Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
He pointed a finger in her face. “You make one sound and I’ll put you in the trunk. Nod if you understand me.”
She bobbed her head up and down.
He slammed the door on her and climbed back in her car, tossing his duffel bag onto the seat beside him. He needed to get out of there before real trouble showed up. Those pathetic boys weren’t the brains behind the operation.
He knew Ashley wasn’t the mastermind, either, or she wouldn’t have been attacked by the men back there. Still, she had sold him out—and that bothered him more than any of the rest of it. Maybe, that first night when he met her, his instincts had gone off because she was a danger to him.
But no, that didn’t feel right. It had been attraction, not danger.
He pulled a baseball cap down low over his eyes and took off, out of the parking garage. He got on the highway and drove several miles, weaving in and out of traffic and keeping his eyes glued to his rearview mirror. They didn’t seem to have a tail. When he was sure of it, he took the next exit and pulled into a seedy motel on East Colfax—the kind that rented by the hour for cash and no ID.
He opened the back door and grabbed the duct tape again. He taped Ashley’s hands to her feet, then wound the tape around the handle of the back seat.
“You make one sound, or you try to escape, and I will kill you. Nod your head if you understand.”
She whimpered, panting for breath, but nodded.
“I will be right back. Don’t move.”
He slammed the door again and checked into a room. When he returned to the car, he cut her feet free and tossed a sweatshirt over her bound hands. “Let’s go,” he said, hauling her out of the car. “Not one sound out of you.”
She looked around wildly, but didn’t make a peep other than the sound of her breath rasping in her chest.
He took her into the room and used a length of rope to string her wrists up over the bathroom door. She stood on her tiptoes, swaying. Turning his back on her, he washed up, cleaning his gunshot wounds, which had nearly stopped bleeding. The bullets would come out in a few days. Shifters had incredible healing abilities. He rinsed his mouth out to rid the taste of blood and spit.
He was impressed that Ashley still hadn’t made a sound. He’d expected some kind of noise by this point. He turned back to her, considering.
“All right, Ashley. I’m going to ask you some questions and you’re going to answer.” He fished in his duffel bag for his belt and pulled it out. Walking behind her, he unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the floor.
“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked, sidling as far away from him as her bound wrists would allow.
“Baring my target.”
She whimpered, twisting and turning and looking up at the ropes binding her hands.
He ignored her antics and pulled her panties down just below her buttocks. He stood back to admire the view. He wasn’t surprised to find her ass as perfect as he’d imagined it. Picking up the belt, he wound the buckle end around his fist.
Her eyes bulged. He caught her hips and turned her to face away from him. “I suggest you hold still,” he warned just before he brought his belt down across her buttocks with a light slap to perfect his aim.
She shrieked, dancing away from him, her feet lifting from the floor and kicking in the air. His intention had been to intimidate her, and it seemed to be working, because he knew that hadn’t really hurt her. He caught her wrists and pinned them against the door to hold her in place. He struck again, just a little harder.
She jumped as if shocked by electricity, her feet dancing to one side.
“Who hired you to kill me?” he demanded.
Noises came out of her, but they were incoherent sputtering.
He whipped her again. “I asked you a question,” he growled. “Who hired you to kill me?”
A string of nonsense syllables erupted from her, tumbling from her mouth one after the next.
He considered. He’d wanted her scared, but having her too terrified to speak wouldn’t work. Walking around the front of her, he pulled out his knife. Her eyes rolled back when he lifted the blade. He cut her down just as her eyelids fluttered and she fainted.
Damn.
He caught her limp form as it tumbled down and carried her to the bed where he sat with her cradled in his arms.
Within a few seconds her eyes opened and she blinked, looking up at his face.
He brushed the hair back from her big blue eyes and they looked at each other. Propping her up on his knee, he said, “Okay, we’re going to try this again. I need answers from you and you’re going to give them to me.”