The Nauti Boys Collection Read online

  She forced herself not to think about the reason for that visit. If she thought about it then the fear would take over. The helplessness and overwhelming dread threatening to attack her lingered at the back of her mind, though, shadowing her thoughts.

  She cleaned up quickly before dressing and leaving the bathroom. She glanced at Rowdy where he lay facedown on the bed, breathing deeply in sleep, before leaving the room. The beginnings of a smile tipped her lips as the need to curl up against him unfurled inside her.

  At the same time her stomach growled warningly. Sex with Rowdy became a secondary need in the face of her hunger. But, she reminded herself, she had worked up a bit of an appetite with the sex part.

  She moved slowly down the narrow staircase, listening for Dawg and Natches. She couldn’t hear either of them, but the television was playing in the living room. She knew Natches had intended to sneak out somewhere, and she wouldn’t put it past Dawg to be hiding as well.

  She was surprised to see him lying on the couch instead. He was stretched out in what had to be an uncomfortable angle. His head was hanging over the side as he lay on his back and one leg bent at an odd angle, his arm falling to the floor.

  Kelly tipped her head, staring at his dozing posture before shaking her head in confusion at it. She had seen some odd sleeping angles, but that one took the cake.

  Restraining a soft laugh, she tiptoed through the living room and made her way into the kitchen. Despite the television, there was a heavy silence in the house that bothered her, made her wary. The moment she entered the kitchen she knew why.

  She stopped in shock at the sight of Natches, facedown on the floor, a trail of blood oozing from his temple to stain the floor beneath him.

  Her heart slammed into her throat, stealing her breath and the screams that tightened her chest. She gasped for air, certain she was going to smother, knowing the terror filling her would kill her before anything else could.

  Rowdy. Oh God, she had to get to Rowdy. She turned, the blood rushing through her veins as her mind screamed at her to run, only to slide to a stop as she moved back into the living room.

  Eyes wide, her lips parted in shock, she stared at the form standing in the middle of the living room, a gun pointing toward her chest.

  TWENTY-THREE

  It took Kelly a moment to realize that she knew him. She blinked in surprise as she recognized the young deputy who had come to the apartment with the police the night of her attack and again to Ray’s house the night her bedroom had been destroyed. He had been so quiet she had barely remembered him being there.

  “They thought they could catch me.” He smiled back at her, his hazel eyes gleaming with triumph as he waved the barrel of his weapon toward where Dawg lay on the couch. “They thought they were better than me because they were big, tough Marines.”

  His voice was soft, almost girlishly so. His expression was benign, calm, terrifying.

  Deputy Carlyle. He hadn’t been on the force long, a few years maybe. He was easy to overlook with his nondescript, plain features and quiet voice.

  “Deputy Carlyle?”

  “Barnes-Carlyle. John,” he answered her then. “My mother’s maiden name was Barnes, did you know that?”

  She shook her head.

  “Why are you doing this?” Oh God, had he killed Dawg and Natches? From the corner of her eye she tried to make certain Dawg was still breathing, but she just couldn’t be sure. Natches had seemed to be breathing, but was that wishful thinking or had he been?

  He sighed as though in regret.

  “I didn’t mean to make them pay, but I guess the past is catching up on all of us.” He glanced at Dawg before his gaze came back to her. “I lost count of the beatings I took from my father because of what your lovers did with my mother.”

  “What are you talking about?” She shook her head, confused.

  “Loren Barnes was their lover,” he snickered. “She was my mother. Dad stole me away from her a few years before she seduced them into her bed. She was such a whore. One man was never enough for her.”

  Kelly remembered Loren Barnes. She had died several years before, an older woman, perhaps her mother’s age. There had been a rumor that the Mackay cousins had been her lovers years before, but Kelly knew none of them had ever confirmed it.

  “That doesn’t tell me why you’ve done this.” She couldn’t breathe, fear was strangling her, weakening her, and she knew right now she couldn’t afford to be weak.

  He looked at her in surprise, his thin lips curving into a smile.

