Physical Education (12 page)

Chapter Twenty

“You know all of this isn’t necessary,” Amanda said as Reed ushered her into one of the private lounges. The school grounds continued to be bigger than she’d imagined. Here she was seeing yet another area that she’d never had before.

“Yes, it is,” Reed said. “You’ve been through a lot over the last week, and whether you want to admit any weaknesses or not, you need to decompress.”

His response and gentleness made her feel even more bristly. Amanda knew that she should feel thankful to Reed for rescuing her, and the others, and for bringing her home safely. Still, she felt jealous, vindictive and downright angry with him.

Despite her feelings, she couldn’t help but be wowed by the bathing area. The floors and walls were all done in the same cobalt blue marbled tiles, with inlays of gold leafing. Rather than a “bath” like its name implied, the oversized hot tub or mini-pool could have comfortably sat Amanda, Reed and more than a dozen of their closest friends. It made her think of stories of the Roman baths that were better known for their sexcapades. Years ago, Amanda had done a tour of Hearst Castle on the Central California Coast, and this area looked like a much smaller version of Hearst’s elaborate indoor heated pool, which was also rumored to have seen many an intimate encounter.

Next to her, Reed stripped off his clothes and laid them on some warmers in the corner. A few plush white robes hung on another warmer, and there were even a couple of pairs of fuzzy slippers. Just like a fancy day spa, Amanda thought wryly.

Amanda took in Reed’s muscular frame, the ripples running down his back and toned calves, and suddenly felt oddly self-conscious. The past week had been frightening, and she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do with herself, or her future. Suddenly, all the choices she’d made were put into question. Here she was, at a sex school, and she’d been kidnapped and almost sold as a sex slave. But did one really equal the other? She wasn’t selling her body. She just wanted to feel comfortable within her own skin, to learn how to enjoy some pleasures of the flesh a bit more.

As if sensing her hesitancy, Reed approached her slowly and took her in his arms. It felt strange, standing there, mostly dressed and having Reed nude. But his comfortableness seemed to flow through her and into her body, as if he was giving her comfort and strength. Peace. Everything about him evoked strength and control. Now that she knew that he was an undercover detective, she understood better that sense of security that flowed around him. It was one of the reasons why he always seemed to be in power.

That thought of his true nature, though, led Amanda to once again question what she knew about Reed and who he really was. Did she even really know him at all? Before she’d been taken, she thought that they had the start of something going, a relationship. Now, she even questioned if those feelings had been real, or just hopeful thinking on her part.

Even worse, she might have been part of his job. Maybe he’d gotten to know her as part of his cover.

“You’re shivering,” he said, “let’s get you in that warm water.”

Before he mentioned it, she didn’t even realize that she literally was shaking on her feet. She didn’t feel cold. Was it nerves? Shock?

Reed took his jacket off her shoulders and pulled the long T-shirt off over her head. Beneath it, she didn’t have any underwear on. Of course not, where would she borrow a matching bra and panties set? She crossed her arms protectively over her bare breasts, hiding her nakedness, her vulnerability.

Steam rose off the tub water, and Reed took her hand and led her down into the soothing depths. When her foot first touched the water, she cringed; it felt so hot, but she quickly walked the whole way in and sat on one of the benches. Warmth embraced her body in a liquid hug. She sighed and sloughed down, letting the water rise up over her shoulders and neck, until it touched the bottoms of her ears. The heat seeped down to her bones, chasing away the chill. Very much within her own languid world, she still remained aware of Reed, just an arm’s length away, watching her with his shadowy eyes. Tonight, she didn’t want to try to figure him out or read his thoughts. She wanted to forget and heal. Maybe he was right to bring her here, after all. She didn’t like feeling or looking weak, but sometimes, she needed to let others help her. If anything, she’d learned that with this recent escapade. Without Reed, she might not have gotten out of there. She would have tried her hardest, though.

She relaxed further, letting the weight of the past week flow from her pores. She sunk under the water, feeling it pass over her ears, until her head was completely submerged.

A strong grip pulled her back up, and Reed wrapped her within his even stronger arms. Sobs broke out. She didn’t even know that she was about to cry. No precursor. Suddenly, the tears were just there. Raw and open.

