Virgin In Disguise

The flush deepened. “Sedatives are a workable, short-term convenience.”

Short-term. She hadn’t planned on keeping him in custody for very long. Another interesting detail. “Your planning skills could use a little work.” He waved his free hand. “Never mind, I’ll manage.”

They were approaching an exit ramp. Elf flipped on her turn signal. The ramp led to a rest stop where a steady procession of cars and trucks pulling campers and boats performed the weekend drivers’ ballet.

If he could get away from her, it would be easy enough to catch a ride out of there.

She maneuvered into an empty parking spot some distance from the main building. The car keys jingled in the silence when she pulled them out of the ignition and dropped them into a lower pant-leg pocket. “You’re left-handed, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Just working out the logistics.” She stretched between the bucket seats and grabbed something from the back seat before getting out.

Her vanilla fragrance still floated in the air. If it hadn’t been for that scent, he wouldn’t have made the connection between Elf’s disguises nearly so fast; the change in her appearance had been so complete.

She stretched, giving him an unexpected glimpse of her bared midriff. Was that…? She rounded the car to the passenger door and pulled it open. He got another glimpse, just before she hunkered down beside him. It was. She had a pierced navel. And a pierced nose. He wondered what other parts of her body sported nontraditional jewelry.

A handcuff closing around his right wrist broke into his ponderings. She reached over and freed his left hand, then stood, tugging him out of his seat. Her left hand, warm and slightly callused, held his right hand, and he realized she’d cuffed them together. The dark blue sweatshirt she’d pulled out of the back seat draped casually over her wrist, hiding the cuffs.

Interesting. He couldn’t wait to see what she had planned next.

The rest stop consisted of one main building and a couple of smaller structures spread across a wide, grassy expanse. She led him on a meandering path towards one of the outbuildings, which sported a Family Rest Room sign. A mother with two small boys exited the structure and Elf tugged him in, locking the door behind them.

He gave the facility a quick scan, then turned to her. She was studying the cinderblock construction of the rest room, too. “Elf?”

She shrugged. “This is the best I can manage until we get to the lake. You better not have a bashful bladder, because that window’s too low, too large and on the wrong side of the building for me to cover both exits.”

Figures she’d notice the same things he had. “You expect me to—” He looked around the large, open room. Sink, towel dispenser, wastepaper can, diaper-changing table…. No stall door. No stall. Everything was out in plain view. “This is a joke, right?”

She shook her head and glared at him. “And I’m not taking the cuffs off, so don’t even bother to ask.”

“You know, this just isn’t right, on so many levels, I can’t begin—”

“Then don’t bother. Or do, but do it while you’re…” She gestured towards the urinal.

He shook his head and crossed the room, with her a half step behind him. He began undoing the button fly of his Levi’s. Her arm moved in unison with his. She pulled the sweatshirt off their wrists and stood beside him, staring straight ahead.

“Uh, Elf?”

“What.”

“About those logistics you were working out?”

“Yeah, what?”

“I am left-handed, but for some things, I need to use my right hand.”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes as they widened with realization. “You’re kidding.”

“Trust me, I’m not.”

She looked around the room. A tiny groan and a hang of her head told him she noticed the same problem he had—no exposed pipes she could cuff him to while he took care of business.

By his best reckoning, there were two options. Either they stayed cuffed together, or she let him loose.

Without cuffs on, he could use the advantages of his height and strength. Would she take that risk?

Or had she been at this job so long, she wouldn’t mind dealing with a little intimacy usually reserved for couples not held together by stainless steel bracelets?

She tilted her head from side to side, like she was trying to ease tight muscles, and heaved a deep sigh. “All right, already. Get on with it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He let loose with a big sigh of his own.

This would go down in agency history as one of the oddest situations ever. Not that he’d tell anyone about it. He’d never live down the jokes.

Chapter 3

Angel got Cabrini back in the car without incident. Traffic was light and no highway patrols were in evidence. After the bathroom incident, the rest of the trip up north seemed downright boring.

The uneventful drive gave her plenty of time to mull over the current situation and her reactions to her passenger. They were going to be in close confines for the next couple days.

She needed to get a grip… The image of them standing side by side in the rest room floated by her mind’s eye, triggering a warm shiver.

If she didn’t get her thoughts under control, she wouldn’t have to worry about the weekend, because she’d never last the first night.

Focus on Dex’s woodland retreat. That should be a safe topic, and it held the biggest concern.

“Cabin” really was a misnomer for the place. It called up images of seclusion and rustic living. The most rustic aspect of Dex’s place was the lack of a phone. Otherwise, with three bedrooms, two baths, a whirlpool tub and indoor sauna, his cabin was better fixtured than many homes. It seemed like such a waste, out in the middle of nowhere.

Even so, with all those amenities, there wasn’t much available to keep a reluctant guest in place. She would have to rely on the remote location to dissuade Cabrini from trying to run anywhere.

For his part, Cabrini held his own counsel. He seemed much more interested in tracking their progress as the towns became smaller and the birch and pine woods closed in on the two-lane road. He made no effort to initiate any kind of conversation with her, which suited her just fine.

She made good time to the secluded tract of land, located on one of the many lakes that Swiss-cheesed the northern Minnesota landscape.

Twilight settled as she left the secondary road to take the narrow, gravel lane leading to Dex’s cabin. By the time she reached their final destination, full dark lay beneath the tall pines.

Inky shadows surrounded and filled the small clearing. The sky overhead resembled a swath of black velvet with diamonds randomly strewn across it. The new moon provided little light.

She swung the car around the curved drive in front of the cabin, stopping when her headlights shone on the door.

“Hang tight for a second. I’ll get the door open and some lights on.”

“Don’t worry about me, Elf.” Cabrini rattled the handcuffs holding him to his seat. “I promise not to wander off too far without you.”

Her jaw tightened. Ever since he’d realized she didn’t like the situation, he seemed to take great delight in reminding her how close she skated to legal lines.

Had her client been anyone other than Dex, she would have walked away from the assignment at the first hint of illegality. The car door rattled as she slammed it shut.