I suppose that was why when the tables were turned, you experienced a certain type of shock. It was like you were living someone else’s life. There was no possible way you were the victim. It must be some mistake.
When you finally realized it wasn’t and your life was turned upside down, you started to sulk. Your gaze developed that hollow expression, and everything someone explained to you didn’t stick in your memory because you weren’t really there anymore. You were engulfed by grief, by denial.
Everyone could become a victim. It didn’t matter who you were. In the end, we were all the same.
***
I sat motionless in the back seat of the vehicle I was forced into. The ride was smooth. I didn’t feel a bump in the road or slide across the seat when the vehicle turned. I was even granted the security of a seat belt, which I found odd. The blindfold that had been forced over my eyes made it clear I was being delivered, so I found it strange someone was worried about my safety. I wanted to ask questions but didn’t. Instead, I made a mental note of everything I encountered before I was taken.
Catching a glimpse of the SUV before I was rudely thrown into it, I knew for a fact there was more than one man involved. The way they so easily snatched me off the sidewalk, it was obvious they had been watching me for at least a couple days, waiting for the perfect opportunity. My ignorance had been my downfall, and I knew I would soon pay the price.
I sensed these men were professionals, which scared the shit out of me. There was no way I could escape unless someone allowed it or slipped up…and my current situation told me neither would happen anytime soon.
How could I have been so stupid? Alek warned me. Avery had even warned me…before we went through with our plan that had put me in my current situation. She felt tricking my bodyguard was a mistake. Her fear should have been a red flag. Avery constantly took risks, but she wasn’t comfortable with my plan. Being my best friend, she decided to help me anyway. Now I knew I had underestimated the situation.
The attack on Alek was much worse than I thought. His words replayed in my head. I should’ve paid closer attention. I should have considered the big picture.
“If someone wants to hurt me, the first thing they’ll do is go after my weaknesses. Remember, Mia. You are my wife.”
Everything before and after didn’t matter because I knew that part of our relationship was over. I realized it from the moment I lied and told him I still loved him, fearing how he would react if I didn’t. I said it because I knew I needed to lie in order to survive. I had never been honest with him about anything, not even the first night we met. So what was the purpose of starting to tell the truth now? It would only start an argument, which would distract us from what was going on around us, slowly creeping up to our door.
Everything about our relationship had been carefully thought out. Me being the perfect wife. Me loving him. I had become so good at pretending, I didn’t even have to try anymore. Each lie I told came out flawlessly, and whenever I got questioned about something I’d previously lied about, the excuse easily followed.
Sadly, the only thing I got out of our heated shower session was the feel of him inside me. I saw another man’s face as he told me he loved me, fucking me into an orgasm that left me weak, reminding me of everything I was up against, everything I had to lose.
Since my hands weren’t restrained, I slowly moved them to feel my pocket, careful not to move too quickly. My heart sank when I realized my phone was no longer there. When did they take it? Everything had happened so rapidly, I couldn’t recall. I started to feel around for my purse, hoping it was nearby, but a deep voice stopped me.
“Don’t. Just sit back and relax. If you cooperate, no one will hurt you.”
I froze. That voice… I knew that voice. I just couldn’t place it. I needed answers. However, I had to be careful with my questions. I knew these kind of men, of what they were capable. The quiet ones who took their job seriously. Their only goal was to finish what they were paid to do.
“What do you want? Where are you taking me?” My voice came out weak, shaky.
Even though I was scared, I was also desperate for answers. I wanted an explanation. After the man had broken the silence with his command, I had gained courage. My survival instincts had kicked in. I sensed him staring at me and decided I had nothing to lose.
“Do you know who I am? Who my husband is? When he finds out about this, he’s going to—”
He gave a stern laugh. “I’m aware of who your husband is, Mrs. Johnson. Actually, I know him quite well.”
