Whips and Chains (Saint View Murder Squad #2)

by Elle Thorpe

“You’d been saving up for a car. Remember the one you always talked about? That old black thing Mr. Chen down the road said you could buy from him because you spent so much time staring at it every day when we walked to school? You wanted it so bad. But you always put me first, even back then.” And he’d done it again tonight, in the most selfless act I could have ever imagined.

A mechanical whirring came from the door. The distinct sound of the lock disengaging. But I didn’t run for it. I didn’t even reach for the handle. Instead, I slumped down on the floor with my best friend and held him until I went numb.

“Oh, for the love of ducks and geese!” I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see his apron fly out the server window, quickly followed by the rest of his lanky body. His feet hit the ground, and he glanced at the maybe twelve-year-old kid who’d caught his apron and said seriously, “The ice cream gods have chosen you. The plastic spoons are in the first drawer and we’re fresh out of soft serve.”

X slid on behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle. “Seriously?” I shouted. “I’m coming!” “Please don’t say that when you’re on the back of my bike and snuggled up against me.” “Don’t worry. I’m not going to get a hard-on.” “You better fucking not!” “I’m not Whip.”

“A severed head?” I stared down at the bloodied hair. “Yeah.” X squinted at it. “Do we like…pick it up? Is there a lost and found for body parts?”

I was so fucking in love with her I could barely breathe, and all I wanted to do was tell her that while I wrapped her in my arms and protected her from whatever horrors had lurked within these walls.

She could have asked me to run a marathon or fight a shark or climb a mountain bare-ass naked and covered in honey during lion breeding season, and I would have said yes.

Sinking my tongue into her sweet pussy was the easiest thing in the world and the last thing I deserved. But she wanted this. Had asked me for it, and even though I was a piece of shit, who hadn’t earned the right to be between her thighs, there was zero part of me who could say no to her.

Guilt sat heavy in my gut. Everything that had happened to her tonight was my fault. Why hadn’t I gone after her the moment I’d seen her and Toby sneak away? I’d been so worried about scaring her again. Chasing after her down a darkened street while she ran away from me was almost as appealing as squeezing her throat, so I hadn’t let myself do it. I’d thought I could be trusted, thought now I was older and had found a wo...

But nothing about that felt like a punishment. She could ride my face, smother me in her juices, crush my head with her thick thighs, and none of it would ever feel like enough to make up for the mistakes I’d made.

Her long blond hair fell down her back, dry and soft from the way Whip had taken care of her, but now sexily tousled from rolling around in the sheets. It was the most beautiful I’d ever seen her,

When I couldn’t take it another second, I pulled out, watching white drip from her, and then giving in to my basic desires and pushing it back inside her with my cock that was barely hard anymore, needing me in for as long as possible.

I’d let three men fuck me, one after the other, until I’d passed out.

“Do you think I’m a slut now?” He let go of the fry pan so quickly it clattered against the stove top. “What? Of course not. Jesus, fuck, Violet.

Because seeing it stretched around X was hilarious. Balls hanging out and all.

I wasn’t going to complain. Having three attractive men in nothing but matching gray sweats wandering around my kitchen and making me food was something out of one of my romance books. I couldn’t wait to tell Toby all about it. My heart sank when I remembered I was never going to get to do that.

“I would just like it noted I was hanging around you long before Grayson told us to watch you,” X mumbled cheerfully around a mouthful of toast, clearly not picking up on the vibe in the room.

“I’m putting a hundred on an old-fashioned classic. Sharpened toothbrush shiv, straight to the kidney.” X nodded. “Very prison chic. I like it.”

Levi shrugged. “We were busy.” “Doing what?” X answered before Levi or I could. “Having sex.” I squeezed my eyes shut. He was so painfully, brutally honest at times. It kinda made me want to choke him. Both police officers’ eyes had widened. “You were…having sex.” He squinted. “All three of you.” “Yep!” X said proudly. “All three of us.” The cops’ gazes bounced around us.

The cop stared at him. “No, but the woman will need an alibi, so if she was involved in all the sex, then we’ll need to know.” My irritation with the two officers bubbled up. “That’s none of your—” X cut me off, not picking up on my or Levi’s vibe at all, as usual. “Oh yeah, she was definitely involved. She was kind of the star of the show, if you know what I mean. And it really was a show. Whip over there was a total perv, just sitting in the armchair watching her bounce on Levi—”

“Have you spoken to the neighbors yet? Did they report screaming? Because if they did, don’t worry. I think that was just me. Sometimes I scream when I come.” Levi dropped his head back on his shoulders, tilting his face to the ceiling. “Someone kill me now.” I shared the sentiment. The cops stared at X for a long moment, clearly never having experienced anyone with quite as much verbal diarrhea that it was taking their brains a moment to catch up. So long, in fact, X leaned in and pointed at the notepad. “Did you want to write that down? Screams when he comes…”

She deserved a man who would love her as wholeheartedly as Levi did. I couldn’t give her that. My heart was too fucking broken to give her anything more than sex. And it always would be.

He winked at me. “Don’t go falling in love with me.” I frowned at him. “Why would I?” He shrugged. “Bliss always gets giggly when I put my hand here to reverse. Apparently, it’s a thing.”

