by Linda Barlow
Rory cleared her throat and took the initiative. “So you had some kind of relationship with Hadley Allison, Mr. Marks? Funny, that information wasn’t in the police files.”
“The files you hacked? You do know you’re not the only hacker in town?”
“Even so, I’d have thought a billionaire’s involvement with a girl who vanished and was presumed dead might have made it into the press.”
“Why? I wasn’t a suspect. And Ms. Allison had a large number of hookups.” His cold eyes flicked to me. “More than enough men to keep the cops busy. Not to mention chicks.”
“You bribed them to keep your name out of it,” I shot back.
“Actually, I didn’t. Bribery is not the way I operate.”
Right, like I believed that.
“My connection with her was minor. In fact, it wasn’t even sexual in the conventional sense. We did a couple of NGC scenes.”
“NGC?”
Marks sneered at Rory, who knew a lot of things, but didn't know the local scene lingo.
“Non-genital contact,” I translated. Not that I believed it. Hadley was all about the genital contact.
“You’re right that she wanted to experiment with breath play,” he went on. “I refused. I know some techniques, yeah, but it’s still high risk behavior. I wasn't willing to risk my own freedom to satisfy her fetish. She was seeking something I wasn’t able to supply.”
“Meaning what?”
His forehead creased slightly and he shrugged. “There was a darkness in her.”
No shit, I thought.
Rory pressed him, though. She seemed to have recovered her cool. “Can you explain what you mean by that?”
“Not easily, no. I’m no stranger to dark desires. Obviously. Neither are many of my friends.”
He had friends?
“But she went deeper than most. Or wanted to. It was as if she was standing on the edge of a suspension bridge over a black chasm. And daring herself to jump.”
“So you gave her a push?”
Although his expression didn’t reveal it, I could tell from his tone that he was pissed. “The only reason we’re having this conversation is that I, too, am not fond of unsolved mysteries. I liked Hadley. But I didn’t want a submissive, or even a casual play partner, whose issues were so heavy. I’m no fucking shrink, and I wasn’t looking to be anyone’s savior.”
Bastard.
“I presume you convinced the investigators that you were somewhere else on the night she disappeared?” Rory asked.
“I was in London speaking at a technology conference. Unlike your boyfriend, Ms. McKen—oops, McKay, I was thousands of miles away. And trust me, if anyone made a mistake with a rope around a submissive’s neck, it was a lot more likely to be an amateur like O’Malley than an expert like myself.”
I practically leapt off the love-seat, but Rory grabbed me. “Stop it! I hate the way you males are always attacking each other. Dial down the testosterone, Griff, please.”
“Excuse me if I want to beat his smug face in.”
Marks laughed. “You’ll have to get in line. There’s a whole pack of people who want to do that.” He paused. “Has it ever occurred to you that Hadley might be alive? And that she might not want to be found?”
“No. She’d have never just run off. She was only a week from graduation.”
“Yeah, and she did graduate, didn’t she? She just didn’t show up for the ceremony. Smart—those things are boring as fuck. You going to yours, Ms. McKay? Big family event for you? Or are you disappearing too?”
Rory stared stonily at him. “Do you have some reason to believe Hadley might still be alive?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
Yeah, right. The guy was full of shit.
“Maybe Hadley finally found what she was looking for.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“I suspect—mind you, I can’t prove it—that she may have taken off with someone who was just as twisted as she was. And that the two of them are living off the grid, possibly even in another country. If so, it would be far better for everybody—Hadley in particular—if no one ever found them.”
I couldn’t even get my mind around this. But Rory was cool. “Who was this person you think she took off with?”
But he shook his head. “A phantom. Someone who doesn’t even exist. Except he does. And if he ever decides to come back, he’ll probably tear this town to bits.”
There was a loud banging on the door to the office. “Sam? Open the fucking door, Sam, are you okay?”
