Aegis 01 - First Exposure (6 page)

When the door pushed open and Mario stepped inside, Cade made a circle motion with his finger to tell Avery to get back with the program. She flashed him a sexy little pout that made him chuckle. Okay, maybe watching her play super sleuth wasn’t all that bad. She was damn cute doing it.

“Your luggage has already been unpacked,” Mario said as they both stepped past him into the hut. “If you require any special instruments, please call your concierge.” He handed Cade two light blue wristbands. “These work as your room keys. They also access your account so you can charge amenities directly to your room. Our guests find them less cumbersome than regular key cards. Wear them at all times. Is there anything else I can get you right now?”

Less cumbersome. Cade knew what that meant. It was a whole lot
less
of a mood killer when you didn’t have to fumble for your room key in the heat of the moment.

He looked toward Avery. She was standing in the middle of the room, taking it all in. The giant four-poster bed in the center that looked like it could sleep ten comfortably; the plush sitting area and bar to his right; the gauzy curtains at the windows that gazed out toward the sand and gently rolling surf of the bay; the in-ground, private Jacuzzi on the patio. Patrice had said there were two other units in their area, but from their patio, with the palms and brush and vines growing around them, this hut looked totally secluded. Private. Their own personal slice of paradise in what could otherwise be considered hedonism.

Just knowing he had Avery all to himself sent a wicked burst of heat straight to Cade’s groin.

“I think we’re good,” Cade said, tearing his gaze away from Avery. He handed the bellboy a ten. “Thank you.”

Mario held up both hands. “Oh no, we can’t accept tips. Indulgence is a tip-free resort.” He smiled, glanced between the two of them, then turned for the door. “Enjoy your stay.”

Cade walked him to the door. When he came back into the room, Avery was still staring at the bed, and that heat inside kicked up a notch, sending blood straight to Cade’s cock. He set the wristbands on the bar and cleared his throat.

Avery looked up sharply, caught him watching her, then quickly turned away from the bed. “The sleeping arrangements are going to be a problem. You’ll have to get used to the couch.”

“The bed looks plenty big for two.”

She pulled the sliding door open and stepped out onto the patio. “I’m paying for this. Therefore you sleep on the couch.”

Cade didn’t like the sound of that, but he was willing to play along. For now. After all, anything could happen over the course of a weekend.

Picking up the info packet on the bar, he followed Avery onto the patio.

“What do you think he meant by special instruments?” she asked when he stepped up beside her.

The gentle breeze blew her newly dark hair back from her face, and he ached to touch the supple line of her jaw like he’d done when they’d checked in. But he wasn’t going to push it just yet. That moment had spooked her. He’d seen it in her eyes. He was willing to be patient…for the moment.

Cade glanced down at the pages in his hand, then handed her the booklet. “I think he was referring to these.”

He watched her eyes grow wide as she looked down at the photographs on the page. A sex swing, a spanking bench, massage table, shackles and ropes…

“Oh my God. What is this X-shaped thing?”

“Which one?”

She pointed, then looked up with wide eyes.

He loved that she’d spent ten years in Hollywood and could still be so damn innocent. “A Saint Andrews cross.”

She looked back down again, and a sick look crossed her face. “I don’t want to know how you know what that is let alone what it’s for.” She closed the book and handed it back to him. “This looks like a totally normal place, but then you see
that
…”

He chuckled and took the book. “Relax. I have a feeling a high-end place like this has special rooms for that kind of thing, and if they’re offering it in the privacy of your own suite, most people are going to do it there. Unless they want an audience. You’re not going to see any BDSM play in the middle of the beach.”

“You hope.” She turned and walked back into the hut. Gathering the rest of the informational materials from the bar, she took them to the sitting area and dropped onto the couch to read.

And Cade figured letting her acclimate on her own to what she’d see when she looked closer was better than throwing it all out there for her to wonder more about his past.

He moved into the walk-in closet, checked to see that their bags had been unpacked, and took a look into the massive marble bathroom, complete with a shower made for ten, and the biggest freakin’ bathtub he’d ever seen. Just picturing Avery soaking naked in that thing made him wonder how the hell he was going to get through this weekend in one piece.

