Page 20 of The Catcher

I dug in Noah’s pockets as he groaned. At least he wasn’t dead. But he looked like absolute shit, his nose a mangled mass in the center of his face, blood dribbling down his chin.

I pressed the button, and Tanner turned and began to haul Noah grimly over to where his car was parked.

The car was a sleek cream-colored sports car, and Tanner threw Noah up against it.

“What the fuck,” Noah said, reaching a hand up to his split lip.

“If I see your face again, I’ll kill you,” Tanner snarled. “I’m psycho. Ask anyone.” I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood as I saw him rip the sideview mirror from Noah’s car in a shower of sparks and throw it in my ex’s face. Noah’s eyes widened, the fear in them sending an almost erotic flush of heat through my body as he backed into the front seat. Tanner slammed the car door on him, then there was a loud squealing noise as Noah peeled his little sports car out of there. Tanner watched him leave, his hands in his pockets.

“Fucking pussy,” he said.

Then he turned around to me. I took a hasty step back, then another, until my ass hit another car behind me.

There was blood on Tanner’s lips and he walked toward me, unhurriedly, but I felt flushed and frightened when his eyes didn’t leave my face. He stopped in front of me, and I felt a strange prickling over my skin, the fear and thrill over seeing Noah get the shit kicked out of him making a strange mix in my stomach.

“Aren’t you going to say thank you?” Tanner asked. He brought out his pack of cigarettes and tapped it on his palm, his eyes never leaving my face.

“Thank you?” I croaked, tightening my hands behind my back. My body felt hot and flushed, my breasts heavy, the nipples hardening as they rubbed against my bra. “You’re the one who brought him here in the first place!”

“Yeah, but I also removed him,” Tanner said. “So where’s my reward?”

“Reward?” I cried, trying to slide sideways on the car to get away from him, but he took a step forward, blocking my exit. “You hired my emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend to torment me!”

“I didn’t know he was emotionally abusive,” Tanner said, lighting his cigarette and looking at me with narrowed eyes. The flash of his lighter illuminated his face briefly, the sharp lines of his cheekbones and the harsh slash of his mouth. “Whatever the fuck that is.”

He blew a ring of smoke at me, and I struggled not to react. I didn’t want him to know how he’d affected me. I said nothing.

“But,” he continued, “Iintend to be the only one touching you. So don’t worry about him bothering you anymore.”

Then he leaned forward, closer to my ear. I smelled the blood on his lips and teeth, the scent strong like iron in my mouth.

“So where’s my reward?” he said again, and he took another step closer. This time he stepped between my two legs, forcing them apart, and I felt one lean strong thigh pressing on my core, making heat pound down to my cunt.

“Reward?” I squeaked, trying to back away from him. But his knee between my legs trapped me.

“You,” he said. “On your knees with my cock in your mouth.”

“No,” I said, feeling the panic creep in my voice.

“Oh yes,” he said, and took another drag on his cigarette, and reached out for me with his other hand, his fist closing around my ponytail.

He leaned forward with his hips then, trapping me even more fully against the car, and I felt the unmistakable pressure of his hard cock on my belly.

My heart started to hammer in my chest, the movement hard and painful.

I felt the pressure on my belly as he leaned into me. “Get on your damn knees, Em,” he said. “And maybe I’ll put my cock in you afterwards.”

“I don’t want that,” I gasped out.

His cock was so hard that it seemed to dig into the soft skin of my belly, making me feel weak and frozen.

“Yes, you do,” he said, and the familiar scent of his cigarette seemed to fill my nostrils, his proximity making it hard to think.

As Tanner watched me, I saw his eyes glitter in the darkness. There was the soft pop of his cigarette, and the feel of his smoke on my cheek.

“I didn’t ask if you wanted it,” he said, and I felt his big fist tighten in my ponytail. “I saidget on your knees.”

I finally got my voice back and I screamed as loud as I could, shrill and piercing.

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