Caught in the Dark

by Ann Jensen

  She took a drink of her water then did a little kick sideways with one leg sending her skirt flaring. “See.” She drew out the e like a child, making him want to chuckle.

  He thinned his lips and stared her straight in the eyes. “Young lady front and center.” His voice held more of a growl than he had intended, but her smile said she didn’t mind it. With an exaggerated march, she stomped over to him and executed a messy salute. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up onto the island in one motion. His intent had been to bring the injured area into the light, but he had to bite back a groan at the sexy sight of her in the tiny skirt and white blouse perched up on the marble.

  His eyes traveled down her body trying not to linger on the sight of her chest as it moved with her short, startled breaths. The swell of her hips against his hands made him want to clutch onto her, but he resisted. Instead, he ran his hands down the sides of her thighs until he reached the top of her knee socks. Carefully, he pulled the cotton down until he had her kneecaps uncovered.

  It wasn’t as bad as he feared, the socks had kept any dirt from going into the little cuts he saw on both knees. He ran a light touch over each. “Does this hurt?”

  “Not really.” Angela’s words were breathy. “My guess is only the right one is going to bruise. Will you kiss it and make it better?”

  Tek felt his dick come to life as the idea of placing his lips on her filled his mind. He ran his hand up her body to her neck and wrapped his fingers into her hair. With a firm tug, he tilted her head so her beautiful teal eyes locked with his. “You’re playing with fire, little girl.”

  Tek saw her pulse racing against her neck as she swallowed. “I know. I can’t seem to stop myself.”

  “Right now, I want nothing more than to push this little skirt up and see what kind of panties you have on.” Tek enjoyed Angela’s little groan. “Are you a good girl wearing little white panties confused by how wet she is?” He leaned in and nibbled her ear. “Or a naughty little tease who wears a red thong so I have to punish her for being out of uniform?”

  He felt her legs spread wider, as if begging him to follow through. God, how he wanted to, but they had too much still unsettled between them. If he lost himself in this moment, he knew when it was over, things would be worse between them.

  Staring into her eyes, he realized he wanted all of this woman, not fleeting moments of play and pleasure, but something lasting. He moved his hand from her hair to cup her face. Unable to resist, he brushed his lips against hers and took a small taste.

  Gathering all of his self-control, he stepped back. “We need to talk.”

  Angela blinked a few times then pulled her legs together, but not before he glimpsed white cotton.

  “You’re probably right.” Her hands fiddled with the edge of her skirt in nervous motions. “I’m not very good at t-talking about h-hard things.”

  Tek laughed. She hadn’t meant her words to be dirty, but it was a perfect example of how innocent she was. He leaned back against the counter across from her and decided it was best to rip off the band-aid.

  “Have you forgiven me?”

  “I don’t know, s-sort of. I trust you with my safety. You put yourself in danger to protect me. You’re helping me stay safe, even though you could have handed that duty off to the police. I’m a-attracted to you.” The pink flush that filled her cheeks was adorable. “You’re smart, and you don’t seem to mind m-my quirks.”

  “Quirks?”

  Angela gestured at her outfit. “Roleplaying. I s-started doing it at the club to try to discover who I w-wanted to be. I like who I am, but I love being all those other things too. I love being Cami, and what you did stole the joy of losing myself in a role. Like I h-have to be Angela playing a role rather than being Cami the schoolgirl.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if I’m making any sense.”

  Tek nodded. “Trust in any relationship is important. That first time you set the rules, we communicated, but everything after that was fucked up.”

  The silence in the room that followed his statement was heavy. If he wanted to explore the undeniable chemistry between them, really find out what the two of them might be together, he couldn’t accept only part of her. Being a full time dominant for a woman hadn’t ever appealed to him because he had thought only of the individual roles that seemed to go along with that dynamic. He liked variety.

  The thought of letting Angela slip away, only getting a small taste of paradise was unacceptable. Regaining her trust fully would take work, but he had never backed down from a challenge.