When he came back into the main room, Avery was no longer reading. Her heels were off, her bare feet were propped up on the coffee table, she was nursing a beer, and the look on her face said she’d read enough.

He sat in the chair adjacent to her. “Well?”

“Sexual activities are allowed in public areas during the day, but guests are encouraged to be discreet. After all, anyone in a boat offshore can see what you’re doing, and the resort takes its guests’ privacy very seriously.”

He smiled. “Is that what it says in the packet?”

She took a long swallow from her beer. “Word for word. They do offer discreet activities during the day, however, if you don’t want to laze by the pool and/or flirt with the next couple over. Naked scuba diving, couples yoga—I can only imagine what happens there—clothing-optional water volleyball. Apparently the activities pool is set far enough back from the beach so as not to be seen by prying eyes.”

“The kinky rich and famous. They’ve thought of everything.”

She shot him a look, then took another long drink. “Don’t lump me in with this group. After hours, the clubs open, and according to this, there’s a little something for everyone. A dance club, a strip club, a bondage club, a fantasy club… It’s all laid out like it’s no big deal.”

“It is no big deal, Avery. This is a swingers resort, or did you forget?”

“I didn’t forget.” She pushed to her feet with a huff and moved across the room.

She was clearly agitated. Whether it was sexual frustration or something else, though, Cade didn’t know. God knew he was sexually frustrated just listening to those words come out of her sweet little mouth. Fantasy club? He could think of a few fantasies he’d like to play out with her.

He shifted in his seat, more to relieve the pressure in his groin than to face her. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s
wrong
?” She stopped pacing and threw her hands out. “What’s wrong is that in the hour or so we’ve been here, you haven’t asked anyone a single question about Melody. How do we even know where to look for clues? When Mario said the resort discreetly takes care of couples that break up while here, didn’t that sound odd to you at all?”

Cade pushed out of his chair, crossed the floor, and placed both hands on her shoulders. “Take a breath.”

“Don’t tell me to relax. This is my friend we’re talking about.”

“I know. And we’re going to figure out what happened to her, but if we go asking too many questions right off the bat, all we’re going to do is draw attention. Employees working in a place like this are instructed to be on the lookout for people who ask too many questions. I know what I’m doing, Avery. Trust me.”

She eyed him for several seconds, then finally said, “Trusting you is not something I ever planned to do again.”

It was a slap—one he deserved—but it still stung. He forced back the hurt, not because he didn’t want to feel it, but because before this weekend was over, he planned to make up to her a little of what he’d done. “And being in a place like this with you is something I never imagined would ever happen, but I’m making the best of it. If you want to find your friend, that’s what you’re going to have to do too. Unless all of this is too much for you. In that case, I can call Aegis, and they can send a different couple down here to dig around, and you and I can go home.”

“No.”

The word was fast, crisp, and to the point. And every muscle in Cade’s body relaxed. The last thing he wanted was to go home now, when he was alone with the woman he hadn’t stopped thinking about since he was a kid.

He nodded, because it was safer than kissing her or throwing her on that giant bed like he wanted to do. “In that case, I want you to go back over there, think about what Melody said to you during your one phone call while she was here, then pick one.”

“You want us to sign up for the same activities she took?”

“Yep. I’m hoping we’ll get the same instructors. If so, we might be able to retrace at least some of her footsteps while she was here.”

Avery’s expression said she wasn’t sure that would work, but she eased out of his grip and moved back to the couch. After rifling through her purse, she pulled out a palm-sized notepad, then looked through the brochures. Several seconds passed in silence before she muttered, “Shit.”

From the bar where he was pouring himself a soda, Cade looked up. “What?”

A nervous expression crept over Avery’s face. “She took a massage class while she was here. She mentioned it on the phone.”

“Massage class. That’s easy enough.” A grin spread across his face. “My shoulders could use a rubdown.”

