Seduction Squad: Captured

by Amanda Stewart

  “Mi bonita.” I shuddered as soon as I heard Ricky’s voice. He had always called me that. My pretty. Only he could make the endearment sound creepy. Since I only called him when I was in Quito, he knew my location. “You didn’t tell me you were coming to town.”

  “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

  “Couldn’t stay away from me?” He laughed and I dug my nails into my palm to keep from screaming. “Come to the house. Tomorrow afternoon. At two.”

  He hung up and I stared at the screen of my cell phone in fury. I wanted to launch it across the room so it smashed into the mosaic tiles of the shower cubicle and shattered into tiny pieces. Just speaking to Ricky Villacruz made me feel dirty.

  I bit my lip, glancing at the bathroom door. Did I dare risk it? Swiftly, I messaged Lola, Niko’s nanny.

  Tell him I love him. Home soon. Don’t reply.

  I pressed Send, exhaling a sigh of relief, and deleting the message as soon as it was delivered. Home soon. Dear God, I hoped so. My second message was even shorter and in Spanish, some of the words misspelled in my hurry. I knew the recipient would understand and follow my instructions.

  After I had bathed and Jake had showered, it was dark. We strolled around the Mariscal district, drinking in the thriving sidewalk café experience and the thrum of nightclubs and discos, before succumbing to hunger and heading to one of the most popular eating places in the city. The restaurant was crowded and we were lucky to get a table. Once we had ordered wheat beer and suckling pig, Jake reached across the table and took my hand.

  “Tell me.”

  I raised my eyes to his face and what I saw there scared me. It scared me because of the depth and intensity of his emotion, but also because of the reaction it provoked in me. I had known this man for days. I am his captive, for fuck’s sake! Yet, when I looked into the golden depths of his eyes, something tightened inside me. Pulled up and straightened out, as though all the dread and doubt in my life was being ironed away.

  I didn’t do relationships. The thought made me smile inwardly. I couldn’t imagine trying to explain what I did for a living to a date. Even before the Seduction Squad, I had always believed my emotions never ran particularly deep. Or perhaps I was too independent? I could spend forever analyzing it. No one had ever made me feel a fraction of what Jake could. If anyone had told me I could hunger for a man’s body the way I did for his, I’d have called it madness. It was madness. Mine and his. Our own unique brand of crazy.

  But this connection between us transcended the physical, and that frightened me even more. However I looked at it, Jake knew me. He knew my soul. I couldn’t hide from him. And what scared me more than anything else was that I didn’t want to.

  I hunched my shoulder. “Tired, I guess.”

  “Don’t give me that crap. Tell me what has happened to change your mood. When we first arrived, you were excited to be home. Now you’re pissed off.”

  I sighed. “Ricky Villacruz.”

  “Every time you say his name, a light goes out inside you.” Jake took a sip of his beer. “Yet you had a child with him. You must have felt something for him once.”

  I could have left it at that. Let it lie in the mists of my past. But Jake had been open with me and, even though neither of us knew how this would end—although there didn’t seem to be any way it could end with clasped hands and a sunset—I owed him honesty.

  “He blackmailed me into sex. And it was only after Niko was born that I found out Ricky was responsible for killing my parents.” Jake remained quiet, watching my face, his whole demeanor an invitation to continue. “My father was a high-ranking police officer. As I was growing up, my family and Ricky’s were neighbors, although he was older than me. I didn’t know it at the time, but my father was about to blow a drug ring wide-open. Ricky’s family was at the center. Although Ricky was only in his teens, he was responsible for tampering with my parents’ car on the night they died.”

  “You know this for sure?”

  “He told me. Boasted of it to me.” I could see Ricky’s face now, hear the laughter in his voice. “By the time he told me the truth, Ricky was so far above the law he was untouchable. If I’d gone to the police with my story, I’d have been laughed out of the station. Anyway, the Squad doesn’t do police. We deal with things our own way. Ricky has enemies in high places. They would pay a lot for information on him, but my contact with him is personal, not professional. I can’t provide information on him to the Signora, for the same reason I couldn’t provide it to you.”

