Bombshell - Toxic Riverside Pt. 04

Miranda walked to the table and found a nondescript out of date flip phone. She opened it, there were no numbers programmed in.

"Please," the old man whimpered. "That's all I can tell you."

Miranda gripped the phone, glaring at him coldly a moment longer, just to make sure there was nothing else.

In truth her heart was thumping hard with the guilt of torturing the chemist. He looked at her plaintively, and she decided enough was enough. Miranda crossed the room quickly and shut off the gas.

"Shoulda let him freeze those wrinkly old balls off," Vic grunted behind her.

Miranda nearly jumped, then turned to find him leaning against the table. He was holding his side, and clearly in pain just from the effort of standing upright.

"Yeah, well," she sighed. "I am the heroine here."

"That you are, miss Randi."

She smirked. "Besides, I have to go back in there to get my boots at some point."

Chapter Seventeen

"And then you just left?" Luna balked.

"Well, I didn't just leave," Miranda sighed, peeling the blue mask off her face. "We made sure neither of them would give him any more trouble before the cops got there."

"I dunno, I just thought you guys might go back to his place or something..."

Miranda arched one blonde eyebrow. "It wasn't a date, L, it was a serious battle."

"That you won," she shrugged.

"So?"

"So celebration sex!"

"Not likely," Miranda sighed, hiding the charge that ran through her chest.

Even though she was downplaying it, Miranda was still feeling the effects of the toxin. At Luna's mere mention of "sex", her mind flashed back to getting spit roasted by Tuck and Dr. Kelvin, remembering how hard she'd cum for them. Both details she had left out when recounting the evening's adventure to Luna.

The brunette turned her attention to the burner phone, muttering under her breath. "I just think you could use a good dicking is all seems like it's been a while and you could probably use a little better stress relief than beating up frat boys and dealers and who better than a smokin' hot bounty hunter..."

Miranda opened her mouth to correct Luna and spill the beans on her steamy night with Vic, but something stopped her. A pang of guilt maybe? Despite the chubby brunette's encouragement for a "good dicking", she was the only other one who knew Miranda through Warren. Maybe she just wasn't ready to admit to that particular tryst yet. Or maybe she just wanted to keep Vic for herself a bit longer.

Regardless, as her mind shifted to that night, the toxin's lust found a new foothold. Miranda's heartbeat sped up and an itch crawled over her skin.

"So, can you rig something to track any calls that come into that phone?" Miranda asked.

"Yeah, sure," Luna sighed. "You really think the Hammer will call knowing either you or the police will have the phone?"

"Actually, I think he'll call because he knows I have the phone," Miranda said.

Luna cocked an eyebrow.

"I've taken out two of his collectors," Miranda went on. "And now cutoff his roofie and sedative supplier."

"You have become a real pain in his ass."

"And I don't think he'll be able to resist scratching that itch much longer."

Luna grinned. "I'll get it rigged up, but you go ahead and crash, it's been a long night."

She didn't have to say it twice. Miranda unclipped the powerbelt and handed it over to begin charging. Then she headed upstairs to her big master bedroom and en suite with jetted tub. She was exhausted but after what she'd been through, or rather what had been through her, she needed a nice warm bath. She started the water and peeled off the Nandex leotard.

As the tub filled, her mind began to drift. She'd been resisting the toxin for hours but now, safe and alone in her own bathroom, she let it take control again.

Her mind flashed back to Tuck and Dr. Kelvin. How hard and irresistible their cocks were. She remembered how blank her mind had been then, just pleasure and desire, lust and ecstasy.

Miranda climbed into the tub. The warm water caressed every inch of her long legs and tight round ass. She shivered as it flowed around her hourglass curves, smooth and hot. Her nipples tightened and tingled as the water rushed over and between her breasts. Miranda couldn't resist cupping them, squeezing gently and teasing the sensitive nubs with her own fingers. The sensation was exhilarating, bright sparks danced through her chest and shoulders and up through her neck.

She dunked her head, letting her blonde hair soak and float. She ran her fingers through the silky locks, combing the tangles out with her manicured nails.

When she came up for air, her body was aching again. Miranda spread her legs, feeling the warmth of the water titillate her pussy. She reached down, stroking a finger through her slit. A scintillating starburst erupted through her hips.

