“Looks like someone else doesn’t want you to leave either,” Des laughed, although the sadness still lingered. “Look, Bryn, we can’t force you to stay. If I thought you wouldn’t hate us for it, I’d lock you upstairs in my bedroom and keep you there until they caught this guy. And after what you just shared with Duke, he just might end up doing that if you don’t leave before he wakes up.”
“You saw that?” Bryn asked, unsure of how to react to that news. Would he be jealous or had he gotten aroused from what he’d seen? “Des, I—”
“Yes, I watched,” Des confessed. “And I loved seeing the gratification you got from pleasuring Duke. You wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t feel the way we do. Which is what makes your decision to leave and place your life in more danger so puzzling. We can protect you.”
“And who protects you? Me? That’s laughable, Des, because I was scared shitless last night. Please trust me on this. I think we should put some distance between us, just in case this guy comes after me. I’ll be careful. If I think he’s anywhere near me, I’ll dial 911.”
“And what if they never catch him, Bryn? Will you never come back? Will we fade in your memory and just become those two guys who you had coffee with because of a dating website?”
“You will never be those two guys, Des.” Bryn took a hesitant step forward, not knowing how receptive he’d be if she came too close. She didn’t have to worry, because with her forward movement, Des closed the distance between them. Taking her into his arms, he tucked her head underneath his chin and held her tight. “What I did with Duke, I’m not the kind of woman who—”
“I know, Bryn. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way,” Des murmured against her hair. “I just feel helpless that you’re leaving.”
“I’ll call every day.”
They fell into silence and just enjoyed each other’s embrace. Knowing if she stayed any longer, she might not leave, Bryn pulled away and gave him a small smile. Des took her hand and led the way to the kitchen door. They had a dog to find.
* * * *
Des couldn’t help but laugh as Spur sat in front of Bryn’s car with her keys dangling from one side of his mouth while his tongue was hanging from the other. Before he could warn Bryn that if she tried to get her keys, Spur would take off, she leaned down with her hand out. Spur took off like a rocket.
Des whistled, hoping that Spur’s training would kick in, but he should have known better. Bryn started to chase him, and Spur then decided this was the best game ever invented. With Bryn behind Spur, the two of them started circling the car. Des leaned up against the tailgate of his truck, enjoying the show.
How could he just let her go? If Duke had been awake, there was no way in hell his brother would let her leave this ranch. But Des wasn’t one to infringe on her ability to make her own choices. He hoped that Duke understood his reasoning why, or he would make Des’s life a living hell until this guy was caught. Shit, Duke would probably track the killer down himself.
Bryn stopped abruptly and crouched down behind the front of her car. Spur kept running and, as he came around the trunk of her car, placed his paws in the ground to break. Cocking his head to the side, Spur lifted his ears a bit more to listen for any sounds of where Bryn might be. Wagging his tail, Spur took a couple steps forward. Bryn mistimed her movements, and when she sprinted out from the front of car, Spur took off in the other direction.
Bryn threw her hands up in the air. “I give up! How do we get my keys?”
Before Des could answer her, he spotted Sheriff Whittington’s patrol car coming down the lane. Des straightened his frame and took a step forward, holding out his hand to Bryn. She closed the distance, although he could see the question in her eyes.
“Someone is coming in behind him,” Des said. “It looks like an unmarked car.”
“Do you think they found him?” Bryn asked as they both stood there, waiting for the Sheriff to park his car. Des hoped like hell that they had, because if they did, he was taking Bryn back inside and having sex with her until morning. Well, maybe until next week. Then they would come up for air and figure out where their relationship was going. Des knew where he wanted it to go, and from what had taken place upstairs between Bryn and Duke, he was positive Duke felt the same. “Why else would they come out here? They have my cell phone number.”
“We’re about to find out,” Des answered, watching the Sheriff step out of his vehicle. Frank placed his hat on his head and looked behind him, obviously waiting for the other person. It was the detective from last night. “Let’s hope it’s good news.”