Instead of the irritated look he expected in response to his smart-¬ass remark, nervousness crossed Avery’s girl-next-door features, and she looked back down at her papers.

“What’s wrong with a massage class?” he asked

“There’s only one listed.”

Curious, Cade crossed the room with drink in hand, glanced down at the picture in the brochure she was pointing toward, and felt every muscle in his body surge to attention.

Listed amongst the activities the resort offered were the words:
Erotic Instructional Couples Massage
.

Chapter Four

E
rotic Instructional Massage
.

Holy hell. Cade’s cock jerked at the thought.

Darkness had fallen over the resort, and lights along the path illuminated the walkways and cast shadows over palm trunks. A warm breeze blew in from the water, dragging the sounds of reggae music from the pool area along the Caribbean air.

Avery was back in their room getting ready for dinner, and since sitting around fantasizing about her naked in that tub wasn’t getting him anywhere, he’d decided to take a walk and check out the resort while he waited. But he couldn’t get those words out of his head. And knowing they were taking that class tomorrow…

Blood surged to his groin, and he took a deep breath to settle himself. As much as he was looking forward to that little activity, he needed to remember the real reason they were here.

He steered clear of the pool and restaurants and instead headed for the employee quarters at the back of the resort. During his years working undercover, he’d discovered you could learn a lot just by staying in the shadows and watching.

The music faded into the distance as he ducked into the protective darkness of the trees and scanned the area outside a row of shabby-looking rooms. The building was a drab white color with tiny front stoops, a flat roof, and windows that were the size of his laptop. Nothing like the palatial guest suites visible to Indulgence’s high-class clientele.

A woman singing, a shower running, the muffled sounds of a TV. He stayed in the shrubs and moved down, stopping when he heard voices coming from a small patio.

Two men. Both Jamaican with thick accents. One was smoking and pacing. The other was sitting on the step, nursing a beer.

“Ay, mon,” the first said, then took a drag from the cigarette and resumed pacing. “I saw, but they don’t fit the type. Too flashy.”

“She looks like that actress,” the one on the stoop said. “What’s her name? Scott. Avery Scott. That’s it.”

“A Hollywood starlet like dat would never come to a place like this, mon. Use your brain.”

Cade strained to see the men. Both were very dark skinned, and with little light, he couldn’t make out more than their silhouettes against the building.

“I am using it.” The guy on the stoop lifted his beer and took a long pull. “She’s tempting, you gotta admit.”

The first stopped directly in front him. “I said no. End of discussion. They haven’t been checked out, and besides, her husband gives me a bad vibe.”

Laughter echoed over the trees, followed by the flash of very white teeth. “Your mama’s been feeding you too much a dat voodoo shit. Ain’t no bad vibes around those two. And that guy she’s with ain’t her husband. No married people look at each other like dat. But trust me, he gonna drop her like a hot potato when she hooks up with someone here. Just wait and see. Be easy then. Besides, I could take the guy if he caused trouble. I like the look of her, actress or not.”

Cade’s jaw clenched, but he stayed quiet and still in the cover of the trees.

“You’ll not be taking nobody,” the first said in a hard voice. “Things are getting too hot as it is. The shipment’s going out Monday. The bossman just wants us to get through the weekend without any incidents. We’re moving to the Dominican Republic after this.”

The first man moved around the guy on the stoop, opened the screen door, and stepped inside. It slammed closed with a snap.

The remaining guy sighed and muttered, “Dumbfuck.” Then he finished his beer, tossed the empty bottle into the foliage, and pushed to his feet. Though Cade couldn’t see his face, he could tell the guy was big. At least six-two and two-hundred-forty pounds. Standing still as stone, Cade waited until the guy turned and went into the room before backing out of the shrubbery around him.

Thoughts swirled in his head as he headed back toward the beach. A shipment could be anything. Antiquities, cigars, weapons… The question was, if they were running some kind of black market goods in and out of Jamaica, why do it through a swingers resort?

He stopped when Mario’s admission that the resort took care of fighting couples discreetly ran back through his mind.