Slave to Love (11 page)

She smiled as his body reacted powerfully.

His hand shot out to hit the elevator's stop button. The car lurched to a halt.

“I'm not afraid of anything.” He stood there watching her as she caressed him, cool as a cucumber and just as hard. “We left our badges outside the door last night, remember? But now we've got them back on, so cut it out.”

“Maybe I should just cut them
off
,” she softly suggested, and gave his sac a squeeze.

“Try it.”

He didn't even flinch. Just gave her an enigmatic quirk of his lips, revealing nothing of his thoughts. It was maddening. She was sorely tempted to squeeze harder. “Fuck you.”

His smile became more sinister. “Later.”

Someone on the floor above pounded heavily on the doors to the elevator shaft, making her jump.

“You gonna do something more interesting with that hand or should I let the elevator go?” Mick drawled.

She yanked her hand away and he calmly pressed the release button on the panel. With a jerk, the car ascended to the next floor.

The door whooshed open and he strode out, pointing to a small camera in the corner of the elevator's ceiling. “Now, smile real sweet for the surveillance tape,” he said with a look of infuriating smugness.

Ah, hell.

Chapter 6

Caroline sank her forehead against the wall next to the elevator. Damn, damn, damn. How brilliant had that move been? She'd completely forgotten about the security cameras that had been installed in the elevator due to the increased threat of terrorism. Now she’d have to do whatever he wanted, if he had a mind to make her. He could say she seduced him and they’d believe him— The whole thing had been caught on tape. And he'd known it all along. The bastard.

How on earth had this happened to her? In less than forty-eight hours she’d gone from being offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fast-track her dream of transferring to Homicide, to possibly killing any chance of staying there by sleeping with her superior officer, to subsequently being royally fucked by him.

Damn, damn, damn.

Jeez, what a mess. She'd end up in a straitjacket if she had to face these explosive feelings and situations every day. Should she bail out now while she still had a modicum of dignity left?

No. She could handle this. She could handle him. She would reason with him. Suggest they both just forget any of it ever happened. Suggest they start over with a clean slate. And keep their hands off each other.
Both
of them. Maybe then she could work with him. It wouldn’t be easy. But she owed it to herself to try. She would
not
blow this chance because of a bad case of unruly hormones.

“Mick!” she called after his retreating form, and hurried to catch up. “I need to talk to you.”

“You can do that later, too,” he said without breaking stride. “Right after you fuck me.”

She didn't have time to do more than grind her teeth and think about lifting her foot and kicking him in the shins when Bobby and Tim Woodruff suddenly emerged from the task force center.

“You found her,” Bobby said cheerfully to Mick.

Sorely tempted, she nevertheless dropped her foot to the floor and tapped it impatiently instead.

“In SIS. She must miss it.”

Mick greeted Woodruff with a quick handshake. Without so much as a glance at her, he took a sheaf of files Bobby handed him and started down the corridor to one of the interview rooms.

Bobby gazed after him with a slightly raised brow, then leaned in to her. “Naughty, naughty. Detective McGraw doesn't like sharing his slaves with anyone. Better not let him catch you in SIS again.”

“He won't have to.” She crossed her arms mutinously. “He’s going to fire my ass any second.”

Bobby slung an arm around her shoulder, compelling her to follow McGraw and Woodruff. “Now, that’s not true and you know it.”

“I’m not kidding. Honest to God, Bobby. I don’t know if I can work with the man. He's a complete prick.”

Bobby chuckled. “I agree. But he's an equal opportunity prick. That's what makes him so good. The bad guys don't stand a chance. For some reason this case has him more wound up than I've ever seen him. My advice? Just do what he says and ignore the rest. If he likes you, he'll get you rotated into Homicide permanently. That's what you want, isn't it?”

It was. More than ever, not that she’d had a taste of it. “That's beside the point,” she said, puffing out a breath. “He
doesn't
like me. Not one damn bit.”

“Oh, yes he does. He does, indeed.”

They'd arrived at the door to Interview 3 where Tim and Mick waited for them, so Caro didn't have time to ponder what Bobby could have meant by that ridiculous remark.

“We'll be interviewing several close friends of the victims,” Tim explained before they went inside. “The idea is to put together a profile of the victims' patterns of behavior as couples. That way we'll better know how Mick and Caroline should interact at the club, Brimstone, to attract the attention of our subject.”

Mick nodded. “That will be helpful.”

Caro kept her mouth firmly closed, determined to turn things around. She followed the others into the room, buoyed by the thought that she was about to learn things few people, even detectives, were privileged to study. Tim’s professional insights into the killer’s mind were fascinating. This was what she loved to do.

Over the course of the next few hours, Caro forgot completely about her problems with Mick and immersed herself in the dark world of the sociopath for whom they were setting their trap.

One by one, the victims' friends were called in. Caro sat with Bobby at the far end of the table, observing and taking notes while Tim conducted the interviewees through an extensive set of personal questions about their friends' personalities and habits. Occasionally, Mick would throw in a question, and once she did, too.

“Do you happen to know if Ms Tailor enjoyed receiving oral sex?” she asked Wendy’s best girlfriend, the woman who had found the bodies.

The men turned to stare at her in surprise, but she ignored them, concentrating on the friend’s expression.

“Well, yes,” she answered, squirming a little in her seat. “We did talk about that once or twice. She liked it a lot. They both did.”

“Interesting. Thank you.” Then she clammed up.

Over the afternoon a pretty good picture emerged of each couple, which led to some interesting conclusions about the killer. Afterwards, Tim recapped what they had learned.

“You were right on target about them all dabbling in BDSM, Mick,” he said. “Though it seems far more likely it’s just experimentation rather than a permanent lifestyle.”

