Descent into Darkness (Crystal Sphere Book 1)

by Ingrid Fry

  It scuttled forward, making a beeline for him. Jason moved backwards, still trying to line up the roach with his gun. The roach continued to advance until Jason’s back was against the wall.

  Ashley strode forward, gun in hand. ‘I’ve got this.’ He brought his boot down on the cockroach’s head.

  I gasped and waited for something to happen.

  Nothing did. I started to giggle. ‘Maybe it’s like a land mine. Move your foot and it’ll explode.’

  Ashley looked concerned. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

  All attention fixed onto his boot, as he very, very slowly raised the toe from the floor.

  Jason and I froze in anticipation. Ashley flashed Jason a look, stamped his foot and shouted ‘BOOM!’

  I jumped even though I knew it was a joke. Poor Jason nearly flew through the roof.

  ‘You mongrel!’ Jason said, clutching his chest. ‘You fair dinkum mongrel! You knew it was an ordinary roach.’

  ‘Soon as I laid eyes on it,’ Ashley said, laughing his head off.[25]

  Chapter 26: Red Ribbons, Duck Tape & Bondage

  We stood at the door to our suite, kitted out in our white robes and slippers. I held the clothes so the guys could handle their firearms.

  Jason swiped the entry card. ‘Stand to the side, Maggie, we need to make sure the room is safe.’

  I gave him a salute. ‘Aye Aye, Cap’n’.’ These boys were so bossy.

  Ashley opened the door and pushed it back hard. He stood in the entryway assessing the room.

  ‘Wait here,’ he said quietly. He entered, gun at the ready and disappeared around the corner. Doors opened and closed.

  ‘Someone’s been in,’ he shouted. ‘Looks like room service with our laundry.’ He stuck his head around the corner. ‘All clear! I’ve put the kettle on.’

  I stepped into the room feeling uneasy, as though someone was going to jump out and attack us. I proceeded into the kitchen to help make the tea.

  Jason sat at a desk in an alcove around the corner, and was texting on his phone like his life depended on it. Maybe work stuff. Thank heavens his business partner Fraser was looking after things. Jason didn’t even look up as I put the cup of Sleepy Time tea on the desk in front of him.

  Ashley and I sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchenette, mugs in hands, looking out at the city.

  ‘That was a mean thing you did back there, Ashley Beringer,’ I said, referring to the cockroach in the showers. ‘Poor Jason.’

  ‘Nah, he took it in good fun. Besides, it’s good practise for him to get used to emergency situations.’

  ‘He got right into it, didn’t he?’

  ‘Yeah, I think he was trying to channel Jason Statham.’

  ‘How could you be sure it was an ordinary cockroach?’

  ‘I have an excellent memory.’

  ‘Yes, but they may not all look the same, especially if they’re offspring.

  ‘Yeah, you’re right. I took a calculated risk.’

  I put my hand on his shoulder. ‘Maybe don’t try that again. We really don’t know what we’re dealing with.’

  ‘Sure, no worries. We should try and get a couple of hours’ shuteye before morning.’ He stretched his arms above his head and yawned.

  The pile of clothes from Jon lay on the bench, and Ashley leant across and pulled out my red dress. He rubbed the silk between his fingers. ‘You looked so gorgeous in this.’

  A powerful image of me blindfolded, naked, spread-eagled on a bed, with my wrists and ankles bound by red silk, slammed into my mind. I jerked my hand away from him. ‘Ashley!’

  ‘What’s wrong, luv?’ He touched my hand. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost!’

  ‘Agh! There it is again!’ I pushed his hand away.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I saw—’ It was as if someone had shoved a graphically illustrated page of a fetish magazine under my nose. It was Ashley’s secret diary, and it shocked and disturbed me.

  ‘What, Maggie?’ He tried to touch me again and I pulled back. He saw me staring at the dress, and the penny dropped.

  His voice was a low growl. ‘You said you wouldn’t go there. You promised. That’s a gross invasion of privacy.’ He glowered at me and crossed his arms, accentuating his biceps. I’ll bet he’s practiced that move in the mirror.

  ‘I didn’t look. I was sitting here minding my own business and it came and slapped me across the face. Anyway, how do you know what I saw?’

  ‘Red silk ribbons?’ he said.

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Oh, Jesus. What else?’

