“Good girl,” he told her.
Her breath caught. Her stomach bubbled.
He cursed under his breath.
“So I’m bait.” God, how could she do this? Her first instinct was to run, to hide. The thought of him touching her again, hurting her…
“You’re terrifying her. She can’t do this,” Duncan said fiercely.
But if she didn’t he’d always be there. She’d never truly be safe and neither would any other woman. God, how many times had he done this? How many people had he killed?
“You really think he’s been watching me for three years?” Why hadn’t she done something more? She’d filed a police report and then tried to forget it had ever happened.
“Our profiler believes he would have watched you a lot in the beginning, but then eased off, returning every so often. He’s put you on a pedestal because he believes he’s reformed you. Which will make him even angrier if he thinks you’ve gone back to your bad ways.”
Bad ways? She gaped at him.
Eli cleared his throat, glaring at his brother. “Bad choice of words. This psycho targets submissives. He waits until they’re on their own and takes them.”
“Then what? He kills them?”
“You don’t need to know all this,” Duncan growled.
“He tortures them with floggers, whips and knives,” Kellan told her. “Then he kills them.”
She grasped onto Duncan as he tried to move her off his lap, his gaze set on Kellan. He was swearing, anger pouring off him in waves.
“Duncan, please. I asked him.”
“He didn’t have to answer.”
Kellan met his gaze coolly. Laken buried her face against Duncan’s neck, waiting as he calmed.
“So you want to use her as bait for a psycho who is going to be furious with her?” Duncan said in a clipped voice. He was incredibly tense, so she reached up to pat his chest to soothe him. “No way. I won’t allow it.”
She ignored Duncan, although part of her wanted to give in to his orders, to let him take care of her.
“You said something about a profiler?” she questioned.
“We have a profiler who works with us,” Eli explained. “She’s studied all of the cases we believe are related to him. Do you know you’re the only one who got away?”
“H-how m-many didn’t get away?”
Duncan held her tighter, hating the shudders of fear that ran through her. Damn it, like she hadn’t been through enough. She didn’t need this on top of everything else.
He sent a glare towards his brothers. Eli winced a little but Kellan just stared back at him calmly.
“Seven that we know of. However, it could be more. This guy is smart and probably wealthy.”
“Laken,” Eli sat forward, a soft look on his face. “When you lived in New York, did you ever receive any unexpected gifts?”
She scrunched up her face. “I don’t think so. I mean, well…” her voice trailed off.
“What is it?” Kellan asked.
“Every birthday I received a bunch of my favorite flowers and chocolates, but I always just thought they were from…” she trailed off as she glanced up at him.
Pain clawed at him. She thought he’d been sending her gifts.
“Oh God, I feel ill.”
“Sugar, look at me,” he urged. “Look at me.” This time he made it an order. She glanced up at him. “I am going to keep you safe. I promise.”
“But what about you? Could you be in danger because we’re dating? He could hurt you.”
“Christ, baby, don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. I’d love it if this guy came for me,” he said with a dark look.
“Laken, there is something else you need to know.” Eli glanced up at Duncan, then lowered his gaze to hers. “There is a strong possibility that this is someone you know. Someone who could be close to you.”
Laken just stared at him. “Y-you’re kidding, right?”
Duncan held her closer. This had to be killing her. He wished he knew what to do to help her, all he could do was hold her.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”
“What about your ex? That was him here earlier, wasn’t it? Has he been hassling you?”
“What?” Duncan growled. “Ricky was here?”
“Ricky?” she asked incredulously. “You’re suspicious of Ricky? Christ, if he was twice as smart he’d still be thick as a brick. This isn’t Ricky. Besides, he’s the wrong build. He’s too slender.”
“Would you recognize your attacker?” Kellan asked.
She shook her head. “I never saw his face.”
“What about his voice?”
“I don’t know. It was kind of garbled, like he was disguising it.”
Eli nodded. “Honey, if you can’t do this, we understand. We can hide you away, protect you.”
“How will you find him then?” she asked.
Eli and Kellan looked at each other.
“You’ll wait for him to kill someone else,” she whispered. “Won’t you? If I’m too scared to do this then he will kill again and again.”
“That’s not your problem,” Duncan said, kissing her forehead. “You’ve been through enough.”
“If it’s someone I know then I don’t know who to trust.” Damn, the fear in her voice was like acid bubbling in his stomach.
“We’d have to cut you off from everyone to keep you safe,” Eli admitted.
She was silent for a long moment, obviously thinking. Just as Duncan was about to kick out his brothers, she spoke up in a quiet whisper.
“I’ll do it.”
Chapter Twelve
Oh, she was so getting a spanking. He was in charge of safety. That did not mean she got to throw herself into danger.
“No,” he growled.
“Yes,” she countered.
His brothers looked at them both. Eli with sympathy. Kellan looked as he always did: cold.
“Laken,” he growled.