“Afternoon, Des,” Sheriff Whittington said as he walked up to them, touching the brim of his hat. “Ms. Russell, I’m glad we caught you before you left for Tucson. Detective Flynn came by the station this morning with some news.”
“Ms. Russell, a woman was abducted around twenty miles outside of town,” Detective Flynn said, putting his hands in his pockets. He was very stylish, with not a strand of his brown hair out of place. His light-brown eyes didn’t give a hint to the fact that he had been up at three o’clock in the morning. His gray suit seemed out of place against the background of the ranch, and his dress shoes looked like they had cost a fortune. Des wondered if he was a trust-fund baby having grown up to play cops and robbers. “We received a call from her husband when she didn’t arrive home. We found her vehicle abandoned on the side of the road.”
“Last night, you didn’t believe Bryn that this is the guy you were looking for,” Des said. He didn’t like the way Flynn was looking at Bryn, so Des pulled her into his side a little tighter. “Did something happen to change your mind?”
“You might say that,” Flynn said, rolling back on the heels of his dress shoes. “He left a note on the front seat of the victim’s vehicle.”
“Have you found her yet? Is she still alive?” Bryn asked. Des felt her fingers dig into his side.
“No, we haven’t located her.”
“What did the note say?” Des asked, curious as to what the killer would say to get Flynn to change his mind.
“Brin needs to be taught a lesson in manners. Tell her class begins soon,” Flynn said. Sharing a look with Sheriff Whittington, Flynn then directed his attention to Bryn. “The spelling of your name that you gave to me last night doesn’t match his message. This indicates that he overheard Des and Duke call you by your name, but doesn’t know you personally. Ms. Russell, it wasn’t that we didn’t believe you last night. We’ve had many tips regarding this case, so I’m sure you can imagine the hours and manpower that we’ve put into it. We do check out every lead, and if I came across as cynical in your belief, then I apologize.”
“Apology accepted,” Bryn replied. Des knew the minute she opened her mouth that she was about to let her nerves get the best of her. Spending so much time together in the last twenty hours, he had finally caught on that when she bit the inside of her lip, it was an indicator that she was uneasy. “So what does this mean exactly? Are you going to use me as bait? Should I go to Tucson as planned, head back to Phoenix, or stay here in Triple? My mom is going to freak. Speaking of mothers, don’t the experts claim that serial killers have a thing against their mothers? Do I look like her? Or did I do something specific to garner his attention?”
Des stepped in front of her, cutting off her sight of the two policemen. He could easily answer some of her questions. First off, there was no way in hell he and Duke would let them use her as bait. As for where she should go, Bryn’s ass was staying right here on this ranch where they could watch over her. Duke was right. This wasn’t the time to take her feelings into consideration. Her life was on the line.
“Bryn, we’re going to let the police to their jobs,” Des said, taking ahold of her beautiful heart-shaped face. Tilting her head so that she was looking him directly in the eye, Des didn’t want her to mistake his sincerity. “And while they’re doing that, you, me, and Duke are going to spend time getting to know one another. Maybe you can have
better luck in training Spur to listen for a change.”
“But—”
“No buts, Bryn.” Des leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. “Please let me and Duke keep our sanity. We just found you. We can’t lose you now.”
“Des, there’s something else you should know,” Sheriff Whittington said, his tone indicating that whatever it was, Des wasn’t going to be happy. Des took a deep breath, hoping to build his fortitude against what was about to come their way. It was a good thing Duke was still sleeping. His brother didn’t do well with being taken off-guard. “Bryn is the only woman to have ever gotten away from this man. From the information they’ve shared with me, this man is evil and downright determined. He’s going to come after her with everything he’s got.”
Chapter Eight
“Wait a minute,” Duke said, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He didn’t care how much pain he was in, that was the last damn pain pill he was going to take. Shit, it was hard to get his brain working again. “Let me get this straight. Bryn was leaving when the cops showed up, and this scumbag threatened to finish what he started. Is that the sum of it?”