  “I think we need rules. Establish expectations so I can regain your trust.”

  Angela wrinkled her nose. “What, like I have to eat my vegetables, clean my room, and greet you at the door naked? And you have to say please and give me at least two orgasms a day?”

  The bark of laughter that exploded from his chest felt amazing. “Not quite what I was thinking, though I think you are aiming far too low on the orgasm count for the start of negotiations.”

  She giggled and the musical sound filled the kitchen. “What were you thinking then?”

  “The easiest is that we agree not to lie to one another and that no matter what we are doing, the safeword stoplight system will be followed. Even if it is a simple conversation, you can safeword but you can’t lie.”

  “The premise sounds good, but might be a little hard to execute.”

  “Oh? How is that?”

  “Well, I’m not really a schoolgirl, or a secretary, or a slave girl. How do we define lying versus pretending?”

  She had a point, but Tek thought he had a solution. “When I call you Angela, I expect nothing but truth. Other times I’ll call you little girl, Cami, or slave.”

  Tek enjoyed the way her eyes dilated and her breathing grew shallow. “So.” She swallowed and cleared her voice. “I’ll call you something like Master, Daddy, or Mr. Vallier when we are pretending, and Joseph if I want to simply be me?”

  Tek was glad he was in suit pants because his dick was so hard it would have been straining uncomfortably against the zipper of his jeans. He was glad she seemed to not only be willing to give him another chance, but eager.

  “Yes. Real names are like a safeword. No matter which of us says it, all roleplaying ends. We don’t have to stop what we are doing, but we need to be honest and not hide in a role.”

  Angela bit her lip and nodded. “I think that will work. Why are you doing all of this? I can’t imagine it is just because you want to f-fuck me. There have to be hundreds of girls who would be a lot less trouble and a lot more experienced than me.”

  Tek closed the distance between them and pressed his hard cock against her legs. “Oh, I want you, not going to lie about that. I don’t know where this is going or what tomorrow might bring. Call me a caveman if you want, but my honest answer is because I want you to be mine. Mine to protect, mine to pleasure, and mine to explore.”

  She looked at him with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “Caveman isn’t a fantasy I’ve really dreamed about, but I might be convinced.”

  Tek claimed her mouth and tried to let her feel just how happy she had made him. She met him with a passion that threatened to take his breath away.

  “Hope you don’t mind, but I found some clothes upstairs that fit.” Jojo’s voice threw cold water on both of them and they broke apart like teenagers caught necking.

  The man who stood in the entrance to the kitchen was so unlike the diva they had traveled with that Tek’s thoughts took a moment to adjust.

  Joshua was in a pair of relaxed blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt that showed off his muscular arms well. His shaved head and bare face looked so different without the wig and makeup altering his ebony features, it was hard to imagine them as the same person.

  “Uhm, I guess you’re done with the shower.” Angela’s blush was slowly working its way up her neck.

  Joshua raised a teasing eyebrow. “Been out for a while, sweetie. Guess you were too
distracted to notice.”

  Angela hopped down off the counter and gave both of them a shy smile. “I guess I’ll take my shower now.”

  Joshua gave a chuckle. “Be quick. I’m starving and that barbeque sounds heaven sent.”

  “Careful, Tek. When Joshua gets hangry, it isn’t a pretty sight.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Tek watched as Angela scurried out of the kitchen, wanting to follow after her but knowing he needed to give her some space.

  Joshua leaned forward and from the serious look on his face, Tek saw he had something on his mind.

  “You’re not my boss anymore, so I’m going to give it to you straight. If it were up to me, I’d beat the living crap out of you for what you tried to do to that girl. You saved us today and are giving us a safe place, so maybe she thinks the karma scales are balanced. I don’t.”

  Tek clenched his fists. The urge to lash out was there, but this was Angela’s best friend and hurting him would crush any hope he had of fixing what he had broken. So he stayed silent.

