Sophie Oak - Siren Beloved

Dwight was severely underestimating this town in Aidan’s opinion. There would be some people who wouldn’t accept him, but not all. Even the ones who wouldn’t condone his lifestyle wouldn’t want him dead. Dwight was in for a mighty big wake-up call if he managed this.

“How exactly are you going to frame my brother? That’s not his gun. Everyone knows he loves his Remington Model 7. He would never use yours.” Sometimes Aidan thought Bo loved his rifle and the hunting that went with it far more than he would ever love any woman. He was pretty sure Bo slept with that rifle from time to time.

“I have no intention of shooting you. I’m—well, Bo—is going to lock you in the barn and set it on fire. By the time the ranch hands see the smoke and make it back from the east pasture, it will be too late. I’ve already hidden the gas can in Bo’s car. Dumbass doesn’t even lock his car.”

God, Aidan prayed Lexi was still asleep. He couldn’t bear the thought of Dwight tossing her inside with him and Lucas. Aidan pulled uselessly against the ropes he’d lovingly fastened to this table for his subs. This barn was supposed to be a playroom, a place where they could be themselves and love each other however they wanted. Now it would be his tomb. The ropes bit into his flesh, tearing at his skin. He felt blood start to leak from his wrists. Was that a little bit of give?

“Hurting yourself isn’t going to help,” Dwight said, standing over him. He had the rag in his hand. He shoved it into Aidan’s mouth. Aidan fought, but he gagged as the rag nearly found the back of his throat. He had to concentrate to breathe. “Can’t have you screaming, can we? I wonder if they’ll think you and that boy down there were playing your kinky games and Bo couldn’t take finding you like that. Or, hey, maybe they’ll blame Lexi. No real woman wants to lose her man to another man.”

Dwight pulled out a match when he got to the door of the barn. “Don’t worry too much. I poured the gas around the inside perimeter. The only window is up in the loft, and I made sure it’s closed. The smoke will kill you before the flames get to you. I’m not a monster after all.”

The monster Aidan had been friends with for years lit a match and dropped it to the ground. Fire lit and raced like the little Matchbox cars he and Bo used to play with. It raced up the track that led all the way around the barn. Within seconds, he and Lucas were surrounded by flames. Dwight slipped out of the door, and it snapped into place. Aidan had no doubt Dwight had locked it behind him.

Aidan couldn’t see Lucas. He had to pray that he wasn’t close to the fire. Aidan struggled with the ropes. He wouldn’t give up. He was too close to everything he wanted. Lucas’s life was on the line. He pulled, trying to get the screws to give. He would try everything he could because he was not going to let that son of a bitch kill his loves.

Aidan pulled and pulled as the smoke began to fill the barn.

Lexi thought about getting up and going after Lucas. It might be fun to watch the way the Master handled getting attacked by his sub. Lucas might get a spanking. That would definitely be a sight to see. She sighed and stretched. He might be getting a spanking even as she lay here.

When had she started thinking of Aidan as her Master? Probably a lot longer back than she liked to admit. Even back when they were living a very vanilla lifestyle, she’d dreamed about being able to call Aidan Master. It had been Lucas who introduced her to BDSM, but Aidan had always been everything she wanted in a Dom. His very alpha nature was what attracted her to him in the first place. She and Lucas might be halves of a whole, but they needed Aidan to complete them.

Lexi let her mind drift. She felt truly relaxed for the first time in forever. She was getting married. No long engagement this time. They were going to elope. Vegas, here we come. She knew her mom might be upset, but Lexi wasn’t taking any chances this time. She was tying that man up.

Or would it be Lucas? How exactly did they figure that out? Her mom had married Jack, and Dani had legally married Julian, but Lucas wasn’t exactly a sub in the way Sam and Finn were. Why the hell am I thinking about this when my men are out there doing hot, dirty things to each other?

Maybe she wasn’t as sore as she thought.

Lexi pushed the covers back and grabbed one of Aidan’s T-shirts. It covered everything that needed covering. She would grab a cup of coffee and then go sneak a peek. Then she would sit down and write for a while. That sounded like a great way to spend the day.

Lexi stopped at the door when she heard a cell phone chirp. Lucas’s. He must have forgotten it, a sure sign he’d relaxed. Lexi found it buried underneath the scrubs from the previous evening. Aidan had decided they would keep the scrubs for when they needed to play doctor. Lexi looked down at the number. Ben Dawson. Oh, she wasn’t about to miss that call.