  ‘Black silk sheets, naked, bound, spread eagled, with you standing over me.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘There’s more?’

  ‘No. No,’ he said, clearly lying.

  ‘I’m sorry. I feel embarrassed.’

  Ashley put his head in his hands. ‘You feel embarrassed!’

  We sat silently, and Ashley pushed the dress away using a kitchen spatula.

  What was with him? He’d never shown an inclination for that sort of thing when we were together.

  ‘Is that what you want to do to me?’

  He was silent for a while before saying, ‘I reserve the right not to answer that question on the grounds I may incriminate myself.’

  ‘That would be a yes then?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Crikey.’

  ‘It’s no big deal, Maggie. It’s just a fantasy. A fantasy you shouldn’t have seen, granted, but simply a bloke’s fantasy. Don’t look so shocked. People do that kind of thing for real, all the time, you know. You can’t tell me Jason hasn’t tied you up or held you down for sex or vice versa.’

  ‘That’s none of your business.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You haven’t? He hasn’t?’

  ‘I reserve the right not to answer that question on the grounds I may incriminate myself.’

  ‘That would be a no then. I can’t believe it.’

  I recalled the time I was tied up in the hammock by Jason, and at the morgue by Adam. ‘For your information, Mr. Beringer, I’ve been bound on numerous occasions, but not with silk ribbons.’

  ‘What then?’

  ‘Duck tape.’

  This time Ashley looked shocked. ‘It’s duct tape, Maggie, and Jesus, by Jason?’

  ‘Ashley, let it go! And what’s with the red silk thing anyway?’ I said, trying to change the subject, sort of.

  ‘You definitely don’t want to go there with that one.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Tell me!’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Fine. Red silk ribbons. Your dad was into it with the Maestro. I saw the ribbons hanging on the clotheshorse at his place. I knew they weren’t ribbons for her hair. He was on fire for the woman.’ He laughed at the look on my face. ‘The ribbons were the least of it. I told you, you wouldn’t want to go there.’

  ‘I don’t think anyone wants to hear things like that about a parent. Ew! How am I going to face the Maestro again? Too bizarre. I wish you hadn’t told me.’

  He touched my face. ‘Jesus, I can’t win with you. Sweet kid, you’re so naïve!’

  ‘I certainly am not, and I’m no sweet kid. You have no idea what I see, the things in people’s minds. It’s incredibly disturbing.’

  ‘Yeah, sorry, that came out wrong. You have this beautiful innocence about you, is all. And it sounds to me like you’ve been missing out on your fair share of earthly pleasures. Duct tape indeed. I need to have to have a quiet word in Jason’s ear. Tell him to lift his game.’

  I pinched him hard in the side. ‘Don’t you dare!’

  ‘Ow! How’re you going to stop me?’

  ‘Please don’t!’

  ‘What will you give me so I don’t tell?’

  ‘Well, I’m certainly not going to ask you what you want, given it probably involves red silk ribbons
.’

  ‘Bingo!’

  ‘You’re incorrigible!’ I stood and put my mug in the dishwasher.

  When I turned around, Ashley was right behind me. He grabbed my wrists, put his feet in between mine, and slid my feet apart.

  ‘What are you do—’

  ‘Shhh!’ He lifted my arms over my head and held them there.

  I tried to move but he was as strong as an ox. I attempted to shift my feet and legs but he had me pinned against the cupboard.

  ‘Relax,’ he whispered into my ear. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. But you aren’t going anywhere. You, sweetheart, are at my mercy. I can do anything I like to you, and you can’t stop me.’

  My knees became weak as I struggled against Ashley’s grip and his deep, seductive voice in my ear.

  ‘That’s gotcha!’ He chuckled and let me go. I held onto the bench to steady myself.

  ‘A little taster of restraint—looks like it went down a real treat. Still don’t want me to have a chat to Jason? How many red ribbons shall I order for you?’

  ‘Ashley, enough already!’ I said, walking away. ‘It’s not funny.’

  He could see I was upset, but it wasn’t for the reasons he thought. Actually, it was—he’d really overstepped the mark—but mainly, it was because of how much I’d enjoyed it.

  Ashley was right behind me. ‘Maggie,’ he whispered. ‘I’m sorry. I went too far. Forgive me?’

  I ignored him and called out to Jason. ‘I’m going to bed. I’m beat.’

