Raw: The Ultimate Mc Collection (102 page)

“You weren’t expecting water, right?”

“Nope, not at all.  I was beginning to think you were a camel,”  I said teasingly.

“This is my favorite place,” he said quietly beside me, gazing out over the water below. 

“Come on,” he took my hand, leading me back down the rocks to the sandy shore below.

It really was beautiful, and yet once again, the fact that I was being held against my will began to seep into my thoughts.  But quickly, I forgot it, and concentrated on the feel of Hawk’s hand in mine, and the beautiful day ahead of us.

“We can swim if you want.  The water’s cool and clean.”

When we reached the lake, Hawk laid the blanket down on the soft sand, and put the backpack on it. Without a word, he took off his boots, and then began removing his clothes.  Within seconds, he was walking naked past me and straight into the water.  I watched silently, smiling at him in all his naked, tattooed, muscular glory until he dove in head first, breaking through the water a few feet away and shaking his wet, blonde curls out of his face.

“Come on!  It’s fucking awesome!”  His smile was huge and contagious.

“Alright, alright…”

I took off my shoes, and as I started to undress, I realized he was staring at me.  My nippled hardened as I locked eyes with him as I unbuttoned my jeans and then shimmied out of them.  I heard him groan as I pulled the black t-shirt over my head, and then quickly discarded my black, lacy bra, letting my naked breasts fall out, my nipples still hard and erect.

Slowly, I walked to the edge of the lake and dipped a toe in.

“It’s cold!”  I squealed.

“Don’t be a baby, Princess!  Just get in…then I’ll warm you up.”  He splashed me with water, the drops like cold pinpricks on my hot skin.

I squealed again, jumping back and glaring at him before stepping into the coldness of the lake, the water lapping softly against my ankles.

Inch by inch, I lowered my body into the water until my breasts were bobbing with the waves just above the water, my nipples hard as rocks.  When I reached Hawk, he grabbed my waist, pulling me to him for a kiss.  His wet hands grabbed my face as his mouth sought mine eagerly, his kiss already familiar, yet passionate and full of desire.  My thigh bumped against his hard cock, and I moaned into his hot kiss as he nudged his cock up against my pussy.

“Mmmm…I can’t get enough of you, baby,”  he said, kissing my ear and neck as he pressed against me.

“The feeling is very mutual, Hawk.” His fingers disappeared into the water, finding my slick entrance and sliding into me.  

“I can tell,” he whispered into my ear, kissing my neck and then my lips again.  I was clinging onto his broad shoulders as he kissed me and his fingers worked their way even deeper into my spasming pussy, my legs unsteady in the wet sand of the lake.  

Quickly, he removed his hands from me and I whimpered in protest.  Keeping his mouth glued to mine, his kisses hardened as he picked me up and carried me out of the water, depositing my naked, wet body on the blanket before laying on top of me, spreading my thighs, and thrusting his throbbing cock deep inside me.   His thrusts were fast and quick, his need for release obvious as he plowed deep inside me, his groans and grunts loud in my ear as he pounded away at my wetness.

I opened my eyes, looking over his shoulder up at the bright, blue sky while  Hawk shuddered violently, his cock erupting inside me, filling me once more with his warmth.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“How much longer do we have to wait?”  Hawk whispered into the phone. After a long, hot day at the lake, he and Vanessa had returned home to Pearl.  Vanessa decided to take a short nap after Hawk told her he needed to take care of some business around the house.  Sensing he wasn’t interested in going into detail, she didn’t ask any questions, and left him alone.

“Not much longer.  I’ve coordinated a visit with her father tomorrow.  How is she?” The voice on the other end of the call said.

Hawk hesitated.  She was gorgeous and she tasted like Georgia peaches, that’s how she was.  They had spent hours laying on that blanket this afternoon, devouring each other under the endless blue skies, cooling off in the clear lake, completely uninterrupted by anyone or any thoughts of the outside world.  It had been totally peaceful and he easily forgot exactly why he was so fortunate to have this beauty in front of him. Vanessa was so open and pliant beneath him, so trusting, letting him do exactly as he pleased with her youthful body.

And the most amazing thing of all?  When he was on top of her, thrusting away at her amazing body, the pictures were gone.  Fucking them away wasn’t an issue, because they just never appeared at all.  It was the first time it had been like that for him, and he couldn’t get enough of her.  She erased it all before it even began creeping into his head.

As far as he was concerned, she was the cure he had been waiting for all his life.  And she scared the hell out of him.

“She’s as good as can be expected,” he whispered into the phone.  He had stepped out onto the front porch to make the call, but Vanessa could sneak up on him at any moment.

“Keep her safe. And that stupid dog, too.”

“The dog is actually pretty sweet. Even though it could use some more house-training.”

“It sheds. A lot. Don’t forget to send me the picture! I’ll call you tomorrow after I know more.  A tout a l'heure!”

He turned to go back in the house, hating that he couldn’t tell Vanessa more, hating that he was keeping her here against her will, even if she had oh-so-willingly opened up to him.  He couldn’t help but wonder what would happen between them when this was all over.  He wished he could tell her more, just to ease her fears, but if he did that, she would be even more hurt.

Would she hate him if she found out the truth?  

He knew so much more about her than she knew, and he didn’t care about any of it.  Screw her father, screw her job.  He didn’t care about any of that. 

