“Ooh, you surprised me,” she giggled. “You’re a rough one.”
“You like it rough?”
Again, she nodded and bit her lip, a little habit of hers I was starting to like.
“I love it rough.”
I throbbed hard. Was close to exploding. I needed to feel her warmth and her body as it cradled me and soothed out the tangled, contorted desire that simmered inside me. Flipping her over, I entered her from behind and she giggled and screamed as she clamped around me.
Moving her hips in circular motions, she ground herself down onto me, her toes curling up beneath her and her hands clutching the headboard.
“Fuck. I’m close,” I grunted.
“That’s it. Come for me, baby.”
She slapped her ass against my thighs as she worked herself up into a frenzy.
“Yeah, come for me. Come for me!”
“In your mouth,” I demanded and she rolled over onto her back.
I ejaculated across her lips and kissed her to taste its sourness. Collapsing by her side, I eased my tongue into her mouth and we kissed for what felt like hours, passing the pearly white substance between us back and forth until it dissolved.
My phone rang from somewhere in the pile of clothes.
“Wife?” asked the girl.
I ignored her and pulled her on top of me.
“I’ve got so much more left in me,” I said. “Remember, I paid you for the whole night.”
“I won’t be walking for a week,” she laughed and reached a hand down between her legs.
She rubbed at herself, her hand becoming a blur as she fluttered it back and forth. Still, the phone continued to ring. I answered it with my eyes still on her pussy.
“Chief?”
“Hey, Kennedy. I have some news for you. You’re gonna wanna hear this.”
“Ah, Jesus.”
I pushed the girl off me and walked over to the window, my cock illuminated by the red neon light.
“What is it?”
“There have been some… developments.”
“Just get to it.”
“Berger, the detective-“
“I know who Berger is!”
“Yes… of course. He was seen earlier with the doctor, Bosworth. Something’s going on.”
The two of them together. Why would thathappen?
“Where were they?”
“At Phaedra’s.”
Shit…
“Okay. Thank you. I’m on my way.”
“Sir, I really recommend that you…”
“I’m on my way!”
I hung up and reached for my pants. The girl sauntered over with a big grumpy pout pulling down the sides of her lips.
“Aw, honey. I thought you wanted me for the whole night.”
“Gotta go,” I said and grabbed her face to kiss her before reaching for the door. “Stay pretty.”
Chapter Nine
Etta
The house was empty. I could feel it before I entered. The rain blurred my vision as I ran inside and I blustered through the door, dropping my coat, scarf, and bag in the hallway.
“Linx?”
A rumble of thunder answered me.
“Lincoln!”
I ran into the kitchen hoping to find him beside the espresso machine with the paper’s financial segment opened out in front of him but it was dark and empty. One single spoon lay in the sink and the trash was still empty. No one had been in the room all day.
Hurrying down into the basement, I pushed through the heavy laboratory door and hoped that at least Berger was still down there but he was gone too. A patch of dried blood lay across the floor beside the abandoned restraints. Where the hell were they? Had he taken Berger away to kill him?
I didn’t want to think that was happening. Berger was a cop. He was supposed to be one of the good guys. He wasn’t like the others.
But I thought about the vase I’d smashed into the side of his head and how his body had crumpled like a ragdoll as the light in his eyes faded. I’d never hit anyone in my life before but I’d kill for Lincoln. I wasn’t recognizing myself anymore.
I climbed the stairs back up to the kitchen, exasperated. I didn’t know what was happening, couldn’t imagine where he was or what he was doing with Berger.
Walking out onto the balcony, I looked out across the mountains. There was nothing but darkness. Even the stars and the moon refused to show themselves. All that existed was the constant washing sound of the rain as it lashed the building.
Out here, it felt like the rain and cold would never end. It was the soundtrack to everything that happened. It woke me up in the morning and sent me to sleep with its white noise. In my soaking clothes, I slumped into the chair and, feeling as though it was useless to protect myself from the weather, I let the rain drift over me in waves.
It was bitterly cold and as I closed my eyes, I felt as though it was penetrating my bones, killing me as it froze me from the inside out. Yet, in a peculiar way, I felt as though I was being cleansed by its iciness. It made me feel alive, made me take notice of the immediate moment. Out here, with the frigid water pouring down my face, there was no time to think about Phaedra and the girls or the things I saw in the house. There was nothing to worry about. All I could do was shiver, and I did until the chair beneath me shook as violently.
Pull yourself together, I thought. Get your shit together!
I pondered on the idea that I was having a nervous breakdown. I didn’t care if I was. All the stress of the last few weeks was dissolving away with each raindrop. I watched them cascade over the edge of the balcony and down the side of the mountain as they melted into the dark foliage.
As another rumble of thunder rolled through the clouds and a spark of lightning illuminated the sky, I wondered if the rain was the tears of Lincoln’s victims.
