by Rayna Stone
Mastering Holly Oaks 2
Safe Haven
Detective Troy Davis is on the hunt for a serial killer. He’s also captivated by the alluring Mistress Kelly. But Kelly Rivers has some secrets of her own. Will she have the strength to put the past behind her and allow a man like Troy Davis to free her once again? Or will the serial killer stalking their BDSM community destroy both of their lives?
Kelly Rivers has survived brutality and abandonment in her life. Her protective barriers are strong. Once she realizes she’s ready to start living again, she knows Troy is the only man that she wants. With the help of her friends and Troy’s loving dominance, she is finally able to free herself and open her heart.
As the murderer gets closer, everyone in Holly Oaks is at risk and under suspicion. Will they find him before it’s too late?
Genre: BDSM, Contemporary
Length: 45,859 words
SAFE HAVEN
Mastering Holly Oaks 2
Rayna Stone
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
SAFE HAVEN
Copyright © 2012 by Rayna Stone
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-531-1
First E-book Publication: October 2012
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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DEDICATION
To the readers. You’ll never know what it means to hear from you.
SAFE HAVEN
Mastering Holly Oaks 2
RAYNA STONE
Copyright © 2012
Prologue
Detective Troy Davis walked into the old barn with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The owner hadn’t used this building in five years and rarely checked on it. Today when he walked into the loft, he found more than water damage and mice. The scene he described to Dispatch matched those of two other murder scenes in the Denver area. If this victim was indeed number three, Troy officially had a serial killer loose in his city.
There were no common links between the other two victims. They didn’t travel in the same social circle, nor did they have any other reason to know each other. There had to be a common thread here somewhere. This guy wasn’t picking up runaways. Until they figured out how the killer was choosing his victims, they were screwed.
This fucker was ruthless. He’d tortured and raped those girls for hours. Since the second victim suffered even more trauma than the first, Troy speculated that he was perfecting his technique, improving his ability to prolong the torture until the victim passed out from blood loss or shock. Once he could no longer get them to respond to his torture, he strangled them. Troy had studied serial killers. He knew his chances of catching this guy would dwindle with time. He would only get better, and he was pretty fucking good as it was. If he skipped town before they caught his trail, they might never find him. Their best chance right now was to figure out where these women were taken from and hope someone noticed the killer talking with them.
Once Troy climbed to the loft and peered around, he knew they were indeed looking at victim number three. And that sinking feeling got worse when he saw the killer’s new setup. A St. Andrew’s cross. Fucking great. A young woman was strapped to the cross, so bruised and beaten that they would likely need dental records to identify her. She had what looked to be marks from a crop or cane and a whip of some sort all over her body. Troy was an expert at the single tail. He knew you could kiss the skin or flay it from the bone. Apparently this guy just lashed the shit out of her. Once he started tearing up her skin, she wouldn’t have been able to stay conscious long. He’d have to wait for the autopsy report to verify cause of death here, but he’d bet his life this girl was strangled. He was hunting a homicidal sadist, and he may have just found his link. Like the situation wasn’t bad enough, now his entire community would be under suspicion and under the spotlight. Worse, it was likely the submissives in that community were the targets.
“Hey, Morgan. Why don’t you wrap up here and head over with the coroner. I think I’ll hit up the local BDSM clubs. See if anyone recognizes the other two girls. Maybe someone in the community has seen a new face. If we’re really fucking lucky, they saw him leave with the victims.”
Morgan was asking a group of technicians about some blood spatter. “Do you really think these girls were hanging out with those freaks? Come on, Davis. They were clean-cut college graduates with nice families. What would they be doing trolling BDSM bars?” Troy could not stand the judgmental look on this prick’s face. Thankfully he wouldn’t have to work with him after the task force nailed the killer. Troy was getting out. He’d seen enough death to last a lifetime. It was time to make a change, maybe go into private security with some of his friends. He might be able to save people before it was too late.
It was judgmental people like Morgan that had Troy gravitating toward Holly Oaks more and more. He was sick and tired of people assuming his lifestyle was “freaky.” If it wasn’t
for you, that was fine. But he didn’t judge other people’s choices and he didn’t hurt anyone. Assholes like this murderer gave the good members of the community a bad name. And once that community found out it might have a killer lurking in the shadows, those good members were going to go apeshit. They protected their own. He just hoped that they didn’t get hurt in the process.