“Why me?” she asked. “What was it about me that attracted them? Did I bring this on myself?”

“Never,” he replied, whispering in her ear. “You cannot ever put this upon yourself. People don’t ‘deserve’ crime. Crime happens because some fucked up people are bad.

“Unfortunate, but true,” he said.

“Do you know what their plans were? What they were going to do with us? With me?” she asked, wanting to know but not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

“Don’t think about that,” he said, stroking her wet hair back. “Just think about tomorrow, and the day after that. Let yesterday go.”

“I can’t. I know that you know. Tell me.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Reed settled in beside her, without letting her go. “Ohio,” he said. “It looks like they were going to move all of you to Ohio over the next few days.”

Ohio? Of all places. In the middle of the States. Something about what Reed was saying nagged at her memory. There was something about Ohio that just didn’t seem right.

“Why Ohio? I don’t understand.”

“You don’t hear a lot about it, but across the U.S., almost 50,000 people each year are trafficked, which means being sold for sex or forced to work in fields, restaurants, sweatshops,” Reed explained.

“Ohio actually has some of the highest amount of trafficking and people sold as sex slaves,” he continued. “They’re close to the border in Canada, and they also have some of the most ambiguous human trafficking laws, which means they get to do these types of activities there and get away with it.”

It was hard for Amanda to wrap her mind around the issue. She’d read and heard about human trafficking in other countries, but thinking about it happening, on such a widespread scale, right here in her own backyard? That seemed impossible.

“And the instructor, Ralph? He was part of this ring?” she asked. “That’s how they targeted us? How they got us?”

“It seems like it so far,” Reed answered, honestly, “but there seems to be more going on that just him. We haven’t cracked the whole case just yet, but we will.

“I promise you that.”

The water shifted as Reed pulled her onto his lap, kissing her neck, the underside of her chin, taking her lips. His sense of urgency seeming to grow.
“I thought I’d lost you, too,” he said.

His intense kisses stopped the possibility of saying anything in return. Her mind grasped at a reply, only to be chased away with thoughts and feelings of pleasure, and the growing member beneath her bottom. At least there was no hiding that Reed felt a very real attraction for her.

Again, Reed always made her feel safe, secure and loved. Now she knew that it was all part of his duty to serve and protect. But, within his arms, with her eyes closed, she still felt pretty special. Maybe for right now. Maybe for tonight, she could take in all those good feelings and make herself feel even better.

The door to the room opened, and a woman came in carrying a tray of food and wine. She set it on a table near the tub without making eye contact with either of them.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asked, eyes cast down, and her hands clasped in front of her.

Amanda made a move to get off Reed’s lap, but he held her there tightly. Now that he had her, she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Will you turn on the jets?” Reed replied, “and hand me the remote please? I forgot to do it before getting in the water.”

The server opened a panel on the wall that Amanda hadn’t noticed before and pushed a button. The spa’s jets erupted on all sides. A light jingling sound accompanied the woman removing a small remote control device from its hook. She brought it over to Reed.

“Here you go, sir. Will there be anything else?”

“No, we should be fine, Elsie. Thank you.”

Elsie, Amanda thought. Reed certainly seemed to know a lot about the school, its happenings and the employees.

Again, it was his job.

“Now, where were we?” he asked, taking her lips in his again.

His tongue teased her lower lip, and she opened her mouth to allow him entry. He swirled his tongue around hers, building up the sensations. They stayed like that for a few minutes, tight within his arms, kissing, until they finally broke for a few deep breaths.

“I’ve missed you,” he said. He released her with one arm and used it to bring her hair out of her face, slicking back the wet strands. He looked deep within her eyes, as if searching her soul for secrets, and exhaled a loud breath of his own. “You must be starving. Let’s get some sustenance in you.”

Amanda was just about to decline when her stomach growled in reply. What was it with her today? She was cold, but didn’t realize that she was cold. On the verge of crying, without knowing it, and now obviously past the point of hungry. She had to chalk it up to emotional overload, but really she had to wonder, what’s next?

