Seduction Squad: Captured
By Amanda Stewart
Introducing the Seduction Squad: because you can’t get intimate details without getting intimate
As a top agent in the Seduction Squad, Inge knows she’s got killer assets. A smile that entices, a figure with dangerous curves and a lethal talent that brings men to their knees—literally. Sex has a way of getting people to talk, and there’s no secret she can’t uncover.
But information is dangerous. When she’s kidnapped and held prisoner, Inge must use every skill she has to escape...that is, until she meets her captor. Jake is unlike anyone she’s met before: hard, cold and unresponsive to her charms. Tapping into his darkest, most illicit desires is the only way she’ll survive. He’ll force the answers out of her, but it’ll be her pleasure that ultimately binds them together.
Falling for her captor is against protocol. But sleeping with the enemy has never been so satisfying.
This book is approximately 29,000 words
One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise! Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise
Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Lauren Plude Editorial Services, LLC
Dear Reader,
Happy March! This month marks Carina Press’s return to publishing anthologies. This is something that I’ve always loved to do—put out a call for submissions for a certain theme and see what rolls in. This month, we’re starting with erotic romances and, specifically, taboos. In the coming months you’ll see anthologies for shifters, capers & heists, and a holiday-themed anthology. Then, in 2018, we have even more coming your way. Anthologies are a great way for readers to test new authors while getting a complete, satisfying romance, and I hope you love what we’ve got in store as much as I do.
But first, let me tell you about a book that’s incredibly near to my heart. What It Takes: A Kowalski Reunion Novel is Shannon Stacey’s return to the contemporary world of the fabulous Kowalski family. This is a project I begged Shannon to do, because I wasn’t quite ready to let the Kowalskis go. To say I was thrilled she agreed would be a huge understatement. In this book, we get a new romance, along with cameos from all of our previous favorite heroes and heroines, including a secondary plot with Sean and Emma! Loved the Kowalskis since we first started publishing them in 2010? You are going to adore this book. Never read the Kowalskis before? No worries, this book was written to allow you to jump right in. What It Takes is available in print, in audio and in ebook format at your favorite online retailer.
Josh Lanyon is back with another male/male romantic suspense, Fair Chance. Elliot Mills thought he was done with the most brutal case of his career, having finally put the serial killer in jail, but when the lead agent on the case goes missing, Elliot has to play this killer’s twisted game to save the love of his life. Find out more about Elliot and Tucker in Fair Game and Fair Play, both now available.
Together, Maya Clery and Dean Sova have entered a decadent world of passion, pleasure and possibility—but while their love has grown stronger, and their play more intense, the intersection of fantasy and past will challenge their dynamic in the face of deeper, wilder desires. The Discipline by Jade A. Waters will get your senses steaming!
If you love a good paranormal shifter romance, I hope you’ve been following along with Kerry Adrienne’s fantastic series Shifter Wars. In Taming the Lion, the battle between the lions and bears decimates Deep Creek, and one of the heirs to the lions’ throne is saved from death by a beautiful bear medic who’s torn between her allegiance to her den and her attraction and obligation to the wounded lion. Want more? Waking the Bear and Pursuing the Bear can be on your reading device in minutes!
We’re pleased to welcome debut author Jules Court to the Carina Press team with a sultry new trilogy of contemporary romance novellas. Kicking off her trilogy is Hot in the City. Brian MacGregor busted his ass to make detective by age thirty. He doesn’t have time for a social life, not even for the pretty ER doc who sewed him up post run-in with a knife-wielding perp. He never expected that when he went looking for the witness to a gangland murder, the doc would be the best lead to his missing witness. Now if he can only keep his hands off her. Look for Enticing the Enemy and Tease Me Tonight coming this year!
Layla had only wanted to give Sid one hot, sweaty night of her well-planned life, but when these werewolves realize that they’re mates, Layla must accept that she’ll be giving Sid a lot more than she planned in Alpha’s Challenge, the next in Lauren Dane’s Cascadia Wolves series!
Too Taboo: An Erotic Romance Anthology contains three scorching-hot novellas. Purchase them together in the anthology or as individual ebooks:
Debut author Morgaine Cameron bangs out of the gate with an indescribably hot story in Absolve Me. A handsome, celibate man wants a licensed sex surrogate to help him exorcise the wicked desires he’s struggling to overcome—because as a priest he needs to play out his immoral thoughts or forever be a holy sinner.
Returning author Amber Bardan indulges us in some wicked ménage fantasies when an innocent trespassing turns into a lesson in obedience as the two property owners show their trespasser just how right punishment can feel. Twice as Hard is not to be missed.
When the most skilled operative in the secret organization known as the Seduction Squad is captured, her only hope of escape is to use her body to drive her sexy abductor wild...but, having unleashed his darkest fantasies, does Inge really want to get away from Jake? Amanda Stewart’s Seduction Squad: Captured teases us with the dark taboos of forced seduction and capture fantasies.
