Dalliance in Darkness ( Dalliance #1) (2 page)

Carina walked to us. None of us gave protest, save for the concerned looks we shared. Starting with Jessica, she individually bound and wrapped the blind fold over our eyes – I could feel my toes curling and my heart racing, as if I were doing my jump rope routine.

Finally Carina walked up behind me. Delightful, I never noticed how she sweet she smelled, like cinnamon and the sea. She took her time binding me, she was subtle about it but she explored my body in a nothing less than sensual manner for about a second in her every motion. I did not need to see her to know that she was wearing that cruel smirk of hers. The blindfold was surprisingly soft to the touch; it felt more for use in the bedroom than for obscuring vision

She guided me first to the back seat, pushing me inside and rounding up the other girls doing the same to them. Once the doors were closed and we were strapped in by the driver, the car started rolling forward. I pictured in my head a bird’s eye point of view of us going west. “Understand that if you are caught trying to undo your blind fold, you will become disqualified – this is a pass or fail test so don’t get your hopes up,” Carina snarled before puffing away. I couldn’t stand the smell of it.

“What exactly are we being tested on?” Amanda questioned.

Carina scoffed, turned her head and casually blew smoke in the girl’s face.

She shifted in her seat and covered her nose.

 
I tried to remain focused as much as possible as we traversed the city, had I not been robbed of my sight I’d have won this little game with ease – suppose I should thank her for the challenge. A turn here, a long winding curve there – a few trips down a set of roads not on any map. Wherever we were supposed to be taken it wasn’t making sense, there simply wasn’t a real pattern to it. As the minutes passed, I found myself second guessing every assumption and mental image in my head.

The other girls whispered and complained, asking questions that Carina gave no answer to. I had a feeling in my gut what they were trying to do, but if I was wrong then I’d end up in the same boat as them. After a good ten minutes of what I can only surmise as aimless driving we slowly came to a stop.

“Now then,” Carina said. “Pass or fail. Where are we?” I could hear the smirk in her voice; something I took no pleasure in getting used to.

I felt Jessica swivel in her seat. “What?” She stammered. “What do you mean where are we?” She asked.

Carina looked to the driver and gestured at Jessica with the slight bobbing of her head from left to right. “You believe the kids we pick up these days?” She said. “What do you mean? Oh what do you mean?” She mocked before taking a long drag and letting the smoke escape.

She then turned to face us. “We kidnapped you. Kidnapped. Stolen. Got it?” Carina unbuckled her belt. “So where are you? Do you always go around trusting beautiful women flashing credentials and throwing money at you?” Carina’s tone had a special bite to it. “You should always be on – if you’re not then we have no interest in you,” she added. “So…any takers? Five mile radius and you get to spin the big wheel, babes,” Carina said while crawling to the back seats and removing our blind folds but keeping our wrists bound. She gave us another map. Guess she didn’t want us thinking we’d get another chance to look at one.

Amanda scoffed obviously annoyed with the whole situation. “This is stupid,” she groaned. “Just take me back,” Carina and her driver got out, in turn opening the rear doors and helping my two ‘competitors’ – if you could even call them that – out of the car. I watched them as they entered another car. I could smell Carina before she entered the back and sat next to me as the engine of the other car roared to life.

“So,” she drawled, placing her hat on my head. She leaned in to my ear “Do you have an answer for me or are you just going to sit there all pretty?” She whispered with her hand on my thigh. I couldn’t let my body betray me, but I was sure she could smell every ounce of my immediate arousal. Warmth found itself flooding through me from where she had put her hand.

“Watch yourself,” I growled as Carina circled my thigh ever so slowly against the fabric of my pants.

“Or what?” I could hear the Cheshire grin in her voice. “You’ll scream?” I knew better than to answer that question, and if truth be told the tightness in my throat made it a bit hard to be conversational. I wasn’t sure how dangerous she or the people she worked for actually were, and it was only now that I was feeling the weight of my stupid foolish heart.

Carina adjusted the hat on my head, giving a quiet little hum of acceptance. “I read all your answers you know – I know exactly what you like,”

“Good for you,” I managed to say. “You must be so proud of your stalking accomplishments in this day and age.”

“It’s adorable the way you lock up your apartment and think it will do you any good,” my heart shot up to my throat. “Of course, your password took a little longer to crack but all in all…” Carina’s finger traced a line down my jaw and neck, to the little pocket between my clavicles. “I’m sure I could make your precious…” she emphasized every little word as she kissed the side of my neck, grabbing a fistful of my shirt. “Cunt. Weep. Very naughty pictures of you floating around you know.”

I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of hearing me say it, wouldn’t let her know in my own words just how wet she made me with the way she spoke and moved. It wasn’t that I was attracted to her or anything, I’ve just always been… very sexual. Christ though, I didn’t know if she was lying or if they were really that intense about scoping me out.

“I don’t have an answer for you,” I said.

“Yes you do, I know you do, I bet you like the way that ropes bites against your flesh too” she insisted. “You’re the one everyone’s put money on darling dove – like I said earlier you scored higher than everyone – you’re the only one worth taking an interest in,” she said. “Well, you and two others.” I smiled at hearing that. “The boss wants what the boss wants,” she said.

