Page 28 of Cedar Edge
“Ace?” She has a hitch in her voice and the flush in her cheeks is brilliant.
“Yes Cricket?” I ask. My body angles closer to hers, stepping between her legs so I can feel the heat of her center.
“What are you doing?” She hiccups.
I lean forward, my nose tracing the column of her neck before I flick my tongue out to taste her skin. She whimpers the sound shooting straight to my cock. “Testing a theory.” I groan.
My mouth trails up to her lips until my head is pressed against her forehead. “What theory?” Her lips are so close to mine I can feel the puff of breath she releases when my hand grips her thigh.
“The theory that when your fucking your dildo at night it’s my cock you’re thinking of.” The words are filthy and I don’t let her respond before I’m claiming her mouth with my own.
My obsession with my stepsister started the moment I met her. It weaseled into me, like a sickness, and infected every cell of my body until all I could think of was her. This tiny human, obsessed with plants, became the sun to my solar system. Maybe that was my critical mistake, making her the center of my universe. Scratch that,ouruniverse. Because Logan and Law felt the pull the second they met her too.
When we were all kids the obsession was normal, or as normal as an obsession can be. I was her big brother and the three of us watched over, keeping her safe from the neighborhood degenerates. At the time it felt like a thank you to Marie for bringing love into my house. I certainly never got that from Rodger, the prick of a sperm donor who refused to get out of my fucking life.
But as we got older things seemed to twist and warp into a dark need to possess her. No one was allowed to have Thea except us. Even if I had fucked it up all those years ago when she offered her virginity to me. It had been everything I could have hoped for but I froze. I had been shocked and it had taken me too long to come back to my senses. But I never would have guessed she would have betrayed us like she did and hook up with some other guy. Cutting us off completely. She had thrown away everything in a matter of seconds.
And now after all this time she’s in my home with my boyfriends.
I feel raw and unsettled. Two things that could get me killed on a job.
Running my hand through my hair I blow the smoke of the joint upward as I close my eyes and lean against the dank wall of the building I’m in. The scent of weed floats around the air, reminding me of Logan. He always seems to smell like the drug, even if he hasn’t smoked. Between that and witch hazel it’s like the two scents are embedded in his skin.
I glance at the camera, watching Law lay Thea down on the couch, tucking her body against him. The idea of her being in my home sets my teeth on edge. It’s like they have forgotten what she did to us, how she left us. If I hadn’t been so busy I would have checked the camera sooner and seen the little invader, maybe could have done something before she sunk her claws into them.
Shaking my head, I focus on Law. Fuck, even from this angle I can see the tension in his body, and if I’m not mistaken that’s blood on his knuckles. He’s spiraling. Fast. I need to get home. Even if I want to avoid the place until I can get my head on straight or until she leaves, I need to get home for Law’s sake.
The low groan from the person in the room with me reminds me I need to get this job finished if I have hope of making it homebeforeLaw hits rock bottom again. My rebel. The one who is always in control until suddenly he’s not and I’m the only one who can help him come back from that headspace. Not even Logan, the perfect bratty sub, can help Law with this.
“You would think that at some point this would go differently.” I growl as I sweep my hair up into a small top knot. The upper half of my hair is just long enough to be a hindrance when I’m working. I learned very quickly that blood and brain matter does not come out of hair as well as you would think. Even with the expensive shit Logan uses to wash his hair.
The person doesn’t respond to my statement save for a muffled whimper. Letting out a long sigh I cock my head assessing the piece of shit I currently have tied up. Blood tricklesdown from a cut on his brow, a bruise already forming across his cheek bone that my brass knuckles no doubt shattered.
“Now, I’m going to take the muzzle off. I suggest you stay quiet and answer my questions. Got it?” The man nods. I narrow my eyes on him, he’s a screamer no doubt about it but I remove the cloth anyway.
“You… you’re… you’rehim.” He stammers out.
“Who? You’ll have to be more specific.” I say with a hungry smile spreading over my face.
His eyes dart around the room before he leans closer.. “The Reaper….” He says it in a hushed whisper, as though worried he’ll conjure the boogie man. Jokes on him, I’m already summoned and once you have my mark there is no putting me back in the box. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth until your soul is mine.
I acquired the name when I first came onto the scene. I had worn a half skeleton mask on my very first job, but it was my method of killing that truly earned me the title of the Grim Reaper. Because it was rumored that once you met me, well…. Not even the devil himself would find you again, your soul condemned to the deepest pit of Hell that even he didn’t venture.
“I see you’ve heard of me.” I finally say, cutting the man off from his blubbering of endless false promises so he can save his ass. I motion for him to be quiet, holding a finger to my lips. His eyes zero in on the move and I enjoy the flare of fear he gets when he sees the tattoos on my hands, the skeletal outline along my fingers. “Now I have some questions for you Albert.”
“Yes!! Anything!” He practically shouts at me.
Making a tsking noise I shake my head in mock disappointment. Albert, for his part, looks ashamed of his outburst. When it seems like he actually will be quiet I pat him atop his balding head and offer a sickly sweet smile. “Good boy.Now. I’ve heard some rumors and I’d like you to answer the best you can. How does that sound?”
He nods vigorously, the hope in his eyes delicious. He thinks he’s going to survive our encounter. He thinks he’s going to be the very first person the fucking Grim Reaper allowed to walk away. I smile encouragingly, asking my questions and allowing him to pour out his confessions until I’m positive he has nothing left in that small brain of his.
When I take off my shirt, exposing the angel of death wings on my back and skulls on my chest, it's the first time that the hope he had gained in talking falters. 45 min later, after extracting every piece of information I can from the man, and sucking away all the hope he could have I take great fucking joy in how his blood feels spraying against my skin when I slit his throat.
For a moment I just enjoy it, the silence, the beauty of the lifeless corpse and the feel of the warm blood. I pull my phone from my pocket once more, tapping open the camera in our living room. Law is gone now, Thea alone on the couch sleeping peacefully with her hands tucked under her chin. And all I want to do is ruin that fucking peace.
“I’m coming for you Cricket, you better run.”
My Ducati cuts through the predawn light, the vibration of the engine between my legs soothes the restless energy I’ve built up the closer I’ve gotten to home. It had taken far longer to wrap up the job I had been on, a full fucking week longer. And that whole week I’ve done nothing but imagine the ways I can make my step sister suffer for the things she did to us. She’ll beg so perfectly.
