by Lynch, H. G.
Brogan ignored the question. “You’ve got your money. Let her go now.”
I squirmed against Red’s grip, desperate to get to Brogan, but Red frowned at me, and I saw something evil glint in his eyes.
“Actually,” he said, “I think I’ll keep her. She offered me a deal, and I think I’m going to take her up on it. Of course, I’ll have to break her in first.”
His sleazy grin made my gut clench, and he flicked his tongue over his lips hungrily. For the first time, I saw the demon within him coming to the surface.
“You son of a bitch!” Brogan yelled, starting forward.
Two of Red’s guys grabbed him and held him back. Still, he was like an enraged bull, pulling them along, so a third and fourth piled on and forced him to his knees. I cried out, and Red slapped me. My head rocked back, stars exploding behind my eyes, and I heard Brogan roar.
“You fucking piece of shit, Red! You’re a fucking pathetic piece of shit! You hide behind your goons and get them to do all the dirty work while you sit back and cower in your castle like a fucking pussy! You couldn’t do shit to Kez, or any other girl for that matter, ‘cause you don’t have a fucking dick!”
“One more word, and I’ll kill her, like I killed your uncle!” Red shouted, his composure cracking at last.
To my surprise, and Red’s obvious anger, Brogan smiled. A bright, smug grin that verged on laughter.
He shook his head. “Man, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that.”
Red frowned. “What? What are you talking about, you crazy little—”
All of a sudden, the doors exploded inward, and chaos broke out as dozens of men piled in, pointing guns and shouting. “Down on the ground! Everybody, on the ground now! Drop your weapons and hit the dirt!”
Cops, I realised, stunned. The men with guns were the police. They moved swiftly and efficiently through the warehouse, cuffing Red’s men as they lay on the floor. Brogan stood amidst the chaos, laughing wildly. Red gripped me to his side, seething with rage as his men were taken away, his plans were ruined, and his operation was destroyed before his eyes—all because of Brogan.
“You little shit,” he hissed. He reached into his pocket and brought out his knife, bringing it to my throat.
Brogan stopped laughing instantly, and my heart lurched into high gear.
Not again.
Red sneered at Brogan as three cops focused on him, aiming their guns. “You may have gotten your revenge, Rogue, but you’re still too late to save her.”
Brogan stepped forward, pushing between two policemen aiming their weapons at Red. His eyes were fixed on mine, so intense that I felt a tugging in my gut, drawing me toward him. But I couldn’t move, not with a knife at my neck.
Softly, Brogan said, “I don’t need to save her. Kez can save herself.”
I smirked and slammed my head backward, cracking my skull into Red’s face. He yelled, stumbling, and I reached up, twisting his wrist back hard until he dropped his knife. Then I lunged forward into Brogan’s arms and buried my face in his chest.
“You little bitch!” Red roared behind me.
I heard the click of a trigger just a split second before I heard the gunshot, deafeningly loud as it echoed around inside the empty warehouse. My heart stopped, and I clutched onto Brogan as every muscle in my body went rigid.
When my ears stopped ringing, I looked up at Brogan, who was pale as a ghost, his jaw set as he stared over my head. I stepped back, examining him for bullet hole, but he was intact—and so was I. Slowly, I turned around, and saw Red’s body sprawled on the ground, blood leaking out from the hole in his shoulder soaking his white shirt. His head rolled, and he groaned, swearing in Spanish. Two of the policemen were already sheathing their guns, but the third——the one who’d shot Red—was still holding the gun at arm’s length, breathing hard.
Slowly, he lowered the gun and sheathed it. Then he turned around and looked directly at me, and my heart soared.
“Leighton?”
He smiled shakily. “Hey, Kez. Quite some trouble you got yourself into this time.”
Laughing, I tore myself out of Brogan’s arms and hugged Leighton, squeezing him hard.
He grunted, chuckling. “Whoa, kid, you’re going to break my ribs.”
I didn’t let go. I couldn’t. I was crying into his uniform, and he patted my back soothingly.
“Hey, you’re okay. You’re okay now. It’s over, Kester. You’re safe.”
Sniffling, I let him go and whispered, “But how? How did you know—?”
He smiled. “Your boyfriend told us everything.”
I blinked, startled. “He did?” I turned to look at Brogan. He was talking to another cop, but his eyes were riveted on me. I swallowed and looked away.
Leighton placed a hand on my shoulder. “He came to the station and demanded to see me directly, said he wasn’t leaving until he got to speak to me. When I took him aside, he told me about his uncle’s murder, about Red threatening him, about getting the note that said you’d been taken. He was frantic, Kez. The guy looked like he was ready to take on the Chinese army by himself to get you back safely.
“So I made a plan with him. He told me he knew where to find you. Although he wouldn’t say how he knew, So I put a wire on him, and agreed to follow him discreetly to your location with a few other guys in undercover cars. We set up outside, but we couldn’t make a move until he got Red to admit to having his uncle killed, and when he did, we moved in and…well, you saw the rest.”