Mick nodded. “Yeah, sounds like they definitely enjoyed leather and dressing up, especially the women. I'm going to get FSI to go through their closets again and make a detailed list of any overtly sexual outfits. Might help our targeting.”

“Good idea,” Tim agreed. “Visuals can be very important.”

Mick narrowed his eyes on Caro. “Why did you ask them about oral sex?”

She swallowed against the memories inspired by the words, of Mick’s mouth on her last night, and responded coolly, “I’d think it would be obvious to such a gifted detective.”

“Why don’t you enlighten me.”

She took a breath. “All three autopsies indicated the women serviced the men orally, but not vice versa. That seemed like a strange coincidence to me. Especially considering the emphasis they put on that area of their bodies.”

“Emphasis?” Bobby asked.

“The wax jobs. That’s not something most women would do just for themselves. Too much work to maintain. They did it for their men. It’s an invitation. If not for oral sex, then for what?”

Tim nodded, looking interested. “Go on.”

“I’m thinking their sexual routines the night of their deaths may have been different than usual. Disrupted maybe. It could be because of other circumstances, but it could also be because of the killer.”

“Excellent observation,” Tim said, jotting more notes on his yellow pad.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind at Brimstone,” Mick stated dryly.

Pointedly ignoring him, she asked Tim, “What about the rest of their behaviors? Anything jump out at you?”

“As you heard, the men were all very controlling, at least sexually. They liked to be in charge, and kept their women on a tight leash—literally. Mick, this is what you'll need to emulate.”

“That'll be a stretch,” Caro muttered, unconcerned when it drew a sharp scowl from him. Two could play the power game. If he thought she’d just roll over for him, he was in for a surprise.

“And you, Caroline, you should concentrate on being completely submissive.”

She darted a dagger look at Mick, who sat back with an infuriatingly smug curl at the corner of his impassive lip.
In your dreams
, hombre.

“Despite outward appearances, these women all enjoyed being dominated by the men in their personal lives, and there is no doubt it was a key factor in why the killer chose these particular couples. Something in that submissive behavior may be triggering his rage. Enough to make him track them down and kill them.”

Frowning, she thought about her own mysterious reaction to Mick's not-so-subtle domination last night, and said, “I just don't get it. These were all smart, strong, professional women. One was a lawyer, for crying out loud! Why would any sane, intelligent woman like being bullied and abused by a man? Especially her own husband?”

Tim chuckled. “You wouldn't think so, would you? However, you have to bear in mind, this is not bullying or abuse. Rather, it is intimate, sexual behavior, which is bound up with fantasy. Sexual fantasy has vastly different rules than reality, ones that are often far from politically correct. This is certainly not behavior these women would have tolerated from anyone other than a trusted sexual partner.”

“I still don't get it. Why would she take it from him? What's the attraction?”

Tim considered. “Lots of things. The more a person must be strong and in-control in the real world, the more seductive the fantasy is just to kick back, so to speak, and let someone else make all the decisions in one's private life. Provided it is a loving, trusted partner, on whom the person can rely to make good decisions for them both.”

Caro thought about that. Reluctantly she admitted it made a certain amount of sense. It had been so easy last night, once she had made the decision to sleep with Mick, to let him take over and direct things how he wanted them. She'd been so caught up in what he was doing to her she'd never even noticed her own acquiescence.

Uncomfortable with that bit of inner revelation, she couldn’t help thinking about her own background.

Was that how her mother had been roped into her passive, subservient role with her father? Had it started in bed and simply mushroomed from there? Lord, she definitely didn’t want to think about
that
visual.

“But still, we're not talking about deciding which restaurant to go to,” she said. “We're talking about being tied up and having sex in front of a stranger! There is a huge difference.”

Tim smiled. “Not really. These women were living out their deepest, darkest sexual fantasies. It's all about letting go, relinquishing control and giving power to your partner. Bondage is the ultimate act of trust—trusting your partner to know you well enough to fulfill your fantasy, but not to hurt you.” He leaned forward earnestly. “Surely, you've fantasized about being tied up by a favorite lover, Caroline?”

She blanched. Mick's posture was casual, but she felt his eyes laser in on her. Okay, so maybe she had fantasized about being tied up and helpless with a man. Once or twice. So what?

She crossed her legs. “Lots of women fantasize about that. It doesn't mean they'd actually do it in real life.”

“And why not, do you think?”

She shifted under the profiler's serious gaze and Mick's calculating one. “Well, because...because being tied up and taken against your will is
rape
.”

“That’s a strong word, Caroline. Is it rape even if it’s a willing, consensual act with someone you love and trust?”

She swallowed. Jeez, how had they gotten into this discussion? “Well, no, I guess not,” she conceded.

“Exactly. The difference is the love and the trust. In a Master/slave relationship, the slave loves the Master and trusts his decisions in all things. She willingly relinquishes her will and her control. Sometimes just over her body, sometimes more—over her emotions, her intellect, even over her very life. Those are the choices she makes when she becomes his slave. Our victims had obviously not gone that far in their Dominant/submissive relationships as to become a total lifestyle. And they undoubtedly never would have. Theirs was more of a pleasure slave role, which is far more common. Submission in the sexual realm only. She enjoyed the fantasy of being helpless and he enjoyed his power over her. Both based on trust. And that’s what you need to convey to the killer with your behavior at Brimstone, Caroline. That you trust Mick's decisions concerning your sexual pleasure and will go along with whatever sexual demands he makes of you. Including being tied up and having sex in front of a stranger, if he asks it. That is the key to luring this guy into your trap.”

Tim regarded her closely. “Do you trust Mick, Caroline?”

“About as far as I can spit,” she muttered.