Silas Marks gave us a cold smile and pressed something on his desk top that apparently controlled the dead bolt. “Time’s up. You two are about to be escorted out. I’m sure it’ll be no surprise to hear that neither of you will ever be welcome at Reef Hill again.”
Alec Cranmore, the other billionaire, accompanied by two huge dudes in leather jackets burst into the room.
“Gentlemen,” Marks said, nodding to the Hell’s Angel guys, “Kindly show my visitors out.”
As it turned out, I had one final point to make. Before his thugs could stop me, I swung and slammed my fist into Marks’ jaw. “That’s for Rory,” I said as I delivered the blow. “You hurt her.”
He went down, and so did I when they jumped me.
Rory was screaming, but, to everyone’s surprise, Marks rolled over and started to laugh. He got to his feet, rubbing his chin.
“That’s enough,” he told his guys. “It was a fair hit.”
Chapter 27
Griff
I didn’t know what the fuck to make of Silas Marks, but that wasn’t the only reason I was burning all the way back to my place. Rory kept making comments, asking questions, trying to gauge what I was thinking. Did I believe what the zillionaire had said? Could Hadley possibly still be alive? If she was, why hadn’t she contacted anyone? Who was this “phantom” Marks had referred to?
But I wasn’t even thinking about Hadley. All I could envision was the sight of that hostile bastard with a hold on Rory that could have broken her neck. His other hand drifting down toward her crotch.
“Can’t you just shut up for once?” I stormed. “I need to think.”
“Okay. Sorry.”
But I wasn’t thinking about anything except what we were gonna do when I got her home.
Back at my apartment, I hustled her into my bedroom. She got the picture quickly enough when I started tearing off my clothes. “Are you sure you want to—” was all she was able to say before I was on her. Fisting her hair, dragging her body against mine, kissing her.
I was so hungry.
The sights and sounds we’d heard at the club before our run-in with Marks had kept me iron-hard most of the evening, and we’d been so busy touristing that we hadn’t even gotten the chance to play.
But right now, I didn’t even care about BDSM scenes or any of the paraphernalia. I didn’t need ropes and cuffs and floggers. What I needed was to be inside my girl. To claim her and to feel her responding to me.
I hoisted her off the floor and carried her over to my bed. She giggled a bit as I did so, and I was glad to hear her laugh. Holy fuck, but that creep could have killed her. I didn’t want to go through the hell of never hearing Rory’s laugh again.
“I need you now,” I growled at her. “Get rid of those clothes.”
She divested herself of the killer corset, the stockings and the thong. But as I jerked off my own clothes and joined her on the bed, she rolled onto her side and said,
“Griff, there’s something I should tell you. Something we need to talk about.”
“Fuck talking. You talk too much, babe. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“But—”
I stopped her voice with my mouth. I squeezed her nips and plunged my hand down where he had been touching her. Or almost touching her. I don’t think he’d actually stuck his hand between her legs, although he’d threatened to, the dickhead. Maybe tomorrow I’d go back to the place and strangle him,
the fucker.
Rory was wet already. She sighed as my finger found her. First one, then two. I diddled her clit with my thumb until she was thrashing.
“I’m gonna fuck you so hard, baby. I want to feel your pussy clutch my dick. I want your hips thrusting back at me and your ass clenching as you ride my cock. I want your tits all hot and heavy and your mouth wet and your voice screaming my name.”
She was already digging her fingernails into my ass as I settled between her thighs. I held my dick at its base and rubbed the tip against her pussy lips. “Oh my God,” she breathed and reached down to help me.
“That’s it, baby. You’re so hot and slippery. Open wide for me. Here I come.”
I rocked my hips back for a good, hard thrust, driving into her, deep. I was burning up but so was she. She was hot silk. She took my entire length and all my weight as I fell upon her and drove into her like a madman. I was picturing some of the sights we’d seen at the club—the flogging especially—I loved watching a good flogging.
