Fatal Attraction (Love Kills Duet #2)

15. Fifteen

Fifteen

Charlotte

I was drunk.

Well, not completely, but I was well on my way there.

“You might want to slow down,” Carter said, looking a bit concerned as I chugged back the… Shit.

What number shot was this again?

A sound that didn’t remotely sound pleasant evaded my throat when I swallowed, causing Carter’s head to fall back against the couch cushion and the most boisterous laugh I’d ever heard sail through the room. Apparently, there must have been a hole in my lip, because there was liquor dribbling down my chin and all over my dress.

“Well,” I grumbled, licking around my mouth and then glancing down at my dress, smirking at the mess. “That’s embarrassing.”

“Sit tight for a second. I’ll get something to clean it up.”

I wasn’t quite sure what time it was, but I knew the sun was still shining and to be frank, I wasn’t exactly sure what I did with my phone. Carter was an absolute peach and held down the fort while I was gone being an absolute fucking failure and assured me the coast had been clear. There were no signs of trouble, and nobody tried to break in while he was alone. That brought me some relief in spite of the complete and utter fucking bullshit I went through with Angel Seigler.

I didn’t know what to do.

Karl was going to prison and there was nothing I could do to stop it .

Carter appeared from the kitchen with a roll of paper towels, and I thanked him as he ripped some off the roll and passed them over to me.

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I could eat. I don’t have much in the fridge, so I guess one of us will have to go get something.”

“You,” Carter said thickly, “are not driving. What do you want? I’ll go pick us up—”

My doorbell rang, and I cursed as I remembered I had no fucking clue what I did with my phone. Carter moved warily toward the door and then shouted, “Who is it?”

“It’s us,” came Phoenix’s sweet voice, and I swallowed, stumbling from the couch to hunt for my phone, knowing I was about to catch an earful. By the time I found it in the kitchen, buried deep in the bottom of my purse, it was too late. Carter let them in. Phoenix was talking with Carter, giving me no choice but to look at Spike, who was glaring daggers at me.

Uh oh.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

He stalked toward me, instantly checking me over when we were face-to-face. His large hands reached up to cup my cheeks, and he sighed once he smelled the alcohol on my breath, his lips pinched, brows arched.

“You’ve been drinking.”

“I’ve had a very bad day,” I muttered in a seductively soft pitch, licking my lips as I studied his, my hand sneaking down to rub his dick through his slacks. Sex was the last thing I should be thinking about right now, but I was so stressed the fuck out and desperately needed the release. To not feel like such a fucking letdown, even if it was just for a few minutes.

“Oh?” Spike grabbed my wrist, pressing my hand harder against his cock. “And what would you like me to do about that?”

“Carter is going to get me some food,” I whispered as I stroked him gently, my pussy quivering when I felt his cock pulse through the fabric. “ We’ll have as long as it takes him to leave and get back. Think you can manage that?”

The feral shift in his eye was all the answer I needed.

“She wants pizza,” Spike shouted over his shoulder.

“How many? And what kind?”

“Surprise me," I answered. "Make sure you get enough for everyone.”

“Um…Charlotte,” Carter said uncomfortably, turning his back to us when Spike lifted me up like I weighed nothing and sat me atop the island. “I need your keys.”

Shit.

I twisted around to grab my purse, then tossed him the keys once I’d fished them out.

“Take your time,” Phoenix insisted as Spike’s hands dove under my dress, his fingers making fast work of sliding the black lace down my thighs.

I didn’t hear Carter’s reply through my own yelp—courtesy of the large hand forcing me to lie flat against the island—and I fucking prayed he was gone because Spike’s head was now between my legs, inflicting one long and deliciously hot lick up my pussy.

Fuck, yes.

My eyes rolled back as he continued to feast, my breath coming out in uneven sputters. Using one hand, I slightly lifted myself and brushed through his dark hair with my other hand, grasping it hard while I watched his expert mouth and tongue suck and lick all over my engorged clit.

Spike came up for air long enough to kiss me, and my body shivered as his rough hands slid up my dress again, pulling it and my bra up until they were over my head and on the floor with my panties.

“That’s enough.”

My eyes snapped up, landing on Phoenix who was already naked and lingering a few feet away, stroking his beautiful cock. Spike grinned, then stepped aside so Phoenix could approach me. He wound me up in his arms, and instinctively my legs latched around his waist. I whimpered as my favorite part of him nudged against my pussy while he carefully carried me through the living room and up the stairs.

Phoenix kissed me once—gently, sweetly—and although he stared at me in pure adulation, I could see the pain caged tightly behind those pretty green eyes. The fear. The despair. How scared he was that he’d lose me.

