Trapped with two nearly naked women waiting for him and Austen to get their kink started, Greg wasn’t sure what the hell to do. He heard a woman cry out through the walls. Not an uncommon sound in a place like this.
A commotion in the hallway followed with someone yelling. The sound of doors opening and closing got closer to them. Both he and Austen exchanged a glance until their door was thrust open.
“Well this is a fine fucking sight.” Kayla grilled him with a look that should have left Austen smoking on the spot. She glanced first at the women on the bed then at Greg, as if every world problem was his fault.
“Kayla, what the hell?” Austen bee-lined for his wife.
“Where is Mattie?”
“What are you talking about?” Greg said, forgetting the women on the bed and glowering at Kayla. What the hell was she doing here?
“Where is she? Brett left her here in the hallway.”
“Who the fuck is Brett?” Greg joined her and Austen.
“And who the fuck are you?” the Admiral growled at a guy lingering in the hall behind Kayla.
“That’s Alexander.” She turned tail and opened each door in the hallway, apologized to the occupants then slammed the door shut. She ran back down the hallway and turned the knob on a door farthest away. “This door is locked and I can’t see inside. Open up.” She hammered her fist on the door.
No one answered.
“Greg?” she yelped.
Both he and Austen ran down the hall. He scanned the door made of two-inch thick walnut like all the other doors. The locks were constructed of wrought iron and couldn’t be breached. “You think Mattie’s in here?”
“Yes.” She banged on the door again.
Greg’s heart beat hard. “With who?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Brett. Maybe someone else.”
“The doors are two inches thick. We can’t break it down.” He tried the handle himself and banged on the wood. “Open the door.”
Kayla turned to the blond guy who’d hung back. “Alexander, we need in here right now. Right fucking now,” she said, losing her cool.
The guy nodded. “Okay, I’ll get the host. Hang on.”
“Get the goddamn master key,” she cried. She hammered on the door. “Stop. Please stop.”
Under a minute later a woman came running around the corner. “What’s going on here?”
Kayla grabbed the woman’s wrist and yanked her closer. “My friend. I think she’s in this room against her will.”
The tall blonde in black leathers and a long ponytail inserted a key into the lock.
When the door opened, Greg felt his temper fire into a rage. Austen grabbed him and held him back.
“Stop. Think,” Austen said harshly under his breath. “Kayla, stay here.” But of course, she didn’t listen.
Greg fought Austen to release him. “Get the fuck away from her.”
Mattie lay on her stomach tied to a saddle. Her dress had been removed, tossed onto the four poster bed and the guy had stuffed a ball in her mouth. Her body draped as if she wasn’t conscious, and the big, badass looking bastard who’d taken him into custody for Diana’s murder stood behind her as if ready to throw down his zipper and sink his dick inside her.
“One fucking move, I’ll kill you.” He jerked in Austen’s grip, but he held him fast.
The cop turned cold piercing eyes toward him. As big as him or Austen, his bare chest displayed a man who worked out a lot with weights.
Kayla fell to her knees and brushed the hair from Mattie’s face and released the ball from her mouth.
The guy looked toward the hostess. “I need a minute with these people.”
The girl didn’t argue. “Yes, Sergeant.” She gripped the door, yanking it closed behind her.
“Get your shit together, LaPierre,” Austen whispered next to his ear, releasing him slowly.
The Sergeant turned and picked up his shirt, and then a gun belt, slipping the gun from its holster. He pointed it at Mattie’s head.
Greg and Austen went stalk still.
“Which one?” he said, his voice as gravelly as Greg remembered.
The guy changed his aim and pointed it at Kayla. Austen took a step toward him. Fire couldn’t touch the heat in his glare.
“Last fucking thing you’ll ever do. Cop or not, you won’t leave this room alive,” Austen said never breaking eye contact.
The Sergeant offered them a seedy smile. “Don’t think I could get away with it?”
“Not unless you killed all of us,” Greg said. The tension in the room so thick, he couldn’t breathe. “Kill Mattie, then try explaining what you were doing in a club with her tied without her consent. The same woman who’s chasing down the Victoria Ripper. Won’t take long to put the two together.”
“You think I’m the Ripper.” He coughed out a low chuckle.
Greg took a step closer. “Are you?”
“I’m a police officer. Twenty years. Decorated. Accolades out my ass. You think I would slaughter women?”
The girls were too far from them. One mistake, and the cop could fatally wound either one. Austen stepped closer.
“Stay out of my investigation, LaPierre.”
Kayla seared Montgomery with a look of pure hatred. Greg knew her well enough that if she could, she’d tear the cop apart with her bare hands.