  “You don’t know who I am, do you, Kelly?” he asked her.

  She shook her head slowly, suspicion and horror beating at her.

  “My poor little girl,” he whispered, confirming her worst fears. “And you were such a good girl at one time. You know I’m going to have to punish you now. You were supposed to be mine.”

  Her eyes widened as his finger tightened on the trigger.

  “How was I yours?” She was desperate, knowing there was no way to run from that bullet or from him. “You wanted to rape me.”

  A frown edged at his brows as she fought to remember everything she had heard Rowdy and the others talking about concerning the other rape victims. What had they said? He made them beg for it, made them swear to love him.

  “I didn’t ask you to touch me.” She forced the words past her numb lips. “You know I didn’t.”

  His hand trembled.

  “You loved me.” She saw the madness light his eyes.

  “Did I say I loved you?” She had to buy herself some time. Rowdy would be awake soon, he would know something was wrong. Oh God, where was he?

  He blinked at her question before a pout curled his lips. “That stupid neighbor broke in—”

  “I never said I loved you, John.” She fought to stay in control. “I didn’t want you to touch me. I was never yours.”

  He blinked back at her. “No. You were mine.” His voice was almost childlike. “You were a good girl until they touched you. You wanted to be mine, because I knew you were a good girl.”

  God, he was insane.

  “I have always belonged to Rowdy.” She kept her voice calm, fought to still the hysteria rising inside her. “You knew I was Rowdy’s. Everyone knew. His cousins made sure of it.”

  Anger leapt to his features.

  “They’re depraved,” he yelled back at her, his features contorting with fury. “They touched my mother. They made my father know what they were doing to her, and he told me about it. How they made her a bad girl. She wasn’t supposed to be a bad girl. She was my mother.”

  “Your father misunderstood.” She was shaking, horrified. “They were just boys.”

  “He didn’t misunderstand.” John shook his head furiously. “He would sneak and watch them and then he would punish me. He would come home and make me lie down while he punished me with what they were doing to her. He had to teach me not to be bad. Now I have to teach you, Kelly.”

  Oh God. She felt her stomach pitch with the horrifying knowledge of what he was talking about. How could a father do such a thing? Drive his own son into insanity in such a way.

  “John, you have to listen to me.” Her fists clenched in her shirt. Just a few more minutes. Surely Rowdy would be here in a few more minutes. “You have to leave. If you shoot me, Rowdy will hear…”

  He smiled then. A confident, mad smile that sent terror racing through her mind.

  “I took care of Rowdy already, Kelly. He won’t wake up until I’m gone. I’m going to take care of you, then I’ll punish him, just like Daddy punished me. He’ll learn not to touch what belongs to me.”

  She was going to throw up. The insanity that spewed from him was the most sickening thing she had ever known. Worse even than the attack she had suffered at his hands.

  “Why?” Her voice trembled despite the effort she used to hold it steady. “He didn’t take what was yours. Why should you punish him?”

  There had to be a way t
o get around him, some way to get to Rowdy. She could lock the bedroom door. There was a gun in the dresser, she had seen Rowdy put it in there. A big black pistol that she knew she could use.

  “You are mine!” he snarled, his voice rising in fury. “I took you, I marked you. You wear my mark.”

  “I didn’t ask for your mark,” she yelled back, fury rising inside her. “I didn’t want you, John. Love is given freely. You can’t force it.”

  He shook his head as his eyes glistened with tears, his lips wobbling with some demonic emotion.

  “You didn’t give me time,” he pouted. “You would have told me you loved me.”

  “I knew I didn’t love you.” She edged back as his head turned from her. If she could get to the kitchen and he chased her, then she could use the hall exit to get back to the stairs. All she needed was a head start. “I’ve always loved Rowdy, John. Always.”

  “No! Mine!” he screamed back at her. “I’ll show you, you’re mine then I’ll kill you.”