She placed her hand on his cheek. God, she was freezing. He looked over at the thermostat, then nodded at Eli. His brother rose and raised the heat.
“Duncan, I have to. I can’t keep running. He could find me and then what would happen? At least here, I have friends. I have you. I have to stop him before he hurts someone else. Please support me. I need your help. I’m not strong enough to do this on my own.”
God, she was killing him.
“Baby,” he began.
“Please. Help me. I’m not so scared with you by my side.”
How could he answer that? How could he refuse her?
“You’ll do everything I tell you,” he growled. “No hesitation. No arguing.”
She nodded. “I will.” She pulled him close. “Thank you.”
Laken glanced over at Duncan’s brothers. “So how would this work? W-when do we start?”
She could do this. She could. She had no choice. She’d tried running from this, tried hiding. God, she thought she had been safe in New York. But he’d been there the entire time. She’d never be safe unless he was dead or in jail.
“As soon as possible,” Eli replied. “It’s been six weeks since his last victim was found and he might be trying to find his next. We need him to focus on you.”
“Fuck,” Duncan swore.
She ran her hand up and down his arm. “Couldn’t you be wrong? I mean, you don’t know for sure that he’s here watching me, right?”
Kellan stared at her sternly. “You mentioned flowers and chocolates that you received in New York. What about since you moved back here? What about those flowers you threw at your ex just before?”
“They were from Ricky,” she said.
“You got flowers from your ex and you didn’t tell me?” She glanced up into Duncan’s eyes which had gone cold. Uh-oh.
“I knew you’d get mad,” she told him. “Ricky thinks that a few flowers and some phone calls will get me to forgive him for being a complete asshole.”
; “Phone calls?” Duncan’s voice was arctic.
She nodded.
“How many bunches of flowers?” Eli asked.
“Umm, maybe four,” she told them.
“And you’re sure Ricky sent them?” Eli was busy writing on a pad.
“Yes, well…” she trailed off as she remembered Ricky’s words. “Except he said he didn’t send the last bunch and none of them ever had a card. Oh God, he sent them, didn’t he?”
“It’s definitely a possibility.” Eli glanced at her. “This is a lot to take in, honey. Do you want some time to think things through?”
If she took time she’d wimp out.
“No, tell me what I will need to do.”
“Well, you’d need to start going to Saxon’s regularly. We don’t know how closely he’s watching you so it may take a few weeks. Plus he might find it strange if all of a sudden you’re straight back into it, so build it up slowly. Maybe one night this week, two nights the following. Some hesitance will be believable at first, but you’ll need to have most of your fear under control.”
She nodded. God that was easier said than done. How could she stop herself from panicking?
“I’m not sure I can let strangers touch me.”
Duncan turned her until she straddled his lap. His hand grasped the back of her neck as he forced her to stare up into his face.
“No one will be touching you but me.”
His possessiveness eased her fear.
“How will we get him to come after me if you’re always with me?”
“We’ll be watching closely, both inside and outside the club,” Eli told her. “We’re hoping he’ll show himself. If he doesn’t, then we may need to set up a situation where it looks like you’re on your own. It won’t look real unless you play with Duncan. Everyone here knows about your relationship. Even if we wanted to plant someone else, we couldn’t.”
“I would never allow that,” Duncan said in an implacable voice. “You are mine.”
***
Laken watched from the couch as Duncan closed the door behind his brothers. She felt drained and on edge.
Duncan had stared for a long moment at the doorstep before closing the door. He walked over and just stood, looking down at her.
“Pack a bag, you’re coming home with me,” he told her in a calm voice, but as she looked up into his gaze, she saw the fury. And maybe a glimpse of hurt.
Oh God.
“Duncan, can we talk about this?”
“Not right now. I’m too angry. Go and pack a bag. You have five minutes. We’re staying the night at my place.”
She thought about protesting but there was no leniency in his face. Besides, she wanted to ease his anger, not increase it. Guilt had her feeling terrible. She shouldn’t have kept secrets from him.
She stood and packed a small bag before returning to the living room. He was staring out the window.
“Do-do you think he’s watching now?”
Turning, he looked at her for a long moment and she thought he was going to ignore her. Then he held out his arm.
She flew towards him, snuggling close as he placed his arm around her.
“You go nowhere alone, you understand me? Eli and Kellan have someone watching over you, but I need to know where you are at all times in order to keep my sanity. God, I wish I could keep you locked up and safe, but we need to go on with our lives like normal. We can’t give him any clue that we are on to him.”
“Are you sure he won’t notice whoever your brothers have watching over me?”
She didn’t like the idea of someone watching her, but what choice did she have? Duncan couldn’t stay with her all the time.
Duncan shook his head. “The men who work with Eli and Kellan are well trained. He’ll never see them. But I want you at my place during the nights. I’ll pick you up and drop you off.”
“Won’t he think that odd? I mean, for me to suddenly stay at your house all the time? For you to be driving me around?”
