by Rayna Stone
Intentionally ignoring James’s furious face and the scared-as-piss look on Ryan’s, she approached Kelly. “Um, Kelly? I just wanted to see if you were okay. I stopped for our lunch date, but all the cops sort of suggest there’s something wrong.” Everyone staring at her was really making her nervous.
“I’m sorry, Alexa. This is actually a really bad time. There’s a serial killer after me. You might want to steer clear for a bit,” Kelly said.
Alexa just stared at her for a minute. Did Kelly really just say that? Well, she supposed that if that were the case there really wasn’t a way to sugarcoat it. And it would definitely explain all the police. The bigger question was how was she expected to react to this news? Alexa said the only thing that would come to mind. “Serial killer? Seriously? Jesus.” Alexa crinkled her brow for a minute. “Okay, I’ll be home if you need me.”
Well, it wasn’t brilliant, but at least it didn’t sound any more ridiculous than “There’s a serial killer after me.” Maybe these people weren’t as normal as she thought. Without another glance at the two men who still seemed to be ignoring her, Alexa turned on her heel and headed for her car. She pulled out of the parking lot with her music still blaring and headed home, wondering if she’d need any of the groceries she just bought, or if she even wanted to go hiking with James and Ryan anymore. Christ, she had a lot of lunch meat.
* * * *
James could feel the muscle in his jaw start to spasm. First he had to deal with the heart attack of Kelly finding a dead body in her office, and then he saw Alexa pull into the spa parking lot and he almost lost his shit. They had been dealing with the stress of this serial killer for months. Now it was clear that his friend Kelly was the target, and he knew that all of them were being watched. The only one safe, the one he wanted to keep out of this psycho’s crosshairs, had just come blazing into this shit storm like an innocent little lamb to the slaughter. He wanted her gone. More important, if the killer were watching right now, he didn’t want to give any indication that anyone even knew Alexa.
As soon as she made eye contact with him, James gave her a sharp negative shake of the head. Get outta here, honey. He didn’t have time to think of how to get the message across any other way, and he certainly wasn’t going to approach her. Alexa looked confused for a minute, but then he could tell she was pissed. Not the reaction he was hoping for. She seemed to straighten her spine, and then she marched right into the group without another glance his way. Damn it. The woman was going to get involved. He had to restrain himself from grabbing her and dragging her back to her car. At least Ryan was on the same page. He looked terrified that she was here.
They listened stoically as she talked to Kelly and then took off. Great. She didn’t even look his way again.
“How did you meet Alexa, Kelly?”
“Oh. She’s my neighbor. We were supposed to meet here for lunch. I don’t think I’ll be eating for a week after what I just saw though.”
He couldn’t stand the thought of her so close to potential danger. He and Ryan had to get back to the clinic soon, but the first chance he got, he was going over to Alexa’s and staying put until this psycho killer was arrested.
Just then Kent’s phone rang. After some conversation, the PIs that Kent knew gave them the answer they had been waiting for. They finally had a solid lead. Kelly’s boyfriend, Troy, was heading the case, and James knew it wouldn’t be long before he found his suspect. James let Kelly know that he and Ryan would close up the clinic as soon as they could, and then they’d bring her some food. He planned on bringing some to Alexa as well. Kelly would be waiting at her house with an armed guard, and Alexa would get James and Ryan glued to her side until Troy gave them the word that they were safe again. He snatched at Ryan’s sleeve and speed walked to the car.
“We’re getting everything taken care of at work and then heading to Kelly’s. Once we know she’s settled, we need to make sure Alexa stays put. She needs to know what’s going on,” James told Ryan. For his part, Ryan just nodded his agreement and they took off.
Three grueling hours later, after sending an emergency to the next town’s clinic and getting Justin to set them up with enough food for an army, James and Ryan pulled in front of Kelly’s house. Troy was pulling in right behind them. They no sooner got out of the car than they heard a scream for help from inside. James dropped the food and took off for the front door.
