He hadn’t used his last name or a real social security number so even if she had told the cops she knew him, it wouldn’t have gone anywhere. They would have eventually figured out that Lawson was involved in the heist anyway. The only real thing she had on his was his address, but Ray didn’t know that. And even that was a dead end. Lawson could have easily let her go and she wouldn’t do any real harm. But he wasn’t about to tell that to Ray. Or Ivy.

  Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Lawson opened the back of the van and jumped out. He helped Ivy get down and kept a firm grip around her waist as they walked toward the door of the motel room. He already had the key and by the time he opened the door, the van was driving away. If everything went to plan, that was the last time he’d ever see Ray and the guys.

  Ivy wrenched herself away from him as soon as the door was shut, and sat on the bed. He could feel her eyes on him as he checked out the room. So far he had no idea what he was going to do with her. Ever since Ray had picked her up and thrown her in the van, Lawson had been acting on instinct. Which would only get him so far. He needed a plan, a new plan. All he knew for sure was that that plan wouldn’t include letting her go.

  “You weren’t supposed to be there.”

  “Yeah, I figured that.” She sounded tired and he knew she was going to crash soon from the adrenaline rush. “What are you going to do with me, Lawson?”

  He ignored her and checked his bag. He knew exactly where everything was but he needed to keep his hands busy, keep his eyes off of her.

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  “Fuck no! Jesus, Ivy.” Lawson shook his head, glaring at her. What kind of man did she think he was? “I’m a thief. You think that makes me a killer too?”

  “But in the van, those other guys—they were talking about killing me, like it was something they’d done before—something you’d done before.” She phrased it as a statement but he knew what she was asking and he couldn’t answer her. He’d be lying if he said he was different to those guys. He’d killed people before, but never like this, never someone innocent like Ivy. And he sure as hell had never taken a woman by force.

  “Forget about them. I’m not going to kill you.”

  “Are you going to hurt me?” There was no way he’d ever hurt her. He was still angry that the binds Ray had put on her wrists had left marks. But Lawson wasn’t going to tell her that. Now that she knew he wasn’t going to kill her, he needed something to make sure she was afraid.

  “That depends.”

  “On what? I won’t tell anyone. I swear. I doubt I even know your real name and I didn’t hear anything that can be used against you. I mean, you could just tie me up and leave me and you’d be miles away before anyone found me and by then I’m sure you’d be safe.” She shifted on the bed to face him, sitting on her knees in supplication.

  “It’s not the simple, Ivy. Besides the risk of you leading the cops to me, have you thought about what would happen to you?” She frowned, obviously confused. He moved to sit next to her on the bed, close enough so his leg brushed against her bare knees. He wanted to push her back on the bed, run his hands up between her creamy, soft thighs and delve into her.

  Lawson softened his voice and explained.

  “You had a prior relationship with one of the robbers, and you’ve got no ties to anyone else, it would only take a few questions to the rest of the staff for the cops to realize that you kept to yourself. I bet you’ve got just enough money put away to pay for next month’s rent and that’s it. You look like someone who’s ready to run. Someone who’d be open and willing to use her inside knowledge for a nice lump of cash.”

  “No, but that guy—he grabbed me, he pulled me out of the shop. That’ll be on the cameras! And I don’t have any inside knowledge, I don’t know anything!” Her hands were balled up on her lap as she protested her innocence. Slowly, he took hold of one and uncurled her tense fingers, methodically running rubbing the palm of her hand.

  “We took the cameras out. Also it would make sense if you were putting on act for the rest of the staff. And it seems pretty convenient that you just happen to be sleeping with one of the guards involved.”

  “Once! It happened once. We didn’t have, I mean, we don’t have, a relationship.” His hand tightened around hers as she tried to pull it away.

  “Not because I didn’t want one.” He leaned in closer, breathing her scent in, the ephemeral hint of coconut oil in her hair driving him crazy. “I did it to keep you safe.”

  “That doesn’t even make any sense. You slept with me to keep me safe? Look how that ended up.”

