Topping the Domme (Crime and Punishment) (2 page)

Joe chuckled. “You and every other Dom in this place. The woman’s a knockout, but from what I understand, she doesn’t take subs home. Ever.”

“So she keeps it strictly here? That’s interesting.”

He’d taken subs home before, but nothing serious ever came of it. Brayden worked too much, even sometimes went undercover. Not exactly the right sort of environment for a serious relationship. He wondered if that was Karina’s problem, as well. From what he knew of her at work, she was a good investigator with an incredible knack for telling when someone was lying. She could read people exceptionally well, but then most Doms could.

They’d learned to read body language, and often body language gave away a lie.

Suddenly Karina shuddered and drew in a deep breath. She placed her hand against her stomach and looked away from the scene. Brayden noticed her fingers were trembling slightly as they rested against her body.

What had upset her? With a frown, Brayden dropped his feet off the table and stood. “I’ll be right back.”

Karina drew in a shuddering breath, shocked at the sudden flashback that rolled through her mind. When the leather fingers of the flogger hit the woman’s stomach, the sound of her cries sent Karina back ten years to the scariest time of her life.

She rested her hand against her stomach, rubbing absently at the scars covering her flesh, front and back. From her breasts to her hips, all the way around her torso, her skin carried the remnants of deep slashes.

She’d worked hard to forget, to force the attack to the back of her mind, but sometimes, especially when she felt stressed, something would trigger a memory. She wished she could be like other women and not remember any of it. Unfortunately, she remembered it all, every bloody, painful second of it. The only thing she couldn’t remember was her attacker.

“You look a little bored, Mistress Kay.”

Karina jumped at the sound of Master Brayden’s voice so close to her side. She jerked around to look at him, then was caught speechless by the intense look in those beautiful baby blue eyes of his. She swallowed, taking a second to compose herself.

“Good evening, Master Brayden. Are you all alone tonight?”

“For now,” he murmured.

She grinned wickedly. “Can’t find a sub to play with you?”

Brayden’s lips quirked at her teasing remark. They often picked at each other like this. She enjoyed it…most of the time. Tonight, for some reason, she felt vulnerable, and more than once she had thought about crawling onto the Dom’s lap for a little comfort.

Brayden was good with the subs. He worked really well with ones who were new or afraid. The man had the patience of Job, the eyes of an angel, the body of Adonis, and the wicked grin of Satan himself. He was quite the heady combination. But after what happened ten years ago, Karina could never allow herself to be bound and controlled, which left this Dom off limits.

“Cute,” Brayden drawled in that deep, sexy voice that sent tingles up Karina’s spine. “I was thinking that tonight would be a good night to try to flip a Domme. Interested?”

Karina snorted. “I’ll have sex with you, Brayden…if you let me tie you up first.”

He grinned. “Then where’s the flip?”

“The flip was you.”

He laughed deep in his chest. “Not in this lifetime. Besides, I’ve seen how you treat your subs.”

“Hey, I’m very nice to my subs.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen how nice you are to them.”

Karina’s lips twitched. “Jealous?”

“Nah, I don’t get jealous. I just enjoy watching you get off, which I haven’t seen lately,” he said, watching her closely.

She snorted. “You don’t watch me all the time, Brayden. How do you know what I do when you’re off with one of your subs?”

His intense stare became too much, so she turned and started watching the couple again. Brayden made her feel like he could see straight through to her soul, and the sensation gave her the uncharacteristic desire to spill her guts.

The Dom in the scene performed oral sex, his face buried between the sub’s thighs, and she squirmed so much the Dom could hardly keep his mouth on her. Karina frowned. He didn’t have her bound tight enough. She had too much freedom of movement.

“You seem a little stressed lately, Kay. Is it work?”

Karina came very close to telling him what was wrong. As a Dom, maybe he would understand. Maybe he’d even gone through it himself. To her, dominating didn’t feel right. It was lacking and left her feeling cold and unsatisfied, like something was missing.

She glanced over at him and realized Brayden would never understand. The Dom in him went clear to his core. It was doubtful he’d ever questioned anything concerning that side of himself.

“No. Work’s fine. I think it’s just the time of year. It’s winter, the skies are gray, the weather’s been rainy.” She shrugged. “Nothing major.”

“You know…” he said softly, catching her gaze with his and not letting her turn away. “All joking and flirting aside, if you need to talk…”

She nodded. “I know where you are. But I’m fine, Brayden. Thanks anyway.”

Brayden nodded and walked back to his couch. Karina was tempted to call him back, but changed her mind. This was something she needed to figure out on her own. Besides, knowing Brayden, if he saw an opening to top her, he’d give it his best college try, and Karina wasn’t up for the battle.

“Morning, Agent Jeffries,” the young receptionist called as Karina strolled by her desk.

Karina nodded and put her cell phone to her ear, trying Shandra’s phone number for the tenth time since yesterday. When her voicemail picked up, Karina shut the call down and growled. “Where the hell are you, Shandra?”

Her friend was supposed to text her Friday night when she got back. It was now Monday morning, and she hadn’t heard a peep out of her, nor had she been able to get her to answer her phone.

She stomped into the elevator and hit the number two button in frustration. She’d kill Shandra when she got her hands on her for worrying her like this. One of the young interns from the legal department eyed her warily. Karina was used to it. Even though she didn’t try to, when she was pissed she came off as mean, and she knew it.

In truth, when angry, she
was
mean. Just ask any one of her male subs.

On the second floor, Karina stepped off and headed toward her department. Brayden stood by her desk, waiting on her, a cup of coffee in each hand. Karina sighed. No doubt he wanted a favor. Probably something to do with a narcotics case he was working on.

“Morning, Karina,” he said as she approached.

