Fatal Fugue (The Deadlier Sex Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter Three

“Are you getting tired?”

His voice was so unexpected after miles of silence, it caused Hayley to startle. She glanced at the man in the seat next to her, finding a sharp, cool stare meeting hers. He was a good-looking man, yes, but frightening as well.

He’s dangerous
, she thought.
And creepy.

“I, uh, yes,” she finally responded. She had been driving for almost three hours straight, plowing through America’s Southwest. Of course she was tired.

“Pull over here.”

Hayley glanced at the rearview mirror. Satisfied they were alone, she pulled to the side of the road, putting the car into park. Immediately, the man grabbed the keys, spun them on his finger and cracked a smile.

“Hop out. I’ll take over from here.”

Hayley hesitated. “I don’t want to go any farther with you. Please—just release me.”

The man chuckled then reached over and yanked the door handle, shoving the door open. “Get out,” he said as he leaned toward her, motioning her out the door before heading out of the passenger side.

I could always run,
she thought. They were in the middle of Timbuktu, and the next town was miles away. She’d die of exposure before reaching any civilization. She deepened her frown and gave him a prickly glare.

“Come on,” he shouted at her, pounding on the hood of the car. “We haven’t got all day.”

Hayley complied, seeing that he was leaving her no choice, and cursed under her breath. The shock of the day was starting to wear on her in a big way, and she was getting irritable. She met him around the front of the car, and before she even knew what he was doing, he reached behind her with one of his large hands, pulling her tightly against him. Their faces were mere inches apart, and she could feel his body’s heat emanating from his chest—and much lower. He pressed her harder against him, wedging her against the car’s warm hood before she shoved her hands into his chest, knocking him away. Hayley was surprised by her strength and planted her feet firmly to the ground.

“What? Are you going to add criminal sexual conduct to your kidnapping charges?” she asked snidely, feeling suddenly brave.

He chuckled heartily. “Look, H., I’m not the enemy. I know you’re having a bit of a breakdown or something right now, but when you come out of it, you’re going to realize that our causes are not so different. You might want to rethink your way of comforting a man, if you get what I’m saying, because”—he stepped up close to her again, and she raised a palm in front of her—“you and I,” he said with a grin, “are
very
familiar with each other.”

Hayley shook her head. “Convenient thing to say to a woman who can’t remember shit. Probably every felon’s dream.” She twisted her lips, biting down as his face darkened and his chuckle faded to an angry scowl.

“You’re one to talk, H. You’re one to talk. Look, the desert stretches for hours in every direction. You and I will stick together until I get you back to Vegas. Then there’ll be some sorting out to do. A
lot
of sorting out. I just hope that memory of yours kicks back in for both our sakes.”

“And what the hell does that mean?” she snapped, hands balling into fists. This guy was toying with her. He had to be. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Why would he risk anything for her?

“I know it’s hard to believe, but you’ve actually got bigger problems than greasing that douchebag Damian.” He gave her a hard look. “You have business associates who aren’t too pleased with you. See, you’ve been gone for a week.”

How does he know about the guy in the basement? He knows his name? A week? Holy shit, what happened to me?
The thoughts were coming at her fast, and Hayley felt instantly overwhelmed. Her head swam, and her vision darkened. Then her legs began to go, and Hayley felt herself falling, but she could do nothing to stop it. Big arms wrapped around her, his arms, only this time there was nothing salacious about his touch. This time he’d grabbed her out of concern.

He lowered her to the ground slowly and knelt down with her. The light was starting to fade from the sky. Hayley recovered her vision but stayed sitting.

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said honestly, then looked the man in the eye. “I’m frightened.”

The man blew out a long breath. “Wow, H., to see
you
, like
this
….” He shook his head then used his hands to pantomime
mind blown.
He looked down, shaking his head as if unsure what to say next. Far in the distance ahead of them, five or six miles out on the desert road at least, a pair of halogens came into view.

“Who the hell was I?” she asked, staring into him, begging him for some information. “Please?”

