Page 59 of His Virgin Vessel

Having delivered this last blow, Brian Dugas left the interview room with the rat-faced Quint on his heels.

"That's better," Hamlin said, turning to me as the door closed. "Now we can get properly acquainted."

"How nice," I replied.

"You know, a woman in my position could do a lot for a man like you." Hamlin seated herself on the edge of the table, her slim leg swinging slightly. "Come to think of it, I suspect that a man like you could do a lot for a woman in my position. Or, indeed, in pretty much any position."

Her swinging leg went further with each swing, so that now her foot rubbed against my inner thigh at the apex of every arc.

"I think you'd be happier if you co-operated, Asa. I'm damn sure I would. You want to make me happy, don't you?"

At this point I wasn't sure if she was using the promise of sex to get me to own up to all this stuff I hadn't done, or if she was hoping to get sex in return for going easy on me. Either option was a hell of a lot better than the choice I had previously been facing: tell lies about my friends, or go to jail.

I didn’t want to be arrogant but it wasn’t the first time I have been in situations like this. I was a good-looking man, in a rough-cut sort of a way, and I took care of myself in a way that, apparently, made me pretty appealing to the opposite sex. All too often, we imagine that it's only men who could be bought with sex, but women had desires too, and a man like me could fulfill them. Of course, it would be hard to believe that a woman like Agent Hamlin was hard-up for male companionship, but, for a woman like that, one who lived by the rules, a man like me was a whole other kind of thrill. She was a woman who got off on breaking the rules and going after something forbidden.

But I already had someone like that in my life, even if I was fated never to lay eyes on her again. There was only one woman who filled my mind at the present: Corinne Dugas. It wasn't that I was going to turn down Agent Hamlin's offer because I didn't want to cheat on Corinne, it was that, having met Corinne, Agent Hamlin's offer didn't seem all that appealing. Who wants to sell themselves for sex anyway?

Agent Hamlin's swinging foot came to a stop, resting on my thigh, then slowly travelled up to press pointedly against my crotch. I removed it and was gratified to see Hamlin somewhere between shocked and offended.

"Something like that could easily be misinterpreted as you trying to coerce me," I explained. "And I'd hate for you to get into trouble on my account."

Hamlin stood back up abruptly. "Would you?" This was clearly a woman who was not used to men turning her down. Which came as no surprise to me. She was stunningly beautiful and almost painfully sexy. A week ago, what she had tried here would have worked on me instantly, and we would, even now, be putting on an X-rated show for anyone behind that two-way mirror. But things had changed since then. I had changed.

"If you're just going to ask me the same things as your colleague, then you might as well show me to my cell," I said. "I told him the truth. I'm not going to admit to stuff I didn't do, and I'm not going to incriminate my friends. Not even to please you."

Minutes later, I was being unceremoniously dumped back in the holding cells. As I settled down to wait, I took the time to think about Corinne and hope that she was doing well and would manage to reconnect with her father and sister. I hoped that everything would work out for her in my absence, because, if the look on Agent Hamlin's face was anything to go by, that absence was going to be a very long one indeed.

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