood was loud and satisfying. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

“Carrie.”

Gavin’s arms were around me before I could react. He pressed me against his body tight enough that I almost couldn’t breathe, and I felt hope stirring inside me.

“I am so sorry.” His face was pressed against my neck and I could feel the wet of his tears. “I am so sorry.”

I closed my eyes and slid my arms around his waist. I desperately wanted this to mean that he felt what I felt, but I couldn’t give in to that, not yet. For all I knew, he could just be apologizing for getting me into this mess.

He pulled back and put his hand on my cheek. His eyes were still shining with tears. “If he’d have hurt you, I never could have lived with myself.”

“I’m okay.” That wasn’t entirely true, but it was the best I could do at the moment.

He stared at me for a moment, then bent his head and took my mouth in a kiss so fierce that I gasped. He took advantage of my parted lips and slid his tongue inside my mouth. His hands ran over my body, reminding me that I was still naked, but I didn’t care. This wasn’t the kiss of a friend or a kiss of apology. His lips and tongue, his entire body, held the same primal need as mine. The need to know that the other one was alive and safe. I ran my hand down his arm, and he hissed, pulling back. I looked at my fingers and they were slick with blood.

“You’re hurt.” My voice came out a little dazed. My head was still spinning from that kiss.

“And you’re naked.”

I looked up at Gavin and gave him a half-smile. “You just now noticed?”

His expression was serious, bringing me out of my lust-induced haze. Right. This wasn’t the time or place. He pulled off his shirt and held it out to me. I slipped into it. He was enough bigger than me that it actually covered everything important. In fact, it was longer than some dresses I’d seen.

“I meant what I said.” Gavin brushed his fingers along my cheekbone. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if he’d…” His eyes narrowed. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

I wasn’t about to tell him what had happened before he’d arrived. Not now, anyway. I opened my mouth to lie, but the words died before they reached my lips.

Gavin let out a cry of pain and looked down. Howard smiled up at us as he yanked his knife out of Gavin’s calf, raising it to strike again. I kicked out, knocking Howard away, but he rolled with it this time and came up with his gun in hand.

“Move!” Gavin grabbed my hand even as I saw Howard raise the gun.

My legs obeyed before my mind processed what was happening. I let Gavin pull me out the door and we ran down the hall. I heard a muffled sound of a gunshot behind me. The room was soundproofed all right. We headed straight for the stairs. Howard was shouting after us as we disappeared through the door. Fear was sharp and metallic in the back of my throat, and the sound of blood rushing in my ears was almost deafening.

We ran into the main room and started to cut across. We were less than a third of the way across when Gavin stumbled for the first time. I grabbed his arm, trying to help him.

“Go,” he said.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Dammit,” he swore. “Carrie, please.”

His leg buckled as we reached the middle of the floor and his foot slid on the blood that had been trailing behind him. Howard’s knife had gone deep. I bent to try to help him up and heard the stairwell door slam open.

“Go!” Gavin shoved at my hand. He looked up at me, pleading. “Please.”

A gunshot echoed and I felt the air above me move. Howard was getting closer, and the next shot might not miss. But I couldn’t just leave Gavin to die. An idea – something completely and utterly insane – popped into my head. I stuck my hand in Gavin’s pocket, ignoring his questions and look of complete surprise. I grabbed what I wanted, then turned and ran.

I hit against the wall, jarring my hands and sending a jolt of pain up my injured thumb. I turned, praying that Howard would wait until he got closer to Gavin to do anything. Gavin pushed himself backwards, but didn’t try to get up. Without him saying a word, I knew it wasn’t because he couldn’t stand, but because he was trying to draw Howard’s attention away from me, giving me time to escape.

Fuck that.

“You son of a bitch.” Howard was breathless. He may have had the pretty movie-star face, but he clearly didn’t keep up with his cardio. “How dare you! I gave you everything!” He pointed his gun at Gavin as he moved closer.

Now Gavin pushed himself to his feet, the look on his face saying that he wasn’t about to let Howard shoot him on the ground.

Every inch of me was tense as I waited. Just a little more. I heard the click as Howard prepared to fire. No more waiting. I jammed Gavin’s key into the lock, turned it, and hit the button.

With a soft whirr, the gears beneath the floor began to turn and the floor started to move. I saw surprise flash across Gavin’s face, but his reaction was brief. Howard’s was not. He let out a sound I could only describe as a squawk and nearly tripped over his own feet trying to move away from the widening gap. Gavin didn’t even hesitate. His fist hit Howard square in the jaw, sending the older man reeling backwards. The floor had opened enough that Howard fell into the water beneath with a splash. His gun landed on the floor several feet away.

I breathed a sigh of relief and ran back out to the floor. I threw my arms around Gavin and pressed my face against his bare chest. I could feel his heartbeat and concentrated on that steady sound. His arms wrapped around me, his hands moving up and down my back, palms hot through his shirt. My body started to respond to his touch. Even after all I’d been through, he could still have that effect on me.

“Help!” A gurgling cry from the pool pulled our attention from each other to Howard.

He was thrashing around in the water, going under, then sputtering as he resurfaced. “I can’t swim!”

“Too bad.” Gavin’s words were hard.

I looked up at him. I had to admit, part of me wanted to leave him there. If Gavin and I ran outside and just left Howard to drown, we could tell the cops that we’d just kept going. But it would be murder, and we were better than that.

“We need to help him.” I reluctantly stepped away from Gavin and started towards the edge of the pool. “We’re not killers.”

Gavin walked with me, though the expression on his face clearly said that he wasn’t so sure.

“Besides,” I added, “I think Howard deserves to make friends with all of the nice guys in prison who have issues with people like him.”

Gavin reached down and grabbed the back of Howard’s shirt. He lifted the other man over the edge and tossed him to the floor.

“Thank you!” Howard gasped. He staggered to his feet, a grateful expression on his face. “You won’t regret it. I’ll make sure it’s worth your while.” He started blabbering.

Apparently he hadn’t heard what I’d said about him making new friends in jail.

“I have plenty of money. I can make you each a full partner.”

I looked at Gavin and saw my own incredulity on his face. Was Howard serious? Did he think that saving his life meant we were going to let him go? That his money could pay us off?

“No hard feelings.” He held out a hand.

That was it. I took two steps forward and kicked him squarely between the legs. He dropped to his knees, mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out. I swung my already damaged right hand and hit him as hard as I could, straight on the jaw. He fell to the floor, eyes rolling up. The dull throbbing in my hand and foot were overshadowed by the extreme satisfaction I felt with the damage I’d inflicted.

I turned towards Gavin and found him staring at me with wide eyes. “Guess I should never piss you off.”

