Page 12 of The Hunted

That’s the problem, isn’t it. All this time here and I still don’t know anything. Not one damn thing.

“This belongs to him,” she says as she stretches her arms out and waves them in circles. “It all belongs to him. This is his club.”

My stomach turns. I knew he had to be someone of some influence here, but to find out he owns this place was not what I was expecting. When I came here and made it through the initial interview process and signed my contract with Ace, I had actually assumed he was the owner.

I’ll need to be even more discreet when I try to search for information now that I am on Bane’s radar. He doesn’t seem like the type of man easily fooled.

“How do you know this?”

Lea sits up taller and leans in my direction.

“He left shortly after I arrived. He’d been gone for months,” she says in a hushed tone. “I overheard a couple of members say that he’s in the mafia. That’s where all of this came from.”

Lea whispers the last part as if someone may hear her. Honestly, I can’t say for sure that our suites aren’t bugged. I’ve looked, but I have yet to find any devices. But with the money this place takes in, I have no doubt they can afford high-end, high-tech gear the likes of which I’ve never seen. The mafia…that could also explain why you can’t find any information on this place. The lack of anything concrete is the entire reason I had to come here and subject myself to this to get some damn answers. Everywhere I looked to find information on this place was a dead end.

People would be terrified for their lives if they outed him and he has mafia ties. I could see that being the case now that I’ve met him. His presence alone is intimidating.

Lea’s been my suite mate since I arrived. She seems to be a genuinely good person, but I’ve learned you can’t trust anyone. She’s only here because she needed to pay off her mother’s medical bills, or so she told me.

It seems the girls here have different reasons for agreeing to give themselves bodily to this. The members are paying hefty sums to come and play. It is glamorous and alluring in some ways. The money, the finery, I can see how a young attractive woman could be enticed into being a willing participant. Silver Lake isn’t exactly a budding metropolis. I think of Scarlett, my sweet baby sister, and wonder what could have driven her to make this decision. If she made this decision. I just can’t see her choosing this place as some sort of an option. I know our funds were tight but we were making it okay.

Scarlett vanished almost a year ago. Gone without a trace. No note, nothing taken from her bedroom in the apartment we share. At first the police were extremely helpful and concerned, but as time wore on and no leads were found, the case grew cold. One officer suggested maybe she just left. “It happens,” he’d said. Not Scarlett. We told each other everything. She’s my best friend. She would never have left without telling me. Would she?

“How hot is he? I’ve never seen him in person. The other girls say he is sexy as hell. He usually stays behind the scenes when he is here, I’ve never been in the right place at the right time.”

Lea’s question pulls me back from my thoughts. I answer without hesitation.

“He is very handsome, and kinda scary when you first see him.”

The confusion he stirs within me scares the hell out of me. And the way he seems to be able to possess my body terrifies me even more. His touch feels like a brand to my skin one minute and brings comfort the next. I can’t lie to myself and say I didn’t enjoy the way his touch made me feel. I did. Too damn much for my liking, actually.

“I can imagine.” Lea lies back down and pulls the blanket from the back of the couch over her.

No, she can’t imagine, not at all. Unless you are in his sights, you have no idea. How his eyes glazed over with hot desire when he looked at me. She has no idea how the hard planes of his body feel as his weight presses onto your flesh. A small smile tugs my lips as I recall his touch, his warmth, his scent.

I drop my gaze to hide my thoughts from Lea that surely must be evident on my face, and I notice my dirty bare feet. It’s time to call it a night and thank my lucky stars I got out of this situation. It’s for the best. Really, it is. Even if his touch lit me on fire, I have to stay focused on Scarlett. I’m doing this to find her.

“I’m going to go shower, Lea. Goodnight.” I push myself up from the chair and head to our private bathroom.

“Goodnight, Raven,” Lea calls from behind me as I close the door.

I strip off the dress and drop it in the hamper. My undergarments follow. I turn the water on, testing the temperature with my hand. As I wait for the water to warm, I examine my reflection in the mirror. My face is still flushed from earlier. I touch my lips, still kiss swollen from his. I turn and step into the shower, the warm water steaming the shower’s glass panes. Tilting my head back under the spray, raking my hands over my hair, closing my eyes, I let the water wash away my worries. My thoughts turn to Bane and the way he touched me and kissed me. It was tender but powerful. Gentle but commanding. It was like I was being consumed by him. Beautifully devoured.

My hand drifts down to my center, and I touch myself while I think of how Bane’s hands touched me. How his fingers dug firmly into my flesh as if he were afraid I’d slip away from him. I can recall his intimate caress vividly. My head falls forward on a moan.

“Thinking of me, Little Bird?”

I snap my eyes open and lift my head. I remove my hand from between my legs and swipe it against the glass shower panel. Bane stands before me, amber eyes hooded, staring directly at me.

“Why are you in here?” My voice sounds shaky even to my own ears. I shield my exposed form as well as I can with my hands.

“My business is finished but ours was not.”

Oh, my God. I can’t believe he watched me touch myself. I’m mortified.

“Finish your shower but do not finish touching yourself. That’s my job. I’ll be back to collect you in thirty minutes.”

He walks out the door, seemingly unaffected that he just caught me masturbating. I just stand in the shower, dazed and staring after him. A few moments later, I finally manage to shake my embarrassment enough to finish my shower. I wrap a towel around myself before I come out of the bathroom to find Lea sitting on the couch with the largest smile I’ve ever seen.

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