Insatiable (17 page)

Hiding out in Ronnie's house was risky, he knew that it was risky, but after what he did to Ken Holmes he'd come to develop a taste for it now and he couldn’t help himself. It was no longer just about Aurora Collins, it was deeper than that. Killing was something that he was good at, and there was no reason to stop now. He'd chosen the time and place well enough, and after all no one would come looking for him at least not right away.

And when they did find Ronnie's dead body, he'd be long gone. Well he'd be far enough away so as to not draw attention to himself but close enough to keep an eye on Aurora. The first time he'd killed, his stomach almost betrayed him at that first spurt of blood. But then as he watched it ooze out of Ken Holmes, he became instantly fascinated by it.

Death was something he was familiar with but had never seen up close, now it intrigued him. Slicing into something so weighty, so alive and then watching the life drain. Yes, now there was more to it than just trying to frame Aurora Collins, what he was doing had become an art and he had absolutely no idea when he started of how seductive the art of death could be. The smells, the blood, warm and pulsing right before it pooled, wet and red, oh so red.

He'd knocked Ronnie out, and ran a hand along the side of his face lifting up his chin and tilting Ronnie's head back. When Ronnie began to stir, he quickly reached for his bag of tricks and found the cable ties. Within seconds he had Ronnie's hands and legs bound. The fog hadn't left his head yet as Ronnie's eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. Before he could mutter a sound a heavy hand slapped the duct tape across his mouth, and a bright light from a flashlight nearly blinded him. "I've never killed a man while he was wide awake." He watched knowledge settle in Ronnie's eyes and saw them dart quickly around the room.

"There's no way out Ronnie, but might I suggest you close your eyes?" And with no remorse or regret, he plunged the knife deep into Ronnie's belly, his hand steady and without nervousness as he repeated the motion three more times. So fascinating, he thought to himself. He began to get caught up in the way Ronnie's eyes went from intense pain, shock, and then dull and lifeless.

As he sat back catching his breath, he wondered just what Aurora would do when she found out that Ronnie Carr was dead and that she would be suspected of his murder. Even if she came up with another alibi, her so called good name would still be tarnished, and that would be good enough for him, for now. He hoped that at least her reputation as a do-gooder would be ruined, and she'd be run out of town.

A town that had no business putting her up on a pedestal. If the murder of Ken Holmes didn’t get under her skin, surely the murder of Ronnie Carr would. "One way or another, you are going to suffer Aurora Collins," he said then smiled. He almost laughed and had to hold a bloody hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing too loud. "Can't take any chances," he said and went about cleaning up his mess.

The moment Liam introduced Aurora to her hosts she felt awkward. Not only was Gary's wife uninviting but she appeared to be incredibly superficial and arrogant. So far, Aurora couldn’t define any nice qualities about the woman except that she had a lovely home and respectful children. Children who were almost immediately rushed upstairs to bed after she and Liam had arrived. She wondered what such a down to earth, non-egotistical guy like Gary had found in a woman like his wife Melissa. "So what is it exactly that you do Aurora?" Melissa asked. She'd practically cornered Aurora and was now acting like a spoiled socialite.

"I run a not-for–profit organization for victims of domestic violence," she replied.

Melissa shook her head. "Oh, so it's not really anything to brag about is it?"

Aurora took a long sip of her drink. It was the only plausible thing to do at the moment, the alternative would have been to punch this women in the throat but considering the circumstances that would surely come about, she thought better of it. For now she would simply have to put her in her place. "Melissa, I didn’t start this so that I could brag about it. It's something that is a part of me, it's my heart and soul. When a woman is in an abusive relationship, they feel as if there's no way out and places like mine give them that out."

Melissa curled her thin lips. "Well it seems to me that if a man hits a woman she should leave, no question about it. Just get up and go."

Aurora had no desire to deal with the ignorance of her hostess. She was there to have a good time and both Liam and Gary could see that she was having the opposite of that.