I didn’t realize a person could experience so many emotions at once. Fear, relief, shock, worry. The second he said he was acquainted with Alek, I knew he wasn’t bluffing. It wasn’t a way to get inside my head or frighten me. The man with a voice I couldn’t recall, but which filled me with a sense of terror, knew my husband, and judging from his tone of voice, it wasn’t on bad terms.
Would Alek have me taken? Why? With the information I’d just been given, the idea of him being behind things made sense…unfortunately. All he had to do was look hard enough and remember my words, piecing together they didn’t really align. My beauty was a distraction, but not if he started digging thoroughly.
With this new data, there was only one conclusion. Alek was punishing me for lying. My lies had grown larger throughout the years, and maybe I had unknowingly slipped up. My husband had somehow figured out who I really was. The woman I tried to forget, erase. The woman I knew wouldn’t be safe if her truth was revealed.
I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt the wetness slide down my cheeks. I tried to conceal my tears, but my chest started to heave as more spilled out. My voice cracked as a whisper left my lips.
“What have I gotten myself into?”
***
It felt like ages before the vehicle stopped. After our short conversation, the ride had continued in silence. The man never once commented on my distress. In fact, no one said anything. I had started to believe we would stay in the vehicle forever when I finally heard him speak again, but it wasn’t directed toward me. He was on the phone.
“We’re here. Just making sure it’s okay to bring her in.”
By the time the door opened, I considered refusing to get out of the car, but he had told me nothing would happen to me if I cooperated. However, him asking someone else if it was okay to bring me in made me think I was some sort of bargaining chip. They wanted to be sure I wasn’t seen. Wanted to keep me hidden.
So many negative thoughts began to swim in my head, I decided to just give in, surrendering to whatever was in store. I had put myself into my current situation by disobeying and skipping out on my security, but if Alek were doing this to teach me a lesson, I would never forgive him.
I sighed silently. In the back of my mind, I had a feeling it wasn’t Alek or my father. I just prayed for those possibilities because, in the end, I knew I wouldn’t be safe wherever I was going. If it weren’t them, I had walked right into the arms of the enemy. I knew the only reason someone would kidnap me was to use me. Use me to threaten my husband…or my father, if he had really come back. What if this person were the same one who had threatened my father and killed my mother? What if it were the one who tried to shoot Alek? There were so many possibilities, I gave up thinking about them.
“Watch your step,” the man said, grasping my arm.
I was ushered out of the vehicle. We walked a few minutes, then stopped. I heard a ding and doors slide open. An elevator? I was led inside. As the doors closed, I held my breath, claustrophobia closing in on me. The man didn’t say anything else, yet I knew we weren’t alone. I heard breathing coming from my other side.
My heartbeat quickened as the elevator climbed. When the doors finally opened again, I felt a light nudge and stepped forward. The elevator doors closed and I was met with silence. Was I the only one who stepped off? I waited to be attacked or something, but that didn’t happen.
What did happen lef
t me confused, breathless…and aroused. I smelled that familiar scent–his scent. I shivered as arms wrapped around me, pulling me against a hard chest. Wetness develop between my legs as his hand slid up my dress, feeling for the evidence of my need, my desire. I was no longer scared or worried. There were so many signs of him that would be forever etched in my brain. His smell. His touch. His dominant aura. I would never be able to forget him.
As the fabric was gently removed from my face, the person turned me to face him. His three-piece suit fit him perfectly, his gray eyes stormy with need.
Wesley Black.
***
We stared at each other in silence, the pieces falling into place. Wesley had arranged for me to be kidnapped. I waited for him to explain, to assure me I was looking at this all wrong, but none of it came. The only thing I saw was the guilt on his face as my gaze pleaded with him to make me understand. To make me not look at him for what he really was. The enemy. I didn’t cry. Instead, rage began to develop.
“What the hell’s going on, Wesley?”
His mouth opened, but I held up a hand to stop him. I needed him to understand my frustration.
