Long, Lean and Lethal

by O'Clare, Lorie

  “That sounds good to me,” she said, with her teeth clenched, and pried his hand off of her waist. She turned around to see amusement in his eyes. “But I don’t play without my husband.”

  “Of course,” he said so sweetly it was sickening. “Especially when he’s on the other side of the wall,” he added, whispering, and then winked at her.

  The door from the kitchen opened and Noah stuck his head out the door. “I thought that might be your car,” he said, and stepped out so that all three of them stood alongside the car.

  “I hear you’ve got a new TV.” Steve didn’t take his hands off of her but instead ran his hand down her hair. “I was just out here molesting your wife.”

  “I didn’t hear her complaining.” Noah’s brooding expression wasn’t readable when he moved closer.

  “Neither did I,” Steve said agreeably, and tried pulling Rain into his arms again.

  She was ready for him this time and turned away when he reached for her. Noah’s hands clamped down hard on her shoulders, pinching her skin and preventing her from moving closer to Steve. Unable to pull her to him, Steve settled on putting his hands on her waist and then moving closer to her.

  “You’re one of those greedy ladies, aren’t you?” Steve said, once again using that sickeningly sweet tone. His hands moved underneath her arms and stopped at the sides of her breasts. “You want two men to yourself.”

  Rain blinked, suddenly incredibly aware of how close both men were to her, and their hands on her. In all truth, she’d known Noah less than a week. Granted she’d had sex with him and they’d accelerated and almost forced a relationship that she now fought from moving to a dangerous level. But Steve, regardless of whether he was a murderer or not, was a swinger. And he believed her to be one, too. She told him she wouldn’t play without her husband, and Noah now stood right behind her.

  She swallowed, and hated how dry her mouth suddenly was.

  “Show me a lady who doesn’t want two men to herself?” Noah mumbled from behind her, and then slowly caressed her shoulders with his thumbs.

  “You’ve got that right,” Steve said, looking past her at Noah. “Well, if you’re interested, I’m your man.”

  Maybe she imagined it, but Rain swore Noah’s body stiffened. Rain prayed silently Noah wouldn’t push the situation. Just picturing doing anything intimate with Steve made her stomach churn. There had to be a better way to pry information from him without having sex with him.

  Suddenly she needed to get out from between the two of them. She turned toward Noah but then pushed past him, using enough force when his hands moved down her body for him to back up.

  “Today’s not a good day,” she announced, keeping her tone relaxed.

  “You’ve heard already, haven’t you?” Steve asked.

  She turned around, her entire side pressing against Noah’s body and the warmth from his bare chest scalding her arms and overheating her instantly.

  “Have they come and talked to you, too?” Steve pressed, his attention shifting from her to Noah over her shoulder.

  Rain focused on Steve, and realized possibly for the first time since meeting him she might be seeing the true man. His expression was hard, his black hair still impeccable but his dark eyes flat with something that looked a lot like hard-boiled outrage.

  “Has who come and talked to us?” Noah sounded incredibly calm.

  “The cops. I’m not going home until those bastards quit coming and sniffing around.” Something changed in his expression and he focused on Noah, slow understanding making his mouth curve into an unpleasant-looking smile.

  She planted a frown on her face as Noah guided her to the door leading to the kitchen.

  “What do you mean?” Rain asked. “Why did the police come to your house?”

  “Why don’t we go inside,” Noah suggested, continuing to push Rain through the kitchen door.

  Steve came inside with them without hesitating. The television appeared to be working, with the news on the large screen and the box and manual lying spread out on the floor. Rain made herself busy picking up the dilapidated box while Noah and Steve stood around her watching.

  “I guess you haven’t heard then. Something terrible happened last night. We were all at the party, but Lincoln cops aren’t the smartest tools in the toolbox,” Steve offered, his voice again shifting and resuming its annoying sweet inflection.

