HighonYou (7 page)

Crystal climbed into the passenger seat without prompting
and sat there silently as Blake whipped out of the driveway and down the road.
A couple minutes later he could hear sirens in the direction of her house and
one police car sped past them on the way to the scene, not even taking a second
glance toward his car. Good.

When they got a couple miles from her apartment, to where
Blake finally started to feel safe, he flipped open his phone to call Mason.

“What the hell happened?” Mason’s voice was tense.

“What, no ‘hello, happy to see you’re alive’?” Blake forced
a lightness into his voice but it was fake. He was feeling some serious stress
now. The shit had officially hit the fan.

“I knew you were alive. I watched you hightail your ass out
of there. So what happened?”

“The guy pulled a gun on Crystal. She says he was a police
officer. Stay there, check it out. Watch for anything suspicious but it can’t
be official. We don’t want them to know we know anything.”

“Will do.” Mason agreed easily. “What are you going to do?”

“We’re going to lie low for a while. See what information
you can get when they start to scramble.”

“Sounds good, man. Keep in touch,” Mason said.

“I will.” Blake closed his phone and focused on his driving.

He had to find a place to take Crystal. Someplace to hide
for a while, somewhere to keep her safe.

And in that moment Blake realized
she
had become his
top priority, not the drugs or taking down the corrupt cops or any of it. He
always kept his people safe but this was different. He was falling in love with
Crystal.

It was stupid as hell but he couldn’t stop it even if he
wanted to. And he wasn’t so sure he wanted to. It felt good, felt right. If
only there weren’t so damn many reasons they shouldn’t be together. He’d be the
laughingstock of the whole agency if people found out he was dating his
informant, dating a drug mule. Even worse than that, he could lose his job over
it. Mason could pretend like he didn’t know when it was just him but if the
guys found out, Mason would be forced to do something about it.

Blake pulled into the parking lot of a run-down motel. A
beat-up, black Chevy Caprice from the early eighties was parked in front of the
office and a few other rough-looking cars dotted the lot. Nothing suspicious so
Blake pulled in and parked.

“Let’s get a room here, hang out for a while.” He wanted to
take her someplace nice, he didn’t even know why. It wasn’t as if she expected
anything from him and it wasn’t as if she was used to a life of luxury but it
didn’t stop him from feeling bad about bringing her to a scummy motel. But they
needed a place that would take cash and not ask any questions.

“Okay.” She bit her lower lip and stared out the window. It
was damn sexy. But that shouldn’t be his focus right now. They were in a
dangerous situation and all he could think about was fucking Crystal again.

“Come inside with me.” He came around to her side of the car
and opened the door as he looped the backpack around his shoulder.

Blake wasn’t letting either Crystal or the backpack out of
his sight. Not now that the seriousness of the situation had come into full
view. He couldn’t take the chance of her running now that things were getting
scary. Not that it would make much of a difference in the investigation. Mason
had tabs on four more phones and had to have the name of the officer who was
shot trying to get the drugs from Crystal. They should be able to tape the
conversations, track down the phones and arrest the men involved.

Crystal didn’t say anything but took his hand and climbed
out of the car. He squeezed her hand tightly in his. Not because he thought she
would run or that he needed to keep up the act of lovers for the front desk
man. He would make that assumption anyway. Blake held her hand because he
wanted to. He liked having her soft skin touching his. A little too much
probably.

“We need a room for tonight.”

“All night?” The guy behind the desk wore dirty, blue
sweatpants and smelled as if he was storing some leftover fried chicken in his
beard.

“Yeah. All night.” This was a place you could rent a room
for an hour and the fact the man asked the question wasn’t a surprise but Blake
tensed up.

“It’ll be sixty-five dollars.”

Blake reached into his walled, counted out the exact amount
and handed it to the guy.

“Here’s your key, room twenty-three, second floor, go to the
right four doors down.”

“Thanks.” Blake grabbed the keys and walked out the door,
pulling Crystal along with him.

* * * * *

When the cops had been in and out of Crystal’s apartment,
had definitely found the body and knew something, Mason spotted a guy he knew
and walked over.

“What’s going on here?” he asked the tall, dark-haired cop
with just the right amount of innocence and curiosity.

Sam was someone he had worked with before on a joint case,
someone he knew wouldn’t question his presence, someone he was pretty sure
wasn’t involved with anything illegal.