Greg’s heart rate came down a notch when Montgomery lowered the gun.
“You keep Miss Bidault reigned in. Her interference will create a frenzy. It’s my city, and I will take care of the Ripper.” He holstered his weapon.
They were truly and utterly fucked. They couldn’t stop him. They couldn’t accuse him. No one would believe Mattie over him. He knew it and they knew it. The Sergeant strolled past them and all they could do is watch.
A disgusted laugh erupted from his mouth. “You really think I’m the Ripper.”
Kayla pushed to her feet, but didn’t move from Mattie’s side. “If you’re not, why are you threatening us?”
Now that his pulse slowed, Greg took a long, close look at the cop, and he shook his head. “Because he knows the Ripper’s been here, just like we figured out.”
The Sergeant turned his piercing gaze on Greg. “Very astute, JTF. I recognized you from the club. You come in occasionally.”
“So you thought you’d steal my Ka-Bar and set me up?
The Sergeant shook his head. “No, I thought you were the Ripper. That’s why I arrested you.”
A thought clunked home, and he chewed on it for a second. “I’ve seen you here over the years too.” He swung a look at Mattie, wanting to go to her. “You were worried Mattie would figure out the Dream Squad plays at this club and the focus would be on you. Make you look bad. The citizens of Victoria would look down their noses at a cop trying to find a killer who hung out at a BDSM club on his free time.”
Fuck, Kayla was right. They’d been chasing a red herring.
The Sergeant opened the door. “Keep to sailing ships or whatever you do, but stay out of my investigation. I can’t catch him if I’m taken off the case. We’re watching everyone here at the club. He’s here. He spends time here, and I’ll find him.”
“Them,” Kayla spouted. “You know damn well there’s a Ripper and one in training.
Montgomery shook his head. “The second void at Diana’s body wasn’t someone in training. The second void belongs to his Submissive.”
“What?” They all crowed together.
“How the hell would you know that?” Greg growled. “Mattie saw the voids. Your police report was changed to one. Why the cover up?”
“Because…” For a second Raine Montgomery, Sergeant of the Ripper Task Force, let down his guard. “I’m not sure it’s not one of my own men.” He blinked and let out a deep sigh. “That’s all I’ll say about the matter. Stay away from the club, and keep her,”—he poked a finger in Mattie’s direction—“quiet. My personal life remains private and has no bearing on catching a serial killer.”
Sergeant Montgomery slammed the door behind him.
Kayla quickly unbuckled the leather straps around Mattie’s ankles while Austen turned away. Greg pulled Mattie into his arms once she was free. She hadn’t said a word, but when he brushed her hair aside, she looked straight at him, and he felt her heart thumping in his own chest.
“It’s okay. Mattie.” He palmed her face and held her up by the waist with his other arm. She shook from head to toe.
“Is she okay?” Kayla asked. “Mattie, we’re gonna take you home. A warm bath. Warm tea. Bundle you up. I’m so sorry.”
Austen looked pretty pissed when he turned around. “Come here,” he ordered.
His wife dutifully did what he asked. He led Kayla out of the room, leaving him and Mattie to a moment of privacy.
Greg grabbed a blanket from the basket beside the couch and wrapped it around her body, then scooped Mattie up in his arms and sat on the couch. Settling her onto his lap, he rocked her and held her tight. His head rested against the top of hers. He’d been in this position many times before as a Dom, but the thought curdled his stomach at the moment. After a few minutes, she finally spoke.
“I thought he was going to kill me.”
“Did he—”
“No, other than truss me to that contraption.” She released a disgusted sound from her throat. “Everything my dad taught me about self defense went out the window.” Mattie knotted the blanket in her fingers.
It had sure looked like Montgomery was going to play out a scene. The question was how brutal would it have got if they hadn’t all tumbled into the room.
Mattie curled into his chest and rested her head on his shoulder. “Why were you here?”
“Same reason as you. Think we better confer in the future. I wanted to see if I recognized anyone from the night I lost my weapon.”
She pulled her knees up, curling into a ball, and he gently caressed the skin on her neck. Vulnerable didn’t suit the naked woman under the blanket. It sickened him to see her bent over the saddle and trussed up. Reminding him of a proud and fiery filly broken from a harsh hand.
“You sure you’re okay?”
She nodded, but didn’t make much of a move to leave the safety of his arms. “Do you believe him? Everything he said?”
“It would make sense. Cops become rabid to find the bad guy. If he felt he was close, and that you might publish the knowledge Montgomery and the team trying to find the Ripper were into kink, they’d take him off the case. I think he was just trying to scare you into backing off.”