  Rain crunched the box, immediately aggravated by the man’s presence and his dogging the local police. She was sure the stupidest man on the force probably ran circles in intelligence around this numbskull. She scowled at Noah, who had plastered a very neutral expression on his face while he stared somewhere at the floor in front of him.

  “What happened?” Noah asked, not shifting his focus but ignoring Rain as she carried the empty box into the kitchen to the trash can just inside the garage.

  “Patty—she’s dead.”

  Rain turned around in the doorway to the kitchen, the box almost blocking her view of Steve. “What?” she hissed. “Patty, the lady who was over here the other day with Joanna?”

  “Yup.” Steve rocked up on his heels, as if proud to be the one to tell them the latest gossip. “Disgusting actually. She got shot in her car. More than likely she screwed someone on a deal on a house.”

  Rain turned and tossed the box toward the garage door in the kitchen. She couldn’t throw it hard enough to relieve the irritation mounting inside her.

  “That sounds pretty cold,” she couldn’t help saying.

  “You didn’t know Patty.”

  “Oh? Was she not a good person?” Noah asked.

  “We’re all good and bad, wouldn’t you say?” Steve looked away from the two of them and glanced around the living room. “Why did Joanna and Patty come see you two?”

  Noah glanced at Rain. She walked back into the living room, moving around Noah, and then reclined in the corner of the couch.

  “Butch told Joanna about us,” Rain offered, shrugging. “They stopped by to welcome us to the neighborhood.”

  “Why were they supposed to come over?” Noah walked up to the TV and picked up the remote, which rested on top of it.

  “They weren’t,” Steve said quickly.

  Noah turned around, remote in hand, and studied Steve. Rain shifted her attention from one man to the other. If Steve just slipped and said something he suddenly felt he shouldn’t have said, he gave no indication. That cocky, almost vindictive sneer was once again planted on his face.

  “I don’t know that they discussed coming over here with anyone prior to doing it,” Steve added, sounding as if the two women acting without permission from someone broke some kind of rule. “So they welcomed you to the neighborhood?”

  Rain nodded her head to the kitchen. “They brought me an African violet as a house warming gift. Were they supposed to discuss that with someone prior to doing it?”

  “We’re a very tight-knit group and the single women are like family to all of us,” Steve explained, sounding like he was repeating something to a child for the hundredth time. “Both of them have been told many times that if they’re going to seek out swingers that we don’t know, they need to let us know where and when they’re going.”

  “For their protection,” Noah added.

  Steve turned around, pointing at Noah and nodding. “Exactly. Not that I’m saying either of you is dangerous.”

  “Of course not,” Rain mumbled, imagining Steve ordering any woman he could get away with bossing around who she could see and when. More than likely it was why his wife looked like a beaten pup.

  Steve didn’t pick up on Rain’s sardonic tone. “I’m sure their coming over here had nothing to do with Patty getting killed.”

  “Why do you think she did get killed?” Rain asked, wondering if their coming over here might have broken a rule, which wouldn’t be tolerated. She remembered Joanna’s fearful look when she noticed the Miata in front of the house while they were here.

  �
��Now, honey, I don’t want you to go and start thinking that Lincoln is a dangerous town. You two have found a wonderful group of swingers. We’re all like family.” He turned to Noah, straightening and his expression hardening. “And like with any family, we aren’t perfect. We all stick to the same rules and it keeps us close, happy, and comfortable with each other.”

  “What are those rules?” Noah asked.

  “Nothing complicated. We stick to our group, no one strays, and that way there aren’t any worries. There are enough of us in our group to keep everyone happy, even an old hound dog like me,” he added, and then chuckled and turned to wag his eyebrows at Rain. “Now then, sweetheart, I don’t want you getting all upset about this tragedy. I’ll arrange for you to spend some time with Joanna. The two of you will make great friends.”

  “Honestly, as sad as it is that she’s been killed, we didn’t know her,” Noah told Steve. “Of course we’re upset. Someone is dead. That’s horrible. If Joanna needs comforting, please let her know she’s always welcome over here.”