  Jake’s expression was unreadable. “How did he blackmail you?”

  “When my parents died, I could never understand why I had to go away. It was like the pain was doubled, you know? I was grieving for them and missing my home, as well. I wanted to stay here in Ecuador with my father’s family, but instead it was decided that I should go and live with my mother’s sister in America. It was only later that I discovered that not only was my grandmother ill, one of my uncles was causing the family major problems. He had a drug habit and his lifestyle was dangerously out of control. My grandparents reluctantly decided I would be safer with my aunt. Because I was only eight years old, they never told me the reason for their decision.”

  “But you came back to visit?”

  “As often as I could. Ricky was always there in the background. As I grew up, his attitude toward me changed. He was seven years older than me, but by the time I was fourteen and he was twenty-one, I knew he wanted me. Two years later, he showed me photographs of my uncle—the one with the drug habit—working as a male prostitute.” I took a long slug of my drink. “He offered me a choice. Have sex with him, or he would take the photographs to the press.”

  “You were sixteen?”

  I nodded.

  The golden lights in Jake’s eyes glittered dangerously. “And you agreed?”

  “I couldn’t see any other way. The truth would have killed my grandmother, probably my grandfather too. Our family is a proud one.” My lips twisted into a little smile. “And that uncle? By then he was a prominent Ecuadorian politician. The scandal of those photographs—which Ricky still has—going public would have rocked this country.”

  We ate in silence for a few minutes, then Jake leaned over the table and clasped my hands. “You told me the Seduction Squad is about sex and secrets, but we both know that’s only half the story.”

  I regarded him warily. “What do you mean?”

  “Come on, Inge. Sex, Secrets and Slaughter. Isn’t that your motto? Your squad contains some of the finest assassins in the world.” He smiled into my eyes. “And you are the best of them all.”

  So he hadn’t been lying when he said he knew all about me. Shit. I thought I had the element of surprise, but he knew all along I would be able to kill him without smudging my mascara. I gave a slight shrug. “Maybe one of the top three.”

  He laughed. “Don’t be so modest. That was a nice job you did on General Manani, by the way. It can’t be easy to garrote a man in his own bathtub.”

  I didn’t know how Jake knew I was the person who killed the notorious General. Probably that mysterious commander of his had discovered the information and shared it with him. The Signora was not going to be happy to learn that details of our work were being made public. She preferred to keep our activities secret, for obvious reasons.

  Jake knew I was a killer, yet he still wanted me. I took a moment to examine how that made me feel. To see acceptance, even admiration, in another person’s eyes? That was something I had never experienced outside the squad room. I had blood on my hands and he didn’t care. It took the passion between us and made it something deeper. Something that made me see myself differently. Made me like what I saw. With a tinge of regret, I wished I had more time to explore this new side of myself.

  Since Jake clearly knew it all, I gave up any pretens
e that I didn’t know what he was talking about and returned his smile. “It’s easy if you are in the bathtub with him.”

  That made him laugh even more. He lifted one of my hands to his lips. “My beautiful, deadly Inge. Remind me to check the place for concealed weapons if ever I get into the tub with you.” It was a subtle reminder that he didn’t believe I would be able to get the better of him. I didn’t tell him that the only other men who had shared his belief were all dead now. That was the game we were playing. Jake’s face became serious again. “Why haven’t you killed Villacruz?”

  “Because he had the photographs. Then later, there was Niko.” I could never keep the pride or the love out of my voice when I spoke of my son. “Ricky started to use him to keep me in line. Niko was his insurance policy. The only thing I could do was compile my own dossier on him. I know everything about Ricky’s business. Every dirty cent and where it’s kept. One day, I’ll put that to good use.”

