Cravings (13 page)

Chapter 28

S
asha received a phone call as she exited her morning shower. Yes, another shower. After months of not bathing or showering, she still couldn't get enough of them.

“What are you doing?” It was Sanj.

“Just toweling off,” she replied. “You?”

“Um, trying to get the image of you toweling off out of my mind and other things,” he said, chuckling.

“You're so naughty, watching me last night. I saw you. Maybe you need a spanking.” It was out of her mouth before she thought about it. A spanking? Not that she wouldn't like to administer a nice spanking to him, but she was unsure what he felt about such things. She wondered how much pain he would take until he'd feel the hot rush of endorphins brought on by just the right amount of pain. She'd like that.

“Hmm,” Sanj said, cleaning his throat. “Interesting suggestion. I'm in a private dining room. We are having a breakfast meeting and I was calling you to tell you about it.”

“Of course I'll be there, but could we steal away at some point?” she asked.

“I don't know. Let's keep our eyes open for opportunities,” he said with a raspy voice.

“Good morning, Sanj,” Sasha heard a female voice say over the phone.
Jennifer. Damn her
. “What's she doing there?”

“Everybody is invited to this. Josh wanted to see Maeve's journal,” he said.

“Who is Josh?”

“He's one of my assistants and a private investigator. He arrived last night.”

Sanj had his own PI? Interesting. What the hell was Sanj anyway? She thought he'd said he was a physician, but physicians didn't have their own PIs. She remembered Jennifer asking him if Sasha knew about him. She didn't want to pry, but now her curiosity was piqued.

“I'll be there as soon as I'm dressed,” she said.

“I can't wait to see you,” he said, almost mooning like a high school boy, which sent tingles of longing through Sasha.

Sweet.

As Sasha dressed, images of spanking Sanj played in her mind. He had a nice, firm round ass, with two indents on either side where she rested her palms when having sex with him. Next time maybe she'd swat him and see what happened. But she lacked the proper instruments. Her favorite paddle was long gone. Maybe she could find one somewhere on this island. Perhaps even a cane. The men who like being spanked were usually not searching for real pain, though some did. But many of them longed for the sting, the vibration of all of his parts by the paddle, strap, or cane.

But maybe, with Sanj, her hand would do.

She felt an unraveling in her lower regions, which she intended to ignore. Still, as she walked out her condo, she could not help but feel as if she were slinking along the sidewalks. Thoughts of Sanj traveled through her body.

So warming. So delicious. So, so . . . dangerous. For him. For her.
Focus on the here and now. On finding Maeve.
But thoughts of Sanj kept interrupting. And the fact that he was in the condo across from hers wasn't helping. It was like dangling a piece of fine chocolate in front of her face, allowing her to smell it, see it, but not to taste it.

Maybe this would get all squared away today. Maybe by tonight they would be back together in the same bed.

The police officer waiting outside her door escorted her as she made her way to the dining area. Sasha looked around as if she didn't know where she belonged.

“Here,” he said to her, and led her to the room.

When she entered the room Sanj stood, as did the man who sat beside him, who took all of Sasha in with one sweeping glance, cocked an eyebrow, and offered his hand.

“Sasha,” he said. “I'm Josh, nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” she said, taking the seat next to Sanj.

The spread of food was impressive—heaps of local tropical fruit, breads, muffins, jellies, butter. The chocolate scent of these huge muffins beckoned. Sasha's mouth watered.

“Please,” Sanj said. “Eat.”

“I'm so hungry, hadn't realized it until now,” she said, reaching for a muffin and the butter.

“I think everybody is here,” Detective D'Amico said, standing. He was definitely in charge. Sasha noticed how muscled he was. He was wearing a more revealing shirt, with no jacket. She glanced over at Jennifer, whose face was flushed. Oh yes, she had noticed too. “I want to thank you all for coming. Consider this a briefing session. Glad to see you here, Josh. We're going to need all the help we can get.”

He held up a remote control and a huge computer screen clicked on. Jackson Dodds faced them on the screen.

“Can you hear us?” the detective asked.

“Yes,” he said. Greetings were exchanged.

Sasha's stomach clenched as Jackson eyed the crowd. Then his eyes stopped on her. “Is that who I think it is?” he asked.

“Who?” said Sanj.

“Is that? No, it couldn't be . . .”

“Yes, Jackson, it is me, Sasha,” she said. Her voice came out weaker than she intended.

“How? What?”

“We've plenty of time to get into that later,” Sanj said. “Let's proceed.”