I smiled. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Chapter 9

 

“You call the cops while I call the airport.”

I gave Gavin a puzzled look. “The airport?”

His expression was grim. “I’m taking a little trip to the Middle East.”

I took a step towards him and put my hand on his arm. “You have a name. You have evidence. Let the authorities handle it.”

“He killed Camille.”

The pain in Gavin’s eyes made my heart hurt. I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. “I know he did, but if you go after him, you could lose everything.” I could see the war of emotions playing across Gavin’s face. I added, “That man took one parent from your daughter. Don’t let him take another.”

He closed his eyes and slowly let out a breath. “You’re right,” he said. He reached out and pulled me to him.

I stayed there for a moment, letting myself soak in the feelings of safety and security. I wanted to just stay there, but unfortunately, Gavin needed a doctor and Howard needed the cops. I took a step back, but slid my arm around Gavin’s waist. “Let’s get you sitting down. You’re bleeding all over the place.”

I helped him over to a chair and then did all the things that you don’t usually see the heroes do in a movie. Usually, the scene just cuts from them saving the day to the cops being there and taking the bad guys into custody – or body bags, depending on the film. Now I knew that in that in-between time, the heroes had other things to do. While Gavin made the call to the cops, I picked up Howard’s gun and fished his knife out of his pocket. He was still out.

I put the gun and knife within arm’s reach of Gavin, then ran upstairs to the room and retrieved a pair of handcuffs. They may have been lined with pink fuzz, but they were good enough to cuff Howard around the base of a table. Since the table was bolted to the floor, I felt pretty safe in assuming he wouldn’t be getting away any time soon.

Once I finished all of that, I returned to attend to Gavin. He’d pressed some napkins against both of his cuts, but they were already soaking through. I went back behind the bar and found some towels that I was able to tie around his wounds. They would do until the paramedics showed up. With that done, I started to sit in the chair next to him, but he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me onto his lap. I wasn’t going to complain, though I did make sure most of my weight was on his uninjured leg. Granted, the cut was in his calf, but it was propped up and I didn’t want to put any extra stress on it. It was a bit awkward, but I didn’t mind. I leaned back against him and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“First thing tomorrow, I’m calling my contractor to come in and tear down that room.”

His words surprised me. I tilted my head back to look at him. The angle was awkward, but I didn’t want to sit up. “Why?”

Now he looked surprised. “You were assaulted in that room. Almost raped and murdered. Why would I want to keep it?”

I gave him a half-smile. “But I also have some good memories in there too.” I did shift this time, moving so that I was leaning on my side rather than back. It was easier to look at him then. And touch him. I put my hand on his chest. “Or have you forgotten?”

Gavin put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me towards him for a kiss. When his tongue teased at my lips, I opened my mouth eagerly. My hand slid down his abdomen, feeling those strong muscles tighten under my touch.

He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine. “I remember every detail of that night and the next morning. I couldn’t believe I could feel that way again.”

A thrill went through me. “Besides,” I added. “What’s a sex club without a private room?”

His expression sobered. “That’s another thing. I think I should turn it into a regular club.”

I understood what he was thinking along those lines. Howard had used the club as a front for his sex-trafficking business. Keeping it as it was just seemed wrong somehow, but I had an idea. “There are tons of regular clubs in Manhattan. Why don’t you just tweak it a bit?” He raised an eyebrow in question. “How about a burlesque club for both men and women? A place where singles and couples could come together.”

“That’s a possibility,” he said slowly.

“Maybe I could even help you run it.” I grinned. “And maybe you should keep that room upstairs for just two very exclusive members.”

He blinked, as if my suggestion startled him.

“After all,” I teased. “What better place to introduce me to all of those pleasures you’ve told me that your world holds.”

He kissed me again, his hand sliding up my thigh and under his shirt. I’d forgotten that I wasn’t wearing anything under it. The heat of his palm as it ran over my ass reminded me. It was tempting to lose myself in the kiss, to let my body respond to his touch the way it wanted to, but a comment he’d made earlier had wormed its way back into my mind and I needed an answer. Reluctantly, I broke the kiss.

“Back in the room,” I started. He tensed. “You said you’d found information on the missing women.”

“I did.” Now he just looked confused.

“Do you remember anything about a girl named Patricia Vinarisky?” I almost didn’t want to ask. It seemed like too much to hope for, to find her. “Do you remember if she was still alive?”

Gavin thought for a moment. “There were so many names, I can’t remember if she was one of them. But the files are all in the office.” He handed me his keycard. “Go look. I’ll keep an eye on Howard.”

I took the keycard, kissed Gavin’s cheek, and ran up to the office. The files were easy enough to find. He’d left them in a stack on the desk. I shuffled through them, my anger towards Howard returning as I saw just how many lives he’d ruined. Halfway down, I found it. I opened it eagerly, hoping to find a statement that she was alive, but that information wasn’t in there. What was in the file was confirmation that Patricia had been delivered to the mansion of a rich sheik in Saudi Arabia over a year and a half ago. That was a long time, but I had to believe that she was alive. If she had half the fortitude of her father, she would have survived.

We’d be giving the files to the authorities, but I couldn’t make Mr. Vinarisky wait any longer, not when I had something. I knew that the DA’s office would be pissed if they found out I did this, but after what I’d just been through, a couple of angry lawyers just didn’t seem that scary.

I picked up the phone, then realized that I didn’t have the number. The computer was on, so it didn’t take long to do a quick search and find it. Frank answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Vinarisky? I don’t know if you remember me, but my name’s Carrie Summers.”

“You were that lawyer who called looking for my daughter.” His voice immediately hardened. “I still don’t know where she is.”

“I do.” I blurted out the words, hoping he wouldn’t hang up before he heard them.

Silence, then: “Say that again.”

“I know where your daughter is, Mr. Vinarisky.” I could hear the wail of sirens and knew I didn’t have much time. “She’s just outside of Medina in Saudi Arabia. She was sold to a local millionaire twenty months ago. I don’t know any more than that. The authorities will have this information in just a few minutes, but she’s not the only one.”

“Wait – wait, what are you talking about?”

I didn’t blame him for sounding so blindsided, but I couldn’t take the time to explain. I told him the name of the man who had bought Patricia and added, “I’m sorry I don’t have anything else, but I couldn’t not tell you.”

“Where are you getting all this from?”

I didn’t answer his question or wait for a thank you. I didn’t have the time. I hung up and picked up the stack of files. As an officer of the court – or at least an almost one – I knew that I should leave the files here for CSU to find, but I couldn’t, in all good conscience, make these women and their families wait one minute longer than necessary. I took the files downstairs, arriving at Gavin’s side just as the first officers entered.

