Five
True love doesn’t happen in a moment of our choosing. It sneaks up on us accidentally in a single heartbeat, a single flutter, an inexplicable moment that changes our world and keeps us off balance until the day we die. Love cares nothing for reason or logic. It only cares that it consumes you to a point that all of your thoughts encompass one person. You’re helpless to stop it and even if you could, you wouldn’t. Love, quite simply, is the act of handing over your soul to someone and trusting them to protect it with their life.
“What are you writing?” Kasey asked over my shoulder as we waited for Janeane to arrive.
Since my encounter with Dallas Vaughn, I’d been thinking long and hard about what it would be like to fall in love with someone and to trust him with your heart. I knew the couple in my new book would evolve into a passionate relationship filled with a soul encompassing love, so I was trying to put into words how Taryn would feel once she fell for the hero.
“Just some ideas I have for the book.”
“Interesting. So, speaking of your brothers,” Kasey segued oddly, “Is Finn seeing anyone?”
“Um, we weren’t speaking of them, but if we must, then no, not that I know of. But you should stay away from Finn since we are talking about my brothers now,” I told her.
“What’s wrong with Finn?”
“Nothing if you're his sister. Well, that too, but definitely not if you’re a newly divorced female with two kids. You don’t need three on your hands, Kasey.”
“How bad can he be at this point in his life?” she questioned.
Hell’s bells, that’s a loaded question.
“Other than a few more laugh lines . . . he hasn’t changed at all since high school. Neither of them has. Oh, they work hard, which is the only grown up thing about them, but where women are concerned? They love them and leave them. Trust me, Kasey; you don’t want to go there.”
“You know, Finn kissed me once,” she blurted out, surprising me.
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” I gasped as my brows shot up in surprise. I was stunned. All those late night phone calls I used to get during high school that centered on Finn and not once had she ever mentioned this to me.
“It was junior year when we were at Hilary Burk’s party. We’d all been drinking, as you know, and I was alone in the kitchen refilling my beer when all of a sudden he cornered me and then kissed me out of the blue. The next time I saw him he acted as if it didn’t happen, so I never said anything. I figured he was too drunk to remember.”
“That’s probably a safe bet since I remember my parents grounding all three of us for drinking that night.”
“Your parents grounded you for drinking on a regular basis. I’m surprised you remember any specific weekend,” Kasey laughed.
She wasn’t wrong. Another disadvantage of being a triplet was they insisted on being wherever I was to keep an eye on me. Fun and games always seemed to follow the twins wherever they went, and since I was with them, well, I got sucked in. Thinking back on high school, it’s a wonder any of us came out of it unscathed, what with all the alcohol that flowed freely every weekend.
“Do you remember that road trip up to Stillwater?” Kasey laughed.
“How could I forget? We were grounded for two months after that.”
Bo and Finn were invited to a frat party up at Oklahoma State University our senior year by some friends of theirs, who had graduated the year before. I begged to go and bring the girls, so we lied to the parentals and said we were at each other’s house after school and would be home by our curfew. We all headed up on a Friday thinking that we could hang with the older kids for a few hours and then drive home to make our curfew. Yeah, we were wrong. One beer led to another, and soon it was midnight. We couldn’t drive back because we were drunk, so we had to call home and let them know we lied and wouldn’t be home until the morning. That road trip got us two months of punishment, but it was worth it since I got to make out with Freddy Hart. That is, until Bo and Finn found out. It’s a wonder I ever lost my virginity, considering the way they guarded me.
Kasey and I were laughing over the memory when Janeane walked in followed by Kristina and Angela. Kristina and Angela placed orders for sandwiches before they all came over and sat down.
“Did you call Angela and Kris?” I asked.
“Yeah, Angela swung by and picked me up, and then we grabbed Kris.”
That’s the great thing about living in a city the size of Tulsa. The downtown area was small enough that you could drive from one end to the other in about five minutes tops, depending on the traffic. All four women worked downtown, so it made it convenient for them to have lunch together several times a week.