“We are still checking all of you out to see if your stories add up. In the meantime, we've not found Maeve Flannery, or anything else belonging to her. The scarf has been sent for DNA testing. We are still holding Mozingo, but will have to let him go soon, if we can't find a reason to charge him,” Detective D'Amico said.

“Reason?” Jennifer said. “We found Maeve's scarf there.”

“What is your name again?” he asked, leaning in Jennifer's direction with bemusement on his face.

“You know my name,” Jennifer said and crossed her arms. “Jennifer.”

“Okay, Jennifer. So, at this point it's your word against his,” he said. “Even if we get DNA results back super quick and it shows the scarf is hers, we still have no proof he knows anything about it.”

“That sucks,” she said.

“I have a picture of her wearing the scarf,” Jackson said. He held it up to the screen. Evidently the police had been in contact with him about the scarf already.

“It certainly looks like it,” D'Amico said.

“Yep,” Josh said examining a police photo of the one being tested.

Sasha bit into her muffin and felt someone's eyes on her. Out of the corner of her eye, she surmised it was Josh. Yes, of course he was suspicious of her.

“But as far as Sam Everidge goes,” the detective went on. The sound of his name made the hair on the back of Sasha's neck stand at attention. “We have authorities across the world attempting to shut him down. It is the quickest way we know to get his attention,” he said.

“And then once you've gotten his attention?” Sasha asked. “What will you do then? He is not a man to be trifled with. He has more money than you have seen in your life and more power as well. He is unafraid to use it. I have to wonder if any of you realize just who you're up against. Not only is he rich and powerful, but he has no conscience. None.”

The room settled into a stunned, shocked silence.

“And this is the man who has my wife?” Jackson asked.

“We are pretty certain,” D'Amico said.

“Pretty certain?” Jackson's face contorted with anger. “What the fuck is happening over there? While you are all making nice with procedure, my wife is missing! I'm coming over as soon as these assholes give me the clearance. And I'm getting my wife back.”

Chapter 29

“J
ackson, get a grip, my friend,” Sanj said.

Jackson leaned closer to the camera.

“We are doing everything we can,” he said.

“Really?” he said. “I don't believe that, Sanj. Why are these cops involved?”

“No choice, the way things went down,” Sanj said. He knew Jackson would be pissed about the cops. But timing was everything. And Josh had just gotten in last night. By then the investigation was under way.

“What would you do, go storming in, rescue your wife and maybe get yourselves both killed?” Josh said.

He's done it before and been quite fine, Sanj thought, but he kept it to himself. Maybe Jackson was right—maybe they should work outside the law. It would be easier of course, if they weren't already so involved.
Think, think, think. How to find her?

“I know I've seen that guy before. He's the one who chased us all over the place before, searching for Paul's book and drugs,” Jackson said, calmer now. “It seems like someone should have busted his ass by now.”

“A lot of people have tried,” D'Amico said. “Same with Mozingo.”

“Yeah, Mozingo. What an ass. Maeve thought he was up to no good—”

“Pesticides?”

“Illegal pesticides. She saw them,” Jackson said, glancing off-camera as if distracted by someone or something.

“Still, it doesn't seem likely he would implicate himself in a kidnapping because of pesticides,” Sanj said.

“Within the chocolate community, he would be shunned for such behavior. Artisans are all about the origin of cacao, how it's grown, and so on. He was recently given an award for his single-origin organic farming practices. That's fraud,” Sasha said. “Also, if it was something like DDT? People die from it all the time. Could be other implications.”

The detective turned around and looked at her. “Interesting,” he said. “I've just read about a mass grave uncovered that was full of DDT. Where was that? I can't remember . . .”

“There's something else, Trinidad . . . bank . . .” Jackson started to say, then faded out.

“Jackson?”

“Check out Maeve's notes,” they heard him say before he vanished. The technicians hovered in an attempt to get him back.

But a chill crept up Sanj's spine. He was afraid Jackson had already said too much. He knew the Skype session would not work out from that point. Jackson made the local officials in Ecuador nervous.

“Who has this book?” D'Amico asked, looking around, his eyes finally resting on Jennifer.

Nobody said a word.

“Look,” he said. “I know your friend Jackson thinks you can work around the law and barge in and rescue Maeve, but it doesn't work like that. First, where is she? We've still not found her. Hell, we don't even know if she's still here on this island. So. Where is the book?”

“We've already been through the book,” Jennifer said. “Just a bunch of history and recipes. I don't know what Jackson thinks is in it. Why the heck would he even know?”

“It's in your bag, isn't it?” Josh said, leaning across the table.

“Shut up, Josh. What do you know?” Jennifer said.