"I'm sorry about Melissa Liam. She's on a rant tonight as usual, we should have gone out. She behaves better when we're out in public because that's the only time she can put on her airs and get praised for it. She knows that I don’t put up with that shit here at home. Looks like I'm going to have to remind her that she married into money, she didn’t come from it. "Honey? How's life up there on your mountain top?" Gary's tone was sarcastic but damned if his wife caught on.

"What non-sense are you speaking now Gary?" She proclaimed.

While Gary excused himself and his wife, Liam stole a private moment with Aurora.

"Sorry," he said.

"No need to apologize. Just be glad that she's his problem and not yours," she winked and gave him a kiss.

When dinner was served, Melissa had not calmed down, she now set her sights on Liam. "So Liam, what ever happened to that girl you were dating this past summer? Surely you and… what was her name?"

Aurora's eyebrows shot up at the thought of what Liam would say to Melissa. If Melissa was trying to make her jealous, it wasn’t working. Aurora chuckled softly at Melissa's feeble attempt.

"Her name was Allison, and we broke up well before the summer was over but I'm sure you know that already Melissa." Liam wasn’t in the mood for Melissa's tired games. Gary let his knife and fork fall to his plate. He moved forward and with his elbows on the table placed his hands under his chin. "You'll have to forgive my wife Aurora; it's obvious that she doesn’t know how to behave in our own home. But take her out somewhere, and she just oozes couth and class. Ain't that right sweetheart?" Gary knew that using improper English in front of company would strike a nerve with his wife. She took a very unladylike gulp of wine. "Gary! You know that's not how we talk in this house! What would the children think if they heard their father speaking like that?"

Gary had too much to drink, and he'd also had too much of his wife. He threw down his linen table napkin and got up from the table. "They'd probably congratulate me for talking like a fucking human being!" He shouted and stormed out of the dining room. Melissa had a way of embarrassing her husband, and at that moment Liam remembered why he never went to Gary's house for dinner. He turned to Aurora, and she could see the look of remorse in his eyes. She ran her hand up and down his thigh seductively, even under these circumstances she made his cock hard. "I think we better get going," he said.

"That's a good idea, why don’t you go and talk to Gary first though alright?"'

Aurora gave him a look that told him that she wasn’t finished setting Melissa straight.

Once Liam was out of the room Aurora thanked Melissa for dinner and got up from the table. She turned and looked Melissa in the eye. "I came here with the best of intentions and I'm going to leave here the same way. But first I want to tell you that not only are you the rudest person that I have ever met, but you're also the most ignorant. You make the abusers that my clients have had to deal with look like scholars and you are far too presumptuous for your own good.

Do yourself a favor and get over yourself, and do it quickly because all of that ugliness that you have on the inside, projects on the outside. And it's obvious that you have a hell of a lot of ugliness in you and you don’t age too well. So already you have two strikes against you." Aurora smiled politely and walked out of the room.

Liam and Gary had been standing in the doorway of the dining room and had heard every word. Gary stood stunned, but his mouth held the most pleasant grin. Liam held his hand out to Aurora and kissed her full on the lips. "Thanks again for a wonderful evening, see you in the morning," he said to Gary before they headed out the door.

"Remind me never to go there for any reason ever again," Liam groaned painfully, after they'd left the house.

"Remind me never to go with you if you do," she said with a grin.

"So does that mean you're considering something long term?" Liam immediately took her comment to mean that she was thinking about spending more time with him. He hoped that his conclusion was correct. Aurora cupped his face in her hands. "I might be thinking about it," she said. She couldn't not think about it, Liam seemed to be custom made for her. She'd be a fool not to give things a try.

Ronnie was late. Mark had been at JR's for over an hour now waiting for him. He wasn’t answering his cell nor was he returning any of his text messages. Something was wrong, Ronnie was never late. Especially when the prospect of getting laid had been his top priority. Mark paid his tab, pulled up the collar of his coat and made his way out of the bar. The night was cold and he silently cursed Ronnie for making him leave the warmth and comfort of the bar. "You better be fuckin' dead, because that's the only excuse I'll accept," Mark muttered as he made his way towards Ronnie's house.

