He kept the girl with him, soothing her, promising her money, saying he was sorry that things got out of hand, all the while winking at his friends and letting them know he was working up to a second round. The second round had Kirt and Giles joining in. By the third time, Keith and Gerard had leapt at the opportunity. From there, it had been easy enough to convince them that she couldn’t live because she’d endanger them, and they all beat her, taking turns, laughing and jacking off on her as she begged and promised them anything they wanted.
Armend was fairly certain his father suspected what was going on, and maybe even wanted to join in, the hypocrite. Still, his old man paid to keep silent the few girls he’d dated throughout his school years, the ones he’d shared a little bondage with and then his sadistic tendencies. He’d made certain they agreed to be tied up before he ever did it, and that kept the police out of it.
He was charming and persuasive. The girls all thought he loved them. He always taped them agreeing to the fun of being tied or handcuffed. Sometimes even whipped. Of course once he had them at his mercy, the compulsion to hurt and humiliate them took over and he couldn’t stop the things he’d done. Hell—he didn’t want to stop. He reveled in it.
Then he’d met Teagan Joanes. She wasn’t anything like the women he generally chose for his victims. If anything, she was the exact opposite. She should have looked like a boy—she didn’t really have much in the way of breasts, just a handful. She shouldn’t have caught his eye at all. For one thing, she was half black and half white. Not his thing at all.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her. He obsessed over her. Her skin was the softest, smoothest skin he’d ever seen and the color of a mocha latte, absolutely beautiful. Her laugh was just plain sexy and could cut right through a man. Her waist was so small he was certain he could span it with his hands if he tried. She had nice hips and a really fine ass. She just grew on him until he couldn’t think with wanting her.
She never gave him a single opening. For a while, those three years of college together, he thought maybe she was a lesbian, but there weren’t any woman that she dated. Had there been women, he knew he would have killed them. Same if a man had come between them, but she didn’t date. She had a lot of male friends. Climbing friends. Hiking friends. Biking. She seemed to be busy all the time in her off-hours.
Teagan was brilliant, and he hit on the idea of hiring her as his tutor. He’d struck gold with that. He had plenty of money—he didn’t give a damn about geology—but if he wanted his inheritance he needed a degree from a university in the United States. She spent a great deal of time with him. He’d poured on the charm. Spent money on her, although she didn’t seem to like it much. He’d brought picnic lunches on the pretext they could spend more time studying.
He woke some nights with the sound of her laughter in his head. He began to dream about her constantly. No other woman seemed to satisfy him and eventually, every fantasy he had was about her. He wanted her under him. He wanted to hear her screams, although he honestly didn’t know if he wanted to hurt her or pleasure her.
He kept in touch with her because he had to. He couldn’t let the relationship go, although he knew he was obsessing over her. When she’d emailed him and told him she was coming to his part of the Carpathian Mountains, looking for a particular stone or gem, he was certain she’d been just as obsessed with him. He’d been elated. Wild with joy. The dreams had turned so erotic he could barely eat, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She couldn’t even tell him what kind of rock she was looking for, only that she knew vaguely where it was and she’d be able to find it. What kind of crap was that? Of course she was coming to see him. She had to be. She’d thought of him the way he thought of her. But then, all the way up the mountain, she’d played her stupid little game, teasing him, acting like they were just friends and nothing else.
She was nothing more than a damn cock tease and he was going to give her a lesson. He was a little sorry the others had followed him up. He still wasn’t certain he wanted to share Teagan with anyone, let alone kill her. But if he did, maybe the obsessive thoughts would stop and he could get on with his life.
A low moan came out of the night. Very low, a woman’s soft cry as if she was in pain. He shivered. He’d always liked that particular note and he worked hard to get it when he had a woman at his mercy. He paced around the fire, his eyes narrowed, looking into the thick fog.
Was Teagan out there? Hurt? The moan rose again, this time closer. The note played through his body like a violin might, soft and stroking. He stopped and stared directly toward the sound. His heart accelerated. “Teagan? Are you there?”
Silence met his call. He waited. He wasn’t going to step away from the fire, not with such heavy fog. He could barely see his hand in front of his face. The gray wrap of vapor seemed much thicker than normal, dense, a live wall of mist surrounding him.
Armend shook his head as fingers of fear crept down his spine. He’d hiked the mountains his entire life. They were his personal playground. He wasn’t ever afraid. Still, his hand dropped to the radio. Once again he didn’t pull it off his belt, but he needed the reassurance of it.
The moan came again, muffled, but definitely closer. It had to be Teagan. She was afraid of him.
“Teagan, just come toward the fire. We’ll talk it all out. Are you injured?”
He could almost taste her. Finally. He had her. Elation swept through him. His body hardened with anticipation. He’d have a long night alone with her and decide in the morning whether he’d share her with his friends and then kill her or just keep her for himself. There were a lot of places he could stash her and make her dependent on him. That might be fun. Hold her prisoner, give her food and water when he felt like it, force her to need him. His fantasy took off in his mind, and he really liked that idea.