I loved administering one even more. I’d never flogged Rory. I’d figured she wasn’t ready for that, being a beginner and all. She’d been upset by that caning, which had been harsh, but later we’d watched a gentler flogging. This time, Rory had observed the action with fascination. Her nipples had been hard peaks, her skin flushed. It had turned her on.
“Those things we saw tonight, babe. I want to try some of that stuff with you.”
“Okay,” she gasped, grinding herself hard against my pelvis.
“You’ll have a safeword so you’ll be able to call a halt if it gets too heavy.”
“Cool. I prolly won’t need it though. Oh yes, yes. Wow, Griff, that feels amazing.”
“We can negotiate limits ahead of time.” I didn’t even know what the hell I was saying. I was so into her. She was all around me—her sweet body, her sparkling clear mind—and I wanted to take her and fuck her and claim her all night long.
I rolled us over so she was on top. She arched her spine and rubbed her lovely breasts against my chest, smiling. There was delicious friction everywhere. I stroked her hair away from her face and smoothed a finger lightly on the surface of her lips. She nipped me and I grinned. I slapped her ass with my other hand, and then deliberately stuck a finger in between her ass cheeks until I found her butthole. I pressed inward, feeling her tighten against me. I swear my cock got harder inside her—that’s how exciting it was to feel that she was mine now and I could claim everything.
“You’re still a virgin here, I’ll bet.”
“Umm, yeah. I don’t think…I mean, you’re too big for that, aren’t you?” She sounded nervous at the idea, which thrilled me even more.
“We can start small, maybe with a butt plug to open you up a bit. Or a slim vibrator. Imagine having a vibrator in that hole and—” I cocked my hips and rammed even harder into her vagina “—my dick in this one. When you come, every muscle in your pelvic floor will be triggered and the orgasm will roll through you like a volcanic eruption.”
“Ah, Griff, my God—” she whimpered. Her muscles stiffened around my finger and cock and she cried out my name again as I sped up, my gut aflame with heat and lust and the delights of domination.
She screamed as she came, and I loved it. I continued to thrust into her melting pussy until I, too, erupted in delicious, clenching, throbbing pleasure.
Rory
We were lying together, spooning, my back against Griff’s chest, my ass against his belly, relaxing in the aftermath of a round of crazy hot lovemaking. It had been rough then, but it was tender now.
He always made me feel special in bed. He could be demanding and aggressive when he needed to come, but he was gentle and sweet afterwards. He stroked me and murmured compliments that sounded sincere and loving. He always asked me if everything was all right and if I was comfortable and happy. And I always was.
I think I was half dozing, content and sleepy, when he gathered me in closer and said quietly, “I thought he was going to hurt you, and I freaked, Rory. I was so scared. For you, I mean. For a few moments I thought we’d really found the murderer and that it was all too late, because now he was going to kill you, too. And I couldn’t stand it.”
He sounded upset. I rolled over so I could see his face. “It’s okay.” I kissed him and squeezed his fingers. “Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
“I know. It’s just—I had such a surge of emotion. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t have a weapon with me, or I swear I would have killed the creep.”
From the way he was holding on to me, I wanted to believe that it was really me he cared about…me he’d feared for. But it was probably her. Hadley. This was all probably still about her.
I didn’t know how to deal with that thought, so I pushed it away. “I don’t think he killed her. I mean, he could have—he’s rich enough and who knows, maybe he has something to hide that she discovered. Especially if he was seeing her. But he sounded convincing when he denied being involved…” my voice trailed off as I realized how feeble it sounded. Marks was rich, powerful and nasty. I wouldn’t put anything past the guy.
“It wasn’t her I was thinking about, Rory. It was you.”
My heart swelled, but I wasn’t sure what I was hearing. I’d stirred up all sorts of feelings, it seemed, by poking under all his personal rocks. He was probably just as confused as I was.
“I don’t want you doing any more digging. It’s too dangerous.”
