Cado (7 page)

“Don’t ever run from me again.” Lucian’s tone crackled with anger as his hands encircled my wrists tightly. “What I shared—I’ve never shared with anyone but you. You will not reject me like that again.” I cringed. His voice was so sharp it hurt my ears.

My heart sped up and my breathing came in shallow little bursts. I was right. Dorothy’s body was a message. Lucian had taken insult to me running out on him at the hotel. “I was—I was afraid. And confused.” I hated admitting that to him, but I couldn’t seem to help myself, the words tumbled from my mouth as if on their own volition.

Lucian’s grip on me loosened and his expression relaxed. “Do not fear me, my Karma. I will never hurt you more than you can take. I merely grow impatient.”

“What—what the hell does that mean?” I shoved at him. “I don’t like being threatened.”
And impatient? Impatient for what?

He pinned me down with his body, his hot breath stirring softly against the side of my face. “It’s not a threat. It’s a promise to push you to be better.”

My nostrils flared with agitation. “Better? Better than fucking what? You don’t know me. And I don’t know you. Not really. Just because we’re both freaks of nature or something doesn’t mean—”

He stole my breath with a kiss. His tongue pushed past my lips to intertwine with mine, wordlessly making promises of pleasure beyond my wildest imaginings. I wanted to cry foul, that he was forcing me, using sexual coercion, or just plain being an asshole, but in all honestly, I didn’t want him to stop. I’d had sex with men I didn’t like before, men who I could barely stand to be in the same room with—unless they were inside of me. Maybe if I fucked Lucian, the sexual power he seemed to exude over me would simply go away. You know, once I nailed him, I could probably bail him.

I gripped Lucian’s silky hair tightly and yanked him away from me. I licked my lips and met his lust laden azure gaze. My blood boiled with desire, just like it did every time I was around him since the first moment I’d laid eyes on him. “Fuck me, Lucian. Now.”

His lips were molten as they trailed down my neck hungrily—desperately. I leaned back, taking him with me just as he grazed my nipple with his teeth. I gasped and clutched at his shoulders, eager to have him continue with whatever he had planned. My body was strung too tight with desire, causing my muscles to ache with the need for release. He parted my thighs eagerly and dipped his head to graze his teeth over my clit just like he had my nipple, immediately followed by him sucking it into his mouth. I arched up and screamed, almost not sure if I was in pain or ecstasy.

“You taste and sound like the perfect sin,” he purred against my flesh.

“Lucian, fuck me,” I demanded. I was usually more into foreplay, but at the moment it seemed both unnecessary and annoying. I needed to feel him moving inside of me like I needed my next breath of air.

He chuckled, the sound seeming to touch things on my insides, causing me to shudder in turn. “Not now, my Karma. You’re not ready for me.”

I undulated my hips and cried out with impatience. Why was he denying me? And what the hell was he talking about? I was beyond ready, couldn’t he tell? I was wetter than I’d ever been in my entire life, I swear. “I’m ready, baby,” I rasped. “So ready.”

“Mmmm…” He dipped his index finger into me and crooked it. I moaned loudly. If I hadn’t been lost in a haze of lust I would have been mortified at the noises I was making. They were too desperate. “That’s not what I mean.”

“I don’t care what you mean,” I growled. “Just shut the hell up and fuck me, or I’ll find someone else who will.” Unbidden, Officer Hotty aka Officer Moretti swam up in my mind.

Lucian chuckled again, but it sounded darker, almost menacing. “Fuck whoever you want…for now. Because when you’re finally ready—” He pulled his finger out of me and leaned into to whisper in my ear. “—when I fuck you—” He slid his hand behind my neck and gripped it tightly, forcing me to meet his unfathomable gaze once more. “—you’ll belong to me forever.”