* * * *

Reed himself felt loaded with emotions and pent-up energy. Part of him wanted to be out on the streets, finding all the perps that had committed this crime against his sister and Amanda, and the other part wanted to be right here, holding Amanda within his arms. Although she was literally so very close to him, she felt distant. Her emotions were all jumbled up, and she kept closing herself off, looking off in the distance as if she was lost in thought or memory. He wished that he could take away all of her fears, all of those frightened, bad memories, but that was impossible. All he could really do was make her feel safe and secure right now, right here. And later he would make the others pay.

He also obviously felt torn about sending his sister home with another person. But he also knew her much better. If she said that she wanted to go home alone and be with a friend, then that really meant that she didn’t want him around. No matter how much he wanted to be there for her, it would only make the situation worse. Of course, he had called her friend Bridget to confirm that she was going to come over, and that she would call him if anything was wrong. And, he’d already taken a call from the officer who dropped Willow off at home, letting him know that Willow had made it home safely, and yes that there was another woman there – with an overnight bag – when they had arrived at the residence.

He would have plenty of time to deal with Willow and her own boundaries later. Now, he had to focus on Amanda. Although all he truly felt like doing was ravishing the pale-looking beauty, he didn’t think that would do anything good for her psyche. The last thing he wanted was to have her go from being treated like a sex object for sale, to having someone else take advantage of her.

First food, and then maybe a little bit of loving. Reed helped Amanda settle back onto the seat next to him, and then he reached over to get a glass of wine. As his body left the water, he caught Amanda’s eyes widen as she took in his backside, and he smiled a bit to himself. At least she couldn’t help herself to look.

He handed the wine over to Amanda and took a glass for himself. In comparison to the heat of the tub, the white wine was cool and refreshing and slid lightly down his throat.

“What pretty stemware,” Amanda said, holding up the rose-colored wine glass to the light. “It looks like cut crystal, but it’s obviously not.” She tapped on the side of the glass, testing the material.

“Amazing what they can make with plastic these days,” he said, “plus it’s much safer than real glass in the hot tub.”

He dragged the tray of food closer. Plates were filled with small delicacies such as olives, sliced breads and what looked like roasted bell pepper hummus. Smart not too eat too heavy so late, Reed thought. Taking a few olives in his hand, he fed them to Amanda. As the olives slipped between her lips, she ran her tongue along his finger, sucking off all the juice, and then some.

Reed immediately felt himself harden, as he quickly imagined her sucking not on his finger, but his cock. Raising an eyebrow, he met her gaze, and she smiled as she released his finger. God, it was good to see her smile again.

* * * *

Being submerged in water, Amanda couldn’t believe she could get any wetter. As Reed continued to kiss her, though, and dip his finger between her legs, she knew that she’d grown slicker in a different way. She leaned back against his chest, head tilted back to revel in his kisses. She felt him edging her toward the edge of the tub, and she wondered where he was taking her. And then she felt it, the full throb of the water jet hitting her right between the legs. As he positioned her, he spread the folds of her sex with his fingers, giving access to her clit. The unforgiving water licked every inch of her crevice, forcibly massaging, pulsing, pounding. With his other arm, he held her steady. She couldn’t move away from the jet’s power, even if she wanted to.

“Let yourself go,” he whispered in her ear. “Let yourself feel.”

She longed to be filled by him. Connected to him, but again, it was all about her coming. It felt so personal, yet so impersonal. Would they ever just be together? Or, would it always be one-sided?

As the pleasure mounted, she lost all inhibitions and thoughts as everything became sensation. Reed’s arms holding her tight. The feel of his cock pressed up against her ass. His excited breath on her ear. The pounding, unforgiving water. She bucked against his hard body as her orgasm vibrated through her body. Unconsciously, she tried to move away from the jet’s stream, but Reed held her steady. Quickly, another orgasm ripped through her body, and she screamed out Reed’s name.

Sated with pleasure, Reed felt Amanda’s body go limp within his arms. The mixture of exhaustion, release and the heat of the tub must have pushed her over the edge of consciousness. Her body felt pliant. He would do just about anything to take her then and there, but now really wasn’t the time. She’d just been exploited and rescued. He wouldn’t take advantage of her now. Even if she was a willing partner, the time wouldn’t feel right.