I added breathy gasps then. For his benefit. It was easy. All I had to do was open my mouth a little and out they came, my body sensing the pleasure despite my head’s distinct denial of it.
The pulsing knot of tension in my belly remained, an orgasm ready to release as soon as I gave it permission, which I wouldn’t. I could do this. I was doing this.
Time got lost in the haze of barely held control. I didn’t know how long Reeve had been moving in and out of me, how long I’d been fighting the mounting storm inside. The sweat that layered my skin and the wobbliness of my legs suggested it had been a good while, but the exhaustion I felt may have been from the effort to keep my climax away just as much as it could have been from the physical activity.
Whatever the time span, I was wearing out. I needed him to be finished, and soon. I laid on the vocals, increased the breathiness in my sighs, raised the pitch of my moan, hoping these efforts would move him along. In my experience, men were always triggered by the sounds. They loved believing they’d affected a woman so much that she was reduced to communicating through gasps and groans. Maybe it would work for Reeve as well.
Except then he slowed his tempo and tugged sharply at the knot in my hair, bringing my face back toward his so forcibly I cried out.
“I’m not going to come tonight,” Reeve said quietly at my ear, “until you’re gripping me like you did last time. So either you decide to let yourself orgasm or I can keep at this for a pretty fucking long time. It’s up to you. Just be forewarned – I’m not going to make it easy for you to withhold.”
My grasp on the haze gave out. Sensation came reeling back into full awareness. Every part of me, every inch, every molecule was ignited and ready for takeoff. There would be no more fighting it. Not just because I’d been called out but also because of the way he’d done it, threatening and demanding. Blatantly reminding me who was in command. I couldn’t control anything anymore if I wanted to. I was putty in his hands. I was the criminal who’d been cornered. Now all I had to do was surrender.
So I did.
I closed my eyes and let my body take over. My body that was currently owned and operated by Reeve Sallis. Now when he pinched at my nipple, I felt every zing it sent to my center. And when his other hand reached between us, drawing moisture from my cunt to my other hole, when he dipped a finger in and massaged the overly sensitive walls – the cries he elicited then were real and raw. The tension had built so long and so abundantly that even at its onset, it overwhelmed me. It shuddered through me with agonizing leisure, thundering through every nerve, gripping me with fierce control.
Then, finally, release. Blissed release. Stars shot across my vision and I fell, weak and boneless.
Reeve caught me and carried me to the bed where he dropped me on my backside. Kneeling before me, he lifted my lower body up like a bridge, and entered me with a punishing stroke. Over and over he pounded into me, fucking me with fury and ferocity. I hadn’t yet recovered from the last orgasm and this one was already starting to consume me.
My vision was glossy and unfocused, but I searched for his eyes, hoping to plead silently for relief. When I found them, when our gazes locked, something passed between us. Something without name or label. Something brutal and honest and undeniable.
That’s when Reeve surrendered as well. He groaned and tensed. His whole body contorted as he ground into me, burying his cock as deep as possible, coming as hard as I had. It set my next orgasm off and I clenched around him, even as he fell on top of me in exhaustion.
As soon as we recovered, he rolled off of me, away from me. He put an arm over his eyes and said, “You can stay if you want. Or leave. Your choice.” Then he went to sleep.
I lay silently, my body wanting to pass out, my head wanting to dissect and study. My emotions were what won out. They were mixed and intense and all over the place. They wanted me to run.
As I gathered my clothes, I tried to convince myself to stay. You need to get closer to him. This is your opportunity. Accept his invitation.
But soon I was dressed. And no matter how strong the argument, I couldn’t bring myself to go back to Reeve’s bed.
I found the keys he’d left on the coffee table by my purse and jacket. Outside, a gray car had been pulled out of the garage and was waiting in the drive. My already weak legs nearly fell when I saw it. I didn’t know enough about cars to know the model, but I knew enough to know that Jaguar Coupes were pretty pricey. And it was mine. Reeve had given it to me in exchange for what had happened upstairs.
