Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
I’ve lost my mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
Luke
I walk through the forest with my flashlight, switching on the motion sensors as my boots trudge through the thick underbrush. I check on my safe houses three times a year, and I’m relieved to find the sensors intact.
The quiet of the forest gives me time to think about Violet, the desperation in her voice, the pain of it… The pain I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to soothe.
My grim laughter carries through the darkness. The rest of my life.
Before driving out for this job, the rest of my life meant working for the mob, working out, and going fishing now and then. It was a simple existence, one that suited me, maybe because I never believed I could find a woman I truly wanted.
I could never find a woman who made me feel this. The swelling steaminess in my body, the iron certainty that she belongs to me.
Pushing through a thick layer of brush, an image comes to me. It’s Violet in another man’s arms, smiling up at him as he spins her around, both of them laughing with joy.
I bite down, pausing, not letting myself linger on the idea. The thought of another man touching her threatens to send me into a rage. I’ll beat my hands against the trunk of a tree until either the tree breaks, or my hands do. Imagine it’s the face of this phantom man, the one who wants to take my woman from me…
My woman, my woman, my woman.
It’s a constant loop in my mind.
After checking the sensors, I return to the cabin, listening for the sounds of attackers. Usually, I’m calm when I think about the prospect of a fight, not letting negativity or doubt into my mind. There’s nothing at stake except for my life. At least, that’s the way it was until I laid eyes on Violet.
Now my body tightens at the thought of the mafia hurting her. Something deep within, a place I’ve never accessed before, flares awake like an alarm, screaming, telling me I can’t let it happen, ever. Nothing can hurt her. I’d slaughter dozens of men to keep her safe. Hundreds. Thousands. Whatever it took, I’d do it.
Andrew is waiting for me on the porch. I wonder if this is going to be it—the moment he drops the charade—but he doesn’t mention it, so neither do I.
Instead, he says, “Promise to keep her safe, Luke.”
I ascend the stairs, looking down at the shorter man, at the half-butterfly birthmark.
“I promise,” I say fiercely.
Andrew flinches.
“What?” I snap. “Isn’t that what you wanted to hear?”
“I didn’t expect you to promise so easily.”
“I won’t let anything happen to her, but she’s clearly taking this hard. You need to make sure she doesn’t run. She has to trust that I’ve got her best interests
at—”
“Pfft,” Andrew cuts in. “How can she when you were sent to kill her father? But I’ll do my best. She’s safer with us than she is out there.”
“She is,” I say firmly.
“Why didn’t you just kill me?” Andrew asks.
I look at him steadily. Memories of other jobs return to me, carried out without a doubt, with no sleepless nights, no wondering if I did the right thing. Okay, sometimes, but just whispering thoughts, easily ignored. I can push them down into the depths of my dark soul.
“You know why,” I tell him.
“I’m not sure I do,” Andrew says.
I walk away from him, heading for the door, done with the conversation. “Get inside. It’s not safe out here.”
Andrew walks past me, sighing.
“We should all get some sleep,” I tell him.
“Don’t we need to keep watch?”
“I’ve got sensors set up. Tuned to detect human-sized movements, so animals shouldn’t disturb it unless a deer passes through, but I’ll wake up and check, anyway.”
Wake up, I say, as if I’m going to be able to sleep. As if thoughts of Violet aren’t already hounding me.
I lie on the bed, closing my eyes, knowing where my mind’s going to stray. My body’s been fighting the urge to get hard since I saw her, but I’ve had to put a muzzle on my lust for the time being.
With nothing but the forest noises all around me, with the darkness of my eyelids making a stage for whatever steamy thoughts I want to imagine, my cock gets hard, my balls swelling, my shaft engorging and my tip bulging.
I imagine her in her tank top and shorts again, those naked, thick thighs on display. I can feel her flesh in my hand, imagine the touch of her as I slide up toward her hole, getting closer and closer to her heat, closer to her beckoning wetness.
With a groan, I reach down and pull my cock out, pulling my pants down to beneath my balls. My hard, thick shaft springs up, and then my cock’s in my hand, stroking before I can think about it.