Page 21 of Scorched King

JD would come around and give up if I played my cards right. He wasn’t as strong of a leader as he liked to think he was. But?—

The girl and her memory were a threat to my safety and had to be neutralized. Beautiful or not didn’t mean shit, I couldn’t risk getting caught.

One way or another, she had to go.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

JD

Watching Sasha curl up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and the remote in her hand did something funny to my chest. She looked perfectly at home here, and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about that. Or maybe it was what I’d seen earlier that was tying me into knots.

Her little foray into that pretzel bending, mind yapping yoga bullshit in the middle of my living room had set me off for no good reason. I’d seen her do it before, and while it was supposedly good for the body—it certainly made hers look good—that wasn’t the point.

Even the sight of her tits swinging free seemed minor compared to everything else. But the angry red scars covering pretty much every inch of her back and right arm, twisted something dark inside me that made me want to kill.

It was that same feeling I woke up with every morning, but ten times worse. The evidence of my failure to protect her had slapped me in the face—hard.

And since then I could barely register anything other than the need to gather her in my arms and kiss all that hurt and harm away. And no amount of hours away from her in my office was going to cure that feeling.

I couldn’t imagine the level of pain she must have endured while her body tried to heal from that. It told me volumes about her resilience and will to live, not to mention her strength. Half my men would have cried like a little bitch in that hospital room and I would have happily traded places with her if I could.

My chest ached imagining her pain. It wrapped around me and squeezed the air from my lungs, leaving only the bitter taste of violence behind.

However, her endless scrolling streaming programs worked to distract me, because it was driving me insane. “Sasha, pick something. You’ve been through this section three times already.”

The flash of frustration in her eyes was almost enough to make me smile. “I can’t find anything worthwhile. After spending more than a month in the hospital, I’ve seen everything I care to. I need something new.”

“Maybe television isn’t the answer. Would a soak in the hot tub help you relax?” I regretted the suggestion the second it left my mouth. The hot tub would mean a bathing suit, and seeing her in a bathing suit would make me think of sex, and then I would be the one going crazy.

“It would be incredible,” she moaned, the sound humming along all of my exposed skin, and making me groan. “But I don’t have a swimsuit. Most of my things are in my apartment at the bunkhouse that you won’t let me go back to.”

I scowled over at her. “I didn’t say you couldn’t go there at all. I just said you couldn’t live there right now. I need to keep an eye on you until—” I caught myself before revealing too much. Some details I had no intention of sharing. At least not yet.

“Until what?”

“Never mind,” I said, brushing off her question and moving back to the topic at hand. “We’ll go over to the bunkhouse tomorrow. Does that work?”

She nodded, but her fingers tapping on the remote told me she wouldn’t be easily placated.

“About that hot tub though…” She looked up hopefully and I continued, “I can give you a t-shirt and shorts you can wear. They’ll be too big, but they’ll be comfortable and you don’t have to worry about getting them wet.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I am. Hang on.” I disappeared into my bedroom and went to my chest where I kept my workout clothes. After rifling through the drawers for a few minutes I found a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that might work. I also dug out an ancient swimsuit from the very back and quickly changed into it. I then walked back to the living room and handed over what I’d gathered for her. “These should work. The shorts have a drawstring so you can pull them as tight as you need for them to stay up.”

She didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she sat there staring at me, her lips slightly parted, and her gaze laser focused on my bare chest. I might have stood a little straighter and smiled on the inside about her obvious appreciation. I worked my ass off to maintain my health and stamina as naturally as possible and itpaid off in a way that I looked better than I had twenty fucking years ago.

“Sasha.” She jerked her attention to my face.

“What?”

“Here,” I pushed the clothes into her hands. “You can get dressed while I go out back and get the tub ready.”

“Okay,” she mumbled before disappearing into the guest room.

With a slight rumble of laughter moving within my chest, I made my way out to the covered deck where my custom-made hot tub awaited. When we’d built out this cabin I had it designed with all the elements that were important to me, which included a lot of custom details. Including this private oasis that houses an outdoor dining and grill area, my hot tub, and a Sauna room that used to be a small storage room attached to the back of the house.

This place had come a long way from the shitty shack it used to be. I grabbed the remote from the shelf that housed towels for hot tub use and pressed the buttons to both remove the hot tub cover and adjust the lights and jets. I rolled my head to loosen some of the stress building at the base of my skull. It had been too long since I’d spent some time out here and it was long overdue. My muscles were going to be happy campers.

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