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single, secret entrance into the house from a shrub-hidden door several
hundred feet around the base of the hill. Dawg wasn t the trusting sort,
and his time in the Marines hadn t helped his trust issues any.
Boys, we need to talk when this is all over and done, Rowdy sighed,
watching the weary resignation in his cousins eyes. Keeping secrets
among ourselves isn t a good thing, ya know?
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Lora Leigh
Dawg grunted, a sound of wry amusement that was typical Dawg.
Natches lips quirked into a smile.
A good drunk maybe, Dawg growled as he rose from his chair and
paced across the room toward the kitchen. Until then, boys, I need food.
You want me to take mess duty?
Rowdy s eyes met Natches in shock, as his cousin s widened in
horror.
Hell no! They both came out of their seats, rushing for the kitchen
as they heard pans rattling beneath the stove cabinet and remembered
Dawg s past attempts at manning a stove. The memory wasn t a pleasant
one.
ad
He had checked on his girls. His special good girls. Kelly was weak,
she was allowing herself to be degraded, to be taken. Oh, how he had
hoped she had been the only one. He had prayed, prayed so long and
hard that his good girls were waiting on him.
He curled into the corner of the small dark apartment, rocking himself
gently as he stared at the first of his lovers. He had thought she was so
pure, so sweet. With her long, silken blonde hair, and her innocent blue
eyes. She had a soft voice, one that stroked the senses and made him
think of his mother before she became a whore. Before she had turned his
father away, before his father had stolen him away for his mother s sins.
They had to punish her. She hadn t been a good girl.
He sniffed, realizing he was crying. He hated crying. Crying never
helped, tears made a man weak, he remembered that from his father s
lessons. A man had to do what he had to do. His father had been weak.
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NAUTI BUOY
The old man had cried, he had raged but he had left the depraved creature
he had married rather than punishing her.
He should have punished her. If his father had punished his mother,
then she wouldn t have been so bad. She would have been the good wife
and mother she should have been. If she had been a good girl, then she
wouldn t have lost her son.
He flinched at that memory, shaking his head to force it back from his
mind as he reached out to touch thick strands of hair that flowed out from
his good girl s head.
He touched the silken strands, rubbed them between his fingers,
remembering how soft and sweet she had been. Before she had let herself
grow weak. Before she had let another man convince her to be bad.
He stared at the man, a tight smile crossing his lips at the sight of the
nude man, laying half on the bed, half on the floor. He wasn t dead, but he
would soon wish he was.
The girl. He sighed wearily as he let himself stare at the blood staining
the carpet. She stared back at him sightlessly, her china blue eyes
reflecting the horror of her punishment.
Kelly must have somehow convinced this one that she could be bad
too. How, he wasn t certain. He could have sworn his girls didn t know
about each other. He had taken pains to be very careful. But Kelly was so
bad, so depraved, that she would have found a way to convince the others
that they too could escape him.
They belonged to him. They were his good girls. He wouldn t allow
another to touch them, not like his mother had.
He pulled himself to his feet, careful to pick up the knife and clean it of
the blood that stained it. Her blood.
You ll always be my good girl now, he whispered as he stepped
around the blood and moved for the spare bedroom.
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Lora Leigh
He had hidden there for hours, waiting for her to come home. Waiting
to assure himself that she was a good girl. Only to listen in pain and fury
as another man touched her, reassured her, promised her safety.
He fought back his tears again as he entered the dark room and
headed for the window he had used to slip inside the apartment. He had
bypassed her security. How easy it had been. She had thought she was
safe from him. That she could disobey him as his mother had disobeyed
his father. She had found out wrong. Just as Kelly would have to learn as
well.
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next morning, Kelly would have preferred to enjoy the awakening
caresses Rowdy was bestowing as she swam toward reality rather than
the warm, sensual dreams twining around her. Unfortunately, the
moment was interrupted by Dawg s growling message that her mother
and Ray were on their way, and they had better get their asses ready
before the arrival. His words, not hers.
She had enough time to shower and dress, and only seconds to eye
the outfit Rowdy cajoled her into wearing. The wispy skirt and high-rise
shirt were pale blue and suited her pale skin, even as they displayed it.
His wink and the hungry glint in his eye assured her that it had achieved
the effect she had bought it for though. To tempt Rowdy.
The hungry light died in his eyes though, as did Kelly s feeling of
security and her newly awakened sense of hope with the news her
mother and Ray brought.
Her name was Dana Carrington. Ray s voice was low, angry. She
was murdered and her boyfriend was molested.
Kelly sat in shock, listening as Ray recounted the murder that had
taken place the night before. She sat at the kitchen table, her hands
wrapped around her coffee cup as Rowdy stood behind her, his hands
resting on her shoulders as she felt fear tremble through her.
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Lora Leigh
Kelly. Her mother leaned forward in her chair, staring back at her
worriedly. I called your Aunt Beth in Dallas, she wants you to come
stay
No. Rowdy s voice was hard.
Kelly s gaze flickered to Ray. He glanced at Rowdy in concern, but
said nothing more.
She s not safe here, Rowdy& her mother protested.
She won t be any safer there, he argued as Kelly tightened her
fingers on the coffee cup. At least here, Dawg and Natches and I have a
chance of catching this bastard.
By letting him think she s screwing all three of you? Maria came out
of her chair then, her cry filled with fear as she faced Rowdy. For God s
sake, Douglas, what if using her doesn t work? What if he gets to her
Enough, Rowdy growled warningly.
Kelly, listen to me, whoever this is has killed now. He won t stop&
Her mother stared back at her, her eyes damp with tears, her lips
trembling.
That s enough, Maria, Rowdy protested.
Let her have her say, Rowdy. Ray shook his head regretfully. She s
her mother.
What she says doesn t matter, Rowdy bit out. Kelly stays here.
You re going to get her killed&
Maria, sweetheart& Ray protested.
Stop defending him, Ray, she cried out furiously. He s no more
responsible now than he ever has been. I won t let him get her killed&
Maria, stop it! Ray s voice hardened as his wife stared back at him
in shock. Let Rowdy do what he has to do, sweetheart. It s going to be
okay.
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Kelly wasn t certain what the look Ray gave her mother meant. It was
filled with regret, tinged with sorrow as he glanced from her to Rowdy,
then back again. But she watched her mother s eyes widen, her face pale.
And at that point, Kelly had enough.
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