Page 56 of Happily Undead in Dark River

Well, if that didn't sound like commitment, nothing did. I swirled my tongue as Judge slid out of my mouth, making him groan and push in further. I swung gently between them, the silk ropes biting my skin and my eyes on X where he was stroking his dick. It was the hottest experience of my life.

Tex must have been getting close, because his pounding thrusts were getting wild, slamming me into Judge’s cock in time with his movements. Tex’s hand slid around and flicked my sensitive clit, and I came again, moaning around Judge’s cock, making the man in question groan, moving in shallow rapid thrusts until he was coming too, shooting hot spurts into my mouth. Finally, Tex gripped my hips, burying himself deep inside me as he came on a roar.

I hung there panting as I tried to get my brain back online. Holy fucking shit. Tex crawled forward to kiss me, his tongue swirling around my mouth to taste Judge’s cum. Then he flopped onto his back.

“Fuck.”

I had to agree. X strolled over, his shirt gone and his own release still glistening on his chest. He undid the ropes until I was lowered back to the ground, and then he gently undid the knots with deft fingers. When I was completely free, blood rushing back to areas where it had been restricted, he scooped me into his arms and walked me to my bedroom. “You did so good, Love. You were perfect,” he murmured, his hands running over the indents in my skin from the ropes reverently. We’d just reached the door of my bedroom when there was a knock at the front door. I wiggled out of X’s arms, though he tsked disapprovingly, pulling my gown from the back of my bedroom door and wrapping it around myself. I was glad to see that Judge had cleaned up all the ropes because I didn’t know how I’d explain that to Walker or Nico. Given the time, it could only be one of those two.

If I’d been thinking clearly, if my brain hadn’t been addled by hot sex, I’d have wondered why either of those two would knock. Instead, I answered the door like an idiot.

Then I screamed.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

There was a severed head on my doorstep. I slammed the door and bolted for the kitchen. Judge grabbed me in his arms, bundling me behind his back as X opened the door again, his knives out.

When he looked down, he saw it too. Instead of freaking out like a damn sissy like me, he cocked his head to the side.

“Well, that’s certainly interesting.”

“Interesting?” I screeched, making Judge wince. He stepped forward, assured there wasn’t any threat, and then he stared down at the head on my stoop too.

“Is that…?” he asked X.

“Yep,” X agreed.

I hadn’t taken the time to examine the face, and now I needed to know. “Who the hell is it?” I yelled from my spot behind the island bench in the kitchen.

“It’s Raul,” Judge yelled over his shoulder.

Shock made me take a step back. Raul? As in, Lucius’ second-in-command? “Asshole Raul?” I double-checked, not that we knew any other Raul’s.

X nodded. “You better call your Sheriff and the Old Man. They are going to want to see this.”

I grabbed my phone and scrambled for my bedroom. My kitchen was still way too close to the thing bleeding on my front step.

Walker answered on the second ring. “Sorry, Raine. I’m coming now, just got caught up on everything that happened and doing the paperwork. Judge kept the peace, but he isn’t big on filling the appropriate forms,” he said, his exasperation evident.

I swallowed hard. “You better hurry, Walker. There’s a head at my front door.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s a severed head on my welcome mat,” I repeated. Silence sounded through the phone. Then there was a whoosh of air, probably because he was super-speeding to my house. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard him talking to X and Judge moments later. I didn’t want to leave my room, didn’t want to be anywhere near anyone's severed head. I was really strange about dead things. I always had been, even growing up. The irony that I was now a dead thing wasn’t lost on me. But as Raul showed, there was undead, and then there was dead-dead.

I hadn’t smelled the blood, hadn’t sensed an intruder leaving a pretty little present while X had me hogtied to the ceiling. That freaked me out almost as much as the head. “Can you guys just move it?” I yelled out to them. I’d be happier if it was gone, and I could burn my doormat and hose down my front step and forget the whole thing ever happened.

Walker must have leaped over the head like a gazelle because he was suddenly in the room with me. “I’m sorry I can’t do that, Raine. It’s a crime scene now. I have to ask, is there anyone who would leave severed body parts at your front door?”

I huffed out a strangled sigh. “Only X, and he was with me the whole time.” I hoped that Walker didn’t notice the slight blush that spread across my cheeks. Couldn’t a girl just have five minutes of breathing room? Lie down and sleep in her own bed? It was always death or debauchery these days; I just needed a few hours of downtime.

Walker leaned forward, kissing my forehead as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight. “How about you take Tex and head over to the diner. I know Bert and Beatrice are waiting to see you. I think you’ve stolen their golden child position. Used to be me, you know,” he growled completely non-threateningly.

I nodded and walked out to the living room to find my purse. I tried to resist the urge to look upwards at the rings hanging from the ceiling. I didn’t want Walker to know I’d been up to all sorts of BDSM shenanigans quite yet.

As I grabbed my purse, Nico arrived, along with Catherine and Grim from the town Council. Nico stared down at the head of the former Enforcer, his face so grim it was almost desolate. “Open the mouth,” he said softly, and X leaned forward to follow his command. X raised his eyebrows when he pulled out a perfectly folded piece of paper, but Nico just looked forlorn.

“How did you know?” Catherine, asked softly, her eyes studying the head and its placement critically.

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