He was haunted by this.

These cases.

Blaire.

But before I could dare open my mouth to tell him everything would be okay, he brushed his lips against my jaw and then gently laid me on the bed.

He started at my feet and alternated between each leg, each tender kiss sending a flurry of goosebumps across my sensitive skin. My core wept for him the closer he approached that sacred spot, and I moaned when he forced my legs apart and dove in, picking right back up where Spike left off.

“Edge her,” the devil himself commanded from the doorway, stripping out of the last of his clothes. “I want her soaked and screaming.”

“Yes, Sir,” Phoenix replied in a throaty growl, his fingers slipping in and hooking against my sweet spot.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

Phoenix inserted a third finger, stretching me.

His mouth met my clit again, ravishing it.

Fuck, I was so close, I was about to burst .

Spike must have sensed it too, because a whine of protest poured out of me when Phoenix halted his onslaught at Spike’s bullshit command.

“Asshole!”

“What was that?” Spike demanded, head cocked, while Phoenix grinned wickedly between my legs.

I swallowed .

Uh oh.

“On your knees. Now. ” That dark and dangerous look on his face sent chills of anticipation cording down my spine.

“Or what?” I playfully challenged, beyond eager for his response.

A look at Phoenix was all it took and before I knew it, I was in the middle of my bed, kneeling. Phoenix locked my arms behind my back and firmly held my wrists in place. My pussy throbbed her approval when Spike veered back to his clothes and retrieved a set of cuffs.

“You know what to do.”

Like a good little boy, Phoenix took the cold, metal clamps and secured them around my wrists, forbidding me to move.

Spike advanced closer to me, cock stiff and ready, and traced it along my lips, the metal from his Jacob’s ladder glinting in the small beam of sunlight casting through the mesh curtains hanging above the window. My tongue flicked out and slithered along his shaft, his ladder, earning me a pleasurable hiss as Spike’s head tipped back in pure ecstasy. Phoenix’s knees nudged against my thighs, spreading them wider while his hands lightly pushed against my lower back, slightly tilting me forward.

He impaled me from behind, my cry muffled by Spike’s cock ramming down my throat. I gagged a little at the sudden intrusion, the fullness in my throat, and thankfully, Spike pulled back to give me some air.

But only for a second.

He snatched up a bundle of my dark locks and then proceeded to drill deep into my throat until there was a stream of tears flooding my cheeks.

I cried out against his velvety length, unable to breathe or keep my balance with my hands pinned and Phoenix jostling me with his brutal thrusts. Spike’s speed faltered after a moment, matching perfectly with Phoenix’s pace, each snap from his hips harder than the last. My body burned from the fire building in my core.

Air. I needed air.

And then I came undone .

One hard, final thrust from Phoenix had my orgasm rushing out of me like a broken dam.

Spike released me, smiling in awe as I sat up straight and heaved in deep, greedy breaths, my cheeks red and damp. His rough, strong fingers tightened around my jaw, and I hadn’t realized Phoenix had slipped out of me until Spike turned my head to where he was laying down, groaning softly as he jerked himself.

“Ride him.”

I glanced over my shoulder at my bound hands, then back at Spike, my brows crumpled. “With the cuffs on?”

He nodded, that sexy smile spreading to a naughty grin. “Just trust me.”

Something wicked gleamed in his green eyes, and it didn’t take me long to figure it out once I was seated on Phoenix’s cock with his guidance and Spike’s hand pushed me forward until my head rested on Phoenix’s chest.

No, no no!

“Spike,” I began to cry.

“Just relax,” he whispered, spitting in his hand and rubbing it along my tight rosette. “It’ll hurt at first, but once we get going, I promise you’ll be begging for more.”

“Ph-Phoenix,” I rasped, my voice hoarse.

He met my watery gaze, kissing me deeply before he reached up and swiped the tears clinging to my lashes away. “It’s okay, Princess. Do you trust me?”

I did trust him. I trusted them both.

But that did not mean I was ready to have my asshole ripped open. I may have been drinking but I wasn’t that damn drunk.

“We’ll go slow,” Spike promised, lathering more spit against my asshole.

I shut my eyes, my heart in my throat, and blew out a breath. Spike’s hand met one of my bound ones and squeezed it almost too softly for comfort .

Phoenix moved first, his thrusts making me gasp softly. I focused on the pleasure, relished the fire molting through my body as his fingers dug into my sides and ground my hips along his shaft.

But then pressure met my backside, and I tightened on instinct.

Oh God.

Fuck.

NO!