“There’s been a shooting in a woman’s apartment.”

“Yeah?” Mason pretended to not have too much interest in the
subject but he was dying to know what they were thinking, how they were
processing this shooting.

“Neighbors say she’s been bringing some new guy around the
past couple days and then one of the regular visitor guys came back. They
didn’t see what happened but there were several shots fired and then the girl
and her new guy ran out of the apartment. We’re thinking love triangle.”

“Has the man been identified?” Mason asked.

“Yeah. Funny thing is, he didn’t have any identification on
him but one of the guys says he recognizes him from the South District.”

“Really?” Mason had his doubts about this mission, about the
police involvement, but it was all turning out to be true.

“Yeah. You would think he would know better than to run
around with a girl from this neighborhood.” Sam put his hands in his pockets
and shook his head. “What are you doing here anyway? Are you here to work this
case? I didn’t hear that there were any narcotics involved.”

“No, I was just doing some investigative work in the
neighborhood. I came down when I heard all the sirens, thought I would see what
all the noise was about.”

“Oh. I guess nothing for you to worry about.” Sam looked at
the apartment again. “Well, I better get back to work.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Mason said and walked away. He got all the
information he could without being too nosy and all the information he really
needed right now. Cops were definitely involved and they didn’t suspect Blake
yet.

This was going to be big.

Crystal followed Blake up the white metal motel steps. They
creaked and pieces of paint chipped away aggressively to reveal the red paint
from a few years back. She didn’t touch the railing but it looked as if it
wouldn’t be much help if a person started to fall. This was not a nice hotel
but a good place to stay if a person wanted to hide. She sure as hell needed a
good place to hide right now. One near-death experience was more than enough
for the day.

Blake opened the door and motioned for her to walk in first.
The room was dark and smelled a little moldy. Brown, ugly, flowered curtains
blocked out most of the light from outside and provided complete privacy.

She flipped on the first light switch she could find. The
room was cleaner than expected. An ugly brown comforter that matched the
curtains covered the bed, there was a wooden chair in the corner and a long
dresser with a small TV sitting on it. It was a bare little room with décor
straight from the eighties just like the manager’s car but she would be happy
in a cave if that meant she was safe.

“We’ll hide out here for the night. It’s not much but we
don’t have a lot of other choices.” Blake looked sorry for bringing her to this
place but it wasn’t as if she was some spoiled princess. Far from it. She had a
lot worse things to worry about than the condition of the hotel they were
staying in.

“Do we need to worry about them finding us here?” The cop
back at her house made it obvious they wanted her dead. The only problem was
finding out who exactly
they
were and then trusting Blake to be able to
catch them before they killed her. She blew out a long breath and forced
herself to relax.

“No. We should be safe.” His honesty about the situation
again made her feel a little more confident. He didn’t say they were definitely
safe or try to blow smoke up her ass but gave her the situation straight.

“So what do we do now?” She felt like dumping the drugs into
the nearest river or burying them in the nearest forest and making a run for it
but her mother was still out there and if Crystal ran, she knew her mother
would pay the consequences. Getting rid of the drugs and hiding out in Mexico
for the rest of her life wasn’t an option. She had to stick with Blake, had to
see this thing through.

Not that she
really
wanted to run. She wanted to stay
here, do what was right, take the bad guys down and make this city safer for
everyone. It was just damn scary doing the right thing. And dangerous.

“Mason is working now to find the men involved. We just need
to sit tight and stay out of trouble.” Blake sat down at the end of the bed but
he didn’t seem relaxed. He didn’t seem like the type of guy who liked to sit
around and wait for anything. Funny, he was more relaxed in the really tense
situations than now.

Crystal hated just sitting and waiting too, but in this
situation it was better than the alternative, better than being threatened,
better than being killed.

She sat down beside Blake on the bed, wanting his protection
and craving his touch.

Crystal slid closer, feeling the heat of his thigh against
hers, the strength of the muscle beneath his jeans. Blake wrapped an arm around
her and pulled her against his chest, tight. She loved his strength, loved the
smell of him, loved everything about this man. She didn’t believe in love at
first sight but she sure as hell was falling hard and fast for Blake.

