Page 15 of Hunt

I leaned in, so my lips pressed against her ear. “Answer the fucking question, Riley.”

“You won’t hurt her?” she begged as a stray tear streamed down her right cheek. I felt a little bad, but she wasn’t behaving; therefore, she must be punished.

“If I wanted to hurt her, I would’ve done so already. It’s not hard to seek her out, then destroy her, since she lives inyourdorm,” I breathed in her ear.

She dithered as those green eyes behind glasses landed on my lips, seeing me properly for the first time after I had removed my disguise. The hunger to kiss those swollen lips was almost overwhelming, but I held back.

“Again, Riley, who the fuck is she? Give me a name,” I seethed, squeezing her face, and she winced.

“Gunner?” Betty’s warning voice cut through the tension as she stepped toward us.

Ignoring Betty, I growled under my breath, “Tell me!”

She gasped as her breath hitched. “Kat,” she slurred under the pressure of my fingers.

“Kat? Kat, who?” I pushed, annoyed.

“Gunner? What are you doing?” Betty stood beside me, but I didn’t bother acknowledging her. I wasn’t going anywhere until she answered my fucking question.

“Kat, who?” I shook Riley’s face as another tear stained her cheek.

“Katerina,” she cried as something grasped my balls over my jeans, and it took me two seconds to realize that it was her spare hand. Like magic, her tears dried up, and a different side emerged. In a warning tone, she growled, “You won’t hurt her, will you? That wasn’t a question, by the way. That was a demand.” She squeezed my balls as the dull pain drew a wry smile from me. I liked this new version of Riley Laws—a scrappy fighter like Annika.

It was I who pulled away first because the pain in my balls was getting too much with every squeeze.

“Asshole,” she snarled at me before dashing to the sink to the wash the dishes.

I glanced back at her as I exited, but her back was turned, and instead, I received a dirty stare from Betty. Once out into the hallway, I adjusted my aching balls and climbed the stairs back to the offices. I met Ronan’s eyes as I strolled into his office.

“Wipe that smile off your face.” Ronan threw a pen at me.

“Katerina,” I told him as I sat down, wincing.

“You look like you’re in pain,” he stated, watching me closely.

“She tugged my ball,” I confessed, cupping my crotch.

“She what?” he asked, confused.

“She…Riley tugged my ball,” I repeated. “Quite hard.”

“For fun?” Ronan sniggered, looking a little jealous that she wasn’t yanking on his balls. The thing is…when Mikael ordered us to refrain from touching Riley, Ronan was more likely to obey, whereas I was more likely to disobey.

“No,” I sighed, as her dimpled naked body danced behind my eyes. “I think she was trying to fight back after I put the pressure on for a name.”

“Did it work?” he asked, with envy written on his face. The guy would turn green if he didn’t watch himself.

“Yeah. Katerina. I just said,” I reminded him.

“Katerina, who? You got a surname?” Good ol’ Ronan is sticking to the business side. “Is she someone we need to worry about?”

“I didn’t get a chance. Besides, I thought I would pass out with the death grip on my ball.”

Ronan stifled a smile, shaking his head. “Dude, you’ve got it bad.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I stood to leave. That little hand squeezing my ball was enough to evoke happiness within me, and I’ll likely be in a good mood for the next hour or so, even though it still physically hurts. “You can’t fucking talk.”

“Get her surname,” Ronan yelled after me as I left to sit in the viewing room at the end of the hall and wait until her shift was over.

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