by Zoey Marcel
He squeezed the crap out of her. “Then you have my blessing.”
* * * *
Later that evening Danielle took a stroll through Rapid City with Cole after a day of enjoying themselves in the city. He waved his consent for her to go into a shop by herself while he answered his phone. When she came back out he seemed different, torn open almost, but not sad.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Walk with me.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder blade, gently guiding her down an alley. It was twilight and this would have been wicked creepy if he wasn’t there with her. After a minute he let his hand drop and faced her. His face appeared soft with emotion.
“Your brother called me,” he said.
“What did he want?”
“He said he proved to you that the curse in McKenna Downs was true. You believe that?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter since I’ll be living with you guys outside that town once we’re married.” Her tone gentled. “But even if you lived in McKenna Downs it wouldn’t change anything. I would still marry you.”
“He told me.” Cole stood there stiffly and kept his shimmering gaze on her. “You’re here to stay?”
“You know I am.” She stepped closer to him and touched his arm. “You’ve been worried I would leave this whole time?”
He quietly nodded.
“That’s so sad.” She cupped his cheeks and pressed her body against his. “I’m not going anywhere, Cole. I love you. I’m here to stay as long as you want me.”
“For life,” he murmured.
The soft, cool brush of his lips on hers made her eyes close and drew a dreamy sigh from her. He backed her up until the brick wall forced her to stop. Slow, intimate tonguing led to him adjusting their positions so he stood behind her and reached his hands under her clothes. One hand unbuttoned the front of her dress so he could fondle her breasts and his other hand climbed down into her panties to touch her excited pussy.
“Oh, Cole,” she breathed.
She closed her eyes and leaned back against him, wrapping his arm around her more and periodically reaching behind her to touch his smooth cheek.
He’d never done this sort of thing in public before. It was thrilling and flattering to know that he wanted her so badly he couldn’t even wait until they got home or to a hotel.
“Come for me, Danielle,” he purred into her ear.
An intense orgasm slammed into her. Shocking ripples seized her channel as he rubbed her clitoris again and again. Her next climax was softer, but it still felt wonderful. He kept making her come over and over again in her panties.
Her nipples had sharpened to hard points that felt uncomfortable in the chilly twilight air he exposed them to while groping them.
His skilled fingers tangled in her pubic hair, smearing her cream in it, probably so she would be forced to walk around covered in her own hot, messy depravity. The mere thought made the sultry flutters inside her even stronger.
After multiple orgasms her pussy throbbed. Her panties were soaked and sticking to her cleft. Liquid heat pooled in her slit and tiny dribbles of fluid streaked her bare thighs.
Her breath hitched when he moved to stand in front of her and backed her into the wall again. The bricks felt rough and uneven against her back through the thinness of her dress, but she didn’t care. He was fucking her.
Her lips parted in surprise when she saw him free his erection and then poise it at her entrance. Without a word he pushed upward and wedged his thick cock up inside her. Both moaned. She’d been waiting for this, wondering why he hadn’t penetrated her vagina up until now. The thought occurred to her that he’d been waiting for assurance that she would stay with him. Now that he had it, he apparently felt safe with her enough to get intimate in a more personal way.
Cole held her enamored gaze the whole time while he thrust into her body. She heard the narcotic sound of flesh slapping flesh with each of his rapid strokes. His long dick dug deep inside her, massaging her sopping inner walls. His pleasured groans and manly grunts had her feverish and feeling deeply connected to him.
He looked so beautiful when he came, sounded so primal. She buried her face in his coat and he held her in his arms while their racing heartbeats began to settle.
“Thank you,” he said softly, still holding her against him. “I knew you intended to stay with us, but there was still this doubt in the back of my mind. You don’t how many times I’ve gone over the memory of you walking away from me years ago in my head. It haunts me.”
She squeezed him tight for a moment and then peered up at him. “I’m not leaving. Not ever.”
He smiled and caressed her cheek. “Neither will I.”
* * * *
Later that night in bed Danielle lay half naked in Cole’s arms. They rested on their sides while fondling and gazing at each other.
“Are you ever going to finish that story about the cult?” she asked in the dark.
He heaved a sigh and propped himself up on his elbow.
She did the same. “You don’t have to. It’s just been driving me crazy.”
“I had this submissive, Emma. She was a good woman.” He rubbed his temple before exhaling deeply and saying anything more. “Sometimes when I would leave for work I would lock her in a cage. She loved it and I always made her keep her mobile in there in the event she needed to call for help. I also told Owen whenever I would do that so that if anything happened to me and her phone died, he would let himself into the house and get her out of the cage.”
She tried to keep the jealousy out of her voice. “What about the cult?”
“Patience, darling.” He rested his arm on his knee that was bent and rising up under the sheet. “I was late one night coming home from work. I called Owen to have him let Emma out of the cage, but I didn’t get an answer. Hours passed and when I went home the door was unlocked. She was gone.”
“Who took her?”