She was in a crappy hotel, more than likely going to have
sex with a man she had no shot at a future with, repeating a scene straight out
of her mother’s life. But right now she didn’t give a damn because when Blake
touched her it was as if nothing else mattered.

Crystal leaned forward, needing his kiss, his touch, but
Blake grabbed both of her wrists before she had a chance to close the distance.

She froze. “What?”

Blake stared at her for a second before saying anything. Did
he realize that being with her was a mistake? Did he need to end things before
they went any further?

“There are things about me that you don’t know.” His words
were serious, made her a little nervous.

There were a lot of things she didn’t know about him, but
what was serious enough for this? What was so important to tell her
right
now
?

“Yeah…like?” Crystal prompted when he didn’t continue
speaking, didn’t give her the details she wanted.

“I’m a Dom.”

“A Dom?” She wasn’t sure what he meant. “Like whips and
chains and leather?”

“Yeah, like whips and chains and leather and wanting a woman
who’ll submit to me.”

“Submit?” She sounded dumb, as if she didn’t understand what
submit meant. She knew damn well what the word meant. It wasn’t as if it was a
complete surprise either. He definitely liked to be in control when they
fucked. Crystal just didn’t know how serious he was about it and what impact he
expected it to have on her. She was her own woman, didn’t submit to anyone. Did
he not want her anymore because she wasn’t naturally bending to his will
enough?

“Yeah. Submit.” He kept eye contact with her but his
emotions remained hidden.

When Blake said the word submit it didn’t sound demeaning at
all. It just sounded sexy.

“And you’re telling me this now because…” She didn’t
understand why this became an issue suddenly, why he felt the need to tell her
now. Was this going to be the end of the fun? She sure as hell didn’t want it
to end. Not now. Not for as long as possible. Hell, she could be dead tomorrow,
she might as well live for today.

“Because I’m falling for you. I shouldn’t be but I am and I
need you to know the truth about me before I touch you again, need to know you
can be with a man like me.”

“So you want me to be more submissive?” If that was all he
needed, she would sure as hell try. Crystal liked that he was falling for her
too, that she wasn’t the only one developing feelings that shouldn’t be there.

But she wasn’t sure she could be submissive. Her whole life
had been spent taking care of herself, taking care of her half sister, being
the one in charge. A person couldn’t just flip the switch and become someone
else. Could they?

“Yeah. If you’re willing.”

His words gave her the freedom to choose and she didn’t feel
pressured at all. Blake was giving her power in his request of her to try this
submission thing.

Crystal took a deep breath before answering. “I’m willing…if
you’ll tell me exactly what you expect.”

She didn’t know if she could do it but it was sure as hell
worth a try. She couldn’t stop now, had to have his touch again. Crystal would
try to be submissive but it probably wasn’t going to be easy. It went
completely against her nature, she didn’t trust people. Then again Blake had
somehow already broken through that barrier.

“I’ll teach you.” His voice was deep, almost a growl and his
lips curved upward in a little grin, letting her know how happy he was with her
choice.

If his teaching felt nearly as good as the other times she
had been with Blake, she could probably pick up on this submissive stuff real
fast. It might be worth it to learn a new way of being.

“The most important thing is communication.” He took both of
her hands in one of his and looked down at her intently. “If there is ever anything
you don’t want to do, anything you are uncomfortable with, you have to tell me.
My goal is never to hurt you.”

“Okay.” She nodded, starting to feel a little nervous. What
did he mean by his goal was not to hurt her? What exactly did he have in mind? Crystal
was suddenly anxious about the whips and chains possibility. Then again she
never thought of being spanked as sexy, not until Blake spanked her.

“You will do everything I ask of you…without hesitation,
without overthinking, with total trust in my ability to keep you safe and my
ability to please you.”

He’d already earned her trust on both of those things. Blake
saved her life today, trusting him with the pleasure of her body was nothing
compared to that.

In any other situation, with any other man, that trust would
be hard for her but with Blake it came naturally.

Crystal nodded again. The anticipation of what was coming
next kept her from saying anything. Attention to her pussy was much more
important than attending to her nerves. There wasn’t anything really to be
nervous about. But tell that to the damn flock of butterflies doing
loop-de-loops in her stomach.

“Let me move this bag first though. I don’t want Mason
listening in again.” Blake grabbed his duffel bag and tossed it into the
bathroom and turned on the fan.

“Are you ready for me?”