Which was what, exactly?
I didn’t want to think about it, but the thoughts kept rolling unwelcome through my head. Even as I climbed into the car and familiarized myself with the controls, I was reflecting on him. On us. As I started the engine and pulled down the driveway, as I wondered how I’d get through the gate and as I sighed with relief when it swung open automatically, as I drove down Mulholland in a car that took every curve with such ease and beauty it was art – through it all, I was engrossed with Reeve.
Eventually, I let the thoughts take precedence. I said to myself what I didn’t want to admit – I’d set out to capture him and instead he’d captured me. I couldn’t fight it. It was done.
And though I’d keep searching for Amber – always – she no longer mattered in my relationship with Reeve. Without her, I’d still be consumed with him, obsessed with him. Owned by him.
I pulled to the side of the road at the first opportunity, and I sobbed.
CHAPTER 14
I’d read the same paragraph in my book three times and still had no idea what it said. Honestly, the only reason I had my Kindle open was to keep others from bothering me during lunch. A voice star doesn’t require a dressing room, which meant I had no place to hide away on set. At least the catering area was big enough that there were other tables for those who wanted to be social. A mobile device in front of my face said that I was not one of those people.
Today, though, I couldn’t even bother with the pretense. There was too much on my mind. Too much Reeve on my mind. It had been four days since I’d left him in his bed, and I hadn’t heard a word from him. Even the title to the Jag had no accompanying note when it arrived the day before and I was riddled with doubts. Had I done the right thing in leaving? Had I fucked up in some other way? Did he decide that he didn’t like me after all?
I picked at my tuna salad, so wrapped up in my head that I didn’t see Joe walking toward me until he was practically at my table.
The set was a closed one with strict security. And I hadn’t put Joe on any clearance lists. “How did you get —?”
“It’s Vilanakis,” he said, cutting me off. He sat across from me and threw a manila envelope on the table in front of him. “In the picture. She’s with Vilanakis.”
“Wow.” I knew he’d get up to speed eventually. But I hadn’t prepared myself with a reaction. “How, um, did you figure it out?” Mostly I wanted to ask, Does this mean that you’re going to tail Reeve again? Because then I’d need to prepare more than a reaction. I’d need a defense.
Joe shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. The question is how did you figure it out?”
“I…” Fuck.
Joe pulled a document from his envelope and placed it in front of me. “This came through my reports yesterday.”
I glanced at it, not needing more time to study it to recognize it as a copy of the official title that had been delivered to me by courier the day before. Guess that answered whether or not I needed a defense. Unable to look at him, I focused on moving my fork around on my plate.
Joe leaned forward, forcing my attention. “Emily. Why is Reeve Sallis signing over the title of one of his cars to you? One of his expensive cars, at that.”
I swallowed. “I thought you weren’t watching him anymore.”
“I’m not. But I still have a few flags out for suspicious behavior. This” – he pointed at the paper – “is definitely suspicious behavior. Want to tell me what�
�s up?”
“Just. He. It’s.” I ran a finger down the bridge of my nose. “It’s complicated.”
Joe muttered something under his breath then leveled me with a stern look. “It would be easier to work for you, you know, if you weren’t always working against me.”
“I’m not working against you, Joe.” My volume was higher than I meant it to be. I caught myself and both lowered my voice and leaned in closer to make sure no one could hear me. “This isn’t about Amber. It’s about me. Mostly. I can’t explain or defend myself. All I can say is don’t worry about me and Reeve.”
“Dammit, Em,” Joe said, hitting his fist on the table hard enough to make my plate jump. “He’s not a good man. I can’t protect you from the things he might do to you.”
I covered my face with my hands. “I know.” Then I threw them in the air. “I know.” I didn’t need Joe to tell me Reeve’s faults. I knew he wasn’t a good man. At least, I knew that he wasn’t good for me. It was the same thing as far as I was concerned. “And I’m not expecting you to protect me. I’m in this on my own.”
