It had been a rough week.
Stripping, she tore her clothes from her body. Ethan did the same before sprawling on the ground. She didn't waste any time. Elizabeth straddled his face. When she stroked his erection, Ethan moaned.
“Yessss! Please.”
He wanted to forget. Ethan didn't want to think about how close they’d come to losing Callen or how someone was after his wife. What he wanted was to feel.
It was all that could help them get past this.
When her mouth covered the tip of his erection, he moaned. Then he let her swallow him whole. The feeling was so amazing that he had to fight not to thrust down her throat as she worked him in and out of her mouth.
Ethan finally focused and got to work. He teased and tormented her clit to no end. As she was grinding down on his mouth, there was so much pleasure between them.
If anyone saw them, they’d question if these two people in heat were actually professionals.
Clothes were strewn.
He was tattooed and wild.
She was wantonly luring him into the heat.
As they continued, she came again.
He needed something so much more. As she worked him in and out of her mouth, he wanted to bury himself in her body.
When he pushed her off him, she looked surprised.
Ethan looked wild, like a man on the edge.
“Take me,” she whispered, watching his eyes tell the tale. He was burning up. The calm man was gone, and the wild crazy one was there in his place.
She loved when he lost control.
He attacked.
They rolled across the floor, his mouth seared to hers in a steamy kiss. Elizabeth could taste herself on his lips and tongue. It was maddening.
As he continued to try and climb into her body by way of her mouth, her fingers found him and stroked.
It drove him wild.
So much so, that he couldn’t contain himself.
Ethan had to have her.
He needed to feel himself buried in her body. Yanking free from her hand, he found the place he wanted to spend the most time.
He sunk in.
She moaned when the tip of his erection kissed so deeply into her body. Any more, and he’d be part of her.
He tore his mouth away.
“I need this in the worst way,” he said, staring down into her icy blue eyes.
“Take me. I want you, Ethan.”
He began.
It wasn’t the gentlest of matings, and it wasn’t the roughest. It was perfect.
It was Ethan.
As he pumped his body in and out of hers, she wrapped her long legs around his hips. He moaned, his eyes never leaving hers.
Here was his woman.
His wife.
There’d never be enough.
As long as he lived, he’d be true to her. She healed him. After years of being hollow, she filled him up. There was nothing more amazing than love.
He had it for her.
“I adore you,” he whispered, moving in and out of her. The ride began slow, but it was building in tempo.
“I love you, Ethan Blackhawk. You are so much of me that I can’t go on without you.”
And it was true.
The same went for his brother, Callen. The two men invaded her life, took over, and made her a weepy puddle of mush.
They were the only ones in the world who could do it. That’s how she knew.
This was more than true love.
This was fate leading the way.
“Oh God, Lyzee,” he muttered, as he reveled in the slide of his body in and out of hers.
It gave him peace.
“So good,” he added.
She agreed.
The tempo changed as the need grew. The urgency was there, and they both knew it.
Ethan took control.
As he pummeled her body, she held on for the ride. Fingers trailed down his chest as he was braced above her. When she stroked and traced the raven, Ethan threw his head back in ecstasy.
“I’m not going to last long,” he muttered, as Elizabeth’s hips kept tipping to meet his wild thrusts.
“More, Ethan. I want all.”
He gave her just that.
As his body tightened, and he could feel that heat boiling up in him, Ethan knew he was about there. When she pulled him down, sinking her teeth into his lower lip, he came.
It was hard.
The wave of heat flooded through him and poured into her. Ethan could feel her body milking his and tore them off the precipice and into the pleasure.
Then they tumbled.
When they both could breathe again, it was the laboring of their breaths that they focused on.
“It was the hair, wasn’t it?” she asked from beneath him.
He snickered. “No, it was you. It’s always you. You’re the reason I breathe and live.”
The emotions welled up.
As he rolled, placing her against his body and off the hard floor, he noticed she wasn’t speaking.
It was odd.
Elizabeth liked post coital chitchat.
When he glanced down, there were tears. There were so many, that he immediately knew why they were happening.
“I miss him too. He’s safe.”
It broke her.
It was all too much.
The day’s events, compiled on top of everything else, and she was exhausted.
As Ethan held her, Elizabeth wept. She knew he’d keep her safe as she was cradled in his arms.
“It’s okay, baby. I have you.”
He pulled her into his lap and simply did what he was supposed to. Like a good husband, he held her through the storm.
Because he loved her more than anything.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Stakeout
They were back on duty.
Dakota Rakin and his partner were watching the house, and nothing was going on. No one was coming in or going out. Granted, they took some downtime to get food and take a nap, but they were still tired.
“This is a waste of time,” she said again.
He didn't comment. “We have to do it, Delaney.”
“I know, but I don’t have to like it. The FBI is running the show.”
“Yep.”
She sighed. “We have to go back to work soon. Our boss isn't going to let us play in the field much longer.”