Six hours of showing pictures around to every club he knew of and he finally hit pay dirt. Unfortunately, those poor girls could not have chosen a worse place to get an introduction to the lifestyle if they tried. Chains was more of a biker bar than a lifestyle club. There were no protocols to follow and no security measures in place to protect the clientele. It was, however, accessible and cheap. That was the whole damn problem. If you wanted to get into a good club like Exchanges in Holly Oaks, you had to know someone who was a member. You had to go through background checks and pay a membership fee. Most people just starting out in the scene didn’t know anyone to vouch for them, and many of the younger crowd didn’t have the money to join anyway. They ended up in places like this. Places that probably didn’t even have a house safe word, much less any way to contact members in case abuse was reported.
Any club in any city or town in the country could be dangerous. But given the social taboo of BDSM, people were often driven underground. That meant club owners could take advantage of them, and people who wanted to use BDSM for abusive purposes were given a safe haven. Those girls were probably ashamed about their curiosity with kink. They wouldn’t have told their parents or maybe even their friends where they were going. They needed mentors. What they got was a fucking killer. He’d learned from club goers that the same man had been seen talking to two of the victims the night before they were found murdered. Unfortunately, this man couldn’t be identified because he wore a full-head PVC hood.
In Exchanges, if you wanted a mask, you had to remove it on the second floor. It could be a great intimidation tactic, though not his style, but anonymity was dangerous and not allowed unless actively scening. Why had these girls gone anywhere with a guy who wouldn’t let them see his face? He was going to have to get on the latest toxicology screen. He couldn’t imagine any young girl being reckless enough to leave the club with a stranger, no matter how desperate for the experience she may have been. If he used any of the common date rape drugs, they could have missed them with the other girls. Those drugs were hard to test for and left the system quickly. With any luck, maybe victim number three would yield some results. Troy may not know this asshole’s identity, but he had a location. That was a start. Now he just had to formulate a plan to go undercover and nail this bastard. He couldn’t risk scaring him off, so he wouldn’t be returning in detective mode. But he would definitely be returning.
Troy wanted to head over to his friend Jay’s house and run some ideas by him. Jay occasionally worked with the prosecutor in Denver and had been one of the first people to call Troy into the investigation. The first victim’s ex-boyfriend was going to go to trial for her murder, but Jay was convinced they had the wrong man. The second victim turned up before the case went forward, and since the main suspect was in custody, he was cleared of all charges. Troy knew how emotionally involved in the case Jay was, and promised to keep him in the loop. More than anything right now, he needed his opinion and advice. Jay was a sub, far more involved in the scene than Troy was, and he knew criminal psychology. Troy hoped he could help him devise a plan of action before another victim turned up. He didn’t know the best way to warn the community without scaring off the killer or starting a pedestrian manhunt. He didn’t feel comfortable bringing in any of the task force yet, but he wanted to move on this lead while it was still hot. He’d talk with Jay and then take his plan to the team.
Chapter One
Mac, Jay’s partner, opened the door for Troy. “Oh, God, what now? I swear if you don’t start visiting with some good news, Davis, I’ll stop letting you in.” Troy could tell Mac was joking with him, but he was right. In the last year, if it hadn’t been about these murders, it was about Mac and Jay’s wife.
Katherine had been the victim of a stalker. It was one of those cases that made Troy feel utterly helpless. They all knew who was stalking Kat, but since they couldn’t prove it, there was nothing Troy could do to help his friends. He couldn’t imagine the terror they must have felt. Thankfully it was over. Kat had been forced to defend herself, but she had survived. Troy was still so proud of her. Mac, Jay and Kat were moving on, and adding on. Kat was due to deliver a baby girl in two weeks.
He was a bit jealous over the news that Jay would be a father. He supposed that he always thought marriage and kids just didn’t go with the lifestyle, but as the years went by, he realized that was exactly what he wanted. This triad showed him it was possible. Jesus, if they could make it work being in a threesome and a BDSM relationship, he pretty much figured anything was possible.