Joe shook his head. Then he sat back and shook it again. “Jesus, Emily. I don’t even know what… Are you even still interested in what happened to Amber?”
“Yes.” When he didn’t look convinced, I said it again. “Yes. I am. More than ever.” I searched his face, looking for understanding or at least acknowledgment. There was nothing. Joe was excellent at hiding his emotions. I bet he was a great poker player.
I sighed. “I don’t expect you to understand. But hopefully you can do your job without having to. I have to know where she is. And if I get lost on the way to finding her, then that’s what has to happen. Just… we have to find her.”
Joe scrutinized me for several seconds, his knee bouncing against the table leg. Finally he cursed under his breath and pulled another paper from his envelope. He turned it so it faced me and set it in front of me.
I picked it up. It was stapled in the corner, several sheets of what appeared to be a list of phone numbers. I flipped through, finding some were highlighted, some crossed out. One was circled several times. Not understanding, I raised a questioning brow.
“Her last call was made from Sallis’s ranch in Wyoming.”
“What?” I looked down at the paper again realizing it must be a copy of calls from the ranch. “So that’s where they were when she called me? Are you sure?”
“Apparently, it’s one of his favorite resorts. He spends a lot of time there. They were there all summer after leaving the Springs.”
I have to get there. It was the most prominent thought I had even though I wasn’t sure what I could do or find out once I got there.
I set the paper down and looked at Joe. “What are you doing with this information? Are you following up on it?”
“I took a trip up there. Did some poking around but all I really got was confirmation she was there. Now I’m dropping this lead.” He picked up the phone list and slipped it back into his folder. “She’s been seen since then. This isn’t necessarily relevant.”
“But you told me anyway. Knowing I think it is.” He also had to know that I would try to do something with the information myself. Did that mean he supported me even if he didn’t understand?
Joe closed his eyes and circled his neck around, stretching the muscles. Then he cracked his knuckles and said, “Actually, I think it might be relevant too.”
“You do?”
“There’s some information that says Vilanakis might be involved in trafficking.”
“Trafficking women?” I felt sick.
“Yes.”
He gave me a second to process that, but he could have given me an hour and it wouldn’t have been enough time. How could it be? The things that Amber did, the way she was – call her a whore or a slut and it would be offensive and also not far from the truth. She sold sex. There was no denying that. But it was at her discretion. It didn’t mean she deserved to be pushed into anything against her will. It didn’t mean she deserved to be a slave.
“It takes a huge network to run an operation like that,” Joe said, tentatively. “I wonder if Sallis isn’t involved.”
“God. No!” This time I had to cover my mouth. I hadn’t taken that leap yet. Hadn’t put Reeve into the Vilanakis/trafficking equation and the thought of it now repulsed me.
I tested the idea carefully. Reeve was cold and dominating, and I suspected that he could be rather cruel in the bedroom if he wanted to be, but did I think he sold other women to men who would do much worse?
“No,” I said again, firmly. “That’s not what this is.” My own submission had been with consent. He demanded it from me but he’d never forced it.
“Are you sure?” Joe let the question settle. “Maybe he isn’t involved with the worst of it. Maybe he simply provides financing. Maybe Amber found out. Tried to let someone know, called you. And when Sallis discovered it he turned her over to his partner.”
I shook my head, unwilling to believe it. Was that naïve? Bile gathered in the back of my throat and I pushed my salad away. It was a horrible thought, but wasn’t it the first scenario that made sense?
There was no way I could accuse Reeve without the proof, but defending him was equally out of my reach. I took a shaky breath. “Reeve’s personal staff, the ones closest to him – they seem to all be Greek. They have the accents. They speak the language. Does that mean anything?”
“It could.”