  I caught a flash of golden devilry in his eyes. Was it sympathy or sorrow? Sympathy because my feelings toward Ricky chimed with how he felt toward the men who had abused him when he was a child? Or sorrow because he knew I would never get a chance to put my plans for revenge into action? That once I had led him to Ricky, I had no further use?

  As we walked back to the hotel, Jake’s mood lightened. “You know all about my fantasies, Inge. What about you? What turns you on more than anything?” We were passing a narrow side street and he caught hold of my hand, swinging me into the gloomy depths and pushing me up against a wall. His fingers were rough as they slid inside my underwear. “As long as it doesn’t involve other people. I won’t share you. Not ever.”

  My career in the Squad had included countless threesomes and other groupings, many of which I’d found enjoyable, but Jake’s words shook me. His lips were warm on my neck and his fingers were inside me, tormenting me as I tried to concentrate. He wouldn’t share me. I couldn’t name the feeling his words provoked. Didn’t dare. If I gave my feelings for Jake the name they were crying out for, I was lost.

  Instead, I ignored the promptings of my heart and gave myself up to the sensations provoked by his lips and fingers. “In public,” I gasped. “In a crowded place, while other people around us are unaware of what is going on.”

  He used his body to pin me tight to the wall as he fumbled with his clothing. If the group of noisy tourists gave us a second glance, it probably looked like we were kissing. We were. At the same time, Jake bent his knees and lifted me onto him and I gave myself up to my own fantasy. I wasn’t playing him. Sex in public was my weakness, and Jake was the only man I’d met with whom I was prepared to share it. He was also the only one brave enough to act on it.

  I managed a final coherent thought as I was slammed into the wall by Jake’s rhythmic pelvic thrusts. There was something poignant about the way we had found each other. As if some horrible fate had conspired to show us what we could have had if our lives had been different. If there was no Seduction Squad, no commander...and no looming confrontation on the following day.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jake

  We started the next day in a flurry of activity. Mainly because I had been unable to resist cornering Inge in the bathroom and bending her over the old-fashioned roll-top bath. I didn’t regret it, but it meant we dashed out of the hotel having snatched only a quick coffee and a sweet pastry.

  “I couldn’t find my wristwatch,” I complained, as Inge led me through the cobbled streets.

  When we arrived in the town square, there was a street market taking place and the whole area was thronged with people and traffic. The shouts of the stall holders vied with the honking of car horns and the ringing of bicycle bells. Even though Inge was right next to me, I could barely hear her when she spoke. This was where we would catch the bus to Cumbayá.

  Before we left the hotel, she had called a contact of hers. The guy was going to meet us here and bring me a gun. This bustling place seemed a strange choice of location in which to arrange to buy a weapon, but I had to assume Inge knew what she was doing.

  “Inge!” The man who approached us looked more like a student than an illegal arms dealer. He wore a traditional colored poncho over his white shirt and jeans and carried a battered backpack.

  “This is Alfredo.” I liked the way Inge didn’t tell him my name. I didn’t like the enthusiasm with which Alfredo hugged Inge.

  “We don’t have much time,” Inge explained. “Can you make this fast?”

  “Sure.” Alfredo’s English was good, but heavily accented. “I have a Russian Makarov pistol for you, plus ammunition and a shoulder holster. What you asked for, yes?”

  I’d used a Makarov before and the price Alfredo named seemed ridiculously low compared to anything I’d paid before, but I reminded myself that this was my first time in Ecuador. As I handed over the cash, I was aware that Inge was becoming restless.

  “You need to go with Alfredo to the public restroom and get the shoulder holster on.” She pointed to the clock on the church tower that dominated the square. “Our bus is due in ten minutes.”

  The restroom was a large metal hut on the sidewalk. Alfredo and I paid the old woman on the door ten cents each as we entered the gloomy interior. The other occupants of the room paid us no attention as I stripped off my T-shirt and Alfredo opened his backpack. Within a minute or two, I was wearing the gun in the holster and was back outside, breathing in the purer air. Alfredo disappeared into the crowd without a backward glance.

