by Julia Sykes
“You two should go compare notes.” Frank’s voice was positively chilly, a clear dismissal. “I want you to find The Mentor soon, Katie. Don’t get distracted.”
Distracted. His meaning was obvious. He had noticed my instant physical attraction to Reed. I dropped my eyes as my embarrassment doubled. “Of course, sir.”
“And I’ll take this note to the lab. Come to me immediately if anything else happens.”
The reminder of the sickening threat just twisted the knife Frank had stuck into my gut. Dads sucked sometimes. I much preferred his comforting hugs to his shame-inducing admonishments.
“Yes, sir.” My meek answer was all I had to offer.
“Go on, then. Report back to me with any new developments.”
“Yes, sir.” This time it was Reed who answered.
I met Frank’s hard eyes one last time before turning from him. A strange mixture of defeat and determination filled me at the sight of his disapproval. I had let him down, but I would do better next time. I would catch The Mentor and make him proud.
“So the boss is a hard ass,” Reed remarked as soon as the door closed behind us. “I’m used to that with my boss, Kennedy. Don’t let it get you down.”
I glared up at him. He didn’t know the first thing about my relationship with Frank. “Don’t you dare say anything against Frank. He’s the best man I know.”
Reed’s hands raised in a placating gesture. “Whoa, I didn’t say he was a bad guy. I have nothing but respect for Kennedy. He’s a great unit director. That doesn’t mean he’s not a hard ass. If anything, that’s why he’s good at his job.” He shook his head and grinned at me. “This isn’t how I wanted to start our relationship, Katie. I can call you, Katie, can’t I?”
I just nodded, temporarily struck dumb by his dazzling smile. I think I would have agreed to anything in the wake of that devilish grin.
“Be careful.” Frank’s warning played through my mind.
“The boss decrees that we compare notes. Could I interest you in doing that over coffee?”
I shook my head. “I don’t do coffee. I’m an iced tea girl.” The small smile on my face felt strange. Was it flirty? The very idea was shocking. I had only ever had one real relationship, and that lasted all of two months. I secretly suspected that Frank had run George off, but I was grateful for that, really. I had already been getting bored of him.
I realized I was staring into Reed’s eyes with inappropriate intensity. Those black pools were just far too fascinating. Their inky depths held secrets. Sensual secrets. I had never known attraction like this. To be honest, it was a bit scary. But not scary enough to make me look away.
Those eyes widened in dramatic shock. “Are you sure you’re an FBI agent?” He asked, a smile playing around the corners of his far-too-sexy mouth. “Shouldn’t you have an IV drip with black coffee like the rest of us?”
I made a show of peeking around his large body. “I don’t see an IV bag trailing along after you.”
“Hence my desperate need for a coffee fix.” His shudder was exaggerated. I wasn’t the only one flirting. The concept that this gorgeous man was interested in me was almost jarring. Men never paid any attention to me. Well, with the exception of the scumbags I arrested. They always had a lewd remark to toss my way.
My smirk widened to an almost silly grin. I felt like a teenager spotting her first crush. I seemed to be having a lot of flashbacks today. Only, the butterflies Reed awoke in my stomach were decidedly nicer than the uneasy churning sensation elicited by Frank’s disapproval.
“Well, I wouldn’t dream of making you go into withdrawals,” I said lightly. “Let me grab my keys and we’ll go.”
“Thank you.” Reed’s sigh of relief was comical in its intensity.
“Katie. Who’s this?” Dex’s deep voice cracked through the little bubble of giddiness that had engulfed me. Suddenly, his heat was beside me. He was very obviously in my personal space, and he was glaring at Reed.
Whoa. That stony stare was usually reserved for criminals in interrogation.
“What’s wrong with you?” The furrow between my brows communicated my silent question. Dex and I were close enough that we could often express ourselves without words. It was immensely valuable on a stakeout.
Dex didn’t even acknowledge me. His blue eyes positively crackled as they fixed on Reed’s.
Reed, on the other hand, appeared coolly implacable, completely unaffected by my imposing partner’s overtly aggressive stance. If I didn’t know better, I would say Dex was being… territorial.
Shit. He wasn’t going to take the news that I had a new partner well at all.
“Reed, this is Dexter Scott. Dex, this is-”
“Reed Miller,” Reed interrupted me and extended his hand. “I’m Katie’s new partner.”
Dex’s eyes flashed, but he grasped Reed’s hand in greeting. Only, he held on a few seconds too long, and I noticed both of the men’s knuckles whiten as they each tightened their grips.
“Dex.” I said his name sharply to put an end to the inexplicable alpha-off. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.
Another alpha male in the office. Great. My inner voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Believe me, I didn’t ask for a new partner. You know I wouldn’t do that.” My voice softened, urging him to believe me. I might not hate my new assignment – I wouldn’t mind looking at Reed every day – but I truly did regret losing my friend at my back. Especially after seeing how much it hurt him. I knew him well enough to recognize that his macho aggression was just that: an effort to mask his hurt. He didn’t want to lose sight of me any more than I wanted to stop protecting him.
My fingers rested on his forearm. I could feel the tension in it from his efforts to crush Reed’s hand. Reed appeared completely unfazed.
