Page 18 of Psycho

What Declan said, in the future—I wouldn’t think about it. Now wasn’t the time to think of family or duties; it was the time to fuck the one girl who drove me nuts.

I immediately wanted to lose myself in her. Buried inside her, I wanted to let myself come, and come inside of her. That, though, might only lead to other complications later on, which was something my family had taught me to avoid. No, I’d edge off my orgasm for as long as I could, and then, when the pleasure became too much, I’d pull out.

Ash ran her fingers through my hair, tugging on its length. She moaned right into my ear, which only made me thrust into her harder, quicker, over and over until I felt a pressure start to form. It was too easy to lose myself in her. In her grey eyes, in her sly smile, in those soft, breathy moans—and in her tight, wet cunt.

So easy to lose myself in Ash. How the hell could I blame anyone else for falling into her trap too? How could I fault Declan for feeling the same? This girl…damn it, she was more than a handful. She was almost too much.

I let out a low groan, my balls clenching. My orgasm was on its way, and it took everything in me to withdraw from her, to pull out of Ash’s sex mere moments before my cum shot out, landing on the wooden door behind her.

I remained motionless for a few seconds, and then I slowly helped Ash down. That was…not exactly how I expected our reunion to happen, but I’d definitely take it. I’d take it every day of the week.

Ash said nothing, drawing her stormy gaze away from me as she started to walk down the hall. I followed her after quickly putting myself away, knowing I should call Declan, but waiting. Waiting for her to say why she left, why she was gone, why she went with that killer named Ray.

Why, Ash, why?

She stopped in the kitchen, and I watched as she silently pulled out what was in the hoodie’s pocket. It was not something I’d seen before, but it was an object I knew well enough. When you came from a family like mine, you tended to get shiny, sharp objects as birthday presents as early as you started to count.

A knife. It was a knife. Some kind of hunting knife, based on the thick leather handle and heavily serrated edge. That edge, I instantly noticed, was also stained with red. I was about to open my mouth to ask, but that’s when I watched Ash sweep her hair aside, revealing a small nick on her throat. It was something I hadn’t noticed before, something her hair had hidden and I was too eager to finally be with her to notice.

Did someone hurt her? Did that Ray try to make her his next victim? My heart rate increased, and I felt the need to strangle something. Preferably Ray, wherever the hell he was. Unless Ash got to him first.

But, no. That blood was old, not fresh. If it was new, it would’ve stained the hoodie, and the pocket was free of stains.There was only a bit near the neckline, but not a lot.

“I’m going to shower,” she said, sounding…almost defeated. Maybe she was just tired, but when it came to her, I’d rather take no chances.

I followed her up the steps, noting how worn-down the bottom of her feet were. Red and blistery, parts of them bloody, a result of walking for what must’ve been hours on hard, stony concrete. She closed herself in the bathroom, and I stared at the door, feeling…strange.

Ash was back, and I was overjoyed to have her here, it was true—but at the same time, the more I put it together, the less overall happy I was. If Ray hurt her, if Ray laid a hand on her—whether in violence or not—we were going to have a problem. I’d cut off his dick if I had to.

Never thought I’d think that sentence, but here we were.

I let out a ragged breath, reaching into my pocket to pull out my phone. I had three phones in my pockets: mine, hers, and Sawyer’s. It took a while to find the right one, as with her sudden return, my mind was a bit frazzled.

I dialed Declan, and he picked up quickly, meaning he wasn’t asleep, either. “She’s here,” I said, cutting right to the chase. “At Sawyer’s.”

Declan spoke, “I’ll be right over.” He hung up, and as I returned the phone to my pocket, I glanced over my shoulder, staring hard at Sawyer’s door. It was closed, and I wondered if he was passed out or laying in there miserable. Either way, I didn’t really care.

Right now, the only thing I cared about was Ash, and figuring out just what happened to her while she was gone.

I waited outside the bathroom while she showered. Ash didn’t linger. She was opening the bathroom door within ten minutes, her grey eyes looking up at me. The tips of her hair were faded; she’d need to go over them with pink again soon. Or maybe she was letting it go. I wouldn’t force her to keep dying them pink if she didn’t want to…although I had come to love the small splash of color on her. It made her grey eyes pop.

I noticed she wore nothing, getting a good, long look at her wet, naked body. She was beautiful, no matter what she wore, and I felt my dick growing hard again. It took everything in me to not focus on my growing erection and to meet her eyes and pretend she wasn’t the worst kind of temptation.

The worst, the best, whatever.

“Can you grab some of Sawyer’s clothes for me?” Ash glanced over her shoulder, at the hoodie and lingerie slip that laid in the sink. “I don’t want to put those back on.”

If my eyes could’ve burned holes through that tiny piece of fabric, they would’ve. Did Ray make her dress in that? Did he force her to…

No. I couldn’t let myself overreact. If vengeance needed to be had, I would have it. I would bring the entire family down on that man and show him what true monsters were capable of. Some monsters were no better than animals, but others? Others were like fine connoisseurs, knowing exactly what to do and how to get away with it. Markus was a beast among men, and he wasn’t my only brother, either. I had lots. The family was much larger than your typical American family.

“Sure,” I said. I tore my gaze off her, heading into Sawyer’s room. Sawyer was sprawled out on his bed, shirtless, his head off to the side. The grease had mostly been wiped from his hair; it was mostly pink now, although that color was starting to fade. His legs wore the same jeans he wore to the Halloween party, that horrible party when everything nearly fell apart. His skin looked pale, sweat beads forming. The bastard was already going through withdrawals.

My old friend had looked better, it was true.

I used the light from the hall to pull stuff from his dresser. Some basketball shorts, which was stupid, because I knew Sawyer never played. He only worked out like some kind of jacked-up freak. I also pulled out a white T-shirt.

“Thank you,” Ash said once I handed them to her. Her eyes locked with mine, and I watched her swallow before closing the door again to change. I didn’t know why she felt like separating us, not now, not after I had her against Sawyer’s front door, but I let her close me out.

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