Captured: A Bad Boy Romance (17 page)

Melissa sat straight up in bed. She was sweating. Her heart was racing. She had a feeling she couldn’t describe. For the first time in a long time, it wasn’t because of a racy dream about Hudson.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. But she had no clue what. It was just her gut. And it was a bad something.

She tried to take deep breaths and relax her body for a second before she went into a full-fledged panic attack. It’d been years but she had no doubt that one was coming.

Everything in her told her to run. Get out. She was in danger. Her body was tense. But she tried to rationalize the situation. Yes her gut said something was wrong. But that didn’t mean she was in danger. Not necessarily.

The fear and panic was the attack. It was in her head. These were the words she repeated to herself as she made her way into the bathroom. A hot shower would help her relax. Clear her head. She had to think straight.

Before she turned on the water she went to make sure the locks on her door were bolted. They were. That relieved her somewhat. It allowed her to make her way to the shower and hop in with little worry.

Standing under the scalding water helped to relax her somewhat, but everything inside of her told her that something bad was going on. She just didn’t know what that meant. Fuller scrubbed her body and wished she could remember her dream. Maybe it had given her a clue of what she was afraid of.

Death.

It was as simple as that. Ever since she’d met with Wallaby, she’d been afraid of someone killing her. She was afraid to go to work. When Logan looked in her direction she got chills. She was afraid everywhere she was.

She’d even been putting off Hudson’s advances. He wasn’t taking it personally, thank God, but she was rejecting anything personal between them. She was terrified and nothing and no one made her feel safe.

She’d come here trusting in the good people and not trusting the bad. Now she had no idea who was who anymore. The ones she’d thought were good weren’t and she was fucking the worst one she’d known about. Her world was up in the air and nothing about it made any sense.

Eventually Fuller realized she had to get out of the shower and try to find out what had her so spooked. She began with a clean change of clothes and by starting a pot of coffee. It might be three in the morning, but she was going to need it. The reality was that there was little to no chance that she’d be sleeping anytime soon.

Sitting on the sofa, she longed to call Hudson. To make sure he was okay. But she had no doubt he was. Logan would call if he wasn’t. And if she called him he would be there. And she didn’t need that.

This was something she was going to have to sort through for herself. She needed to decide who she could trust. Besides, having a known criminal visiting her apartment was a surefire way to draw attention to the fact they had some form of relationship. And that was the very last thing she was going to need at the moment.

Instead she sat and started scribbling notes. Fuller worked best by laying her thoughts out on paper. It helped to keep them from being jumbled inside her mind. They became clearer and easier to understand.

Looking back over them worried her all over again. She decided it was a good time to put the ideas away and busy her brain. A TV show or movie would do the trick. She grabbed the remote and sat back on the couch, hoping a good comedy would bring her out of the throes of worry.

That might have happened had her phone not rang. It was Hudson. She knew he wouldn’t call in the middle of the night unless it was urgent. He would assume she was sleeping and he’d never been one to bother her for frivolous reasons.

“Fuller,” she answered after it rang three times. She’d debated letting it go to voicemail and she couldn’t.

“I need to see you,” he had spoken clearly and kept it short. “Twenty minutes.” With that he hung up. Nothing else was needed. She knew where and she knew to go.

The driveway was long and she was getting more anxious by the second. She wondered why there was a need for a late night visit. If he was simply horny, she was going to kill him. Although, it would sort of be her fault for denying him.

He met her at the car and helped her inside. She could tell by his face that this wasn’t a booty call. Something was up and the sinking feeling inside her told her that it was the same thing that had caused her to wake up suddenly.

She walked in and sat down on the sofa. She knew that whatever was coming, she had to be prepared. Whatever he was about to tell her wasn’t going to be easy to hear. That much she’d already figured out.

“I’ve had some people on the watch,” he started.

“Watch? Over me?” she asked.

“Well, yes. Among other people.”

“Why?”

“That’s not important right now,” he blew her off. “Besides, I’m sure you know the answer.”

“So why does this warrant a late night call? Because I was awake?”

“No,” he looked at the floor and she saw the grave expression on his face. “Because something has happened.”

She knew it. Something bad was going on. Her gut had told her. “So spill it,” she said with more confidence than she felt.

