Page 21 of Whips and Chains (Saint View Murder Squad #2)

X

E nergy buzzed through my body like a blow fly on crack. It shot through every vein, my blood pumping too fast, heart pounding, muscles primed.

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.

I was never taking a shower again. Washing away the scent of her would be a fate worse than death.

I put my clothes back on, taking my time even though Violet had rushed out of the room like her ass had been on fire. It definitely hadn’t been though, because I’d been watching it as she’d left, and it was nothing but sweet perfection, swaying enticingly as she’d hurried out the door.

I finally followed, emerging into the dark hallway and finding myself surrounded by people again.

The door to my left opened, the one with a plaque marking it as a viewing room, and Levi and Whip walked out of it. Both of them were flushed in the face and adjusting their clothes.

They both froze when they noticed me standing there.

I grinned and waved a finger between the two of them. “Well, hey there, Brokeback Mountain. Blink once if there was tongue. Blink twice if Whip cried after.”

Whip gave me the middle finger.

But I didn’t miss the way he couldn’t even look at Levi. Or the way Levi’s lips were swollen. I chuckled beneath my breath and slung an arm around both their shoulders, drawing them in. “You know what I like to do after a good round of sex club shenanigans?”

Whip glanced over at me warily. “Shower? Fucking hell, X, you reek of sex.”

“Glorious, isn’t it? But no.” I squeezed them tighter. “Murder, boys. I’m emotionally unstable, sexually satisfied, and lightly caffeinated. Let’s go commit a felony.”

Levi struggled his way out from under my arm. “Not a chance. No one is killing tonight.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Boring! Whip?”

I didn’t hold out much hope. Whip was the most in-control psychopath I’d ever met.

Sex probably didn’t hype him up the way it did for me.

But I was absolutely buzzing. I had been ever since our little four-way last night, and I’d kept it in check all day, but getting inside Violet twice in the space of twenty-four hours? That was way too much for me.

I needed a knife in my hand. Blood needed to spill. I could practically feel it running over my fingers, hot and wet, just like her pussy had been.

I had to stop thinking about that or I was gonna get hard all over again, and I didn’t think she would appreciate me bending her over a table and taking her hard and fast from behind while she was holding a tray of drinks or trying to take an order.

I was on a Violet high I couldn’t get off, and that energy needed to go somewhere.

Whip was gonna say no too, I could see it on his face.

I threw up my hands. “One blowie and the two of you turn into pumpkins. It’s barely ten. We aren’t going home.”

Levi glared at me. “There was no ‘blowie.’”

I raised an eyebrow. “Really? No bob on the knob?”

Whip rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”

“No slurpin’ the gherkin?”

Levi made a face. “What?”

I pushed my tongue into my cheek a couple of times, making it bulge, and winked at him. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“I wish I didn’t.” Whip strode toward the main room of the club. “I need way more alcohol to deal with you in this mood.”

But alcohol wasn’t going to touch the need I had curling around inside me. “No alcohol, and no going home. Someone has to supervise me before I go on a stabbing spree. You don’t want me on the morning news, do you?”

Whip groaned. “Isn’t this why you have parents?”

I grinned at him. “Are you asking me to call you Daddy?” I glanced at Levi. “Is that what you call him?”

Levi threw up his hands. “For fuck’s sake, X. Fine! We’re going killing. Jesus, I’ve never been so annoyed at the thought of taking someone out. But anything to shut you up.”

I kissed his cheek, and he shoved me off.

I couldn’t control my laughter. “You only like kisses from Whip, then, huh?”

The instant flush of pink in his cheeks told me there had definitely been some saliva swapping when the two of them had been in that viewing room.

That was kinda hot.

Whip gave me a look. “If we take you killing, will you shut up about it?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just call me your first victim of the night, because you are killing me. Go. Please. For the love of all things fucking holy, go get a knife before I turn my gun on myself.”

We moved for the door, but someone calling my name stopped me.

I drank in the sight of Violet weaving through the crowd toward us.

She stopped in front of me, glancing at Whip and Levi before turning back to me. There was the tiniest hint of a pout on her lips. “Where are you guys going?”

Whip and Levi both opened their mouths to answer, but I got in first. “Killin’.”

Whip elbowed me. “Shut up. She doesn’t need to hear that, after…everything.”

Seriously, the Dad title really did fit him. He was such an old grump. “Would you prefer I lied to her again? Have we learned nothing from the last twenty-four hours? Violet doesn’t want us lying to her. So I’m not. Get on board the truth train with me, Whip.”

“Is it possible for that truth train to just run you right on over? Like, I can tie you to the tracks if it helps?”

I made a face at him.

