The other arm was busy elsewhere, but I wouldn’t connect those dots until later, when it would do me not one bit of good.

I folded my body as much as I could to accommodate both her furious riding of my cock, and her needy tits pushing at my mouth.

I was as hungry as she was needy, and I got rough with her, drawing firm at one abused peak until she sobbed.

I pulled back, but she gripped me to her, hard nipple rubbing against my lips until I started sucking hard at it again.

I switched to the other, leaving bruising marks along the skin between on the journey there.

I helped her jerk up and down my length, keeping her flesh in my mouth.

She’d be sore and bruised tomorrow, every twinge of it a reminder of to whom her body belonged.

She came first, a loud, clenching orgasm that had my balls drawing up tight with a few tight squeezes.

My nails dug into her h*ps as, with a hoarse shout, I slammed home and shot my load deep.

I was still catching my breath underneath her when she leaned back to look me.

Without blinking, she covered my nose and mouth with a piece of material that reeked of chemicals.

I’d never actually smelled it before, but almost instantly, I knew what it was.

Green eyes met mine over the ether soaked cloth.

“I love you,” Iris mouthed, right before the world went black.

CHAPTER SEVEN

I woke up alone and in my own bed.

Alone and sore as hell, head to toe.

I doubted the bastard had been gentle when he’d transferred me back across who knew how many states and to my own house again.

Alone, sore as hell, and furious.

I slammed through my house, feeling a need to lash out and vent in a way that only helplessness could breed.

I didn’t know if I was relieved or more pissed off when I found a note on my kitchen counter.

It wasn’t written by Iris, of that much I was sure.

I could only assume by the bold writing and the hostility that fairly leapt off the page, that Heath had penned it.

DON’T TELL ANYONE WHAT HAPPENED OR WHERE YOU’VE YOU BEEN.  YOU’LL BE PUTTING IRIS AT RISK IF YOU DO, SO JUST KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.  AND DON’T TRY TO LOOK FOR HER.  BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, I’LL HAVE MOVED HER AGAIN.

I really hated that motherfucker.  Sincerely.

What was I supposed to do?

Just wait around until he decided to kidnap me again?

So that I could go drive for hours in the back of a creepy van, f**k Iris raw, then have her knock me out again while I was still twitching inside her.

Iris had f**king ether tapped me.

I couldn’t get over it.

Whose side was she on, anyway?

It was hard to say what was worse, the before or after.

No, it was definitely the before, I decided, because though the after was torture, in the before I hadn’t known if she was whole and alive.

Now at least I had that.

Even so, I was plagued by thoughts of her in that dingy motel, being held captive by that bastard Heath.

What was going on with them?  Did he and she—

No, I wouldn’t think about that.  No good could come of it.

—Were they lovers?  She’d said he didn’t hurt her, but it was a fact that she had no problem lying about any damn thing.

Still, I didn’t think they were, but whether that belief stemmed from anything logical, or merely a strong desire to believe it because the alternative was unpalatable to me, well, that was anyone’s guess.

“You need to turn this mess into a book,” Turner told me.

It was about a week later, and I was at his house, venting again.

I’d told him all of it, every insane detail of that crazy ride, from the abduction to the ether.

Needless to say, he was intrigued.

“Not happening.”

“I’m using it, then.  It’s just too crazy not to write down.”

“Hell no.  No way.”

“Okay, okay, but listen, someday this is not going to be such a touchy subject, and when that day comes, it will be a long time from now, and the details will be fuzzy, so at least jot it down in your diary or something while it’s still fresh.”

“I don’t have a diary.  Do you actually have a diary?”

“Well, no.  I’m just saying, write it down somewhere.  You don’t have to publish it.”

Needing a distraction, I changed the subject.  “What happened to Candy?  I had to let myself in.”

“Please.  Like that’s unusual.  That chick didn’t answer the door once the entire time she worked here.  And she quit.”

That had me raising my brows.  “Oh yeah?  How come?”

He gave me a knowing look.  “I’ve told you about this.  Same reason they always do.  She wanted to f**k the boss.”

“And did you oblige her?”

“I did.”

“Well?”

He shrugged.  “It was fine.  I mean, it was good, but, and trust me I know I’m a bastard for saying this, I think she exaggerated her own oral skills.  I watched that chick suck on lollipops for months like she was fixated.  It built up some unrealistic expectations.”

“What about the rest?”

“Good.  She was fine.  I kept her around for three days before it got a bit redundant.  I don’t know.  I think it’s me.  I’ve been bored lately, or hell, maybe I’m just bored with redheads.  I’m sure it’ll pass.”