Free Potential Match [Ménage.com 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Peyton Elizabeth

coffee pot back on the burner and lifted the scalding-hot liquid to his mouth. Taking two big gulps, Duke was finally able to turn around to where Des and Bryn sat at the kitchen table.
    “Yes, that sums it up,” Bryn said. She had an empty teacup in front of her, while Spur lay at her feet. Bryn had offered to reheat a plate of dinner that she and Des had eaten earlier, but Duke felt as if a rock was lodged in his stomach. “And before you say anything, I was doing what I thought was right.”
    Duke knew she was referring her decision to leave even after he warned her that taking their relationship to the next step changed things. He hadn’t been kidding either. The only regret he had was the fact that the painkillers had taken over and he’d fallen into a drug-induced haze. What he would have given to make love to her and show her how good it could be. In his mind, having her touch him gave him certain rights, such as protecting her. If she didn’t get that before, Bryn was about to understand him now.
    “Did we or did we not have an agreement when you decided to take our relationship to the next level?” Duke asked, grateful that the coffee had cleared any cobwebs that were still lingering in his head. “I’m not Des. I don’t do things his way. I can be overbearing and chauvinistic, but keeping you safe is my number one priority. I’m not known to play fair, Bryn. If I have to tie you up to my bed to keep you safe, then that’s what I’ll do.”
    Duke knew he’d taken her by surprise by that last sentence, because she shot a look over at Des seeking confirmation. It was something that would have to be addressed later, his penchant for kinky sex. Right now, he wanted more information on this scumbag that was after her.
    “We’ll get back to your decision to leave later,” Duke said, closing the distance between them and taking the seat next to her. Although his left shoulder was the one with the knife wound, it was his old injury in his right one that was killing him. He remembered falling asleep with Bryn tucked into his right side and decided the pain was worth it. Setting his coffee cup on the table, Duke started to massage his right shoulder. “I want to hear what that detective said. What’s his name again?”
    “Detective Flynn,” Des answered. “These are the facts. After hearing what happened to Bryn, they believe he is posing as a police officer and pulling women over—women that look like Bryn. How he finds his victims is unknown. He abducts them, leaving their car abandoned, and then keeps them for a day or two before dropping their body a couple miles away from the original crime scene. Once the police figured out his pattern, he started dropping their bodies off in fields, forests, deserts—wherever he could to maintain the perimeter. Flynn doesn’t have the manpower to cover the many miles, although with the press this case is getting, I bet he can get it now. They are assuming that he spotted Bryn near Phoenix and followed her to Triple. Flynn can’t explain why this guy wouldn’t have stopped her somewhere along the road, but when he saw her stop in Triple, he waited for her to exit the diner.”
    “But why take her on the street?” Duke asked, trying to picture the events in his mind. He needed more coffee. “Why not wait until she was on the road, in the dead of night? Why expose himself that way?”
    “That was a bad pun,” Bryn said, regarding his dead of night expression. “Detective Flynn wasn’t sure what prompted him to veer away from his normal routine, but the detective feels that since I was able to get away, that might make this guy unpredictable.”
    “And the woman he took last night?” Duke finished his coffee and then sat back in his chair. “Do they have any idea where he might have taken her?”
    “No,” Des answered, shaking his head. “If they can’t find her, they are estimating he’ll dump her body with twenty-four to forty-eight hours. They