Vicious Carousel (Suncoast Society #25)(3)

She thought she’d found the love of her life after years of failed vanilla relationships.

As she trudged through the darkness, she hoped Tilly and Loren had their phones handy. Because if she couldn’t get through to them, she damn sure couldn’t go back to the apartment.

And she had nowhere else to go.

When she reached the convenience store, the poor clerk looked like he was going to shit himself. It took her several minutes of begging and pleading for him not to call the cops, and to let her use the phone to call her friends.

After she reached Tilly, she sat in the office and burst into tears at the guy’s kindness. He used the first-aid kit to tend to her wounds, and even made her an ice pack.

Now she realized how much trouble she was in. Seriously. She wobbled between feeling nauseated and dizzy and sleepy, plus the way her right eye was trying to swell closed, she knew it had to be bad.

She had deliberately avoided looking at herself in the mirror before she left the apartment, not wanting to see how bad it was, afraid the extent of her injuries would weaken her reserve to leave, make her scared of what worse things Jack might do to her if he caught her. It didn’t matter that logic told her the police would arrest him for this. It didn’t matter that she knew if she had to she could go to an emergency shelter.

The fear would still be there and slide a knife through what little reserve she’d mustered to leave in the first place.

The guy edged a garbage can closer to her. “You don’t look so good. Are you sure I can’t call 911 for you?”

“No,” she said. “My friends will be here soon. They’ll take care of me.”

She hoped.

“Who the hell did this to you?”

“Someone I never should have trusted in the first place.”





Chapter Two


Kenny Yates and Nolan Becker had retreated to a corner of their friends’ kitchen. Around them, a private party of the Suncoast Society was in full swing. After the men’s rocky encounter earlier that morning with Kenny’s step-father, Kenny had counted on getting some bottom time tonight.

Nine years ago, when Kenny was twenty-five, Dennis had married Kenny’s mom, Michelle. Michelle had raised Kenny as a single mom, and as long as she got a pre-nup, Kenny told her he’d support her no matter who she married.

She did, and Kenny had done his best to conceal the fact that he was bi from Dennis. Especially while he was dating Nolan—and then moved in with him six years ago.

While Kenny’s mom knew the truth, the three of them had been careful not to let Teapublican Dennis in on it. In fact, Kenny’s mom thought the two men were gay, not bi.

This morning, while Kenny and Nolan were over helping remove a tree from Kenny’s mom’s backyard, Dennis had come home early and surprised them…

…and had witnessed Kenny kissing Nolan.

And fireworks of the bad kind had exploded.

Now Kenny wanted a beating and a f*cking and a few minutes of subspace to escape from his brain for a while.

“I was thinking,” Nolan said as he glanced around, “that it’s starting to quiet down a little. You still in a mood to play tonight?”

While they were both Doms, they considered each other equals, which sort of made them both switches.

They could keep it straight, which was both ironic and all that mattered.

Tilly walked into the kitchen and dumped the remnants from a couple of plastic cups into the sink before tossing the cups. “You guys going to play?”

“We were just talking about that,” Nolan said.

Tilly smiled. “I know it sounds pervy, but I like watching you two play. I can tell you’re having fun. And, no offense, you’re both hot.”

Kenny laughed. “You’ve got two hot guys.”

“I know I do. And I enjoy watching them together, too. I’m a perv.” She shrugged. “What can I say?”

Leigh emerged from the hall leading to the master bedroom with Tilly’s purse in her hand. “Sweetie, I love you, but I’m not going into your purse.” She set it on the counter.

Tilly looked confused. “Um, why are you bringing this to me?”

Even Kenny jumped when the sound of evil, maniacal laughter rolled from the purse.

Leigh pointed at it. “That. Nearly scared the piddle out of me when I went to go to the bathroom.”

Tilly dug into her purse. “It’s my unknown caller ringtone.” She scowled, then answered it. “Hello?”





Nolan already knew, deep in his gut, that whoever it was, it wasn’t good news. Especially when Tilly started frantically gesturing for something to write with as she attempted to soothe the caller on the other end of the line.

“Whoa, honey, calm down.”

The next few minutes of scrambling were a blur as Tilly got the info and a rescue party was assembled, mostly Doms, but also Gabe, who was an armed FDLE agent. Her husband, Bill, was an armed Charlotte County sheriff’s detective.

Which wasn’t as helpful, since they were in Sarasota County, but hey, they were armed law enforcement officers.

Betsy had been attacked by her boyfriend, and she’d finally found the nerve to escape the abusive, controlling *. Kenny and Nolan were no strangers to standing up for themselves or their friends. But as Nolan drove, over the speed limit and close on the heels of Landry and Cris in the vehicle ahead of them, and with a caravan of their friends following behind them, he wouldn’t deny that he hoped they weren’t in over their heads this time. Tony and Ross rode in their backseat.