Mattie raised her head, their lips a breath apart. Then she changed course. “Is this place…your preference? What you need?”
How did he answer that? Yes! “No…not always.”
Greg knew where she was going with the question. His phone saved him from drowning the seed of their relationship with words when a text beeped. He fiddled his way into his pocket and retrieved his cell.
It was from Austen. Take your time. We’re going to get the kids.
“It was Kayla’s idea to try and lure the Ripper.” The look in Mattie’s eyes said she hadn’t been onboard, but came as Kayla’s sidekick.
“Ya know, that woman attracts trouble like a dog to a garbage can. She smells it, and trails it, until eventually trouble turns its fangs on her. But this time you were the victim. It pisses me off.”
“Don’t be mad at her. As much as I never needed to step foot in a place like this, it was a smart move. He could be here. Right now. The first of December is only three days away. He always leaves his victims on the first or the sixteenth.”
He saw Mattie’s recovery as she threw her thoughts back into the investigation.
“Except for the first murder,” he stated and lay his head against the panelled wall behind the couch.
“When he left his first victim on Valentine’s Day, I always surmised he was saying, in his twisted way, this was about love.”
Greg cocked his head and saw Mattie waiting for him to voice his thoughts. “Possible, but the first and sixteenth means something. It’s a clue, but maybe we should back off. Let the cops do their job.”
His mind wandered through the possibilities, but Montgomery didn’t hold a position as the Ripper anymore.
She nestled her head closer and her warm breath stroked his throat. Mattie’s aura wrapped around him with her innocence sucking the poison from his soul. He wanted to protect her, especially if she was determined to chase down the Ripper.
He caressed her soft skin and that brought him back to his senses. “Sorry.”
He slid his hand to her hip and realized she was gazing at him. His heart picked up to ten times its normal beat. Her mouth came just a sliver closer, and his heart squeezed so tight in his chest it resembled a heart attack. Did she forgive him for everything she’d heard this afternoon?
She’d just been through a terrible experience, he couldn’t take advantage of that. He brushed her cheek with a finger. “Let’s get you home.”
“In a minute.”
A flash of confusion in her eyes twisted his emotions. Did she really want him to kiss her? The primal man inside him rose up. Woke up. She’d feel it beneath her bottom and there was no way he could explain away the hardness growing in his pants.
He drew back, and it took more willpower than he expected. “I’ll get your clothes.”
Greg slid her gently off his lap and swept her dress from the bed. When he turned around, the hard-on in his pants had nowhere to go but up. Mattie stood before him with her arms at her sides, her hair flowing across her delicate shoulders and gazed at him. He offered her the dress, glad it covered his hand and the tremble of barely concealed desire.
“Thanks.”
“I’ll wait outside.” He took long, quick steps to get to the door and the hell out of a room that held an overpowering temptation to him.
“Greg?”
He didn’t want to turn and look at her or his resolve would rapidly evaporate.
“Does the thought of hurting me turn you on?” she whispered.
He whipped around. Like an open wound, he bled from his heart for her. “Mattie, no.”
Her brows worked together as she fought not to cry. He was across the room and she was back in his arms. His mouth softly met hers and everything around him blurred but the touch of her lips. He deepened the kiss and pulled her tighter against him, his hands straying back to her ass, pinning her against his body.
“I don’t. Believe me.” He inhaled a deep breath and stared into her eyes so she could see the truth in his. “I…” He licked his lips and gritted his teeth. “You’re here in this place where I—I explored. You affect me, okay? Let’s get out of here.”
His fingers swept to the curve of her waist and over her ribs to gently cup her breast. His cock grew so hard he wanted to rip his pants off and prove how much she turned him on without hurting her. But he would. In this place where he vented the darkness, he would.
“Your body is beautiful. You are beautiful.” He strummed the tip of her breast and again his stomach fell a few stories as the peak hardened beneath his thumb. “You had a near brush with a brutal experience.” He nestled her head below his chin. “This place isn’t who I am, but it served a purpose for me.”
“And if I asked you to restrain me?” Her voice trembled a little.
Greg smiled down at her. “Not unless that’s what you really want.”
She made a little squeaking sound. “Are you close to any of the women here?”
“If you’re asking if I’m a particular woman’s Dom, the answer is no.” He kissed her one more time, and it would have to do until this day was well and gone. Mattie’s nerves had been put to the test. Terrorized. “It’s time to leave, mademoiselle.”
The dark side of him wanted her on that saddle again, and he hated himself for it.