  He lunged for her. Fury lit his expression as rage transformed his face and he rushed her. Kelly turned, sliding on the slick floor as she heard an enraged howl of fury echo through the house a second before the sound of two bodies impacting pulled her up short.

  Gripped the door frame, she turned back, shock filling her as she watched Rowdy struggling with the smaller man. Rowdy was bigger, but the blood at his temple showed the earlier blow that was now slowing his reflexes.

  The gun John had carried slid across the room as he fought to get to it. Kelly rushed for it, crying out in rage as a hand snagged her ankle, bringing her to her knees.

  Her head turned as she saw the knife in John’s hand, and Rowdy’s reach to grab at his wrist as the other man aimed at her leg. She kicked out, breaking loose before scrambling for the weapon.

  Her fingers latched onto the handgrip as she flipped over, bringing it up with both hands as she fought to get a clear shot.

  The two men were snarling now, wrestling for the knife as she heard the sounds of sirens in the distance. The gun shook in her hand as she blinked back her tears, terrified that the deputy would manage to actually find a way to wound Rowdy with that knife. There was no way to shoot yet. No way to be certain if she did, that she would miss Rowdy.

  There had to be something she could do. But if she did the wrong thing, it could mean Rowdy’s life. She prayed, sobbing in terror as she watched the two men grapple until the knife was between them a second before Rowdy jerked the other man closer to him.

  They both froze.

  A whimper left Kelly’s throat as the front door crashed inward, and as though in slow motion, she watched Deputy John Barnes-Carlyle slide slowly from Rowdy’s grip to collapse on the floor.

  His head turned toward her, his hazel eyes filled with shock and surprise.

  “My good girl…” he whispered before his gaze dimmed and his body went limp.

  Kelly stared back at him, the sounds of police filling the room receding to the background as adrenaline began to crash inside her. She lifted her head as the gun dropped in her lap, watching as Rowdy began to move toward her, only to have the sheriff block him as the room continued to fill up. She could hear her mother, or was it merely wishful thinking? Rowdy was yelling and Sheriff Mayes was barking orders.

  She knew she should get up, knew she should do something. But all she could do was turn her gaze back to the dead deputy as she heard his final words ringing in her ears. “My good girl…”

  She wasn’t his good girl. A sob tore from her throat as she pushed to her feet, fighting past the shock winding its way through her. He was dead. He was dead, and Rowdy was surrounded by the police.

  “Let him go!” she screamed out hoarsely, fighting past Sheriff Mayes as she struggled to get to Rowdy. She kicked at someone, her fist landed against another, but they parted, staring back at her in shock as she flung herself into Rowdy’s arms.

  “Thank God! Baby.” Rowdy’s arms closed around her as his voice whispered in her ear. “Sweet Lord, Kelly. Don’t ever terrify me like that again.”

  She was crying and couldn’t stop. She could feel the sobs shaking her body as her arms tightened around his neck.

  She could hear Rowdy explaining the deputy’s insanity as he held her close. Somehow, he had managed to regain consciousness and call the police, informing them of who was there and what was going on as he slipped down the stairs.

  They were prepared, but questions had to be answered. Dawg and Natches were brought around by the medics and the house continued to fill with people. But Kelly refused to leave Rowdy’s side.

  She held on to him through the evening, answering questions when she had to, but otherwise remaining silent as the knowledge slowly filled her mind that it was over. The stalker had been John Barnes-Carlyle, and he was gone. He was dead. It was finally over.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Kelly stared around the living room the next morning, amazed that there was nothing left, not so much as a speck of blood, to prove that the night before had been no dream.

  The only proof left was the egg-sized knots that had been left on Dawg’s, Natches’s, and Rowdy’s heads. John Barnes hadn’t come to the front door, he had known about Dawg’s back entrance through his father, who had spent years spying on the Mackay cousins, and used it to slip into the house.

  He had gotten Dawg first, while Natches was outside getting the last supplies from his truck. When he came in, he had seen the same thing Kelly had, what appeared to be Dawg napping on the couch.

