He sucked in a breath, the clench of his teeth making his deep inhalation whistle loudly. “How long has this been going on?”
“A few months.” I couldn’t understand why I was being so open with a man I barely knew, and who I hadn’t seen in four years. Yet, like before, there was something within me that connected with Anderson, with the sadness and anger inside him. He was the echo of my heartbeat, the replica of the hatred that poured through my veins and he was perfectly in tune with the darkness I refused to accept lived within my soul.
“And you have no idea why or who?”
“What the fuck, Anderson?” I hadn’t a clue what got me so angry about his relentless questions. “Please, just…” I growled under my breath and closed my eyes. “Sorry.” I knew he was only trying to help but I couldn’t think past my poor dog laid out in front of me.
His expression darkened, his jaw ticking faintly with rage but just as he opened his mouth to say something, a knock came to the door before it opened and Richard burst inside.
Anderson dropped his grip on my jaw and snapped his head around to face Richard who dropped to his knees beside Dave and swiftly started to check him over.
“Kloe,” Richard whispered. He looked at me with grief, shaking his head slowly to tell me there was nothing he could do. Ushering me into his arms, his embrace was strong and I buried my face into his neck and cried.
“Why would he do this? Why?”
“He?” Anderson asked from where he still knelt beside Dave, his intrusive eyes watching me closely.
Both Richard and I moved apart and looked at Anderson.
“Who are you?” Richard asked as though he’d only just realised Anderson was there. His tone was sharp and dangerous and I frowned, confused with his hostility.
Anderson’s usual cruel smirk surfaced and he lifted an eyebrow, amusement lighting his dark features. “The man currently providing Kloe’s orgasms. And you are?”
I opened my mouth to say something but the shock of Anderson’s declaration took the words from me and all I could do was stare in stunned silence.
“What the hell?” Richard growled, his furious eyes turning to me. “Is… are you fucking this guy?”
“Jesus Christ,” I finally managed, glaring at both men who seemed fine with fighting over me. “Just stop!”
“Answer me, Kloe!”
My eyes widened with Richard’s tone and I winced when his fingers wrapped tightly around my wrist. His grasp was bruising but it was the anger in his eyes that surprised me. I’d never seen this side to him. He was usually passive and quiet, and he had become a good friend. But that was all we were – friends. However, the possessive look in his eyes told me he’d moved past that stage of our relationship.
“I suggest you let her go,” Anderson growled. “Right now!” I hadn’t heard that animalistic snarl for four years and it was still as aggressive and feral as I remembered.
Richard scoffed but wisely released his hold on me. Glancing at Dave, he closed his eyes for a brief moment then turned back to me. “Phone the police and report it. Don’t bury him until they’ve been out.”
I nodded, my heart clenching with the thought of what the police would do to Dave.
“And I told you before, lock your bloody door!”
Nodding again, I watched him go. I couldn’t understand his sudden change in character; it was so unlike him. I hadn’t realised he had feelings for me and now everything had become complicated.
“You fucking him?” Anderson asked, his stern stare locked on to me.
Rolling my eyes, I blew out a breath. What the hell was wrong with both of them? “No. Not that it has anything to do with you.”
His chuckle was humourless and I caught the bitterness in it. “Hmm. For the moment I’ll allow you to carry on believing that.”
I squinted at him in puzzlement, his strange statement not making any sense.
“As the poncy twat said, phone the police and lock your door after me.”
I was too tired to argue and I slumped into a heap beside Dave, my fingers digging into his soft fur. My heart broke, the images of what that bastard had done to him making my stomach roll. Had he been in pain? Had they tormented him first? And had he been crying for me, for me to save him?
“What am I gonna do without him, Anderson?” The words came out choked and hushed. I didn’t think he had heard me until I felt him move behind me and his thick, strong arms enveloped me.
His face buried into the top of my head when my weeping became uncontrollable, my body shaking with heart-wrenching grief. His embrace grew more forceful, his strength giving me the comfort I needed.
“It’ll be okay, Kloe.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It won’t. He won’t stop.”
He turned me gently so I was facing him. Wiping at my tears with his thumbs he placed a soft kiss to my forehead. It was like he’d never been out of my life, our relationship sliding back into the overfriendly zone it had been in before I left.
“He will stop. I’ll make sure of it.”
“How? How will you do that? I don’t even know who’s doing this.”
He didn’t answer my question, instead dropping another kiss into my hair before he stood up. Turning to Red, he gave her a short nod. “Stay, girl.”
“What? I can’t… you can’t…”
“She’ll protect you,” he said firmly, his strict expression smothering my argument before it left my lips. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
I couldn’t do anything but stare at him as he stepped out of the front door, but he turned back to me. “Lock the damn door, Kloe.”
“Yes, sir,” I mumbled.
His lips twitched but then he was gone, the door closing behind him and his knuckles softly rapping on it to remind me.
Getting up, I turned the key and slid the chain on. Red was by my side, her nose nuzzling into my hand, her instinct to comfort me making my heartbeat that bit better.
My phone buzzed, alerting me to a text.
Unknown number: Did you lock the door?
