Scorched King (Outlaw Justice #5)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Sasha

Telling Bear we could never be more than friends had gone better than expected. I don’t know why I’d worried he’d make it hard on me. The man had been nothing but supportive since we’d landed in the hospital together and I’d been open about my feelings towards JD.

Still, my stomach had burned with the acid of fear until his face had transformed into a sad smile. They called him Bear because of his size, but to me, it was because of how protective—and cuddly—he’d become. I bit back a grimace. That last part I’d keep to myself.

MC men were rough, hard, and bad ass. The last thing any of them wanted to be called would be a cuddly bear, especially in the midst of a brush off. Although I hope it didn’t come across that callous to him. I’d done my best to be sensitive.

Now I needed to move on.

It was time to get out of these sweaty clothes. While my yoga gear proved more than comfortable throughout the day, between the exercise and the fact I’d sweated bullets through my talk with Bear, I stunk. I’d take a shower and put on a little dress or something. Make myself look nice for whatever this talk with JD later might encompass.

Actually, all this talk of talking exhausted me. I needed action, not words. Ironic how these men of action were dragging their asses on getting anything done.

I walked into my bathroom, reached into the shower and set the dial to my preferred temperature. I had to admit that JD’s cabin had been remodeled into the perfect home. The two bedrooms were nearly identical, with each having their own luxurious bathroom. Although this one didn’t have the same lingering smell of the man who lived here like his did.

And no, I wasn’t going to admit to anyone how I knew that. I smiled into the darkness, grateful no one could see me. I’d gotten far too comfortable here. A mistake, definitely, but one I didn’t regret. And If I thought I could get away with it, I’d sneak into his room and shower there now.

I stifled a giggle at the image of him coming home and finding me in his personal space.

He might want to punish me…

I shook my head and laughed. I was getting way to into this daddy thing I’d started. Not that he seemed to mind.

Unless his grand plan for this talk was to remind me that I was just a distraction. I bit my lip.

Living with the man himself had given me a lot of insight into who he was and what he did. He had deep roots in this place and would do anything for his club. Including let me go if that was for the best…

I winced at the truth of that. For a man who liked roots and an extended family, he seemed hell bent on not claiming another old lady. Maybe it was time to give up. I’d spent two years waiting for him to get his head out of his ass when it came to me, and if this talk he wanted to have meant more of the same ‘I’m only in it for the sex’ bullshit, I wanted out.

Loving a man who couldn’t—or wouldn’t—love me back was pure torture.

I stripped out of my clothes and dropped them to the floor. I’d add them to the laundry basket later and in fact, should probably take some time to do laundry. I’d never seen JD do laundry, but he must have machines somewhere. No way the club women hauled his clothes down to the clubhouse every time.

I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body and tucked the tail into my side.

Thinking about JD’s smell, I remembered that I was out of shampoo and would need to borrow some until I could make another run to my apartment.

Maybe it was time to go home. Even if that meant finding a new one.

Having JD in my bed all night, and then getting so close to getting it all, made me ache for more. It probably wasn’t healthy.

I opened the bathroom door and screamed at the sight of the man on the other side. Clutching my towel as the shock of fear worked through me.

“Jesus Christ, Cash. What are you doing here?”

“Security check,” he answered gruffly, his usual easy smile no where to be seen.

“But—but why are you in my bedroom?” I didn’t know what else to say but there was something about the way he looked at me that suddenly made me nervous.

“No one answered the door. I had to make sure you were okay. The rest of the club is off compound.”

I nodded, but tightened my grip on my towel as I made a mental note that someone should have been outside. No way JD left me all alone. The man was too obsessed about my safety.

“Well, no reason to worry about me. Everything is fine here. I’m just going to take a quick shower and then settle in with dinner and a movie.”

He stared intently, his lips compressing into a firm line. There was something about that look that made a shiver work down my spine.

He took a step in my direction and I took one back. My heartbeat picked up speed and a lump formed in my throat.

I didn’t want to be like this, but ever since the fire…

A quick flash of something shot through my mind. A man. Tall, dark-haired. Familiar.

“You sure everything is okay? You look really freaked out.”

“I—uhh—everything is fine.” It didn’t feel fine. My skin got tight and a prickle of unease flared at the base of my neck.

“You’ve been through a lot. Really glad to see you’ve recovered okay.”

“Thanks,” I said, wishing he would go already. Something about him being here didn’t feel right. I didn’t want to be alone with him any longer.

“Uhm, so all is good here. Let me lock the door after you, okay?” I had the intense feeling that I needed to get Cash out of here as quickly as I could.

“Sure,” he said, slowly backing up a few steps and turning to the side so I could sweep past him. But another flash of a man rushed through me. Dark hair. His profile. Fire burning my skin.

I gasped.