Another deep breath was blown out, and then he answered. “You’re the boss, Madame H., of a human trafficking operation.”

“Human trafficking?” The words floated out of her mouth, a horrified whisper in the evening air.

He cleared his throat. “Sex trafficking. Prostitutes, sex slaves. Some of them willing, some of them… not.

The headlights grew brighter, and he helped her up and stuffed her into the passenger seat of the car. She barely registered anything. Nothing felt real anymore. It couldn’t be.

Hayley wished he’d never answered her.

Chapter Four

Hayley tried her best to imagine getting comfortable on the single queen bed taking up most of the tiny motel room. There was only one. Of course. This was fucking bullshit, and her aching head wasn’t helping the situation.

Tossing her bag to the floor, all she wanted was a hot shower and some food. Clean clothes would be a bonus, but one or the other of the former would be nice. All three would be damn luxurious.

Her captor shut the door behind them and snickered when he saw what she’d been staring at.

“Cozy.” He smirked, and she glared at him, hoping her incessant, acidic look would eat a hole right through his body. He didn’t seem to notice and placed his own bag of stuff onto the bed. He must have snuck it into her car when she’d been in the store, for he hadn’t been carrying it when he’d grabbed her. This man was full of mystery, but she didn’t have the faintest clue who he was or if he was telling her the truth about the past. He could be a pathological liar for all she knew, and had concocted an entire story to mess with her head.

No… he knew her, that was a definite, but she didn’t trust him at all.

“I’m sure you want to get a shower in; I’m not so sweet smelling either. But, since I’m not quite sure you won’t bolt on me when I’m washing up, I see only one solution to this problem.”

Hayley felt her heart speed up and wondered if the man could hear it outside her chest. It was possible; it felt like a stampede of elephants rumbling inside her. The mere suggestion that she’d have to shower with him watching her, or worse, joining her, was too much too process.

She let her gaze slide back to him, feeling her face burn under his scrutinous eyes.

“What?”

He was kidding, right?

The smoldering look he wore now assured her he was far from joking around. How was it that he knew her that well? He obviously did, or he wouldn’t be hungering for her like a familiar pleasure. She let her eyes drop to the floor but not without noticing the obvious hard-on bulging to break free under his dark jeans.

“I—I’m not showering with you.” Her voice cracked, but she couldn’t speak anymore. He was encroaching on her space, but she couldn’t move from the spot where she stood. It was as if she was glued to the floor or under his command to stay put. As his body touched hers, there was no more air in the room to breathe.

“Come on, you might enjoy it. Live a little.” He slipped his hand over hers, and try as she may, she couldn’t snatch it away.

Bastard
.

He was a bastard, and he knew it. How well did he know her? How was it that she already couldn’t resist him and didn’t even know why? He was as sleek as a thief in the night, stealing away her free will with just a touch. It made her body burn and sent squeezing warmth through her middle. She imagined him pulling her close and running his fingers along her neck before cupping her chin and furiously kissing her with his hungry mouth. What was worse was that she wanted it. Her body remembered everything her mind was trying so hard to forget, and she hated herself for it. The traitorous sensations did nothing but build the resentment she was accumulating for this man.

“I don’t even know your name and you want me to shower with you?” She laughed. It was more of a crazy chuckle, but she wasn’t sure what was happening and didn’t know well enough to stop anything that’d been set in motion earlier than her memory allowed her access to. It was too much; overwhelming and insulting all at the same time. She wanted to give in. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run away, but nothing cooperated, and all she could do was let him lead her to the bathroom where he clicked the door shut behind them.

“Take off your clothes.” His voice was gruff in the small room. It was a standard motel shower/tub combo, but the curved curtain rod gave it more room, and it wasn’t the cheapest motel, so the tub was more of a Roman tub than standard one. It made her even more nervous when she saw that after he moved the curtain to the side.

Then he pulled off his shirt.