“Has any woman turned you down?”
“Sure.”
A little white lie didn’t hurt. He hadn’t been turned down many times. The last being when he was the ripe old age of thirteen, and the little girl who sat in front of him in school didn’t like it when he tried to hold her hand walking home from school.
“Get dressed, Mattie. I’m taking you home.”
She slipped the dress over her head and wiggled it down her body. This time he didn’t turn his eyes away and had to bite his lip. To him, every woman was beautiful in their own way, but Mattie’s ass could stop an advancing army.
She joined him at the door and took a last look at the room. “I never want to visit a place like this again.”
Greg took a good hard look himself. Handcuffs and braces. Whips and toys. He tucked her under one arm. “You never have to.”
“I want you to be honest. Is this the lifestyle you need?”
He grinned at her to hide his demons. “You really want to know what my need is?”
“Sure,” she said, the spark coming back to her eyes.
“I need to see that amazing ass of yours again. I want it in my hands, over my lap, pressed against my hips. That’s what I want.”
She broke out laughing. “Get outta here.”
“C'est la vérité.” With a breath for bravery, he stopped them before they exited the room. “Mattie, I hid this part of my life from the people most important to me.”
“Kayla.”
“You asked if I needed it. I guess the truth is, I did. I’m sorry if that bothers you.”
Mattie bowed her head, then nodded. “I can accept that, except you didn’t…I mean we didn’t.”
He gently kissed her. “We will.” He grinned at the shocked look in her eyes. “I don’t do extreme. I just need to bleed war from my soul before I resume life at home. It’s hard to explain, but it isn’t something I could share with anyone else.”
“But you just shared it with me.”
By the way Mattie searched his eyes, he knew she didn’t comprehend, but her curiosity was plain to see and that he could show her. Keeping her safe under his arm, they walked down the hallway, leaving the empty playroom behind them.
He didn’t want to come back, but how would he keep his dark thoughts in check? They hadn’t returned in a while. A question he feared the most swam in his thoughts since being dragged into the Ripper case. Had the killer been like him once upon a time? What had tipped the scales? Why did Greg harbour an uncomfortable but empathetic understanding toward him? The bridge between sanity and the dark plane of murder to appease a desire had to have a catalyst. Something pulled the Ripper over the arch of that bridge into bloodlust. Did it dwell in him too? And if it did, Greg needed to get as far away from Mattie as possible.
“You okay?” she asked as they walked through the club toward the entrance.
Mattie didn’t ogle the scenes going on in the corners. As much as a sensual fire burned inside her, making love was a private affair. Her innocence undeniable and attractive to him. He wanted more than anything for Mattie to be the balm that would finally vanquish his demons.
He pushed open the front door. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
* * * *
Greg took a detour before taking them home. They enjoyed huge bowls of comfort food in the form of pasta.
“You amaze me,” he said, tipping his wine glass to hers.
She blushed and tilted her head in question. “Why?”
“Your resilience. A lot of women would be seeking out a psychiatrist to deal with the trauma. You dealt with it and now you’re back to that same spicy woman you always are.”
“He didn’t really hurt me. Threw me on the ground. Ripped off my dress, handcuffed me, but he didn’t do any real damage.”
Maybe Mattie had recovered, but in the corner of his mind, he’d love to avenge her. Montgomery had gone far past just scaring her into leaving the PD out of the equation. “Kayla went nuts trying to get in that room. Think we got there just in time.”
“I was more scared he was going to kill me than rape me.”
“Do you still think he’s the Ripper?”
Mattie set her glass beside her plate and picked up her fork. “He’s guilty of something, but now I know it’s being a dark, sadistic bastard.” She paused then looked nervously around. “I mean…”
He sighed and nodded. “I know what you mean.”
“If only I could get through to Stuart. Get him to trust me again.”
Greg’s temper flared with jealousy. “You like him, don’t you? More than just a work related relationship.” She shrugged. Her gaze fluttered to the dining table. “He’d be crazy not to see how lucky he is.”
“How many women answered your ad in the Victoria dating site?” she asked.
“Not as many as you might think. I posted I was in the Navy. Women don’t like being put second behind deployments.”
Mattie nibbled on her Fusilli and cream sauce. “I noticed you didn’t mention you were an officer or in JTF2.”
“True.”
“Because you wanted someone attracted to you, not your career. So what made you choose Diana, besides the fact she was so pretty?”
He stopped chewing and looked at her from beneath his dark bangs. “All of her.” He paused then said, “What’s the lure with Stuart?”
