Crave (8 page)

She laughed, placing a kiss on his cheek. “You are so right.”

“Come on. Let’s see about your clothes.” He left the bathroom, completely comfortable in his nudity.

She could get used to this. Yes. Yes, she could.

***

Ryder sat Linnet down at the dining room table. He served her the hearty beef stew he’d prepared with her in mind and tended to her every need. He’d never been so content in his life. Or as miserable. He had to tell her about Gage. How she didn’t know he was the new owner of Crave was astounding.

His own bowl of stew in hand, he sat down at the table and began to eat. “We need to talk, Linnet.”

“This is wonderful.” She finished her bowl and took a drink of water.  Linnet nodded, her eyes wary. “Go on.”

“You mentioned your former Dom when we were talking earlier.”

“I did.”

“I think there’s someone you need to meet.” He stabbed at the congealing meat and vegetables in his bowl, no longer hungry. He had to help her find closure. Even if it meant losing her. “If you’re done eating.”

“Who?”

“You’ll see. But first let’s get you dressed.”

***

He took her home to change clothes and freshen up. It was strange having him in her house while she showered in the next room. As a Domme, she’d laid everything out. Formality was her buffer. But now that she saw Ryder in a different way. Not just R. but as a man, the more she wanted him. In her life. In her bed.

Niggles, her cat, played with him on the rug in the living room while she slipped into some new clothes and did her makeup. She needed all of her faculties working at top speed if he was going to start dragging her around and showing her off.

The woman in her didn’t mind, but the cop part of her brain kept churning. The Bondage Ripper was still out there.

She tugged on a fresh pair of jeans and a Peter Murphy tee, not caring where they were going. After the day she had, it was all about comfort coming home to a cup of hot tea and maybe a warm sub to share it with.

“Are you ready to go?” She had to get out of here. Her mind was just going crazy. Linnet reached down and scratched Niggles’s head. “You be good.” The cat stretched and gave her an irritated look before he took off down the hall to her bedroom.

“You interrupted his tummy scratch.”

“Sorry.”

“Let’s go.” He held the door for her while she secured it, and they wandered out into the night.

“I have to find her.” Gage stared at the camera footage on the screen, nausea churning in his gut. What he’d been looking for had been staring him in the face, and he didn’t even know it. Linnet had been here right under his nose. Did she even know he was here? He doubted it.

She loved him. Once. He shifted camera angles and times based on the information from Kelly’s report. There he was. Like Linnet, he’d changed his appearance. His hair was an umber shade of brown to the point of almost being black. His complexion was darker like he’d spent some time in a tanning bed and not the suburban WASP type he’d been seven years ago.

A knock sounded on the door, and Kelly entered the office. “There’s someone here to see you.”

“Who?”

The male submissive he’d seen with the redheaded Domme downstairs strode in, a woman at his side with long red hair. It was when he caught sight of her face that the breath left his body. This time there was no mask to hide her from him.

“Linnet…”

“Gage.” The longing in her voice made his guts rip to shreds.

“Mr. Maxwell, I’m Ryder Jamison. In your system, I’m known as R.” He paused. “I believe we’ve seen each other around the club from time to time.”

“Go on.” Gage got up from behind his desk. He didn’t want to talk to the sub. He wanted to talk to Linnet.

“I’m also working with Linnet and the police department on a case in which I believe you are unfortunately familiar.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The Bondage Ripper. I presume you’ve watched the news. There are things that haven’t been presented the public at large.” Ryder glanced at Linnet.

“You can tell him.”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m a psychologist working with the department because of the BDSM elements of the case.”

“Okay.” His eyes strayed to Linnet, but she’d turned away, her gaze focused on a spot on the fish tank in the corner of the room.

“The same person who has been committing these murders is the same man who attacked Linnet seven years ago.”

Gage started. “How the hell do you know that?”

“Because he wrote my name in blood at the scene.” Linnet’s eyes met his, and for a moment he could see the girl he used to know in their depths. Then the moment was gone. This Linnet was stronger, even in her fear. Her body more lush, her mannerisms more sure.