  “I’m sure she is,” Steve said coolly. Then tapping his finger over his lips, he stared at the floor for a moment, as if contemplating some deep thought. “They’re trying to turn all of this into some sordid sex crime,” he said quietly, sounding like he thought out loud. “Because Patty was a swinger, and with the others, the heat is on. But it’s not because of us. Everyone who matters was at the party. You two were there. You know that and could vouch for all of our whereabouts.”

  Rain saw a hint of the pressure the investigators who had questioned Steve obviously had applied. Because he speculated, either he wished to create alibis out of the two of them or he was innocent and needed answers to help him with his own mourning.

  “She was killed while we were all at the potluck last night?” Rain asked, aching to pry more of whatever thoughts mulled around in that conceited brain of his.

  “Yup. So none of the others did it. But since we’re such a tight circle—”

  “What others?” Noah interrupted.

  Steve shook his head and then walked to the window. With his back to them, he stared outside. Rain and Noah waited out the silence with Noah glancing her way several times, although she couldn’t read his thoughts.

  “Several of our friends have been killed recently,” Steve offered, his tone so flat he almost sounded remorseful.

  “You’re kidding,” Rain whispered. “What’s going on? Is there some serial killer in this town?”

  “There must be!” Steve turned around quickly, as if Rain’s question suddenly offered light to something he hadn’t been able to figure out up until that moment. “You’ve met all of us. Do any of us seem like killers to you?”

  “I’ve never met a killer before,” she lied, but then offered a small smile. “But of course not. All of you were very friendly to both of us.”

  Steve’s smile was so cold and dark it gave her chills. “Like a killer would tell you if he were one,” he said, his baritone as disturbing as the heavy glare he gave her. “Patty and Joanna came over to warn you, didn’t they?”

  “Warn us about what?” If Steve thought he could intimidate her, he could damn well think again. She didn’t look away from those dark eyes and wondered why Patty or Joanna would give him more than a second of her time.

  “Not us, her,” Steve told Noah, but then walked toward Rain until he stood over her. “You aren’t going to upset me by telling me the truth. You’ll see, sweetheart. Both of them can be so damn possessive. Well, I guess Patty isn’t going to be too controlling anymore, now is she? But I know why they came over here. They wanted to check you out. And when they saw for themselves how drop-dead gorgeous you are, they warned you to steer clear of me. Didn’t they?”

  Rain fought the urge to laugh. “Neither one of them had anything bad to say about anyone,” she said, and then feigned confusion and looked at Noah, as if seeking her husband’s help in a situation she didn’t understand.

  Noah was there for her immediately. “You’ll learn quickly that my wife doesn’t have an ounce of jealousy or possessiveness in her. She’s a gem,” he added, walking over to the couch and then standing at the edge of it so that he could stroke her hair but still face Steve. “I wasn’t here while the ladies were here, but if either lady threatened my wife in any way, I promise you, we wouldn’t have been at that potluck. Rain has been swinging forever, and she doesn’t waste her time with anyone who tries manipulating her good time.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Steve said, but then his face lit up, and as if the words slowly sunk through all that hair gel and finally reached his brain, he smiled and then nodded. “Very good to hear. I’m the same way, exactly. It’s all about having a good time, right? Leave that goddamned luggage at the door, I always say.”

  “I promise you neither lady tried telling me who I could spend time with, or who I couldn’t. Does that sort of thing happen in your group?”

  “Not within the group. As long as no one strays, then we’re all good. Other than that, we hold all of our events at each other’s homes.”

  “I wondered about that. I hope it isn’t rude to ask, but why does Susie decide where the party will be held each month?” Rain watched something pass over Steve’s face. She swore he almost looked disgusted at the mention of his spouse. “Don’t get me wrong,” she added. “I was flattered when she suggested the party be here, but I’m not sure we’re ready for socializing. Not for a couple months at least.”