They watched as Troy opened the door, and James bit his lip when they were ordered to wait outside for Troy’s “all clear.” His patience snapped though when he heard Troy yelling at someone, asking where Kelly was. He and Ryan ran into the house and stopped dead at the sight of Alexa bent over Kelly’s dog just beyond the body of a cop. His brain was working so fast he could barely interpret the scene except to know that Kelly wasn’t in sight, the cop didn’t look alive, and Alexa was smeared with blood. His heart stopped. All the breath left his lungs.
“My name’s Alexa Green. I saw you at the spa today. I don’t know where Kelly is. I live next door and heard gunshots, so I ran over here but I couldn’t get in. When I came around back, the door was open and this is what I saw. That guy’s dead and the dog isn’t far behind. I called 911 a few minutes ago, but I can’t find Kelly anywhere.”
She what? James was so furious that she just ran to the rescue with no thought to her safety that he was on autopilot as he crossed the room and sank down to the dog’s side. At least this he could do. He would assess Kelly’s dog and try to calm down before he throttled Alexa. Ryan took off to double-check the house for Kelly while Troy barked orders into the phone and Alexa slumped against the wall. He couldn’t bear one more second of silence.
“You heard gunshots and decided to just run on over here? You could have been killed.” His tone was matter of fact even though he wanted to rail at her.
Alexa didn’t seem too fazed by his statement. “Well, I brought my rock hammer. What was I supposed to do? Just let my neighbor get shot? I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly, okay? And where’s your weapon, Conan?” She was actually snapping at him!
James looked at her incredulously. “A rock hammer? What the fuck is a rock hammer?”
Alexa picked up her little hammer. “This. It’s for geology stuff. It’s all I could find quickly.”
James rolled his eyes. “Unfuckingbelievable.” The woman heard a gunshot and thought she could save the day with a glorified toothpick. He was definitely going to put her over his knee.
At least the dog, Carson, looked like he’d be okay. He took a bullet, but it had gone straight through and he wasn’t bleeding too badly. If James could get him to surgery and close up his wound, he should make it. Ryan came running back into the room as Troy snapped his phone shut. Everyone stared at him as he told James to get Carson to the clinic, and ordered Ryan to stay with Alexa and wait for the police. The reality that Kelly had been kidnapped was not something he could think about yet. They all had a job to do, and he was counting on Troy to get Kelly back alive.
James lifted Carson into his arms and turned to Ryan. “You get her to the clinic as soon as she’s done talking with the police. And don’t let her out of your sight.”
Chapter Seven
Ryan felt light headed as he listened to Alexa repeat her story to the cops for the third time. He was latched onto her hand even though she had tried to pull away a few times. No way. Just picturing her running over to Kelly’s, where someone had already been shot to death, was enough to make him nauseous. And Kelly. Kelly was gone and in the hands of a murderer. He had no idea how to deal with that. James and Ryan had known Kelly since college. They had grown into adulthood together. He refused to believe that Troy would fail to find her in time. That just could not happen.
When the officer finally released Alexa, Ryan immediately pulled her out of the house. “We need to get to the clinic. I think Kelly’s dog will be okay, but I should be there to make sure James doesn’t need any help. Then we’re hunkering down until we get word
from Troy.” He opened the car door for her, and she sat down without complaint. Before he could close the door she put her hand out.
“Could you also explain to me what the hell is going on? I don’t mean to be nosey, but if this kind of thing is a regular occurrence in my neighborhood, I think I have a right to know.” Her tone suggested that she was a bit pissed at having not been told before that there was potential danger around her. Ryan really couldn’t blame her for being mad. It’s just that they didn’t realize how close that danger truly was until it was too late.