  “No, baby, I slept with you once to keep you safe. I knew I couldn’t keep you, I couldn’t risk making you part of this. But I needed one taste, one taste and I thought I’d be able to walk away from you.” He reached up and released her hair from its clip. It fell down her back in messy waves and he wrapped it around his fist.

  “But I’m here anyway, Lawson.” Her breathing was becoming shallow and he didn’t know if it was from fear or arousal. Probably both. Lawson breached the distance between them and ran his nose along her jaw, chuckling at how right she was.

  “I know, trust me, I know.” Reaching her neck, he softly kissed her skin, waiting for her to push him off, to struggle, to scream and fight and tell him to get away from her. He’d kidnapped her and locked her in a motel room with him. She had every right to be scared and hysterical. But she was letting him touch her and until she said no, he wasn’t going to stop.

  Ivy’s hands reached up and rested on his shoulders as he continued to lose himself in the velvet skin of her neck, the feel of her pulse against his tongue as he tasted her causing him to tighten his grasp on her hair.

  “Oh my God, Lawson, what are we doing? What I am doing? I don’t understand any of this…” Ivy moaned and tilted her head to the side, giving him more access and he knew he had her.

  Rising up, Lawson wrapped his arms around her and lowered her down until she lay on her back, staring up at him. Her mouth was open slightly as she panted under his touch. Cradling her with one arm under her neck, he kept eye contact as his hand slid down her body, brushing over a stiff nipple. Her breath hitched but he kept on going until he reached the hem of her skirt. His hand slipped under and he glided up those creamy thighs he had fantasized about just minutes ago.

  Ivy slightly opened her legs, easing his access. Her eyelids partially shut as he drew a finger up her core, over her damp panties. Slipping a finger under the edge of her panties, he nudged at her wet folds. Adding another finger, he slipped both inside her and felt her clench around him.

  “You’re soaked for me, Ivy.”

  She shook her head back and forth, protesting. “I can’t do this, I don’t know…” she couldn’t finish her sentence. He knew it was a lot to take but if he got her off, it would help her settle and stop focusing on what was happening. All she would be able to feel, to think about, was him touching her.

  “Yes you can,” he ordered. Just like their first night together, Lawson felt her shiver when he told her what to do. To confirm his theory, he started to tug at her blouse. “Take this off, baby, I want to see all of you.” She scrambled to unbutton her top as Lawson found the zip on her skirt and yanked it off her. He had to pull his fingers out of her and she whimpered and rubbed her thighs together.

  “Bra too, Ivy, I want all of you,” he bent down and kissed her pubic bone, slipping off her moist peach-colored lace panties. “You’re such a naughty girl, baby, wearing these little panties under your skirt at work. Were you thinking of me when you slipped them on?” He knew it wasn’t fair to ask, especially since he’d effectively ignored her for the past two weeks, after sending her packing like a cheap one-night stand.

  Lawson glanced up at her face, bringing the lace up to his nose and inhaling. “Tell me you were wearing them and thinking about me.” Irritation flashed through her eyes and she shook her head, once again trying to hold back on him.

  Crawling up her body, he licked her now bare breasts before kissing her hard and fast as he shoved two fingers into her. She gasped and pulled away from his mouth, sucking in air as she tried to catch her breath. His thumb worked her clit as he thrust his fingers in and out. She was so goddamn beautiful, the way her body moved against his, her hips trying to find the rhythm of his fingers while at the same she was trying to get away, trying to fight her need for him.

  “Tell me what I want to hear, Ivy, tell me you wore them and thought of me, tell me you made them all wet thinking about the way I fucked you.” His lips found her pulse on her neck and he held her naked body close to his as he worked her hard with his fingers.

  “Yes.” It was barely a whisper.

  “Yes what, baby? Come on, don’t be shy.” He ground his thumb hard into her clit and she yelped in surprise.