“Ok, let’s hear what Romeo has to say,” Kristina urged as she ate.
Janeane nodded, then opened the email he’d sent on her phone and began reading the missive.
“Taryn, as your Master you will obey my every command, or I will determine you are untrainable and end our association. Do I make myself clear? You showed great promise last night and obeyed me without question. Let’s see if you can do it again today, with the same enthusiasm. By eight tonight, I must have in my possession a picture of you masturbating with a penis shaped vibrator. Also by eight, you must delete your account on SSD to prove you belong to me and only me. From now on, we will only communicate via Kik app so I may reach you immediately. Once you have downloaded the app, send me an email with your picture and Kik ID to prove you have completed my instructions. Then, and only then, will I know you are trainable. Don’t disappoint me, Taryn. Dark Prince.”
“Holy shit,” Kasey blurted.
“Um, question,” Angela broke in, “Do we really need this guy for the book? I mean, this is getting out of hand just for research. A picture of boobs was pushing my limits, but masturbating for some creep?”
“I agree,” Janeane replied. “This guy is way over the top just for background information on the lifestyle.”
“Is it just me or does he sound angry for some reason?” I asked.
While Janeane had been reading the email, a sense of dread enveloped me. He seemed angry, as if we’d done something to piss him off, almost as if he knew we were lying to him.
“Sorry, but I’m not masturbating for anyone but myself,” Kasey mumbled.
“Oh, I agree with you. No way are we going that far for a story. We’ll just look for another guy on SSD and ignore any more correspondence we receive from the creep. Janeane, send him a reply saying you’ve come to the conclusion that being a slave isn’t what you’re looking for and wish him well.”
Janeane nodded and began typing on her phone as I sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t know until we began talking with Dark Prince how intense the dominant world was.
“If I didn’t need the research I’d pull off that site,” I mumbled.
“You could always read BDSM romances for your research. It’s not like you’re writing a BDSM book—it’s just the world the killer lives in, right?”
“Good point. Maybe I should focus on the catfish aspect of the book and see how they draw women in and fool them into believing they are someone they aren’t.”
“Wow, he responded back already,” Janeane interrupted, scowling at her phone.
“Why are you frowning?”
“He said a slave doesn’t tell a Master what he can or can’t do with his property. He expects us to complete the orders by eight p.m. tonight, or the punishment will fit the crime, whatever that means. It was sent from his iPhone so he must be in his car or something.”
“Don’t respond to him again. Just change the email account associated with the profile, so his messages bounce back to him,” I ordered.
“I’ll have to do that when I get back to the office.”
“The sooner, the better. This guy’s giving me the heevy jeevies,” Kasey shuddered.
“Hey, Melissa,” Angela hollered toward a blonde woman with short hair, a killer figure, and black spiked pumps I’d kill to own. Dressed in business attire, she wore a black pencil skirt with a bright red silk blouse that looked great with her fair complexion. She finished the look off with bright red lips, and I immediately cast her in the role of prosecuting attorneys in . . . in . . . “Yes . . . I’ve got it,” I shouted.
“You’ve got what?” Kristina asked.
“The title of our book,” I explained. “I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with a title that fit, and it just hit me. Dark Prince kept calling us his property, right? It made me think of those T-shirts athletes wear that say, “Property Of” such and such school. I say we title the book “Property Of.”
I looked around the table and saw four smiling faces all nodding approval. BFF's had a binding contract and within that contract, it clearly stated that all bullshit would be left at the door. Only the truth was allowed when in each other’s presence, so when I looked around the table and saw four smiling faces I knew they liked the name.
“Booyah,” Kristina exclaimed as she leaned forward for a high five that started a chain reaction.
“Property Of” who? The killer or the hero?” Janeane questioned.
“I’d say both. The Killer deems her his personal property, and the hero makes her his property when he falls in love with her.”
“Nicola, you need to remember that in present day, not like in your historical romances, women aren’t property,” Kristina scorned in reply.