Chuckling, I smiled, entering Anderson’s number in to my contacts.
Me: Yes! Sir!
Anderson: Good, now phone the police. And go to bed! Keep Red with you.
Me: YES!
Anderson: …Sir!
Me: Yes. SIR!
The small skip in my heart concerned me but I pushed it aside and refused to concentrate on it. Anderson’s sudden appearance in my life concerned me too. Four years was a long time, and although I had thought about him often, I hadn’t been prepared for the overwhelming emotions that had rippled through me when I saw him standing on my path.
The darkness that had lived inside him all those years ago was still there, swirling in the depths of those predatory green eyes. But he was so different now, everything about him confident and fearless. That frightened young man who had captured my heart was long gone. A hard and ruthless arrogance now consumed his previous gentle, nervous character. I wondered how his treatment had gone after I left. Had his therapy been successful? Had he managed to come to terms with his past?
I prayed that he had, but I had seen the same hatred and rage in his eyes that had been there when I first met him.
I knew it wasn’t easy to move on from the terrors of your past, that even when you thought your soul was beginning to heal the nightmares crept back in and reminded you life was never that easy.
Anderson deserved a peaceful soul, the horrors he had been through making my heart hurt for him.
But like before, I couldn’t afford to let him into my life now. Our closeness had cost me everything last time, had nearly cost him everything, and now I was even more of a danger to his vulnerability.
Yet something told me he wasn’t going to make it that simple. That no matter how much I pushed him away he was going to push back harder. But I couldn’t risk him. Whoever was doing this to me would also look to him if he shoved his way into my heart. They’d taken Dave, they�
�d taken Trudy, my best friend, and I couldn’t, wouldn’t, jeopardise Anderson’s chance to live life again.
SWEAT COVERED EVERY INCH OF me and I rolled over again, desperate to find a cool spot on the cotton sheet. Sleep refused to give me peace, my mind full of her and obliterating any hope of a restful night.
She was still as beautiful, my memory of her not doing her any justice at all. The deep chestnut waves of her glossy hair now dropped below her shoulders and the piercing blue of her eyes still made something invisible inside my chest squeeze hard.
Her tits were full, and the softness around her hips made my cock hard. She still unconsciously sucked on that plump bottom lip, but it was her smile that made me catch a breath every time she gave me even a tiny glimpse of it.
However, the darkness inside her four years ago was now vaster than it had been. The flaw in her faith was now as visible as the tiny green flecks in the depths of her striking blue eyes, the story written with her soul still left its ugly words in her heart.
I knew her past was as dark as mine, and whether it was that that gave us a connection or not, I couldn’t say, but we did have that connection, something inside us that called to the other to be fed.
Taking my hard cock in my hand I loosely curled my fingers and closed my eyes. Visions and feelings of her soft body beneath mine always gave me short but sweet release. The echo of her soft moans in my ears and the taste of her lips against mine were a memory that would never subside. It was always there in the recesses of my mind when I called for it.
My fist clenched harder when my imagination took the memories onto a new path; a dark and sinister path that made a low growl of need rattle my chest. The echo of Kloe’s moans turned to soft cries when I flipped her over in my mind, her tight ass begging for my attention.
As I pictured pushing her knees up and forcing my fingers into her tight, unused hole I started to stroke harder and faster, my cock throbbing in need. Kloe writhed around, the ropes tying her down making her efforts fruitless. A broken sob ripped from her, the sound of it making the cum shoot from my balls and coat my stomach before I could cool the thrill and prolong my dream. Dream? Maybe a fast approaching certainty would be a better term.
Because Kloe would soon writhe in those ropes. Her arse would soon be full of my fingers, my cock, my tongue, and maybe some other object that took my fancy in the moment. Her body would soon be etched with the same scars she left branded on my heart. And her pale skin would soon be coated in the deep red crimson of her own blood. But more importantly, she would soon beg for mercy under the rule of my torment. Because she owed me that much. For four years she had chained these dark and sinister cravings inside me, kept me locked in the horrors of my own pain, a pain she had created. She had lied; promised me and then taken away that promise. She had left me fearing the shadows of my own dreams, taken the last shred of faith I’d had in myself and flushed it away. And nothing would pacify those terrors that she had created, not until she was as broken as I was.
My phone rang and I glanced at the clock, the late hour making me frown. The hairs on the nape of my neck stood to attention when Kloe’s name flashed across my screen.
“Kloe?”
“Anderson?” she choked out, making me shoot upright, my gut clenching at the fear in her voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call.”
“What’s happened?”
“Uhh, Red woke me up barking.” Fear trickled through me as she struggled to talk. I was already cleaning up and pulling on my jeans as she stuttered into the phone. “I went to look and someone has smashed the back window.”
“Are you okay?” I barked abruptly, putting her on speaker so I could yank a t-shirt over my head.
“Yeah, I think Red scared them off.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. Do not open the door to anyone but me.” She must have nodded because she didn’t answer me. “Kloe?”
“Yeah… Yes. Okay.”
“Don’t worry, Red won’t let anyone hurt you. Okay?”
The silence indicated that she nodded again.
“You’ll be fine. I’m on my way.”