  “Yes, I wore them and thought of you, I thought of you every time I touched myself, I thought about how good you felt inside me. And every day since then my panties have been soaked thinking about that night.”

  It was so much more than he expected. He was going to burst through his jeans he was so hard. He wanted to give her what she needed, even if she hated him for it. The noises coming out of her were driving him insane as she writhed against him, her face tucked into his neck.

  “Touch me. Take me out and touch me.”

  Without hesitating, she reached down and fumbled frantically with his zipper. He was more than ready, his cock honing in on her warm, wet center as soon as she pulled him out, but he forced himself to stop when the throbbing head made contact with her hot folds.

  Lawson didn’t have a condom and despite the danger of their situation, he wasn’t so stupid or reckless to do something they might regret later. Instead, he rolled them so they lay side by side and hoisted her thigh onto his hip. His fingers were still deep inside her and he wedged his cock against her clit, leaving little room for anything else beyond friction and sweat to get the job done.

  “Lawson, please, please, put it in me,” she begged into his neck, wrapping her slender arms around his shoulders. “I can’t take it.” God, hearing her beg was music to his ears but he wouldn’t be pushed.

  “No, baby, like this. Just to take the edge off,” he started pumping his hips. She was soaking wet by now and her juices began to cover his length with every stroke. He wasn’t going to need long before he burst and he wanted her there with him.

  “You’re going to ride my fingers, Ivy, just like this and I’m going to feel you come.”

  She groaned in frustration but she didn’t stop grinding her hips against his cock. “No, I need more.”

  “Shhh, don’t worry, I know exactly what you need. Because this is mine,” he pushed two fingers in hard before slipping a finger out of her. He shifted his hand until he could reach back and feel her puckered entrance. He knew she’d never done anal and that was part of the appeal. He needed to push her over the edge, show her that even if part of her wanted to hold back, her body was already his. “And this is mine too.”

  He rubbed a wet fingertip over her back entrance and felt her stiffen up. “No, Ivy, I told you I know what you need and you have to trust me.” Without giving her time to respond, he pushed his finger in up to the first knuckle.

  Ivy squealed and bucked her hips forward, trying to get away but she only ended up thrusting against his engorged cock even harder and he felt some pre-cum leak out. “No, baby, it’s all right, I promise you’ll like it.”

  Lawson adjusted his hold on her and began to move his fingers in and out, slowly at first, sliding into her wet pussy and tight ass at the same time.

  He pushed further and further in with each pulse until he was buried inside her, each finger lodged firmly up to the last knuckle. She squirmed at first, her body protesting at the foreign invasion but eventually, as he pulled his fingers out to push back in, she began to push back.

  Her breathing hitched and when a gush of arousal moistened his cock even further, he knew she was close. Ivy clung to his neck, her hands clenched in his short hair and she stiffened in his arms, whispering his name as the orgasm hit her. Feeling her clench around his fingers, Lawson held her tightly as his hips jerked and he came against her stomach.

  Assuming she would pull back, Lawson tightened his grip on her, after gently pulling his fingers out of her. Ivy hoisted her leg higher up his waist. Her hands released from his hair but only to slide down and rest on his chest. She was so soft against him, and he let himself breathe her in as he stroked her bare thigh, his fingers trailing patters along her exposed ass cheeks.

  What the hell was he going to do with her now?

  Chapter Three

  Ivy

  Ivy didn’t know how, but she’d slept like a baby. After coming on her stomach and fingering her ass, Lawson cleaned her up with a washcloth and then slipped his shirt over her head. She remembered rolling back into his chest, his large arms surrounding her, keeping her close, keeping her safe, keeping her from running.

  But now Lawson was waking her up and she didn’t like the look in his eyes. He looked guilty as hell. He stood over her, fully dressed, and extended his hand. Silently, he led her to the bathroom where he proceeded to tie her hands behind her back before making her sit on the floor, wedging her between the toilet and sink and tied her already bound hands to the pipes.