“This was Frank’s call,” I told Dex gently.
My touch was all it took to call him back to me. His eyes still blazed when they met mine, but I resolutely held his stare. His lips pressed into a harsh slash, but he released Reed.
“You’re going to keep me updated on the case,” Dex ordered, his eyes burning his will into me. He pinned me there, waiting for my compliance.
“Okay, Dex.” His name was a promise.
He nodded once, but he was far from satisfied. “I don’t like this. Especially after that note you received. I don’t want to let you out of my sight.” The look he shot at Reed when he spoke was one of warning. “I’m going to talk to Frank about this.”
With that, he turned on his heel and stalked towards our boss’ office. I winced.
Time to go. I didn’t want to be here when the bomb went off. Frank and Dex going head to head wasn’t going to be pleasant, and, seeing as I was the cause of the conflict, I wanted to be far away from the building when it started.
“Let’s get that coffee,” I told Reed over my shoulder. I was already striding toward my desk to grab my keys.
“What note?” He asked, keeping pace with me. “Franklin and Dexter both mentioned it.”
“Don’t let Dex hear you using his full name. He hates it.”
“I’m pretty sure he already doesn’t like me,” Reed remarked.
“Well, calling him Dexter will make it worse.” I only just stopped myself from explaining that the other kids had bullied him by calling him Poindexter when he was in elementary school. He was very touchy about his glasses, and I was one of the only people who had ever seen him in anything but contacts. I got the feeling my friend wouldn’t appreciate me sharing something so personal with a man he obviously disliked.
“You didn’t answer me,” Reed admonished. “What note?”
“I’ll tell you about it later,” I deflected. I so wasn’t ready for another man to go all alpha protective on me in the space of half an hour. Their concern only made it that much more difficult to mask my fear. “Let’s get out of here before the explosion, okay?” I could already hear Dex’s furious voice floating through the glass wall o
f Frank’s office. My pace quickened.
I practically rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet on the long elevator ride down to the parking garage. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. If Dex decided to come back to argue more, Reed might end up with a black eye. My partner was fierce, but I had never seen him turn this side of himself against another agent. He must really be upset about losing me to act so uncharacteristically vicious.
I suddenly felt guilty for my moment of excitement at Reed’s proximity. It felt like a betrayal. I edged away from him and his nearly irresistible magnetism as soon as we exited the elevator. His scent – rich and salty, like masculine musk caught on a tropical ocean breeze – filled the small space. It was as tempting to breathe in as it was to drown in his dark eyes. Everything about the man exuded sexuality. I wondered if everyone could see it, or if it just affected me in particular. Glancing over at his perfect profile, I decided any woman would swoon over him.
Pull yourself together, Byrd.
I had a sadistic serial killer to catch. I most certainly didn’t have the time or brain power to waste ogling my new partner. It was a disservice to the women who had suffered at The Mentor’s hands. He might be torturing some poor woman right now, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Not yet.
That thought helped me gather my resolve. How could I lust after a near-stranger – and a coworker, no less – when the faceless woman might be desperately hoping for me to come to her rescue? My sexual interest in Reed was effectively doused.
My usual calm didn’t return until I was in my car and pulling away from the potential disaster that was occurring in my boss’ office, fourteen floors above the garage. Then Reed went and obliterated it again.
“So why was I brought in on this case?” He sounded genuinely confused.
I cut my eyes over to him where he sat in the passenger seat. We had already been over this. “I thought Frank and Kennedy discussed this with you. You’re…” I stumbled over the words. Knowing them and saying them aloud in a matter-of-fact tone were completely different things. “You’re in the BDSM lifestyle, and they thought it would be helpful to have you in the Chicago office.”
Reed still appeared puzzled. “But you have Dex here. Why would you need me?”
“What do you mean? What does Dex have to do with this?”
“He’s a Dom.”
I blinked. “What?”
“A Dominant,” Reed explained.
“I know what a Dom is. I’ve been researching for this case. But you don’t know what you’re talking about. Dex isn’t involved with that. I would know.” I shuddered at the thought of my friend being into BDSM.
“What was that?” Reed asked sharply.
“What was what?”
“That look of disgust. Does the idea of Dex being in the lifestyle bother you?”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong about that. Dex would never hurt a woman.”
“And you think I would?” The easygoing man who had so coolly met Dex’s challenge was suddenly coldly furious. “Is that what you think of me? That I abuse women?”
“Of course not!” It had never even crossed my mind that Reed would be capable of such a thing. But that’s what BDSM was about…
“You’re lying. You think I’m like Carl Martel. You think I’m like The Mentor. Don’t you?”
“No!”
“Then why does the idea of Dex being a Dom bother you?” He demanded.
“It’s just… I didn’t mind the idea of BDSM,” I confessed. “But then I talked to Lydia Chase. I saw the photos of the marks Martel left on her…” My stomach turned at the memory of the lacerations left by the whip, of the dead look in Lydia’s eyes when she was first found by Agent Smith James in New York. Martel had chosen her because of her interest in BDSM. All of that had happened to her because she liked pain with sex.
