Read Online Slave to Love by Nikita Black - Free Book Online

strip as on the other two women. Based on the pattern of bruising, Forensics thinks it was probably a scarf,” he said. “Ligature marks on the wrists and ankles consistent with the same fabric. Light abrasions from the restraints, but not extensive enough to indicate a real struggle. No heavy bruising. Champagne residue on the wife’s body.”
    “Champagne?” she asked, surprised. “On her body?”
    “One of the things we’ve kept from the press. The torso’s covered with the stuff. Plenty in her stomach contents, as well. Same with the other female victims.”
    “Body shots?”
    He paused. “Mostly higher.”
    “Aha.” Was it getting warm in here ? “Was the lab able to identify the brand?”
    “Coeur de Diable.”
    “Expensive,” she mused. “I assume you’re questioning stores that sell it?”
    He nodded. “There’s another...interesting thing the M.E. found the three women had in common.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Something else we’re keeping under wraps. As it were.”
    “Okay.”
    “They’d all had wax jobs. Complete wax jobs.”
    It took a moment for his meaning to sink in. “Oh! You mean...” Heat suffused her cheeks. Professional, Palmer . She kept her gaze firmly locked on her wine glass. “I see. All three?”
    She sensed him nod again. His thigh against hers moved slightly closer. “And there were traces of nipple rouge on one of the women’s breasts.”
    Oh, Lord.
    Never having experienced either, she was at a loss to comment. “I see,” she repeated, cleared her throat, then added, “Just traces?”
    “Most of it was either wiped off or—” he shrugged “—wore off during the evening’s activities. There was also evidence of oral sex on all the husbands.”
    Her cheeks blazed even hotter, but she managed to say, “Blowjobs, eh?” with fair composure. Definitely getting hotter in here.
    Mick’s arm shifted to the back of the sofa. Behind her. “Mm-hmm.”
    She did her best to ignore it. “What about the wives? Did they have, um...”
    He shook his head. “Nothing.”
    “So the men didn’t reciprocate?”
    “Apparently not. Although...remember the leather residue? It was found inside them.”
    “Leather? Inside ?”
    “We’re thinking gloves. Though—” he shrugged again “—who knows? There are a few other possibilities.”
    His thigh against hers was getting hotter and more solid by the second. She struggled to concentrate, but the subject matter was nearly as unsettling as his nearness.
    “What about semen?”
    “In all the usual places. Lots of it. Wild nights in suburbia.”
    “But no condoms,” she managed. “I don’t suppose the killer left his DNA anywhere?” She knew he hadn’t, or it would have been mentioned, but she was grasping at anything to keep the conversation moving.
    “Just the husbands on the first two women. It’ll be a few days for the full results from the latest vics, but I suspect he’s been just as careful.”
    Caro got up from the couch as nonchalantly as she could and wandered over to the mantelpiece, where she set about straightening the knickknacks and mementos. What she really wanted to do was fan her face. “So, does that mean the killer didn't rape the women? Or just that he used protection?”
    “Good question.” Mick picked up his beer, his eyes tracking her movements like a killer watching his prey. “With this kind of organized murder, you'd expect him to rape her before he killed her. It's almost always part of the fantasy.”
    “But this guy is unusual, right?”
    “Right. The husband definitely plays a role in the fantasy, having sex with the wife while she's tied up and the killer watches. But from the amount and position of the semen inside her, the M.E. doesn't think it's been disturbed by subsequent intercourse with the killer.”
    “So the leather...whatever...was used before the final time.”
    “Yep.”
    Mick rose and strolled to the other end of the mantel from where she stood. He fingered a