Fatal Vengeance: A Dark Enemies to Lovers Romance

32. Prudence

With strength I didn’t think I possessed, I rip myself out of my sister’s hold and rush forward, dropping to my knees and scooping up the gun on the ground. Genevieve shouts my name, running to my side, but she’s too late to drag me out of here.

I fire the gun despite my shaking hands, and in the blink of an eye, the man trying to kill Asher is dead. He jerks to the side from the force of the bullet, and then blood starts pouring out of the side of his neck where I’d shot him. I don’t have any experience with guns, and honestly, I was worried the safety might have been on, but fuck… I got lucky. I saved Asher’s life.

Didn’t I? Why isn’t he moving? Was I too late?

I’m stuck in a state of shock as I watch the hitman or whatever he was roll off of Asher, the gun still raised and aimed his way just in case. Genevieve breathes out a ragged breath, cupping my hands and lowering the gun until I let it slide from my hands and onto the floor, and then she goes to Asher while my mind is trying to catch up.

“Prudence, help me,” Genevieve begs desperately, and that’s all I need to blink back to myself and crawl forward. I reach Asher’s side right as my sister checks his pulse. “He’s alive,” she confirms. “He’s okay, thank god. Stay with him, I’m going to get something to staunch that bleeding.”

I nod mutely, staring down at Asher”s pale, beaten face. He”s already bruising, his lips split, his nose broken, and his eyes are swollen, but to me, he”s… He”s still beautiful. And the stupid asshole was about to die before I got to tell him as much.

I lean over him, cradling his head as gently as I can. ”Asher,” I murmur shakily, stroking my fingers over his swollen jaw. ”Come back to me. I”m not done hating you yet. You have so much more work to do to get on my good side.” He doesn”t stir, and I think my heart stops. I keep stroking his face, cataloguing all the bruises already blooming under his skin. ”Please, don”t go. You don”t get to just leave like this. You promised to do right by me, but this isn”t the way. Please.”

His brows furrow as a pained groan slips from his lips, and a moment later, his eyes flutter open wildly before they lock on me. He swallows roughly, lifting a hand and cupping my face, wincing from the movement. He doesn”t say anything, but he doesn”t have to. I saw the resignation in his eyes, the decision he”d made to die for me. There”s nothing else to say, really. Not after knowing the sacrifice he”d make for me.

A tear slips down my cheek and lands on his parted lips, and he licks it away. My sister comes rushing back into the room while I”m trying to find the right words to say to him, and I lean back with a deep breath to let her patch him up.

Genevieve kneels on his other side, grimacing at the pool of blood she settles in. She sets some supplies down beside her and then says, ”This is gonna hurt. Cowboy up, Asher.” Then she lifts his arm and inspects the bullet wound while Asher hisses in agony. Genevieve rolls her eyes, setting his arm back down. ”Oh relax. You didn”t die, did you? And now you can say you”ve been shot and survived,” she teases him, though her smile is weak, like she”s faking her way through her shock.

”How”s it look?” I ask hesitantly, clutching Asher”s other hand without even realizing I had ever grabbed it. I”m squeezing the shit out of it without meaning to, and I don”t want to hurt him, but when I try to let go, Asher tightens his grip on me.

”The bullet went straight through. Nothing to dig out, which is good because I”m not equipped for shit like this. I”ve got basic first aid training, but that”s it,” my sister explains, grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol and unscrewing the cap. ”The best I can do is clean it and wrap it, but he”s lost a lot of blood…” She trails off and looks up at me with worry shining in her eyes, but I shake my head.

No, Asher is not going to go out this way. I saved him. He has to live, if for no other reason than it would be incredibly insulting to me if he died now.

Asher sighs as if he”s exhausted, and then croaks out, ”I”ll be fine. Pour that shit on me before I pussy out.”

Genevieve snorts a weak laugh and then does as he said, pouring the alcohol over the wound in his arm while Asher grits his teeth and squeezes the ever loving shit out of my hand. After that, my sister quickly gets his upper arm wrapped in gauze while I hover like a mother hen, chewing on my lip while I search his expression for any sign that he”s worse off than he seems.

Once she”s done, Asher groans and pushes up into a sitting position, but then slumps into me like even that is too much effort right now. I hug him to me with one arm while I grab some more gauze and try to clean the blood dripping from his nose. Asher squeezes his eyes shut, but doesn”t say anything while I sit there and try to stop the bleeding. Genevieve watches us both in silence, chewing on my lip and picking at her nails, not even bothering to wipe her cheeks dry of her tears.

After a while, once I”m sure his nose is done pouring a fountain of blood, I wrap both my arms around Asher and Genevieve does the same on the other side, and somehow between the two of us, we manage to get his heavy ass up to his feet. Asher sways and groans, leaning nearly all his weight on me, but we just struggle through it until we get him into the guest bedroom and comfortable on the bed, slightly propped up on the pillows. Asher passes out within seconds, still covered in blood.

I sigh, pushing a hand through my hair and trying not to think about the amount of what the fuck that”s gone on tonight. Because we”re not done yet, unfortunately.

”Grab some sheets,” I mumble as I close the bedroom door and head back out to the kitchen. ”We have a body to deal with.”

My sister”s face twists up in disgust, and I almost think she”s going to puke, but then she shakes herself and gives me a firm nod. ”Right, yeah, of course. Why did I think he”d just magically disappear if we let him sit there long enough?” she mutters as she heads into her bedroom at the other end of the hall.