“I know.”
“Are you sure they can find Bonnie and Clyde? We might need to regroup…”
“Delaney, if you want to head back, go ahead. I’m going to finish this up. We’re too far into it now quit. Next Christmas, I want to be at home, feet up, and not doing this. So, I’m staying.”
He had a point.
Dakota saw something.
“Someone was moving around the side of the house. I’m going to go check.”
“Want me to come?”
He shook his head. “If I’m not back in a few minutes, call the Blackhawks.”
She watched him head away, and she began timing him. As she sat there alone, she was getting edgy.
Then she saw him.
When he got in, he was calm. “It was a neighbor moving their garbage cans. We’re good.”
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Delaney admitted.
Yeah, he felt the same way, but what choice did they have?
This was the job.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Morgue
She called them in from watching the one house. For now, she needed Broderick and Johanna’s research. There had to be something that would lead them to the killers.
They had to have screwed up somewhere.
No one was a ghost.
There was always a trail. You just had to pick it up and follow.
As she strolled into the morgue, the team was ready. They had tablets, files, and notes at their disposal. Before she could speak, Elizabeth no
ticed they were all staring.
Immediately, she looked behind her.
Ethan motioned toward his own hair to cue her in.
“Yes, my hair is straight. You’re all super observant. I hope you’re this good when you’re looking at evidence.”
The team grinned.
“We’ll, I’m ready to be dazzled. Chris, you’re up first. Walk me through it.”
He used his tablet to send them all the information. “Cooper Douglas and Adeline Douglas were killed the same way. She was bled from the wrists, and he was missing every man’s most favorite body part.”
“So nothing has changed?”
He shook his head. “The only thing different is that someone wailed on Adeline’s face. It looks like she pissed someone off.”
Elizabeth shared with them everything they learned about Cooper Douglas possibly cheating. They all made notes.
“Could his mistress be behind this?” Chris asked.
She thought about it. “You tell me, oh master of the evidence. What does her body tell you?”
He snorted. “Yeah, nothing. She’s not speaking to me.”
“Okay, it’s show and tell time,” stated Elizabeth.
They all stared at her, including her husband. He must have thought she lost her mind. The one thing they hated was when Chris or Tony played this game, and here she was whipping it out.
“Are you serious?” Ethan asked. “Really?”
She laughed. “Yes, but I’m not killing anyone. It takes a sick person to do that. Mine is more a hypothetical.”
Chris grinned. “Lay it on us. Let’s see if you can do it to our standard.”
“Okay, Christopher. You’ll be my guinea pig then.”
“Sure.”
“So, you’re a rich man married to a younger woman,” she began.
“I don’t think I like where this is heading.”
“Yeah, well, too bad. You’re going to hate it, but that’s the element of our jobs,” she added, right before continuing, “and you’re into kinky shit.”
He closed his eyes. “I’m an idiot for falling for this.”
Ethan laughed. His wife was entertaining. She’d picked the right guy for this.
“I’m not talking sex in the morgue, kinky. I’m talking about dress up kinky.”
He glared at her. “There are days when I really hate you.” He was well aware that someone let the cat out of the bag about him and his one romantic interlude with Cyra in the morgue back home.
His glare didn't stop her from continuing. Elizabeth knew that he’d had clandestine rendezvous with his wife in the morgue, and she never called him on it…until now.
She had to have some fun.
The true calling of a boss was when to use the things you had up your sleeves.
Elizabeth ignored the look he was giving her. “So, anyway, you like to get your kink on, and when your wife is away, you play. Where do you have your liaisons?”
He stared at her.
“Come on, Christopher. You wanted to play the game. Where do you go? A hotel?”
“If I’m rich and well known, then no. It’s too public.”
“So a private place?”
“Yes. If I was going to cheat on my spouse, and I had a big house, I’d use it. I’d stay there and use my bed. If I’m into kinky, nothing would be more taboo than having my side action right under my wife’s nose.”
Elizabeth grinned. “That’s what I thought.” She faced Merry. Did you pull all the trace from Cooper Douglas’s bed?”
She nodded. “We have it, but we didn't run it yet. We’re still working on the trace from the previous couple. You’re collecting crime scenes again.”
She was well aware.
“I want you to run it. Compare it to all the samples you found in the blood mixed with the killer’s semen.”
Tony was curiously watching her. “You think he screwed up and brought the killer right into his house.”
“I do. The alarm wasn’t on, there was no sign of breaking and entering, and we all know Karma is a bitch.”
Ethan agreed. “Bonnie and Clyde are watchers. They would have studied their prey. They’d know he was a skirt chaser, and they’d use that to their advantage.”
“Clyde would let Bonnie use sex to get them in?” Chris asked, a little grossed out. He’d never share his wife.
Never.