He was glad that it was a short walk from the bar to Ronnie's place, it wasn’t a night that Mark had wanted to spend outdoors. The wind had picked up, and the temperature had dropped. The moment that he came upon the house and the unlocked door, Mark knew that something was wrong. Ronnie never left his door unlocked, and he always made sure to leave a light on. Now, it was pitch black inside the house. There was no sign of life what so ever and as he entered, a chill ran through his bones that had nothing to do with the weather.

After a quick search of the upstairs rooms, Mark found no sign of Ronnie. He even called out his name while he was searching. But when he saw that the basement door was wide open he shuddered. He stood at the top of the stairs and peered down. He couldn’t see anything in the blackness and reached over, up, and switched on the light. A heavy sigh of relief escaped him when he looked and saw nothing at the bottom of the stairs. He took the steps very cautiously, one at a time. If Ronnie had taken a fall, he certainly didn’t want to have the same fate. It wasn’t until he was on the last step that he saw a large lump of something over in the corner.

"Holy Shit."

Mark might not have recognized Ronnie, not after what had been done to him. But he recognized the clothes and the USMC ring that was still on his finger. Blood had pooled around him, and blank eyes stared at him. His stomach lurched and for a moment he thought that he was going to lose his supper right there on the floor. He covered his mouth with his hands and ran up the stairs. Mark reached up and opened the cabinet above the refrigerator and pulled down the bottle of whiskey that Ronnie kept hidden there. After taking several long swigs, he took a deep breath and dialed 911.

"I thought that we were going back to your place?" Aurora smiled seductively. She'd wanted to feel Liam inside her and had been looking forward to it for most of the day. But it seemed that Liam had other plans, he pulled into the parking lot of a bar and turned off the ignition. "No, we're not going to my place or your place tonight Aurora. I want to get to know you on all levels, not just the sexual one. And I thought that this would be as good a place as any."

Aurora sighed heavily. "Liam, we can talk at your place." She hid her smirk. Talking was the last thing that she had in mind, but she knew that if she could convince him to bring her back to his place, he'd succumb to her, and hopefully more than once.

Liam shook his head. "Now I think that you and I both know that if we go back to my place there won't be any talking of the non-sexual kind. Come on Aurora, I'm serious. Come inside the bar with me and let's have a drink and talk, all I want to do is talk to you."

She smoothed out her dress and put her hand on the door handle. "Fine, let's go," she said and got out of the car. Liam felt the disappointment coming from her, she had wanted them to have sex and here he was trying to deter her from that. What the hell is wrong with me? He questioned himself. For a moment he thought about grabbing her, putting her back in the car and speeding back to his place, but she was already opening the door of the bar. "You coming or what?" She shouted to him from across the parking lot.

He jogged to catch up to her and by the time he'd reached her she was already heading inside. The small bar was dimly lit, and Aurora liked that, it had been a long time since she'd been to a nice quiet bar. The last time being this past summer when she and Renee had enjoyed several drinks at a bar on Misquamicut beach. This bar was more upscale and even though it was nowhere near the beach she thought it nice just the same. There weren’t many people seated at the bar, and that was something that appealed to them both. "After you," he said and followed her as she guided him towards a table.

After he ordered their drinks and sat down next to her, Aurora could feel the warmth coming from his body. Her senses were on high alert. She had to change the subject. "Okay handsome, talk," she said and leaned in closer. She could smell his cologne and instantly felt a buzz of sexual energy. "I was hoping that you'd be the one to start," he gazed at her. "But before you do there is something that I've been meaning to ask you."

"And what might that be?" He cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair before continuing. "Aurora, I've enjoyed our time together immensely and I don’t want it to end. I've got a business trip to New York. My flight leaves in the afternoon and I want you to go with me." He held up his hand. "Now before you say no, hear me out. I will only be gone a few hours and then the rest of the trip I'd be all yours. And while I'm gone you can shop, visit the spa, rest, watch television, you can do anything you want. Just please say that you'll go with me." The look in his eyes told her that he was serious.