Page 89 of Bull Rush

Hazel

Ramsey slamshis fist into Curtis’s stomach, and he doubles over choking and gasping, mewling out agonized cries as Ramsey drags him along the wall into the kitchen.

“You fucking piece of shit. I’ll kill you!” Curtis threatens, though it’s dulled by the way he’s hunched over and clutching his stomach. “I’ll fucking kill you and your whole family and fuck her on top of the pit I bury you in.”

My heart drops to my stomach, and I have to bite my lower lip to keep from crying. I can’t believe I let this man into my home—into my heart. That I was such a fucking fool, and worse that Ramsey is a witness to all of it. The hurt and embarrassment pool in my gut, swarming like wasps ready to envenomate and bleed me dry from the inside out.

Ramsey drags him up straight, squeezing his jaw as he uses his knee to pin him against the wall.

“I’d like to see you try.” He brings his face within an inch ofCurtis’s. “I’d drag my cold body out of the grave before I let you touch her again. Cut you into a thousand tiny pieces and feed you to the pigs on the other side of town.”

Ramsey’s eyes flare with rage, and he grabs a rag off the counter, pushing it into Curtis’s mouth and practically shoving it down his throat to silence him.

“I don’t want to hear one more fucking word out of your mouth.” Ramsey squeezes his cheeks tighter.

“Get me duct tape?” Ramsey nods to the kitchen drawer, and I follow his orders, too dazed by the sudden violence to disagree. He rips a piece off the roll as I hold it and slaps it over Curtis’s mouth a moment later. I can hear the soft whistle of Curtis’s sinuses as he tries to breathe heavily through his nose and see the desperation in his eyes as he looks at me. I feel a flash of guilt, the smallest glimmer of it, before I remember that he’s been using me and my affection for him to try to steal from the Stocktons.

A moment later, Ramsey’s grabbed a chair from the table, and he shoves it violently underneath Curtis’s knees, forcing him to sit down. He wrenches his arms back behind him, eliciting another now-muted groan from Curtis. Ramsey holds out his hand for the duct tape again, and I hand it to him reluctantly. He takes it and starts to wrap it around Curtis’s wrists, weaving tighter on each round and then taping his bound hands to the back of the chair, wrapping it around one of the spindles. He moves to each leg, doing the same in quick order.

I stare quietly, watching him work and feeling my heart rate rise with each pass of the tape. Curtis moans again when Ramsey yanks one of his ankles into place and he squeezes Curtis’s jaw.

“Shut the fuck up. You had no problem twisting her around like a fucking rag doll. I’m barely touching you.”

Curtis tries to mumble out another threat, his eyespiercingly cold as he stares at Ramsey, but his words disappear into the cotton gag. Ramsey kicks the chair back into the wall, and Curtis is rendered immobile by the binds he’s put him in.

“Fuck me…” Ramsey crosses his arms over his chest, shaking his head as he evaluates Curtis. “You’re more of a little bitch than I took you for.” Ramsey’s head twists to look back at me. “Sugar, this is why you don’t lie to protect a man’s ego. They get all fucking caught up in themselves, thinking they’re untouchable. Making rash decisions and stupid mistakes.” His eyes shift back to Curtis, and he kicks his booted foot up on the chair seat between Curtis’s legs, barely missing his balls with the steel toe of the boots he has on. Ramsey makes a clicking noise in the back of his throat, shaking his head and then tilting it as Curtis stares back at him, daring him, even though he’s wrapped up so tightly I’m worried for his blood flow.

Ramsey leans back against the kitchen counter, looking over his shoulder and holding his hand out for me. I take it and slowly walk toward him. He studies the blooming bruises on my arm, and I watch as his rage levels up with each mark he catalogs. He checks it, though, and pulls me close, looking into my eyes.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” he apologizes, and I can tell that it’s eating him up inside. “I thought you were still with Bo for a while yet, or I never would have left.”

“It’s okay. I’m okay. Just a few little bruises.” I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek as he wraps his arms around me. They tighten like steel around my waist, and I know that whatever happens next, this man won’t let anything else hurt me.

“You’re gonna pay for these.” Ramsey’s eyes go from the bruises to Curtis. “You don’t know how fucking lucky you are that you ever got to touch her at all.”

Curtis narrows his eyes in response, and they shift to me,something like another plea in them. Like he thinks he might still be able to convince me, even now.

“Don’t bother.” I shake my head slowly. “And for the record, I didn’t love you more. I’m not sure I loved you at all.”

I can see Ramsey’s smirk out of the corner of my eye.

“You should at least admit you told a couple of white lies yourself.” Ramsey’s eyes flash with something like a taunt in Curtis’s direction, and I frown for a moment before I realize what he means. “Or we could just give him a demonstration. I think he might deserve that for what he said.”

My cheeks flush as Ramsey turns me back, and his hands go to the button on my jeans.

“Please, sugar. I want him to see it for himself. Want to see the realization when it hits him.” Ramsey kisses the side of my neck, and his fingers dance under the edge of my waistband, brushing over my skin and teasing goosebumps out of me.

This is the thing about Ramsey—the reason I could never love anyone more than I love him; he can always bring out my better angels, but he’s only too happy to help me set my demons loose when I need it.

“Yes… Let him see,” I agree. Curtis’s eyes go wide, and I see him pull on the duct tape restraints, trying and struggling against them but failing to do anything except make himself look pathetic.

Ramsey doesn’t waste time, quickly unbuttoning my jean shorts and turning me to face Curtis, my back to Ramsey’s front as his palm slides slowly over my stomach and abdomen. More goosebumps break out over my skin in its wake as his hand goes lower and lower. His fingers dipping under the band of my underwear, parting and slipping around either side of my clit as his mouth goes to my neck again. He teases me gently, giving me more pressure and less before his lips ghost over the shell of my ear.

“Fuck, you’re so pretty like this. So fucking good for me. Tell him the truth, and I’ll show him how wet you get for me.” Ramsey’s voice is at my ear, coaxing me on.

My mouth is dry from how quickly this turned, and I have to press my lips together to wet my tongue, darting it out to lick my lips before I can speak. A soft moan coming from the way he circles tighter with his fingers before I can get the words out.

“I lied… I lied when I said Ramsey couldn’t make me come. I was just worried it would intimidate you since he was already so many things you weren’t. I wanted to protect your ego.” The words are quiet, but I know he can still hear them clearly from the way his body goes taut in my peripheral vision.

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