Page 14 of Ravaged
I closed my eyes slowly. Why did I care about what I said about her?
Lust, andespeciallylove, made a person weak. That’s how my mother had fallen for Gerard, a gangster with more death on his hands than a war. That’s how we had been forced to hide in a quiet desert town for years until I finally did what was in my blood.
I might have had a desire to protect those who needed it, but that didn’t mean that I had to protect Teagen. She was a payment to the family business. Cargo. Not a person. I wasn’t going to waver on where she stood with me.
Still, Wil didn’t need to hear my internal debate.
I changed the subject. “She should be here soon,” I said.
My phone vibrated.Ten minutes awayxoxo, Teagen sent. The flirting irritated me. Give me the information; the random letters didn’t mean anything to me. She was too damn unsuspecting for her own good.
And she was a payment.
Wil and Axe moved the van into the shadows of the woods and waited there. A few minutes later, Teagen’s old car rattled down the highway. I flashed my high beams at her, and she parked behind me. I unlocked the door. She got inside.
Tight jeans on her legs. An open sweater over a tank top that revealed a tasteful amount of cleavage, making me salivate. I was a goddamn idiot for not sucking on those tits the night before. She would have mewled like a cat. Hearing her make that noise would have been enough to make me hard right then.
“It’s good to see you,” she said. I said nothing, only took her in, inch by inch. The smell of her hair, freshly cleaned. Was that blood orange? Lotion glittered on her neck. The sparkles were cheap, but the moonlight through the windshield made her skin shimmer, and I wanted to lick it all off of her.
“If you don’t mind,” she said. I stared at her, waiting for her to continue. “The cash?”
I took an envelope from the glove compartment. She checked the bills, counting in her head. It was all there. And it was all part of the plan.
I could have run away with her right then. Locked the car doors. Drove until we couldn’t see Sage City in the rearview mirror anymore. I could have protected her. Made sure that she didn’t pay for her father’s debts. Why should she, when she had already paid enough?
But there was too much at stake. I needed to make myself known, to establish my rightful place as the next leader of the Adler family crime ring. Letting Teagen go wasn’t part of that plan.
“Now, what’s the fantasy?” she asked, a hint of playful seduction in her voice.
She had no idea.
In all honesty, I could have tied her up. Stuffed her in the backseat. I could have abducted her by myself. But the Adlers had a system, and part of becoming the next leader was being willing to respect traditions until I found a better way to reinvent the wheel.
“Red riding hood,” I said, my voice deep and masculine. I nodded towards the woods through the car window. “I’m going to tie your wrists, and you’re going to run through the woods. And when you can’t run anymore, when you’d rather die than take another step, that’s when I’m going to fuck you.”
“So you want to chase me like prey, then?” she laughed. “It’s pretty messed up, but I’m into it.”
“I didn’t ask if you liked it,” I said.
Her smile wavered. She swallowed a gulp, then tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“My best friend knows where I am,” she said.
At least she had some sense. Brave little woman, trying to size herself up against me. A murderer. The next heir to the Adler family business. She truly had no idea who she was dealing with.
“Are you afraid of me, Teagen?” I asked. She studied me, those green eyes shining back at me, then gave a gentle shake of her head.
“No,” she whispered.
“You should be,” I said. She tried tucking more hair behind her ear, but there wasn’t a single loose strand. I gave a smile to ease the tension. “Let’s go.”
We got out of the car and I tied her wrists with hemp rope. It was a standard tie, efficient, and nearly impossible to get out of. This part, indulging in a little play with her, was off-script. I was supposed to throw a hood over her head, ease her into the woods, and Wil and Axe would be there, ready to take care of the rest.
But I couldn’t resist a little game. Not when it came to a woman like Teagen.
“I’ll give you a ten-second head start,” I said. Her eyes widened. “Go.”
She clambered through the trees, not noticing the path a few yards down, where cars had driven through the trees, time and time again. No doubt, it was one of the Adlers’ favorite spots. The dewy rain was wet on my skin, and the whistle of insects was thicker under the trees.