“I lost track on 51
^st
street,” it came out of me bitterly, to admit I couldn’t live up to the standards of some stupid test. I had wanted to prove to myself that I could maybe outsmart them, but I only played myself it seems. It was all too insane and unexpected, and I was unprepared. Carina was silent for a moment before pulling away from me and moving to the driver’s seat. “Where are you taking me?” I asked. Carina gave a heavy sigh and turned the engine of the SUV.

“Home darling dove.”

Venom of the Serpentess

Three days. Three days since that incident. I guess I didn’t quite have whatever it was they wanted. My frustration was spiraling and I couldn’t help but struggle with hating myself for not passing some stupid test, something that didn’t – shouldn’t – even matter. I’ve been tested plenty, I’m not looking for any more weight to carry…

I sipped a couple of times from my flute of red wine before setting it down on the end table and relaxing in the softness of my bed. My mind found itself reminiscing about it all – of all my mistakes and achievements – even a few of my lovers. Many bad ones, many I would rather not name but the few good ones almost made up for it. A sickening feeling formed in the pit of my stomach, writhing around like a snake searching for prey. A thought in my head ringing out that this wasn’t the life I wanted, that I was heading in the wrong direction and that I could do better. That I was better. I turned my thoughts and bitterness elsewhere, to the almost palpable touch of Greg.

There was smoothness to his every motion as he caressed my face with the back of his hand, the way that he grabbed my chin. The very thought of him made my core knot with butterflies. The electricity as he moved in for the kiss, to take me and make me his own if only just for a moment. He always looked for permission, there was a love and a caring that just radiated from his soft brown eyes. I always had a hard time resisting him, even when I wanted to.

He pushed me down on the bed and kissed the bare flesh of my shoulder. His lips then traced their way across my clavicle all the way to the little pocket where the bone meets the neck. That was his favorite spot, the one part of me he treasured to kiss most of all. The way he sucked and bit into me sent waves of rolling pleasure throughout my body, his touch kindling my fire – making me more aware of the pleasant tightness in my chest. I could feel a pounding feeling just above my clit, a drum of a rhythm of lust.

That was when his hand crept up the length of my leg, up my thigh – circling it a bit – he always did have a flair for teasing me. The warmth of his lips made my body ache with need as they worked their way upwards to my own, biting down on my lower lip as he sucked. I could not help but moan remembering the way that he touched me, vividly so, my fantasies spinning me taut.

I pushed back the flickering images and that smell of cinnamon and the sea. It was almost like she was right beside me guiding my hand. Growling with frustration I shifted in my bed and returned my focus.

I dug my fingers into Greg’s short brown hair, feeling the softness of it. His face was square and well defined. He undid my white blouse and stripped me of my bra with a quick motion. The look in his eyes made my heart sing as he kissed down my jaw and neck all the way to my chest, squeezing my tits nice and hard.

My nipples grew hard at the thought of feeling his touch again. With one hand I fucked the tightness of my wet gash, rolling ecstasy through my body from the soles of my feet – playing with my clit by using my other hand. Moans escaped my throat with such ease, and for a moment all my troubles vanished like someone above snapped their fingers and undid every little thing that was so, so wrong.

I could just make out the ringing of my cell going off, but it sounded so distant as I found myself wrapped tight in the embrace of my orgasm. My fingers were soaked in the warmth of my own juices. God I remember the way you would fuck my wet cunt with your cock. I pushed myself over that sometitmes tricky edge, cumming all over my fingers and I squeaked in delight. With trembling legs I somehow managed to work my way off the bed and to my still ringing cell phone. I wanted to end that miserable pest… and yet aggravating as it may be I could never hurt something I didn’t want to admit I loved. A recurring theme it would seem.

Unknown number. I flipped the phone open before swiveling on my heel and going back to the bed, grabbing a box of wet wipes. “Who’s this?”

“Been thinking about me?,” Carina. The sound of her voice hit me like a hammer to the chest.

“Only in your dreams,” I bluffed.

“Don’t play hard too hard to get or Mr. Underwood will have one less plaything to mold,” Carina’s smile bled through the phone with such ease. “Play along and maybe you’ll be able to pay for all those debts,” Just how much did she know? Regardless her cocky attitude sent a small flare of anger rippling through me.

“Bullshit. I’m the best shot you’ve got,” I hustled to get my panties on and peek outside. Nothing more suspicious than the usual paranoia would suggest. If she was watching I wasn’t going to find her.

“Nobody gets a free pass Trish,” there was a moment of silence. “The boss is giving you thirty minutes to meet south of where the lions dance. Don’t use your car – walk instead and don’t be late.”

“Wait!” I pleaded. “What does that even mean? Can we do without the whole cloak and dagger bullshit?”

“Cloak and Dagger isn’t the only game in town – but it’s half of what you’re being graded on,” Carina admitted.

“And just what’s in it for me?” I asked. This time Carina seemed to consider her words much more carefully.

“A home to call your own. Good luck,” She hung up immediately after. I raced to my computer and quickly entered my password. I opened up my browser and tipped my hat to the gods of Google as I entered in a slew of search terms. Nothing. Though my mental map of the city was what I would imagine much better than most, nothing immediately sprang to mind. But one thing was for sure, she was giving me a massive hint by telling me to walk. That reduced the radius of possible locations between one and three miles at the most from my apartment.