She spread and stroked and rubbed her soft folds, teasing out staticky tingles and anxious pulses. She found her clit, swollen and tender but every time she touched it a burst of urgent warmth made her suck in a little moan.

She gripped the side the tub with her free hand as her hips began to jump and tremble under the hot water. She bit her lip to keep from crying out; Luna was still downstairs.

Miranda slid two fingers into her vagina, felt the water rush, the flood of warmth, the charge that crawled up her spine and left her nipples aching. She pulsed in and out, the sensation making her head spin, in and out, faster each time. Her thumb found her clit and worked the nub in unison to her fingers.

Erotic lightning flashed up her spine, electrifying every curve. A deep unrestrained moan crawled out of her chest as the climax rushed through her body. Miranda's mind went blissfully blank.

She continued on auto pilot for some time, coaxing orgasm after orgasm, compulsively, until the toxin's effects truly began to wane. Coming out of the haze, she'd lost all track of time, but hardly cared. Fortunately, the heater on her jetted pool kept the water pleasantly warm as long as she'd needed.

Miranda soaped up and rinsed off in a groggy stupor, then dried perfunctorily off before falling naked into bed.

When she woke up her tits and pussy would be sore and swollen, and the toxin would leave her with a nasty hangover. Not to mention the anxiety she'd experience over the potential consequences of a certain powerlifting dealer cumming inside her.

However, before any of that, she enjoyed several hours of complete relaxation and blissful sleep.

Chapter Eighteen

By the time Miranda arrived at the cheap motel to return Vic's SUV, it had been washed, detailed, had a full-service oil change, and was filled with gas.

As she approached his room, it occurred to her that she hadn't actually seen the door before. The last time she was here, she had been thrust back first against it, on both sides, while furiously making out with the sexy bounty hunter. Then when she'd hurriedly left the following morning, she hadn't exactly been paying attention. The cheap red door was very plain and very worn.

A butterfly danced in her stomach as Miranda reached out and knocked. Even though she had waited on a nearby roof until the cops had arrived, she hadn't heard from Vic since leaving him alone, for the second time, at the Synodyne building. She wasn't quite sure why she felt so hesitant now, other than that they hadn't really discussed his discovery of her secret identity.

The door cracked opened, and Miranda gulped at the sight that greeted her. Vic's eye was still swollen mostly shut, the tan skin now marred an ugly purple. His posture was hunched and tilted, favoring injured ribs. He was still dressed in all black, though he was wearing a baggy sweatshirt rather than one of the formfitting tees.

"Geez, Vic, are you okay?" Miranda asked, resisting the urge to reach up and caress his battered face.

His good eye scanned over her. She was wearing a pale blue tank top, under a light knit cardigan, with blue and beige stripes. Her long legs were slipped comfortably into a pair of plain black leggings.

The smile he offered was a bit crooked, strained if not insincere. "Wondered if I'd get to see you again," he said.

"I- of course, I mean," Miranda tucked an errant blonde strand behind her ear. "I brought back your SUV."

He looked past her to the gleaming black vehicle and smirked. "That can't be mine," he said. "I had a carefully cultivated layer of dirt covering my truck."

"Oh yeah, I had it washed, I hope that's okay."

"Well, I was going to plant tomatoes this season, but I guess I'll get over it." He stepped back, inviting her inside.

Miranda was shaking her head and chuckling as she stepped past him. Taking a quick glance around, she was glad the lights had been off that night she spent with him. This was definitely the kind of place that offered hourly rates. Not that it would have changed anything, just added a sense of tawdriness to it all.

...And I might not have slept a whole night in that bed, she thought noticing the dinginess of the sheets. She also noticed the two big suitcases already in the process of being packed.

Vic shut the door as she turned back to face him. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"I've had worse," he crossed to the bed, wincing with every step. "Actually, that's a lie... but I'll live."

"I'm so sorry."

"You say that like it's your fault."

"Isn't it?"

Vic snorted and waved her off dismissively. "I was looking for Kelvin before we ever met, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess," Miranda sighed. Looking over his luggage she had to smirk, he was packing a lot more gear than clothing. "So you're leaving already?"

"Job's done," he shrugged, stuffing a Kevlar vest into one of the suitcases. "On to the next."

"In that state? Are you crazy?"

"Well, most of my jobs aren't this..." he glanced at her and grinned, "exciting? I should be fine."

"I just thought you might take a few days to recover."

"You mean, like, around here? Where you might be able to look in on me?"