Hayley had barely dropped her coat to the floor and was still fully dressed, but she paused to watch him. Underneath the snug dark shirt were corded muscles, sleek and strong. Tattoos covered his arms like sleeves and ran over his chest and back. All sorts of things from skulls to arrows and other objects sprayed across his skin in intricate patterns she wanted to touch with her fingers. The urge was overwhelming, and before she knew it, her fingers were scorched with the warmth of his skin.

He turned, catching her caressing his tattoos. She gasped and pulled away, backing up into the wall where the towel hanger rammed into her back.

“You sure you don’t remember anything?” he asked.

She shook her head, panic at his proximity crawling into her. He was still wearing his jeans but nothing else and smelled of sweat and musky dirt. It was alluring, yet she fought her desire and shoved it down as deep as she possibly could.

“No. Don’t come any closer… please.” Her pleading didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. She wanted him with a baffling amount of desire she couldn’t comprehend. She knew him… but how? How much had they shared before her memory had committed suicidal erasure? There had to be a damn good reason she’d want to forget things. Maybe she’d been hit on the head? Quite possible, but if it’d only been a week since her disappearance, and her head felt pretty darn intact except for the swimming fogginess this man’s presence caused. How does one lose their memory out of the blue?

“Come on, H. You don’t forget something like what we had. It was intense and all consuming. Why are you running?”

“I’m not this person you think I am. I can’t be….” Could she?

“You are and proud of it. I’ll help you remember, I promise. Just let me in.” He reached out for her again, and she pressed her back painfully against the towel bar, wishing she could be one of those superheroes who could walk through walls. But she wasn’t, and no amount of her strength could get her out of this predicament.

He was the picture of the hottest man she’d ever seen; so why did she want to run so badly?

His hand was on her cheek, and she jerked her head away, feeling the increasing ache of lust trying—needing—to take over.

“Please, don’t….”

His hand retreated, leaving a cold front where the singe of his touch had once been. She wanted it back yet couldn’t articulate another word. She opened her eyes to find him undoing the button and zipper of his jeans and stripping naked. He didn’t turn around but instead cranked the faucets and yanked the switch for the shower spray.

“I suggest you take off your clothes.” He tilted his head back to her and smirked. “Unless you want to shower with them on.”

“I….” Hayley stuttered, not knowing what to do. The guy just shook his head and groaned.

“When did you become such a prude, H.? You’re the one who wanted to go skinny-dipping off the shores of the cliffs near Cabo. You had the whole group naked in mere seconds. What happened to you?” He held his arm out and waved her forward. “After you, clothes on or off.”

Hayley cursed under her breath. Her fear melted away, with his last comment filling her with anger instead. She ripped off her shirt and yanked her pants painfully off. She left her bra and panties on and walked forward, stepping over the lip of the tub and letting the heated water slap against her body. He joined her, tugging the curtain into place.

“That’s a slight improvement,” he muttered, grabbing the small courtesy shampoo bottle and pouring its contents into his hand. “Might as well do some laundry at the same time, right?”

He handed her the bottle and proceeded to lather up his short hair.

“What’s your name?” she asked. It had eluded her all this time, and she had to put a name with his face.

“Just call me Jay. It’s close enough.”

Watching him for a moment as he washed up cleared her head. Jay. At least it was something. Knowing he had a name close to that had her thinking up the ones that could match. It was relaxing enough that she was able to start her own task of cleaning up.

Jay was harmless, wasn’t he? He would have killed her by now if he’d wanted to, right? A man that good looking and tough could kill with one twist of a wrist if he wanted to. If they’d been close beforehand, he wouldn’t want to do anything bad to her. His treatment of her was baffling and confused her even more. She was tired of feeling this way, but nothing seemed to be making sense. It was exhausting trying to catch up.

She just wanted to relax and enjoy the scene unraveling in front of her. Jay’s glorious, naked body was all she wanted in her head right now, and as she grabbed a washcloth, lathering it with soap, she gently rubbed the filth away, taking extra time down where all desires flow, trying her best to ease the need away with her fingers.

It was time to let go and see where things went. She was done making sense of anything.

Madame H. it is.