I cried out as the tight ring of muscles stretched…and stretched, the pain so unbearable all I could do was scream, straining not to sink my teeth into Phoenix’s skin like some wild animal.

“Almost there,” Spike rasped as he tunneled deeper.

My chest heaved, tears falling from my eyes. Phoenix kissed each one away, and I tried to nod as he reminded me to breathe and relax, promising the worst was almost over.

Spike bellowed out a groan when he was fully seated.

It was uncomfortable.

Painful.

But God I never felt so fucking full in my life.

“Come on, Phoenix. Let’s show our Princess what she’s been missing.”

He pushed first, then Phoenix. In and out they went, finding a rhythm that had me gasping sharp breaths of both pain and pleasure.

“Fuck, Charlotte,” Spike moaned, and my body shuddered in response, loving how my name sounded on his lips. “You feel so fucking good, baby.”

The sensations intensified the faster they fucked me, and soon I was moaning and grinding my hips, desperate for more.

“I told you you’d love it,” Spike growled as he went faster, harder, hitting a spot deep in my ass that made my eyes roll back.

“I-I’m gonna cum,” Phoenix muttered, cursing loudly as he thrust into my pussy harder, his fingers digging against my hips deep enough to leave marks behind. “Oh, fuck… FUCK! ”

The sexiest roar filled the room, and I followed with a shriek, leaving behind a huge puddle all over Phoenix, myself, and the bed. Spike eased his strokes until his cock twitched inside my ass. He slowly slipped out of me, returning moments later to free me from my restraints.

“Peter?” My voice shook with disbelief as I gaped between Spike and Phoenix. “You thought Peter was behind this shit?”

Carter came back with the pizza not long after I’d taken a shower, and currently, we were all sitting in a perfect circle on the floor around my center table, eating. My poor ass ached and was unbearably sore thanks to Spike’s onslaught, but I couldn’t deny that even though it was awfully excruciating in the beginning, it was one of the most mind-blowing experiences I ever had.

“He fit the part,” Phoenix said simply. “You’ve known each other since college. He hated Karl and is familiar with all of your cameras.”

“Speaking of cameras,” Spike said after swallowing his pizza, his eyes rooted to the one on the ceiling just above my front door. “I didn’t know you had cameras inside the house too.”

I snorted. He’d been in and out of my house for God knows how many days now, and he was just now noticing?

“There’s another one in the kitchen above the back door.”

“Do they work?” asked Carter.

“Yeah, they do. They came with my security system. I only activate them when I’m not home. ”

“As I was saying,” Phoenix cut in, “before I was so rudely interrupted, Peter fit the part. Plus, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the guy is literally head over heels in love with you.”

Now it was my turn to frown. “I know… He told me.”

Spike coughed, damn near choking on his pizza as Carter mimicked the sound of a bomb exploding and acted it out with his hands.

Clearing this throat, Spike gruffly said, “When the fuck did this happen?”

I sighed, knowing I should’ve just bitten the bullet and told them sooner. “It was days ago, when Captain Burgess sent us to the lab. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to think about it, or much less deal with it, not after what happened to Blaire.”

“Have you spoken with him since then?” Phoenix asked me. “I know he was at the funeral this morning.”

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t. He didn’t even attempt to talk to me then. Once it was over, he left.”

It hurt that he was ignoring me. I loved Peter, yes, but not like that—not the way he cared for me. Peter was my friend, an annoying as fuck brother figure if I was being completely honest. With Blaire gone, I needed him now more than ever, and the only reasons I hadn’t picked up the phone and reached out was because, for one: it was unlikely he’d answer, and two: it was possible he’d mistake my plea to be near him as an invitation for something else. The last thing I ever wanted was break his heart, and I hated myself for it. All I could really do was hope and pray I wouldn’t end up losing his friendship in the end.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” said Spike. “Peter’s not our guy. DNA cleared him from all three cases.”

“Who else could it be then?” Carter wondered. “You said it has to be someone close to Charlotte, right?”

“Correct,” Phoenix agreed .

“Okay…so, let’s make a list,” he offered. “A list of all the men Charlotte encounters on a day-to-day basis.”

“It could be anyone,” I said after a moment. “There’s Captain Burgess, Chief, possibly some of Karl’s friends who used to come to the house and get drunk back when we were married. There are tons of men at my job, not to mention all the clients I’ve dealt with over the years. And I can’t leave out all the times I was at the club either. Hell, it’s possible it could be a club member who managed to slip through the cracks.”

“Jesus Christ,” Carter groused. “And you can’t get any of them to submit their DNA?”