She sank onto the edge of the bed and shrugged. "Maybe."

"Nah, I'm a big boy, Randi, besides Kelvin was a big bounty but, uh, not retirement big or anything."

"Right, no, of course not," Miranda said. "Well, I'm still sorry you had to go through so much trouble just to catch him."

"All part of the job," Vic added quickly. He didn't look back at her, just kept stuffing his luggage.

"You just are not going to let me take responsibility for this are you?"

"Should I?"

"Well..."

"You know the hospital wouldn't even take my insurance card when I left," he said, something almost like irritation seeped into his tone. "Told me some anonymous benefactor had already taken care of my medical bills. Can I assume that was you, Mrs. Ashton?"

"Wouldn't be very anonymous if I told you that," she smirked at the floor.

"Yeah, I guess we know you're good at keeping secrets."

Miranda looked up to find him regarding her more coolly than she liked. Her green eyes dropped, and Miranda began to fiddle with her cardigan.

"Vic, listen..."

"No, shit, I shouldn't have said that," he heaved a sigh and pushed one of the suitcases backwards to sit down next to her. "It ain't like you owe me some kind of explanation."

"I mean now that you're keeping my secret," she began pointedly. "It might entitle you to a few questions."

"Oh, I've got more than a few," he said. "I'm just not sure I want the answers. But also, yes, I will."

She looked at him.

"Keep your secret, I mean, I will keep it."

"Thank you. This is something I need to do."

"I get that," he ran a hand over his head and looked like he couldn't quite bring himself to look at her. "Kind of, I guess, it's just that after seeing what happened to you last night, thinking about what could happen to you if you keep doing this-"

"Vic," Miranda cut him off, standing up and taking a few steps towards the window. "I have the suit, the powers, I have to use them to help people, to protect people."

"Look I'm not trying to talk you out of it," he said. "But when I think about you putting yourself at risk like this-"

"How is it any different than what you do?" she turned on him sharply.

A silent moment passed.

"Well for starters," he began. "Being a superheroine is miles more glamourous than being a shady bounty hunter," that familiar smile crept over his face. "You get sexy outfits and cool powers..."

Miranda crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as he continued.

"Your gonna have big battles on the evening news, and probably save whole cities... Meanwhile I'll still be getting beat up by punkass tweakers when I blunder into trailer park meth labs."

"I meant," she said. "How is me continuing to do this different from you continuing to do what you do?"

He smirked up at her, but after a moment dropped his gaze to the floor. "I know," he could only shrug. "And it's not, so what can I say...? I still hate the idea of bad things happening to such an amazing woman."

Her cheeks warmed and she sank back onto the bed beside him. "I'm not so amazing, you don't even know me that well."

"That's true, I guess," Vic nodded. "I've only known you a couple days, so I've only kinda seen how sincerely you care for people. I only kinda know you don't hesitate to act if you think it's in the best interest of those people. I've only seen you knock one guy out while he had you at gunpoint, oh and weren't you stark naked at the time."

Miranda's cheeks turned bright pink.

"And speaking of naked," Vic tugged at his collar like he was starting to get hot. "That thing you do with your tongue-"

"Okay!" Miranda shouldered him. "That's enough."

"I'm just saying," Vic chuckled. "Not a lot of women do that..."

Miranda rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, I'm not sure that makes me a good superheroine."

"Maybe not...but I think just being you will do that."

Miranda looked down, not sure what to say next.

Before she had a chance to figure it out, Vic stood up and returned to his packing. "I'm just not sure how I could stand to watch it."

Miranda watched him, tensely shoving the rest of his gear into the cases.

"I understand," she said, getting up and heading towards the door. "Thanks for everything, Vic, really."

"Take care of yourself, Miranda," he didn't turn or even look up as she left. "I'm not sure the world's ready for a bombshell like you, but I think we need it."

Epilogue

After saying goodbye to Vic, Miranda took an Uber back over to the now Royal Shore Hotel. Her own car should still be parked within walking distance, but even more so, she needed to apologize to Donovan for standing him up the day before.

Geez, was that really only yesterday?

It was late afternoon by then, so the lobby was busy and full. Hotel guests coming down for dinner, or coming in after a long day of tourizing the town. Plus, an influx of new check-ins crowded the front desk.