  He had moved into the kitchen with the supplies, where the deputy had moved in behind him and knocked him unconscious as well. He had waited until Kelly had left the bedroom upstairs, hiding in the other room until she started down the stairs, before he had disabled Rowdy. Or thought he had.

  Rowdy had been coming out of his nap as he was struck; the blow had dazed him, taking precious minutes for him to get his bearings enough to struggle from the bed.

  The sheriff had called that morning after running a night-long investigation on his dead deputy. He had indeed been Loren Barnes’s son, kidnapped by his father several years before the Mackay cousins had become her lovers.

  There was a long history of abuse as a child, foster homes, and disappearances that hadn’t been followed up on at the time. As the full story emerged, everyone who had known him on the force had been shocked. His father had molested him for years, punishing him for the supposed crimes his mother had committed. Richard Barnes, the father, had been insane, and his insanity had been forced upon his son until it had warped his view of women.

  Four women had paid for that crime.

  “Feeling better?” She turned her head as Dawg moved from the kitchen, followed by Rowdy and Natches.

  She stared at the three men, feeling the tension that suddenly filled the room, the intensity in their eyes. She had known this was coming, had known Rowdy’s cousins would soon put his decision to the test. She could see it in the ready tension of their bodies. There was none of the expected anger in Rowdy’s expression though. His body was relaxed, easy, his gaze simmering with amusement.

  “Do we have a problem?” She crossed her arms over her breasts and stared back at the three curiously.

  “Rowdy’s being greedy,” Dawg grunted. “How do you feel about that?”

  “I’m rather greedy myself, Dawg,” she informed him fondly. “I can’t do it.”

  “We wouldn’t hurt you.” She could see the frustration in his face. “Hell, Kelly, our cousins in Texas have survived just fine.”

  The Augusts. They didn’t even live in Somerset and they had a reputation here.

  She breathed in deeply.

  “I’m not Marly or their other wives,” she informed them as Rowdy straightened, slowly tensing.

  Dawg glared back at Rowdy then. “You didn’t even give us a chance—”

  “You don’t love her, Dawg,” Rowdy snapped, striding across the room to Kelly’s side.

  When h
e turned to face Dawg and Natches, his arm curled around Kelly’s back, pulling her closer to his hard body.

  “We love her enough,” Natches protested, his jaw pulsing tightly.

  “Oh give it up!” Kelly stepped away from her lover, staring between the three men incredulously, laughter bubbling from her throat at their fierce expressions. “Geez, do I look like a bone between the three of you?”

  They stared back at her in surprise.

  “Dawg, how many times did I flirt with you, just for the hell of it, while Rowdy was gone?”

  “You did what?” Rowdy turned to her in surprised irritation.

  “Save it.” She rolled her eyes back at him. “You were gone, so the jealousy is a little late.” She turned back to Dawg. “And I’m waiting on an answer, Dawg?”

  Dawg shifted nervously, rather like a little boy caught in a fib.

  He cleared his throat, glancing at Rowdy with a grimace.

  “You belonged to him first.”

  “I’m his always, Dawg,” she informed him gently. “Now, forever, and always. And that’s my decision. Not Rowdy’s. And it’s one you won’t change.”

  “I told you she was trouble,” Natches griped. “Dammit, Kelly, we didn’t ask you to mess things up like this.” He cast her a brooding glare.

  “You’re welcome.” She smiled back placidly.

  They weren’t angry, she could see it in their eyes, feel it in the affection in their gazes.

  Natches turned to Dawg and lifted his fist.

  “We’re the last.”

  Dawg lifted his fist in return, touching it to his cousin’s. “The last.”

  He appeared firm, decisive. Kelly tilted her head and watched both men curiously. Natches might never let go of the more extreme needs, but there was something there in Dawg’s expression. Something hesitant. Something uncertain.

  “Let’s go.” Rowdy’s arm hooked around her waist, dragging her toward the stairs.

  “Where?”

  “To bed,” he growled.

  “But, Rowdy, I’m not sleepy.”

  “I promise, you will be. Later…”