“Yeah, right,” Kasey complained. “All men think you’re their personal property, whether society has changed or not. Especially alpha males like my ex. They’re a breed all their own, and it takes a special woman to put up with their shit.”
“Is that what happened between you and Mark? You couldn’t handle his possessiveness?”
“Part of it. That and he was never around. We grew apart, basically, and had nothing in common but the boys. I need a man who likes to have fun, not grunt orders at me.”
“No wonder you’re interested in Finn,” I chuckled. “You couldn’t find a less serious man if you tried.”
As we chatted about possessive men and ridiculous brothers, Angela’s friend walked up to us, smiling at everyone.
“Were you celebrating something when I walked in?”
“Melissa Webster, meet Nicola, Kristina, Kasey, and Janeane. Girls, meet Melissa, a loan officer at my branch. We’re celebrating a book that Nicola is going to write and we’re helping her with.”
“Is this your first book?” Melissa asked me as she sat down at our table.
“No, but it’s my first contemporary novel, and the girls are helping me with research,” I explained.
“I don’t read,” she told me with a shrug. I held back, with effort, the cringe that was my automatic reaction to hearing someone didn’t read. “But I’ll read this one when you’re done with it since Angela’s involved. What’s it about?”
Angela explained to Melissa in detail about Kasey’s catfish and how the story evolved, leaving nothing out, including, to my utter horror, the part about Dallas Vaughn. Tulsa was a small city, and you couldn’t go anywhere without meeting someone only to find out that you knew some of the same people. The last thing I needed was to find out that she knew Dallas. Which, of course, would prompt her to tell his wife about the pitiful writer who had a crush on her husband. Just thinking about the humiliation made me shudder.
Fortunately, Angela didn’t know his name or that he was married, since I hadn’t told her. But, unfortunately for me, she went on and on about the grin, the wink, and his ogling of my ass as I slumped further into the couch.
“He sounds hot. What’s his name?”
“No idea,” I blurted out giving Kasey a “zip it” look.
“It’s fascinating how you merge bits and pieces of real people together to form a story. I can see why you would use the detective as the hero. And that Dark Prince guy sounds sadistic. He’s clearly a nut case, which makes him perfect for the part of the villain. God, there are so many creeps out there lurking in the shadows just waiting to take advantage of women. You guys were smart to end the association,” Melissa replied with a nod.
Twenty minutes later, after a long discussion about internet dating and how it would influence my book, Finn walked into Gypsy’s unexpected and sauntered over to our group.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Nicola and the Coffee Clutch Gang.”
“Hilarious. What are you doing downtown?” I asked.
“Royse Construction is handling the renovations of one of the rooms at the Mayo Hotel. We’re shorthanded so I’m lending a hand.”
“Shocking, you mean you left the comfort of your office and nonstop ESPN to work?” I joked.
Finn rolled his eyes before leaning down to mess up my hair. As he did this, he noticed Kasey and a slow grin pulled across his lips. “Kasey,” he mumbled in greeting. “Gotta run, Nic, I’ve got people to hire and places to go. You ladies have a good day,” Finn stated before kissing the top of my head and moving to the counter to order a coffee.
All the women at my table watched Finn walk to the counter to place his order. I heard sighs of lust around me and I rolled my eyes in disgust. When I looked back at my friends, they all had a look that said Finn had a starring role in their fantasies.
“Seriously, guys? Ewww.”
“Hey, I can’t help it. Your brother’s hot,” Angela, laughed.
“Uh, could you not drool over him when I’m in the room at least?”
“Nope,” Janeane laughed as she looked at her watch and announced, “Shit, I gotta run.”
Everyone stood, except for Melissa, who was pecking away at her phone.
“Are you heading back to the bank?” Angela asked her.
“No, I’m heading to Texas this weekend and I need to get home and pack. I’m gonna hang here and finish my coffee,” she smiled as her eyes drifted back to her phone
Nodding, Angela replied, “See you on Monday then,” as the rest of the girls and I threw out, “Nice to meet you,” and waved goodbye.
