Caught in the Dark

by Ann Jensen

  It’s all fun and games till—

  Angela stood outside the private dance room and let herself slip into her role. She was Cami, a Russian spy sent in to seduce the wealthy American businessman. She wore a silky black nightgown with a matching robe that she had intended to be a costume for when she did a film noir routine.

  She opened the door without knocking, her best sultry smile on her face, and had to pause as she took in Tek. He was still wearing the suit he had been in yesterday. His hair was rumpled and it looked like he had endured a bad day. Despite all of that, the dark heat in his gray eyes made things tingle low in her body.

  It made her feel special that he had obviously had a long, hard day, but had still come to spend time with her.

  “You look as if you had a hard day, darlink.” She almost winced at how bad her Russian accent was but held it together wanting to give this gorgeous man his fantasy.

  “You have no idea.” Tek’s growled words vibrated in her chest.

  She stepped inside the room and was surprised to see they were alone. No bouncer and the curtains were drawn over the observation windows. Only the little red light on the camera in the corner gave any indication that someone might be watching to keep her safe.

  She had planned to send the bouncer out of the room, but the change, without her consent, made her nervous. This wasn’t a stranger though, so she didn’t let herself worry.

  “Sit down, let me give you a massage and you can tell me about your day.”

  Tek unbuttoned the top half of his shirt, shaking his head. Cami enjoyed the smooth muscled chest that was exposed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Remembering her role, she slipped off the robe and moved closer, rubbing her hands along his chest. She pouted and rubbed her body against his. The growing evidence of his arousal pressed against her stomach. “But you know how much I love hearing about your important job and all those powerful people.”

  Her lines could use work but Tek hadn’t given her much notice or information to work with. Playing the seductress was definitely fun. She felt his fist clench in her hair, the tiny pain as he pulled her head backwards exciting. “I think we should talk about your day. What have you been up to?”

  His question was whispered against her lips causing her whole-body to shudder. “Nothing. I was lonely waiting for you to come home.”

  The whole world seemed to tip sideways in an instant. One minute she was standing pressed against him, the next she was on her back on the couch. His body pressed against hers. His hands trapping hers above her head. She felt her shoes slip off, then heard the clicks as they hit the floor.

  Everything was so intense her breath came in quick pants as he took her mouth like he had been starving for her taste. Cami groaned, writhing against him, his cock pressed the satin of her underwear deliciously against her clit. Warm fur engulfed her wrists and two tiny snicks echoed through the room.

  Cuffs? Her brain barely registered the thought before he dropped one hand to her breast and started pinching and twisting the bud. Electric pleasure shot straight to her core and she thrust upward trying to chase the orgasm she knew was coming. Right as she was about to fall over the edge, Tek lifted up. The aborted orgasm was almost painful.

  “No!” Her denial was a hoarse moan.

  She felt herself dragged off the couch by her wrists into a standing position, a few quick steps and the cold metal of the stripper pole startled her as she was pressed against it. Before she could mentally catch up, she stood with her wrists chained to the ceiling and an almost feral man in front of her, dragging in breaths, as he examined her helpless position.

  Tek produced a knife from somewhere and exquisite fear sent chills down her spine. Her voice and breath caught as he slid the metal along her collarbone. Quick flicks sent the material of her nightgown pooling to the floor leaving her in only a thong.

  The tip of the knife scraped between her breasts, down her stomach, to her hip where he removed that last piece of clothing. Cami had never considered knife play in her many fantasies but knew now it would take a starring role.

  Tek tossed the knife onto the couch and ran his hands down her bare sides. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “You want me to make you come?”

  His fingers traced the wetness leaking down her thigh up to her aching cunt. “Please. Yes.”

  His fingers filled her and she couldn’t help but cry out in pleasure. He stroked the spot deep inside her that caused a new more intense orgasm to start building in her core.

  “If you want to come, you have to tell me what I want to know.”