“Your friend Wallaby is dead.”

***

Melissa was exhausted. She’d spent most of the last week working leads on Wallaby’s death. Logan had put her in charge.

The only thing she knew for certain was that he had fifteen rounds put through him. There were no witnesses. There was no known reason. He was just outside his apartment building. It had happened in the middle of the night.

She hadn’t even had time to work the other case, let alone see Hudson. He was getting impatient. He called her several times a day. Sometimes to just chat. Others to check on her. Mostly to try and meet with her. But she had left him the night she’d found out and not been back.

It wasn’t personal. Not towards him. Or maybe it was. She wasn’t sure what to think or believe and she was trying like hell not to fall apart. She’d just seen Wallaby a few days prior. He’d told her some pretty potent stuff. She knew he was worried about his own death and so she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Logan was blowing it off as gang related retaliatory hits for the ATF meddling in their affairs. But Melissa didn’t buy it. She didn’t see any reason that Andy would be anywhere on a gang’s radar. Actually, she wasn’t sure why Andy was out at that time of night. He was a homebody.

She’d asked Hudson. What had happened? He had a guy watching the place and that’s how he’d found out. But apparently the guy had gone to grab a bite. Nothing was happening and he took a break. That’s when it happened. And when he returned there were officials everywhere and Wallaby was dead.

It hadn’t sat right with her. Why would he suddenly leave when there was something about to happen? If it was just a careless choice then what should she think about his men, particularly the ones watching her? But mostly, it didn’t seem realistic. And that terrified her.

Asher had been adamant that he wanted her safe. He’d told her to stay away from Wallaby. That it could get her killed. Just simply having him confide in her what he had would put her in danger.

That made her wonder if it was truly something he didn’t know about. Did he take care of Wallaby? Either because he wanted to protect her or because he wanted to protect himself?

She didn’t want to think too much into it. But she had no choice as she found a couple clues from random leads she was given. Both pointed in the same direction. A local gang and Asher Hudson. She didn’t want to believe it, but she couldn’t find anything that showed the clues were erroneous. Instead, everything seemed to back it up.

That was the reason she paid a visit to Hudson that day. The reason she asked again if he knew anything. The reason she shared that she had evidence he was providing guns to the local gangs and that he’d instructed one of them to kill Wallaby.

Asher denied it vehemently. He told her that she should trust him. He was hurt. He was angry. He again spoke of how he wasn’t a criminal the way she viewed him to be and he’d never do anything to hurt her.

She’d walked out. Unsure of what she was feeling, Fuller needed to be alone. And that’s what she’d done. Go home. Alone.

Melissa was torn. She wasn’t sure that she was making any of the right decisions. She felt bad that she’d hurt Hudson the way she had. She didn’t mean to. But she was doing a job. An important one. And at that moment, she wasn’t sure what that meant.

Everything in her wanted to go back to him. To hold him. To let him comfort her. To apologize. But that was the problem. She lie in her bed and realized that she wasn’t sure what she doing anymore. Was her desire for this man impeding her own life? Was it making her choose that desire over the truth she was vowing to seek?

She’d spent a while working with Hudson and nothing ever seemed to pan out. Was it coincidence, or was he playing her to keep himself safe? She’d never told him about what she’d seen in the basement and he didn’t volunteer. They seemed to agree silently that some things were best left unsaid.

But now Andy Wallaby was dead. He’d come to her. That meant that either she was in serious danger, or she was being lied to by someone. And that changed the playing field. She knew then and there that it was time for her to forge on. Even if that meant alone. Until she had some answer, she couldn’t let herself drown in Hudson. She couldn’t give herself to him any longer.

Melissa began to cry. She had finally found a man that made her world better and she wasn’t sure she could trust him. All she knew in that moment was that she needed to know the truth. And that might mean that she found out things about her lover that she’d never wanted to know.

He, however, was determined to keep her hanging in. She wasn’t home two hours when he’d called.

“I didn’t do this,” he stated before he even said hello. “I swear to you. But I understand you have to do your job. And that job means not trusting me. I want you to know I love you. And I’m here. And I’d like to see you. I won’t beg. I don’t want to discuss any of this. I just want to hold you. To show you my feelings. To know you are there. If you care to join me, come anytime.”