“Do you know what Alek will do when he finds out you kidnapped his wife? He will have you—”
He turned and walked inside the condo, seemingly not concerned, leaving me speechless in the hallway. Furious, I charged after him, stopping in my tracks when we arrived in the kitchen. Smelling food cooking, I turned, seeing the dining room table set for two. My anger starting to fade, I heard the faint sound of music in the background, a fire crackling in the fireplace in the corner. The lights were dim, allowing the moon to shine through the large window.
I didn’t realize that much time had passed. I guessed fearing for your life, being blindfolded in the back of a car, made you lose track of time.
Did he really think he could kidnap me and I would forgive him? Was he that foolish to believe I would happily have dinner with him after what he had put me through? The fear. The worry. The tears. He’d lost his mind.
I looked from the table back to him calmly tending to the food on the stove. I tried again.
“Wesley, if my—”
He slammed his fist onto the counter, making me jump, the anger on his face unfamiliar to me. I had never seen him so enraged. He looked like he was barely keeping it together.
“Please, sit down, Mia.” His voice was restrained, almost like a plea.
I furrowed my brows. “What? No. How do you expect me to—”
“I need you to sit the fuck down, Mia.”
I felt the heat build in my cheeks. The man who pleasured me before was gone. The man I dreamed about constantly didn’t exist. It had all been an act. He had lured me in, careful to hide his true self. I had always known my husband had a dark side, but I never imagined the man who had finally made me feel again was the same.
I recalled something Avery had mentioned when we were at Wesley’s club. It was right after she found out I was with him. Her words flooded in as I looked at him, cautiously making my way over to the table.
“You mean Wesley Black’s office? He’s just as bad as—”
Her words didn’t seem important at the time, but they were starting to make sense. She had tried to warn me, just like she warned me about Alek. What had I missed? What was she not telling me? Normally, when a person hinted at something, they gave you a reason, but Avery never did. She’d just make a comment, then drop it, leaving me to decide what it all meant.
She wasn’t able to finish that night because the phone went dead, giving me time to contemplate everything, never once considering the intentions of the man I had done those things with. I had pushed everything aside, including the fact that he was rich, powerful, and successful. He owned a club and restaurant many important people frequented. Why had my husband felt the need to visit him himself when he normally had someone else do it or handled things over the phone? Wesley had mentioned Alek’s visit had been business, but what type? My husband dealt with either the law-abiding or corrupt. There was no gray area. For some reason, Wesley didn’t seem like an upstanding citizen, especially since he had me kidnapped in broad daylight.
I sat motionless in the chair, preparing for what would happen next. I realized I didn’t know this man any better than a stranger on the street. The person I thought I knew no longer existed. The man who pleasured me in ways I had never experienced before had vanished, and it didn’t appear as though he’d be back anytime soon. I was alone and in unfamiliar territory. I didn’t know how to feel, what to think. So I obeyed him, albeit reluctantly. It appeared I had no other choice.
It didn’t take him long to recover from his unexpected outburst. He resumed cooking, not bothering to turn around and apologize. He acted like it never happened, which pissed me off. I stared at him as he grabbed two plates from the cabinet, placing a generous amount of food onto each. I stiffened when he walked toward the table, setting a plate in front of me, then calmly doing the same for himself before taking a seat across from me. I had felt his hand brush over mine but pretended it didn’t happen, pretended the act didn’t leave me timid and needy. Even considering all he’d done, I still couldn’t prevent my body from reacting to him.
He uncorked a bottle of wine, pouring us each an ample amount. I was grateful because I needed something to help with the wave of emotions stirring inside me. I downed my wine, trying to escape the awkward silence. As he was about to take a sip of his, he hesitated. Cautiously, his gaze met mine and he gestured to the food in front of me.
“I thought you might be hungry. I—”
I held up a hand and glared at him, eyes narrowed, deciding to speak my mind. It appeared the wine had worked on boosting my courage.