“Any chance we can meet here for coffee every day next week?” I asked before we went our separate ways for the weekend. Having to wait to work on the book until Tuesday and Thursday, when I was used to eight hours a day, seven days a week, was going to kill me. I’d already broken my promise to the girls about not working on the book without them last night and was hoping to redeem myself. If I could get more time with them, then maybe I wouldn’t need the secret accounts I’d created last night on POF and SSD. They all stopped dead in their tracks and looked back at me smiling. Ha, I'd totally gotten them hooked on the process of writing a book.
“Works for me,” Angela smiled.
“Ditto here,” Janeane greed.
“Hell, I’m free on Sunday,” Kristina answered.
“Just tell me where and when is my motto,” Kasey laughed.
“We’re gonna have to buy stock in Gypsy’s if we spend all our time here,” I chuckled as we headed for the door.
“This is true, but there is something so Emily Dickinson or T.S. Elliot about writing a book in a coffee house, don’t you think?” Angela laughed.
I hugged the girl’s goodbye then jumped into my light blue convertible Beetle to head home. I pulled left onto Cincinnati to head toward Highway 51, but was stopped at a red light at the corner of Cincinnati and 6th Street when a silver motorcycle came thundering up 6th Street, turning right onto Cincinnati with Dallas Vaughn on the back. I clenched my jaw at the sight of him because he was so friggin’ everything I could barely stand it. The way he rode his bike kind of hunched over in the back, casual, as if he didn’t have the weight of protecting the world on his shoulders was even more disarming. He looked like a White Knight or a current day Highlander on that bike. All he needed was a sword at his side as he rode his trusty steed and he’d be perfect. Then I remembered he was married.
“He grins sexily and winks at women while he’s married. He may look like a hero, but he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” I muttered to myself.
Continuing do Cincinnati, Dallas jumped onto the same highway, so I stayed two car lengths behind him as we navigated the turn. When he took the Utica exit, the same one I had to take to get home, I held my breath. Half a mile from my home, he turned left off of Utica into a housing addition with cute gingerbread houses and I was tempted to follow him just to see where he lived. “Why are the hot ones always a disappointment?” I whispered as my eyes followed him down the street. Distracted by all that was Dallas Vaughn, I forgot what I was doing so when I turned my attention back to the road I had to slam on my brakes to avoid rear-ending a car.
“Jesus, Nicola, you’re an idiot,” I mumbled to myself as my hands shook and adrenaline pumped through my body. “Don’t get yourself killed for a book.”
***
His rage was palpable as he struck the fatal blow, one that fed the monster that lies within him. Her blood sprayed the wall like macabre crimson art as he covered her mouth to muffle her screams. His cock throbbed in exquisite pain as her legs gave out; his movements swift as he lowered her, his emotions on autopilot as his fury guided his actions. Air seeped from a pierced lung and blood mixed with her raspy gasps as she tried to fill her lungs. But, try as she might, breath still eluded her.
Blood masked his blank expression. The terrifying facade of calmness he wore disguised his rapid heartbeat, the lust he always felt for the kill . . . the shock that he always wanted more. As her blood dripped like teardrops from his chin, he watched her eyes grow wide with the knowledge that death was coming quickly.
Death doesn't care if you’re young or old, rich or poor; it takes your gift gladly with little fanfare, he thought. One minute you’re a living, breathing soul with your whole life ahead of you. The next you’re lying on the floor in a pool of your own blood, listening to your heart gallop, adrenaline feeding its fight to survive. And then bit, by agonizing bit, it slows to a slight thump, thump . . . thump, thump . . . thump . . .
Dark Prince rose from the floor and looked at his glove-covered hands. Blood dripped from his fingers as he turned them over and inspected the thick, red liquid coating the surface. He’d never killed with a knife before; he preferred his bare hands as his instruments of punishment. However, standing there now, feeling the very essence of her being coating the skin of his face, he smiled.