I shrugged, fiddling with the music switches on his dashboard, flipping through the playlist to find some Tay Tay I could crank up loud. Scythe glanced over at me, a frown crinkling between his eyebrows. “It’s bad, huh?” “Taylor’s stuff is never bad! Wash your mouth out.”

I breathed out heavily, forcing every bit of air out of my lungs until they ached. “I choked Violet, then her best friend died, and then we had a foursome.”

“Well, I can see why you were, if that’s what you’ve been up to! Just to clarify, when you said you choked Violet, then had sex with her, she was still alive during the sex? Or no?” “What? Of course she was!” “Okay, okay! I was just checking we weren’t dealing with some sort of ‘fucking dead people’ kink. I’m not one to judge.” “I’m kinda judging you for not judging! That’s not a kink, that’s messed up.” “Agreed. What were we talking about again?”

I envied him, and the family he’d created for himself. He and I were similar in a lot of ways, but I couldn’t see me ever getting to where he was. He had Vincent, his other personality, to offset his crazy and keep him in line.

A saner personality would have been able to stay away from Violet. But I knew I couldn’t.

I didn’t want to share her. It had been fucking torture watching her with Whip and Levi last night. But it had kept her safe. Their presence had been the only reason I could be with her at all. Because I’d known and trusted neither of them would let me hurt her.

I wanted what Scythe had with Bliss. I wanted to be alone in a car with her, and to have her watch me reverse it and find it so sexy she couldn’t wait to have me and had to blow me right there. I couldn’t have that without Levi and Whip. But right no...

“Save your breath. I’m not interested in anything any of you have to say.” Levi tried next. “Baby, just let us explain.” I glared at him. “Call me baby again, and you’ll wish you hadn’t.” “Can I still call you Omelet?” X asked hopefully. The death stare told him it probably wasn’t a good idea if he wanted to keep his balls intact.

I caught sight of X’s head popping up in the window behind the woman. Oh my God. Was he jumping up and down in order to be able to see in? I was actually going to kill him. I was probably going to end up in jail for Toby’s murder anyway, so I might as well commit a real one so the crime actually fit the sentence.

Something popped up on the other side of the window, and I stumbled back a step in shock. X’s stupidly handsome face beamed at me, all white teeth and wide grin.

I had no idea where they’d disappeared to after I’d shut X down, but instead of feeling relief they had done as I’d said, all I felt was disappointment. And a low dose of fear. I’d gotten used to at least one of them being with me at all times, even if they were just watching my apartment from the street. Without that, I suddenly felt very alone and very vulnerable. I hated that they were right. Hated that having them watch over me had made me feel safe. Hated I’d realized it too late.

“I’m not acting like I’m not. Yeah, I’m a sex worker. I’ll happily own that all day, every day, and sleep just fine at night. Because at least I’m not standing over there, casting holier-than-thou judgments. Which is pretty fucking rich coming from a man who spent the last six years in prison, has no job, and is living in a glorified version of a frat house.”

The club probably actually wasn’t big enough to lose anyone, especially not someone like X, who seemed to have the nose of a bloodhound when it came to tracking me down.

When I’d been trapped in the back of the car, it was him I’d called. Him I’d wanted. Him I’d needed.

X kissed me like I was the air fueling his lungs. His tongue swept away any reservation I might have had, and his body on mine lit up every pleasurable part of me, each one demanding I do a whole lot more than just kiss this man.

“I want to fuck you, Violet. I want you naked, riding my cock, and screaming my name when you come.”

Oh God. This man. He was so goofy and silly and ridiculous…until it came to sex.

“I need them. I can’t be alone with you.” He kissed me again. “I’m scared I’ll hurt you.”

But his eyes were full of a fear I’d never seen in them. Not when he’d killed a man in cold blood. Not when he’d found me sitting in a pool of it. I’d never seen him scared. Until now. No, that wasn’t true. I’d seen it one other time. When we’d been in the shower and he’d run out.

Because even though he was warning me away, all I saw was the man who’d killed my attacker. The man who’d caught a duck for me just because I’d said I’d liked them. A man who would only touch me in public because his need to keep me safe outweighed everything else.

A low growl came from deep within his chest that took me by surprise. I glanced over my shoulder at him. “What’s wrong?” “That thing you were wearing…it left marks all over your body.” “It was a bit tight.” His thumbs traced over an indent the corset bones had left on the back of my hip. It wasn’t really sore, I hadn’t been wearing it long enough for it to do any real damage, but I could feel the marks he saw. His voice was deep and possessive when he said, “You’re not putting that back on. Your clothing isn’t supposed to hurt you.”

“Fuck, Violet. This is what you wear whenever we’re together. Not those fucking clothes that hurt you. You wear nothing but those heels. God, you’re beautiful.”

“No, but I can always use an extra murder weapon. And the spike on those heels will look better in the jugular of the man who scared you tonight than it does in your closet.” A shiver ran over me. “You’re going to tell me his name and I’m going to take care of it.”

X wiped them all out with a single sentence. “I think every man up there watching has their cock in their hand, jerking off, and wishing they were me right now.” It was the confidence in his voice that really sold it.

He was something right out of one of my books. Sitting on a leather couch, leaning on one hand, shirt undone, perfect cock, thick and hard.

“X,” I moaned. “I know, baby. Get over here and ride me.”

All I could smell was her. Her hair. Her skin. Her sweet pussy, slick with arousal. It all floated around me, in a cloud of heaven.