When it felt as though it was too cold to think, I raised myself to my feet and shifted over to the railing. Peering over the edge, I thought about what it would feel like to tumble over the edge into the abyss. Maybe Lincoln had put bodies down there. Maybe one day he'd tell me everything.
Out the corner of my eye, something glinted. A spotlight beamed out from the clouds.
"What… is that?"
I squinted and shielded my face with my hand, certain that I was imagining things. But there it was again, the bright beam as it shone down from the heavens. It was searching through the trees. Only, as it got closer, did I realize what it was attached to.
The black helicopter swayed in the wind but the bad weather seemed to do little to stop it keeping its balance in the air. As it approached, I began to hear the drone of its engine and the perfectly timed fluttering of its propeller. The next thing that struck me was the name on the side as it loomed up, bright white;NormontCity Police Department.
"Shit..."
The helicopter was now descending. Was it really going to land on the house? On this very balcony! As the noise grew louder, the force from its propeller mingled with the high winds. I scrambled backward, worried that I'd be knocked from the balcony.
As I stumbled into the kitchen and closed the door behind me, I slipped in the puddle that had dripped from my clothes.
Arms reached out of the dark and caught me. Before I looked up to see him, I could smell his cologne and hear the hiss of the coffee maker. But there was another smell too; sweat and blood.
"Linx?"
I threw myself at him and clung to his chest. Looking over his shoulder, I saw Berger sat at the table with a tumbler of scotch in his hand.
"What the fuck's going on out there?" he asked.
The bandage on his head was crusted with blood and so were his hands and shirt.
"Police helicopter," I said. "How long have you guys been here?"
"How long were you out there?” Lincoln demanded to know.“I tried to call you to come inside but it was like you were in a trance?"
He held me closer.
"I feel like I'm going crazy," I
said.
"Hang in there," he replied. "I got you."
Before he could close his mouth, there was a crash on the balcony, the sound of boots scuffling, then yelling. The doors glided open to reveal men in uniform, their faces blacked out with balaclavas but their police badges visible on their bulletproof vests.
The helicopter hovered beside the mountain, its long ropes falling down onto the balcony.
"Freeze!" someone yelled.
Instinctively, I threw up my hands.
"Down on the floor!"
I dropped to my knees. A second later, the barrel of a gun was pressed into my spine.
"You too, playboy. Everybody get down on the ground."
The cool tiles pressed into my cheek.
"What's happening?" I cried as my eyes met Lincoln's.
He lay beside me, raging mad as he struggled against the officer who was straddling his back.
"Stay calm," he said to me. "Someone's gonna pay for this."
Chapter Ten
Lincoln
I waited for someone to read me my rights but it didn't happen. Once the handcuffs were around my wrists I was lifted out of my house and before I could see where we were going, a bag was placed over my head. It was then that I realized I wasn’t being arrested. Not in an ordinary way.
"Etta?" I called out but only the muffled sound of her choking on a gag responded.
Why did they silence her?
Something terrible was happening, something that was outwith of my control. It felt as though my bowels were about to flop out of me, felt as though my heart was beating so fast I'd faint. My hands were tingling as the circulation cut off at my wrists and my mouth was dry. I tried to call out again but was struck over the back of my head.
"Quiet!" someone yelled.
Then blackness.
~
When I opened my eyes, the blood was rushing into my ears. A blinding light fell across my face as the bag was ripped from my head.
"Etta!"
"Don't make me hit you again."
I couldn't see where the voice was coming from and whenever I tried to look behind me, I was kicked back into position. The voice... I recognized it but I couldn't think where from.
"Just please, tell me where she is," I found myself pleading and I hated the way my voice sounded so weak.
"She's safe. For now..."
To my right, I could just about make out the shape of someone one the floor. Swiveling my eyes in their sockets, I saw Berger lying on his front, his arms pulled up high behind him as his wrists were secured to his ankles. I could see from the way his body lay and from the sound of his breath that he was unconscious.
Behind me, footsteps walked from side to side. Then I heard another set. There were two people behind me whispering. I strained my ears but could only make out the occasional word.
"What...Next, we'll.... the other one... the girl... Deep trouble... shit."
The pair of footsteps walked out from either side of me and I found myself looking down at two pairs of feet. One pair was clad in polished, black boots with blue uniformed pants draped down over the top. The other pair wore neat Italian leather loafers.
I looked up and through the blinding light, I could see two faces looming down at me.
"Judge Kennedy?" I asked, unable to make out his features properly.
"And my good friend Chief O'Neil," he said.
Out of nowhere, I began to laugh, throwing back my head at the absurdity of the situation.
"You have no idea what you're doing! Do you know what who I am? What I'm capable of?"
The chief crouched down and looked into my face with his deep, green eyes.
"No, we don't know. Why don't you tell us?"
Bonus Chapters
Puppet Master
Jewels For Panties Series
Book Six
(Chapter 1 -3)
Chapter One
lincoln
"You're fucking crazy if you think you can get away with this. Don't you know who I am!"
"We know exactly who you are. That's why you're here."