“Hello.”

There was a pause. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for Lucas Cameron. Is this Lexi?”

“In the flesh. Lucas is doing things he really can’t do with a phone in his hand. I’m afraid you have to talk to me.”

A low, seductive chuckle came across the line. “Oh, sweetheart, I would love to do more than talk to you. Have you decided to leave those two boys you were playing around with? Maybe you would like to see how semi-psychic twins do it. I can answer that question. We do it better. Hey!” Ben’s voice went from sexy to irritated in a second. “You didn’t have to throw something at me. I get the picture, asshole. Fine. I’ll move on. Chase wants to talk to Lucas.”

Weird. Chase forced Ben to make his phone calls? Those twins were a very curious pair. “Lucas isn’t here. I can have him call you back.”

A slow sigh came over the line. “No, don’t bother. We’re coming out there. We’re at the police station right now. Chase is nervous about something. I’ve learned to trust his instincts. He’s an asshole who throws staplers at his own brother and refuses to talk on the phone because he’s sure it’s going to give him cancer, but he’s freaky on target when it comes to stuff like this.”

“Did they let Karen out?” Lexi was a bit surprised. She’d heard they were planning on throwing the book at Karen. By the time Bo had come to pick them up the night before, everyone had known that Karen had been found drunk in her car not far from the accident.

“No, she’s still in jail, but Chase is certain it wasn’t her.”

That was in line with what Lucas thought. God, Lexi wanted it to be Karen. It was very disappointing. She had been looking forward to seeing Karen in an orange jumper. “They found her in her car in a ditch. She wrecked it after she tried to kill us.”

“Then why didn’t her airbag deploy? According to the report, she blew a 1.6 on the breathalyzer. She was two times the legal limit. There’s no way she drove that car, much less managed to drive Aidan’s truck off the road. That was deliberate and took discipline Karen Wilcox simply doesn’t have. But of course we can’t get anyone to see that here. These cops like open-and-shut cases.”

He had a point. “If not Karen, then who?”

“Chase has been looking into the firefight Aidan was injured in. He doesn’t like it.”

“I’m sure Aidan didn’t like it, either.” But she didn’t see why Chase was spending his time on it.

“No, you don’t understand, sweetheart. Things don’t add up. The reports don’t make sense. Why was Aidan hit from both the back and the front? PFC Creely explains—and I’m using air quotes here—how it all went down, but I don’t buy it.” There was a muffled pause as though Ben had put his hand over the phone, then he was back. “Fine, I’ll tell her. Chase wants you to know that this was the sloppiest report he’s ever hacked into a government database to read.”

Interesting. “Does he do that often?”

“Often enough to get the FBI interested in us. Some people like to watch baseball. My brother likes to hack high security systems.”

Maybe Chase Dawson would be the one in an orange jumpsuit. But that was irrelevant. “What did the report say?”

“Specialist Tanner’s injuries were to the back of his neck. According to Creely, Tanner broke position and ran. But Chase checked his records. Tanner was set for Ranger training two weeks after his death. He was seasoned. He’d seen worse fighting. He wouldn’t have run. Most of the men killed in the fight were taken out by M-16s. Unusual, but not unheard of. Insurgents can get M-16s, too. And then there’s the fact that all the weapons were recovered from the scene. All but one. PFC Creely said he lost his M-16 somewhere between the scene and the hospital. That makes ballistics tests impossible.”

“Who is this Creely guy?”

“It’s Dwight Creely, Aidan’s foreman.”

Holy shit. Dwight, who constantly harped on Aidan to take his sleeping pills. Dwight, who got agitated every time Aidan started to remember something. “You think Dwight killed those men and shot Aidan?”

Ben hesitated, but only for a second. “Suspect is the proper word. We don’t think he killed all of them, but what if he panicked? What if he accidently killed someone and shot Aidan? It wouldn’t be the first incidence of friendly fire the US Military has covered up or just plain looked over. But we think Creely wants it buried, and it looks like he’s willing to kill to keep Aidan quiet. This was never about you, Lexi. This is about Aidan.”

Lexi let the phone drop. That son of a bitch was out there with Aidan. Unless Lucas had found them, Dwight was alone with Aidan, and Lexi had no idea what Dwight had planned next. It was obvious to her now that Dwight had done what he did to get Aidan back to the ranch where he could watch the only man who could put Dwight away. Now that Aidan was starting to remember, Dwight had decided to take him out.