Laken's Surrender (Haven, Texas 2)

“How do you even know that he’ll come after her? Why don’t you just place some subs in clubs over the state and use them as bait?”

“You know we don’t have those resources.” Eli ran his hand over his head. “And we know he’s obsessed with her because all the subs he’s taken since the night she was attacked have been thin strawberry-blondes.”

Shock jabbed him in the gut. Christ, he’d been hoping they were wrong. Hoping she was safe.

“It’s possible he sees her as his greatest transformation. After he attacked her, she steered clear of BDSM. Until now. He’ll be mad that she moved back here, away from him. If he’s already watching her, he’ll be infuriated by the fact that she’s back with you, that she’s been to Saxon’s. He’s been taking other subs to try and appease his anger, but there is a good possibility that he will take her again. And this time, she may not get away.”

Sheer terror washed through him.

“How long has this been going on? How long has he been taking subs?” And why has no one stopped him?

“Years. But only one sub a year, until now. He’s taken three women in just over four months.”

Duncan gaped at Eli. “And you want to make it easy for him to get to her, is that your plan? Let me guess, you want her to start playing at Saxon’s so he’ll come after her. And you want me to agree to that? Are you mad?”

“You’re her Dom. Your job is to protect her.” This time Jake spoke up. “But if we don’t get this guy, then he is always going to be a threat to her safety.”

Duncan clenched and unclenched his hands. Either way he looked at this she was at risk. Either they both lived in fear of this guy one day coming for her, or they set her up as bait, angering him and putting her in grave danger. Maybe he could whisk her away somewhere. He had plenty of money; surely this asshole wouldn’t find her on an island in the Pacific.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He needed to think about this.

Kellan sighed. “Duncan, we need you to talk to Laken about this. We need her cooperation and yours. I know it may seem as though we’re being careless with Laken’s safety, but we’re not. We’ve had someone watching over her since we got here.”

Eli shook his head at his brother. “If there was any way of doing this without endangering her, we would take it. But there isn’t. We know there is no way Laken could do this without you there. You would be watching over her the entire time.”

Duncan started to breathe again. He didn’t like this. Not one bit. If he could think of another way, he would take it.

“Duncan, there’s something else you should know,” Jake spoke up. “The profiler believes that this guy let Laken get away on purpose.”

“What?”

Eli looked up at him with sympathetic eyes. “He’s strong and smart. He let her get away on purpose for some reason. Possibly because he feels something more for her than the others, or possibly because he knows her.”

Double fuck.

***

Laken stared over at Duncan as the men around him laughed at something Colin said. Colin was often joking around. But not even he could bring a smile to Duncan’s face.

What the hell was wrong with him?

His gaze caught hers and she smiled. He’d watched her a lot over the last two days. He seemed almost obsessed. He wanted to know where she was all the time. When he was off duty he spent almost every moment with her. He checked in with her constantly when she was at work.

The night he’d been called into work something had happened. Something had changed. It was as though they’d taken one step forward and now two steps back. He hadn’t slept with her since that night. Oh, he’d been in her bed, but he hadn’t touched her sexually.

It was frustrating as hell and she was close to kicking his ass. When he returned to her apartment the other night, he had been subdued. He’d been very quiet, just holding her the whole night. She didn’t think he slept at all. The one time she’d woken up, he’d soothed her with soft words until she fell back asleep. He’d looked like hell the next morning.

In fact, he’d looked like hell ever since. Was it something she’d done?

Dirty fuckhole. I’m going to make it so no one else wants you. You’re mine.

“Laken? Are you okay?”

She glanced up to see Lila and Savannah looking at her in concern. Glancing over, she saw Duncan watching her. She shook her head at him and smiled. She was okay.

Kind of.

“I’m fine. Sorry. What were we talking about?” she asked.