The series of events that followed took on a surreal quality. The police took me away from Gavin so we could give our statements separately while the paramedics looked over us. Howard was quiet. They weren’t going to be getting anything from him for a while. I tried to keep my voice even and matter-of-fact as I relayed everything that had happened from the moment I’d arrived at Howard’s office, but it didn’t work. I started to shiver when I got to the part about Howard cutting off my clothes, and one of the paramedics wrapped me in a blanket. My teeth were chattering, but I kept going, finishing with getting the files from the office. I skipped the part about calling Frank.

When I was done, the paramedic who’d been examining me spoke, “We need to get her to the hospital to do a rape kit.”

“He didn’t rape me,” I said. “He just put his hands on me.” The words were bitter in my mouth. “You won’t get any evidence from a rape kit.” That’s when I remembered what Howard had said when he was leaving. “But you will get it from the cameras.”

“Cameras?”

“I forgot,” I said. “When Howard was leaving the room, he told me that there were cameras. I don’t know if they have sound, but they’ll show everything that happened.” I didn’t even have the energy to be embarrassed by the thought of people watching what Howard did to me, seeing me naked.

The detective started asking questions then, but I didn’t hear the first two because that was when the paramedics were wheeling Howard out. I watched as they went by.

The cop repeated himself, “Ma’am, why were you at Mr. Weiss’s office this morning?”

I chose a half-truth. “He asked me to come by to discuss a job with his company.”

The questions kept coming and I could hear another detective doing the same thing to Gavin. I answered them all as truthfully as I could without implicating Gavin and myself in our less-than-legal activities to get the information. I was careful not to out-and-out lie, so that if the cameras did have sound, nothing I said would contradict what had really happened. I had to admit, I was impressed with how well my brain was working after what I’d just been through. Then again, it was probably just a coping mechanism, and my mind would go into shock like my body at some point in the near future.

“I’m not going to the hospital!” Gavin raised his voice enough for me to hear what he was saying.

I ignored the detective’s protest and hurried over to Gavin’s side, clutching my blanket around me.

“Sir, you really should have these stitched up.” A baby-faced paramedic was arguing with him.

“You do it,” Gavin said. “I’m not going to the hospital.”

“Gavin.” I took his hand.

“I just want to go home.”

I could see the weariness in his eyes. He wouldn’t rest in a hospital, I knew. He needed to be at home. I turned to the paramedic. “Can you stitch him up here?”

“We have this emergency stuff that’s kind of like glue, but we only use it if we have to close a wound in the field,” the medic answered reluctantly.

“Well, if you want these closed, I suggest you use it,” I said. “Because, trust me, it’s pointless to argue with him.”

“Ms. Summers,” the detective I’d left behind had walked over. “I do have a few more questions.”

“Of course.” I kept my tone agreeable enough even though I wanted to tell him to leave me alone so I could stay with Gavin. It would be better to get this done and over with rather than trying to delay things.

The FBI showed up before the detective was done questioning me, and I had to give my statement all over again. By the time they were finished, it was almost noon and Gavin and I had been telling our story for over two hours. I was just about to tell them that they’d kept us long enough, especially after what we’d been through, when they finally told us we could go. The FBI agent who’d been questioning me offered to have one of her agents take us to our homes, but we declined. Gavin had followed Howard here in his own car.

Gavin put his uninjured arm around my shoulders, helping me hold the blanket in place as we started towards the exit. I wasn’t cold anymore, but I was still wearing only Gavin’s shirt and nothing underneath, which didn’t make the prospect of walking past dozens of cops, Feds, gawkers, and reporters very appealing.

We managed to get to Gavin’s car without being mobbed and, once inside, I spoke, “I need to call Mimi.”

Gavin gave me a puzzled look.

“I’m late. I need to tell her that I have to run home and shower, get dressed, before I can come in.”

Gavin started to laugh, but the expression on my face must’ve told him I meant what I’d said. Concern replaced amusement. “Carrie, you’re not going to work today. Not after what just happened.”

I frowned. I had to go to work. “Mimi needs me there to help prepare her cases.” I was vaguely aware that there was a perfectly legitimate argument against what I was saying, but I wasn’t able to grasp it.

Gavin leaned across the seat and put his hand on my cheek. My eyes found his. “I’ll call Mimi and tell her what happened.”

Panic flared inside me. No, he couldn’t do that. “No, I don’t want her to know. She’ll be mad.”

Gavin brushed his lips against mine, a touch almost too brief and gentle to even be called a kiss, but it stopped me from talking. “No, she won’t. She’s going to be thankful you’re okay, and she’s going to tell you to take as much time as you need.” He gave me a half-smile. “Besides, I have a feeling Howard’s divorce case just got a whole lot easier for his wife.”

I returned the smile with a soft one of my own. He was right. That whole mental shock thing I’d been worried about had just thrown me for a minute, making me delusional. “I want to call Krissy, see if she can come home early. I don’t want to be alone.”

A sad expression crossed Gavin’s face and then disappeared behind a blank mask. “Oh. Sure, I can take you home.” He started the car.

“Gavin?” I touched his arm. “What is it?”

“I…” He seemed to be struggling to find the words he wanted. “I thought you could just come home with me, but I understand if you don’t want to.” He eased his way out onto the street, careful to avoid crushing the mass of media who had flocked to the sight of so many cops and Feds in the same place.

“Gavin.” I waited until he glanced my way. “I want to.”

Relief broke across his expression, so strong that it surprised me. I hadn’t realized that he didn’t want to be alone any more than I did. I was glad he wanted me to be with him. I loved Krissy, and I knew at some point, I would want nothing more than to curl up with my friend and cry, but right now, I wanted something that would eradicate the memory of Howard’s hands on my body, and sex with Gavin would definitely do that.

Chapter 10

 

There is something to be said about the adrenalin rushing through your body when you think you are about to die or face a fate even worse. Surviving such an experience makes the endorphins go sky high. So, based on my previous experiences with Gavin, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when we got back to his place. I doubted we’d even completely get undressed or make it to the bedroom. I had these images playing through my head of him picking me up as soon as we were inside his apartment, putting my back against the wall, unzipping his pants, and fucking me right there. Maybe we’d get to the couch, shedding clothes along the way, but it would be hard and fast, something almost frantic, fueled by our desire to forget about what had happened and almost happened today.

So, when he shut the door behind us and picked me up, I was prepared for whatever he was going to do. I was ready for anything. Anything except what actually happened next. Instead of tearing my shirt off and fucking me senseless, he kicked off his shoes, cradled me against his chest, and carried me into the bathroom, leaving the blanket on the floor, forgotten.

