Dark Associations by Marie Sutro

Author:Marie Sutro
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: san francisco, adult thriller, sexy detective, thriller crime, bdsm thriller
Publisher: Marie Sutro

February 4

It was well past midnight when Kate drove across the Golden Gate Bridge on her way home from Napa. The intensity of the bright-red paint adorning the span’s steel towers was diluted into a dark blush by the fog.

A similar hue burned in Kate’s cheeks. The heat fueling it had continued to simmer since she’d left Fraye’s house. It was a heat fueled by shame and regret. At least those were the two emotions she was willing to acknowledge.

Satisfaction and lust also contributed to the mix, but there was no point indulging either feeling. To do so would only complicate things, and she had certainly done enough of that tonight.

Sleeping with Fraye had not been something she had planned on doing. It had been all that talk about guilt and the wine and… She shook her head, warding off the excuses.

So they’d had sex. So she had let him strap her to the bed and violate her in various and sundry ways. This case would end, and Fraye would leave. There was no future for them, and that was okay. Neither of them wanted one anyway. It had just been one night. One glorious and raunchy night that had left every orifice in her body with a barely tolerable soreness. Her bra had been hastily shoved into her purse—its thin fabric proving too painful for her much-abused nipples.

Leather restraints and clamps notwithstanding, they were both professionals. They could go on as if it hadn’t happened—she was confident of that. It wasn’t like what she’d done with Harding. That mistake had been far messier than this one.

What Kate was more reticent to think about was the depth of emotion she’d experienced when talking to Fraye about guilt. Changing lanes, she suddenly remembered his explanation about the behavior of children of addicts. Recalling his words, another memory she had thought long buried sprang to the surface.

One fall day during her junior year of college, a knock at Kate’s apartment door had prompted a reason to believe things might be different with her mother. Not having spoken to Chloe since she walked out at eighteen, Kate was shocked to find her mother standing on her doorstep.

Abandoned dreams leapt unbidden from her heart in rapid-fire succession. Yet, as she noted the second-hand clothes and the emaciated form beneath them, reality barged back in, sucking every ounce of hope from her chest.

With uncharacteristic humility, Chloe greeted her daughter and asked to be invited in. Zeroing in on the trembling hands and the familiar look of desperation, Kate had demanded to know what her mother wanted.

The humility abruptly disappeared, replaced by a haughty disdain. Chloe shifted to attack mode, blaming her daughter for her sad state and insisting Kate give her money to rectify the situation.

Kate’s temper flared with each spiteful word from her mother’s lips. Finally, she demanded, “You actually think I owe you anything?”

“Of course you do. I’m your mother!”

Memories of the sight of Candace’s lifeless body and the smell of vomit flashed through Kate’s mind.

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