“Linnet…” Ryder considered Gage and his eyes snapped to Linnet. “Well. I think this one’s all you.”

“Ryder…” Her voice hitched and then he saw her stiffen her stance. “You’re right.”

“I believe you two have things you need to say to each other. I’ll be just outside.” His eyes trailed to Linnet. “If you need me, call.” He trailed a finger down the side of her face and placed a kiss on her cheek. “You can do this.”

He kissed her. The motherfucker kissed her right in front of him. Gage wanted to rip his head off and shove him out the office door himself. But then he looked closer and saw something else. She was scared, and that took the rage right out of him.

She nodded, her face white and her eyes wide. The sub strode to the door and shut it behind him with a quiet click.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” she whispered. “All this time. I didn’t know you were still here.”

“Crave is mine. I bought it from Justin after…”

“After I left.”

“You didn’t let me see you.” His voice was gruff but he had to say it. Need from the darkest corners of his heart broke free. “I needed to see you were alright. That he… this hadn’t destroyed you.”

Tears slid down Linnet’s face and her lips trembled. “But he had. For a long time he had.”

“No. You’re still here.”

A bitter laugh erupted from her lips. “And it’s taken me years.”

“Who is he?” It was a raw question, but he had to know.

Her gaze slid toward the door.

***

Linnet was overwhelmed. Gage was here. In the same room with her as Ryder waited outside. He should be here too, she realized. But she needed to answer Gage’s question.

“I…”

He approached her, his presence just as large as it had been all those years ago. Gage bent down and pressed his lips to hers. The softness. The steel. God, but she craved him. Her fingers curled around his arms and then slid around his back, holding him close.

“Linnet…”

It came flooding back to her. All the tenderness and the end of it all. But she didn’t want it to be. Her thoughts drifted to Ryder and back to her former Master. She wanted them both, but for different reasons. Was she strong enough to take what she wanted? Or was she the weak girl who ran when something frightened her?

She’d lost so much time already.

“Gage.” She laid her head against his chest and listened to the familiar heartbeat. “I’ve missed you. But I’m not the same woman I was.”

“Neither of us is.”

A chuckle escaped her lips. “Well. I hope not.”

“Oh. Yeah. Not a woman. Not even close.” His hand smoothed over her hair, and she sighed.

The smile slid from her face as she pulled back and met his eyes. “I have an idea. You’re not going to like it but I think this is our only shot.”

“Shot at what?”

“Catching the man who’s trying to kill me.”

***

Ryder had taken her home from Crave, hardly saying a word.

“Do you want something to eat?” She unlocked the door, and he followed her inside. The air was still. But something seemed off somehow. He carried her purse for her, setting it on the kitchen counter.

“Niggles. I’m home.” The cat was usually at the front door clawing at her leg for food. Especially after long periods away from the house. She glanced down at his partially full food bowl.

Unease slid down her back.

Something was wrong.

His eyes wouldn’t meet hers, his chin locked in a furious expression. “Thank you, no. I’ll just head home.”

He’d opened the door to the office and seen her kissing Gage. She understood how that must have made him feel. A sound drifted down the hallway, and she froze.

“Ryder…” She shook her head. “Hold on a second.” Her gun was in her purse. “Stay behind me.” She yanked it open and removed the gun, in one deft motion removing the safety.

“What…” He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening in surprise when she held up a finger.

She crept down the hall, her feet silent on the carpeted floor. Nothing had been disturbed. The bathroom window was secured. The spare bedroom with its sparse furniture and empty desk from her college days untouched.

Finally she made it to the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

“Niggles…” Her cat laid still, his tiny body twisted and misshapen in the center of the queen-sized bed. She lowered the gun, grief swirling around her. The curtain sheers fluttered in the breeze from the open window, and her eyes following their motion outside.

Headlights switched on and a car slowly pulled away, leaving no doubt in her mind who had invaded her space.