  ‘Me too,’ Jason said. ‘We’ve only got three hours till day break anyway.’

  Ashley gave me a hangdog expression. He mouthed the word sorry and said, ‘I’ll take first watch. I’ll barricade the door again and set my booby traps again.’

  ‘Don’t sleep on the floor,’ Jason said. ‘The bed’s so big you could fit three sumo wrestlers in it.’

  ‘Thanks mate, but the floor’s fine.’

  It felt like heaven to finally go to bed, to stretch out my tired body and feel the softness of the Egyptian cotton against my skin. Jason slipped in beside me and wrapped me in his arms. ‘How good is this bed?’ He planted little kisses over my face.

  ‘I’m worried about Boo and the house,’ I said.

  ‘Boo is fine; I know it. And don’t worry about the house, just lie here in my arms. Everything’s fine.’ He nuzzled my ear and stroked my body. I quivered involuntarily.

  ‘I love it when that happens,’ he whispered, moving to kiss my breasts. ‘There you go again. Love you, Mags.’

  There was a knock at the bedroom door.

  ‘Can I come in kids? No kinky sex acts going on?’

  Jason sighed. ‘Yes, come in. No chance of that with you around.’

  Ashley opened the door. ‘What do you mean? There’s more chance of that happening with me around, mate. And don’t mind me, always happy to lend a hand if you need it.’

  ‘Shut up,’ Jason said.

  Ashley arranged himself on the chaise longue. ‘I’ll leave the bedroom door open so I can see out. I’ve set my watch for Jason’s shift in one and a half hours.’

  Jason was already asleep.

  ‘Thanks, Ashley.’

  ‘Sweet dreams, Maggie.’

  Ashley pushed himself up against the back of the longue. Silhouetted in the half-light, he was as straight as a ramrod, knees bent, arms resting on them. He held his gun with both hands, aimed straight at the door.

  No one was going to make it through there alive. Except perhaps for a roach. Ashley was trying to make sure sleep would come to us easily and sweetly, and so it did.

  His alarm chimed one and a half hours later, and Jason leapt out of bed.

  Ashley whispered, ‘Go back to bed, Jace, I’m fine. All’s quiet. I’m good ‘till morning.’

  ‘No way, mate. You need some sleep.’

  ‘Roger that.’ Ashley threw a blanket on the floor.

  ‘I feel bad you sleeping on the floor. Use the bed. Just don’t wake Maggie.’

  ‘The floor’s fine.’

  ‘Ash, do it.’

  ‘What if she thinks I’m you and comes on to me in the night?’

  ‘Remember I’ve got a gun,’ Jason said.

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We’d all shared a bed before, when we’d travelled together and could only get one room. Plus, a few times when we were camping, we’d squeezed together in one tent. But now, it was different— given what’d been happening between Ashley and me. Talk about awkward. Jason wasn’t to know. His trust in Ashley was absolute.

  It was four-fifteen in the morning. The bed dipped, and the sheets rustled as Ashley slid into bed. A warm and musky scent reached my nostrils. His breathing was quiet and steady, and his heart pounded through the mattress. Or was it mine?

  One and a half hours was going to feel like an eternity. One and a half hours of lying there, motionless, wide awake, feeling my body bursting with the sensations and emotions he’d awoken in me back in the kitchenette.

  This had to stop. I couldn’t handle being near the man. He was a drug, and I was well on the way to addiction, if not already an addict. Circumstances and fate had conspired to create this. What did destiny want of me? To withdraw or to give in to him? Renounce or submit? How much time had passed? Five minutes?

  Maybe I should get up. That was it. I’d get up. I couldn’t sleep anyway. But then it was so warm and beautiful in the bed. I didn’t want to get up. Why hadn’t Jason made him sleep on the floor, damn it. Even from over there, surely Jason could feel the waves of sexual tension emanating from the bed.

  I lay still and felt my mind open. Ashley’s thoughts echoed around inside my head.

  I can smell her scent—it’s warm, musky, with a hint of vanilla. Her breathing is quiet and steady, and I can hear her heart pounding through the mattress. Or is it mine? She must be awake. Why the hell didn’t I sleep on the floor? I’m an idiot. This is dangerous. I can’t let myself fall asleep. Combat nightmares. I could kill her. I won’t get any sleep with her so close—that’s a saving grace. I can’t believe I’m in the same bed with her. What a joke. I’ve dreamed about this, and now I can’t do anything. One and a half hours of lying here motionless, wide awake, feeling my body on fire with the sensations and emotions she’s ignited in me. I thought I’d moved on, was over her. What the fuck’s happening to me?

