Chapter 24
Ryker
When I see Ash, my heart stops. In a single second, I feel everything.
A chill runs through my body, followed immediately by heat. My breath catches in my throat, and my head buzzes. I lick my lips despite the dryness in my mouth.
Unnoticed by Eli and Zoe, Ash stands still. She watches them for a moment, not understanding what the hell is going on. I didn’t have a chance to talk to her about the whole thing today. But that doesn’t matter now. What matters is that my woman looks like hell.
Her dark clothes are stained with dirt like she’s been rolling around on the ground. There are obvious stains on the side of her hoodie, which I suspect might be blood. Her face is scraped and covered in dark smudges.
I want to check ASAP if the bloodstains are her own, but then she turns her face my way.
Her lip is swollen and cut. Dried blood leaves a mark on her beautiful face, but it’s not the only one. A dark blue bruise is already appearing on Ash’s cheek, and her left eye is a little swollen. She has been hit in the face several times.
A storm rages inside me. First, I’m overcome with fear that paralyzes me completely. I’ve felt nothing like this in my life, and that says a lot. I’ve been afraid for Aisling, I’ve been afraid for my mother, I’ve been afraid for my friends many times. But I’ve experienced nothing so overwhelming.
And then I’m angry, and that’s another emotion that takes such an intense hold of me. It grows inside me with every passing second. The demon inside me growls, baring its fangs and claws.
It seems not only I but also it, my demon, likes her. Maybe even—
I don’t blink. I don’t even take my eyes off my woman.
“What the fuck?” Eli’s words reach me. He doesn’t see Ash yet; he’s looking at me.
I thought it was my inner beast growling, but I guess it came out of me, out of my throat. I’m that beast.
“Jesus Christ, Ash. What happened to you?” Zoe spots her sister. She approaches her slowly, but Ash takes a step back.
Is she in shock?
“It’s nothing.” Ash waves her hand. “What’s going on here? What are you all doing here?”
My fists clench, and I take two steps forward. Ash immediately glares, raising her hand to stop me. Her eyes are hard, as if she’s saying, Don’t mess with me right now.
But I can’t.
I have to see with my own eyes and touch with my own hands to make sure she’s okay, that she’s not seriously injured.
“Your sister is out of her mind!” Eli yells, losing his temper, and Zoe turns to him. “She thinks she’s in Mission Impossible!”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, already,” she snaps. “Nothing happened!”
Eli grabs the ends of his hair and yanks. “Nothing? Nothing?! I killed an innocent guy for you so the Pact wouldn’t track you down. That’s nothing to you?”
I roll my eyes because I can’t believe how smoothly these two have gone back to fighting each other, forgetting about Ash’s state, when she’s the only one I see.
Ash’s eyes are fixed on them, which perfectly opens the way for me to get to her. Before she can stop me again, I’m face to face with her.
Her slow reaction tells me she must have taken some serious blows.
My fists open, and I raise my hands to Ash’s face. They’re shaking, but I hope I’m the only one who can see it. I gently brush the strands of hair from her face, looking at the scratches.
“Tell me what happened,” I whisper to her.
Eli continues to argue with Zoe. Their exchange annoys me.
I continue to examine her below the neck. She only lasts so long before I start to lift her shirt, then she pushes my hands away and looks at me with anger.
“I’m fine, damn it. I already told you. It’s not my blood, Ryker.”
I can’t shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong; she’s not telling me everything.
“Are you playing without me, my Little Killer?” I try to keep my tone light, even though I’m boiling inside.
“No. I went to see Alex, and someone jumped me.”
“Oh, fuck off already!” Zoe yells, and a moment later she’s standing beside me. “Sis?”
Ash tries to calm her down. “It’s just a few scratches. I’ll go freshen up and join you in a little while.”
“But—” Zoe doesn’t give up when my girl heads for the bedroom.
“I said I’ll be right back!” This time, Ash raises her voice.
Zoe glances at me, confusion mixed with concern in her eyes. Neither of us understands what happened, and the fact that Ash doesn’t want to talk about it doesn’t sit well with me. Doesn’t she understand how much this affects me?
The muffled click of the bedroom door breaks the silence of the apartment. My gaze follows the sound, weighing my options. Should I respect her decision and ignore what happened? Should I stop worrying about her?
No way.
“Fuck it,” I growl and head in that direction.
When I walk into the bedroom, she’s sitting on the bed with her back to me.
She has already taken off her hoodie, but nothing else. Her head is bowed, hands resting on her knees.