“Well, look at the evidence. Sex to them is something primal and about control. We have Clyde sexually assaulting these women, and then taking his woman. It’s not going to be about love. It’s going to be about need.”
Elizabeth hopped up on a table. “He’s an animal, and he’s acting like one.”
Merry got it. “You think that Bonnie used sex with all of them.”
“I’m beginning to think that’s a possibility. We have all this infidelity. Lily Schneider was cheating on her husband. It distracted us. What if Maximillian was cheating too?”
They listened.
“We had Christian Bourdain bouncing on every woman in town before he got married. If Bonnie and Clyde had been here for the last year, since the other killings, they’d see that. It would be easy for Bonnie to get his attention.”
Ethan grinned. “She’d definitely use sex. That would explain her distaste for the penis. She uses them, feels dirty, and makes them pay. She lops their dicks off and destroys them. She’s not drinking them. She’s ruining them.”
“Because cutting it off isn't bad enough?” Brody asked. “You gotta blend it in to a dick shake?”
Johanna understood. “She hates them. She wants them to hurt, and that’s a way to emasculate them. You take the one thing they love most, their penises—their brains, and you destroy them to the point they’re nothing.”
“It is,” Ethan agreed.
“We have Salvatore Boone. He was paying rent for his chippy on the side. Maybe he was shelling out dough to someone else too. He collects mistresses, and the deputy might not be the only one.”
They all flipped through their notes.
“Cooper was shagging someone, and the second we find out who, we can tie this all up.”
Ethan spoke up, “They’re going to bail early. By now, they’re getting nervous. Clyde will want to continue, but Bonnie will want to run. She’s going to feel the heat more.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to venture and say because it’s likely that she’s the bait. When she can’t lure more in, she’s going to want to do something rash, like escaping. Clyde is the one out of control. He’s raping, pillaging, and getting lost in it.”
“So, you’re telling us that he’s the submissive?” Elizabeth asked.
He shook his head. “No, he’s dominant, but so is she. What’s one of the things that give a woman power?” Ethan asked.
“Sex,” stated Johanna. “She can wield it, use it, or withhold it.”
Elizabeth agreed.
“If she’s using it to get victims, she’s going to eventually use it on Clyde—if she isn’t already.”
Hopping off the table, she grabbed a marker and headed to the board on the wall.
“Tox?” she asked, thinking everything through in her head.
Merry took over. “Just Viagra in the men, nothing else.”
Elizabeth thought about it. “Every single one had Viagra in them?”
Merry rechecked. “Yes.”
Ethan got where she was going with this. “If he’s raping the women, maybe Bonnie is raping the men.”
All the men in the room had that look on their faces. Elizabeth knew what they were thinking. “This is all about control. She’s getting off on this too.”
Chris thought about it. “If she’s slipping them Viagra, knocking them out, and then manually stimulating their victims, they will get hard.”
“This woman is sick,” stated Tony.
Yeah, they were well aware.
“Men, Viagra is not your friend,” she stated. “Johanna, go back over Merry’s c
rime scene pictures. Find me a list of medications they were taking. They’d be in the bathrooms closest to the boudoir. When your woman is in the mood, you want to have access.”
She got to work.
“Was there any vaginal fluid on the pureed penises?” she asked.
Merry shook her head. “There wouldn’t be if she used a condom.”
“Yet she didn't with Clyde. Why?” asked Elizabeth.
“The penis you know,” Ethan said. “She trusts him. He’s going to be safe for her. Bonnie isn’t out of control. She’s going to want to be safe. She’d bag them up so not to catch anything.”
Elizabeth had so much swirling around in her head, but she knew there was more.
“Broderick, what did you find on your searches?”
“We ran Juliet Singer. She’s originally from New York. There, she opened up a travel agency.”
She thought back to the details of the last killing sprees. “Can you tie her to California?”
He shook his head. “No. She was born and raised in New York.”
“What about Alessandra Savage?”
“She’s got a police record, but we can’t tie her to California at the time of the murders. As for New York, she was there, but never when the killings were happening.”
“We know she’s a thief, but is she a killer?”
The whole team knew that was rhetorical.
Ethan watched his wife, she was processing the information. He could tell by the way she paced.
“I need more details on some of the people we’ve come across,” she stated. “I want to know everything about the mayor’s secretary. She’s too perfect—offended by obscenity, freaked out by sex, and under a man’s thumb. Is it an act, or is she really that gentle lamb?”
Brody got to work.
“I also need the two hairdressers checked out. They were incredibly forthcoming, and when someone does that, it makes me curious. They gave everything, including that Cooper Douglas was rocking the marital boat.”
He made a note.
“Merry, recheck everything. Take the samples you found in Cooper’s bed, and cross match it. My gut is screaming. That’s going to be important.”
She didn't know how Elizabeth came to that premise, but she’d seen her do it many times before. Merry wasn’t an investigator. She was a lab geek.
Slay Bells Ring (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 12) Page 44