“Don’t, Wesley. Don’t act like you care about me. Let’s not forget I was snatched off the sidewalk and thrown into an SUV, only to find out it was because of the one person I thought—”
I stopped. He didn’t deserve to know anything I was thinking. He was the enemy. Nothing had changed in the last thirty minutes. If anything, I had gained a better understanding of whom I was dealing with, what kind of man he truly was. I looked over at the wine bottle, wondering if he would stop me from pouring myself another. He continued to study me, placing his glass onto the table.
“Look. I’m sorry, Mia. I shouldn’t have spoken to you in that tone. I just grew tired of you trying to explain something to me I already knew.”
I jumped from my seat, pushing my chair back angrily. I walked around the table and slapped him across the face, surprised he allowed me to get that close. The sound echoed in the room. Fueled by anger, I was about to do it again when he grabbed my wrist. His thunderous gray eyes narrowed and it looked like he was going to react, but then his expression softened, his gaze pleading with me. It was as if he forced down whatever fury had begun to surface.
I gasped when he suddenly pulled me against him. His breath was hot in my ear when he spoke.
“I need you, Mia. I want to plant myself inside you until you can’t take it anymore and beg me to stop.” He nipped my ear. “I know you want it, too. I can smell your arousal. I felt it dripping down the inside of your thighs.”
I groaned as his hand slid up my leg, finding its way to my panties, which were now soaked by his unfair words. I needed to be strong. I couldn’t let him manipulate me. Everything about this was wrong, but my body had started to betray me. I felt my anger slipping away.
When I didn’t stop him, he continued to explore. His hands became more aggressive. His facial hair lightly scratched against my skin as he tortured my ear and neck with his tongue. I was slowly coming undone. When he began to caress me, I couldn’t focus on anything except the thought of his large cock entering me, giving me what I craved since the last time I had seen him.
“Mia?”
I didn’t think. I just acted, silencing him with my lips. I crawled onto him, my dress bunching around my waist. His hand never moved from between my legs. It on
ly adjusted to my new position. The pleasure intensified with every stroke.
I gripped the back of his chair, steadying myself, as I rotated my hips. His other hand stroked my side as his gaze bored into mine, challenging me. I knew he would think my actions meant forgiveness. He would assume I’d let things go, but that wasn’t the case. I would use him the same way he used me. I would take every ounce of information I could if it meant getting closer to the answers I needed. Who was this man? What did he want from me? I had a sense there was so much I didn’t know. I felt like I was walking in the dark, praying I’d find the light somewhere at the end of it all. I’d felt that most of my adult life. This new edition was only another challenge I needed to prove I could overcome. Everything had a purpose, right?
“Just give in to it, shy girl.”
His words caused me to grip the back of the chair tighter. The wave of pleasure washing through my body took me by surprise, considering all the distractions inside my head. Moaning, I released my grip on the chair, falling against him.
As I rested against his chest, I felt him move. I heard him undo his belt and zipper, then he swiftly lifted me up and smoothly lowered me back down onto his massive erection. I gasped. He slowly, passionately, began to thrust inside me. There were no words for the skillful way he moved, making sure I felt every inch of him.
I leaned back slightly and removed his tie, then unbuttoned his shirt until my hands could caress his chiseled chest and impressive abs. He caught my wrists, binding them behind my back with one of his hands. His other hand lowered the top of my dress, making it easy for him to latch onto my nipple, tongue swirling, teeth grazing. I whimpered as he made his way to my other breast, torturing it slowly as he increased the speed of his thrusts.
I was at his mercy. All I could do was accept what he gave me…over and over and over. I lost focus on everything. I was no longer concerned about what happened before, but what was happening now. How right it felt. How much I needed it. I was only fixated on how this man made me feel. How he brought out a part of me I didn’t know existed.
The Illicit Revealed (The Illicit Series Book 2) Page 2