Her Cowboy Doms(48)

“You’re wondering why I didn’t tie your ass up.”

Was she that obvious? “Yeah.”

“Don’t go thinking I’m stupid. I just like a victim who can put up a struggle.”

He reached to grab her breast again, riding his sleeve up his arm. A wave of nausea washed through her when she saw it. The white cross in the head of the black snake shone as the sun struck it. She’d assumed he’d had a tattoo the night she’d waited on him, but lots of men had tattoos. How was she to have known it was that tattoo. She’d only seen the tip of it.

“Is that why you killed an eight-year-old little girl? Tell me. Did she put up much of a fight, tough guy?”

The slap stung her cheek, wrenching her head to the side, but she wouldn’t cry out. She’d never let him have the pleasure of knowing he’d hurt her.

“She bit me. The little whore bit me.”

Georgia laughed. “Good for her.”

His sneer came back a second before he hit her again. Her head swam, spinning the world around her until her vision righted itself.

“She was good, all right. Fresh, young blood on my hands.”

Choking down the urge to claw at him was harder than anything she’d ever done.

Glancing around her, she sought out anything she could use as a weapon. The campground was bare except for a backpack and the burning embers of a fire. How long had it been? Overnight? If so, Destin and Paul had to be out hunting for her. But would they find her before it was too late?

“I didn’t recognize you. Why should I? I didn’t see your face.”

“Well, shit. A guy kills a family and you don’t remember him?” He pursed his lips in an exaggerated pout. “Damn, and here I thought we had something special, Officer Fox.”

He had to have figured out her name, either from checking around or from the news reports.

“Yeah, that’s right. I know you’re the cop who kept the case going, keeping it alive and you on the search. You’re a bitch in heat with a bone, aren’t you? When all the other cops would’ve let the case go cold, you had to keep sticking your fucking nose in again and again.”

“How’d you know I was here?”

“Hell, bitch, a man can find out anything if he’s got the cash to pay. Besides, you didn’t exactly keep it a secret using your credit card to buy your plane ticket and pay for the rental truck.” He feigned a worried expression. “You really should be more careful. There are all kinds of criminals stealing identities nowadays.”

He paced away from her to dig into the backpack. “Now where the hell did I put that knife?”

He grinned savagely at her. “I’ve got a special knife all for you. It’s never been used before.” He paused, putting his finger to his lips in thought. “No, that’s not right. I used it once before. Did you hear about the Harper family? They were such a nice family. Especially the teenage girl. I had a real good time with her.”

She held back the rise of bile. The Harpers were the second family he’d killed. The ones he’d slaughtered after she’d left Atlanta.

“That was your fault, too, you know.”

“What?” He couldn’t have said much worse to her. “Horse shit. I’m not to blame for anything except not shooting your sorry ass.”

“Aw, now there’s the fight I expected from one of Atlanta’s finest. But you’re wrong. I bought the knife for you and then you up and left town. It took a while to find out where you went, and in the meantime, I had to satisfy the itch. Then when I saw Mrs. Harper coming out of the grocery store, I figured I’d follow her home.” He stood and held up a long, sharp butcher knife.

Maybe it was the threat of the knife glittering in the sun. Or maybe it was the anger she felt at his blaming her. Whatever served as the catalyst didn’t matter. She was on her feet without thinking it through, yelling a curse, and charging toward him. She managed to land a good punch before he grabbed her hair, twisted her around, and put the knife to her throat.

“You fucking cunt!”

“Turn her loose.”

Georgia froze along with Jack.

Destin and Paul stood at the end of the small clearing, rifles balanced against their shoulders.

“I said, turn her loose.” Paul stood, feet apart, ready to pull the trigger.

“Fuck that, man. You come any closer and she gets filleted like a trout.”

“Georgia, are you all right? Can you do what I say?”

She gaped at Destin. Why was he asking her that? He could see how she was. Yet, all at once it hit her. He was telling her to obey him.

She didn’t fully understand, but she knew one thing. They were her Doms and they’d do anything to save her. All she had to do was trust them.