by Ellie Jean
Slate had sent the directions to all of our phones. We’d reached a suburban house that looked like it could house the Brady Bunch. A run of the mill, two-story clad house that needed some repairs. It was one of Liza’s houses. Our knowledge of our enemies’ territories and places of interest were always fresh in our minds. Our guys making certain to eyeball them once a week to keep our information fresh and any unnecessary surprises from happening. This was a place to store victims for torturing and in this case, kidnap and use until payment of some kind could be made. Nothing would be exchanged for Kyle and Crystal. Only death. By The Savage Shadows’ hands. No more chances for this bitch and her loyal soldiers. We would obliterate them and anyone who served her.
Patience gone.
I launch at Emerald’s brother.
I’d been pushed too far. On edge since they left the wedding, together. Missing and witnessing her defenselessness, being soothed and cared for by fucking Kyle, broke something more inside of me. Releasing any rationality, impulse takes over.
My hands reach to latch around Kyle’s throat.
A shrill scream penetrates my soul.
I stop.
Pounding erupts in my ears and my vision is a tunnel of darkness with this fucker at the center. My true monster wants to reveal itself. What happened minutes ago was child’s play. I want to watch him struggle, barely able to breathe like me each time I see them together. Darkness has completely swamped me. I’m where I belong, my kingdom.
A dull thud comes from the side of me and then a hand lays on my shoulder. “T. Man.” I lighten my grip. “Crystal,” Ocean says her name urgently, pulling me back from the shadows like a vortex. “It’s Crystal, she’s got a problem.”
I snap to the now. I see her small, vulnerable body writhing on the ground amongst the pool of blood, like it had on the video footage. “Shit.”
Releasing Kyle, I turn and bend, placing my hand under her head while her body spasms.
“I’m here. Shhh…I’ve got you.” The cavity where my heart sits hollows in pain. What can I do? What does my Tiger need? “Crystal?”
Watching her, unable to do anything while her body is in agony, shreds me. I’m fucking helpless. Crippled. Everything I do is so I never feel this. Yet here I am with the woman who I want, fuck, need, and nothing I do or say will stop her body from this torture.
Her head bangs against my hand and I try and hold her shoulder lightly, so she isn’t hurting itself. “I need something. Anything to wrap her body in.” No one should be looking at what’s mine. I’m a prick. I should be concerned about keeping her body from going into shock but her nakedness, here, is making me a loose cannon.
My eyes are transfixed on her exposed, suffering body.
Ocean drops a blanket loosely over her.
“We have to move. The guys are checking the rest of this house, but we’ve been here too long. We have to go.”
“I’ll move her when I can.” Harshness vibrates off me. “Kyle needs to be out of my sight.” Thank fuck, Crystal’s movements start to ease. “Or I take no responsibility for my actions.”
Muffled noise penetrates the space and then it’s gone. My trained eyes have stayed on my Tiger the entire time. I won’t waste my energy on him.
It’s only me and my Hotcakes. Not including the three dead men.
Her body is spent, laid out like she’s a sacrifice for my taking.
Christ her body is unique. So special and beautiful. Unlike any I have seen before. It demands to be worshipped.
Fluttering her eyes, I see her dilated pupils start to focus. Speckles of blue sprinkled within, trying to lock on mine. A split second passes where they’re clear and she’s looking straight to my soul. Taking it.
A fucking shiver climbs up my spine as her lids close. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” I hardly recognize my voice as it cracks.
Curling my arms under her, she fits perfectly into my chest. My skin burns with her touch. Her golden, shiny hair drops over her petite features. I want her to feel safe. She is safe. And I will kill anyone that disputes this or disrupts it. Her breaths come out shallow. Ocean is in the doorway looking from side to side. “Ready?”
“She needs rest.” I need to get Crystal to my apartment without further complications. “Is it clear?”
“For now. Out this way.”
Striding to the car, we make it without any more commotion, I flick the keys to Ocean. “Take us to the apartments.”