It was going on ten o’clock at night, but Duke needed caffeine to get his thoughts together. He slammed the coffee pot back on the burner and lifted the scalding-hot liquid to his mouth. Taking two big gulps, Duke was finally able to turn around to where Des and Bryn sat at the kitchen table.
“Yes, that sums it up,” Bryn said. She had an empty teacup in front of her, while Spur lay at her feet. Bryn had offered to reheat a plate of dinner that she and Des had eaten earlier, but Duke felt as if a rock was lodged in his stomach. “And before you say anything, I was doing what I thought was right.”
Duke knew she was referring her decision to leave even after he warned her that taking their relationship to the next step changed things. He hadn’t been kidding either. The only regret he had was the fact that the painkillers had taken over and he’d fallen into a drug-induced haze. What he would have given to make love to her and show her how good it could be. In his mind, having her touch him gave him certain rights, such as protecting her. If she didn’t get that before, Bryn was about to understand him now.
“Did we or did we not have an agreement when you decided to take our relationship to the next level?” Duke asked, grateful that the coffee had cleared any cobwebs that were still lingering in his head. “I’m not Des. I don’t do things his way. I can be overbearing and chauvinistic, but keeping you safe is my number one priority. I’m not known to play fair, Bryn. If I have to tie you up to my bed to keep you safe, then that’s what I’ll do.”
Duke knew he’d taken her by surprise by that last sentence, because she shot a look over at Des seeking confirmation. It was something that would have to be addressed later, his penchant for kinky sex. Right now, he wanted more information on this scumbag that was after her.
“We’ll get back to your decision to leave later,” Duke said, closing the distance between them and taking the seat next to her. Although his left shoulder was the one with the knife wound, it was his old injury in his right one that was killing him. He remembered falling asleep with Bryn tucked into his right side and decided the pain was worth it. Setting his coffee cup on the table, Duke started to massage his right shoulder. “I want to hear what that detective said. What’s his name again?”
“Detective Flynn,” Des answered. “These are the facts. After hearing what happened to Bryn, they believe he is posing as a police officer and pulling women over—women that look like Bryn. How he finds his victims is unknown. He abducts them, leaving their car abandoned, and then keeps them for a day or two before dropping their body a couple miles away from the original crime scene. Once the police figured out his pattern, he started dropping their bodies off in fields, forests, deserts—wherever he could to maintain the perimeter. Flynn doesn’t have the manpower to cover the many miles, although with the press this case is getting, I bet he can get it now. They are assuming that he spotted Bryn near Phoenix and followed her to Triple. Flynn can’t explain why this guy wouldn’t have stopped her somewhere along the road, but when he saw her stop in Triple, he waited for her to exit the diner.”
“But why take her on the street?” Duke asked, trying to picture the events in his mind. He needed more coffee. “Why not wait until she was on the road, in the dead of night? Why expose himself that way?”
“That was a bad pun,” Bryn said, regarding his dead of night expression. “Detective Flynn wasn’t sure what prompted him to veer away from his normal routine, but the detective feels that since I was able to get away, that might make this guy unpredictable.”
“And the woman he took last night?” Duke finished his coffee and then sat back in his chair. “Do they have any idea where he might have taken her?”
“No,” Des answered, shaking his head. “If they can’t find her, they are estimating he’ll dump her body with twenty-four to forty-eight hours. They have someone watching our house around the clock, just in case he decides to come for Bryn.”
“He’ll have to find her first,” Duke said. “And if there’s one thing that this psycho will find out if he comes to Triple, it’s that we look out for our own. No one is going to give him any information on where Bryn might be hiding out.”
“But what if he does?” Bryn asked. Duke knew she was putting on a brave front. She had to be scared shitless, but here she was, still worried about their safety. Bryn started to bite the inside of her lip. “According to Detective Flynn, this serial killer has probably been murdering women for years. How many victims have there been? If the police haven’t caught him by now, what makes them think they can catch him? Maybe the detective is wrong, and the killer won’t come back for me. Or maybe I should take self-defense lessons. It’s not like I can stay here indefinitely—not that I don’t want to get to know you two better, because I do. But I do have a job to do, and although they were very understanding today, I can only postpone their office designs for so long.”
