Chapter 12
Zen
L exi’s still sitting on the bed with her head down. I take it as the posture of someone feeling defeated by life. Then I hear a soft noise that sounds like a faint laugh. Reaching out, I put my fingers under her chin and lift her head. “I get that sometimes things get so bad that all you can do is laugh, but this is serious business.”
She gazes at me for a brief second before saying, “I didn’t laugh. I thought you did.”
If I hadn’t been staring into her eyes, I might have missed the terrified way she steals a quick look around the room.
“I didn’t laugh.”
When she starts to say something, I put my fingers to my lips in a silent gesture for her to stop talking. Her eyes widen when I fly out of the chair and begin searching the room for surveillance equipment. I remember her saying she had odd experiences, ones her therapist attributed to complicated grief. I’ve been in her room for only a few hours, and I’ve heard a couple of things I can’t explain. I’m not suffering from grief, so there has to be another explanation. The most likely explanation is that someone has monitoring equipment in her room, like a nanny cam with two-way talk. Right now I wish I had some of our sweeping equipment with me, but I’m just gonna have to rely on common sense.
I carefully search around the door frame, around the edges of the furniture, and check all the electrical outlets. Then I see her cellphone lying on the desk. When I make a grab for it, she lurches forward and gets to it first. When she opens her mouth to speak, I gesture for her to be quiet. Pulling out my phone I type out a text, I don’t send it in case her phone is bugged, instead I show her the screen.
I want to check for bugs.
She nods, glances around nervously, and hands me her phone.
I switch it into airplane mode and link it to my laptop then start running an antimalware program. I’d prefer to be doing this in my office, where I could isolate it completely, but this will have to do.
Lexi slaps my shoulder and gestures for me to hand her my phone, I pass it to her, and she types out something before holding it in front of my face.
I run antiviral and malware programs regularly on my phone and computer.
I take the phone and type a message back.
When you were sleeping, I heard voices. Someone whispering ‘Leave. You should not be here’. Either you have ghosts, or someone is watching you.
Her expression brightens and I hand her the phone.
You heard it too? Maybe I’m not crazy after all.
When her malware program comes back clean, she taps my phone. I roll my eyes and run my own scan because she’s not wrong about the silent suggestion that if it’s not her phone, it must be mine. I wait with bated breath, and I’m pleased to discover my phone isn’t compromised either.
We both turn to look at our computers at the same time. Since there are no recording devices and our cell phones are clean, that only leaves our computers.
I watch as she carefully runs several diagnostics on her desktop PC. I do the same with my laptop and then we watch as they all come back clean one at a time. I quietly shut my laptop down.
It’s weird, but I can’t shake the gut feeling that her computer is compromised. An idea comes to mind, and I type out a text to her, then show her my phone.
Want to see if we can provoke whoever this is into speaking again by pretending to make out? If I were obsessed enough to stalk you, you making out with another man would piss me off royally.
I watch as she reads it. Her eyes lift to mine, and I see that this woman likes living dangerously. She grabs the phone, types something, and hands it back.
Yeah, I’ll do anything to figure out who this is. However, if we do this, you have to stay with me until we catch this guy. I’m not going to piss him off and then face off with him all by myself.
I place my phone on the table and grin at her. My mind fills with a million ideas for how to pull this off. Then I get the ball rolling. “So Lexi, I’ve been thinking. This situation is getting pretty stressful. How do you feel about using casual sex to de-stress?”
She tries to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing in case her stalker is watching us and responds, “Well, Zen, I don’t normally think of sex as casual. The thing is, I feel like I’m about to implode from all the stress. That makes your offer almost too good to pass up.”
With that she stretches, her shirt lifting up to reveal some tanned skin.
I know we’re just playing around here, but I can feel my cock twitching at the thought of putting my mouth on her. I’m sitting on her bed and she’s in her computer chair, so I playfully pat my lap and say, “I’ve been intrigued by you since you first showed up at our clubhouse. If you want me, come sit in my lap. We’ll get to know each other a little better and see where things go after that.”