I lower us into the back of the Camaro with some difficulty because I refuse to let her trembling body go. Leaning my head down, I watch her eyes flutter under her lids. Mesmerized by her strength and allurement, I kiss her hair.
What is her health problem? I should have the information soon so I can deal with it.
My bloodied hands contrast with her grace and refinement. I rub her arm up and down trying to keep her warm until she’s completely safe in my bed. If I was being truthful, she was grounding me. Living with a medical condition and she hasn’t once said a thing about it. Going on with her passion for clothes, her work, and life. No weakness shown.
“Where are the others?” Leaving the building, I’d seen two dead bodies lying in the corridors. Slate and Caden would be ensuring no one was left alive.
“They’ve got Kyle, in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.”
Ocean smirks at me through the rearview mirror. “They left behind us. Emerald’s not going to be happy about the fingerprints on his neck.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck. He should be grateful that’s all I did.”
“Christ, man. You make it difficult.”
“Don’t give a fuck. It’s time everyone realizes who this Tiger belongs to.” Her body twitches. My arms start to tighten with panic. She can’t be having another one? Can she? Her breathing evens out. She’s in a deep sleep.
“Good luck with that.” He laughs and accelerates forward. “You covered in blood and swimming with sharks would be easier than making this one do anything she doesn’t want to.”
Don’t I know it? But lucky for her, my main mission for the foreseeable future is making this headstrong, delicacy mine and I always get what I want.
Even if I have to take it.
Who is he?
I knew the rumors. They were The Savage Shadows. Brutal, deadly, and subject to their own laws. They murdered, controlled LA and were viciously powerful.
Emerald had tried to explain the basics to me one night, but I was too busy drinking shots to listen to the ins and outs of their business. All that I cared about was if Slate could protect my best friend and the deathly stare he gave anyone who came within a ten-foot range of her, told me he would kill anyone who posed a risk to my girl without a second thought. So I was good.
But, Tanner?
Lying on the floor, barely able to open my eyes, I saw something I hadn’t expected.
Fear…
Brown eyes speared at me, the gold flecks sparkling within like tiny fireflies against the black night sky. They were beautiful, but they revealed Tanner’s inner thoughts. He wasn’t supposed to fear anything. What did he notice? There was only me in front of him and I’d witnessed something that he never let anyone see. The funny, charismatic, easy-going mask had slipped momentarily, but it was enough for me to be drawn into him. There was no resistance, I couldn’t. It was like me trying to talk myself out of buying a pair of Jimmy Choo sandals, impossible. Tanner seized me.
Heaviness drew me back to the darkness where rivers of red blood flowed. Anguished cries leaped from my throat. I couldn’t help Kyle. He was too strong, and I was drowning in the liquid. It was on repeat until it all went black.
“No. Get off. Stop.” Jerking forward, my eyes adjust to the dim lighting. Sweat beads on my throat, my hands grip in a tight fist.
“Crystal?” a groggy, half asleep voice greets me. “Shhh…it’s only a dream. You’re safe.” Warmth spreads through my hand, giving me a sense of safety unt
il my vision narrows in on the source of the voice.
Pillows were propped up under me as I struggle to move up. “Where’s Kyle?” I try and move my hand from his grasp, but I feel numb. Instead the grip tightens.
“At his apartment.” Tanner swipes his hand through his hair, annoyed about something.
“Why the fudge cakes am I here?” I try to move my legs around so I can get off the bed. Dear Lord, am I in his bed? How and why? A wave of hysteria takes hold, and my pulse accelerates. Moving my arm, something pulls on my hand.
“You tied me up?”
“Tiger, you know I would love nothing more than that but no. It’s a drip. For fluids.” Straightening up, I see he’s sitting on a chair pulled next to the bed, dark hair is messed up, and stubble across his jawline. His eyes look tired. Why does he have to be so edible? Taking his phone from his pocket, he types something and puts it down on the black side table.
“You need to start making sense. Why am I not at my house? Why is there a needle sticking out of me and is this your bed?”
