Page 48 of Spooks & Specters

Kit turned to storm out of the kitchen, but before he could take more than a few angry steps, a plate went hurtling pasthis head with surprising speed, shattering as it hit the wall. The remnants of the meal splattered against the wall.

Food dripped down it, and Kit blinked, unable to believe what he was seeing. Had Don lost his mind? Then he could have sworn he heard a low, menacing growl. But Don didn’t have a dog, so he didn’t know what the hell he’d just heard.

What. The. Hell?

In shock, he could only watch in disbelief as the food slid down the wall and landed with a sickening splat on the floor. But his thoughts were quickly interrupted as his elbow was seized and he was yanked around forcefully. The sudden movement sent sharp pains up his arm, where Don’s grip was like a vise.

“Shit! Letgo!” Kit yelled, trying to jerk his arm away.Holy shit, when did Don get so strong?He couldn’t yank his arm out of Don’s grip. “What the hell, Don?”

“You donottalk to me that way.”

For a second, just a split second, Kit would have sworn Don’s eyes flickered yellow, but of course that was impossible. Right?

“You hurt me just then,” Kit said quietly, not fighting anymore. He’d never been afraid of Don before, but he’d never grabbed him like he just did, either. Suddenly Kit felt like he needed to de-escalate the whole situation and quickly.

Don’s eyes widened, and for a split second, Kit thought everything was going to be okay. Then Don shoved past him and stormed out of the kitchen.

A few seconds later he heard a door slam, reverberating through the house. And from the sounds of it, Don had slammed it so hard it broke. And that damn temper of his. How had Kit missed that? One minute Don was perfectly fine, then the next he was raging mad.

Something weird was going on with Don, and Kit had no idea what, but enough was enough. Last weekend he’d noticedDon had picked up a glass to drink from and had broken it by simply holding it. Which made absolutely no sense. That same weekend he also twisted a doorknob completely off a door. And suddenly, the sex had gotten a lot rougher.

Kit liked to be manhandled as much as the next guy, but this wasn’t that. Don had left scratches all over him, which shouldn’t have been possible since he’d always kept his fingernails short.

He couldn’t figure out how Don had managed to do that, but he was past the point of caring. He wasn’t letting any man put his hands on him in anger. Hell no.

Picking up his purse, he quietly slipped out of Don’s house and went home.

Chapter Two

THE NEXT two weeks, Don stayed away, then suddenly he showed up at Kit’s apartment with dinner, roses, and a smile. After much groveling, Kit had moved out of the way and let Don come inside. A little voice in the back of Kit’s head screamed to just shut the door in Don’s face, but the apologies and thoughtfulness touched Kit.

Later that nightDontouched Kit.

The next morning Kit stood in his bathroom glaring at the bruises along his hips. The sex had started off great, then suddenly Don became more… animalistic—grunting and growling, holding Kit too tightly, and not listening when Kit told Don that he was hurting him.

“Enough is enough.” Disgusted, Kit turned away from the mirror and stepped into the shower. It was time to cut Don loose. After all, there were plenty more fish in the sea.

KIT WAS in his office, working on his computer, when his door opened suddenly. Aggravated, Kit looked up. He really needed to get inventory done before they got an upcoming shipment in Monday.

Don stood in the doorway, and there was someone behind him.

“What the hell do you want?” Kit snapped. He didn’t have time for this, dammit.

The guy behind Don shoved him, and Don stumbled inside. Unease washed over Kit as the other guy calmly stepped into Kit’s office and shut the door like he owned the place.

“He is as feisty as you claimed,” the stranger said.

“Who are you? What’s going on? Don?”

Kit had a bad feeling about this. A really, really bad feeling. And holy shit, why was Don doing this?

“Just don’t hurt him, Nox. Please,” Don said quietly.

“Or what? What would you do if I did?” the stranger snapped.

Don looked down at the floor.

“That’s right. Nothing. You will do nothing. Now shut up.”

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