Violet narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t give him shit. He’s right. I’m so sick of you three keeping stuff from me.”

Levi sighed. “We aren’t doing it to hurt you. We just want to keep you safe.”

“They’re very boring,” I whispered to her. “But don’t worry, once you marry me and we run off to Barbados to live happily ever after, with our two children and a pet enchilada, they will be nothing but a memory.”

All three of them stared at me.

Whip pinched the bridge of his nose. “A pet enchilada?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you know those furry gray things with the big ears? Kinda like cuter, cuddly rats? Wikipedia says they make great but unusual pets.”

Levi squinted at me. “Do you mean a chinchilla?”

I waved my hand around dismissively. “Chinchilla, enchilada, same-same.”

“Not even remotely the same, X,” Whip muttered.

I clapped my hands. “So, while Violet is working, we’re all going stabbing.” I kissed the top of her head. “Have a great shift, chinchilla mama. I’ll be back to pick you up when you’re finished.”

“Take me with you.”

Now all three of us stared at her.

And one syllable came out of all three of our mouths.

“No.”

Something flashed in Violet’s eyes. “What do you mean, no? My best friend was murdered last night. We all know the cops aren’t going to do anything about that.

They don’t care about anyone who lives this side of the Saint View-Providence border.

You think I can just work and go home and act like nothing happened? ”

Whip brushed the back of his hand beneath her chin, tilting her head so she was looking up at him.

“Hey. Nobody is asking you to act like nothing happened. But, Violet, you cannot come with us. We’re hunting targets from the list, and one of those people murdered Toby and could have just as easily killed you too. ”

“All the more reason for me to come with you. I’m the one who was personally singled out by this guy. I need to be involved.”

Levi wore regret all over his face. “Vi, it’s dangerous.”

“So is having sex with X, but the two of you were happy to sit around and watch that happen.”

I choked on a laugh that only doubled when Whip and Levi both appeared suitably chagrined. Levi shot me a look that clearly said: “Do you want to help us out here?”

He was right. Violet most definitely could not come hunting with us. “You have a shift. I know you don’t just want to leave Bliss and the others shorthanded. We’ll take you out to play another day.” Then I mouthed, “No, we won’t,” to the other guys.

Violet glared at me. “You know I can see you doing that, right?”

I cringed. “Oops. I was trying to be subtle.”

“You’re about as subtle as a steamroller,” Whip said.

“Or a bull in a china shop,” Levi added.

“Or a stripper at a church picnic.” Violet’s fingers had clenched into fists by her sides.

My mouth dropped open. “Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Take me out with you tonight and I will be. Put a knife in my hand and point me at whoever took my best friend from me.”

All the jokes died.

Because all three of us knew it wasn’t that simple. Taking a life, even one you felt you were owed, came with a lifetime of baggage. Fear. Regrets.

Ones you couldn’t outrun. Couldn’t get away from. Ones you saw at night when you closed your eyes.

I couldn’t stop the urge to kill any more than Levi or Whip could.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t regret my actions. That they didn’t keep me up at night.

I didn’t want that for Violet. No matter how much she wanted it right now.

I snaked my hand to the back of her neck, twisting my fingers in the long lengths of her hair.

I waited until her pretty gaze locked on mine. And even though I knew it was going to undo any favor I might have won with her that day, and I would be right back to where I started, with her hating my guts, I knew I had to say it anyway.

“No.”

She jerked herself out of my touch, and I let her go, unwilling to hold her there against her will.

But I wasn’t budging on my answer. And I knew Whip and Levi wouldn’t either.

She didn’t know what true darkness felt like. And she didn’t want to know.

She stormed away, disappearing into the crowd of people in the club.

I looked at the other two. “Do we go after her?”

Levi sighed. “No. Let her go. She has every right to be angry at us. I don’t blame her. But she can’t ever…”

Whip nodded. “I think we’re all agreed on that. I’d rather her hate me and never know what it feels like to kill a man than let her do it and live with the consequences.”

“I’m going to kill every person on that list so she doesn’t have to. I’ll kill every man in this whole damn world if it means she never has to get blood on her hands,” I said quietly.

Levi watched her through the crowd. “One of us should stay and keep an eye on her.”

Violet’s death stares were like daggers, shooting in the air between us.

“Or maybe we should give her some space tonight. Her shift finishes at five, we can come back then and make sure she gets back to Fang’s safely. But she’ll be okay here until then. Nothing is going to happen with her surrounded by people.”

Whip and Levi both seemed a little uneasy by the idea, but it was the best solution. We couldn’t watch her twenty-four seven and hunt down the targets on the list. When she was with other people, that was our best chance to leave her.

And right now, judging by the expression on her face, we were the last people she wanted to see.