“I think it’s been programmed into me. Dad was RCMP, both my brothers are too. Being a journalist, especially an investigative reporter, I rub shoulders with them a lot. Even though they can be mind-numbingly annoying sometimes, it feels familiar to me.”
“That familiarity could get you killed.”
“I don’t believe Stuart could hurt me. I just don’t. I can’t.”
“He’s really got you in his spell.”
“No.” She took a healthy swallow of wine and dabbed her mouth with the napkin. “Beggars can’t be choosers, ya know.” She rolled her eyes. “My roommate Mary is one of those really bubbly types. Guys would chase after her in university, and I had some invisible sign that said ‘possible plague beware’. We’ve lived together ever since we got out of school, and I was just tired of hearing all the moaning through her bedroom wall.”
She made him smile, and he understood her dilemma. “So you’re looking for someone to make you moan?”
She raised her gaze to his. “Quite frankly, yes.”
He slowly shoved his plate aside and slid his hand across the table, covering hers. “Finish eating, Mattie, and let’s go home because quite frankly, I would love to feel your body underneath me… and I know exactly how I’m going to make you moan.”
The spoon drooped from her fingers. “When we were at the club and you said those nice things to me, I figured it was to make me feel better. But I can’t tell if you’re joking with me.”
Joking? Was she kidding? He dropped his cloth napkin on the table and repositioned himself onto the seat beside her, all while her eyes widened.
“I find it so intriguing and alluring,” he said as he traced his finger across her lips, “that you don’t have any idea how hard you can make a man.”
His heart ticked with a chaotic beat when he kissed her soft lips. She smelled like something he wanted to savor for dessert. Her dainty fingers threaded through his hair and tugged gently as he deepened the kiss, teasing her with his tongue to let him in. When he pulled away, her gaze was humid with desire. She could only stare, then blink, then stare again.
He caressed the inside of her leg, wanting to explore her softest spots. “I wanted to give you time to recover from tonight, but that smoky look in your eyes is saying you want me to make your body feel good.”
“I think you’re a bad influence.” Her voice was husky with desire.
His blood boiled over the edge of good sense. “I mean you no harm, only pleasure. Do you want that?” He kissed her sweetly. “Now?”
She grinned. “We’d get arrested doing it in a public place,” she whispered against his ear and slid her tongue against a sensitive spot on his neck.
Their hostess picked that moment to approach and the girl’s young cheeks blushed profusely.
“The check, please,” Mattie said. The girl slid the leather bound case on their table and quickly walked away. “I’ll pay.”
Greg almost laughed. Yes, this was the twenty-first century, but some things he refused to change. “I believe you will for making me wait so long.”
She rammed her hand in her purse to find her wallet with shaky fingers. “We’ve known each other for less a month.” Her voice had gone all wispy.
He stopped her rummaging. “An honorable man never lets a woman cover the meal.” He tossed his Visa on the folder and turned his attention back on her soft features. “Tell me, spicy girl, what you love the most when a man is giving you pleasure?”
She shook her head, her breath coming in tiny little pants. He leaned closer and gently rubbed her cheek with his, and with the cover of the table, his hand slid up her thigh and brushed her crease. Through her silk panties, her sex was sopping wet. “I think it’s possible for me to cum just touching your heat.” A low groan erupted in his throat, enjoying the tease.
The server returned with the slip and he signed his name.
He slipped out of the booth and offered his hand. When she stood, he drew her to his side, kissing her again as his hand pressed her bottom close enough to feel the bulge in his pants. “Cheri, I can’t wait to be inside you,” he whispered so no one else could hear.
She stumbled, but he held her firmly. Something about Mattie caused a deep possessiveness that drove his lust to feral. He needed to pull back, at least until they were at his place.
He cast an arm around her shoulder, tucking her to his side, and they were both smiling when he pushed the door open to leave. The night was cold but clear. The street lights of Victoria had been decked out with candy canes and sparkling miniature trees. Little white lights hung from store fronts and people navigated Government Street with a festive air.
They hurried around the corner of the restaurant to the parkade. He saw the police cruiser parked in the lot, but didn’t think anything of it. The Victoria boys in blue were making a lot of overtime with the Ripper still at large.
“Mattie?”
She lifted her head to see who had called her name. “Stuart?”
Greg stopped, but kept a firm hand on her hip. The cop glared at her, standing boldly in his uniform next to Greg’s car. So this was the guy who had his game set on Mattie. His blood stirred with a primal swirl. Stuart definitely wasn’t the doughnut eating version of law enforcement. He also recognized the fucker from the club, the guy who had been flogging the girl tied to the St. George’s cross, and loving every minute of it.