And he’d hung up without letting her say a word. She toyed with her emotions. She would love to go and be with him. But was it the best idea?

She decided she didn’t care as she got dressed. She may have to push him away tomorrow, but she could have tonight.

“Tie me up.” She heard herself request it and within moments he was obliging. She found herself bound, blindfolded and gagged. Fuller had never felt excitement quite like she felt with Hudson.

“Look at the way your body responds to me,” he ran a finger down her abdomen and she arched her back up towards him. “You want me, don’t you?” She nodded and moaned as his lips followed the trail his finger had taken.

Asher began to tease her body the way he always had. His lips and hands began to explore her from one end to the other. She felt a variety of sensations. Soft and fluffy. Hard and even cold metal. All of them excited her. She had never understood women that liked being blindfolded until she became one.

The idea of having no control and never knowing what was coming excited her. It could be pain. It could be pleasure. She was never quite certain.

The nipple clamps came soon, after a bout of taunting the buds with lips and teeth. She whimpered in delight as she felt her body being claimed by him, piece by piece. He wasn’t going to spank her today. He’d told her that. But he had plans for her.

“I’m going to rub something on you,” he told her softly. “It may tingle a little bit, but I promise it will be worth it.”

She felt his fingers slide between her legs, the tips covered in a cold cream. Her body arched again and she cried out as he took his time spreading the cream around her clit. Surely he could see and feel the throb she was experiencing.

“Mm,” he moaned slightly. “You like that do you?”

She moaned an agreement as he lowered his head to her thighs. The cream began to tingle against her most sensitive spots as his tongues ran along her inner thighs. She gasped and he began to place light kisses along her thighs the outer edges of her sex.

“No need to squirm It’ll only slow me down.”

Melissa tried hard to keep her body still but it was near impossible with him teasing her the way he was. Slowly his lips pressed against her, working their way to where she wanted them to be. She was surprised he was being as gentle as he was.

That surprise faded when she felt his hands press her legs against the bed.

“I said quit moving.” he ordered and held her firmly against the mattress. “I want to enjoy this moment.”

Melissa moaned and executed muffled pleas as Asher dipped his tongue around her clit. The cream tingled more and enhanced the ache she already felt. Pushing harder against her legs, he took her clit into his mouth and began to suck, alternating with running his tongue along the edges.

“Delicious,” he spoke while teasing her further. “I have a surprise for you,” he smiled and she felt one hand release her leg. He was reaching for something.

Melissa heard a tiny noise and wondered what it was. She wouldn’t be waiting long for an answer.

“Be good and you can continue to have both,” he instructed and took her clit back between his lips. She felt something hard and vibrating rub along her vagina and her legs spread a bit wider. “You want this inside you?” he asked as the vibrator danced along the edges.

“Yes.” she moaned.

Asher took her clit into his mouth, sucking a little harder than usual and at the same time thrust the vibrator deep inside her. With his mouth he toyed with the bulb of flesh and his hand fucked her with a toy she didn’t even know he had. His other hand reached up and twisted on her nipples before tightening the clamps.

Releasing her clit just before she reached orgasm, he continued to fuck her with the toy in his hand. “I’m going to taste it when you come for me,” he growled as his mouth returned between her thighs.

Asher played with the settings on the toy, creating a build-up of desire that she’d never experienced even with him. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t bring herself pleasure. She couldn’t see or speak. All she could do was lie there and let him torment her until he decided to relieve her. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

He stopped seven times just before she climaxed. Each time building up the need even further. Finally, on the eighth try he twisted her clit a little inside his mouth and waited as her body convulsed beneath him.

He then repeated the same. Over the course of another couple of hours, she lie bound and gagged as he brought her to orgasm over and over. When he finally stopped and stood up, her body collapsed as best as it could in restraints. He chose to walk away and have a drink of water.

Melissa wanted to ask him to release her. From the restraints. From the problems. But she couldn’t talk. She just lied there and thought about it all, realizing that every bit of pleasure for her was a risk to her job. She was impeding her own investigations. Both the one that she had been working on and the one into Wallaby’s death. As long as she remained in this bed with Asher, she couldn’t possibly do her job properly. It had come time to choose and she wasn’t positive which choice she was going to make.