“Pure evil,” he said darkly. “I received a call from someone I had never met. He said his name was Hessian. He told me that someone I trusted had kidnapped Emma. He said that same person had also drugged Owen’s drink and abducted him. They were being held in two different locations. He said he would only tell me the location of one of them, my choice. I could only save one of them and the other person would die.”
Danielle was stunned as she listened.
Cole sat up, moving to the edge of the bed. He scratched his head, not looking at her. His voice came out strained with emotion. “He said he was holding a gun to her head and that someone I trusted was holding a gun to Owen’s head. One of them would be shot and the other would be set free. He said I could come armed if I wanted to, but if I brought police or any kind of assistance they would both be killed.”
She scooted closer to him and rubbed his back. He was shirtless. His shoulders heaved slightly in distress.
“What did you do?” she whispered.
She couldn’t even imagine. Then she remembered that he’d spoken to Owen on the phone a few times since coming home and she knew.
“I chose Owen,” Cole said quietly. “I didn’t want to lose them both, so I went to the place he was being held. I thought maybe if I could get to him and kill whoever was guarding him quickly I might have time to call the police from there, or tell Hessian that I changed my mind and wanted to save Emma instead. It didn’t work.”
She rubbed his arm. “I’m so sorry.”
He sighed. “Roger was a mate of mine. I was closer with Owen, but I trusted Roger, too. He was the one who drugged Owen’s drink. He gave the key to Hessian, who then went into my flat and kidnapped Emma. I’m sure he must have knocked her unconscious. She never would have gone without a fight. I remember it was dark out that night, moonless.”
“Roger didn’t shoot Owen when you walked in?”
“No. I told him I came unarmed, but it wasn’t true. He said he would let Owen go if I agreed to offer myself as a sacrifice to I
llar. He wanted to kill me as a blood offering to the god since I’d never been with a man. I agreed to it. Hessian called Roger and asked if I was there. He said I was. He gave me his phone so I could speak with him. Hessian said there was someone who wanted to speak with me.”
Danielle gave him a side hug when she noticed him fidgeting in misery.
“It was her. Emma screamed at me through the phone. I could tell she was crying. I’d never felt so low. She wanted to know what kind of man would put his best mate before the woman he lived with. I’ve asked myself that same question a thousand times since then, but I never once regretted choosing him.” Cole wiped his face and shook his head. His features marred with agony. “Hessian got back on the phone and told me I fascinated him because I was so intelligent and always able to detach, yet I wasn’t a criminal like him. He found me an enigma. He asked me if I would be able to detach from this. Then he shot her.”
Danielle’s eyes watered and she hugged him tight. “That’s awful.”
“I just stood there in shock. I was screaming inside, but I didn’t say anything. I remember feeling cold, everything seemed unreal. Something told me Owen wasn’t walking out of there either, so I killed Roger. Emma gave me that knife. I would have kept it, but after that…I couldn’t. I untied Owen and we hugged for a long moment and then walked out.”
She wept softly onto his skin.
“I was always so proud of my ability to detach from situations, to keep from losing my head over people. I lost Emma because of it, but it would have been so much worse if I’d lost Owen. He’s my best mate.” Cole’s voice softened. “You were the one thing that got to me, the only person I couldn’t detach from.”
She peeked up at him.
“If it had been between you and him, I would have chosen you without a second thought and it would have killed me to lose him. He’s like a brother to me, but there’s no one I love more than you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
She snuggled against him and he put an arm around her.
“I’ve never forgiven myself for what happened to her. I should have found a way to save them both. I’ve always enjoyed sadomasochism, but I gave it up for a few years because it made me feel evil.”
“It’s not the same as being a ruthless killer or a coldblooded psychopath.”
“I know it’s not, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was like him. He enjoyed inflicting pain and destroying lives. He was able to detach from his victims’ suffering, revel in it, even. It wasn’t until you and I started a relationship together recently that I took it up again.” Cole kissed her on the head.
“I made you want it again?”
“You did. It doesn’t feel wrong with you. I love what we do together.”
“Me, too.”
“I’ve always tried to get inside the minds of criminals to help me find whoever I was looking for, but there’s something diabolical about Hessian. Why do psychopaths push their victims beyond their pain threshold physically, mentally, and emotionally? Is it to try to feel something, to pierce the cold detachment somehow? Or do they simply enjoy causing others suffering?”
“I don’t know,” she said softly. “You’re nothing like that. You detach so you can try to solve problems and to keep from getting hurt. You’re not out to harm anyone. You enjoy causing pain that your partner likes receiving. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re a good man”
“You’re a good woman, Danielle.” Cole rubbed her arm lightly while they sat together. “I know it’s all in the mind. Certain parts of their brain are different from ours, underdeveloped. They can’t feel empathy. They have no fear. And I wonder sometimes if my brain had developed differently, if genetics hadn’t been in my favor in the womb, would I have been like him? Could he have been a decent man if his brain wasn’t damaged? I have no sympathy for him certainly, but one wonders sometimes. It’s a chilling thought to think that all that’s keeping a person from being pure evil or halfway decent is their mind. One slight tweak here or an adjustment of a chemical there and a person can turn out completely different or walk another path in life.”