“Yes.” She licked her lips but her stomach did a nervous
backflip.

“Good.” He closed the distance between them, pressing his
lips against hers, hard, demanding and her pussy started to hum.

She would do any damn thing he wanted just to feel like this
again, to feel the high only he could bring.

“Have you ever been tied up by a man?” Blake asked.

“No.” But if it was even close to as good as when he
handcuffed her to her bed, she was willing to try.

“Are you okay with me tying you up?” He bent down to his
duffel bag and grabbed a small, neatly wound bunch of black rope.

“Yes.” She didn’t know if she would like it, if being bound
by rope would make her uncomfortable or hot but it was worth a try.

“Take your shorts and shirt off,” he commanded.

She did exactly as he said, slipped her shirt over her head
and undid her shorts and stepped out of them, leaving them in a pile at her
feet, standing in front of Blake in her bra and panties.

His gaze drifted slowly down her skin and heat pooled
between her legs.

“Turn around.”

She turned her back to him and waited. Hoping he would touch
her, spank her, fuck her good.

Blake grabbed both her wrists in one of his hands and wound
the rope snugly around them, binding her hands together. He moved his lips to
her neck and kissed her then whispered in her ear. “Is it too tight?”

“No.” It wasn’t cutting off her circulation or anything,
just tight enough to keep her from escaping. Not that she had any interest in
escape. The only thing she had interest in right now was his cock between her
legs.

Blake held the rope that bound her wrists in one hand and
the other moved to unhook her bra and then squeezed her breast, tugged the
nipple.

She let out a high-pitched moan, letting him know exactly
how the pleasure and pain was intermingling and affecting her in so many wicked
ways.

Blake stopped tormenting her nipple, moved his focus back to
tying her up again, securing her arms just above her elbows and wrapping the
rope under her breasts and then tying it in the back so her entire upper body
was secure.

His cock was hard and pressed against her ass as he wrapped,
tied and secured. And then he took a step back, was no longer touching her but
the restraints still held her tight, as if a part of him was still holding her.

“Perfect,” he said and then she could hear him taking off
his clothes behind her.

Good. She couldn’t wait to feel him inside her again. Her
whole body tingled in anticipation. She didn’t know if it was the rope or the
out-of-control feelings but the combination was damn nice.

Crystal turned her head to see what he was doing, to see
what the hell was taking so long. Not that it was actually taking very long,
she was just impatient.

“Face forward,” Blake’s eyes narrowed, letting her know he
was serious.

She whipped her head back around so she was looking at the
wall again but just the glimpse of him was enough. Blake was mostly undressed,
standing there in only boxers, while every muscle in his body flexed sexily.

“You’re going to get a spanking for that.”

“I’m not allowed to look at you?” This whole Dom thing was
so foreign but why wouldn’t he want her looking at him. He was too damn sexy
not to look at.

“You are not allowed to do anything without my command.
Punishment will be spankings.”

“Spankings?” She gulped but not in fear. Crystal looked
forward to him spanking her again, might even misbehave on purpose if the
punishment was always so…pleasurable.

“Yes. Now bend forward.” He guided her so she was leaning,
almost perpendicular to the floor. One of his hands held tight to the rope
between her wrists, keeping her secure and making sure she didn’t fall forward.

“This is what happens to girls who don’t wait for their
master.” He swatted her ass lightly the first time, starting the tingling. The
second one was a little harder, sending the tingling right to her crotch. He
switched cheeks for the third and fourth, starting off lightly again, and the
fifth was hard enough that her pussy clenched with need.

Blake pulled himself against her now, his cock pressing hot
against her ass. He took a slow stroke between her ass cheeks, tormented her
body.

God, she needed more, needed his cock inside her. So. Damn.
Bad.

“Tell me what you want.” Blake ground against her again and
every muscle in the area clenched.

“I want you.” It was as simple as that but the words scared
her. He was the only man she wanted, the only man who could complete her, who
could make her lose control like this.

She had been with enough men to know he wasn’t just another
fling, wasn’t just another man who would come in and out of her life without
leaving much of a mark. He had somehow found a place in her carefully guarded
heart.

“Good.” Blake backed up again, left her without the feeling
of his warmth against her but she could hear what sounded like him opening a
condom.

She hoped like hell that was what it was but didn’t look
back, not now that she knew the rules.