It couldn’t be…

I tried to hide my reaction, but I couldn’t breathe. I needed some air. Only when I tried to move past him, he reached out and grabbed my arm making fear shoot through my entire body.

“Cash.”

But he didn’t release me, instead his grip tightened.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. You aren’t afraid of me are you?”

“No” I said, but it sounded more like a question than a vote of confidence so I added as calmly as I could, ”Of course not.”

“Good. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

Those words should have reassured me, but something was off. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but I could feel to my bones that something wasn’t right. I was in danger and I needed to get away.

He also had not let go of my arm and the squeeze of his fingers on my skin was tighter than it should be.

“It’s a shame about these scars though. You were such a good dancer. I always thought your talent was wasted at the poker club.”

Whether it was the reminder of my mangled flesh or the word poker, but that day came rushing back in a flash of memory, stealing my breath.

I could feel the heat on my skin as the room erupted in flames. My memory of most of that day was kind of a blur. At night I had dreams about it, well, nightmares really. The massive wave of heat that had blasted into me, followed by the blistering pain.

There hadn’t even been time to cry out for help before I lost consciousness. One second I was hit, and the next it was all over. I was burning to death.

Axel had been the one to fill in most of the blanks because he’d found me, thrown his body down on mine and rolled us in an attempt to put out the fire engulfing me.

I woke up often mid nightmare, my body aching from what the psychologist referred to as ghost pain. I also vaguely remembered seeing someone there with me. Axel I assumed. Or the Governor’s aide. He’d gone to the restroom just before the explosion and I’d never seen him again.

Survivor’s guilt. It was the official term for the cause of my nightmares. I’d lived thanks to Axel, while the Governor’s aide had not.

But as I looked into Cash’s eyes as his grip tightened, I swear I saw flames dancing in them. I tried to shake that off as well as his grip, but he refused to let go.

“What are you doing?” I seethed. “That hurts.”

“It’s all a shame really. You weren’t supposed to be there that day. No one was.”

The tone of his voice scraped along my skin like a sharpened nail. Something was very wrong. “Cash. Let me go!” I jerked harder and this time his grip loosened enough for me to get free, but I also lost hold of the towel as it fell to the ground.

“You shouldn’t have been there,” he repeated.

I bent to scoop up the towel and tried to cover myself as I backed away. He was between me and the door and there was no way to escape. I did the only thing I could. I ran for the bathroom.

But he was too fast, or I was too slow. I slammed the door behind me but he caught it with his foot and slammed it open, catching my right shoulder with the door and knocking me to my hands and knees.

“What? Why?” With the pain in my shoulder and the fear coursing through me I couldn’t form more than a couple of words.

“No one was supposed to get hurt,” he repeated. “Well, no one important,” he amended. “The loss of the prospect was unfortunate, but it was a price I was willing to pay.”

“You were there.” I finally got a coherent sentence out of my mouth as another flash of memory worked free.

“You just now put that together? Wow. I was sure by now you had to have figured it out and it was only a matter of time before I’d have to do this. Bear even told me you’ve had nightmares of that night. It’s a shame really. A pretty thing like you getting in the way. Bitches just can’t stay out of the way.”

Before I could respond to him, or catch my breath, he grabbed me by the back of my neck and hauled me to my feet. That tight squeeze of his beefy hand set alarm bells off in my head. He was too strong. I couldn’t fight him. Not without some sort of weapon. I glanced around the room for something to grab, but there was nothing.

Since this wasn’t my place, I’d gone out of my way to put all my girly stuff in the cabinet so JD’s bathroom would look exactly as I’d found it every time I walked out.

“Don’t do this. Please.” I wasn’t above begging. Not yet.

“Like I said. You shouldn’t have been there that day and then this wouldn’t have to happen.” I felt his hand slide around to the front of my neck and squeeze harder. I grabbed at his hand first, but he simply added the second and tightened his grip as he backed me against the wall.

I swung out and tried to break his hold to no effect. His hand tightened a fraction more—enough to cut off my air.

The crazy look in his eyes said it all.

Oh God. No.Not like this. I had survived a fire to die like this?

I struggled harder at his hands and kicked my legs and fought every which way I could to no avail. He probably had seventy pounds of muscle on me, not to mention the fighting skills that came with being part of an MC. Still I couldn’t stop fighting even as my lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen.

As a last ditch effort, I changed tactics and tried to scratch at his face and eyes. If I could inflict some damage…

He laughed, a sick and twisted sound that I realized would be the last thing I heard on this earth. My vision wavered and I could feel the swirling in my head as I fought to stay awake. If I passed out it was all over.

“Let her go, mother fucker, or you’re getting a bullet to the brain.”

The hands at my neck jerked and that darkness I’d been fighting intensified. The sharp tang of his cigarette-tainted breath filled my nostrils as black spots danced at the edges of my vision. It was too late.

It was tooooooo la…..