He walked right into his shower, both of us still fully dressed – or at least as dressed as we had been when we’d come in. Without letting me go, he turned on the water, giving it the minute it needed to warm before switching on the spray.

He looked down at me, droplets of water clinging to his eyelashes. He set me on my feet and gently touched my face. It wasn’t until he spoke that I realized the shower wasn’t the only reason his face was wet.

“Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I walked into that room and saw you there?” His thumb brushed my bottom lip. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been that scared.” His hand was trembling.

I took his hand and pressed my lips against his palm. “I need you to forgive me.” I hadn’t realized I was going to say the words until they came out. He might hate me when I was done, but I didn’t want to lie to him, not when he was being so open and honest with me.

“Forgive you for what?”

I looked up at him, feeling my own eyes burning with tears. “I thought you knew,” I said. “About the girls Howard was selling. I overheard him in his office at the mansion, telling Annie that you were supposed to be grooming me for him. I believed him. And then when you told him that you knew about what he’d done to Camille and that you had gotten close to him to find out the truth, I thought you’d just used me to get to him.”

“You thought all of this we have together had been a lie?” Gavin had gone very still.

“I didn’t know what to think,” I said. “Everything between us had happened so fast and you’d been so persistent. I’ve never had a man want me like that before, and it was easier for me to believe that it was an act than to think that it could possibly be true. That this intense connection could be real… for you. It was always real for me.”

I fell silent and waited for his response. My stomach was in knots. I’d thought the worst of him, believed lies and speculation. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to see me again.

“This,” he said as he cupped the side of my face. “This is the most real thing I’ve felt in ten years.” He lowered his head and gently kissed me. “None of it was fake, and I’m sorry I did anything that made it hard for you to believe me.”

He was apologizing to me? I shook my head. “It wasn’t your fault,” I protested. “It was all me.”

He put his finger on my lips. “How about this?” he suggested, “No more apologies. Forgiveness across the board, and we have a clean start.”

I smiled. “I like that.”

He returned the smile with that sweet one I loved so much. “Now, what do you say we get clean for our clean start?”

He looked down at me then, his eyes darkening at the sight of his shirt molded to my body. I couldn’t help but drop my gaze, wanting to see his body’s response. I wasn’t disappointed. The jeans were tight and wet, leaving little to the imagination. My stomach twisted in anticipation.

He peeled the shirt off of me and tossed it aside. His pants came next. They were already ruined, with one leg cut so that the paramedics had been able to get to the cut on his leg. His boxers came off with the pants so that when he straightened, he was as naked as I was.

He reached for the shampoo and motioned for me to turn around. His fingers massaged the thick lather into my curls and I closed my eyes. My body was starting to relax at last. The chill that had come over me in the club was finally gone. I backed under the spray as Gavin washed his hair.

I was surprised as the shower continued. He conditioned my hair and washed every inch of me, his hands gentle and caressing, but never once did he try to initiate anything. Part of me considered taking matters into my own hands, but something about the way he was looking at me made me decide not to. There was something different about his expression, something deep in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. It wasn’t until I’d begun to wash him that I realized what it was.

He was taking care of me. Not like before with sex, where it had been about making sure I reached my pleasure. That had been great and had told me that he wanted to make sure I was happy. This wasn’t the same. What I saw in his eyes was the kind of caretaking that came with something deeper. This was holding someone’s hair back when they threw up and then cleaning them up after. It was bringing chicken soup and crackers. It was choosing to go to the theater on date night instead of spending the night out with the guys. It was giving up everything for that other person.

I slowly ran the soapy cloth around his side to his back. I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat and moved the washcloth across his broad shoulders. I’d believed his words with my head when he’d said this was real for him, but the last piece of my heart that had been holding back couldn’t stand against the tenderness I saw in those eyes. And I didn’t it want to. I closed my eyes, feeling two tears sliding down my cheeks and mingling with the shower spray. I slowly let out a breath, letting the last of my doubts and fears wash away.

By the time we were finished and drying ourselves off, I felt more at peace than I had in a very long time. At peace, but exhausted. Without a word, Gavin took my hand and led me to his room. He brushed out my hair and braided it, the simplistic style telling me that he’d learned by braiding his daughter’s hair. Another surge of emotion went through me, but I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the right time. The silence between us was what we needed right now.

He tossed our towels into a hamper and we slid, naked, between the cool, clean sheets. He curled his body around mine and I nestled back against his chest. His arms went around my waist and I put my hands over his, careful not to jostle his wound. His lips pressed against the hollow under my ear and that was the last thing I knew for several hours.

Chapter 11

 

When I woke up, two things struck me almost immediately. The first was that the clock said we’d been asleep for more than three hours. The second was that Gavin was still wrapped around me and was enjoying it. His flesh was slowly hardening against my ass.

I smiled and rolled in his arms so we were almost face-to-face. I still had to tilt my head for our eyes to meet, but it was close enough for him to bend his head and brush his lips across mine. His hands splayed across my bare back.

“Good… afternoon?” he said with a smile. “I trust you slept well.”

“I did.” My own smile faded a bit. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” he said. “I broke my arm when I was eight trying to show off on my bike. Not even close to as bad as that.” His expression sobered. “What about you?”

“My hand’s aching,” I admitted. “I didn’t realize Howard’s head was that hard, and it probably wasn’t a good idea to do that with the same hand I’d dislocated my thumb on.”

“And… otherwise?”

I gave Gavin a puzzled look. I wasn’t sure what he was asking.

He lifted one hand and gently ran his fingers down the side of my face, then over my arm. “It’s not bothering you, me touching you like this?”

Now I was really confused. “I don’t understand.”

“I know that when someone goes through what you went through with Howard, they don’t want to be touched.”

“He didn’t rape me, Gavin,” I said.

“But he put his hands on you.”

I could hear the anger in Gavin’s voice and a realization hit me. “Is this why we didn’t have sex before?”

“I wanted so badly to make love to you,” he said. His voice was so earnest that it made my heart skip a beat. “But I didn’t think you’d want me that way, not after what had happened. I was even worried about how much I could touch you in the shower.”

That explained why he’d seemed almost hesitant while washing me earlier. I closed the short gap between us even though it meant bending my neck at an almost painful angle to still be able to look at him. I heard his breathing hitch and felt him swell even more.

“Howard did touch me,” I said. “And even though I showered, I can still feel his hands. I need you to chase away those memories.” I slid my arms around his waist and felt the muscles in his back tense. “Please.”