Fear tightened my chest and I sucked in a raspy breath. “No.” Something about his words chilled me down to my bones. I’d been stalked before, obsessed about by my clients. I’d heard all kinds of creepy things, but nothing—
nothing
—had ever frightened me on the level of what Lucian had just uttered. I hated feeling helpless in any manner. I’d spent most of my adult life making sure that I never would again, and yet Lucian laid me bare—exposed my weaknesses so easily. It was like he could see into my shattered soul. Did he know everything about me? Every dark detail? Could he see past the mirage I’d created of myself? The perfect image I presented to the world?

“Yes,” he hissed, his lips curled up into a sneer against my cheek. Yes, what? Yes, he was reading my mind? Yes, he could see everything about me, or was he simply opposing my protest of a no?

My head swam and I found Lucian falling out of focus, just like the rest of my surroundings. I hadn’t quite figured out where I was, nothing beyond Lucian registered on any of my senses. Maybe it was all a dream? Where had I been before—wait—Dorothy— That’s right. Dorothy’s body had been found in my apartment. I must have passed out or fallen asleep. I—

“Tiffany? Tiffany, wake up,” Moretti’s baritone voice curled around me, yanking me back to reality.

I blinked open startled eyes to realize I was sitting on my couch, in my apartment—not with Lucian. In front of me was Moretti, his face pinched with concern, and his large warm hand lying idly on my blanket covered knee. I darted my gaze behind him to see a bevy of men doing official police business type stuff. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, pressing my palms into my eyes and rubbing. “I’m just so tired.”

Moretti stood and peered down at me with pity. “I’m going to have to take you down to the station. Do you want me to bring you a change of clothes?”

I wrapped the blanket tighter around myself and tried to ignore the curious and suspicious eyes that kept roaming over me. “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot…” That’s when it hit me. “Umm—wait—what do you mean you have to take me down to the station?” It felt like someone had just dropped a brick in my stomach. “I’m not a suspect, am I?” There was way too much circumstantial evidence to link Dorothy to me for my taste. I’d dealt with being questioned before but never had anything concrete linking me to any of my dirty deeds. Oh the irony that I could end up with jail time for something I didn’t do.

Ignoring my question, Moretti leaned down closer to me again. “Let me grab you a change of clothes. As long as it doesn’t interfere with the crime scene, and I get the clothes for you, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

I ground my teeth together. “Yeah, just get me some jeans, t-shirt, a bra—and shoes and socks.” How was I going to explain that all of my stuff, like ID, was still back in my locker at Club Elite? How was I going to explain anything?
Shit.
Was I going to need a lawyer?

Lucian wasn’t a figment of my imagination or part of a dream. He was a nightmare.

Lucian is playing head games with me
, the thought hit me like a sudden revelation. 
A painfully obvious one
, I internally screamed at myself. He’d gone as far as to admit that he wanted to make me better, whatever that meant. It looked like he’d already begun with his twisted plan. He was testing me, pushing me—trying to see how far I would bend before I would break.
Why does this all feel so eerily familiar somehow? Something is horribly wrong.
I snorted. Right. Because my life was normal before Lucian entered the picture.

“Tiffany, you all right back there?” Moretti glanced in his rearview mirror at me in the back seat of his police car.

“Just peachy,” I grumbled. “So why don’t you have a partner? I thought that guy who was with you at Club Elite was him, maybe? But you always seem to be by yourself.”

“I’m—” He cleared his throat. “I’m in between partners at the moment, and since we’re short staffed I’ve been on my own.”

“Isn’t that like dangerous or some shit?” I was always on my own and I liked it that way, but wasn’t it required for cops to have partners? Not that I knew what I was talking about, not really. I worked outside of the law and I only knew enough about it to try and keep myself out of trouble.

“I’m not supposed to respond to certain calls until I have a new partner.” Moretti shifted in his seat uncomfortably. I could tell that the subject was a touchy one.

“That why you’ve been lurking around me? Because you have nothing better to do?”

Moretti heaved a huge sigh. “My job, and me for that matter, is none of your business. Besides, you should be worrying about you right now.”

