Page 34 of Damned Embers

“Have you gotten any more notes? Besides this one?”

“Yes,” she moans, her nails digging into my wrist as I pick up my pace.

“We’re not done talking about this but I’ll let it go for now,” I answer, leaning down to place a soft kiss against her forehead. I pick up my pace sliding my fingers in and out of her soaked cunt. The palm of my hand brushes against her clit with each stroke and I make sure to apply a little extra pressure each time. It doesn’t take much more before my ex is falling apart in my arms. She leans forward to bite my bicep as her orgasm rips through her.

Waiting until she comes back down, I slowly remove my fingers from inside her and let go of her throat. Even though I could be an ass now that I got the answers I wanted, I choose not to be. Instead, I lean down and slide her jeans back up her legs and help her fasten them in place. Then I lightly grasp her chin to place a soft kiss against her lips.

This doesn’t fix anything between us but I know she isn’t going to be alone anymore dealing with it. Gunner and I will help her get to the bottom of this. One way or another, the murderer will pay for their crimes against Ezra and against Sky.

“You should probably go,” Sky mumbles, pulling her shoulders back to appear more confident. “Thank you for the orgasms. You have your answers now. Gunner knows some as well. Just don’t tell Sebastian.”

I chuckle at her words. “That’s cute, Computer Genius. You really think we will keep this a secret from Sebastian? There are no secrets between us. I thought you knew that but it appears you were better at it than I would have thought.”

I watch her flinch at my words but it’s the only reaction she gives me that my words wounded her. She just shakes her head and steps to the side away from me. “Do what you want then, Creed. Just don’t come running to me if something bad happens again because you all couldn’t keep your mouths shut and play by the rules. I don’t need your help to solve this crime. Just play your stupid music and go back to being blind from the world; it’ll be better for you.”

With her parting words, she moves past me, grabs the guitar case off the table, and walks out the door leaving me behind. I didn’t expect her to have the last words. However, once again I was left here standing in her midst watching her walk away from me. She didn’t even bother to look back. That’s the part that hurt the most.

Chapter Nineteen

These men are getting out of hand. I didn’t come back here just to entertain their games. I came back here to save their lives. The second that’s done, I’m leaving. They can’t force me to stay. I won’t put myself through that again. They deserve better than me, a broken girl running from her past. It doesn’t matter that Creed just had his hand down my pants getting me off twice. He didn’t do it because he cared about me. He did it to get the answers he wanted and I let him use me like that. It’s been so long since I’ve let someone touch me in that way. I couldn’t help but give in to the weakness.

One time, Sky. Just once.It’s the only thing I can remind myself of now.

The second Creed got the answers he wanted from me, I knew that I had to get out of that dressing room, and quickly. I told him more than I wanted to. I wasn’t positive that Freddy wasn’t involved in some way, even though I told Creed he wasn’t. I’m only positive that he isn’t the mastermind behind everything. He’s too stupid for it, no it’s someone else completely. Whoever it is, has to be extremely smart. Too bad they pissed me off which makes me even more determined to find them and stop them. This game needs to end.

“Sky, you good?” Valentina breaks into my thoughts pulling me back into the car.

“Pretty sure you know that answer already,” I huff. “I’m pissed off. The lines are getting too blurry. I didn’t come back here to let the guys get involved. We came here to protect them. Why can’t they just keep the damn distance between us?”

“Because they still love you,” Rome answers from the driver's seat.

“Excuse me? What?” I snarl, leaning forward in my seat. I didn’t hear what I thought I just did. There is no way. “Those men hate my guts. The sooner I get away from them the better everything will be. They don’t want me here any more than I want to be here. That was crystal clear from the very beginning.”

“We all know that’s a lie,” Valentina chuckles. “Those men are pissed at you, yes. However, they still want you. If they didn’t, Gunner wouldn’t have carried you back to our room after your panic attack. Creed wouldn’t have come searching for you after Freddy was being a slimy asshole. Neither of them would have demanded answers like they did. Trust me, you all are too blinded by your pasts to see what is right in front of you.”

“Sorry, Valentina but you don’t know them like I do. They will never forgive me for leaving the way I did. I don’t need their forgiveness either. My choice would have been the same.”

“Knox told me you’d be stubborn,” she sighs and shakes her head. “I can’t force you to open your eyes and see what’s in front of you. One day you all will learn.”

After that, we all were silent for the rest of the drive back to the hotel. They can believe what they want, but I know the truth. Those men aren’t meant for me anymore. We had our chance and it’s in the past now. We were hired to do a job, one that I’ve been doing poorly at if my intel is anything to go by. I need to redouble my efforts so we can get out of here sooner.

~~~~~

“Sky, you've been staring at those computer screens for three hours straight. You need to go to bed,” Valentina demands from her side of the room. I can hear the exhaustion in her voice. I told her when we first got back to go to bed. She didn’t need to stay awake with me and I promised to stay in our room. That’s her fault she stayed awake, not mine.

“No, I’m trying to figure out if Freddy has any connection to our murderer or if he is just a scapegoat for them,” I explain, as I take off my blue light glasses and rub the bridge of my nose. I was used to staring at computer screens for hours, that wasn’t why my eyes hurt. I was tired, beyond exhausted after playing the concert, the events with Freddy in the hallway, and then dealing with Creed in my dressing room. It had been a long night and this research was making it longer. I knew that sleep wouldn’t come to me until I got some sort of answers. Progress. That’s what I needed.

“You need sleep. You’re barely functioning, I bet you have a headache, and you’re probably missing things that, were you properly alert, you wouldn’t miss. So stop being so damn stubborn. A couple hours of rest isn’t going to stop anything,” she argues, pushing herself to sit up in bed so she can glare at me better.

Fuck her. Damnit. Of course, I have a headache. And her argument is logical. I just don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to be wrong. I need something to work with anything at this point. All the digging I did only confirmed the sleazeball that Freddy is. Sexual harassment charges left and right but nothing that even hints at him working with someone. I knew from the start this was a long shot, I just hoped that it would give me a lead to follow of some kind. But nothing.

Fuck.

“Fine,” I groan, throwing my glass on the table in front of me and flicking the computer screens off. I have searches set up to run through the night in a couple more places. I don’t need to be awake for my algorithms to work. They will alert me if there is a hit of any kind.

“Thank you,” she smiles, already moving back into a comfy position in her bed. She waits until I crawl into my own and get comfy before she turns off the lamps between our beds.

With the room plunged into darkness I know sleep is going to claim me quickly. The sooner it comes, the sooner daylight will be here and I can keep going with my hunt. Somehow, someway they are going to slip up and I plan to be there to catch it. I’m done running. I’m doing being the scared girl that hides behind Knox, Steel, and Trevor.

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