  Okay they were flipping the script. She could go with that. “Anything. I’ll tell you whatever you want.”

  Tek’s thumb circled her clit with maddening slow strokes. “Good girl. Did you steal information from my company?”

  His other hand brushed against her nipple making thought almost impossible. Yes or no what was the answer that would get her what she wanted. If she said yes maybe he would spank her. But she was supposed to be a hardened spy shouldn’t she resist more?

  Tek stopped his motions and her body jerked in protest.

  “Answer me.” He spoke his command directly against her throat his teeth nipping at the sensitive skin there.

  “Yes!”

  His thumb moved in a brutal swipe across her clit and she felt tears as they started to run down her cheeks in frustration. She almost feared the intensity of the upcoming orgasm. That it would steal her sanity.

  “You hacked my company and stole confidential information.” His fingers began slowly thrusting again. “What’s your handle, little hacker? What’s the name you sign on all your crimes?”

  He felt so good stretching her with his fingers. Creativity was washed away by her body’s need to find release. So she gave him a small piece of reality. “C A - 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.”

  He paused and gave her a puzzled look. The endorphins running through her body had her giggling at his confusion.

  “CA-million. Chameleon, get it?” She giggled again at his scowl.

  He stepped back and the loss of his heat made her whine.

  “You think this is funny, Angela? You might have destroyed hundreds of lives. My company might not survive.” Tek turned his back on her pacing the short length of the room.

  Her name was like ice water spilled down her spine. What was he talking about? They were just playing a game. Weren’t they?

  Chapter 17

  Assumptions make an ass out of you, not me.

  Tek paced, trying to get his body under control. She really was the perfect honeypot. Her body, her mind, all of it, the perfect bait to catch him. Hell, if they hadn’t caught the hack when they did, she would have had him wrapped around her little finger in days.

  Two more questions, then he would never have to see her again. The thought shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did. He turned, taking in her curvy perfection. Hands tied above her head, she was his every fantasy in one devious package.

  “T-Tek, what are y-you talking about?” He didn’t like how small her voice sounded. His conscience pricked at him, but he pushed it down.

  He stepped forward and she reared back in fright, kicking out at him. Good, she should be scared. He batted her legs down and closed a hand around her throat. He squeezed with the lightest of pressure, letting her feel what he could do if he chose to. Her pupils were wide as he held her gaze.

  “Two more questions. How did you bypass the encryption and who did you give the information to?”

  Angela shook her head, her purple locks brushing her shoulders. “I d-don’t want to do this anymore. This roleplay is over. L-let me go.”

  He grabbed her chin, trying to ignore the tears streaming out of her eyes. She was an actress playing him and it wouldn’t work. “No, CA-million.” He spit out the hacker name like it left a nasty taste in his mouth. “Not a game. These are actual people you’ve hurt and there will be real consequences.”

  The
tears seemed to dry up. Her eyes were wide, beautiful, shimmering teal. “Y-you think I hacked your company. You did all of this…” She drew in a deep breath, her eyes now glittering with anger. “SASAFRASS!! HELP!”

  The lights began to strobe, and the door popped open. Tek didn’t understand what was going on.

  “Stop all activity. Security is on its way.” A loud siren followed the recorded male voice.

  A half-dressed girl popped her head in the door, horror filling her face.

  “Run, Jasmine, get help!” Angela’s screamed words were barely understandable over the racket, but the girl dashed away before Tek could react.

  Decaf ran in the room and froze, obviously not sure what to do. “Everything okay?”

  Clean was right behind him, opening a panel near the door and typing in a code that caused all the noise and strobing lights to stop. The silence and bright glow made the scene almost unreal.

  “What the fuck was that?” Tek snarled, pissed his plan had turned into a circus.

  “Decaf, go calm everyone down. Tell them I’ve got this under control.” When the Prospect left the room, Clean closed the door. “That is a safe word system I put in for the girls’ safety.”