He rolled us over so that he was above me, the majority of his weight balanced on his forearms, his body resting on mine from our bellies down. He leaned down and I could see his arms flexing with the effort of keeping himself in position as he kissed me.

It was slow and sweet, his lips moving with mine, slowly parting, and then the tip of his tongue tracing my bottom lip before darting inside. My tongue moved out to caress his and he made a sound in the back of his throat. His teeth scraped over my bottom lip and it was my turn to moan.

I tilted my head back as his mouth moved from mine down to my jaw. His lips burned a trail down my throat, gentle kisses that were at odds with what I was expecting. I remembered how he’d marked me before, sucking skin into his mouth until the blood rose to the surface. There was none of that this time.

Gavin shifted so that he was on his side, allowing him better access to my body. He ran his hand across my stomach and then up to my breasts. He covered one with his hand and I ran my hand up his arm, skirting the bandages. I loved the feel of his skin against mine.

“I promise you, Carrie,” he said softly. “No one will ever touch you without your permission again.”

I arched my back, pushing my breast against his palm. “You have permission. Please touch me.”

He smiled and lowered his head to my bare breast. As his fingers teased my nipple, his lips moved over my soft skin, leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses circling up to my already hardening nipple.

“Ahh,” I sighed as his hot mouth closed over the wrinkled flesh.

My eyelids fluttered as he began to suck. It was a slow, steady suction that went straight through me, a deep pull of pleasure. In the back of my head, I was waiting for teeth, for a sharp tug and twist by his fingers, but it didn’t happen. By the time he switched to my other nipple and ran his hand down my side to my hip, I stopped thinking about what it had been like before and let the sensations of now take over.

I moaned as Gavin ran his tongue between my breasts and then down my stomach. His tongue swirled around my belly button before continuing its journey south. I opened my eyes as soon as I felt him nudge my legs apart. He looked up at me as he positioned himself between my thighs. He turned his head to one side and placed a kiss first on one inner thigh, then the other. I shivered with each contact, the anticipation of his mouth on me making heat coil in my stomach. He turned his gaze back to my face, keeping his eyes on me as he moved forward.

“Fuck,” I gasped as he ran his tongue the full length of me.

He worked that thick muscle between my lips, dipping inside me before moving up to circle the little bundle of nerves that throbbed in need. I could feel the delicious pressure building inside me and knew that my release – the first of what I hoped would be quite a few – was near. He wrapped his hands around my hips as he pressed his mouth closer, his kiss tipping me over the edge.

My hips tried to move, to push themselves closer to that delightful mouth that was sending wave after wave of pleasure washing over me, but his hands held me fast. I reached down and buried my fingers in his silky hair, trying to accomplish what another part of me had been unable to do.

As a second orgasm rolled over me, one of Gavin’s hands moved from my hip, and a moment later, I felt his finger at my entrance.

“Yes,” I hissed as he slid it inside.

His tongue continued to flick over my clit, sending signals racing along my nerves, as his finger slowly pumped in and out of me. I was wet, but tight, and he took full advantage of that, letting the friction help work me towards a third climax. When he slipped a second finger into me, I closed my eyes and moaned.

“One more,” he murmured against my flesh, the puffs of hot air on my sensitive skin making me shiver. “Come for me again.”

I nodded. I wanted to. Every inch of my body was humming and I could feel it getting closer. Then he crooked his fingers and pressed against that spot inside of me. I exploded, my back arching up off of the bed as he applied just the right amount of pressure to keep me coming until spots danced in front of my eyes. I was vaguely aware that I was calling out his name, and then I dropped back to the bed, my body limp as he withdrew his hand from between my legs.

I tried to focus on my breathing and getting my limbs to work again as he crawled up my body until we were face to face. His cock nudged against my still-sensitive pussy and I drew in a shuddering breath.

Gavin kissed me gently and I tasted myself on his lips. It wasn’t deep or long, just enough to not be chaste. “Are you sure you want this?” he asked. “We don’t have to.”

I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Make me forget.”

His hand moved between our bodies and, a moment later, I felt the tip of him enter me. He slid inside, taking his time to let my body accept him one inch at a time. I hooked my legs over his, resting my ankles on the backs of his knees. I sighed as he came to rest, fully sheathed inside me. There it was, that completeness I craved.

His eyes locked with mine as he began to move. Each stroke was slow and deliberate, creating the perfect friction to fan the flames stirring inside me. He rubbed against my G-spot with every thrust, and it sent electricity across my nerves, igniting my cells. I knew something big was coming and I wasn’t sure I could survive it.

I’d had the kind of orgasms that had made me scream, the ones that sent me into unconsciousness. They’d all built with a pressure that promised an explosion of ecstasy, and then delivered. This wasn’t an explosion waiting to happen. No, this was a building inferno that threatened to consume everything.

Gavin moved suddenly, pulling me up with him until he was sitting and I was in his lap. He didn’t lose contact as he wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled me against him so that our chests were pressed together. My nipples rubbed against his chest, making me whimper at the added sensation. The base of him rubbed my already sensitive clit with each movement and I shivered.

The new position brought us even closer, something I hadn’t thought was possible. His arm ran up my spine, his hand cupping the back of my head, holding me against him. We moved together, almost as one, our bodies grinding against each other as the fire inside us licked across our skins, coating us, consuming us. His mouth took mine, our tongues mimicking the movements of our lower bodies.

All sense of time and place bled away. It was only Gavin and me, our connection, the way our bodies fit together so perfectly. Our lips moving, tongues dancing. Every place where we touched each other blazing with an inferno of pleasure.

I almost didn’t recognize my orgasm as it began, the flames spiking, then spilling over. I tore my mouth away from Gavin’s and cried out, my entire body shuddering with the force of my climax. It wasn’t a sudden and massive rush, crashing over me like a wave, but rather the relentless pounding of the tide against the shore.

Gavin’s arms tightened around me and his hips jerked against mine. I felt him come, pulsing inside me, filling me. He called out my name over and over again, crushing me against his chest.

What seemed like years passed before I dropped my head to his shoulder, my muscles twitching as the fire inside me began to cool.

I’d never experienced anything remotely close to what had just happened. Orgasms had been bursts of intense pleasure between the enjoyable friction that had brought me. Gavin had made me see stars, made me come so hard I’d passed out, made me scream. This had been something different. I’d felt like I’d been melted down, turned into molten lava, liquid heat. Somehow, it had been more intense, as if it had meant more.

I raised my head and found Gavin looking at me. The moment my eyes met his, the blue almost the same shade as a midnight sky, I knew that he’d felt it too. It hadn’t been how we’d done it, what position, or the fact that it had been gentle. Everything that had happened had shifted something between us.

