Page 10 of Run From Me

“So is that a no? You didn’t talk about my ass?”

I followed her since she hadn’t slammed the door. I wouldn’t admit that I needed to know she at least had a bed to sleep on. I was no bleeding heart, but this woman was not being cared and that was like a fucking needle under the nail. Just annoying enough that I couldn’t ignore it.

“No, we didn’t talk about your ass.”

I looked around and didn’t see her as I entered the room. There was a bed. It was messy, like she hadn’t had a good night’s rest or fucking hell. No.

“You don’t have any other hot dates waiting for you? Other than Ripple, that is?” Fuck me. I just couldn’t help myself. Anger boiled deep in the pit of my stomach. If her bed was messed up from some guy fucking her, I would be increasing my body count before the reception.

She appeared out of a door on the side of the room. Bathroom.

“What? No. I wouldn’t have asked some gang asshole to take me if I did.”

The anger died. The way she liked to bait me, though? It triggered something very different inside me.

I closed the distance within a second.

“Gang asshole, huh? Is that all I am? Why did you ask me at all?”

She backed away from me, shoes in hand still.

“I… No… I mean… Do you have a dollar?”

Perhaps the way I looked at her was more of a sneer. I didn’t know. I just liked watching her squirm. But not in the I’m-going-to-stab-you kind of way. I liked watching her like a caged butterfly waiting for release. And I wanted to be that release.

“A dollar? You need a dollar?”

She shook her head.

“No…. yes… the dollar is for something.”

I crept toward her.

Her ass hit the counter behind her, and I caged her in between my arms as I rested my hands on either side of her.

“You can explain the dollar right after you explain what you mean. Finish your sentence, Sparky.”

“I mean that I asked you because otherwise I knew I wouldn’t be able to go. The Vipers. They watch me, except on Spector territory. But they’ve been getting worse and?—”

She broke off the closer I moved. Shit. I hadn’t meant to move closer, but she was like my fucking drug of choice and I needed a hit.

“And what?”

Of course, now I was not only trying to get a taste of my newest addiction, I was bracing myself for who I was going to kill next.

“They’ve been making it harder and harder to do anything outside of work. Ripple? He’s just one of the goons that checks in on me. And,” she paused and took a breath, “I don’t know howmuch longer I can take it. I needed you to make sure I could get to Rylee. I just need a break. And the dollar?”

Her voice was a whisper, making me remember this place was probably bugged. I looked around at the mirror. The toilet.

“It’s clean in here. I checked. I put away a dollar every time they send Ripple to proposition me.”

Her words were a flutter of air on my ear. Too bad my cock couldn’t tell the difference between words of lust or words telling me she needed help.

“So, do you have a dollar to add to the Honey Badger savings box?”

Fuck, what was she talking about?

“Honey Badger savings box?” I asked.

---