  “Don’t you think you should have mentioned it?”

  “Is he i-in on your s-sicko plan to use sex to get me to admit to crimes I-I didn’t commit?”

  “Don’t bullshit us. You admitted to hacking my company.”

  Angela gave a frustrated scream and looked over at Clean. “I was t-told I was to be a spy, and you were my mark. It was r-roleplaying!”

  Pain pounded Tek’s temples. Lack of sleep and food was catching up with him. When he had told Clean to tell her that, he thought it would help with the mind-fuck not muddy the waters.

  “C-Clean.” Angela’s voice had lost all inflection. The hollow sound hurt something inside of Tek. “If you get me down now and let me go, I won’t call the cops. You will never have to see or hear from me again. But if one more thing happens to me before then, I will bring legal hell down on you all.”

  Tek was confused by Angela’s confidence. She sounded more like a robot than a woman, all her nerves and stuttering gone. “What makes you think you’ll be able to call the cops?” He didn’t understand why he was pushing her. Maybe he hoped to spark some fire back into her eyes.

  She looked back at him with empty eyes. “Do you know what dead man’s files are, Tek? Clean does.”

  Her question sent a chill down Tek’s spine. “Blackmail material, timed to go public if you don’t stop it.”

  She nodded. “My father was a genius, but paranoid. He taught me to keep a list of people most likely to kill me and keep their info in those files.”

  Tek glanced over at his friend and didn’t like the ice that had seemed to fill his eyes. “So?”

  A tear glistened as it ran down her cheek as she looked at Clean. “The things they m-made you do in the name of Country were wrong. And I’m s-sorry. Operation Little Phoenix is in those files along with the fact you are alive, your c-code name, and current location.” Visible tremors shook Clean’s body at her words. “I d-did wipe all traces of your birth identity from every classified and non-classified s-server I had access to. The scholarships your n-niece and n-nephew won should pay for any school they want to go to. I also paid off all your parents’ debts.”

  “That was you?” The wonder in Clean’s voice was out of character.

  “Unlike Uncle Sam, I believe our heroes and their families deserve to be taken care of. I also know that using a stick instead of a carrot should only be a last resort.”

  Clean reached up as if to let her go and Tek grabbed his Brother by the arm. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “We have a hallway full of witnesses. What the fuck do you think are our options?”

  The door opened and Max walked in. Max was the Dark Sons’ Road Captain and usually one of the most laid-back of Tek’s Brothers. The look on his face now said anything but chill. He grabbed the black silk robe off the floor and before anyone could say anything had Angela out of the cuffs and into her robe.

  Tek went to protest, but Max’s raised hand silenced him. Everything was going sideways. Why not one more complication? Max leaned down, looking Angela in the eyes. “I’ve been watching the feed. Heard what you offered. You go, no retribution. We got a deal, Ms. Turner?”

  Angela blinked a few times as if she was trying to focus. “Jeffrey?”

  Who the hell was Jeffrey?

  His Brother shook his head, his lips pulled tight. “Name’s Max. Do we have a deal?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I’m not an idiot, Max. No r-retribution. You never have to see me again.” She pulled the robe tightly around her and scurried from the room.

  Tek couldn’t take it anymore, he screamed and punched the wall, not registering the pain.

  “That’s the girl, Clean said, you think hacked your company?” Max’s steady voice did little to calm Tek down.

  “Yeah, and you let her get away.” Tek gestured at the door.

  Max crossed his arms. “You got evidence?”

  “Yeah. I had monitoring software on her terminal. It caught her poking around in the breached databases today.”

  Max snorted. “Then it wasn’t her.”

  Clean tilted his head. “Not exactly making sense, Max. She has the skills, the opportunity, and Tek caught her red-handed. I admit, I don’t like her for it either, but you seem sure.”

  “If she was hacking your company, you wouldn’t know about it until the Feds were banging down your door with enough evidence to put you away for life.” Max leaned against the wall, reached up, and pulled the plug from the security camera.

