Page 31 of Beast

Play house?

Be his trophy wife during the day and his lover at night?

A shiver rolls through me and I look toward the window. Not touching a woman for years will have built up his sexual appetite, and what will that mean for me as his wife?

Images of a naked Beast claiming me on his bed sends an unexpected wave of heat through me. A man of his size wouldbe dominant and powerful in bed, and I’ve seen the size of his motorcycle boots so I don’t doubt everything else about him is big, even the parts we can’t see.

Another wave of heat hits me deep in my core and reminds me that it’s been a long time since I’ve been touched.

I rake my hands down my face, as if I can scrape the unwanted images of a naked Beast between my legs off my mind.

I’m being held against my will by the giant biker, and I should be focusing on that. Not wishing my vibrator wasn’t still in a drawer back at the house on Le Prince Street.

Feeling frustrated, I take a sip of coffee. I don’t know what to do about my uncle or how I’m going to get us out of this mess.

But one thing is for sure, I’m not hanging around to be dragged down the aisle to marry a stranger.

CHAPTER 12

BEAST

The girl isdead and cold on the wet cobblestones. She’s slumped against the dumpster. Her eyes are half-open, an odd crystal blue color, and staring lifelessly out at nothing. On her lap is a baggie of powder with our damn logo printed on the side.

I feel the rage unfurl inside me.

The piss-colored powder tells me it’s the synthetic phantasia that’s made its way onto our streets.

Crouching beside the dead girl, the medical examiner, Dr. Beaver, is checking her body temperature.

Lars and I stand with the sheriff, a look passing between us. Another dead body. Another baggie of fake phantasia.

“Who found her?” I ask the sheriff.

“Garbage truck. About an hour ago,” he says. “Came to empty the dumpster and found her.”

I look at her. Jesus, she looks barely out of her teens. “Do we know how long she’s been here?”

“She’s been dead about six hours,” Beaver says, rising to his feet. “Looks like acute drug intoxication.”

“Fucking fake phantasia,” I mutter.

I cast an eye around the alleyway. The stench of piss and puke is heavy in the air.

“Looks that way. I’ll have a more conclusive answer once we get her back to the morgue and run some tests.”

“Let me know. And send me a sample of whatever the fuck is in that bag.”

“Take the bag. I’ve got enough material around her nose and mouth for testing, and I’ve already taken a small sample from the bag just for comparison.” He looks down at the slumped girl, pity written all over his face.

Giving me the evidence is breaking protocol. But the Knights, the Sheriff’s Department, and the Medical Examiner’s Office have a unique relationship. One that lets us handle things a lot faster than protocol ever could.

Beaver gives me a remorseful nod and walks away to talk with one of his site technicians. They’ll finish their forensic examination of the scene before taking the girl away.

Sheriff Coulter bends down and picks up the bag of dope from her lap and hands it to me. “What are you planning to do with it?”

I’m going to have Opie test it against the last bag to see if it’s the same thing. I want to know what has made its way onto our streets.

“I want to see what the fuck we’re dealing with,” I say, a cold unease churning in my gut.

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