“You don’t remember?” Imposing and athletic, his decorated arms are crossed over his chest, he towers above my head. Something flicks in his eyes. Concern? Worry?
“Of course I fucking remember.” Heat swallows me, and I wish my body would be more cooperative. I want to unleash and speak my mind without worrying I’m going to end up with a bullet in my head from a bitch who enjoyed torturing or sexually assaulting us. “How could I forget I was kidnapped with Kyle?” My voice gets louder. “Taken against our own free will, attacked then trapped in some dingy hell hole fit for vermin.”
A twitch in his neck fires but he holds still.
“They stripped me, and some old guy tried to stick his cock in me.” I keep strong.
“He’s dead.” Fierce eyes stare at me.
A smile almost breaks across my face. Death isn’t something I would wish on anyone, but that cocksucker deserved everything he got. “Hallelujah for that. They ruined my designer gown, Kyle’s expensive shoes. That in itself is a major crime. But she took Kyle.” I pause so I can stop myself from blubbering. I heave in deep breaths because the seriousness weighs upon me. “He wouldn’t tell me what happened. But something did. Hopefully he will talk soon to me about it. And then he had to care for me because of my seizures. He put me first.” My shoulders sag and I crumple into a ball. “I couldn’t do anything to protect him.” My words are soft, and the sobs take over.
“You shouldn’t have been taken.” Warm arms envelop me, and I let him. I breathe. It’s the first true breath I’ve taken since the ordeal. “We will kill every last one of them.”
“You nearly killed Kyle.”
“I couldn’t bear it, Tiger. Watching his hands on you. Protecting you, saving you. That’s my job.” His voice is strained, holding back something. Anguish, violence, pain, I’m not sure.
“I saw you break a man’s neck, then slit another’s throat.” A hiccup and sob wracks through me. The hands pressed against my back took another human’s life. And yet I don’t want them to leave me. “There was so much blood.” The sight of blood smeared over Tanner’s arms and clothes is on repeat in my head. This was his life.
“They hurt you.”
I peek at his face jumping at the severity of his tone.
“I won’t apologize for anything. I would do it again.”
This is Tanner.
Destructive, formidable, authoritative, compelling.
“Why would you do it again? I’m not a part of you like Emerald.”
“Wrong…you’re so fucking wrong, Hotcakes. If you break our trust, or take, disrespect or hurt anything of The Savage Shadows, we destroy you.”
“I’m not a part of this though.” I wave my free hand around gesturing to his room, his life. “But it’s that simple, eh?” Wiping a tear from my face, I shake my head in disbelief. I don’t understand. “You can’t go around killing people because you can’t stand them.”
“Liza stole you and Kyle. She broke our agreement and had some creep touch what is mine. They will all pay. She’s fucking lucky to still be walking this earth. Not for much longer. Slate is preparing the next showdown.” Staring at me, my skin shivers with the dead look in his brown orbs. It’s a promise.
“When it comes to you, Crystal, I will break anybody’s bones, have them bleed out, deplete them of oxygen if I think they are a danger to you. There will be no remorse or pity, only darkness and evil. But if it keeps you with me on this earth, I don’t care.”
“You’re a monster.” Secure in his bed, warm at his touch, electrified with each breath that wafts on my skin, my body contradicts my harsh words.
“I’ve been called worse, because I am. You wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” He takes a glass from the table and gets himself a drink.
Scrunching my eyebrows together, I ask, “What?”
“You were kidnapped because of your connection with me and the guys. And you’re here in my bed because I refuse to let you leave until Liza is caught.”
My head spins, and I place my palms on the bed to ground me. “I’m not staying here.”
“Sorry, Tiger. But you are.”
“You’re holding me hostage? Like kidnapping me? ‘Cause I’ve been there and done that and it’s not for me.” He’s got to be kidding me. It’s a joke. His serious face isn’t looking playful, however.
“I think you’ll find this one a little more to your requirements and tastes. I’ve had the doctor clear you to stay here instead of the hospital, and he’s given me your medication.”
