Page 24 of Hunted Vengeance

I am not careful.

I don’t have the opportunity to be cautious. All I can do is keep my eyes peeled and try not to get killed at this point in my life. Because I know that my ending will likely be much like my mother’s. I’m going to disappear one day, never to be seen again.

That should terrify me, but I’ve come to the realization that it just is… what it is. And nothing more.

MERRICK

Standingat the back of the limestone building, I watch as the light in her bedroom is turned on. A shadow moves around the room. I can tell, just by the shape, that it’s her. It’s my wife. She is still that, too. Nothing has been officially finalized yet to make her anything else. My cock twitches at the sight of her moving around the room.

When her shadow moves to the window, I tilt my head back and look up. I wait for her to open the blinds, but she doesn’t. She stands there, and I wonder if she can see me down here. I’ve never actually been inside her bedroom, so I don’t know if she can see out.

I’m in the shadows, so she probably couldn’t see me anyway, even if she knew where to look. I stand there for a long moment, my eyes transfixed on that damn window, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing does.

Her shadow moves away from the window, and then the light flicks off. Pressing my lips together, I roll them a few times as I try to think of what to do next. With my raging hard-on, I’m finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than breaking into her bedroom and fucking her into the mattress.

Powering on my phone, I send a text to Boden asking him if there is any way for him to disable the camera surveillance on the back part of the building. He answers almost immediately.

BODEN: I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, AND YOU’RE CRAZY AS FUCK.

I’m sure he does know what I want, but at the same time, I don’t give a shit. I am crazy as fuck. I need to know if this is all for naught. I wonder if I remember Colette a certain way or if she really was the one for me.

Because I’ll be damned if I risk life and limb just to get her home and realize I fucked up—big-time. I don’t want to start a war with the Bellucci Mafioso, but at the same time, I have a feeling that there is something much more sinister than me just starting a war over his daughter, my legal wife.

I don’t respond to Boden mainly because I don’t need to explain myself. He knows who I am, what I stand for, and what I fucking want. There is zero need for me to explain myself, and I won’t.

BODEN: YOU’RE FUCKING ANNOYING. THE BACK OF THE BUILDING SYSTEM HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED WITH A NEW PASSWORD LIKE THE FRONT. NOT SURE WHY. BUT I’VE DISABLED IT FROM MY APP.

Meant to fucking be.

Now I just have to climb my ass to the fourth floor. Which will be easy enough as long as the fire escape is still in working order. That’s the best part of these old-as-fuck buildings in the city.

Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I begin to make my way up the fire escape and to Colette’s bedroom. I want to know that this is exactly what I need. I’ve been struggling with this situation for far too long, too lost inside of my own head and thoughts to make a rational decision.

I never wanted to be married, never wanted to settle down. Being married has never been on my radar. Not with my past. It was something that I felt was thrust upon me. Another moment, another thing in my life that was not my choice.

But when I really took in Theron and Lucille, when I really paid attention to their dynamic, and especially Theron, I realized that I wanted that, too. I want what they have, and I think that Colette is the one who can give it to me.

Reaching the floor of the building that is hers, I spread my fingers wide and press them against the glass window, trying to push upward. I’m not sure what I thought I would do if the window were locked but thank fuck it isn’t.

It slides up easily. The blinds are my next obstacle, and they are the push-up-from-the-base kind of system, so they are easier than a chord pulley one. I slowly lift them up to give myself enough room to climb into her bedroom without making a lot of noise.

Before I climb through, I allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness in her room and see her there. She’s in bed, her back to me as she faces the closet doors. Glancing over to the bedroom door, I smile at the fact that it’s closed and, if I’m not mistaken, locked as well.

Perfect.

Chapter Ten

COLETTE

Keeping my eyes firmly closed,I try to stay asleep because I’m having that dream again, the one where Merrick’s hands are on my body. I don’t want to wake up. This could be the last time I’m able to have any dreams of my own. I have a feeling that once I’m married again, I will only have nightmares.

Warm lips touch the side of my neck, then drag down to my shoulder, where a wet tongue swirls my skin there. Arching my back, I let out a long exhale. Lifting my arm, I curl my fingers around the back of his neck.

Instantly, as I come out of my dreamlike state, my eyes pop open, and I grip the neck tighter, only to realize that it’s real. Said neck belongs to a real human man. A man who is entirely unbothered that I’m flexing my fingers around his neck and my body has gone rigid.

He’s unbothered because his fingers dance down my side and slip into the sleep shorts I'm wearing sans panties before they glide through my folds. I’m not sure I want to know who is behind me, but because I’m far too curious for my own good, I turn my head anyway and look at the man who is playing my body to perfection in seconds.

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