Duke looked at Bryn. For having her life threatened by a serial killer, she was holding up well. Her anxiety was shining through at the moment, but Duke had numerous ideas of how to get her mind off of what had happened the last two days. Sitting up straight, Duke slid his right hand across the table and took ahold of hers. Bryn’s fingers were so delicate, just as he imagined her whole body to be. Duke had taken it upon himself to not only protect her body, but to ease her mind.
“Now that this Flynn detective recommended you stay here, is that what you are going to do?” Duke tried not to show his trepidation as he waited for her answer. He really didn’t want to start their relationship by tying her to his bed for the next few weeks until the police caught this bastard, but he’d do what he had to.
“Yes.”
Duke exhaled his pent up apprehension. They would let the police do their job, while he and Des used this time to get to know Bryn in a more intimate way. Now he could tie her up for fun. And there was no time like the present.
“Want to take a shower with me?”
* * * *
Bryn didn’t think Duke taking a shower was a good thing, so she talked him into soaking in the bathtub. That way, his wound wouldn’t get wet and he would be able to stretch out and relax. Des was walking around the house, confirming that all the windows and doors were locked up tight. Bryn was in Duke’s bedroom, waiting for him to come out. She knew from his suggestive tone that she could have joined him, but she had needed some alone time to wrap her brain around everything that had happened. Bryn had changed into the cut-off sweats and T-shirt she had brought with her to sleep in at the hotel in Tucson, but was now regretting having packed them. She doubted that Des and Duke would find them sexy.
Bryn couldn’t bring herself to tell her mother that a serial killer had targeted her and that she was staying with the two men she’d met online. Her mother would have insisted she head back to Phoenix and probably had made her an appointment for a shrink. She was
positive that her mom wouldn’t understand her need to be in a ménage relationship. It was all she dreamed about ever since reading a ménage romance book back in her early twenties. Now that she’d met Des and Duke, Bryn was finally seeing her future play out before her eyes. She just hoped she’d survive to see it through.
Bryn had spoken to her mother earlier and told her that she’d lost her car keys and was waiting for the garage in Triple to make a key that would fit into the ignition. It wasn’t as if the entire story was a lie, since Spur had taken her keys and not brought them back. They were probably on the ground outside somewhere. Bryn would have to look for them tomorrow.
Maybe Bryn should offer to massage Duke’s back. She could only imagine the strain his muscles had taken in fending off the killer, let alone what his muscles were feeling for compensating from his wound. She wondered if he had any massage oil. Bryn sat on the bed and opened his bedside drawer. She saw several bottles and tubes. Pulling the first one out, Bryn saw it was lubricant. She felt her cheeks flush at what he did with it, knowing that being with two men required one claiming her ass. At least he was prepared, Bryn thought. She’d never had anything in that particular hole. She’d need the entire tube if what she’d had in her mouth earlier was any indication.
Bryn stuck her hand back in and came up with a box of condoms. Duke was a little boy scout, wasn’t he? She chuckled at the thought of him being a preteen and sneaking out of camp to spy on the girl scouts. Bryn could only imagine what a handful Duke and Des had been to their parents.
Reaching her hand back into the drawer, Bryn felt something hard. It was something still in its package. She brushed up against something cold and heard a jingling sound. Wrapping her fingers around both items, she froze when the light from the lamp illuminated them. Those butterflies that seemed to be around a lot in the presence of Duke and Des took flight in her stomach. She held in her hands a butt plug still encased in its plastic. She’d only ever heard of them, but had never seen one before. The base seemed a little too wide. Women actually inserted these into their—Bryn’s eyes watered as her brain couldn’t finish the thought. Ouch. They seemed so hard and clinical in comparison to a man’s cock. Bryn would have to tell them she’d rather forgo the fake impression and just go for the real thing.
Potential Match [Ménage.com 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 6