“You can’t do this.” I try to get up, but the stupid drip is still giving me much needed fluids.
“Tiger. You broke something in me.”
“Your brain? ‘Cause at the moment you’re making no sense to me.”
He smirks and sits on the bed next to me. “You’re one of the strongest people that I know and to watch you suffer uncontrollably because of me, cut me deep. Tore at places inside of me that I didn’t know existed. It paralyzed me and I will give anything in this world to never feel that pain again. Let me heal you, treasure you like you should be cherished.”
I’m speechless. Which is a first. Understanding his words is something that will take time. The sincerity in his tone and look reiterates the truth behind his words, and I truly appreciate how safe he has made me feel.
“On one condition.”
“Crystal, there are no conditions. What I say goes, but tell me anyway.”
“I really need to see my best friend.” Emerald needs to be here to help me sort through what this all means and when I go back to my life outside of this luxurious, dominant, gorgeous man’s apartment.
“Organized, she should be here any…”
“Crystal…when will you learn? Pack a knife in your bra like Lace so you are protected at all times.” Emerald breezes in past Tanner and lightens up the room with her sass and smile. “You can run along. My bestie and I need alone time now.”
I bite my lip so only a small amount of laughter escapes. “Oh, Tanner, could you be a dear and grab us a weeks’ worth of raspberry marshmallows too. We can’t have Hotcakes fading away to nothing. Can we?”
This time I don’t hold back from laughing. Tanner’s face is priceless. He’s going to wish he sent me straight home.
But for the moment, I’m his possession and he’s my monster to toy with.
And there will be no holding back. I’m in this for the long haul.
His cruel, merciless exterior is going to get a shakeup.
“Trouble in paradise?” Slate joins Ocean at my kitchen bench. Running my hands through my hair, I send a deathly look toward my men.
“How much trouble can one fucking woman be?”
It had been two days, two motherfucking long days. How could Crystal be so infuriating?
“We are talking about Crystal, Em’s best friend so I’d guess…a lot.” Ocean sucked hard on a cig. Shaking my head, I light one up.
&n
bsp; “The doctor has taken her off the drip but said she should stay in bed for four days to ensure she’s recuperated. She’s relentless.” Drawing in the smoke, I exhale making small circles trying to clear my head. “First, she wouldn’t let me help her to the bathroom with the drip, refusing to let me roll the stand with her. Every dish of food I get her, it’s either too salty, too fatty, not enough dressing, too high in calories, not enough carbs or protein or some shit. Then there’s your lunatic partner. Wildcat, has her drinking shots, wine, some red type of cocktails that require Emerald to use a blender. They’ve been watching Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil, Orange is the New Gray or fuck whatever it is until they are rolling together on the bed while I run around playing maid to her. I can’t even get close to her pussy cause she is adamant she needs her rest. Which she no doubt does, but Christ…jerking off with my hand is wrong. Round and gorgeous tits, a golden pussy for the taking but she’s in quarantine and it’s taunting me. We had better be close to finding Liza, S, or I’m gonna lose my goddamn mind.”
Tossing back some scotch, I stub out the smoke and cross my ankles. There has to be some news on Liza. Only leaving the apartment when absolutely necessary, I have left it up to Ocean and Slate to track down where she may be hiding.
“We are close, man. Visiting any acquaintances, she knows the heat is on, so she’ll be lying low.”
Stupid coward. If she wants to play with the big boys, she should know the rules. Because breaking them means certain death. For all of her family and trusted people.
“Typhy…” a shrill call comes from the bedroom. The guys burst with laughter. Someone had let her know my fighter name, so what does she do? Fucking shortens it and makes it sound all dainty like. I’m surprised Emerald hasn’t got her a bell to ring as well, to mess with my head.
“Fuck me.” Ocean is wiping tears from his face. “She didn’t just shorten Typhon?” Slate shakes his head but continues laughing.
“Typhy, you out there? I need my computer. Could you be a dear and get it for me?” Rising to my feet, I drink the last of the scotch down.