“Hey, Mac. It actually is about the murder case. Jesus, I’m sorry. I should have thought before I came running over here. It’s just that I think I finally have a lead and I could use Jay’s input. If it’s a bad time, I can just call him later.” Fuck. Now he felt like an ass. Two weeks until their baby is born and he comes barging in with dead bodies and sadists. Idiot.
It was clear Mac was trying not to laugh in his face. “No problem, man. I think Jay would welcome the diversion. Kat’s with Kelly planning the party at the club. But please don’t call it a baby shower. I’m pretty sure he wants to get out of that room right about now.”
Mac started leading Troy to the main living room when Troy stopped him. “Why are we not calling it a baby shower?” Troy was confused. Weren’t women supposed to like that shit?
“Well, she doesn’t think it’s appropriate to have the party at the club. I would normally agree, but she also doesn’t want a ‘girly’ baby shower because Kelly is her only real girlfriend and Kelly doesn’t ‘do’ girly, so we compromised. A party for everyone at the club with the proceeds benefitting the women’s shelter. Jay won’t tell her about the games he’s devised. She’d kill him if she knew he was going to have the Doms measure her waist. She probably won’t approve of the single tail competition using baby balloons, either.” Mac looked a bit nervous about those plans, but Troy was definitely going to win that single tail competition.
Troy knew Kat was a sub, but you did not want to get on that woman’s bad side. She’d lived through a lot and she’d only be pushed so far. He knew to stay away when she went off. And since the pregnancy, she seemed to go off a lot. Troy gestured for Mac to continue on toward the living room. “I’m steering clear of the ladies. I’ll just grab Jay for a few minutes and then you guys can get back to party planning.” Troy smiled brightly at Mac knowing full well that Mac had zero interest in spending his day planning a party.
Troy walked gingerly down the hall, hoping not to attract attention, but secretly ecstatic that Kelly Rivers was here. For the last two years he’d been drooling over that woman. Every time he saw her, he wanted to run his fingers through her raven-black hair. She rarely wore it down, but he liked to imagine that it was long enough to brush against her luscious backside. Lord, he could spend hours just thinking of all the things he’d like to brush over that ass. Her eyes were the most captivating shade of amber. With such dark hair and creamy white skin, they practically glowed. And they were usually so sad. That was one of the things that killed him about Kelly. He wanted to know why. She had friends, but it was only in the last year that she seemed to really invest in them emotionally. Like she needed to keep everyone at a distance until little Kat came to town and forced her way into Kelly’s heart.
She was beautiful and successful, but she never even dated. He really couldn’t understand that. Kelly was known at the club as one of the best Dommes in the state, and she was highly sought after as a trainer. Everyone that was interested in BDSM had to start somewhere. Most of the people who came to Kelly were utterly clueless and terrified. They were unsure if they w
ould even enjoy being a submissive. She taught them about the lifestyle and philosophies, helping them to understand and define their own submissive nature. She gave them the opportunity to experience bondage and pain play so they would have an idea of what they liked or needed from a dominant. If a sub wanted formal training in etiquette and protocols, Kelly was the best. He doubted there was anyone who knew more technical shit than she did. He was still rather amazed that one could kneel in so many interesting ways. He loved watching her demonstrate for her trainees. Though he had never really been interested in having a sub drop to her knees for him so formally, he had to admit that seeing Kelly with her legs spread wide and her breasts thrust forward got his cock standing at attention in a nanosecond.
Troy really needed to get a grip on his attraction. Bottom line, she was a Domme. No matter how much he would love to see her beneath him, rumpled and sated, that would never happen. And though he wasn’t a hard-core Dom, he really didn’t think he could take the submissive role. Thankfully, Kelly never actually had sex with her trainees. Though it wasn’t necessary to become intimately involved with someone in order to teach them about BDSM, it was pretty common. He had never seen Kelly touch another man’s cock with anything but tools of the trade. She also never allowed them to touch her, though he hated knowing how often they begged to serve her. Still, it was a blessing for Troy. He knew that until he got his raging need to claim her under control, there was a risk that he would kill any man that fucked her in any way. That would utterly suck. Cops didn’t fare well in prison.