***

Nelson sat back and listened. It was what he did best. No one really wanted his opinion anyway. They all looked at him like he was the idiot of the bunch, which in some ways he guessed he was. But this time he was on a mission. He’d been given orders and he had no choice but to follow them. Sometimes he wondered how he got himself into messes like that. It went back to the idiot part he supposed.

The club was imploding. Their leader doing God knows what with that agent. None of the other brothers could agree just what that was. And he was just watching. Finding it entertaining that all it took was a broad to make a tight knit group of guys turn on each other.

He had to stop them. Most of them wanted Hudson out. Completely. The rest just wanted him to step down. But Nelson knew his place. He had his orders.
Stop them. Keep Hudson where he is
.

The problem was that nobody valued what he had to say. He had told them all several times that he thought they should leave Hudson be for the time being. Nobody listened. He was just the goofy stupid guy. He did the grunt work. Nobody cared about the opinion of grunts.

That’s why he’d spent most of his day going over how to handle it. He knew it’d come up again. He just didn’t expect it to be that soon. They were all at the clubhouse. The goal for him that night had been a cute blonde by the bar. But the guys had started their discussions again. Get rid of Asher Hudson. He was putting them all at risk. He was a danger to their mission.

Some mission. Why on earth would they want to take on something as big as the ATF? Sure, Hudson and Logan had their issues. But come on. Did he really think he’d win against a federal agency? Even with one of their own in his bed?

Nelson couldn’t help but smile. These fucks thought he was dumb. Thought he wasn’t worth much. They barely even let him participate on the jobs. But he was doing his own job. And he was doing a damned better one than any of them. They couldn’t even regain control of their own club.

He prepared himself for what he was about to do. It was risky. He had to be careful.

“Guys,” he stepped into the conversation. “Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong,” he concluded and waited on them to pay attention.

“I doubt it,” he heard from the back of the group.

“Not likely,” another voice piped up.

“Let’s hear him out,” Dakota offered. “What are you thinking, Nelson?”

“Well,” he drawled. “Look what this is doing to us. Everyone is arguing. No one trusts anyone. We used to be brothers. Now we are more like estranged third cousins.”

He heard a few chuckles. Probably as much because he used a big word as because of the joke.

“Maybe this is the goal,” he said quietly. “Maybe the ATF did this to watch us all fall apart. Hell, if we don’t stick together and Hudson is pre-occupied and none of us trust him…then what?”

He had their attention. They waited on him to continue.

“How easy would it be to take us down if we’re at each other’s throats?” he continued.

“So you think she’s here to do just this?”

“I dunno,” Nelson answered. “Maybe she’s sincere and not involved. I don’t give a fuck. I’m just wondering if maybe we are being set up to collapse. And we are giving them exactly what they want.”

“They are going to pin that agent’s death on him,” Knowles said. He wasn’t usually one to stand with the crowd, so everyone was a bit surprised.

“Maybe,” Nelson said. “Maybe not. They’d need evidence. But that don’t matter. We’ve survived as long as we have because we’ve been united. If they see us at odds with each other and with no leading force, they will step in and make sure that we lose.”

“So what are you saying?” Dakota seemed interested. “What’s your solution?”

“For now,” Nelson began, “We stay united. We back Hudson like we always have. Even if it’s fake. When all this is over, we can discuss the future. But for now, we need to keep up that front if we want to survive this. Hell, the basement alone could land us life without parole.”

The guys were quiet. They contemplated the story he’d told and Nelson mentally patted himself on the back. He’d done pretty well. None of it was true, but he’ll be damned if he didn’t sound convincing.

Suddenly he started seeing nods of approval. They agreed with him. They thought his idea made sense. One of them even included the phrase “didn’t think you had it in ya, Nelson, good job.”

Nelson just smiled and nodded. They had no idea. That ATF agent sure as hell did. He had looked him eye to eye and known what was about to happen. Funny, the last thing he said when he fell to the ground was that broad’s name. Fuller. Nelson passed the word on to Logan. He wasn’t sure why the man was after Hudson or one of his own, but he certainly wasn’t going to withhold any information.

The quicker Logan finished this shit, the quicker he was out. Then he could take off and do what he wanted to do without always watching his back. The man may be working with him for now, but Brent Logan scared him. And he’d prefer to stay as far away from that man as he can.