“And you think Martel was a Dominant?”
“No!” I insisted again. Reed was backing me into a corner. It was so much easier to be repulsed by what had happened to Lydia than facing my own interest in being tied down during sex. “I know he was a sick psychopath. I don’t think you’re like him at all.”
“Then why does the idea of Dex being a Dom bother you?” He prompted again.
Because I can’t reconcile the man I care about so deeply with the harsh discipline of BDSM. Especially not when it makes me hot just thinking about it.
I knew my pale skin had turned bright red with my blush. “It just does,” I replied lamely.
“You’re interested in BDSM.” Reed’s cool conclusion made my stomach drop.
“I am not!” My denial sounded desperate in my own ears.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Lie to me. I won’t tolerate it.”
“You won’t tolerate it?” I had gone from desperate to indignant. Again, I found myself feeling like a child. The man was throwing me for a loop.
“No. I won’t. You’re lying to me, and you’re lying to yourself. We’re partners, and we have to be completely honest with one another. I have to know I can trust you.”
My cheeks flamed impossibly hotter. Reed had effectively chastised me. Of course he needed to trust me. He wasn’t dressing me down to force me to accept my secret desires; he was ensuring I would have his back if shit hit the fan.
I took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “You can trust me. I promise.”
He nodded. “Good. Then you’ll tell me about this note now.” It wasn’t a question.
“That has nothing to do with The Mentor case. It’s private.” I wasn’t ready to talk to Reed about the threat. The sexual connotations of the note and the words about making me scream paralleled too closely with our tense discussion of my discomfort about BDSM. I wasn’t ready to divulge its contents to my new partner.
“It’s not private. Not from me.”
“Why?” I snapped, irritated. “Because you’re a Dom, you think you have the right to bully me about everything in my life?”
“No. I have a right to know if you’re in danger because I’m your partner. If you’re in the line of fire, then I am, too.”
Again, he was so reasonable. I was making this all about me. I was making this all about sex. Yes, sexual abuse was at the heart of this investigation, as was BDSM, but that didn’t mean that all of Reed’s comments were about my personal sexuality. He had every right to know if there was a threat lurking behind me. He was right; it would put him in danger, too.
“Okay,” I allowed. “I received a note today. A threat. Well, Dex and Frank are convinced it’s a threat. I think it’s mislabeled evidence from one of my cases.”
“You’re lying again, Katie.” Reed’s voice was quiet, a gentle admonition. “Tell me what the note said.”
“It said…” I swallowed. “It said someone’s watching me. He wants to hurt me. He… He said he wants to make me his.”
But I do want to make you scream. I want to make you mine. Come and find me. Come to me, pet. I told Reed the general gist of the note, but every vile word was burned into my brain. I didn’t think I would ever be able to get them out.
Chapter 3
I was trembling by the time I finished telling him the contents of the note. Somehow, admitting them aloud made the threat more real. The disgusting words hung in the air between us for a moment, tainting the space around me. I chanced a glance over at Reed. He was stiff with suppressed anger.
“Please, don’t.” I had to cut him off before he could start. “Don’t go all alpha-protective on me. I’ve had enough of that from Dex and Frank. I can deal with this.”
“Katie.” My name was sharp with disapproval and his own anger towards the man who had sent the note. “Don’t pretend like this is nothing.”
“Please. You’re making it worse. Frank’s taking the note to the lab for biometric analysis. There’s nothing more we can do about it. Just leave it. We need to focus on catching The Mentor. He’s more impor
tant.”
“Your safety is important.”
I stayed focused on parallel parking, but Reed’s stare burned into my cheek.
“Not as important as stopping The Mentor. He might be torturing a woman right now, and I’m going to be sipping iced tea. I’m fine.”
A long moment of heavy silence passed before Reed sighed. “Okay, Katie. We can focus on the case. But don’t think I’m going to drop this. We’re going to follow up on it.”
“I’ve put dozens of sickos away, Reed. It’s probably one of them, and they’ve found a way to get the message to me. They’re all behind bars. I’m not in danger. Please respect that I can handle this.”
To my surprise, Reed shot me a wry smile.
“What?” I asked, uncomfortable that I wasn’t in on the joke.
“You remind me of Sharon, my partner at the New York field office. She gets really prickly if I question her competence at her job, too.” His expression turned more serious. “Of course I respect you, Katie. You wouldn’t have been assigned to The Mentor case if you weren’t good at what you do. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to look out for you. That’s my job.”
He was so rational. It was impossible to stay snappish when he laid everything out so calmly. It was comforting. I was suddenly happy to have Reed at my side for more reasons than just his physical beauty.
“Okay,” I conceded. “Thanks, Reed.”
It was the best I could hope for. If Reed was anything like Dex and Frank – and it was becoming more apparent that he was with every passing minute – he wasn’t going to stop trying to find the man who threatened me.
Dex and Frank are bossy like him. Does that really mean Dex is a Dom? What about Frank?
I couldn’t handle thinking about my father figure like that. It was too weird to contemplate his sexual preferences for even a moment. I shook my head. This case was definitely getting to me. I would start seeing Doms everywhere if I went on like this.