That’s all for this month, but whew, I think that’s more than enough. This is such a powerful lineup, I’m jealous of all of you getting to read these books for the first time. They are unputdownable (that’s totally a word only avid readers understand)!
Coming next month we have another full-length novel from the amazing author duo Alexa Riley; Rhenna Morgan is back with another to-die-for hero; and two male/male authors give us two amazing romances.
As always, until next month, my fellow book lovers, here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.
Happy reading!
Angela James
Executive Editor, Carina Press
Dedication
For Julia. It was our conversations that turned the Escuadrón Volante into the Seduction Squad.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter One
Inge
Based on the number of meals I’d had and how many times he’d allowed me to use the bathroom, I figured this was the third day of my captivity. Those trips to the commode, while humiliating, told me something
about the man who had abducted me. It gave me a tiny insight into who he was and I grabbed it eagerly, storing it up to use against him later. He was more humane than most.
Day three would be crucial. We’d been taught that there were no hard and fast rules for a hostage situation. But he hadn’t killed me, and no one was going to pay a ransom for me, so he must want information. Three days was long enough to wear me down. Any longer and he risked driving me over the edge of terror to the point where I’d be no use to him. He’d have to speak to me soon. And, if he wanted answers, he’d have to remove the gag. My mouth is my best weapon. In so many ways.
The hood with two breathing holes for my nostrils cut in it was disorienting. Depriving me of sight forced me to rely on my other senses. At first, I heard nothing. Gradually, I relaxed and let the sounds come to me. They were distant, but unmistakable. Birds mostly, so many different types I guessed we were in a forest. The chirping of songbirds in the trees, the honking of geese high overhead and the occasional hoot of an owl. Often so faint I wondered if I might be underground. Either that or the walls of my prison were thick. Concrete rather than wood.
If we were in a forest—and the continuing absence of traffic, aircraft and other noises signaling civilization seemed to confirm my conclusion—then this was no cabin or hunting lodge. The constant chill seeping into my bones was a further clue that I wasn’t in a homey, comforting place. The rough blanket he’d thrown over me when he pushed me down onto the hard mattress did little to warm me. That shove was the only contact he’d allowed himself. Since then, he’d used the leather thong around my neck to lead me like a dog. I allowed myself a tiny feeling of pride. He’s been warned not to touch me. Even so, he had no idea what he was up against.
I could smell dust and dirt and disuse. And, when he came to me, I could smell him. Men are my specialty, and I put my experience to good use to make an assessment of this one. He smelled clean, thank God, and normal. What does normal smell like? In his case, it smelled of soap and cologne, coffee and mints, clean clothing fresh out of the dryer, with just a hint of masculine sweat as though maybe he had been working out in between visits to my cell. Once, I caught a whiff of spicy food on his breath as he hauled me to my feet. Not home-cooked, I decided. My senses, supercharged by the lack of stimulation, detected that underlying tang of preservative they use in those pre-packaged microwave numbers.
When he moved, he was light on his feet, noiseless and catlike. Nevertheless, I got the sense he was big. Dominating this small space with his powerful presence. When he had grabbed me as I came out of the hotel, he’d lifted me as easily as if I was a child. When I thought about that, annoyance at how easily he duped me rose up and threatened to overwhelm my rational thoughts. I had to draw a calming breath and push it back down inside me. Deal with your own stupidity another time. Learn from it. Take it back to the squad room and make sure no one else falls for the same dumb trick.
Moving on to his voice, I was conscious he’d taken care to limit how much he talked to me. Which meant he was a professional. The most he’d spoken was that initial sentence.
“The senator sent me to collect you.”
It was a pleasant, well-modulated voice. A trace of an accent. Possibly South African. Nothing remarkable about it. Since that first sentence, he’d uttered only single-word instructions. No, his voice wasn’t going to help me identify him. I had paused, turning toward the speaker, and that hesitation had spelled my downfall.
Bastard knew there was a senator in my life. Did he know there was more than one?
I had already tried to figure out how long I spent in the trunk of his car after he hauled me off the back steps of the hotel. His hand had covered my mouth so tightly I hadn’t been able to bite him. His other arm had pinned me firmly to a body as solid as a tree trunk and my feet had been lifted off the floor. Discretion was all very well when you were fucking a European royal who was in town for just one night, but maybe using the service exit hadn’t been such a great idea after all. I would mention that to the prince when I saw him next. That thought had flashed through my mind as my abductor carried me easily between a laundry truck and a catering van. The trunk of his car had been open and I’d gained a brief impression of something big and sleek. Maybe a Bentley or a Mercedes, vehicles of choice for many of my clients. As I was tossed inside, another thought had replaced all others. He’s done this before.
