Page 39 of Cut Me Down

“What’s good man?” I try to listen, not really hearing the man on the other end, but not letting Paul know that. Keeping eye contact with him the entire time. “Nah, I'm hung over as fuck…What happened with the meeting? What’d I miss?... Oh yeah?...What’s that mean?...Ah shit…Yeah…Text me details…Out.” I hang up the phone and throw it back on to the table. “Coop never showed.” Fuck. I mean the chances that it wasthatCooper was too great, but there’s always a chance. If I would’ve known his role for Dust I might have handled things a little differently.

That’s bullshit. The only reason I wish I didn’t shoot him in the head was because I wanted to torture him and let my little wolf exact her vengeance, but her life was more important. If I was any later, she would’ve died.

“They’re holding another meeting tonight with the Dust King to make sure it wasn’t a slip up.” Paul’s words drag me out of my thoughts. “And they’re talking about Devil’s Hands…” His eyes start to close again, and I slap him even harder, then grab him by the back of the head. Curling his blood and sweat coated hair in my fingers. I’m not worried that they’re talking about us. I know we’re a problem for Dust, but I want to know what they’re saying.

“What about DH?” I snarl.

“How to snuff them out. King wants them gone. He already has a Sahara problem in Seattle and Dallas. He doesn’t want to deal with DH too…”

“How do I get in this meeting?”

“You can't. It’s tonight. If they don’t know you, you're done for.” He’s in no position to send out. They’ll know in a second he’s been tortured by the cuts and bruises on his face, if he was even able to walk through the front door. There’s not much use for him now. He doesn’t seem to have any viable information, and I certainly don’t have a use for him.

I let out a slow breath. Allowing my body to relax with it.

“I appreciate your honesty, and your cooperation.” I say calmly before I take my knife and shove it into his throat. Reveling in the feel of the slice from the blade and holding him still as he struggles to breathe, only to quickly go limp. Ripples of tormented pleasure run through my body. The feeling of his blood pouring down my hand reminds me of how wet Ashia was for me and how the shower poured over us as we fucked.

I allow the warm feeling the thoughts bring wash over me. The memories from last night flooding my head. She’s enchanting, beckoning me from afar, and only fueling the desire running through me. Desperate to feel her beneath me again.

After hacking into the hospital files earlier to take care of some things, I looked again later on to see what Serena had put in for her injuries. Curious if my little wolf is going to try and run from me. The notes said she fell down the stairs in her apartment. So, not only did she not turn me in, or try to run, but she somehow convinced her friend to lie about her injuries?

I doubt Ashia wouldn’t have told her everything, her bruises are obviously from assault, and her and Serena don’t seem to hide anything from each other. Their texts proved that. So, for now at least, she wants to play? I knew my little wolf liked to live a little closer to danger than she thought.

Wiping off my hands on the towel I had set aside, I imagine wrapping her towel around that irresistible body last night. Her small and delicate features enclosed in my arms as her big golden eyes stared up at me. The globes flashing with fear and uncertainty. She looked so vulnerable in my grasp. Like if I had held her any harder, she’d shatter.

Though that fire she first had in her eyes as we fucked stoked my own flames. A glimpse into the woman she truly is beneath the layers of trauma and distrust. I want all of it. Every layer. Every shred of the person she used to be, is now, and will be in the future. She looks at me as if I’m the danger. As if I’m the one who holds all of the power, but I can see the ember’s deep in her gaze. Just needing to be nurtured to grow into the bright flame she can and wants to be. It will match my own. There’s no uncertainty there.

I can’t wait to get back to her. My mouth is already salivating, and my dick is hard, pressed up against my jeans. I've never missed a woman like this or wanted to fuck one again so badly. We’ve only had sex once, and she already has me in a chokehold. After finally having her, she’s impossible to resist. I need more of her. All of her. The need to claw through her skin to see what lies underneath and bury myself in it is strong. She is my obsession, and she’s about to find out how tight her grip is around me.

I shakily reach for my phone and dial Carter.Fuck, not having her is like going through withdrawal. It only rings once before he answers.

“Get Zeke and get a couple of drones ready. We have a party to crash. Check in with the moles; see what they can find out from the other dealers.”

“Picture and sound?” He asks, his voice steady.

“Yeah, we need to identify as many of these fuckers as we can. Keep an eye out on all of the major real estate sales in the city too. I don’t want this King moving in and us not know about it.”

“You got it. I'm assuming every major real estate sale besides yours?” There’s that questioning and judgy tone I haven’t missed today.

“Yes, except for mine, you know Mel gets agitated when you look into her job.”

Zeke and Carter are monitoring the meeting. There’s a lot of interference, so broadcasting it to me isn’t an option. They know to retrieve any information they can while Zeke runs facial recognition on every face the drone catches. I don’t want Dust to be able to make a single move without us knowing about it. We have to hit them where it hurts.

I’ve got Caleb, Henry, and Liam out checking possible manufacturing locations. Plus, if Cooper was smart, he dropped these guns off somewhere important before heading to Ashia’s. Hopefully at one of the targeted locations so we can intercept before they become more of a problem.

I finally made it to Ashia’s apartment after I was caught up in a lengthy phone call with Melanie. She saw my transaction with the hospital and thought the worst. After reassuring her that I was indeed alright, her voice shifted from worry to flabbergasted. Her voice ticked up a couple of notches as she berated me about the payment. Once I explained to her what I had paid, and that there was no coercion to do so, I finally got off the phone with her and made my way here. I hold a special place in my heart for my cousins, but that woman is begging for me to argue with her, I swear.

After making my way inside her apartment, well, breaking in, and installing her curtains like I promised, I sit next to her on the bed. She hasn’t moved an inch since I came in. Which surprises me. She’s normally such a light sleeper, or maybe it just appears that way from how often she wakes up. The reality of last night probably hit her the moment she walked back in the door today. Her fear tugging at her, warning her to watch for an assailant around the corner. The past twenty-four hours have been exhausting for her.

I need to change the locks on her door. These are way too easy to pick, and I’m surprised with how close her and Emmett are, that he allows such terrible security measures. Especially with her past, you’d think he’d make sure her apartment was more secure than it actually is. Perhaps Emmett isn’t as trustworthy as I previously thought, and my past thoughts of working with him as a business owner are misplaced. I need to get more details on their friendship and Emmett’s business practices, but there’s not much to do about that tonight.

Putting those thoughts aside, I grab my silk straps of fabric from my bag and begin tying them to her bed posts. She’s about to hate this, until she’s screaming because she loves it so much. Her decision not to run was an invitation in my mind, and now that I have her, I’ll really begin to explore her desires. I need to see if they match my own.

She shouldn’t have been as turned on as she was last night. Normally, when I’m with a woman, my looks and charisma have to do all of the work. Burying my true desires deep down, and being the semi-vanilla, one night stand that every girl dreams of. Most women don’t like to be tied up, gagged, threatened with blades, and at the first glimpse of fear, their vaginas dry up worse than any oasis in the desert.

Not my girl.

Yes, initially, she freaked out. I mean, brain matter scattered across the face for the first time will do that to a person. But once the initial shock wore off and she gave in to her desires, she melted into who she truly was.

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