  “She’s a grown woman. I heard some of what you two said and I can only hope this isn’t some sex game for you. I’ll try to keep out of it and be supportive of whatever she chooses, but you should know… I don’t care that you’re a badass biker billionaire. If you hurt my girl again, I will find a way to make you pay.”

  Tek respected Joshua for speaking his mind. This man could come between him and Angela if he didn’t at least try to make peace. So he gave the man his own truth.

  “Getting between us is a bad idea. Not going to say I’m never going to fuck up, but I will never again hurt her on purpose. So out of respect for her, I’m going to forget you threatened me and be glad she has a friend who cares.”

  “Oh, I care. Break her in any way and you will see just how much I care.”

  Chapter 24

  Who’s your Daddy? … No seriously, who?

  The relaxed atmosphere and amazing spread of almost gourmet food was not what Angela had imagined when she imagined a biker barbeque. The weathered picnic table she sat at was well maintained. Her stomach ached from the amazing food she had eaten. Joshua was laughing near the grills, chatting with a group of women. The way he could make friends at a moment’s notice made her a tad jealous.

  She felt like a social idiot sitting away from everyone trying not to freak out because she was surrounded by strangers. At least Tek had taken pity on her and kept her company while she ate enough for five large men. Now that she had adjusted to her surroundings, she was embarrassed by her own assumptions. This wasn’t a wild drunken event that she should fear.

  If anything, it was more like a neighborhood get-together. Well, if all the men were ex-military hotties who wore black leather vests with patches on them and the neighborhood was in an enclosed compound.

  The biker outlaw culture had been briefly covered in one of her sociology classes as an example of closed societies that exist within the modern world. What she was seeing didn’t fit within anything she had learned. There were more men than women, but those present looked happy, not like oppressed slaves only used for sex or service. A few of the ladies were dressed like rocker chicks, but others would fit in at any PTA meeting. She had on jeans and a sparkly t-shirt that said, ‘Ride or Die’.

  The men had less variety in style. Even Tek had changed into what seemed to be the uniform of tight, well-worn jeans, a t-shirt, and vest. Some of the patches on the men’s vests matched, but most had lots of extras that were all different.

  Angela studied the worn black leather on Tek’s back. “What do the patches on your vest mean?”

  “It’s a cut, not a vest.” Tek chuckled.

  Angela rolled her eyes. “Okay. What do the patches on your cut mean?”

  “Sorry. Think of it like the military. Everyone has their club and chapter on the back, it’s like a branch of service.” He gestured to his chest. “Name and rank. The rest are accomplishments or sometimes events we’ve been to.”

  She nodded to his shoulder. “The 1% means you don’t follow the law.”

  “It’s more complicated than that. Being a 1%er means different things to different clubs. To the Dark Sons it means that laws aren’t as important as the club. That we would do anything regardless of consequence for the good of our Brothers and their families.”

  “Do your Brothers go to jail a lot?”

  “Sometimes, but not as much as you would think. Unlike some clubs, we keep ourselves tight and only break the law when it is worth the risk.”

  Angela remembered her own less than legal activities. Didn’t she do exactly the same thing when she chose her sense of right over what was legal? “I guess I can understand that.”

  “I thought you might. Would you like some dessert? Pixie makes some of the best cookies on the planet.”

  Angela looked down and saw she had eaten every bite on her plate. “If they are half as good as the food, absolutely.”

  “You going to come with?”

  Angela was enjoying the people watching and wasn’t ready to dive into meeting his Brothers yet. “Do you mind if I stay here? I promise I’ll put on my social hat in a few.”

  He stood and kissed her on the head. The sight of him as he walked away was a treat. His ass could win any contest it wanted to. Angela giggled at her own silliness. Every man here probably did hundreds of squats a day. She hadn’t enjoyed working out herself until she found the pole dancing class. She had even installed a pole in her spare bedroom so she didn’t have to face the boredom of free weights ever again.

  “Hi. I’m Pixie, you must be Angela.”