  The tears started flowing then. She couldn’t help it. She hadn’t cried when that guy had dumped her on the floor of that van and then talked about killing and raping her, or when Lawson had threatened to leave her with them. But now she was losing it. She couldn’t help it. After what they’d just done, it seemed too harsh.

  “Don’t do this, please, don’t tie me up. I promise I won’t leave. Or you can take me with you. Please, Lawson!” He wouldn’t look at her as he wrapped a gag around her head. She ducked her head and clenched her jaw shut but he was too strong and Ivy was too distraught to put up much of a fight.

  “Be good.” He shut the bathroom door and she heard him leave the motel room. He must have had a car ready for him because from what she’d seen when they got out of the van, they really were in the middle of nowhere.

  She wiggled her hands, trying to see if there was anyway she could escape but the knots were too tight. Frustrated, she rested her head against the toilet and tried to calm down. She couldn’t stop imagining Lawson driving off and never coming back, or Lawson calling those other guys and letting them deal with her.

  Ivy needed to trust him with so much to keep from really losing it. And like a moron, she’d assumed that by trusting him, he would start to trust her. But he didn’t or else she wouldn’t be tied up, sitting on a disgusting bathroom floor, with no panties on, hoping that he hadn’t left her to rot.

  The sun had started to set and the minimal light that came through the small bathroom window was fading fast. She didn’t know how long he’d been gone but it felt like hours. She needed to pee, badly, her wrists were a mess, her legs and back had started to cramp up from sitting in one position for so long, and her anger had faded to despondency. When she heard him open the bathroom door, Ivy didn’t even bother looking up. He was going to do whatever he wanted to anyway.

  Without a word Lawson bent down and untied her. By now she was getting used to the silent treatment. She staggered as she stood up and he caught her, murmuring soft words of reassurance. It wasn’t an apology but at least he sounded concerned.

  But she didn’t want his concern. Not now. It was childish and stubborn but she was done with the emotional tug-of-war he kept playing. Stepping out of his arms, she cleared her throat.

  “I need to pee.” When he made no move to leave she looked up. His arms were crossed and he looked perturbed, as if he’d been expecting her to act differently. “I’m kind of desperate. Can I please have some privacy?” He scowled before turning to walk out.

  “You’ve got two minutes. We’ve got stuff to do before we leave. Don’t lock the door.”

  What did he think she was going to do? Try and crawl out the tiny window that was barely big enough to fit her head through, let alone her body? She quickly used the toilet and was washing her hands when he came in without knocking and placed a box of hair dye on the counter next to her.

  “I’ll cut it then you dye it. I’ve got you some new clothes you can change into after.”

  Ivy eyed the box of dye. At least the color wasn’t that extreme. He’d chosen a chestnut brown with a subtle tint of deep red. Anything darker would have looked ridiculous with her complexion.

  “How much are you going to cut off?”

  “Does it matter?” Lawson raised his eyebrows and stared at her in the mirror as he held up the scissors.

  She shrugged. He had a point. As much as she loved her hair, it was the least of her problems. “Go nuts.”

  He stepped behind her and she tried to ignore her body’s reaction to his proximity. She was still only wearing his shirt and the heat of his body, so close against her back, seeped through and warmed her skin.

  This morning she’d welcomed his touch. She’d needed it to take her mind off of what was happening and to convince herself that Lawson wasn’t a bad guy, that he wouldn’t really hurt her. But after sitting on the bathroom floor for so long, drooling from the gag, she’d changed her mind about him.

  Apparently her libido didn’t get the message.

  Lawson gently pulled her hair back and started snipping away. Ten minutes later he was done after taking off at least half her hair. It now hung just above her shoulders in a basic blunt cut that looked remarkably trendy.

  “It suits you.” Lawson smiled at her in the mirror, obviously proud of himself for not completely messing it up. He blew off some stray hairs against her neck and Ivy rolled her lips together to stop from moaning. “Now it’s your turn. Get the dye on.” Slapping her ass hard enough she felt a sting, he walked out, leaving her tingling and furious.