J. Kenner - Heated

“Good. Very good,” he said, then repeated the process with the other leg. “Nice,” he said, when he’d completed the task. “Now close your eyes.”

I did, then jumped as he took hold of my knees, lifted me just a little, and spanked my ass.

“Not the best position for that,” he said. “But I recall the lady liked the sensation. I wonder how far she’d like to go.”

“Very far,” I murmured. “All the way,” I said, and he chuckled.

“All the way it is,” and then I felt the smack of his hand again—not on my ass, but on my sex. I cried out, the sensation unfamiliar and strange, and yet arousing, too. And when he did it again, the sting lingered, making my clit so sensitive that I thought a single burst of air might make me come.

“So sweet,” he murmured, and I opened my eyes to see his mouth close intimately over me, and just the sight of him, laving me like that, made my body quiver with the need to draw him in.

Tyler complied, first with his tongue—thrusting it so deep I arched up, at least as much as the restraints allowed, and then bucked against him, in silent demand for more.

He gave me that more, his mouth sliding up to my breast as his hand teased and tormented my sex, sending waves of sensation swarming through me. I wanted to writhe, to move, but the minuscule amount of movement I was allowed did little to deflect the onslaught, and I was overwhelmed by the sensations, certain I was about to burst.

“I’m close,” I said. “Oh, god, Tyler, I want you inside me. Please, I want to feel you in me when I come.”

He stripped quickly, then knelt between my legs. He lifted me up just slightly with one hand as he took his cock in the other and positioned it against me.

“Yes,” I said, the pleasure so acute I almost came at that moment. Then Tyler held my legs for leverage and thrust inside me. “Watch,” he said. “Don’t close your eyes.”

I did, mesmerized by the way he thrust in and out of my body. Torn apart when I watched him take one hand off my leg so that he could tease my clit, sending me spiraling even higher.

“You’re close,” he said. “I can feel how tight you are. How close you are. Come on, baby. Come on, and let’s go over together.”

I listened to the sound of his voice, as if it could carry me all the way.

“Now, Sloane, now,” he cried, and I exploded with him, my body reaching out for the heavens even though I was so thoroughly tied down to the bed.

The shudders ripped through me for what seemed like forever, and Tyler left me like that, his fingers slowly stroking me as if to draw out every last bit of pleasure.

“Stay with me,” he murmured, as he touched me so intimately. “Don’t go back to Indiana.” He stroked my cheek, kissed my lips, teased my sex. “Stay.”

I closed my eyes, wishing things were different. “I want to. Tyler, you have to know that I want to. But I can’t. I’m a cop. I can’t give it up. It’s part of who I am. You know that.”

“So be a Chicago cop. Or even in private security. Hell, you could work for BAS.”

I laughed. “Because it’s so up and up?”

“I just want you to stay. At the moment, I don’t care how.”

I tilted my head and glanced down at my arms, still bound behind me. Then at my legs, spread wide and his hand still stroking me. “Right now you could make me.”

“Tempting,” he said. “Very tempting.”

“You know, this trust thing has to be mutual. Maybe I should tie you up.”

His grin was pure, wicked sex. “Maybe you should. I think I’d enjoy being at your mercy.”

As he reached to untie me, my phone rang. “Dammit,” I said. “Just send it to voicemail.”

He reached for it, and I saw him hesitate. “It’s your dad. Answer it?”

“Put it on speaker,” I said, since I was in no position to hold a phone. “It might be important.”

“Hi, Daddy,” I said, once Tyler laid the phone on the bed. “Listen, this isn’t a good time. I’m kind of tied up right now.”

Beside me, Tyler rolled his eyes.

“I won’t keep you. But I wanted to let you know that I heard back from my friend in the Vegas PD. Amy was cited. For solicitation.”

I met Tyler’s eyes. “Shit. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Wait. There’s more. They booked her. I had him compare the mug shot with the license. Honey, they don’t match.”

“Say again?”

“Whoever’s using her ID isn’t Amy.”

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

I had a bad feeling. A very, very bad feeling.

“Daddy, I have to go.” I nodded to the phone and Tyler ended the call. “Untie me,” I said urgently. “Untie me now.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure.” I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. “ Shit . It’s right there. This feeling. Something’s off and it all ties back to Vegas.”

“The fact that she’s not there.”

I met his eyes as the word that was eluding me surfaced. “Emily.”

He cocked his head. “Back up. Slow down. What are you thinking?”

I stood up, then started to pace, the motion helping me think. “I don’t think Amy went to Vegas. I don’t think she ever did. Okay,” I said, then held up a hand to silence him before his words erased my thoughts. “Emily was supposed to have been heading for Vegas, but she was found dead in Chicago. And Amy was supposed to have gone to Vegas, but we never heard from her.”

“Darcy got a postcard,” he pointed out. “And you said Candy got a phone call.”

“A postcard with no return address. A phone call that went straight to voice mail—and had the wrong month in it.”

His brow furrowed. “The wrong month?”

“Hang on. I’m getting there. I need to check something.” I snatched my phone, then did an Internet search on POE oil. A second later, I knew that POE oil was used with refrigerants. “Fuck,” I said. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Fill me in,” Tyler said.

“Call Sapphire,” I said. “You have her cell number, right?”

He nodded, then dialed, putting his phone on speaker. As he did, I started to explain what I was thinking.

“If my hunch is right, Amy never sent that postcard. Someone else did. And the call was made from a burner. And in the call, she sounded terrible, Candy said. And she said she’d see Candy next month. Amy knows when Candy’s due. She wouldn’t get it that far off. She gave the wrong date on purpose. She was giving us a clue, and I fucking missed it— Sapphire, ” I added, when the girl answered the phone.

“Hey.” She sounded confused. “Tyler?”

“His phone,” I said. “This is Sloane. Listen, do you know who offered Emily the job? The one she turned down when she decided to go to Vegas?”

“Um, yeah. That was Big Charley. You know, the nice quiet guy who—”

“I know him,” I said. “Thanks.”

I clicked the button to end the call, and saw from Tyler’s face that he was on the same page as me.

“Refrigerant oil,” he said. “He’s in the vending machine business. And he offered both girls a job.”

“Lizzy, too,” I said. I was already climbing into my clothes. Tyler was, too.

“He offered Lizzy a job?”

“I didn’t catch it at first,” I said, hurrying toward the service door. “She said she should have taken the pop job. Soda pop. Vending machines.”

“Blond hair and bangs,” Tyler mused. “All three of them.”

“We’re taking my car,” I said, as I jammed the button for the elevator. I wanted my gun.

We took my car, but I let Tyler drive. Not only did he know where Big Charley’s office was, but he was a hell of a lot better at navigating Chicago.

“We know that Amy’s alive,” I said. “Or she was pretty damn recently.” I kicked at the dashboard. “The guy had her call Candy right after I talked with him. Guy’s got serious balls, the fucker.”