But why was he kidding himself by thinking they could have any kind of future together?  She was just using him to pass the time -  he was sure a woman like her wouldn’t want to spend time with a man like him if she wasn’t forced to.  

The only problem was that every time her face flashed in his mind, his cock grew to the hardness of a baseball bat.  He groaned, grasping his erection and heading straight for the bedroom.

* * *   

Dakota walked up behind Genevieve just as she hung up the phone.

“Who was that?”  Dakota demanded.  The girls had all been sick with worry about their missing friend, and emotions were running high in the house.

“No news, honey.  I’m sorry,” she said to Dakota.

“I don’t understand. Drake said the date went well, right? That they parted ways after the business dinner?”

“Yes, mon ami, that is exactly what he said.”

“I just don’t understand why she would pick up and leave and not tell us.  Everything looked normal at her house, nothing out of place, and Pearl wasn’t even there.  She had to have taken her with her, but where? And why?”

“All we can do is hope she turns up, mon petite fille.  Try not to worry too much.”

“I don’t know, Genevieve,”  she replied, biting her lip with anxiety. “Something doesn’t feel right.  I hope she’s safe.  If I don’t hear from her by tomorrow, I’m calling the police.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Dakota, Veronica, and Bobby sat in a circle on the floor of Veronica’s apartment, sipping wine and passing a joint between them. 

“Maybe the business finally got to her.  Some girls aren’t cut out to do this shit,” Veronica said, inhaling deeply and passing the joint to Dakota.

“Sure, but why would she leave without saying a word? Her apartment looks like she just went out for a few hours, her luggage is still in her closet.  Her clothes are there.  It’s like she just scooped up the dog and left,” Dakota said.

“Pearl’s bed is still there.  If she were going away for a long time, wouldn’t she have taken that?”  Bobby asked.

“I don’t know. I wish she would answer her phone.  It goes right to voicemail and has for two days now.  None of this makes any sense.  It’s just not like her.” Dakota replied.

“Well, maybe there is more to Vanessa than we know.  Maybe she just went to visit her family or something.  Has anyone called her father?” Vanessa said.

“I asked Genevieve about that, and she said that was a bad idea. She said if we don’t hear from her by tomorrow, we can call the police,” Dakota said sadly.

“The police? And say what?  We’re missing our friend who went out on an illegal date to prostitute herself? And oh, yeah, we do it too?  We can’t go to the fucking police, Dakota. You can’t fucking trust the pigs. What if she really did just go away for a few days to clear her head?  She’d be so pissed that we got the police involved,”  Veronica said, shaking her head.

“Or, what if she was raped and is tied-up in a dungeon somewhere with a crazed serial killer slowly eating bits and pieces of her flesh?”  Dakota asked.

“Jesus, Dakota!”  Bobby exclaimed. “You gotta stop reading the fucking news so much.”

Dakota was a news junkie, always filling the girls in on the latest horrific crime that was splattered across the front page of the L.A. Times.

“Yeah, well, it fucking happens, y’all.  There was a man in Georgia who kidnapped three women, held them in a dungeon while he injected them with some type of anesthesia, opened up their skulls and ate little pieces of their brains while they were still fucking alive!”

The girls groaned, and Veronica took another hit.

“Would you shut the fuck up with your horror stories, please?  Smoke this and relax,”  she said, handing it to Dakota as she shook her head.

“I’m worried, that’s all.”  Dakota inhaled deeply, then laid back on the carpet and stared up at Veronica’s ceiling, consumed with worry for her friend.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Charles, wait for me here.  I shouldn’t be more than half an hour or so.”

“Yes, ma’am.” he replied, holding the door of the limousine for her, while extending a hand to help her out.

She strolled through the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel, checked in quickly, and as soon as she walked into her room, she pulled a phone out of her quilted leather Chanel handbag and texted her room number to him.

Ten minutes later, a knock on the door startled her.  He was early.  She smoothed her hair, then her skirt, took a deep breath and opened the door.

Victor Valentine stood there, his face wrinkled in anger, his body fidgeting with impatience.  He was a high-strung man who managed to look immaculate no matter how much stress he was under.  A lady-killer in his youth, he was now a silver fox that made friends of women and enemies of men everywhere he went.  He had schemed his way to the top, and he didn’t do much to hide the rumors that surrounded him.  His philosophy was the more controversial you were, the more people talked about you.  And the more people talked about you, the more they wanted to be around you and do things for you.

And that was what he was accustomed to.  People doing exactly what he wanted.

Which was why he didn’t have any patience for vague meetings like this where he was sure someone was going to ask something of him that he couldn’t provide. Since entering the campaign for mayor, he had been inundated with calls like that.  Normally, he would have had his assistant politely decline, but this woman was unusually insistent and had mentioned Vanessa’s name.  

He hadn’t heard from Vanessa in six months, and as much as he was determined to continue with his tough-love treatment towards her, he was still curious how she was doing, and to be honest, what she was doing.

If this woman had news of her, then it was worth five minutes.

But he didn’t want to discourage her if all she wanted was some mundane favor.

“I have five minutes before I have to be at my next appointment,” he said, as he walked briskly into the room, not bothering with pleasantries.

The woman closed the door, turning to him as he stood near the window, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at her expectantly.

“Monsieur,” she nodded.  “I see you are man of a few words, so I will get right to the point.  I have your daughter.”

“What do you mean you have her?”