“We’ll stay a couple of nights at your place as well to make it look feasible, but not until you have a security system installed. And you no longer have a car, so I have to drive you around.”
“It’s talking Matt a long time to fix my car.” How much would this cost her?
Duncan ran his hand up and down her arm. Well, she guessed her car being out of commission was the least of her concerns right now.
***
Laken took a curious look at Duncan’s place as he showed her around. It was sparsely furnished. The lounge had a big, comfortable-looking sofa, a recliner and a television. In the bedroom was the largest bed she had ever seen and a set of drawers that didn’t match.
Duncan placed her bag on the bed. Then he turned to her. “I’m going to go work out at my gym.”
“Okay.” Obviously he was still too angry to talk. Maybe if she gave him some time he would calm down enough to talk this through with her. “I brought my sketch pad; I’ll just do some work in the living room.” Not that it was very inspiring.
Duncan shook his head. “You’re staying with me.”
She stared at him, but he didn’t waver. She picked up her pad. “Okay, lead the way.”
But he shook his head. “Leave the sketch pad.”
“Duncan,” she protested.
His gaze narrowed and she fell silent. Damn, his dominant side was really in charge right now. “Put the sketch pad on the bed and strip.”
Her jaw dropped. “I thought you wanted to go work out.”
“I do. I am. Stop delaying and do as I tell you. Unless you want to add to the punishment you have coming.”
“Punishment?” Was he for real? She had a maniac after her and he wanted to talk about punishment?
“You don’t want me to get into this right now, Laken. But you need to get used to being my submissive again in a very short period of time. You need to be used to my touch, my cues, and my desires so you don’t freak out in the club. We’ve both changed over the last few years. So, this is the way things are going to happen. When we are at home together, you are my sub.”
Shit.
“I’m not a slave,” she told him. No way. No how.
His eyes softened. Very slightly. “No, you’re not. I’m not talking about a master-slave relationship, although it might make it easier to protect you. I’m not going to tell you what to wear or make you ask for permission to speak.
“Knowing you are in danger is pushing the limits of my control and I have to know you are going to follow my lead, particularly when it comes to your safety. We need to use every free moment we have getting familiar with each other again.”
She hated when he made sense.
“If you can’t handle what goes on here, then you won’t be able to handle the club. He can’t think that this is pretense, there can be no hint that we’re setting something up. We have no idea if he’ll be inside the club or not. But if he is, then this has to look real, it can’t look like an act.”
He was right. Damn him.
She nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
Duncan cupped her cheeks with his hands. “When we’re in this house alone, I expect you to be naked. When we’re playing, you’ll call me ‘Sir’ or ‘Master.’ You’ll be subject to my discipline when you break the rules. You’ve got some discipline you owe me for not telling me about Ricky and the flowers. This won’t work if we don’t trust each other.”
“I trust you,” she told him. “I just— things between us were only just getting back on track. I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“I’m not blameless in this. I didn’t tell you about the meeting the other night. I was going to. I was just hoping to come up with a way to protect you. You hid the full extent of what that bastard did to you to protect me, didn’t you? You didn’t want me to feel guilty.”
She nodded. “I was going to tell you everything.”
“The way to put distance between us is by hiding things. From now on, we communicate. A relationship
like ours can only exist if we’re totally honest with each other. I need to trust that you will tell me if things get too tough for you. Can you do that, Laken?”
“I will.”
“I promise not to hide things from you anymore. But I won’t tolerate you keeping things from me. Is that understood?”
“Y-yes.”
He was silent, just staring at her.
“Yes, Sir.”
His lips twitched and the coolness in his eyes warmed slightly.
“Good. Now strip and follow me.”
***
Laken knelt on a thick pad in Duncan’s home gym, watching him work out, unable to believe how turned on she was. He had stripped down to a pair of shorts, putting his impressive chest on display. Muscles bulged as she followed a drip of sweat down his chest.
He’d turned up the heat in the house, so while she was comfortable naked, he had to be sweltering.
Duncan curled each arm towards his chest, one after the other, a dumbbell in each hand, his biceps flexing. Her mouth went dry; her heart beat increased. Moisture coated her pussy. She pressed her thighs together.
Think unsexy thoughts.
Nope—wasn’t happening.
Duncan placed the dumbbells on the ground, then grabbed a towel and brushed it over his face and chest. Turning, he stared at her.
“Stand up, sugar.”
Laken stood, planting her shaking legs. It had been a while since she had knelt for that long. Duncan moved towards her, holding her arm until she steadied.
He frowned at her. “You should have said you were getting uncomfortable.”
“I’m okay.”
“Eyes on me.”
She raised her gaze.
“Next time, you will tell me.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Present to me,” he told her.
Laken pushed her feet shoulder-width apart, then placed her arms behind her back, grabbing her elbows with each hand. This put her body completely on display, pushing her breasts out. They were smaller than they used to be. She was far bonier, even with Duncan trying to fatten her up.
Laken's Surrender (Haven) Page 12