“We’ve come this far,” I protested. I wanted Hadley dead and buried. Otherwise, she would always be this ghost looming over us. I hadn’t liked what Marks had implied about her maybe being alive somewhere. I wanted her gone and Griff freed. No more shadows. Closure.
“Look, I don’t know what the fuck she was involved in, and I don’t want to know. These people, these rich guys, they have resources we don’t. We’ll never make any headway. And if we do, they’ll swat us like flies.” He caressed my hair, wrapping some of it around his fingers. He kissed my forehead, my cheeks, the tip of my nose. “No more, Rory, okay? I don’t want to lose you, too.”
“Would you care if you lost me?”
I wished the words unsaid as soon as they were out.
“Of course I’d care. You’re mine.”
You’re mine. I liked that. Did he mean it?
His kiss turned harder. He tugged on my hair and nodded to his fingers, all wrapped in dark curls. “Can’t you see? I’m all wrapped up in you.”
There was a twinkle in his eye and he made me laugh. We laughed a lot; it eased the tension.
“I’m all wrapped up in you, too,” I said, trying to twist his short hair around my fingers.
What I really meant was “I love you.”
But it was too soon to say that. And maybe I’d never say it. Because soon spring break would be over and life would return to normal. In the regular, everyday world, what place was there for Griff and me?
He didn’t even know who I was.
Silas Marks obviously knew, the bastard.
I needed to explain to Griff why Marks had called me Ms. McKenna.
But he kept right on kissing me, making further conversation impossible.
Chapter 28
Griff
A little more than a week after Rory had first jumped into my car, I came home to find a black-and-white parked in front of my house. Shit. This time it really was the cops.
I got that familiar icy feeling in my belly. There was also another unfamiliar vehicle in my driveway—a dark town car. Who the hell was that? FBI?
They sat there, not stirring, while I parked and got out. I stood, glaring, and waited for them all to emerge.
Rory opened the front door and stepped out on the porch. I hopped up to greet her. “I see we have company. Which one of us have they come for?” I ruffled her hair, trying to act lighthearted. I was pretty sure they were here for me.
“A policeman came to the door about ten minutes ago, asking for you. I told him to g
o away.”
“That always works,” I teased her, and she laughed, which immediately made me feel better.
Both car doors opened. “Oh,” Rory said. “It's that Connor Finlay guy. It was the other dude who came to the door.”
The other dude was also someone I knew. I recognized Brandon Finlay, who worked for the Cranton PD. He wasn't a bad guy, as cops went. He was a couple of years older than his brother Connor, and heftier. Family guy, kids. One of the better members of Cranton's finest.
They strolled across my small patch of winter-brown lawn to my front door. Rory might be on her spring break, but March had been cold so far, and no brave little sprouts had yet broken through the ground at the O'Malley home.
“Good evening gentlemen,” I said, leaning up against my front door. “No warrant, no entry.”
“Hey, O’Malley,” Brandon said cheerfully. “Don't be such a dick. Let us in.”
I'm not sure I’d have opened the door, but Rory didn't hesitate. She invited the Finlay brothers in. “You found something?” She was speaking to Connor, not to Brandon.
“We want you to take a look at a photo for us,” Brandon said. “Can you do that?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Dread crept through me. I hoped it wouldn’t be a photo of a dead body.
The officer looked at Rory. “You live here? Are you his wife or something?”
Rory promptly cuddled to my side. “Newlyweds,” she claimed without missing a beat. “Show us the picture.”
Brandon looked dubious, but Connor, to my amazement, nodded as if she were telling the truth. Otherwise, I realized, his brother would have kicked her out because she wasn't family. Whatever the cops had to show us, Finlay wanted us both to see.
At any other time, I think I would have been pissed off that some girl claimed me as her husband. As if that was ever going to happen! But what went through me now was an oddly pleasant sensation. If we were married she would definitely be mine. No way to deny it. Marriage would be an irrevocable claim. Rory O’Malley. I liked the sound of that.