Page 104 of Crave Me

“Wow. I can’t believe Cas actually called you in on this, that the two of you worked together. That’s… beyond unprecedented.”

“Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures.” He rose from the chair. “I’d do nothing less for you, Cal,” he said, perching on the edge of the bed next to me.

“I know,” I said, reaching out and grasping his hand. “Thank you, Ash.”

He frowned down at our joined hands.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, my friend,” he said, stroking my fingers carefully—very carefully. “All is well. Just glad to have you back.”

As if I’d buy that there was nothing deeper going on with him. Asher didn’t just notice the surface level of things. No, he delved down to the bedrock with people.

“You’re really tiptoeing around me, huh? Do I look that bad?” I pressed my hand to the gauze I could feel taped to various points around my throat, then I tugged on the collar of my tee to see more taped to my chest. The recollection of how those injuries had come about hit me—a choke chain and Elijah’s nails.

“No. I just wasn’t expecting you to be so… comfortable.”

“Comfortable?”

He pulled his hand from mine. “With touch, Caleb.”

Oh. I swallowed hard. “I’m all good. As you can see.”

He stared at me—well, into me.

Elijah had me jolting as he grasped my shaft, then began stroking me, trying to make me hard.

I shifted in the bed as the memory slammed into me. Fortunately, I was able to play it off as being uncomfortable under Asher’s scrutinizing stare.

“We’re aware of some of the things you were subjected to while in captivity.”

I watched his men pull their knives, grab a girl each, then slit their throats right there.

“No!” I screamed, thrashing on the table.

I blinked and focused back on Ash’s voice.

“Certain things that I’m familiar with dealing with, as you’re well aware.”

“You’d actually talk about that with me?” Not only wasn’t he exactly the opening-up type, but what had happened to him when he’d been tortured was horrific and something very difficult to disclose to anyone, even his foursome.

“To help you, I would, yes.”

“Remain open to me. Hold, boy.”

I swallowed hard as another flash inundated me. I discreetly dug my nails into the mattress as a means to ground myself to the moment and to push the rest away.

“Caleb?”

I steeled myself and eyed him steadily. “I appreciate it. A lot, Ash. But I’m really good.”

“You’re good?”

“Yeah, all good.”

“Just like that?”

Something occurred to me then. “I get it. You all think I might have actually turned, been brainwashed, that I’m now a threat too, right?”

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