“We’ll explain everything.” And then he felt the heat wash over him again at the memory of her crouched on the floor next to a dead cop and a bleeding dog. His voice took on a sharper edge. “And then you can explain to us why you barged into a house knowing that you might get hurt…by yourself.” Alexa’s only response was to roll her eyes. Ryan’s jaw dropped. He had never wanted to spank a person before now, but the desire to beat her ass until she promised never to put herself in danger again was so strong that his palm actually throbbed. He squinted at her while starting the car. Yep, spanking her would be the way to go.
As soon as they got to the clinic Alexa bolted out of the car and ran up to the door. The ride over had been silent and full of tension, but Ryan couldn’t worry about it just now. He had to make sure James was okay, and then they had to figure out how to give Alexa the answers she needed. He had hoped that they could ease her into understanding what kind of lifestyle they lived, but talking about the serial killer was going to put their plans on the fast track. She’d know about the club and their personal involvement with certain alternative life choices. He sincerely hoped that too much information after the shock she had today wouldn’t scare her away.
The fear he felt when he saw her at Kelly’s house was like a punch to the gut. He wanted her. He wanted to know what kind of person cared so much about a stranger that she would risk her life to help. The little glimpses that they saw of Alexa from the day they first laid eyes on her fascinated him. From hopping around in her chair at the Tavern, swimming in a sea of maps and books at the coffee shop, dragging a freaking wolf to the clinic, and running to the rescue with a rock hammer, she was the most interesting woman he’d ever met. He wanted to know everything about her.
All the lights in the clinic were on, and the air had that familiar scent of alcohol and iodine. James had Kelly’s dog on the mats in the recovery room. Alexa was standing in the corner quietly watching as James finished cleaning and bandaging the dog’s sutures. Ryan checked the IV and then knelt down next to James. When their eyes met he realized that James probably hadn’t taken a second to blink since they ran into Kelly’s house. His eyes were bloodshot and his lips were pressed thin, emphasizing the little lines around his mouth. Ryan didn’t even think, he just leaned forward and hugged James’s face between his palms. They took a moment, with their foreheads touching, just to breath in the comforting scent of each other before Ryan tilted James’s face and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He heard the little gasp from Alexa but couldn’t address it until he knew James was okay.
“Kelly’s going to be fine, James. We’ll get through this, and then it’ll be over, right?” Ryan gave James’s head a slight shake and looked in his eyes. “We’ll get through this.” James let out a strained breath and nodded before he wrapped Ryan in a full embrace.
* * * *
Alexa didn’t know if watching James and Ryan kiss was surprising or just plain hot. She shouldn’t be surprised, weren’t all incredibly attractive and successful men gay? That was the cultural joke anyway. All the good ones were either taken or gay. And these two were definitely beyond good. But watching them kiss ignited a fire in her belly. She’d never seen two guys kiss before, and until this moment she would have said she never needed to. But holy hell, it was intense. Perhaps more so because they weren’t just going at it, it was the most tender and emotional moment between two people she had ever witnessed. She was actually jealous. She wanted to know what it felt like to have someone care for you so much that when they looked at you, and held you in such a way, their devotion was a tangible thing.
Alexa snapped her eyes away from their personal moment, feeling more than a little awkward. She hugged herself and tried to look at anything but them. God, she felt dumb. All week she’d been excited about getting to know them. She didn’t really expect either of them to be interested in her, but she hadn’t caught on that they were together. Well, since she pretty much figured relationships were not an option for her, this actually made things easier. There was now zero chance she would have to worry one of them would ask her out on a date. Had she ever even been on a real date? Well, if you have to think about it, the answer is obviously no, stupid. Lost in her thoughts, she had picked up some of the surgical tools and immediately felt a warm body press up behind her. Practically jumping out of her skin, she dropped the scalpel and spun around.
“Might want to be careful with those, they’re sharp and I have to sterilize them,” James said. She could see his mouth curl into a smile as he led her to the waiting room. “Carson down there will be out for a little longer. We can sit in here and talk while he recovers.”
