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“Stay just like that,” Spike whispered through a throaty growl.

From the corner of my eye, it looked like he’d sucked his thumb into his mouth. A moment later, he had it pressing into my asshole until eventually, he breached it.

I whimpered at the pain and squeezed my eyes closed. I wasn’t an anal woman. I’d tried it a few times with Karl in the past, and maybe once or twice with Spike and Phoenix, but it was just too painful to bear.

“It’s okay, baby. Just trust me.”

“Look at me,” Phoenix whispered, and I did, a tear rolling down my cheek. “It’s okay. I promise.”

I nodded and kissed him, trying not to think about the pain as Spike began fucking my ass with his thumb while he fucked my pussy, the pleasure eventually overpowering the pain.

I fell into it deeply, a little too deeply, and wildly made out with Phoenix while Spike’s whole thumb was inside my ass. His ladder rubbed vehemently against my walls as he fucked my weeping pussy raw with each brutal thrust.

I was cumming within seconds, soaking Phoenix again and breathing hard as Spike pulled out of me, shooting his seed all over my ass and lower back.

“Fuck,” he breathed out, panting hard as Phoenix grinned and kissed me, our tongues dancing against each other. “I need something to clean you up with.”

“Kitchen,” I muttered as I lay against Phoenix’s chest, smiling in awe as he kissed the top of my head. “There’s a towel in the kitchen.”

thirty-two

Charlotte

“Jesus, Karl,” I muttered the following afternoon, my heart sinking as I rose to my feet, watching as one of the guards opened the door and escorted him in. He was dressed in hideous, bright orange prison garments, and his face—the face I’d once loved ‘til death due us part, had been clobbered to hell and back. He had two black eyes with severe swelling under the right, and his bottom lip had been split open. It was all I could do not to burst into tears the longer I gaped at him. I’d always heard jail or prison was never a good place for any cop to end up, crooked or not. And given Karl’s condition, I suppose those rumors were unfortunately true.

“No touching,” the guard callously snapped when I reached out to give Karl a remorseful hug, the reminder forcing me to ease my arms back down to my sides.

“Right. I’m sorry.”

“I’m surprised you’re here,” Karl said as he sat, gaping around at his fellow inmates chatting it up with their loved ones. “What do you want? Are you here to yell at me? Tell me I’m a piece of shit and that you hope I rot in prison for the rest of my life?”

“No, Karl. I’m here to help.” Even though the guard was nearby but wasn’t exactly keeping hawk eyes on us, I leaned closer to Karl and whispered, “I think you’re being framed.”

“Really?” he asked, appearing entertained as he slightly leaned back and cocked his head to the side. “And what gave you that idea?”

“Because I spoke to Amber, Karl. That, and because Detective Hutch reviewed the data on your ankle monitor, plus your phone records. We know you haven’t seen or spoken to Amber in over a month.”

Karl blinked at me, his busted lips parting. “You… You’re serious…”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I am. But I cannot help you unless you talk to me and are honest with me about everything, Karl, and I mean everything.”

“Okay,” he immediately agreed, a spark of hope dancing through his eyes. “Ask whatever it is you need to ask.”

“Did you have anything, and I mean anything at all to do with Delilah Field’s attack?”

Karl kept a straight, serious face as he shook his head. “No, I swear I didn’t hurt that girl, Charlotte. I’ve never even met her.”

“Then why does the GPS in your cruiser put you near The Flirty Sanctum on the night she was attacked?”

Karl looked away from me and let out a long, deep sigh. “I was there because I was following you. I’ve been doing it for quite some time now—months to be exact.”

My chest began to heave, but I closed my eyes and calmed myself, having noticed the guard now watching us.

“I know I fucked up, Char, but really, a sex club? You had to stoop that low? Just how many guys are you fucking in that place?”

I folded my arms tightly against my chest, my eyes narrowed, jaw set. “Excuse me?”

Karl just sighed and shook his head, changing the subject. “I was telling the truth when I told you I’d broken up with Kate. I-I missed you. I just wanted to talk to you and try to make things right, but you refused to have anything to do with me. And then the next thing I know, Kate’s parents are trying to put me in prison. You were the only person I trusted to help, but since you wouldn’t answer my calls and decided you were done with me, I got desperate. So, yeah, I started stalking you, trying to find the right moment to approach you so I could tell you the truth and about the death threats we’d been receiving. I-I just wanted your help, Charlotte, but I swear—I fucking swear I never went into the sanctum that night, or any of the nights I’d followed you. I just sat in my car the whole time waiting for you to come out.”