The shower is scalding and my skin might melt off, but it”s the only way I”m ever going to feel clean again. It took over an hour, and I”m sore as shit, but Genevieve and I wrapped that dead fucker up in sheets, dragged him outside and around to the back of the cabin, and left him there for now. We”ll worry about digging a hole and burying him tomorrow, but without any lights outside, it was pitch black and we really couldn”t do much more for the night. It”s not like there”s anyone out here who could find him, so we”re fine.

My sister did end up throwing up. More than once, actually. The second we”d finished, she told me she had a date with a bottle of sleeping pills and if I needed her for more dead bodies, don”t. I followed her inside and then came straight to the shower, desperate to wash all the blood and gore off my skin.

Once I”m scrubbed raw, pink, and mostly positive I got all the DNA off my body, I reluctantly step out of the shower, wrap a towel around myself, and slip into the bedroom across the hall. I don”t turn any lights on, not wanting to disturb Asher, so I fumble around for clothes to sleep in in the dark.

With panties and a shirt on — Griffin”s, judging by the massive size — I crawl into bed and lie down as close to Asher as I dare to get. I don”t want to wake him, but I need to be close to make sure he”s still here. Otherwise, I won”t be able to fall asleep.

I close my eyes and beg sleep to come, but then Asher shifts in bed, and my eyes snap wide open.

”Are you awake?” he asks me in a soft voice.

”Yes,” I breathe, turning onto my side so I can face him. I can”t see him in the dark room, but it doesn”t matter. I can feel him here, close enough that his blazing body heat is keeping me warm. ”How do you feel?”

He chuckles weakly, brushing his palm across the sheets until he finds my hand. He tangles our fingers together and says, ”Like I got beat to a pulp trying to be a hero. I can”t say I”d do it again.”

A smile tugs up the corners of my mouth, and I scoot a little closer, clutching his hand tightly. ”You say that now, but then who”ll save me next time I find myself in trouble? You know, you actually have a habit of playing the hero for me. I don”t think you could quit it even if you tried.”

Asher inches closer until we”re almost chest to chest, sharing air and breathing each other in. He releases my hand and cups my cheek instead. ”You”re right. I guess I just like being a good guy for you, even if it”s not who I am for anyone else.”

We fall silent after that, but even as the minutes tick by, I can”t fall asleep. After maybe ten minutes, Asher whispers, ”Prudence?”

”Asher,” I breathe, and then his lips are on mine and his arms are pulling me against his chest. He kisses me deeply, passionately, despite how much pain he must be in. His tongue strokes mine like a dance our souls have always known, and I find myself arching into him, a breathless moan slipping from me.

Without another word between us, and without breaking our kiss, Asher rolls onto his back and pulls me on top of him. He grunts in pain, but doesn”t relent, kissing me like he needs me more than air, more than sanity or reason or second guesses. Like he simply needs me desperately in this moment, and something about that cracks my chest wide open, letting him in without a fight.

And I already know I won”t be able to shove him back out.

I”m straddling his hips while we kiss, and when Asher rolls his hips up, grinding his erection against my pussy, all rational thought flees me. I lean back and pull his sweatpants and boxers down, giving his hard dick a slow stroke. Asher groans and thrusts up into my grip, his hands tight on my waist like he can”t even fathom letting go. I rise up to my knees, push my underwear aside, and sink down on him with a moan.

”Fuck, Prudence,” he gasps, going still beneath me while he catches his breath. He leaves one hand on my waist and trails the other one up under my shirt, cupping my breast and rolling my nipple between his fingers. I tip my head back on a low moan and roll my hips, chasing this building feeling between us. It”s heat and desire and healing, and I know this is exactly what we need right now.

To feel each other and know that we”re alive.

I lean down and seal my lips to his again as I start to move, riding him slowly and deeply. He lifts his hips to match my movements as he grabs my face between both of his hands, keeping me close even when our lips part. I drop my forehead to his while we move and grind and fuck, whimpers and moans tumbling from me without my control.

Asher nips my bottom lip, murmuring roughly, ”I”ve dreamed of this a million times, but it was never enough. My dreams never could have perfected this moment. The way you feel, like you were made for me, like we”re two halves of the same whole finally coming together. I hope you know I”m never letting you go,” he explains softly, breathing hard.

”I don”t want you to,” I admit with a moan.

Asher sits up, changing the angle, and I cry out. He grabs my waist again and encourages me to ride him how he wants while he trails his lips down my throat. The new position has him rubbing against my clit every time I drop down on him, and within seconds, I”m shaking, right on the verge.

Asher kisses his way up my neck and then bites my earlobe, rasping, ”Dying for you would have been my greatest pleasure, Prudence, but living for you might just be heaven. I”m yours, so long as you want me.”

The orgasm slams into me with those husky, vulnerable words, and I tip my head back on a ragged groan while pleasure skates along every nerve in my body. I dig my nails into his shoulders, completely forgetting his injuries, but he comes seconds after me with a curse, so I must not hurt him.

Asher lies back down once he”s caught his breath, taking me down with him and holding me against his chest like he needs me close. Our hearts pound in tandem, and when he presses a kiss to my forehead, I just let myself melt.

”I want you,” I whisper after a while, once I”m sure he”s fallen asleep.

”Good, because I need you,” he replies softly, setting thousands of butterflies free in my stomach.