Scarlet Cavern - ISBN #1-84360-971-1
When she spotted a video on the Internet of her best friend being sexually abused, model and businesswoman Shana Galliher contacted Recovery Inc. to help rescue Lindsay from a place called Scarlet Cavern.
From the moment she spotted her operative Ranger, Shana knew she was in danger with the seductive and dangerous man. If she’d ever met a more nakedly sexual creature, she couldn’t remember.
What she couldn’t possibly comprehend was Ranger’s connection to Scarlet Cavern, and he wasn’t about to tell her. Instead, he focused on introducing her to the dangerous and seductive world in a way she’d never forget, and maybe never recover from.
At first Ranger is very hesitant to introduce Shana into the lifestyle maintained by the owners of Scarlet Cavern. Yet her determination to save her friend makes him realize she will find a way into the bowels of hell with or without him. Finally, knowing he has no choice, Ranger agrees-but on his conditions.
Shana must undergo training in the dark world of bondage and underground movies. She must learn to lean on Ranger, to become, in essence, his sex slave. What she doesn’t anticipate is her growing attraction to Ranger and his growing need to have her in his life. The training is intense, sometimes painful, but extremely arousing.
And it is only the beginning.
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Excerpt
Shana stepped inside the nondescript door and reluctantly closed it behind her. The interior was too dark and quiet. Her every instinct screamed at her to return to the successful, in-control life she’d carved for herself, but of course she couldn’t.
Until she’d learned whether Lindsay was dead or alive, nothing else mattered.
When her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she realized she was in a long, narrow hall. Recovery should have-what, certainly a more impressive looking office. She’d been led to believe the private organization had connections that put the FBI and Secret Service to shame, but she had her doubts. Shit, it had cost her a thousand dollars just to get information about Recovery. If the head of security for a precious gems’ company had lied to her, she’d-what, sue the man while maybe Lindsay’s life lay in the balance?
Thoughts of what might have happened to the woman she still considered her sister sent Shana down the hall. In the years since she and Lindsay had shared everything, she’d turned her body into a finely-honed tool and become the model she’d dreamed of back when Lindsay was living a nightmare. Most times she accepted her body as her meal ticket, but today she was grateful for her muscular legs, the product of endless hours in the gym and running track. If she didn’t like what she saw about Recovery, she’d turn tail and run.
Only she couldn’t.
Are you still alive, Lindsay? Please, you have to be!
The sign on the door at the end of the hall looked as if it had been nailed up by someone who’d never used a hammer before, but when she depressed the latch, she noted the door was steel. There were two deadbolts. As she stepped inside, she caught a humming sound. A bank of glowing monitors on a far wall explained a lot about the sound. Whoever was behind the San Diego branch of Recovery relied on high tech.
At first glance, the room looked empty, but that was because it was so large that taking it all in took time. There were several cubicles, each with its own computer. Intense, casually dressed men and women hunched over the units.
A thin middle-aged woman stood and walked toward her, her gaze never leaving Shana. “You’re looking for Galen, right?” she said.
“I-yes, that’s the name I was given.”
“There.” The woman pointed at a room to the left. “He’s expecting you.”
“Oh,” Shana managed. She didn’t know what she’d expected, maybe armed guards, maybe being frisked, something. Instead, no one seemed concerned that an outsider had walked into the middle of an ultra-secret organization. Then she realized everyone was watching her.
Could they feel her tension, her fear, the undeniable sexual excitement spawned by the unknown?
Turned on? Shit, Shana, are you insane!
Pretending indifference, she thanked the woman. Like the first one, this door was substantial, nearly impenetrable. This new room was maybe a tenth the size of the outer one and consisted of a large, cluttered desk with several well-worn easy chairs clustered around it. Behind the desk, nearly obscured by it, sat a man who couldn’t have been more than five and a half feet tall. Like the woman out front, he’d said good-bye to his forties, and like the woman, his gaze locked on her. She was used to drawing attention and most times took it for what it was worth which wasn’t much. But right now wasn’t about her. Only Lindsay mattered.
The man had almost no hair and from its straggly appearance, he couldn’t care less. His shirt looked as if he’d pulled it out of the dryer after it had sat there for days. His hands were large compared to the rest of him, and when he stood and came around the desk toward her, she wondered when he’d last bothered to eat.
“I’m Galen,” he said, holding out his hand. “And you’re Shana.”
“Yes.” He hadn’t invited her to sit down so she continued to stand. The room smelled of old wood and dust, yet his computer setup looked as if a person could run the space program from it.
“All right, Shana, I know you have a lot of questions about Recovery, but first I want to give you an idea of how efficient we are. If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring the operative you’ll be working with in now.”
The operative? Like a human being?
Before she could decide whether to make a point of the odd term, the door she’d just come through opened again, and a man filled the space. Hell, he did more than fill it, he commanded it.
His height? Well over six feet and as hard as a seasoned professional athlete. The black and silver Oakland Raiders logo T-shirt he wore seemed painted on muscle and bone. For a moment she couldn’t take her eyes off the pirate figure in the middle of his chest. Was the man encased in the shirt the embodiment of the pirate, savage and aggressive-taker of things or people he desired?
An icy fist gripped her heart, making it hard to breathe. At the same time, she felt rawly alive. With an effort, she continued her appraisal. He stood with his legs slightly spread, impressive chest muscles forcing his arms out a bit from his body. He needed a shave. Surely once he’d run a razor over his chin he’d look less dark, less shadowed. Surely. He also needed a haircut although the unkempt length added to the uncivilized male look. His eyes were coal-black, deep-set and large-penetrating.
Speaking of penetrating-
All right, no way could she not notice the tale-tale bulge. Not notice nothing! If she didn’t know better, she’d swear the damn thing was calling to her, challenging her to open her legs to it and let his cock consume her.
And he’d consume. Ream her out both physically and emotionally and leave her-leave her, what? His?
Suddenly scared, Shana forced her attention off the big, dark, maybe deadly male.
“Shana,” Galen said. “This is Ranger.”
Ranger? Doesn’t he have a last name?
Shaking hands with Galen had been easy but no way in hell was she ready to let this…this animal-like creature touch her. She managed a nod at the still-silent man and sank into the nearest chair. She couldn’t begin to relax. “What do you mean, operative?” she asked. Damn, her voice held a husky note, the voice of a woman turned on.
Galen looked at Ranger, obviously waiting for him to answer her question. When Ranger only continued his predator-like perusal of her, Galen sighed. “The web site you directed us to when you first contacted Recovery-the Scarlet Cavern-how much do you know about it?”
For an instant, all air seemed to leave the room. This is important, she thought. Maybe the most important thing you’ll do in your life. Life-changing.
“Not much,” she admitted in that sex-deepened tone. “Just what I saw from the public pages.”
“Which are practically useless.” Ranger spoke for the first time, his voice low and rough. “What’s there gets past the morality patrol. Only those who have been allowed access get the real picture.”
“And you have access?” she asked, cold again.
He nodded.
“In what context?” she demanded. When he only returned her stare, she switched her attention to Galen who struck her as being more tense than he’d been at the beginning. “All right, so all I have are the teasers to go by.” She suppressed a shudder. “But what I saw-the short movie clips of my best friend being beaten-naked, tied and gagged…” She took a deep breath. “How much worse can it get?”
“Enough,” Ranger muttered. He stepped all the way in the room and leaned against Galen’s desk. He’d positioned himself, maybe deliberately, so his cock was nearly at her eye level. Ignore that he seemed to be saying.