Page 40 of Love Me Darkly
His head spun as the possibilities swam through his mind, each one more depraved than the next. The things he could confess to wanting from her. The filth he could whisper in her ear as he drilled her with his cock.
He shuddered.
“Something true,” Mateo murmured, pressing his lips to her ear. “Something real.”
Melody pulled back to look him in the eye, her gaze open and vulnerable. Her lower lip trembled before she took it between her teeth. She lowered her eyes for a second and then brought them back up, taking a deep breath before speaking.
“I knew Kacey Mills. Not personally … but Suede brought her and a few other girls to the club a few times. He used to pimp her out of the back rooms downstairs. That’s what brought you to town, right? Kacey’s death?”
“How did she end up dead?”
“No idea. Girls appear and disappear from this place all the time. The circuit keeps them passing hands, state to state. But Kacey was different. One day she was here, the next she was all over the news, and they were saying some serial killer called The Satanist had done it. Normally, I would assume she crossed Suede or someone above him. But the way she was killed … I read the description of what was done to her. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“I have,” Mateo said. “That’s why I’m here. Someone is killing girls like Kacey … girls my intel indicates were trafficked through this ring. If I show you some photos?—"
She shook her head and began to back away. “Now you’re trying to get me killed.”
“Then tell me what your role is.”
“I have no real role. I’ve seen and overheard some things I shouldn’t have. Things that could get my tongue cut out if I go running my mouth. Suede held that over my head to keep me quiet.”
“What have you seen?”
“Nothing you wouldn’t already know about. Money changing hands for girls. Kacey and others being sold out of back rooms. I’ve heard talk of shipments and cargo but that’s it. They talk business in VIP, but save the hardcore stuff for the back rooms.”
“They meet here?”
“Suede and his guys, but others too.”
“When’s the next meeting?”
Tearing her gaze away, she stared off across the room. “Even if I knew … I’ve told you enough. The little I’ve said is enough to result in my disappearance.”
Mateo wanted to press her further. It was clear her walls were crumbling. He wasn’t certain how long she had been living this pretense, but it had to have grown exhausting. She was coming apart at the seams. But, pushing her too hard would scare her more than he probably already had. If Melody disappeared, he could lose an important link in the case.
That was why it was important to keep her in his sights. Nothing else.
“I understand,” he said. “I’ll go now.”
Her voice called out after him once he’d turned away. “You’ll leave me alone, then? You’ll stop watching me? Following me?”
Mateo turned back, something in him flaring to life like a spark. He had just been thinking that he should do that very thing, yet hearing those words come out of her mouth stoked something in him that he couldn’t identify.
What the hell was she doing to him?
“Leave you alone. Leave you …”
He shook his head, advancing on her again. She fled until her back hit a wall, and he pressed her against it.
“Don’t you think I would if I were capable?” The words fell off his tongue before he could think them over. She wasn’t the only one falling apart. His hands trembled as he brought them to her waist. “But I can’t. I won’t.”
She whimpered and squirmed against him. His cock swelled in response, and he thrust his hips to pin her, groaning at the way she felt against him. Soft and yielding. Warm and tempting.
“You want to fuck me,” she said with a dry, derisive laugh.
“Yes.”
“Are you insane? You’re willing to jeopardize your job, your investigation, for some pussy?”