Ending the call, I yanked on my shoes and snatched up my keys. Whoever this fucker was he was going to die very soon. And it wouldn’t be a quick death. I hadn’t waited four years for someone else to take her from me. Kloe’s life was now accountable to me; it was my decision when she took her last breath. And no cunt was going to take that from me.
“DID YOU INFORM THE POLICE of Dave’s death?” Anderson asked as soon as I opened the door to him and he walked in with his cocky swagger, that invasive stare directed on my eyes so he could see the truth. Anderson relied on his instincts more than most. Watching people’s body language, their expressions and their reactions had been what had kept him alive. All his life he had learned to trust his senses; they had been his only protection in a world where he had nothing but his emotions to rely on. And even now, four years on, he used his talent like it was second nature to him.
“Yes.”
“And?” he asked from inside the utility room, his voice carrying to me as I flicked on the kettle and he started to patch up the broken window.
Red watched me from where she sat on sentry duty, her ears and eyes twitching purposefully. I smiled at her, suddenly thankful for her presence as I sneaked her a digestive biscuit. I swear she winked at me, our little secret just between us.
“And,” I answered, spooning coffee into mugs, “they took him for evidence. But I don’t hold out much hope.”
My gaze moved to the kitchen window and I sighed, remembering how they’d roughly handled my poor Dave, virtually throwing his body into a damn black bin bag.
I could feel Anderson watching me from the utility doorway, my senses as strong as his.
“He’ll be so cold,” I whispered, a shiver travelling through me in sympathy. “He hated the cold. He was a sun god. I used to have to put sunscreen on his bare belly and he’d lay out in the sun for hours on his back, his pink tummy paying homage to the clear skies.”
“He won’t be cold.” Anderson’s voice was soft and close.
I turned around when I felt him behind me. He was tall, his large frame towering over me but I didn’t feel threatened by him - I never had. Even though he exuded danger and violence, somehow I knew he wouldn’t ever hurt me - well, not in an adverse way.
He was so close I could feel each of his breaths rush across my face and see the blue specks sparkle in his hypnotic green eyes.
“Did you stay at Seven Oaks?” I asked quietly, the hope in my heart making the words feel weighted.
For the first time since he had come back into my life, I saw uncertainty flicker in his eyes. I didn’t flinch when he lifted his hand and his fingers embraced my throat, his thumb delicately pressing against my pulse. I prayed that he could feel the yearning in the quick pace of my heartbeat.
“You didn’t,” he replied without answering my question as he tightened his grasp on me.
Bracing myself when I saw the importance of my answer deep within his eyes, I exhaled slowly. “No, I didn’t.”
“Why?”
It was almost strange how calm I was. My life was in his hands, in the hands of the deadliest man I had ever met, yet it was as if the very essence of me wanted him to decide whether I lived or died. I didn’t want that responsibility, didn’t want the heavy burden of choices put on me. My mind was tired, my body even more so, and I wanted someone to lift me up and carry me, to take the weight that held me down and free me from it, free me from every painful beat in my heart.
“Why didn’t I stay at Seven Oaks?”
He nodded slowly.
“Because I had to leave.”
His eyes narrowed, his piercing gaze scrutinising me.
“Please tell me you stayed,” I pleaded. “Otherwise it was all for nothing.”
“And what exactly was ‘it’?”
The counter top pressed into my back. Anderson’s fingers pres
sed into my jugular. My heart pressed against my ribcage, and the darkness that forever lived in me pressed against my mind. I knew that once I spoke the truth life would change drastically, that Anderson would seek revenge.
My mouth dried and I shivered at the power I knew I held in my hands right then.
“‘It’ was… James Miller, my boss.”
Excitement licked at my veins when I saw the mayhem flash in Anderson’s eyes. The low growl that broke from him always provoked the immorality that resided in me and it reared its head, thrilled at the sound of it once again.
Anderson, seeing my reaction to the effect my revelation had had on him, tilted his head to the side. His customary small cruel smirk curled one edge of his sinful lips. “Well, well.” He tickled my pulse with the tip of his thumb. “The darkness dances in your heartbeat, Kloe. I can feel it. The promise of carnage makes your blood sing,” he breathed as he brought his mouth over mine. “Doesn’t it?”
I couldn’t speak so I nodded, nudging my chin forward so my lips brushed over his.
He inhaled deeply through his nose, my touch catching his breath. “Mmm,” he murmured. “I can almost taste the sin that devours you with every one of your breaths. I can smell the longing pouring from you, the desire.” His lips barely touched mine but my heartbeat stormed into dangerous territory. “You want blood, Kloe Grant?”
I nodded, for some reason finding myself incapable of lying to him. “Yes, I want blood. I want to watch his soul drain from him, see life leave him after what he did.”
His cruel smirk nurtured into a lethal grin, the evil that consumed me daily reflected back through the eyes of the only man who could ever understand me. However, he laughed and abruptly moved back, leaving me reeling and trying to catch up with the frantic thud of my heart.
“Pack a bag.” Once again, he was cold and detached and I had to shake my head to distinguish my thoughts and keep up with him.
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