She stopped and eyed him suspiciously. Karina. Yeah, she wasn’t going to like this at all if he was using her full name instead of Kay. “What do you need, Brayden, and how much trouble is it going to get me into?”

Brayden’s lips twitched slightly, but the mischief he usually approached her with didn’t shine in his eyes. Instead they were full of concern and sympathy. Karina immediately tensed.

“What’s going on, Brayden?” she asked as she took the coffee he handed her.

“The director wants to see us in his office, but I need to talk to you first while he’s on a call.”

“What about?” she asked.

Brayden let out a slow breath before replying, “Shandra.”

Karina swallowed and then shook her head. Fear for her friend gripped her heart in a vise so tight she could hardly breathe. “What about Shandra?”

He moved in and took her elbow in his large, warm hand. Pulling her close, he said softly in her ear, “Not here, Kay. Trust me. Whatever you do, don’t look upset or pissed. Not now. Just nod and follow me.”

Sighing, she gave a curt nod and followed him to a small conference room at the far side. She set the coffee on the conference table and turned to stare at him. “What?”

Brayden walked over and put his hands on her upper arms. He gave them a soft squeeze, then began to rub her arms slowly. Karina stiffened, both at the feel of his hands on her and the tension that now gripped her gut.

“There’s no easy way to do this, Kay, so I’m just gonna say it. Shandra was murdered.”

Karina gasped and would’ve doubled over if Brayden didn’t have such a strong hold on her arms. “When,” she panted. “Who did it?”

“We don’t know. Her body was discovered Sunday afternoon. The FBI contacted the director when it was discovered she was Navy.”

Karina’s hands began to shake as questions raced through her mind. She wanted to drop to her knees and sob. Shandra was so sweet. Who would’ve done this?

She drew in a ragged breath and tried to pull away from Brayden. He didn’t loosen his grip.

“Kay,” he said, softly. “Look at me, baby.”

Baby. She wanted to crawl onto his lap, let his strong arms hold her while she cried out her sadness. Shandra was her closest friend. Without her, who would she go shopping with? Go to movies with? Who would she talk to about the nightmares that sometimes still plagued her?

Brayden cupped her face and tried to force her to look at him, but Karina jerked away and took a few steps back. Taking a deep breath, she looked over at him and asked, “Why like this? Why are you telling me like this?”

“I was here when the director got the news. It appears Shandra is the latest victim of a serial killer who’s been plaguing Atlanta and the surrounding area for several months.”

“A what?” Karina snapped.

“They want you and me to go undercover at Club Fetish, because of our experience in the lifestyle. It’s the last place she was seen alive. I wanted to make sure you knew about Shandra before talking with the director because if he finds out just how close the two of you were, he won’t let you do this, no matter how badly they need you.”

Karina nodded and sniffed back her tears. “Thank you.”

She wiped at her eyes, hoping to remove all the evidence of her tears.

“Here,” Brayden said as he walked over and wiped under her eyes with the tissue. “Some of your mascara has run a little.”

She froze at the feel of his soft hands on her skin and his face so close to hers. God, he was handsome, but they were both dominant and that just didn’t work.

His eyes held hers for a brief few seconds before he stepped back, removing his body heat and leaving her feeling alone and cold. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to hide the shiver that skimmed under her flesh.

“You’re going to have to hold it together, Kay. The pictures are not…well, let’s just say even I was a little green after viewing them.”

Karina swallowed. “You’re going to have to tell me, so I know what to expect.”

“They think he’s a Dom and a sadist. The room where they found the body was set up like a BDSM scene, which was the same as all the others as well. Toys, floggers, zip ties, chains. He’d used a single tail studded with razors on her. There was almost no flesh left on her back, hips, or the back of her legs. A few of her teeth had been pulled, her nipples were sliced off, and the inside of her vagina burned with some sort of a hot rod.”

Karina began to shake. Brayden walked forward as though to engulf her in his arms, but Karina took a step back. She wanted him to, desperately, but she knew if he did, she would break down, and then everyone would take one look at her and know. She had to pull it together. She wanted in on this case. She wanted to be the one to find the asshole who did this to her friend.

“If you touch me, I’ll fall apart,” she whispered.

Brayden nodded in understanding.

“Do they know anything at all?” she asked.

He shook his head sadly, and Karina’s heart dropped. “The scene had been wiped completely clean. There was nothing.”

“What about screams?” Karina asked. “Didn’t anyone hear the screams, or did he have her gagged?”

“No gag,” he said. “The area was pretty much deserted, so probably no danger of anyone hearing her.”

Karina got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. “There’s more, isn’t there?” she murmured.

Brayden looked at the floor and nodded. “He cut her tongue out.”

“Oh God.”

Nausea rolled through her stomach, and she struggled to keep it down. Memories of her own attack ran through her mind. Although it had been nothing like what her friend must have gone through, Karina could still imagine the fear Shandra must’ve felt.

“Did he rape her too?” she whispered.

“Yes. She had several anal tears, but no DNA evidence was found.”

Karina drew in a shaky breath. “Where was the… Where was her body found?”

“A warehouse close to downtown, but isolated enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about interruptions. The shift manager found the body when he went into his office for a package he’d left there Friday afternoon. The killer uses a different location every time but always does it where the body will be found quickly. He apparently doesn’t like for his work to go unnoticed too long. There is one ray of hope, although it’s not much. He marks his victims.”

Karina frowned. “Marks them how?”

“A bite mark on the side of their hip.”

Karina’s blood ran cold. She had a bite mark on her hip. Her attacker had bitten her so hard, he’d drawn blood. She could still remember her shock as he sucked at it, moaning at the taste of it in his mouth. Was it the same man? She schooled her features, not wanting Brayden to know. If he did, it was doubtful he would let her go, despite how badly they needed her to. If it was the same man, she could be a potential target.