To my surprise, Lexi gets up and walks over to me and straddles my lap.
My heart leaps into my throat as she puts her arms around my neck. “You’re a handsome man, Zen. I like all the muscles and tattoos. You must work out a lot.” She then puts her mouth to my ear and whispers, “I’m not really acting, you are so damn sexy.”
I gasp as my cock stiffens at her hushed words, then say loudly for the benefit of our eavesdropper, “I work out for at least an hour and half every single day, with the focus on endurance and weights.”
“Tell me more about the endurance work outs.” Her voice is soft and sensual. I don’t have to wonder if she’s whipping up a double entendre for the occasion, because she’s being so obvious about it. I know this is a show for an audience, but it’s clear that neither of us are acting.
I’m all too eager to pick up on any double entendre she’s throwing out, so I boast, “Endurance is important because it means I can go for hours and am willing to do all the heavy lifting when we’re together.”
“Hours, you say? I’ve gotta admit that I like the sound of that.”
“How about you let me taste your lips to see if there’s a spark?” I realize our conversation is rudimentary and a little juvenile, but it’s for our potential listener. As long as it does its job of provoking him, it doesn’t matter.
“I’d be down for some lip action,” she responds as she eagerly moves forward, pressing her full breasts against my chest. Being so close to her is making me want more than she’s offering, but I leash my want and take things slowly, hoping that she doesn’t notice just how hard she’s making me.
I slide one hand through her long, dark hair and gently pull her head back. “I’m going to kiss you, touch you, and give you pleasure. If at any point you want me to stop all you have do is say so.”
She grins at me. “Likewise, if I’m getting to be too much for you, just tap out or say ‘uncle’.”
Oh, I like this sassy, dark haired beauty. When I dip my head and ghost my lips over hers, she squirms in my lap. There’s no hiding my hard-on, but the way she shifts her hips and rubs against me lets me know that it’s not something that’s bothering her. Taking the kiss deeper, I swipe my tongue across the seam of her lips. The moment she opens for me, my tongue dips in to slide against hers. She groans, and her nails dig into my chest. That tiny bite of pain chips away at my self-control, and I start to forget that we might have a viewer. I wrap my hand around her waist and pull her closer, until she’s sitting on my rock-hard cock.
If I thought she’d be scared off by what I’m packin’, I would have been very much mistaken. She grinds her pussy against my thick cock, clearly enjoying herself.
As for me, I forget all about why she’s in my lap, and that we’re supposed to be putting on a show to provoke her stalker. When our lips break apart, we’re both breathless and thoroughly aroused. I rest my forehead against hers and whisper, “That was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a kiss so much.”
She gazes up at me, her pupils dilated with lust. “Me neither.”
That’s when I realize she’s slipped one hand inside her shorts, and she’s stroking herself. Fucking hell, this woman is hot. Something about that kicks up my arousal another notch.
Without thinking, I tug her hand free and bring it to my face. I can smell the sweetness of her honey. It clings to her fingers like an ambrosia of the gods. I carefully put each of her fingers in my mouth, sucking them clean.
“You, sweetness, are delicious,” I tell her, as my hand moves down to seek out her heat. She parts her legs, allowing me to take over what she was doing. As I hook my fingers into her panties, I say, “Come, taste yourself on my tongue.”
She immediately cups my face and gives me a lingering kiss that’s all tongues and teeth. Her eagerness is adorable, but it all stops when my wet fingers start teasing her clit. Instead, her head falls back and her eyes close. I use my thumb to delve inside her core, seeking out her g-spot, even as my fingers keep circling and dancing over her clit. It doesn’t take long before she comes with my name on her lips.
My cock is about to explode all on its own, but I ignore it in favor of watching Lexi experience the pleasure I’m giving her. She’s really beautiful when she comes. All I can think of is Lexi and her long black hair, Lexi and her beautiful pouty lips, Lexi and the pretty noises she makes as she shatters apart under my touch.
