“What? What?” Cassie asked anxiously.
“Beast Kindred—real ones—secrete a kind of compound. It’s found in their saliva and their precum both and it acts in the same way as bonding fruit—allowing their lover to stretch to receive them. Otherwise no female would ever be able to take a Beast Kindred’s Mating Fist.”
“I see.” Cassie nodded. “So ‘The Beast” wouldn’t have to, uh, force his way in at all if he really was a Beast Kindred.”
“Exactly.” Stone pointed to the frozen screen. “This scenario would never happen with a true Beast Kindred—the compounds in his precum would simply allow him to slide right in with no pain to the girl at all.” He shook his head. “Why did I not think of that at once? It should have occurred to me at the very beginning of this scene.”
“Maybe seeing the girl being hurt upset you so much you weren’t concentrating on the facts,” Cassie suggested carefully.
“You’re right, Cassandra.” The big Kindred shook his head. “From the beginning of this case, I have been allowing my emotions to get in the way of clear thinking. I must do better.”
“It’s all right, Stone.” She patted his arm awkwardly. “I mean, this is a really upsetting case. It would put anybody off their game.” She frowned. “But if The Beast isn’t a Beast Kindred, then what the hell is he?”
“I don’t know,” Stone said grimly. “But we’re going to find out.”
Fourteen
Cassie yawned as discretely as she could into her cupped hand. Captain Perkins liked early morning meetings and conferences and she and Stone had been up almost all night examining the contents of Frank Yarrow’s laptop…
Most of it had been more of the same—huge dick into tiny pussy, as Yarrow had told them. But there was also a fair amount of BDSM footage they had to examine and the contracts to look at. Cassie had noted down all the names of The Beast’s “co-stars” but none of the girls they saw The Beast working with had looked anything like the victim they had seen on Bayshore.
Most of the porn did nothing for her, but Cassie had found herself squirming during some of the scenes. During one, especially, The Beast had been working with a girl with long blonde hair and brown eyes, which looked a little like Cassie’s own. They had been playing a scene where The Beast was a stern boss and the girl was his naughty secretary.
“Miss Lexie,” he had growled at her, stalking into the office. “Can you explain to me why this paperwork I left for you yesterday still hasn’t been filed?”
“Oh, dear!” The girl had widened her eyes in mock-alarm. “I thought I had filed those papers, Mr. Thornton! I am so sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it around here, you know that,” The Beast growled. “Now I’ll have to punish you to teach you a lesson! Pull up your skirt and bend over my desk.”
Eagerly, his “secretary” complied—showing in the process that she wasn’t wearing any panties.
The Beast proceeded to paddle her until her generous ass cheeks were cherry red while the “naughty secretary” yelped and moaned and begged for more because she had been a “bad girl.”
While the scene was going on, Cassie could feel Stone’s piercing gaze, which was directed at her almost as often as it was to the screen in front of them. She wished like hell that she hadn’t told him about her little foray into kink. What must he be thinking of her now?
At last he had spoken.
“So this is the ‘role playing’ you were talking about?” he asked, looking directly at Cassie.
Stiffly, she nodded.
“That’s right.”
“He is hitting her, but the female doesn’t appear to be in much pain—or to mind very much.” Stone had sounded thoughtful.
“That’s because this kind of, uh, sexual play isn’t just about pain,” Cassie had tried to explain. “BDSM is about power—who’s got it and who’s willing to give it up. She’s giving him power over her body to do whatever he wants—she’s being submissive.”
“You said that you tried to be submissive to your ex-mate but you could not do it. Correct?” Stone asked.
“That’s right.” Cassie nodded again and shifted in her seat.
“And this was the kind of thing you did?” He motioned to the screen, where The Beast had stopped paddling the girl and was now standing behind her, ramming his cock into her pussy as she lay over his desk and moaned and writhed.
“Well, I mean, I think the production values were higher on this scene,” Cassie said dryly. “But essentially, yes, I guess so.”
“And did you truly enjoy it?” he wanted to know.
“Geez, Stone!” Cassie exploded. “Are you seriously asking me if I liked being spanked? I’m your partner.”
“I am just wondering if I could bring myself to ‘spank’ a female in the context of sexual play,” Stone had said seriously.