“Wow,” I breathed, unsure what else to say. I couldn’t believe Brogan had risked going to the station for me. He’d known they suspected him. He could have been arrested. But I guessed that’s why he’d asked specifically for Leighton—because he knew Leighton would listen to him, especially if he mentioned that I was in danger.
“This isn’t over, Brogan! I’m going to kill you for this, you little shit!” Red screamed as two officers hauled him away in cuffs, blood still seeping from his bullet wound.
I shuddered, and Leighton patted my back. “Don’t worry, Kez. We’ve got his confession on tape now, and even if we can’t match his DNA to any other crimes, I’m sure his guys will flip on him for a deal. Red is going away for a long, long time. You and Brogan are safe now.”
I let out a sigh of relief, and Brogan turned toward me. The look on his face matched what I was feeling inside, and I launched myself at him. He caught me, crushing me close, lifting me off the floor.
“Oh, God, Kez,” he breathed. “Are you okay? Did any of them touch you?”
Tears ran warm down my face, and I shook my head against his neck. “No, I’m fine. Thanks to you.” He squeezed me tighter, so tight I could hardly breathe.
“I was so fucking scared, Kez. I’ve never been so fucking terrified in my life. I wanted to puke just thinking about Red touching you.”
“He never touched me. None of them did. Not like that. I swear, I’m fine, Brogan.” I pulled back to look him in the eyes, those beautiful heather-coloured eyes. I kissed him between his eyebrows, running one finger over the cool metal of his eyebrow bar, and I whispered, “I’m glad you saved me.”
He smiled recklessly, making my heart splutter. “I told you I couldn’t let you go.”
I crushed my mouth to his, pouring all my fear and relief, anger and love into it, telling him with my lips all the words I couldn’t say aloud. And he said them back, over and over, as he devoured me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
** Kester **
“I still don’t understand how you knew where to find me before Red’s guys even met up with you.” I murmured, lazily drawing patterns on his bare chest. We were tangled together in the sheets, flesh against flesh. We’d collapsed into bed as soon as we’d gotten back to his flat early that morning and had gone to sleep curled up against each other. We’d been too tired for anything else, but I was quickly recovering from the horror of the previous night.
Brogan looked dow
n at me, his eyes dark and sleepy. “I don’t really know, to be honest. I could just…feel it. Like a tugging in my gut, telling me where you were. I could just sense you. And if I want to, and if I concentrate, I can get into your mind like I did in the warehouse.”
I blinked, leaning up on my elbows beside him. “Could you do that before?”
He shook his head. “No. Only since I drank your blood. Jet thinks it’s because, since I drank from you, we’re now Blood Bonded. But I think it’s much simpler than that.”
I cocked my head curiously. “Oh, really?”
He nodded. “Yep. I think it’s because I love you. You’re mine now, and I’ll always know where you are when you need saving.”
I beamed, my heart fluttering. “I thought I didn’t need to be saved.”
“Maybe sometimes, we both do,” he said solemnly with a sad smile.
I touched his face, feeling his stubble scrape my fingers. “So…do you…crave my blood more now, or what?”
He frowned. “Actually, no. I don’t crave blood at all. Ever since I drank yours, my Dark Hunger has been silent. It’s like it was just waiting for you to come along. You’re the beauty who tamed the beast.”
I laughed, relieved, and he grinned. I loved his smile.
Slowly, I slid my hand down his chest, pushing the covers down. “But, your other Hunger is still there…right?”
He licked his lips, nodding. “Oh, yeah. That Hunger is famished right now.”
“And, since you no longer crave my blood, we can have sex again, right?”
His eyes turned to a dark, rich indigo. “Yes,” he whispered. “We can.”
I rolled over, throwing a leg over him, and settled on his stomach. He gazed up at me with animal eyes, and I slid lower until I could feel his hardness under me. I rocked my hips, and he tipped his head back, groaning.
“Oh, God.”
I was already more than ready for him.
I’d been craving him for weeks. I wanted him inside me. I lifted my hips and positioned him between my legs, and then slid down on him, feeling him fill me up inch by glorious inch. He growled breathlessly, a wild sound, and grabbed my hips to hold me while I adjusted to the sensation of him in me.
Then I leaned down and whispered against his lips. “God can’t save you, Brogan. I’m starving, and you are officially on the menu.”
He opened his eyes, blazing with purple fire, and kissed me hard and deep, his mouth claiming mine with raw passion until my lips felt tender. When he finally release me, I sat up, breathing hard, and dragged myself up the length of him, watching his face contort with pleasure as I rode him slowly. Christ, it felt so good I had to pause while my sex quivered around him eagerly.
“What does my Lust taste like?” I asked him softly.
He moaned, his lips parting. “Delicious. Sweet. Like honey.”
I bent again, feeling him shifting inside me, and captured his lower lip between my teeth, running the tip of my tongue along it. “Do you want to know what you taste like?”
His eyes pierced me, and he nodded. “Yes.”
I smiled. “You taste like pure temptation.”