“I know you like the back of my hand,” he said.

“Okay,” Sanj said, stepping in. “Jennifer, if you have the book, please let us see it. Maybe we'll spot something.”

“I'm sorry. I don't have it.”

“What? Where is it?”

“I sent it to her publisher. They wanted it,” she said.

“That is tampering with evidence,” D'Amico said.

“I had no idea it was evidence. It belongs to Maeve and her publisher,” Jennifer said. “If you have a problem, call them. I'll get you her editor's card.” Her statement sounded rehearsed. She dug around in her purse and handed him the card.

Sanj sat back in wonder as he watched his ex-fiancé hand D'Amico the card. What would happen when he actually called and found out they didn't have the notebook? Because of all the things Sanj knew about this woman he used to love, he knew this to be certain: she was lying to the police.

He knew when she was lying—her right eye twitched a bit, so slightly nobody else would know except for a man who had studied her, as he had done, as his family had done. He glanced at Josh, who looked perplexed. He knew as well. He knew she was lying. They simply needed to be shed of the cops.

He'd get the book off Jennifer all right.

He felt Sasha's eyes on him. His eyes scanned her face. She glistened with want. Could she be thinking of sex right now? Could he be? In the middle of this meeting? So naughty.

Something warm and soft landed on his leg. Sasha's hand. She leaned into him and rubbed his leg. She was. She was thinking of sex.

Adrenaline coursed through his system and suddenly landed in his nether regions. How could that be? He was angry, frightened, and frustrated. A brew of emotions shot through him. And yet. And yet. He needed Sasha. Right now.

“I'm really not feeling well,” she said, almost in a whisper. “Can you please escort me back to my room?”

The thought of Sasha in her room played in his mind. Could he? Would she? Could they?

“Of course.” He stood up and reached for her arm.

“Please excuse us,” he said. “Sasha is not feeling well. I'll take her to her room, get her settled in, and be right back,” he said. But he caught a glance from Josh that told him he caught the drift—and he had him covered.

“I'll come with you,” Jennifer said.

“No, please, stay and have some breakfast,” Sanj said. “Be right back.”

D'Amico nodded, and an officer followed them to her condo.

As Sanj began to walk in her condo door the officer grabbed him. “I can't allow you to go inside.”

“Please,” Sanj responded. “The lady is unwell. I will get her settled and be right back.”

“Fifteen minutes,” he said. “Fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes,” Sanj said.
I'll be lucky to last five.

He shut the door behind him and turned around. Already stripped down, except for her black lacy bra, Sasha waited for him.

“I was thinking of you through that whole meeting. Sick bitch that I am,” she said, grinning. She unhooked her bra and slipped it off her pale shoulders. Black on white. Breasts unhinged. Nipples alert. Oh yes, she had his attention.

He pulled and tugged at his clothes until finally he was free of them, kicking them to the side.

“I'm hot for you already,” she said, leading him to the large couch, then placing his hand between her legs, where she was already slick with want. “I need you.”

Just like that.

So brazen. So wanting and ready. And she liked him. Wanted him. Sanj sucked in the air. Had been simmering during the whole meeting.

“Sometimes just looking at you makes me wet,” she said.

He was a lucky man, But he also felt like he was living in a strange, sexy dream and someone would wake him eventually to harsh reality.

“Mmmm, well,” he managed to say. “Good. We only have a few minutes.”

“That's all I'm going to need.”

She pushed him down on the couch, where he sat with his pulsing cock straight in the air. She straddled him with those long legs, her breasts pressed against his chest, and took him into her tight self. She shuddered. Her breath warm against his neck.

“You feel so good to me,” she whispered into his ear, licking the tip of his lobe, then moved her lips to his. She tasted of chocolate muffin and coffee and something beyond that. Something darker, richer. She clasped at him with each small, circular movement, sucking in air.

“Sanj,” she whispered with urgency, then placed her mouth on his, releasing, breathing. “I love this,” she said. “They way you make me feel.”

He could say nothing back—to have such beauty moving on him, pressing on him, getting wilder with each thrust. He answered with a deep moan. Her back arching—yes, the small of the back, the sway, where his hand rested, now moving across her ass, pulling her closer. Could he get deeper? Closer? He pushed into her as she thrust hard against him.

Finally she spasmed around him, jerking, sighing. He loved to watch her—the way her eyes fluttered, her head went back. He knew it was okay to let go—she brought her mouth to his neck and at the moment he burst into orgasm, she bit him. Hard.

The sensation of pain at his neck and pleasure at his balls? It was not entirely unpleasant.