I shrugged and slouched down in my seat. “I didn’t do anything wrong so I have nothing to worry about.” I hoped. My gut roiled with anxiety. I, of all people, knew that guilt wasn’t a requirement to get busted.

I glanced out the window as the car slowed down and then stopped. We had arrived. I’d been detained before, but this would be my first time in the Pittsburgh Police Station. It was bigger than I expected. And cleaner. Just something about Pittsburgh left everything with a dirty feel. Guess that’s why it was part of what was known as the rust belt. It was like dirt and grime clung to everything, even the people. If I made it out in one piece I was heading off to do my thing in a nicer place. Who said I had to take down scum in a dark, almost gothic type setting? I wasn’t Batman and Pittsburgh most definitely was not Gotham.

Moretti pulled the door open and helped me out of the back of the car. My hands were cuffed but in the front, at least he’d been nice about it. “I won’t be the one to question you,” he said as he guided me into the station. “I’m not sure who pulled the case but one of the detectives who are on it will be questioning you. I’m just going to—”

“Am I being booked?”

“You’re the only suspect, Tiffany. I’m sorry.” Moretti averted his gaze as if it was his fault somehow.

“So I’m being arrested and not merely questioned?”

“Depending on how things go, they might let you out on bail, but—”

“I won’t be able to leave the city.”
Fuuuuuck.
Lucian was really putting a kink in my style. Was he hoping if he took away my game that I’d be happy to play with him in his? He was in for a rude awakening if that’s what he thought. I wasn’t that easily manipulated and I wasn’t above cutting my nose off to spite my face just to win.

“Just wait here.” Moretti led me into one of those stereotypical rooms you might see on TV. Sterile, plain—one table, two chairs, large mirror that dominated the wall. I mean…come on. Was there anyone in this modern age that didn’t know that it was a two-way mirror? Why even bother at this point? Why not just step in the room and join us?

Still in cuffs, Moretti left me in the room alone, shutting the door behind him. I immediately stood and marched over to the mirror. I tugged at my t-shirt, adjusting the view of my tits before I blatantly caressed them. I wanted to get under the skin of whoever was behind that glass. I could almost sense their gaze burning into me. I ran my hands down my stomach and around to my ass on the one side since I couldn’t separate my hands more than a few inches. I spun around and smacked my own ass, grinning and biting my lower lip. Before I could do anything else more provocative the door swung open.
Damn, just when I was starting to have fun.

In strode a middle-aged man, late forties to early fifties, if I had to guess. His full head of thick hair was almost all silver except for a few streaks of dark brown. His amber colored gazed narrowed on me as I continued to study him. He was average height, still taller than me by a few inches, wearing grey slacks, white shirt, and a loose tie. He looked like a detective from a cop show…like one of the CSIs or some shit. He was attractive but not overly so. I found myself wondering how easy it would be to work him over.

“Oh, hi there…officer? Detective?” I delivered him a coquettish smile as I moved towards the small table.

“Detective Anthony,” he responded briskly. “Have a seat.” He motioned to the chair in front of me, which I was about to sit on, until he’d ordered me to.

I cocked my hip and leaned against the table. “I’m good standing.”

“Have a seat.” His tone was both exasperated and commanding. I warred with whether or not I wanted to play ball with him. A part of me—the stubborn part didn’t want to cooperate about anything, even something as small as taking a seat. But the more logical aka mature side of me knew things would go a lot smoother if I just complied.

I heaved a huge sigh and plopped demonstratively down. “Happy?” I couldn’t help but snap. I was being an idiot and I knew it. I needed to curb my sarcastic stubborn side just long enough to get out of trouble.

“I’m going to get straight to the point,” the detective rumbled. “There are several witnesses that place you at the same hotel where the victim was staying. Officer Moretti himself admits to having picked you up in a confused state right outside of the hotel earlier this evening. The—”

“I didn’t do it,” I interjected.