Yes, talk. That’s what she needed. Some answers. “So, a serial killer, huh?”
James closed his eyes for a moment and settled further into his seat. “Yes. There’s been someone victimizing young women in the Denver area. Until recently, we were fairly certain that his hunting ground was strictly in the city. Troy, Kelly’s boyfriend, is the detective working the case. Today we found out that the original target has been Kelly all along.”
Alexa leaned forward, not quiet believing her ears. “The Sadist Serial Killer? It’s all the students have been able to talk about all summer. He’s been kidnapping girls from BDSM clubs downtown and torturing them to death. That’s the guy that has Kelly?” Holy shit. When James just whispered “yes” she looked at Ryan. “Wait, why would he want Kelly?”
Ryan took a deep breath and plunged in. “Well, we think he wants Kelly because she trained him at our club. Kelly, James, and I, along with Kat’s husbands own an alternative club that caters to those in the BDSM lifestyle.”
Alexa could not stop the slightly hysterical giggle that escaped at Ryan’s words. A sex club, serial killers, and BDSM. All in my backyard? Things this interesting just do not happen to me. But she saw the distress in their eyes and knew some of it was for her. Worry for how she was taking what she’d just been through. They had no way of knowing that she’d been through so much worse in life and been so emotionally removed for much of it, that even though she knew it made her seem callous, she really didn’t feel much. She hoped that if she just kept them talking, it’d be distraction enough that it would help them focus on something other than what was happening to their friend right this very minute.
“Do people have actual sex with whips and chains in this place? Wait…Kat has husbands…plural? You’re just fucking with me now.”
“The people we know who participate in the lifestyle take not only power exchange, but their partners and relationships very seriously. They deserve your respect if not your understanding,” James continued.
Alexa felt a deep stab of shame. Who was she to judge? She still had an account on FetLife for God’s sake. All her life she had hidden herself away from people because she feared their judgment for one reason or another, and here she was assuming none of what they were saying could be real or genuine just because she’d never found it herself. She had never felt so low.
“I’m so sorry, James. To be honest, I don’t have much experience with any of this. Actually, outside of articles, I have no experience. And the way society takes advantage of the culture to turn it into something so ugly and abusive makes it hard to trust anyone who says they’re involved with it. I mean. Look at us. We’re sitting here talking about a serial killer right now.”
“Society has painted the BDSM community with a rather broad brush, and a fairly
uninformed and often negative one as well, but we can discuss that later, what were you saying about articles,” James asked, extreme intensity firing in his eyes.
Alexa’s brain immediately flipped to all the research she had done over the years. What she couldn’t experience for herself, she studied. It didn’t matter if it was history, vacation destinations, or sex, she was interested in it all. “Yes, you’d be surprised how much information there is out there about sex. Even BDSM. It’s fascinating really. Did you know that they’re using ultrasounds and CAT scans to study the female body during orgasm?” James and Ryan just gave her a blank look, so she continued. “They can actually see the blood flow in the womb as the muscles contract. They’re trying to pinpoint where the G-spot actually is and how it’s connected to the outer muscles of the clitoris. Plus, in the CAT scan, they can see how the brain reacts during orgasm. I’ve read a lot about the female orgasm.” She didn’t feel they needed to know that she did this because she had never had one that matched all the hype.
“Why does a woman even have an orgasm? It’s not necessary for procreation. And why can some women have multiple orgasms but some can’t orgasm at all? They even have a device that can be implanted in the spinal column that can generate an orgasm. This doctor discovered it when he was trying to place the device into a patient’s spinal cord to interrupt pain signals and she orgasmed on the spot. Can you imagine?” How many times have I said the word “orgasm”? Both James and Ryan had sat down at this point. They were looking at her like she was a rare specimen. She thought maybe she had gone far enough, but she never could stop herself when she had a captive audience and she was in lecture mode. It was usually the only time people listened to her.
