SEIZED Part 6: A Steamy New Adult Romantic Suspense Thriller (Seize Me Romance Fiction Series) (6 page)

Carrie

Each gunshot makes me flinch, but I can’t take my eyes off the horrific scene about a block away. I can’t see perfectly. Through the drizzle and darkness I catch sight of people on the ground, and others crouched behind any object that can give them cover. And there are the screams. I open the window a little and look closer. Neon is one of the people on the sidewalk.

What do I do? I look around. The only thing I can think about is April. I take Blake’s keys from the ignition and jump out of the car, heading away from the chaos to where I last saw April. She’s leaned up against the building, hands to her ears. I take one of her hands and pull her to come with me. I shout my demand like I’m not taking no for an answer, and to my surprise, she does what I say.

We hurry back to the car. I put her in the back seat, and I jump in the passenger seat and lock all the doors again. I wind my window down to call for Blake, and I hear sirens approaches. Relief washes over me. The police are on their way. I wrap my arms around myself, and watch the action unfold. Three black SUVs and a SWAT van speed up the main street. Two vehicles screech to a stop on my end of the alley and block it off. The other two vehicles go around the corner, and reappear on the other end of the alleyway, blocking everyone in.

The van and SUV closest to me open up, and a stream of SWAT team members jump out and run towards the scene. There are two men in FBI jackets, and one with an NYPD cap. I take a closer look and realize one of the FBI agents is Jason.

I sit in the passenger seat and watch as they move to the scene. When they gain control, some members of their team begin to examine who is hurt, assess the danger and finally clear the area. Some of them enter the building. It’s impossible to tell who’s in charge, but when Jason sees April and me in Blake’s car, he comes closer, and signals his female partner to join him.

“It’s safe now, Carrie,” she says. “You and April are safe. Come with me. There are several ambulance vehicles on the way to respond.”

She extends her hand and I take it, stepping shakily from the vehicle.  She gets April out and walks us away from where the shots were fired. I ask her what happened to Blake, and she points him out to me. He’s standing among the SWAT team members. He’s inside the taped-off area, and is holding his shoulder as if he’s been hurt.

“Was Blake shot?” I ask directly at Jason.

“I’ll find out.” He tells his female agent to take us to the ambulance, and goes toward the scene.

I turn and see Jason approach Blake. Jessup is already in cuffs.

“Why are they arresting Blake?” I ask the agent.

“They’re taking everyone in on suspicion of involvement in prostitution and human trafficking.”

“But he saved…”

I’m not able to finish speaking because just then, a media truck pulls up, and another. Two professional looking camera teams begin to swarm the scene. They’re filming the bodies from outside the cordoned-off perimeter. Two reporters step from the vans, preparing to cover the incident.

I’m led away by the female FBI agent, but as we get to the end of the street, I feel nauseous, and everything around me starts to spin. My knees buckle and slowly, I lose consciousness.

Blake

It’s only after SWAT shows up that I realize I was shot. It’s a shoulder wound. It hurts like hell, but with the adrenaline still rushing through my body, I ignore it. Special Agent Cooper still has it out for me. He’s ordered his men to take me into custody with everyone else after my wound is tended to.

“Aren’t you sending anyone after Jacob?” I shout to him.

“What are you talking about?” He asks, walking up to me. “I didn’t see Jacob in the crowd. What’s she doing here?”

“She ran inside when everyone started shooting. She may be involved, Cooper. She may be in deep, and she said people above her are too.”

He signals for two of the officers to search inside, then tells me, “We’ll take care of this, Anderson. You’re in deep enough.”

“I’m not involved in anything,” I try to tell him as he walks away. “Check my pocket. I have proof. It’s all recorded on my phone.”

He returns to my side and reaches into my pocket. “We’ll see,” he says.

This is when a cameraman and reporter approach. They call out to Cooper from outside the yellow police tape.

“I witnessed the whole thing, Cooper. Are you sure you want to go on record to the media before listening to that tape?”

All eyes in the group land on Special Agent Cooper. He’s hesitant for the first time since I met him, shifting from side to side. It’s clear he wants to give a statement to the reporters, but if he’s smart, he won’t make an ass of himself by contradicting what’s on this tape. If he does, it will come out, and it’ll be his reputation down the drain.

He comes to his senses. He turns and addresses the reporters. “I’ll make an announcement in just a minute.” Cooper leads me towards the back of an ambulance van.

“Stabilize Detective Anderson here, and when he’s ready, call me over. I need to talk to him.”

The medic helps me climb inside the ambulance. I take a seat and they get to work on stopping the bleeding and dressing my wound. When they’re done, Cooper returns. I tell him everything, and he plays the recording. As I’m wrapping up, I see Ryan approaching.

“I can corroborate everything,” Ryan tells Cooper in a calm voice. “I called your team out here. It’s Anderson who was on scene, and whatever he told you, he’s telling the truth. Your men need to find Jacob. There’s more evidence at the precinct on her involvement with Jessup Lee, and with April Lee’s abduction.”