  Tek growled, frustrated at not knowing what was going on. He was used to having more information than anyone else in the room. But these two Brothers had backgrounds so black it was surprising they could even handle sunlight.

  He tried to get his swerving emotions under control. He needed to take a step back and look at the situation with unemotional logic. If they were right, he had just abused a woman who didn’t deserve it. Shame threatened to bubble up, but he pushed it down.

  “What do you know?” Tek kept his voice cool.

  Max leaned against the wall, tilting his head up at the ceiling. “Fourteen years ago, a white-hat hacker named CA-million exposed a pyramid scheme that was stealing money from the elderly. That was her first big act. More followed, all with the same MO. Someone was hurting someone else, and evidence would appear to make it stop. She would have stayed anonymous if she hadn’t made friends with the wrong hacker who sold her out for a reduced sentence.” He sighed. “I was part of the team sent to bring her in. Fuck, she was a kid, and the government threatened her and her father if she didn’t start working for them.”

  “So she works for the government?” Clean asked.

  “Nope.” Max chuckled. “She smiled and said they could start negotiations in a week. Five days later we were told to release her. No explanations, nothing. Now, officially, I don’t know shit. I do know that a few times a year CA-million sends actionable intel that saves lives to authorities. Angela Turner never has worked directly for the government, though they have offered her anything she wants. The closest she has come to working for them is consulting through a third party and giving them first rights to purchase her work. Those programs now make up the backbone of our security for the intelligence networks.”

  Tek tried to take in everything Max’s words meant. She was so much more than he had ever imagined. Brilliant, beautiful, and could probably have solved all of his problems. But he had let paranoia and fear of his attraction to her push him into actions that made him her enemy.

  How the fuck was he going to fix this?

  Chapter 18

  Pronouns are confusing. I mean, can a noun really get paid?

  Angela embraced the pain in her hands as she pounded on Jojo’s door. Her life was spiraling apart, and she needed her friend to
hold her together. Joshua opened the door, tired and slightly rumpled, wearing a navy-blue nightgown and robe which reminded her too much of the outfit she’d worn for Tek earlier.

  She couldn’t control the sob that exploded out of her. Joshua pulled her inside and into his arms, closing the door behind them. “Oh, sweetie. What’s wrong?”

  Angela couldn’t stop her tears. “I-I need you to put on your w-wig. I need Jojo.”

  “Oh, honey-child, I don’t need my fabulous and expensive hair to give you that.” The now sultry, southern, feminine tone of his voice brought her some comfort.

  “But I need my girlfriend and the internet says it is respectful to use the right pronouns.” The logic puzzle that was working out her friend’s fluid gender was helping to calm her down.

  Jojo rolled her eyes and pulled her forward into the living room. “They are my pronouns and, sure as rain in April, I will use them as I see fit. Woman. Man. I am both and neither, so if you need a girlfriend right now, that is who I am. The internet can mind its own business.”

  Jojo sat down and Angela cuddled into her side, letting all the confusion wash over her in a flood of tears. When her sobs had become hiccups, her friend rubbed her back in soothing circles.

  “You ready to tell me what has you all riled up?”

  The day had been filled with so many bad things it was hard to pick where to start. Beginning with the most painful would be confusing. Chronologically seemed best.

  “R-Rick sent me home early and threatened to f-fire me.” The taste of bile filled her mouth at the memory of his smug face and hurtful words.

  “What reason would that pompous windbag have to fire you?” Jojo pulled back for a moment and got an excited look on her face. “Did you hit him in the nuts?”

  Angela laughed and felt some of her tension flowing out of her. “No. Though it was tempting. I insulted the GUI code and apparently it’s his private domain.”

  “Only Rick is allowed to insult code?”

  “No, apparently the GUI code is his baby. I know no one enjoys hearing their baby is ugly, but I’m telling you, Jojo, this crap was nightmare inducing.”