  “It wasn’t a suggestion. And believe me, anyone in the group would do anything to hold one of our gatherings in their home. Don’t let her size fool you. When Susie says how something is going to be, that is how it is going to be. Joanna can help you get your home in order.”

  “I think what my wife is trying to say is that since she’s here all of the time, holding it somewhere else would suit her better. Rain loves to get out of the house when she can,” Noah said.

  Although he made her sound like some kind of hermit, Rain guessed he pushed Steve to get more of an explanation as to the odd pecking order that seemed to be in place among these people.

  “Brandy stays at home, too. I’m sure it would be fine to get to know her better. If you want to get out of the house, I know she would love the company. Jan works during the day, and Sheila works for an accountant. But both women would generously give you time on the weekend. We’ll make sure you’re out of the house as much as you want.”

  “Sheila?” Rain interrupted.

  “Yes. She showed up after you two left last night. She needed to wait until her teenagers were home for the night before coming out. That’s how she always is now that she’s alone. Richard couldn’t make it last night, but he will be here next month. Mark Hinders refused to attend the last party with no valid reason. He’s not part of our group now and we won’t have him at the next party.”

  “Some people can miss parties, but others can’t?”

  Steve’s laugh sounded mechanical. “Of course not, sexy lady,” he told her, his eyes not changing at all from their hard flatness as he explained party etiquette to her. “We’re made of better stuff than blowing each other off, though. A blow job is one thing,” he said, winking at her. “But if I plan an event, show the good grace to attend, or contact me and let me know that you can’t make it, and why. Our parties are structured, and not just for anyone. If we invite you into our group, it means we see that you’re made of the right stuff.”

  “I didn’t know the cotillion existed in Lincoln, Nebraska,” Rain muttered.

  He wagged a finger at her and then turned and marched to the door. As much as they needed to get anything he might know out of him, Rain prayed he’d keep marching. But he turned again, and put his fists on his hips, giving her his undivided attention. With the top button undone on his shirt, the movement forced it open enough to reveal a glimpse of an incredibly hairy chest. Rain liked chest hair on a man, but the black curls only made Steve appear cheaper in her eyes.

&n
bsp; “I’m sure things are different back east. I’m a Midwest boy myself, born and raised in Iowa and relocated here some years back. We pride ourselves on propriety. Only the best, and therefore a firm set of rules to make sure our group is always made of the top of the line. We don’t accept white trash.”

  “We’re hardly white trash,” Noah growled.

  “I can see that,” Steve answered coolly, actually fool enough not to bat an eye at Noah’s threatening tone. “And that’s why you’re now part of our group.” He returned his attention to Rain and her stomach turned from the intensity of his cold stare. “Joanna will contact you and take you out so you don’t grow restless and bored stuck here all the time.”

  He opened the door then, and closed it behind him when he left without uttering a good-bye.

  “If he isn’t killed next, then he’s definitely our murderer,” Noah said, walking around her to the door and then locking it.

  “What an asshole,” she muttered, and hopped up from the couch, every inch of her feeling itchy and dirty just from Steve’s hands being on her. “And he didn’t seriously just tell us if we don’t go to their parties, then we’re ostracized from their group?”

  “Ostracized, but not killed,” Noah said, turning around and pointing his index finger in the air. “Patty was headed to the party, and got killed. And Mark Hinders I believe is Lorrie Hinders’ husband.”

  “I caught that. And I don’t blame the guy for not wanting to attend these parties anymore.” She rolled her shoulders and stared at the TV. “Looks like you got it working,” she added.

  “Yup. Nothing to it.” Noah came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, then started massaging, his fingers feeling like they were straight out of heaven. “You know why he wants you over at Joanna’s, don’t you?”

  “Hmm … why?” She closed her eyes and let her head fall back as he continued rubbing muscles that she didn’t know were sore until he applied his very skilled touch.

  “Because he wants you alone, without me around, so he can fuck you without another man to have to share you with.”