Gavin brushed back a few curls that had escaped my braid and shifted us so that we were stretched back out on the bed. He lay on his back and I curled up against him, resting my head on his chest. I loved hearing the sound of his heart.

We lay in silence for several minutes before I admitted that I needed an answer to the question that had resurfaced as I’d come down from my climactic high. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“That was amazing, but there wasn’t any…” My voice trailed off as I realized I wasn’t quite sure how to actually ask my question. “I mean, we didn’t do anything…”

“You want to know why we didn’t do anything kinky?”

I looked up to see him smiling at me. My cheeks burned, but I nodded.

“I don’t need the S&M stuff to enjoy myself, Carrie,” he assured me. “I like variety.” He kissed my forehead. “Besides, I figure we have plenty of time to explore that in the future.”

A thrill went through me at his mention of the future. Still, I decided to tease him a bit. I fixed my lips into a saucy grin. “Does that mean if I’m a bad girl tonight, you won’t want to punish me?”

He raised an eyebrow.

I slid my hand across his stomach and down, wrapping my fingers around his softening cock. He sucked in a breath and I chuckled.

“If you want to play,” he said. “I’m going to need my strength. We should get something to eat.”

I gave him a mock pout and he laughed, leaning down to take my bottom lip between his teeth, lightly tugging on it. I started to move on top of him, but just as things were about to get interesting, his cell phone rang.

I glanced at it, more out of habit than from actually caring who it was. I had other things on my mind, but as soon as I saw the number, I rolled off of Gavin and reached for it. He gave me a puzzled look, but as soon as I answered it, understanding crossed his face.

“Hello,” I said.

“What the fuck, Carrie?!” Krissy’s voice was too loud in my ear. “I’ve been trying to call you all day!”

“It’s a long story, Krissy,” I interrupted before she could get going. I glanced at Gavin.

“You fill her in. I’ll go get us something to eat.” Gavin kissed my cheek and then climbed out of bed.

I watched him walk across the bedroom, my thoughts straying until Krissy brought me back.

“Carrie, if you’re ogling your boyfriend instead of talking to me, I’m going to kick your ass.”

I grinned sheepishly even though she couldn’t see me. “Sorry,” I apologized. “So, here’s what happened…”

Chapter 12

 

None of this seemed real. Actually, not much in the past two weeks seemed like anything other than some very strange, and sometimes erotic, dream.

The rumors throughout the legal world were that Howard had royally screwed himself in thinking he could talk himself out of his charges by buddying up to the detective interrogating him. He’d gotten himself a reduced sentence on the sex trafficking charges in exchange for his client lists, but because his ego had gotten the better of him, he’d ended up admitting to a whole slew of other crimes that even his high-priced lawyer hadn’t been able to make go away. Between the drugs he’d supplied to Melissa, my assault and attempted rape, his assault and attempted murder of Gavin, and the information linking him to covering up Camille’s death, he wasn’t going to be getting out of jail for a very long time, if ever. I’d also been hearing that some of his female staff had gone in to officially file complaints. I hoped Annie was one of them.

Of course, all of that had brought a lot of unwanted attention my way, so Gavin and I had been hiding out in either his place or mine, the timing depending on whether or not Krissy wanted the apartment to herself. We didn’t walk anywhere and we definitely didn’t go out to eat. I’d begun to feel sympathy for celebrities who complained about the paparazzi. I’d even missed participating in my own graduation ceremony because the press had gotten wind of it.

The only place outside of the two apartments where the media couldn’t touch me was work. The first time someone had tried to sneak in to the office, Mimi had gone to a judge who’d slapped a restraining order on the reporter and ordered the press to stay at least five hundred feet away from the building. Mimi really was an amazing lawyer.

“Are you ready?” Krissy asked as she approached my desk. “It’s your party, after all. Can’t start till you get there.”

When Mimi had heard I hadn’t been able to go to my graduation, she’d decided to throw me a party at work. I’d dressed for the occasion, putting aside my usual wardrobe in exchange for one of the sundresses Gavin had bought me for our trip to Miami. That particular weekend had so many bad memories that I was determined to make new ones to overshadow the old. This would be my new memory in my cute mint-green dress.

“Have I told you how adorable you look in that?” Leslie asked as she joined Krissy at my desk. Dena followed closely behind.

“Thank you.” I smiled, and it felt a lot less forced than the ones I had been giving to people. Aside from Gavin, my three friends had been my salvation through all of this. They’d treated me no differently than they had before. The only change was that the teasing that had previously been directed at my lack of a romantic life was now about my rich, sexy boyfriend.

“Mimi said she bought a red velvet cake.” Krissy hooked her arm through mine. “Shall we go check it out?”

I nodded and we headed to the large conference room. There was, indeed, a red velvet cake with chocolate icing and “Congratulations, Carrie” in deep red frosting. It was huge. I’d never seen a cake that big before. My friends stayed close as our various coworkers came over to congratulate me, intervening whenever the conversation veered towards topics best left undiscussed.

I was just starting to try to figure out how I could get out of the rest of the party when Dena returned from the restroom by way of the outer office. She had a strange expression on her face as she approached me and said, “There’s someone here to see you.”

She didn’t appear to be upset or concerned, so I followed her back out. Standing by my desk was an older man with salt-and-pepper hair, and a young woman who was looking at the floor.

“Ms. Summers?” The man spoke.

His voice sounded familiar, but it wasn’t until the dark-haired girl raised her head that I realized who they were. A chill ran through me. “Patricia?”

“Ms. Summers, we had to come down here and personally thank you for what you did.” Frank took a step forward and extended his hand.

I took it, tearing my eyes away from the pale young woman long enough to see that her father had tears in his eyes.

“If it wasn’t for you, she would still be–” His voice broke.

“You saved my life, Ms. Summers.” Patricia’s voice was soft. “And that’s not an exaggeration.”

Frank had regained control of his emotions. “After you called me, I made arrangements to leave on the next flight to Saudi Arabia, and then called the detective who’d been assigned Patricia’s case to tell him that I had a lead and that I was flying out the next day. He tried to talk me out of going but I didn’t listen. When I arrived, I went straight to the American embassy and, with their help, was able to convince the Saudi police to raid the mansion.”

“There were four of us you helped rescue.” Patricia took a step towards me and started to raise her arms. She hesitated, as if unsure if I would hug her.

Of course I did. I could feel the tears streaming down my cheeks, but I didn’t care. Everything that I’d been through, in that moment, was worth it. Even if it had just been Patricia, if no one else would’ve been saved, every second of torment would have been worth it.