She knew Donovan more than likely would not be in his penthouse by then. No doubt he was hard at work somewhere in the hotel overseeing the rebranding. He almost definitely wouldn't have time to reminisce with her either, which was fine because she wasn't quite ready for that anyway.

"Excuse me," Miranda stopped a passing clerk headed away from the front desk. "Can you tell me where I can find Donovan Ashton? Is he still here?"

The woman's eyes were exasperated, her smile overly friendly but entirely fake. "Is there something I can help you with?" she asked just short of curt.

"I just need to speak with him a moment," Miranda replied.

The woman sniffed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Ashton doesn't just speak to guests, if there's something I can help you with-"

"I'm actually his sister-in-law," Miranda cut her off.

The woman's exasperation became fear in an instant. "Oh, forgive me Mrs. Ashton, I didn't realize! He's, um, I can take you, but...oh gosh, I'm sorry, lets..." She began to stammer, looking towards the back of the hotel then down at her clipboard, trying desperately to figure out if she'd get in more trouble for blowing off a snooty over-privileged trophy wife, or neglecting whatever duties were listed there.

Nothing like finding out I'm an Ashton to put the fear of being fired into someone, Miranda shook her head. Gawd, I hate this.

"Hey, it's fine," she told the clerk as soothingly as possible. "If you can just point me in his direction, I can find him on my own, and you can get back to work."

The woman nodded and pointed. "I'm pretty sure he's back in storage, checking inventory. Again, I'm so sorry..."

"Thank you," Miranda said and walked away before the woman could apologize any more.

Miranda didn't know a lot about the layout of the hotel, but she followed the woman's point to a pair of double doors that read: STAFF ONLY. Past those was a winding complex of concrete floors and white hallways.

"Can I help ya, ma'am?" asked an older man in a maintenance uniform.

She smiled at him amiably. "Looking for inventory storage, and or Donovan Ashton."

His bushy eyebrows went up. "Well, inventory's kept down this hallway, then to the right. Not sure about Mr. Ashton but might be down that ways."

He pointed and she thanked him, then headed down the long blank corridor.

Apologizing to an Ashton, she thought with a little chuckle. Never thought I'd be doing this again...

As she neared the fork at the end of the hall, Miranda began to hear a voice just around the corner. She recognized it as Donovan instantly.

"...Of course...of course," he was saying.

Miranda chuckled to herself, It's always so weird listening to one side of a conversation.

"What is it my first day?" Donovan went on. "Obviously I made sure none of the media coverage will mention Synodyne this time."

That stopped Miranda in her tracks.

"Well maybe mister Kelvin is not as formidable as we were led to believe," Donovan said. "Apparently that bounty hunter picked him up pretty easy after my anonymous tip."

Wait, it was Donovan?? Miranda was suddenly holding her breath. But why would he even...

"No, no other connection," Donovan went on. "I'm not Peirce, Uncle Monty, that's why you sent me. Let me handle it."

Monty... Miranda's fists clenched involuntarily. Of course, his filthy fingers are into everything!

There was a slightly longer silence then Donovan spoke again, "Three more days. Four at the most." ... "No, I haven't asked her yet." ... "I was going to yesterday but then she stood me up for lunch." ... "I don't know, even if she is starting to trust me again, doesn't mean she'll be willing to help the family." ... "Oh she's as stubborn as they come, but come on Monty, how many girls have ever said no to me?"

Miranda's blood boiled in an instant. She didn't wait for him to finish his conversation and stepped around the corner.

Donovan was on his cell, leaning against the wall in an immaculate gray suit. He glanced up at her absently, started to go back to his conversation, then jumped off the wall.

"Miranda?" he blurted. "Hey, uh, one second...Uncle, I need to call you back." He shut the phone off. "Hey Miranda, what are you doing here?"

"Kicking myself," she crossed her arms and glared at him. "And to think, I came here to apologize to you."

"For yesterday? Yeah, what happened to you?"

"Better question; what do you need to ask me? What exactly have you been buttering me up for?"

"Shit," Donovan hissed. "How much did you hear?" He straightened, quickly regaining his bearing and slipped the phone into his jacket pocket.

"Why? So you can know how much of your ass you need to cover?"

"It's not like that," Donovan said. "Uncle Monty wants me to offer you an opportunity."

Miranda scoffed. "You prick. I only tolerated you so we could share some memories of Warren... but that was really all just to take me off my guard, wasn't it, because the family finally found some use for me?"