Judge Kennedy paced back and forth in front of me with the chief as his sidekick enjoying every moment of watching me bound up like a prisoner of war. My legs were crossed and tied at the ankles which were pressing into the cold concrete.
My arms were twisted behind my back with my wrists bound together at such an unnatural angle, it felt as though my shoulder blades were about to catch fire.
I tried to breathe through the pain but found it was even getting too much for me. It was then that the realization hit me. This wasn't too different to what my victims felt in the moments before their death. The only difference was that I knew people would be looking for me.
"Where's Etta?" I gasped through the agony, a long stream of saliva dripping from my lower lip.
Berger was still unconscious across the other side of the room. I narrowed my eyes in an effort to make out if he was breathing but he appeared to be unmoving.
"Your little dolly girl is doing fine," said the chief as he stepped forward, his polished boots squeaking as he knelt down. "She's somewhere real nice. Somewhere I chose myself."
His voice sent a shiver down the back of my neck.
"If you've touched her..." I said, my eyes rabid with rage.
Both the chief and the judge chuckled at my threat that now seemed so vacant. In this position, there was nothing I could do and they knew it.
"If we've touched her... What?" asked Kennedy. "What will you do? Take us down into that medieval laboratory of yours and slaughter us like the others. Before taking us out for a boat ride and leaving us to rot amongst the fish."
He knew...
As I grasped what he said, I felt my mouth turn dry. I tried to swallow but nothing happened. My throat was blocked up with anger.
"You knew!" I bellowed.
He flung his head back and laughed.
"All of us have been keeping tabs on you for a long while. The panties you bought from the girls... you sick son of a bitch. The volunteering at the house so you could get closer to them. Just so you could murder them in cold blood."
"You have the nerve talking about cold blood," I seethed. "The things you make the women in that house do... to children. And what for, judge? For the money or your own amusement?"
He flinched, angry.
"Besides, you know I killed those girls but what can you so about it? Why not get your chief here to arrest me? Oh, wait... You couldn't do that because I have more money than the entire police force. Not I would incriminate the both of you if it ever went to court."
I shook my head in disbelief.
"So you had to resort to your sly underhanded tactics. Kidnap... You fucking kidnapped me and one of your own men!"
The chief glanced over his shoulder to where Berger lay like a pile of old dark rags in the corner.
"Collateral damage," he said with a shrug. "He was always a livewire anyway."
Beneath my restraints, I began to tremble. I needed out of here. Needed to show these sons of bitches who was boss.
I needed to find Etta!
"You look a little flustered there, Mr. Bosworth."
The judge crouched down in front of my until I could smell his brandy scented breath.
"You look like you need to relax," he said. "I know a mighty good way to relax..."
The look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. In that very second, with his face only inches away from mine and his acrid breath hot on my skin, I knew just how dirty he was, just how repulsive and dangerous.
Unable to move and still struggling against the rope that was burning my wrists, I snorted up all the mucus in the back of my dried out throat and spat it into his face.
I was disgusted at myself for acting so wild, so feral but I wasn't as revolted as he was. For a second, he lingered in front me with a slight twitch fluttering beneath his eye. Then he reached for a handkerchief and wiped his face clean.
<
br /> "You'll pay for what you did to my girls," he said. "You can't get away with this. No matter how rich you are."
He stood up and walked toward the door. Stopping mid stride, he stopped as though he'd remembered something.
"Tell me," he said. "The red spiral tattoos. What was the point? What did they mean? Or did they mean nothing at all?"
He'd have to kill me before I told him.
"It's symbolic," was all I said. "You wouldn't understand."
Again, there was that angry flinch of his and the twitch below his eye was becoming more rapid. If it had been anyone else I would have assumed the man was close to having a stroke.
"Symbolic?" he guffawed and forced out an insincere laugh. "So not only are you a doctor, inventor, and billionaire. You're' also some sort of master theologian."
The chief looked down at his shoes, obviously out of his depth with the prospect of thinking beyond dry police statistics and barking orders.
"Maybe I am," I replied. "Why does it bother you?"
Kennedy raised an eyebrow.
"Bother me?"
"The red spiral..."
There was pure curiosity in his eyes as he waited for me to reveal my secret. Like a cunning fox becoming privy to a delicious secret stash of hidden hens, he licked his lips and moved closer.
"Tell me what it means," he demanded.
"Why should I?"
In the moment, it was the only piece of power I had over him, the only thing that kept him hanging on. He was a man just as thirsty for knowledge as I was. No doubt the red spiral with all its mystery had confused him as much as it had the police.
"I bet it keeps you up at night," I said. "I bet you've drawn it over and over again as you try to figure out what it means."
He sucked on his teeth and cocked his head to the side.
"You'll never guess," I said. "Never..."
He pivoted on his heel and made his way toward the door.
"Have it your way," he said. "You'll squeal like a pig and tell us everything sooner or later."
Jewels And Panties: (Book 1-15) Billionaire Romance Series Page 25