We didn’t talk long. I could tell Patricia was adjusting to being back and dealing with everything that she’d gone through. She had a good therapist and had found a support group for survivors like her. Her father was determined to do everything in his power to give her a good life, and I knew that would be as important as everything else. The support and love of family and friends would help her heal. And maybe then she could help others heal. I had a feeling Patricia would be the kind of woman who took her own tragedy and turned it into a way to help others who were suffering.

The Vinariskys left, and I had to stop in the restroom. I couldn’t go back into the party until I’d composed myself better. That was a part of the story that only Gavin and Krissy knew, though I would probably share it with Leslie and Dena soon. I didn’t want questions about why I looked so emotional.

When I came out of the restroom, Gavin was stepping off of the elevator. As always, the sight of him made my heart tighten and my stomach flip. He was dressed nicely, but nothing too fancy. Just a pair of dress jeans that hugged his body in a way that made my mouth go dry, because it only hinted at what I knew lay underneath. His short-sleeved dress shirt made his eye color pop, and was fitted tight enough to show that he was fit, but not so tight that it revealed every dip and curve of muscle. The man knew how to dress. Then again, I thought he’d look sexy in pretty much anything… and even more so in nothing.

“Earth to Carrie.” He waved a hand in front of my face. “Where’d you go?”

I smiled up at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. His look of surprise made my smile widen. I’d been very clear about no public displays of affection at work. His arms automatically slid around my waist though he still looked confused.

“It’s my party,” I said. “And if I want to kiss my boyfriend, I will.”

He chuckled and gently pressed his lips against mine. It was sweet and soft, exactly what I needed to finish calming my emotions after seeing Patricia. I’d tell him all about that later. Right now, we had cake to eat.

I took a step back and took his hand, threading our fingers together. “Let’s go get some cake.”

“Cake sounds good,” he said. “But I’m thinking we cut out after we’re done.”

Now it was my turn to be confused.

“I want to take you on a little trip.”

“Where?”

He smiled. “That’s a surprise.” He raised our hands and kissed the back of mine. “Let’s see about that cake, make the rounds, thank Mimi, and get out of here.”

“But I have to finish work.”

“Nope.” His grin widened. “Already cleared it with Mimi. She said you deserve it. So, what do you say?”

“I say, that sounds like exactly what I need.”

Less than twenty minutes later, we were heading down to the lobby where, I assumed, he’d have one of his infamous town cars waiting.

I was wrong.

What was sitting in front of the building wasn’t a town car, but a cherry red Italian sports car. A Ferrari, to be exact. I remembered him saying he preferred them to Bentleys, but I hadn’t realized that meant he owned one. I’d never been one to fawn over cars, but even I had to admit that this one was a beauty.

“This is my ‘outside the city’ car,” he said as he opened the door for me.

“So we’re leaving the city then?” I asked as I slid into the passenger’s seat. The leather was soft against my skin.

“No guessing.” He closed the door and then walked around to the other side. He continued speaking as he got in. “Don’t ruin the surprise.”

I gave him a mock pout and he laughed. Not the sexy laugh that made things low in my belly tighten, but the one that was far more rare, the one that was open and joyful. I hoped finding the man responsible for Camille’s death would give him some closure and allow him to laugh like that more often.

He reached over and squeezed my hand before starting the car and pulling out into the street. We didn’t really speak until we passed the city limits, and then it was he who initiated the conversation.

“Now that you’ve graduated, are you planning on staying at Webster and Steinberg or do you have another firm in mind?” He glanced at me before returning his attention to the road. “I just realized that I’d never asked you that before.”

He was right. We’d talked in vague generalities about things, but never specifics about what I planned to do after graduation and passing the bar.

“I appreciate everything Mimi has done for me,” I said. “But divorce court isn’t where I want to practice. I’ve always wanted to help the helpless, you know? Go after child abusers and wife beaters, that kind of thing; but I don’t think I’m cut out to be a prosecutor either.” I’d actually had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while, but this was the first time I was giving it voice. “I’ve been thinking lately that I want to fight sex trafficking by working for the victims, go after people like Howard not just criminally, but in every way possible. Fight to get laws passed for better protection and compensation for the victims.”

Gavin put his hand over mine. “I think that’s a great idea.”

I sighed. “The only problem is that, because it’s not a very lucrative business, there aren’t a lot of firms that specialize in that kind of work, and none of them are hiring. I’ve been checking this past week.”

Gavin was silent for a moment, then spoke, the hesitation in his voice making me turn towards him. “What about starting your own firm? Take cases pro bono. Maybe even spend some time digging into potential traffickers and gathering evidence for the authorities. You’ve proven you’re good at that.”

I gave him a puzzled look. “That would be great, but I’m going to be paying off my student loans until I’m forty as it is. I have to make a living somehow.”

“You make a living through your partnership in the club,” he said. “And you can even use it to weed out potential traffickers.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. I wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “It still doesn’t explain how I’m going to manage to not only pay my bills but fund a law firm with what I make helping run a club.”

“You don’t fund the law firm,” he said. “I do.”

I stared at him. He couldn’t be serious.

He continued, “It’s important work, Carrie. It means a lot to you, and I helped Howard run his business through the club.”

“You didn’t know.”

His expression was grim. “I didn’t, but it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t help put a stop to others like Howard.” He lifted our hands and brushed his lips across my knuckles, sending little tingles across my skin. “Those seem like just a few of many reasons why this is a good idea.”

He looked as if he expected me to argue like I had before, any time he’d spent a lot of money on me, but this wasn’t for me, not really. Sure, it was letting me do what I wanted to do, but it was about the victims, the survivors like Patricia and the ones who never made it home to their families. I wasn’t about to pass that up. Besides, I was getting more used to his generosity’s just being a part of who he was.

I leaned over, putting my hand on his leg to steady myself, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

We went around a bend as I was starting to sit back, and the turn jostled me, causing my hand slid higher up his thigh, my fingers brushing against the bulge in his jeans. I heard him suck in a breath and my stomach clenched. I loved that an accidental touch could make him react like that.

The mischievous part of me, the one that had been growing bolder the more time I spent with Gavin, decided that it was time to come out and play. I didn’t sit back, but rather leaned as close as my seatbelt would allow, pressing my breasts against his arm, and put my mouth against his ear.

“Wherever we’re going,” I whispered. “I hope it has a nice, big bed because I fully intend to show my gratitude for your offer.” I flicked out my tongue, catching his earlobe with the tip.

The car jerked, then pulled off the side of the road, moving up behind a small cusp of trees. It was all so sudden that I barely had time to process it before the car was off and Gavin was turning towards me, his eyes blazing.

