Page 44 of Redemption

Kelsey

Music vibrates through my chest the closer I get to the front door. There’s a bit of a bigger crowd than usual, but at least the line is moving rather quickly. I need the distraction tonight. Men suck. Well, at the moment just one dickhead in particular has my heart aching.

I’m almost to the front, near the door when everything happens so fast. One minute I’m bracing to forget about my troubles and the next tires squeal. Arms grab me from behind and I’m shoved inside a van.

My chest is crushed against a musty carpet as I’m pinned down between a hard body and the floor. An engine rumbles beneath my body when I feel them turn. I open my mouth to scream, but a hand slams over it, trapping any sound inside. I will not give up. I do and I’m dead. My knees dig into the floor as I attempt to push against the body on top of me, but it’s like trying to move a wall. They don’t budge.

Warmth creeps along the flesh of my neck, the closer his mouth gets to my ear. “Keep fighting me, chiquita. I like it.” He digs his groin into my ass, letting me know just how much he really does. Hands slide over my body squeezing my breasts as I do my best to not hyperventilate.

“No!” My heart pounds against my chest as I sit up in a cold sweat. The stench of his cologne lingers in the air, making my stomach roll. That bastard is dead and buried, where he belongs, but he’s still taunting me from the grave.

I wipe at the sweat beading on my forehead and reach over to Axel’s side of the bed, finding it empty and cold. My fingers make contact with a small piece of paper and my heart flutters in a different way as I read the note he left.

Morning Wildcat,

Come eat, so after I can eat you;)

A smile appears on my face. Food is much needed after the wild night we had. I shake off my nightmare and push all thoughts of that horrible night back into the deep recesses of my mind. I throw on Axel’s t-shirt, and head downstairs to find him fast at work in the kitchen, shirtless. I lean a hip against the counter a short distance away from him and take in the view.

Gray sweats hang low enough on his waist to show off the toned definition of his back and give me one hell of a view of the outline of his firm ass. The muscles of his arms flex moving his tattoos as he stirs the food.

“Hungry?” The sound of his voice has my face whipping up to find a shit-eating grin on his.

Heat rises to my cheeks at being caught. “Starving.” Not just for food. I swallow the dryness in my throat and clench my thighs together to keep from jumping him right where he stands.

As if he can read my thoughts, his blue eyes darken and dip down to my chest. “You look good in my clothes, Wildcat.” He closes the short distance between us and sinks his teeth into my bottom lip. “But having you smell like me is even better.” His hand cups my face bringing my mouth to his. Our lips crush together and the second I open my mouth he wastes no time slipping his tongue inside. Axel kisses like he fucks—gentle and demanding—with a skilled precision I feel down to my core. His other hand slaps down on my ass before grabbing a handful and the move is so primal it has a groan slipping out of me.

A slamming of the front door has us breaking the kiss, but Axel doesn’t take his hand off my backside as he turns us toward the doorway.

Zane stumbles in wearing the same clothes from last night. His black button-up shirt hangs open, revealing his tatted-up torso and rock hard abs. The rest of him is quite the sight to take in. His hair hangs down in a wild mess around his shoulders. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he has sex hair.

“Morning Sunshine.” Axel grins so wide it lights up his whole face the more of Zane’s appearance he takes in. “Rough night?” His hand massages my ass, but he never takes his focus off of his brother.

Axel’s hand works my body into a frenzy of need and I bite on my bottom lip to keep quiet. The last thing I want to do is let out a moan in front of Zane.

Zane holds Axel’s stare as the two of them do that brother smack down they do with their eyes. “Not in the mood, Ax.” His voice grits out like gravel. He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head.

“You come home like that and I’m not supposed to say anything?” Axel cocks a dark eyebrow at his brother, saying all he needs to with that one look.

Zane’s posture stiffens. He’s looks calm on the outside, but appearances can be deceiving. The vein on the side of his temple throbs, serving as a warning to any sane person to back off, but Axel does what he always does and barrels right past that line, pushing until Zane will have no other choice but to react.

“Welcome to the dark side, Z. Tastes good don’t it?” Axel licks his lips and my thighs tremble remembering how well that tongue worked me over last night.

Zane opens his mouth, when a shrill scream pierces the air. The sound has the hairs at the back of my neck standing on end at the same time all humor is wiped from Axel’s face. My stomach drops at their sudden change in mood. This is bad. Very bad.

Both of the brothers run out the door, but not before Axel shouts over his shoulder at me, “Wildcat, stay here.”

As if that’s happening. He should know better. I never do what I’m told. I follow out the door right behind them and what we find has the coffee in my stomach wanting to come back up.

Asher’s rubbing a crying Charlee’s back as he shoots all three of us a look that has my veins turning to ice. His gaze darts from me in Axel’s t-shirt to Zane’s disheveled appearance. Unlike Axel, he doesn’t say a word about any of it. That’s not Asher’s style. He observes, but doesn’t shoot off at the mouth unless he needs to.

“Who the hell is that?” Charlee’s words fall on deaf ears. All three brothers seem to be having a silent conversation that Charlee and I aren’t privy to. My attention is too focused on the dead body at their doorstep to give them hell about it right now.

The pulse in my throat races as I take in the trail of blood that flows down his mangled face, covering his entire chest. Whoever this guy was, they tortured him pretty bad before they killed him. There’s not a recognizable feature on him and then my eyes land on an important one. One that flicks a memory to life inside my head. His mustache. Not just any mustache either.

“Is that the creepy guy from the bar?” My voice comes out higher than intended, but I’m doing my best to keep from losing it. There’s no way this can be happening right now.

“It is.” Axel nods, but doesn’t take his eyes off the lifeless lump as Zane bends down and picks up the phone that’s resting on the guys chest. “How the hell did they get past our security, or our fucking cameras, Ash?” A vein throbs on the side of Axel’s neck, the longer he stares at his brother. All traces of his usual laid back demeanor gone. In its place is one I’ve only seen on Asher’s face. Something dark and deadly.

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