An hour, that was what I figured as I lay curled in the darkness of the trunk. Sixty minutes and he had been driving fast the whole time. I could tell that from the way my body had rolled around with the movement of the car. The speed of the car told me something else about him: he was confident enough to break the speed limit even though he had a living, breathing woman in his trunk. Arrogant as well as experienced.
Kick out the taillights. That was what they told us to do if ever we were in this position, depending on the model of the car. I had wriggled around until I got my spiked heels against one of the lights. Using all the strength in my legs, I had kicked. And kicked. Nothing. Clearly my abductor had been a step ahead of me. No matter how hard or how long I kicked, those taillights would not budge. In the end, I had given up the fight, and preserved my strength for a worthier cause. Maybe his balls would have more give than those lights.
I never got the chance to find out. Once we had arrived at our destination, wherever this one-hour-from-Washington-DC location might prove to be, he had placed the hood over my head, replaced my own clothing with this—I fingered the material of the cheap, oversize sweat suit with a grimace—and pushed me into this room. This was where I had been ever since.
Once again, I analyzed what I knew. It wasn’t much. I was in deep shit. My captor was a professional. As the key grated in the lock, I added another item to the list of things I knew about him: he was coming back.
Chapter Two
Jake
I paused outside the door, listening for any sound from within. Three days and, apart from one startled exclamation when I grabbed her, she hadn’t so much as murmured. No screams, no pleas, no questions. Each time I lifted the hood enough to remove the gag, she ate the food I gave her, drank the water and remained silent. She was one cool customer. Just as the commander had told me she would be.
I entered the room, taking my time closing and locking the door behind me. She was sitting on the bed, her back to the wall, knees raised, hands clasped loosely between them. I had to remind myself she couldn’t see me through the dark material of the hood as I leaned my shoulders against the door, watching her for a moment.
When I grabbed her, she’d been wearing a dress so perfectly fitted to her figure it could have been sprayed on. Underneath, she’d worn only the tiniest thong, barely more than a triangle of lace held in place with strips of silky elastic. As I removed her clothes, I caught a glimpse of the body that had tempted so many famous men to spill international secrets. It hadn’t disappointed.
No point putting this off any longer. The sooner I got started, got what I needed from her, the sooner I could get out of here and get on with the real job.
I moved toward the bed. “I’m going to remove the hood.”
She remained very still as I untied the knots at the back of her neck. When I lifted the hood free, she blinked as her eyes grew accustomed to the light. Then she rolled her neck and shook her head. Her hair, a wild mass of bright red curls, tumbled about her shoulders. Although her gaze never wavered from my face, I knew she was also taking in the details of the room as I got rid of the gag.
I untied her wrists before tossing her a foil-wrapped sandwich and a can of soda. She flipped open the can eagerly, taking a long gulp of the sugary liquid.
“What’s your name?” I knew it, of course. Just wanted to open the conversation with something easy to answer. Something non-threatening.
She smiled, showing very white, very even teeth. An enticing
dimple danced at the corner of her mouth. A mouth that had sucked off some of the most powerful men in the world. You had to hand it to a woman who could smile like that after three days in captivity. It was a potent reminder of what I was up against, in case I needed one.
“What would you like it to be?”
Even though I’d been warned, I suppose I hadn’t really believed she’d try to seduce me. Not after being abducted, thrown in the trunk of my car and locked in here. I had dealt with some hardened villains—terrorists, criminal masterminds, gang overlords—men who had crumbled after just twenty-four hours of complete sensory deprivation. This woman looked like she’d just emerged from nothing more than an unexpectedly grueling boot camp.
“You really think that’s going to work?”
She lifted one slender shoulder in an expressive shrug. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” Those teeth got to work on the sandwich.
“I know everything about you.”
One perfectly arched brow quirked in my direction. “Except my name, apparently.”
I sensed she was enjoying herself and the realization pissed me off. This woman was completely in my power, yet she was taking the time to relish her tiny act of defiance.
“Just checking I have the right person.”
After a moment or two of eating in silence, she capitulated. I didn’t flatter myself that she was intimidated. Clearly she had decided that withholding her name wasn’t worth the effort. “I’m Inge.”
Mentally, I scanned the encrypted files I’d memorized. Her photograph had been an older one. When it had been taken, the curls had been tamed into a formal style. Nevertheless, that smile was unmistakable.
“I’m honored.” Inge Lopez de Vega—it wasn’t her real name, they all used aliases—was one of their best operatives. “Your credentials are impressive.”
She inclined her head, not bothering to deny it.
“Here’s how this is going down, Inge.” I decided to risk sitting next to her on the bed. Seriously, how much harm could one woman do me? I could hold her down with one hand. The thought caused something to flare deep inside me. Something dark and dangerous. I shut it down immediately. “I know who you are. I know what you are capable of. There is no stunt you can pull that is going to work on me. But you have something I need. Until I get it, neither of us is leaving here.”
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