Slowly, I crouch in front of her.
“Who dared do this to my girl?” Ash shrugs, so I ask again, “Did he survive to tell the tale, or did you leave his corpse behind? Should I call the crew?”
Her green eyes rise. Only when she does that do I understand how much I need this. “He got stabbed in the side a few times, but he managed to get away. I was distracted and didn’t notice him until it was too late. Coming back from Alex’s when he jumped me. But—”
Ash bites her lip. I caress her bruised cheek. My fingers move automatically. “But?”
“But this isn’t a coincidence, Ryker. That son of a bitch had a message for me. He said I would ‘die because of him.’ ”
“What do you mean by ‘him’?”
Ash shakes her head, wincing. I check her head with my fingers, moving them from right to left. Sure enough, she has a bump on the back of her head. When I touch it, she winces again, but when I pull my fingers out of her hair, there’s no blood on them.
Thank God.
“I don’t know,” she whispers again. “That’s exactly what he said. I don’t know who he meant.”
A chill runs down my spine.
Ash doesn’t say it, but we both know. Those words could refer to me.
I’m no angel. I have more enemies than I have hairs on my head. My status, my money, my connections, and on top of that, a pile of victims, could be the reason. But in the back of my mind, I have a thought that I dare not put into words.
With a sigh, I get up and pull her too. While undressing her piece by piece, I ask her about double vision, headache, internal pain. The only serious injury seems to be a slight concussion.
The very thought makes me thirst for blood. No one. Absolutely no one will touch, let alone hurt, what is mine. And Ashley is mine. She is and will always be mine.
Once she’s standing completely naked, I lead us to the small bathroom. I open the shower door and turn on the water, setting the temperature.
When she’s safe inside, I let her know I’ll be back in a moment.
Zoe and Eli are still talking. I order him to quickly check the street cameras around the Black Thorns pub, and before I leave the room, he already has a phone in hand.
The worried look on Zoe’s face doesn’t escape my attention. Gently, I pat her on the shoulder, signaling that I’ll take care of her sister.
Ash is standing under the stream of water with her back to me when I enter the bathroom. Without a word, I start to undress.
“What are you doing?” she asks when she sees me. There’s an uncertainty in her eyes that I don’t understand.
Stopping now, down to my boxers and socks, I ask, “What does it look like? I’m not leaving you here alone in case you faint. Let me take care of you, baby.” Her consent is essential for me to continue. After a moment, she nods.
Showering with Ash influences me immediately. I get hard, even though that’s not the intention, but who could blame me? A single wink from her is enough to make my cock hard and ready for the first thrust.
She relaxes with every passing minute. Her tense muscles soften.
“What were you doing there anyway, Ash?”
“I already told you. I had to see Alex.”
“Did something happen? Is it about the job?”
Ash went quiet. Again, I ran into that damned wall that hadn’t been there before.
We had a wild night, and when I woke up this morning, she was gone from my bed.
I really don’t like it when she disappears.
I don’t want to scare her off with my obsession, but that’s how it is.
And this short time I have with her only makes my feelings stronger.
Next time, I’ll handcuff her to my bed. I’ll be ready for her anger. It’ll be worth it anyway.
Meanwhile, I gently massage shampoo into her soft hair. “Little Killer?”
She begins with a sigh. “He wanted to convince me to give us a chance and go out with him. He tried to convince me how perfect we are for each other.”
My fingers pause. My reaction is harsher than it should be. “What the fuck?”
Ash turns in my arms and adds quickly, “It’s nothing. I told him there would never be a future like that for us.”
“Stop saying ‘it’s nothing’ about everything that happened today. It’s all important. It’s important to me.” I bite my cheek, but it doesn’t stop me from being harsh.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“But it’s true,” Ash says, leaning down and kissing the corner of my mouth. Then she does the same on the other side. It’s not the right time, but my cock twitches. I’m hard as hell, and I’m really trying to ignore it. “Now you’re going to tell me what’s going on with Zoe and Eli?”
There’s nothing better than mentioning those two at a moment like this. “Eli found out that Zoe is responsible for the files she stole from my father’s computer.”
Ash’s eyes catch mine. “Oh, that,” she gasps.
“Yes, that. Don’t you think that’s pretty important? My father went crazy and ordered us to find the culprit. Eli killed a man for your sister because someone’s head had to roll.”
“What?” Ash’s wide eyes dart around my face. “I know Zoe made a mistake. She— Jesus. She doesn’t know who your father is, Ryker. She has no idea.”