  Oh dear. I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. I tried to block out his thoughts. It was the goddamn proximity of him. Calm, think of dolphins. That worked before. Dolphins ... dolphins ... swimming, spinning. Nup, not happening. Every dolphin was wearing a red silk ribbon, tied in a bow around its head.

  Why was it so hot? I wanted to grab the sheets and flap them around. Stop thinking. Focus on my breath. Om. Om Mani Padme Hum. Think of nothing. Christ, I was lying next to a radiator! How far away was he? An arm’s length? The heat of his body could fry an egg. He was so still. I couldn’t hear his breathing. Maybe he was dead. No, he was too hot to be dead.

  It was pretty dark in here with those blackout curtains. I couldn’t see Jason. What was on for breakfast? I loved the Bircher muesli. Damn it. There it was again. His voice in my head …

  She probably hates me now. I’ve ruined our friendship. It’s my fault. What was I thinking? After what she’s been through, I pin her down. Idiot. Ashley, King of the Idiots. I’m as stupid as Jason. She responded though, and quickly. Those knees give her away every time. This. Has. Got. To. Stop. I can’t handle being near her, but I want to be near her more than anything. I want her more than anything. She’s a bloody drug. I’m addicted. I’m a Maggie addict. But we’re friends, the three of us ... this is insane. I so want her. Why the fuck did I ever let her go?

  The striptease she did behind the door was gorgeous. So sexy without seeing anything really. God it turned me on. How much time has passed? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Maybe I should get up. That’s it. Get up. I can’t sleep anyway. But I don’t want to get up. I’ll have to hack it. I should’ve slept on
the floor. How can Jason be so trusting? Beats me. Even over there, surely, he can feel the waves of sexual energy coming from this bed. Think of something else. Jesus. Those suspenders. When Jason swung her around and her dress hiked up. Holy crap. I wanted to rip her out of his arms and do her on the couch right there. Fuck! That’s not something else!

  Bloody hell, Ashley. Our feelings had reignited. How could I block him out? What about sheep? I could count sheep. One, two, three, four ... nup, that one had a red silk sash. The sheets felt so good, soft, yet crisp; nothing felt better than expensive linen. Oh crikey, there he was again …

  Don’t think of her. Think of … beer. Types of beer ... VB, Carlton Draft, Budweiser, Heineken, Corona, Guinness. Nup, no good. That one had a red ribbon round it. Try guns. Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Glock, Benelli, Colt, Heckler & Koch ... which gun shall I teach her to use ... she would look stunning packing heat. God it’s hot in this bed. Too bloody hot. Stop thinking. Think of nothing ... nothing. Holy hell. I’m lying next to a bloody radiator. How far away is she? An arm’s length? Her body’s generating heat like a friggin’ Weber. She’s so still. Is she dead? Too hot to be dead. It’s dark in here with those curtains. I’ve got to go to the gym, somehow get rid of this pent-up energy, or I’m going to punch out a wall.

  The bed moved. What was that?

  ‘Move over, Maggie,’ Jason whispered. ‘We’re safe, nothing’s happening. I need some sleep.’ He slid into bed and reduced my Ashley buffer zone to about fifteen inches, calculating the increased radiant heat factor.

  Ashley was as still as a rock. A very hot rock.

  Jason fell asleep instantly and started snoring softly. I elbowed him and he rolled over, decreasing my buffer zone even further. This was a new form of torture. Exquisite and excruciating sheer torture, and all the while, Ashley’s thoughts continued to echo in my head …

  Jason’s in bed! Holy shit, is he mad? He’s testing me. Must be. He’s decreased my buffer zone to ... sixteen inches? Shit, what’s he doing? He’s pushed her too close ... six inches? That’s it. I’m not going to be able to stop myself. What? He’s snoring already! How can he sleep with her right there? What a waste. He doesn’t appreciate what he’s got. This is torture. Worse than Iraq. I have to touch her. But it’s wrong. I have to. With the side of my hand, that’s all, like an accident. I have to feel her skin.