“I’m on it,” Cooper answers.

“You know this means you need to release Anderson, right?” Ryan tells him, smiling.

Agent Cooper nods to the medic, and tells the officer waiting outside to release me after he’s treated. I ask Cooper where Carrie is and he points out one of the other ambulance vans on the street.

Carrie

When I regain consciousness, I’m in the back of an ambulance van. I’m wearing an oxygen mask, and there’s an IV in my arm. April is lying in the gurney next to me. She looks incredibly pale. I want to reach across and touch her, but my arms are so weak.

“Are you okay, Carrie?”

I tilt my head up to look into Blake’s eyes. He’s standing at the ambulance door. I don’t know what to think or believe. He rescued me, but what about all the other lies?

“Not really,” I tell him. “Can we talk later?”

He nods and opens his mouth to speak, but we’re interrupted by Jason. He has several cameramen and reporters in tow. The anxious group of media hounds jostles into place. I tilt my head up. The camera is rolling; Jason stands beside Blake and introduces himself to the press.

“I’m pleased to announce today that my team at the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have solved a federal human trafficking case. We have done so with the assistance of New York Police Department’s Detectives Blake Anderson and Ryan Morgan, as well as the cooperation of the New Jersey Police Department SWAT team. As you can see behind me, we have rescued two victims, April Lee and Carrie James. We have taken several perpetrators into custody, including Jessup Lee, suspected of several major crimes. Several individuals at the scene have been shot, and two were killed. Their names will not be released until we have conducted our investigation and notified next of kin. We are also investigating some witness testimony and additional evidence which suggest several senior NYPD officials may have been involved. More information will be provided after we complete our investigation, in partnership with the NYPD Internal Affairs Unit.”

The reporters get excited about his last comment, and ask a slew of questions. One reporter shoves her microphones into Blake’s face.

“I have no comment,” he says, and turns away from them to face me. He goes around and I hear him ask the medic if there’s room for him to ride along with us. There isn’t, so he comes back to the doors and mouths the words ‘See you at the hospital’ before he leaves.

The reporters ask Jason a few more questions before he wraps up and ends the interview. Jason doesn’t ever acknowledge me. He turns and leaves.

By now I’m exhausted. All I want to do is sleep. I rest my head back on the gurney. This terrible nightmare is over. One of the medics tells me something, but I’m in a haze that keeps returning.

“Pardon me?” I say as I try and focus on him.

“We’re taking you to Mount Sinai Hospital. Do you know what drugs they used on you?”

“I’m not sure,” I tell him. “Heroine, I think. It felt warm when they injected me. They gave me two and sometimes three doses every day. They probably gave April more. Is she going to be okay?”

“Just rest for now,” he answers. “We’ll find out at the hospital.”

***

It felt like I only closed my eyes for a minute, but when I open them again, I’m alone in a hospital room. I look around. April is not here with me. I check under the covers. I’m in a hospital gown. I’ve been cleaned up. A sense of calm overcomes me. I tell myself I’m going to be fine and let the tears fall.

A nurse walks in to check on me. I ask about April, and find out she’s been stabilized, but in intensive care. She says April and I will have to be transferred to a drug rehab center to be treated for the drugs in our system. I figured they would need to keep us for a while, so it doesn’t surprise me.

She tells me someone is waiting to see me and asks if I’ll talk to them now. I nod and she leaves the room to get them. A few minutes later, I look up and see Blake standing in the doorway. He’s got one arm in a splint, and his shoulder is bandaged.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hi.”

I feel shy all of a sudden. “You were shot?”

“Yes. Nothing too serious. Flesh wound. I’ll be fine in a few weeks.”

“Good. So, uh, you got your job back?”

“Yes. Thanks to Ryan, a colleague who believed in me. Did I mention he’s dating Brenda? He sprang that on me while I was getting stitched up in the emergency room.”

I look up at him and wonder what to say. I don’t know where to start.

“I’m sorry I doubted you, Blake,” I finally manage, and the words catch in my throat.

“It’s okay.”

“Thank you for coming back for me. And…for not giving up on me.”

He moves to stand beside my bed. “Of course I kept looking, Carrie. I feel horrible about what you went through.”

“I’ve never been good at trusting people.”

“It’s okay, Carrie. Everything is fine now.”

He sits on the edge of the bed and leans down to me. “Carrie, from the moment we met all those years ago, I knew I loved you. And I’ve never stopped. I should have told you long before that night you were taken. I was a fool.”

He places his palm on my cheek, looking into my eyes. His face is so close, and I want to kiss him, but I can’t make the first move. I just look at him. He tips my chin up and places his soft lips over mine in a passionate kiss. I moan and wrap my hands around his shoulders. He pulls from the kiss and whispers in my ear that he needs me. I pull him closer, melting into him.

I am finally safe.

