Page 23 of High Seduction
Tim relaxed, allowing his rescuer to support him more fully. He maintained enough tension to stop from being a dead weight, but not struggling or making things more difficult.
With nothing to see, Tim relied on his other senses more. The cold sharp feel of the wintry air, the dryer-sheet scent clinging to the blanket.
Ahead of them a van door slid open.
Just because the rest of them were staying silent didn’t mean he had to, but for some reason it seemed right to wait. To let them take the lead in this strange initiation. Tim settled into the seat where he was placed and waited for the ride to be over.
When they arrived, it was a place with solid concrete underfoot as he was led from the van and guided up a short flight of stairs.
A gymnasium. There was the unmistakable scent plus the hollow echolike sounds as they entered. Tim was placed in position, his hands pressed to the back of a chair.
“If you expect a lap dance, I’m afraid I’m not very good.”
That pulled a snort of laughter from someone in the room.
Small noises tickled his curiosity, but he held back from removing the blindfold. He would play the game all the way to the end.
Anders finally broke the silence. “We’re happy to have you join us, but we thought it would be good to run a short training session together. The team follows four guidelines, Tim. You saw them up on the wall at HQ?”
He listed them quickly. “Have patience, move decisively. Trust your team. Give one hundred ten percent.”
That earned him a hum of approval. “You’re observant. That’s part of what we need from you. We hope you’re also creative and innovative.”
“And at least somewhat amusing,” Tripp added, his voice coming from a long distance away. “A sense of humour is key when we’re stuck slogging through some mess for hours on end.”
Tim grinned. “I’m not good at stand-up comedy, but I’ve been told I can turn a tale or two.”
“Right now you get to show your talents in a different way.” All traces of teasing vanished as Anders snapped out the order. “You’ve got ten minutes to assemble the team, beginning now. Take off your blindfold.”
Damn. Okay, they’d managed to surprise him—this wasn’t at all what he’d expected. Tim slipped off the head covering and glanced around the room.
Given that he had a deadline, his first impulse was to instantly head toward the first team member he spotted. The mention of the team rules reminded him to pause. Assessing the situation was always the first step. He had to take the time to judge the situation and not simply fly into it blindly.
He’d been right about the location. It was a gymnasium, probably at a local school. The floor was covered with equipment of all sorts. Gymnastics, climbing frames. Old lockers.
The other members of the team were scattered around the room. Alisha was the easiest to spot where she hung suspended on the wall near the ceiling. Her eyes were covered with a thick swatch of dark material—even though she was safely roped in, she’d have to be directed to the floor.
In the farthest corner Tripp was also blindfolded, an absolute tangle of ropes and clutter standing between him and a clear section of floor in the middle of the room.
That was where Devon was found. He sat on the top of a gymnastics pommel horse. He waved at Tim, in the process showing off that his hands were tied together in front of him, extra lengths of rope leading downward and vanishing down around either side of the heavy structure he sat on.
“Jeez, you guys have a wicked sense of humour yourselves,” Tim noted, turning to face Anders, who stood only a few feet behind him. Nothing tied up, nothing holding him back. Had to be something simple and yet terrible. Anders was the heaviest team member, probably two hundred pounds of sheer muscle. “Let me guess. You’re not going to walk beside me, are you?”
Anders grinned evilly and batted his lashes. “Afraid not.”
Tim took another quick glance but had no luck in spotting the final member of the crew. “Where’s Erin?”
No answer. Bloody hell. He had no time to waste.
“Okay, big guy.” Tim reached for Anders’s hand. “Time to go for a ride.”
He pulled Anders forward while bending at the waist, reaching between the other man’s legs, and with one smooth motion Anders was draped over his back in a fireman’s carry.
Anders chuckled. “Nicely done.”
Tim ignored him, twirling toward the wall where Alisha hung and carefully working his way through the obstacles. “Devon, I need you to talk Tripp through the maze. Got it?”
“No problem.” Devon twisted, and his clear voice rang out. “You’ll need to do some ducking and crawling, Tripp. Quarter turn to your left to start.”