  Angela spun around, startled. She hadn’t heard anyone approaching. The tiny blonde woman standing directly behind her wasn’t a threat, but her heart pounded for a few more moments while her brain caught up.

  The woman was dressed in an adorable dress that showed off her obvious baby bump. Green eyes that seemed friendly studied her as she caught her breath.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Do you mind if I sit?”

  “N-no, go ahead.”

  Her face was so familiar. Angela pummeled her mind for where she recognized the woman from. Had she come into the strip club? No, a pregnant woman there would have stood out. She smiled, and it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. The pieces fell into place and Angela’s body froze.

  It was the girl from her files. The smile of the small child perfectly mirrored in an adult face. Tek’s sister. And she had sat down next to her on the picnic bench. Did he know his sister was here? He had to, right?

  The woman sat and nodded towards where Tek had gone. “That’s my old man, Sharp, talking to Tek.”

  Tek was smiling, talking to a man with brown hair and a scruffy jawline. Angela couldn’t focus on them since her own brain was going in circles. She stared at the woman, reviewing the file she had briefly read. Remembering all the photos she had spent hours creating as she aged the little girl into an almost exact replica of this adult woman.

  “Oh my God. I’m staring, that is so rude of me. I didn’t expect to see you here. It’s so nice to meet you, Phoebe, or do you go by Nicole now? Wait, you said Pixie. So, I guess you picked a new name.” Angela was babbling but couldn’t seem to stop. That Tek had found his sister after all this time must have been so exciting and now, he was going to be an uncle.

  Pixie pulled back a look of suspicion on her face. “How do you know my name? Did Tek tell you about me?”

  “No. I mean his sister being kidnapped at age four is public knowledge and I wanted to help so I used aging software and some searches. I got the results with your information this morning. Then someone tried to kidnap me, so I got distracted, but I guess he found you on his own. So, I don’t need to tell him.”

  Pixie had gone pale and Angela got concerned.

  “I’m s-sorry if I’m babbling. I’m just glad he found you. It’s like a fairy tale. Kid from foster care finds out they are actually a billionaire heiress kidnappe
d from their family.”

  “Sharp!” Pixie’s strangled cry was loud.

  Angela shot up. “I’ll get him. Is it the baby?” She spun to run towards the food table and bounced off a chest of solid muscle. She staggered back a few steps and realized Sharp must have heard her because he was now kneeling in front of his woman.

  Tek wrapped an arm around her side, steadying her.

  “What’s wrong, darlin’?” Sharp ran a gentle hand down Pixie’s arm.

  Pixie pointed at Angela. “She said… She said…” was all she seemed to be able to get out.

  Angela tried to figure out what she had said that had so upset the woman. Sure, she had been babbling, but—

  “What the fuck did you say to my woman?” Sharp was in her face, his anger, a physical force that knocked all thoughts out of her brain.

  Tek pulled her behind him. “Calm down, Brother.”

  Joshua seemed to appear out of nowhere and placed himself at Tek’s shoulder. With the wall of friendly men between her and the very scary man, her thoughts kicked into gear and she gasped.

  Angela leaned to the side and caught Pixie’s eyes. “Y-you didn’t know?”

  Pixie shook her head. Angela paced, embarrassed to have dropped a bomb on the woman.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I mean, I assumed, you’re here, he’s here, how could you not know?”

  Tek grabbed her shoulders to hold her still. “What didn’t she know?”

  Angela’s thoughts swirled trying to figure out how to make up for dropping something so important on a pregnant woman. “That she’s your sister.”

  Tek stumbled back as if punched, and Angela felt awful. She had done it again!

  Joshua held her steady, looking around at the scene that was forming. More Brothers had come over and the women were gathering around Pixie as if trying to block her from danger.

  It made no sense, shouldn’t everyone be happy? Joshua tipped her chin up. “Sweetie, you need to back up to the beginning so we can all catch up to where your brilliant mind has jumped.”