“Linnet.” Ryder enveloped her in his arms. His quiet strength was what was needed. She didn’t know why people thought male submissives were weak. Ryder was one of the strongest men she’d ever met. She had to bury her cat. But first she had some planning to do.

“I have to make a phone call.” She returned to the kitchen and pulled her phone from her purse. “Captain. Things have ratcheted up a notch.”

***

He followed her home, watching the lights dance behind the sheer drapes until the late hours of the night. She’d gone to Crave. He hadn’t expected that. But maybe he should have. So he’d found out where she lived and killed her cat.

The little beast fought hard. He clawed and scratched, the cat connected with his face, leaving a scratch down the side of his cheek. No matter. He just had to get through tomorrow. Then he could claim his prize.

Ryder drove up to Linnet’s home at the agreed upon pickup time. She still hadn’t said a word about her discussion with Gage at the club. Nor would she tell him her plan for tonight. Not completely.

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Gage. The three of us are going to meet in one of the themed rooms. He’ll come. We just have to be ready.”

She was glorious. Dressed in a short red microskirt and corset with lace-up ballet style slippers, she made him hard just looking at her. He adjusted himself and got out of the car.

“I can do it, Ryder. But can you carry this?” She handed him an overnight bag, a determined glint in her eye.

What was she up to?

“Of course.” He wanted to be whatever she needed. But then there was Gage. How could he fight a ghost from the past? He had no choice. He had to take her to him. There could be no secrets. She would either love him or not. He had to accept that, even though it killed him.

***

Gage picked up his phone and stared at it for about the four hundredth time. Linnet and Ryder should have been here by now. With a maniac on the loose, he was worried. Linnet’s plan was good, but if he got to her before she reached him… Spending the night in one of the rooms made sense. He just didn’t know if he could do it and not touch her.

Ever since he’d seen her yesterday he’d had a hard-on that wouldn’t quit. He’d watched her with Ryder. The other man loved her. Of that he was certain. The question is, how did all of this fit together now?

His security team was on alert both in the club and out in the parking lot. The cameras were manned in shifts so nothing got missed. Not this time.

His earpiece buzzed. “Watson here, sir. Nothing yet.”

“Keep looking.”

“Wait. Here they are.”

Gage swallowed, his gut churning. “Get them in here safely.”

“Will do.”

He paced the classic style suite and wondered just why she’d chosen this one. It didn’t matter. Being with her, even for a little while until this guy was caught, was a win. Then they could get back to their lives. Or not. He voted not.

There was a knock at the door, and he tensed. It opened, revealing a very sexy Linnet and a pensive Ryder.

“Hi. Sorry. We got held up with traffic.”

“No problem.”

Ryder carried an overnight bag into the room and placed it on the bed.

Linnet cleared her throat and reached for Ryder’s hand, giving it a squeeze. He took something out of the bag and slid it beneath the pillow. She placed a phone and a small bag on the dresser near the door.

His stomach twisted all over again. She was expecting trouble. He could read it in her face. So why this elaborate setup?

“I don’t understand why we’re not out there canvassing the club.”

“He’ll come to us. I want to keep whatever happens localized here, away from the rest of the club members. Ryder has a phone and a gun under the pillow. I have my phone and my bag on the bed. One of us should be able to get close enough to do something with both of those options should they arise. Also, this room has the silent alarm on the nightstand. All of the other rooms have it next to the door.”

“Clever girl.”

This was a new side to Linnet. This was the cop talking. It intrigued him. It also made him hard.

“I brought you both here tonight for a couple of reasons.” She went and sat on the bed, her legs lightly parted beneath the skirt.

Ryder watched her, saying nothing.

“And those are?” If Ryder wasn’t going to bite, then he was.

“I’ve been awake all night thinking.” Her eyes sought out Ryder and she held out her hand. “Come here. Please.”

The other man came to her. “What can I do?” His liquid eyes and blatant adoration were too much.

“I think I need to leave,” said Gage. If he didn’t he was going to fucking punch something. His cock was throbbing and all he wanted to do was bury it inside of her. His control was at a breaking point.