“One of them, a driver named Filip, has a tattoo on his neck that looks like the ring in the picture with Amber. Vilanakis’s ring.”
“Emily —”
I didn’t want to hear his warning. “Maybe it’s Reeve’s people that work for Michelis. Did you consider that? Maybe it’s his staff that turned Amber over to their boss. Maybe Reeve has nothing to do with it at all.”
He reached his hand out toward me, his palm flat on the table. “Emily, you have to extricate yourself from this man.”
“I…” He was right. Of course he was right. But. “I can’t, Joe.”
“Why? Has he threatened you? Tell me and I can help you.” Joe stood and came around the table to sit next to me. He lowered his voice, and said, “Whatever threat he’s made, Emily, if he told you not to tell anyone, you can tell me. I’ll get help without jeopardizing you. I know people. We can take care of this.”
“I thought you couldn’t protect me,” I sneered, uncomfortable with his closeness and his show of concern. Both were unexpected and unfamiliar.
“More like I don’t want to have to.”
“You don’t have to. Reeve didn’t threaten me.” Not in any way I didn’t want him to. “And I can’t leave him. Can we just leave it at that and please, don’t ask me to again?”
He seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment. “Okay. I won’t. But tell me you’ll be careful.”
I forced a smile and met his eyes to reassure him. “I will.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it certainly was an impossible thing to agree to. Being with Reeve at all was, by the very nature of him, not careful.
It was better not to remind Joe of that. I changed the subject. “So what are you doing now? About Amber?”
“With the Greek mafia in the mix, it’s an even bigger investigation than I first guessed.”
“Are you saying you can’t do it?” Until that very moment, I hadn’t realized how much I was relying on Joe even as I conducted my own investigation.
“No. I can do it. It’s just going to take a little more time to get the leads we need. If Amber’s been pulled into trafficking —” He caught himself, realized it was too gruesome for me to consider. “Well. Anyway. It might take a while to find her. But I will. We will.”
“Thank you.” I meant it so much that I said it again. “Thank you.”
“I’ll let you know when I find anything new. And don’t call me. I don’t trust that your new friend isn’t watching your phone. I’ll have a burner couriered to you here tomorrow that we
can use for future communication.” He stood and started to walk away.
After only a few steps, he called back to me. “Hey, Emily, if you got lost, I’d come looking for you too.”
I was still reeling from everything else he’d told me. I didn’t have room for this as well.
Thankfully, he didn’t wait for a response, and he left as abruptly as he’d arrived.
The next several days passed without hearing from Reeve, giving time for Joe’s revelations to become a played-out soundtrack in my mind. The new information scared me, yes. For Amber. But it didn’t change my curiosity about Reeve. I’d already accepted my draw to him and it was with the terms of “no matter what.” He could be the worst thing I ever imagined, and I’d still be pulled to him. And until it was proven that he was actually a bad guy and not just a rumored one, I didn’t plan on fighting it.
I wasn’t sure I could fight it even then.
By Saturday, I was desperate to hear from him again. So far he’d proven himself a weekend lover, so if he was going to call, I knew it would be today. Or maybe I just hoped it would be today because it was that dreaded February holiday. The one that saw chocolates and wine overstocked in all the stores. At least those items were as appropriate for self-soothing as they were for gift giving.
I was pouring my second glass of wine when the phone rang, and it was only a little past noon. Maybe that’s why my chest felt funny when I saw the caller ID, but probably not.
“I didn’t expect you to be the leaving type,” Reeve said, skipping a greeting yet again.
“I was eager to take my new car for a ride.” I curled my feet up under me on the couch and delivered my excuses with enough sugar to hopefully hide the truth. “And I had an interview scheduled the next morning. Besides, I figured you for the type to want your space.” None of it was a lie, but mostly I didn’t want him to know that I’d actually panicked and run.
“I appreciate that. But I don’t mind you staying the night. It’s nice to have someone to wake up and fuck on occasion.”
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