In that moment of quiet afterglow we hear something.
“Slut.”
It’s barely audible. Both of us turn to look at her computer at the same time. The way they drag out the word sounds angry or disgusted. Nothing looks amiss on her screen though. When she turns to look at me, I motion for her to shut her computer down and switch off her Wi-Fi router.
Once the computer’s switched off, Lexi turns to me and says excitedly, “I can’t believe that worked!”
I slowly bring my hand up and lick my fingers clean before responding. “I had a hunch it would. The question is, if this is your dad’s killer, or someone from your past.”
“What? Of course it’s the killer. I mean, who else would it be?”
Pulling her onto my lap again, I break it down for her, “Think hard, Lexi. Have you ever had a bad break-up, a bully in school, a guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer, or anything like that?”
She shakes her head. “No. I swear. I’ve had a boyfriend or two, but they were the ones who broke up with me.”
I lick my lips to enjoy the last drop of her honey before responding, “Fools, the lot of them.”
She looks amused, “That’s beside the point. I honestly think it’s the same guy. Remember how he wanted to trade my father for me?”
“I haven’t forgotten that bastard wanted you. I plan to make sure he never gets his hands on you.” Glancing at her computer, I drop the bad news, “You know I’m gonna have to take your PC in for a full forensic analysis, right?”
She pushes up off me and sits back on the bed with her back against the wall. Drawing her knees up, she wraps her arms around them. “How long do you think that will take? It’s the only computer I have. I won’t know what to do with myself if I can’t get online.”
Turning to face her, I explain, “I own a computer repair shop, I can lend you a laptop or a tablet until I’m done examining yours, if you want? Alternatively, we end up with a lot of spare parts, which we use to make custom builds. You can pick out whatever you want to use and do a custom build.”
Her expression lights up. “I wouldn’t want to take something you could sell. How about while you’re examining my desktop, I do a custom build out of spare parts in your shop. When I get my computer back, you can sell it. It’s a win-win, with both of us getting something out of the deal.”
I gesture across the room at the computer she’s building from salvaged parts. “You like the hardware aspect of computers?”
She nods enthusiastically. “I absolutely do. With custom-built machines you can control every aspect.”
“That sounds like a good opportunity for us to stick together.”
“Yeah,” she tells me. “Now we’ve pissed off a killer, we need to watch our backs.”
“Well, my club brothers are providing round-the-clock protection wherever we are and at this house as well. I’ll operate more like your personal bodyguard, while they provide perimeter security.”
“The more protection, the better. I thought I’d gotten to grips with what happened, but this has brought everything back.”
I crawl back on the bed and slide beside her. “Have you thought about getting back into therapy?”
“My therapist said I didn’t need to come back. She said I had all the tools I needed and that I just needed to use them.”
“Yeah, but that was before you found out your dad’s killer was possibly a serial killer who might be stalking you. There’s a lot more going on than before.”
She pulls her long dark hair over one shoulder and begins smoothing it down as she thinks over my words. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll think about it some more. If I decide I need more therapy, I’ll call and make an appointment.”
“Our club has a contact at the local women’s shelter. They have a therapist who specializes in trauma. Some of the old ladies have talked to her and found it helpful. If you want, I can set something up for you?”
“That’s a generous offer. I’ll think about it, Zen.”
“I’m not trying to push you. I just want you to know that professional help is out there if you want it.”
Ignoring my straining cock, because now really isn’t the time, I change the topic. “The day is still pretty early. Want to head over to my shop and you can check out our spare parts?”
“There’s no time like the present, I suppose. Give me a minute to get dressed.”
I have to say one thing about Lexi—she’s not shy about her body. She walks over to her closet, strips down to her skin, and quickly gets dressed again. I grab my phone and try to distract myself from the sight of her lovely body by scrolling. It doesn’t work, but I don’t think she notices me stealing glances at her either.