“It is a scary thought.”
“Maybe there is no good or evil, just a correct mind and a twisted one. It’s humbling, really.”
“There is good. I see it in you. I always have. I don’t care if it’s your brain making you do it or not. I think the heart plays a bigger role in things than you might think.” She played with his hair. “Will you keep a secret if I tell you something?”
He peered down at her. “What’s that?”
“Not until you promise.”
“I promise I won’t say anything.”
She pulled back a little and looked him in the eye. Her voice was but a whisper. “I’ve always loved you more … than anyone.”
Cole’s face eased and he put his arms around her. His mouth was on hers. He laid her back on the bed and kept feasting on her mouth, tongues mating while he slipped her panties off and his underwear. He fingered her to orgasm while kissing her and then went down on her. When she was writhing in the afterglow and the sheets were soaked beneath her, she felt him pushing his stiff cock into her pussy. His gasp joined her soft cry.
They made love in the dark between the sheets. He came inside her, pulling her body into his as he spilled his release into her. They held each other close, panting and sweaty in the darkness.
He nuzzled her and whispered into her ear. “Thank you.”
Chapter Nine
Brighton McAlister was feeling pretty tight as he sauntered through town. He looked dapper and he smelled good. Kale wouldn’t stand a chance. His sexy man Dom wasn’t home, so he went looking for him.
He noticed a redheaded chick, who was probably in her late twenties, frantically feeling up the air in front of her like a mime gone feral. Maybe she knew where Kale was. It wouldn’t hurt to ask and he was kind of curious what the heck she was doing. She seemed frantic, possibly nutty.
Her name was Kendall if he remembered right. His good friend, Justin Huntington, had told him she was staying with them at Hart Huntington’s cattle ranch. Or maybe she was involved with Hart’s sons. Something.
Brighton approached her. “Hey, pretty lady. Have you seen my partners?”
She shot an anxious look at him. He wasn’t sure why. It didn’t kill the friendly grin on his face. Nothing was souring his mood when he was this happy.
He walked right into, well, nothing, and fell over onto his ass. That was weird.
“What the hell?” He got up, dusting his butt off. “I’m not normally this clumsy.”
Her eyes widened. “The curse applies to you, too?”
“What curse?” he asked, smacking into the barrier again. “What the fuck is going on?”
“You don’t even live in McKenna Downs.”
“I know. I’m here to see one of my partners.” He rubbed his nose. “What are you talking about?”
“Taken women can’t leave town unless they get permission from their husbands.”
“But I’m not a woman and I’m not married.”
“Do you have a dominant partner that lives in this town?”
“Yeah.” His mouth fell open. “Oh my God.”
“I guess it applies to men, too.” She seemed shaken.
He was dazed. “I have to go.”
Brighton backed away slowly, then turned and walked away. He didn’t know what to think or do. He was under the town curse now? How could that be? Did Kale know about this?
Nothing’s changed between us. I was already his sub. No big deal. It’s pretty much the same.
Except it wasn’t. With Kale he had a safe word. The town curse didn’t give a damn what word he used. He was stuck. Surely his man would let him leave McKenna Downs for the day as long as he came back.
Being physically trapped was different. If Kale ever wanted to, he could keep him here against his will. The guy would never do that to him. He knew him.
Like h
e’d known Siegfried. Brighton froze. He’d known the butler for a decade and the classy dude had bamboozled him.
He hadn’t known Kale for as long. He grew up with Danielle, so love and marriage were understandable. He loved Kale every bit as much, but he met him only months ago. He knew that both Kale and Danielle were the loves of his life.
But now he was physically constrained in this town. Hell, he didn’t even live in McKenna Downs, but apparently it didn’t matter. His dominant partner did. He was being squished into compliance.
Brighton swiped his hand down his face and then threaded his fingers through his hair. He told himself it wasn’t the same as being gotten drunk and defiled. It was a different kind of helplessness, though. The question was, could his partner be trusted with the power he’d been given?
* * * *
About a half hour later Brighton met Kale at his house when his lover got home. They spent time watching a movie and cuddling on the couch together.
“Have you ever heard about the town curse?” he asked quietly.
Kale looked down at him. He had his arm around him and Brighton’s head rested against his chest, but he could tell by the slight shifting of muscles beneath him.
“The McKenna Downs curse for taken women?” Kale asked.
“Yeah. Did you know about it?”
“It’s just a myth, Brighton.”
“What if it’s not?”
“Why so superstitious all of a sudden, pup?”
Brighton shrugged but otherwise didn’t move.
Kale kissed his head. “Don’t fret. There’s no evil bison out to get you.”
Crap, he hadn’t even thought of that. According to legend, there was a ghostly white buffalo that appeared whenever a woman tried to leave permanently if her man had only given her permission to leave town for the day. The bison was supposedly the guardian spirit of whoever had originally set the curse on McKenna Downs.
“Some people say it applies to submissive men, too. I’d have to ask your permission just to leave town,” Brighton said.
“You’re worrying too much about this, little one.”