Six Weeks Later

Blake

Carrie and I finally get home after dropping April to the airport. She spent six weeks in the drug rehab center, and now she’s ready to go back to Iowa. Carrie has been out for two weeks. I asked her to move in with me as soon as she was released, and she happily said yes. It was the icing on the cake for her.

With all the media coverage on the case, Carrie was interviewed several times, and invited to document her experience. She’s a virtual celebrity now. She’s spoken out against human trafficking at every occasion. So when the New York Tribune offered her a job as a junior reporter, she accepted it. She starts in a week. We have so much to celebrate.

We walk into my place. I’m back on night shift, so I tell her I should get some rest before I have to head out.

“So, umm,” She says shyly, “do you want me to come with you?”

I nod, and we go upstairs to my room—our room.

“I want you,” she whispers, and snakes her arms around my neck. I lean down and kiss her passionately. She’s undulating against me and I want all of her so badly, I let out a growl and push her back against the wall. Her hands are at my chest, furiously pushing off my jacket and attacking my shirt buttons. I pull away for a second to examine her face.

“Make love to me, Blake.”

The urgency in her tone stops me from hesitating any longer. I look into her eyes and hold her gaze as I slip her shirt down her shoulders and lower my head to her neck. I press hungry kisses from her neck, down past her collarbone, and lower still to her breast. I circle each nipple with my tongue, aroused even more by the sound of her moans of pleasure. She cries out and lifts a leg up to my waist, pressing her hips to my rock hard cock.

Her back is still pressed against the wall, so I reach my hands around and grab her ass, lifting her into my arms. A primal need arises in me as I feel her rock against my groin. She tips her neck back, another moan escaping from her mouth as I pull her into me, grinding our bodies together. I turn and take her over to the bed. I lower her onto it, and we impatiently remove the rest of each other’s clothes.

I can’t help myself. I need to feast on her hot, sweet body. She begs me to take her, and I spread her legs wide. I prop a pillow underneath her ass before plunging my tongue into her delicious wetness. She bucks underneath my mouth, begging me to come inside her as she strokes her nipples with abandon. I lick her clit and drive two fingers into her warm, tight pussy, inhaling her delicious scent as her pleasure builds. I add a third finger and enter her slowly, holding her hips firmly with my other hand. She begins to buck through her first orgasm, groaning and calling my name.

“This isn’t over,” I whisper.

I don’t pause for a second. I slide up her body and kiss her breathless mouth.

“I’m going to make you come again.”

She nods in abandon and I flip her over. My cock is hard and desperate to penetrate her. This is for her, though, so I wait. I stroke and massage her thighs, which are still trembling from her first peak. I parting her legs gently and pulling her onto her knees, exposing her sweet pussy. I position myself and hold her hips firmly as I slide my cock deep into her. It’s a plunge that makes us both gasp from the intensity.

Her channel tightens around me and I begin to slowly thrust in and out of her. I reach around and caress her nipples, palming her breasts. I feel her begin to push back against my cock as her desire grows again. She begs me to come with her this time and I give in to her demands, finally allowing myself to enjoy the moment. She sways underneath me and I look down to see her beautiful body rocking as she takes in every inch of me.

Suddenly I want to see her face. “I want to see how beautiful you are,” I say and pull out for a second while I turn her body over.

Again she lies ready, compliant and waiting before me, lifting her arms to circle my neck and pull me down to her. She kisses me with complete abandon, looking into my eyes and stroking my chest and shoulders as we grind together. The steel of my cock slips repeatedly over her hot, wet entrance, but I don’t slide inside yet. I’m going to tease her until she’s wild with desire.

“I want you back inside me,” she begs.

Her eyes are wide, her pupils dilated. She looks incredible beneath me and it’s tempting to just take her. But I want to make every moment we have memorable.

“Be patient, Carrie. I want to please you,” I say, and tip back her head, exposing her throat as I continue to hover at her entrance. I stroke and lick at her neck and collarbone, kissing and licking her throat as she moans, writhing underneath me, pressing her clit against my hardness, surrendering to my instruction to wait.

My tongue moves up her neck to her ear. Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes are closed and I see that she’s close to coming again. It’s time.

“Carrie, I want you to ride me,” I tell her. My voice is hoarse with the effort it’s taking to control myself, but I’m determined to make her explode again before I let go. “Get up on my cock.” 

Her response is immediate; she wriggles out from underneath me and straddles me before lowering herself down on my hardness. I let her control her descent, and growl deep in my throat as her pussy swallows my cock inch by inch. She begins to hitch as she slides up and down.

“Ride me hard, Carrie,” I say. “Ride me until you come.”

My demands seem to send her wild. I watch as her moans become cries of pleasure. She rides me in abandon now, eyes closed, and mouth open in desire, her beautiful breasts bouncing above me with every movement.

“Come for me, baby.”

My words set her free. I feel her tremble and flex as she starts to come. I grind my cock deeper inside of her and release my ecstasy with hers. Her pussy clenches and grips my shaft, as my hot release explodes inside her.

She looks into my eyes as we recover. Her sated gaze reminds me how much I love her.

The End

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