Oh. Apparently not waiting for our destination. The ache between my legs approved of that decision.

He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, pulling me forward until our mouths crashed together. I made a noise in the back of my throat and his fingers flexed against my neck as his tongue pushed between my lips.

We’d had sex several times since the incident with Howard, and it had been great every time, but the edge that had existed before was gone. We teased about me being a “bad girl” and things like that, but never did anything about it. I kept telling Gavin that I was okay, that he didn’t need to treat me like I was breakable, but I could feel him holding back. And it wasn’t like before when he’d been testing what I liked. This was more that he was afraid he would do something that would hurt me, not physically, but emotionally. I appreciated that, but I was starting to miss the world he’d just started to introduce me to. I was actually craving something rougher, something driven by pure need.

This kiss promised everything I wanted and more, and I wasn’t about to let him reconsider.

I sucked on his tongue, earning that near-growl I’d been missing, and I dropped my hands between us. I managed to get the button undone and his pants unzipped before he realized what I was doing. He took my bottom lip between his teeth, tugging lightly at the kiss-swollen flesh, and I slid my hand into his pants.

“Fuck.” His mouth tore away from mine the moment I took him in my hand.

He was hot and hard, straining against the confines of his boxer-briefs, and I wanted nothing more than to free him – lower my head and take him in my mouth, feel him thrust up, running that silk-covered shaft over my tongue…

“Get out of the car.”

I blinked, startled out of my fantasy. What?

He pressed his lips against mine hard enough to bruise. “Get. Out. Of. The. Car.”

I drew in a shuddering breath, my panties instantly soaked. My fingers were shaking so badly I could barely unfasten my seatbelt, but I finally managed and climbed out of the car. Gavin was already standing on my side. He held out his hand and I took it. Without a word, he pulled me towards him. Just before I crashed into him, he turned me, pressing his hand against my back.

I didn’t need him to say anything to know what he wanted. My entire body was thrumming in anticipation as I bent over the hood. Part of me couldn’t believe I was doing this, out in the open, hidden from the road by only a few trees, but a louder part of me was screaming for him to just do it already because I was going to explode if he didn’t.

Gavin pushed up the back of my dress and I waited for him to remove my panties. He didn’t. Instead, he nudged my legs further apart and pulled aside the soft cotton material. There was no warning. No prep. One moment, I felt him at my entrance, and then next, he was buried to the hilt inside me.

I cried out, a sound that might have been a wail if I’d had more air in my lungs. I didn’t though. I could barely get a breath as he immediately began to pound into me, his thrusts hard and deep, each one raising me up on my tiptoes and forcing the air out of my lungs.

I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to absorb the sensations. The heat of the metal beneath my hands, through my dress. His fingers digging into my hips. My pussy stretching around him. The almost painful pleasure racing through every cell.

And then there was more.

His hands left my hips. One slid between me and the car, delving into the front of my dress to find my nipple hard and eager for his attention. His other hand moved underneath me, his fingers finding that swollen bundle of nerves.

The instant he touched me, I came, but he didn’t stop. Even as my body shuddered, tensing with my orgasm, he continued his ministrations, working me from one climax into another. Only as my second orgasm peaked did I feel his hips jerk against me. He came with a drawn-out groan, and I felt him pulse as he filled me.

His arms tightened around me as his body curled over mine. He pressed his lips against the hollow under my ear, sending another shiver of pleasure through me. We stayed like that for several minutes, his cock slowly softening inside me, one hand around my dress, the other between my legs.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he finally straightened.

I inhaled sharply as he slid out of me, the loss leaving me feeling empty. His cum trickled down the inside of my thigh as I stood and adjusted my panties.

“Am I okay?” I echoed his question. “Are you kidding? That was amazing.”

He gave me that shy little-boy smile I loved so much. “I wasn’t sure… I mean, it wasn’t…”

I put a finger on his lips, stopping the flow of words. “Just so we’re clear. I like it when you take charge like that. I wasn’t pretending before, or now.”

Relief showed on his face.

“If you need any further proof,” I said, grimacing as I took a step back towards the car. “Here it is: we need to find a store so I can buy dry underwear. I’ve been wet from the moment you kissed me.”

His smile widened into a full-blown grin. “I think that would be a good idea.”

Twenty minutes and a new pair of panties later, I knew where we were going and was glad I’d suggested stopping at the store. As soon as I saw the sign for Stamford, I looked over at Gavin. The look he gave me was all the confirmation I needed.

He was taking me to see his daughter.

I could feel the tension radiating off of him as we pulled up in front of a modest, two-story house. He looked over at me, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. I knew he was nervous. I reached out and squeezed his hand. I was nervous too.

Then I saw her. This petite little blonde in a white and pink sundress. She burst out of the house, a smile lighting up her face.

“Daddy!”

He climbed out of the car and bent down to scoop her up in his arms.

If I’d still had any doubts about Gavin or how I felt about him, they would have disappeared the moment I saw the complete and utter adoration on his face when he looked at his child. No one could argue he’d given her grandparents custody because he didn’t want her. I’d never seen anyone look at someone with so much love.

I climbed out of the car, my heart pounding, and walked around to where Skylar was chatting away. I hung back for a moment, and then she saw me.

She stopped talking and studied me for a moment with those eyes that were so much like her father’s. She tilted her head to one side, and in that serious voice that small children have, asked, “Is she your girlfriend?”

Gavin smiled and stretched out his hand. “Yes, she is.”

I took his hand, letting his touch ease my nerves. “Hi.” I gave Skylar a smile.

“You’re pretty,” she declared. “I like you.” She squirmed in Gavin’s arms and he put her down. She looked up at me and put her hands on her hips. “We’re having a picnic in the backyard and you have to push me on the swings.” With that statement, she turned and ran around the back of the house.

“I guess I’m pushing her on the swings,” I said.

Gavin chuckled and released my hand, sliding his arm around my waist. He pulled me against his side. He pressed his lips against my temple. “I love you.”

We’d said similar things before, but this was the first time those three words had been stated in such a simple, declarative fashion. I could barely speak around the lump in my throat. “I love you too.”

I tilted my head to look up at him and he bent his head, giving me a soft, sweet kiss. I slid my arm around his waist and felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I felt like I was home. Not because of this house or this neighborhood, but because of the man next to me.

“Ready?” he asked.

I knew he was referring to meeting Camille’s parents and spending the evening with his daughter, but my answer meant so much more. I was ready. Ready to start the next chapter in my life. I nodded. “I’m ready.”

We headed for the backyard, drawn by the joy of his child’s laughter. Yes. I was definitely ready for this.

 

The End. Continues in Club Prive French Connection Vol. 1