Page 110 of Sinner

As if my younger self was some fucking vampire.

But now, I used the darkness for other aspects as well, including sheer enjoyment. While I’d recently experienced pleasure from basking in the light of someone like Jessica, I would continue to allow the darkest cravings to live inside of me. There was no other choice as I didn’t know any better.

The realization had come to me only a couple of hours earlier while questioning my decision-making abilities given my indecency with the woman. The lines had never been blurred between right and wrong or good versus evil because decency had never had a chance to manifest itself at a young age. I hadn’t cared in the least.

Until Jessica.

My twisted desire.

My most forbidden fruit.

And not just for the reasons most would latch onto first. Ex-best friend’s vulnerable daughter. Possible employee. Woman I’d stalked for two weeks. All of that was true, but the reason I should consider her completely off limits was all about her ability to unravel the monster deep inside.

Which was something I had never wanted. Brutality had offered relief to a battered soul, like heroin to a drug addict.

She was the single woman who could hold the fate of my soul in the palm of her hand. Although I owned her body and a large chunk of her brilliant mind. Whether she knew it or not, she’d surrendered herself to me the night of the first hunt.

My little lamb still believed she had the right to choose the path her life would take.

But she was wrong.

Soon I would collect what already belonged to me.

A laugh rushed up from my throat as wind whipped against my face.

Still unable to get her off my mind, I hoped the long ride in the middle of the night would provide some sense of relief. At least for the time being. Maybe I’d learned prudence over the years because biding my time would allow for more savage enjoyment.

Yet there was a strong part of me that kept me on the precipice of acts of depravity for no other reason than to fill a void. Jessica had managed to shed golden light on the abyss, but she wasn’t here.

Damn the act of professionalism. Damn the necessity for control.

I powered the Harley around a curve at an excessive speed, uncaring about the risk I was taking. The thrill of the ride was almost as delicious as the chase. Tonight, this would be my only entertainment and I planned on taking full advantage of the exhilarating feeling.

The back road was nearly devoid of vehicles, the weekend and late hour allowing for limited exposure to any other human. With my headlights shining on the road ahead, both my mind and conscience clear, there was no reason I wouldn’t enjoy the experience.

After making another turn, I pressed down on the accelerator again, going in excess of ninety miles per hour. The feeling of freedom was wide open, much like the howling wind echoing in my ears.

When a set of headlights appeared in my side mirror, I issued a deep growl. My soulful solace had been interrupted. My jaw ticked from annoyance, but I increased my speed. No one was foolish enough to take these roads at high speed.

Except for me.

I made another turn, this one sharper than the last.

The fucker was still following me. More annoyingly, he was able to keep up with me. Perhaps I should consider that the driver was a woman, perhaps even my little lamb, although from what little I could see in my side mirror, the vehicle was much larger than what she owned.

Who the fuck had the balls to follow me? Whoever it was obviously had a death wish. I could easily outrun and out-maneuver them, but what fun was that? I could also slow down, allowing them to have the brief feeling of victory.

But that would be too easy.

Besides, I’d have a difficult time eliminating both the body and the vehicle. If there was only one idiot of a human inside the car.

I made a quick and unusual decision, turning back toward town. Not to where I lived, but to the area where Den was located. Why not see how the hand was played while enjoying a quick drink?

After making the decision, I didn’t waste any additional time seeing if the asshole would follow me. I knew they would. Although I had a feeling whoever it was would pretend they were no longer interested.

Five minutes later, that’s exactly what happened, the vehicle making a turn while I continued going straight.

The idiot obviously believed me to be a fool. I played this game better than anyone.

---