  The ancient green buses that ran from Quito to Cumbayá were cheap and crowded. The seats were well worn, the ride was bumpy and there was popular Ecuadorian music being played at full blast as we boarded the vehicle. It had the feel of a family day out. Inge explained that the return journey took much longer because it was uphill. Beyond that, we didn’t discuss the return journey or speculate on who would be making it. The prospect that I would be alone because Inge, who would no longer be any use to me, would be dead—with the bullet from a Makarov pistol in her head—wasn’t one on which I wanted to dwell.

  There was one seat left and I took it. Being a gentleman, I pulled Inge onto my lap. She was looking particularly gorgeous in a pale pink tank top and a flared black skirt with a wide band of colored embroidery around the hem. This fetching garment ended at midthigh and, together with the sandals she wore, showed off her slender legs. I tried to kid myself she had dressed for me, not to entice Villacruz.

  When the journey started, the pressure of her ass against my crotch combined with the vibration of the bus meant I was rock-hard in minutes. Glancing around the crowded vehicle, I remembered Inge’s words from the night before. Her fantasy was public sex. In a crowded place, while the people around were unaware of what was going on. We had been halfway there the night before. The sex had been great, but the cloak of darkness had meant we weren’t really in public. This was so much better. Without saying a word, I pulled the back of her skirt out from under her with one hand, shifting it so that the fullness of the cloth spread over my lap. Inge gave no sign that she knew what I was doing. She was gazing out the window, but she moved her hips in a circle, grinding against my cock, which was now a zippered ridge nestled between her ass cheeks.

  Reaching between us, I carefully undid my jeans. Obligingly, Inge lifted herself just enough let my hand into the gap between our bodies. Clearly, she now knew exactly what I was planning. I tugged my jeans open just enough to free my cock from my underwear and Inge sat back down, positioning my naked erection between her thighs. I could feel the texture of her lace panties rubbing against the sensitive skin of my cock head. The heat between her legs turned me on even more, and she squeezed them around me, causing my cock to throb wildly in anticipation. I wanted to fuck the living hell out of her, but I had to keep still. The frustration made me pulse hard in torment, my flesh throbbing for release.

  For
the next few minutes, we stayed like that, my shaft lodged between her thighs, my head rubbing against her panties with every bump in the road. She gazed serenely out the window, while I checked the faces of our fellow passengers to make sure no one had noticed anything. Although, in reality, I was too turned-on by what was happening under Inge’s skirt to give a fuck about what anyone else thought.

  My mind was totally preoccupied by how I was going to get my cock out from between her thighs and into her cunt when we went under a road bridge. Inge took advantage of the few seconds of darkness to pull her panties to one side and sit back down on me, all in one quick, graceful movement. Now, instead of encountering the barrier of her underwear, the head of my cock was pressed directly against her cunt. As she wriggled ever so slightly, I felt the heat of her outer lips slide smoothly along my shaft. She was soaking wet. I stifled a groan, turning it into a cough and Inge turned her head to look at me.

  “Are you feeling okay, Jake?” Her eyes were alight with laughter.

  “Fine, thank you.” I gave her a glare that I hoped conveyed a promise of retribution.

  When the next bump in the road came, I used the sudden motion to quickly part her legs and lift her up from my lap just a little. When she came back down, she pressed her ass firmly against me, sliding my cock into her cunt ever so slightly. The angle wasn’t great, we could barely move for fear of being discovered and I wasn’t very deep inside her. None of those things mattered.

  We were both so turned-on we might as well have been fucking each other senseless and screaming in pleasure. I couldn’t believe how hot she felt, and my cock was throbbing in excitement. Fire pulsed along my length. The only outward sign that anything was happening was that Inge was biting her lip.

  Without moving at all, we were fucking each other. Her cunt was rhythmically tightening and loosening around my cock. The vibration of the engine was buzzing up through the base of my shaft into her, and every bump in the road drove me a little deeper. I had to focus to keep from groaning so I didn’t draw the attention of the other passengers.