“No,” Spike answered. “I mean, we could reach out and ask them to volunteer, but that’s a lot of searching, and the problem is that unless we have concrete evidence linking them to these crimes, they aren’t obligated to cooperate. Plus, with that many samples, the lab would be backed for weeks. Hell, maybe months depending on what other work they have stacked on their plates.”

It was an unmistakable truth that had each of us falling silent.

“There has to be something we can do.” I scoffed, rubbing the heels of my palms against my eyes. “Karl’s running out of time.”

“There may be something,” Spike muttered, “but first, we need to talk about your visit with Ben.”

“How did you know I—”

“Harley,” was Phoenix’s swift reply. “Ben called her.”

My heart sank, my guts twisting. “Wh-what did he tell her?”

“Everything.”

“Please tell us you didn’t take anything from Angel,” said Spike.

I glared at him like he was out of his goddamn mind. “Of course I didn’t. I’m not fucking stupid, Spike. Any evidence I’d have taken from her would be inadmissible.”

“Then tell us what happened when you went to see her. Don’t leave anything out. ”

I was gravely pissed Ben would go as far as calling Harley, but I nodded and explained what happened.

“Her parents are blackmailing her?” Carter said angrily, a muscle popping along his sharp jaw.

“Yes. They are. As fucked up as it may be, there’s nothing I can do. I tried to convince Angel to come forward and hand the evidence over to Ben, but she refused. She threatened to call the cops on me if I didn’t leave.”

“We had a meeting today with Chief, Harley, Kendall, and Captain Burgess,” Phoenix said next. “They came up with an idea for us to possibly draw this guy out.”

My brows lifted. “What is it?”

“They want to bring you back in, Charlotte. They want to use the three of us as bait.”

“ Bait? ” My brows furrowed. “You’ve got to be joking. And what do you mean by the three of us ? What did you do?”

But all they could do was shake their heads at me, sharing the same miserable frown. “We’re not joking,” Phoenix said again. “I’m sorry, baby, I really am, but we have to do this. It may be the only shot we have at catching the guy.”

“And how the hell are we supposed to use ourselves as bait?” I asked again. “Does the captain and chief know we’re seeing each other?”

A beat of silence. Long enough to answer the question without the need for words.

“I can’t fucking believe this shit.”

I got up then and began to pace, fighting back tears.

“The club,” was Spike’s bold retort. “Phoenix and I were discussing it earlier and we both agreed the club is our best bet. All of this shit started there, so why not put an end to it there. If the plan works, then he’s left with two options, to either take a strike at us, or come after you directly.”

“No,” I refused, shaking my head. “I’m not putting you two at risk— ”

“We’re already at risk.” Phoenix rose to his feet and approached me, cradling my face in his hands. “He knows who we are. I’m certain of it. At any time, even tonight, this guy could take a shot at any one of us. Either way, he will come for you, Charlotte. We have to stop him before that happens.”

“I’ll stay.” Carter squared his shoulders, and his face was serious as he nodded, screening between the three of us until finally his eyes landed on Spike. “I’m a soldier. This is what I was trained for. To protect the innocent at any and all costs. I wasn’t here for Blaire like I should’ve been, but I swear on my goddamn life I will honor her by helping protect Charlotte. I’ll do whatever it takes. I can be her bodyguard. Just tell me where and when, and I’ll be there.”

Tears filled my eyes at his determination, his pride. “Carter—”

His wet eyes slid to me. “I won’t take no for an answer. Please , let me help you.”

“What about your home?” asked Phoenix. “Don’t you still have stuff to square away and—”

“I’m putting it up for sale,” he sadly muttered. “As is, fully furnished and everything. I… I can’t go back there. I don’t expect you to understand, but I just…can’t.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay here until you can find a place,” I told him. “I have plenty of room.”

But Carter shook his head. “I’ll stay until whoever raped those girls and killed my wife is caught. I’ll figure it out after that.”

“I know you don’t want to do this,” Phoenix said, guiding my attention back to the problem at hand. “But Spike and I already agreed. This won’t work unless you do too.”

“So, we’re just supposed to do, what?” I questioned. “Fuck our brains out and hope our perp is there watching the whole thing?”

Phoenix chuckled, but it was Spike who was grinning from the corner of my eye .

Fucking prick.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Precisely. We can figure out the rest of the details later with Cap and Chief, but that is the plan so far.”

Phoenix was right. I didn’t want to do this shit, but I knew we were running out of options and worst of all, Karl was running out of time. The only way to save him was to catch this fucker. I made him a promise, and I had to honor it.

“Fine. I’m in.”