Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
GHOST
I don’t have my gun on me, but that isn’t going to do a damn thing to stop me if I manage to get Mad Dog alone.
I’ll wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until I see the light go out of his eyes.
My gaze lands on a bondage rope lying on the floor as I follow him down the long, quiet hallway.
Someone must have dropped it without noticing.
Perfect. I stoop to pick it up, winding one end around my hand as I walk, never taking my eyes off of my target.
He doesn’t even seem to notice that he’s being followed. Or he’s cocky enough, so sure of his own invincibility, that it doesn’t occur to him to be worried by the sound of my footsteps keeping steady pace a few feet behind him.
My instinct was right. He doesn’t go into any of the private rooms. He keeps walking until he reaches the door at the very end of the hallway with a green Exit sign hanging over it.
He pushes through it without pause and I’m only a few seconds behind him.
When I step out into the alley behind the club, he finally notices that he isn’t alone.
He turns around and looks me up and down dismissively, lingering on the rope in my hand for only a few seconds before his gaze returns to my face with an expression that’s visibly telling me to fuck off.
“Can I help you?” he barks when I don’t move or say anything.
I let a slow smile creep over my lips. I hope it looks fucking unhinged and unsettling. I hope it’s making his heart beat just a little faster, even if he doesn’t know why.
“I think you’ve helped enough,” I answer coolly. “Mad Dog.”
He frowns. “Do I know you?”
I huff a laugh and take a step towards him. He’s at least a head taller and has more than a hundred pounds on me, so I can understand why he doesn’t feel the need to back up, and that was the exact kind of posturing I was hoping for.
“Me? No, I’m just a ghost,” I whisper. A brief flicker of understanding lights in his eyes, and I bring my knee up as hard as I can, nailing him right in the balls.
He yelps and drops to his knees. I know I only have a second before he recovers from that blow, so I don’t waste even a fraction of it.
I don’t have my mask on, so all I can hope is that no one comes through that door, but watching for any witnesses is the last thing on my mind.
All that matters to me right now is justice.
Justice for that poor kid whose name I might never remember.
Justice for all the vulnerable men and women who came before and after me.
Justice for everyone whose life has been ruined or taken by Mad Dog and the rest of the Sleepless Reapers.
I move behind him and wrap the rope around his neck, lightning quick before he realizes what’s happening. He starts to claw at it as soon as I pull it tight, but I have all the leverage as I twist it tight and put my boot right between his shoulder blades. He doesn’t stand a chance.
I’ve never been one for a monologue. Why waste my breath? Even if what I had to say might make them realize the error of their ways, they won’t live long enough to change them. I can’t resist a few parting words for Mad Dog though as his face starts to turn purple and he struggles against the rope.
“I was too young and naive to know any better, and you could see that. I was never anything but prey to you and your crew. But you’re the prey now.
How does it feel to be hunted? How does it feel to not be able to catch your breath?
I remember what dying felt like, and it’s too good for you.
I hope there is a hell, because you deserve to fucking burn for all the lives you’ve taken. ”
My pulse thunders in my ears and my vision is nothing but a tunnel, narrowed in on the monster in front of me.
He stops struggling and I twist the rope tighter, holding on until I’m absolutely sure that he’ll never take another breath before I let go.
He slumps forward in a lifeless heap and my chest heaves with adrenaline.
I drag in a few deep breaths. I need to calm down before I go back to Alessio, or he’ll know something is wrong.
No, not wrong. Something is right. The world is short one more predator thanks to me.
I rake my hands through my hair and look up. My heart goes from racing to still in an instant, and a chill rushes through me, cooling the heat of the adrenaline pulsing through my veins.
“Alessio,” I choke out his name.
I was so focused on Mad Dog that I didn’t hear the door open. I didn’t hear him come outside. I didn’t even notice I wasn’t alone anymore.
“Ghost?” he asks, looking down at the lifeless body by my feet, the rope still around Mad Dog’s neck.
I hesitate for a beat, but I know there’s no denying it.
“Yes,” I rasp, then I brace for whatever might happen next. Will he pull a gun? No, he doesn’t have one on him either. I’m sure the murder itself doesn’t faze him, but he’s been looking for The Ghost, and I still don’t know why.
He moves towards me, stepping over the body without really looking at it, closing the space between us.
I’m not sure if I should prepare to defend myself, but I don’t.
I let him come. Alessio stops just before our bodies collide, holding himself back so there’s an inch of space left between us, his mouth close to mine, our eyes locked, and our chests nearly touching when we both inhale.
“Kiss me,” he whispers.
“What?” I’m not sure I heard him right.
A smile curves his lips and his eyes darken with lust, and he says it again.
“Kiss me.” He licks his lips and they glisten with dampness in the moonlight. “Please?”
ALESSIO
My cock is rock hard and my heart is pounding.
The righteous rage that lit up his eyes is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
Spettro is The Ghost, and I don’t know how I didn’t see it sooner.
Maybe subconsciously I did. Maybe that’s why I’ve felt so protective of The Ghost and defensive about all of Xaviaro’s implied threats.
It doesn’t matter. We can talk about it later and I’ll pass along the warning he needs to hear. But right now…
“Please,” I gasp, my body trembling with the restraint required to keep from throwing myself at him. “I need you, Spettro.”
Spettro makes a low sound in his throat, hooks his hand behind my neck, and slams his mouth into mine. The kiss is just as rough as I was hoping, biting and aggressive, full of all the same beautiful rage I saw in his eyes. I melt into him and let go.
My hard cock drags against the warm, soft leather of my pants, throbbing to feel the rough tug of his fingers. He cants his hips, grinding his erection against mine. I clench around the plug and gasp into his mouth.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this horny in my life,” I murmur between the hot slides of his tongue against mine.
Every inch of my skin is overheated and sensitive.
My hard nipples drag against the leather of his jacket and the harness chafes just right, making me feel controlled and owned in the best way.
He lets out a dark chuckle, dragging his mouth away from mine to lick and nip at my jaw and throat. “From watching me kill a man?”
“Yes,” I groan. “You looked like a fucking avenging angel.”
“You’re a psychopath, aren’t you?” He bites down on my pulse point, and the little spike of pain goes straight to my cock, squeezing tightly around my balls.
“Maybe.” I let out a breathless laugh. “So are you.”
He soothes his tongue over the spot he just bit and his breath flutters against the damp patch of skin with his next quiet laugh.
“Maybe,” he echoes.
Spettro reaches one hand into his jacket pocket and pulls out the remote. I moan and clench my fists against the urge to put my hands on him. I would give fucking anything to slide them under his shirt and feel the warmth of his skin under my palms. But I won’t.
“Unzip me and take my cock out,” he commands gruffly.
I hesitate for only a second. “That’s okay?” I check.
Spettro tightens his grip on the back of my neck.
“It’s not a test, slut. You can touch me when and where I tell you to.”
“Yes, Sir.”
I tug the button on his jeans loose and lower the zipper.
His hard cock springs free and I wrap my fingers around the base, savoring the weight of it against my palm and the silky feeling of his skin.
I give it a slow stroke, and he rewards me with a press of the button.
The low vibration tickles the sensitive nerves of my rim, making me clench, and that presses the tip right up against my prostate.
My cock jerks and drools precum that slicks the leather.
“Good, slut,” he murmurs, nuzzling his nose against mine. “Do it again.”
I move my hand over his cock again, squeezing gently to feel the firm, throbbing core and the bunch of his silky skin under my fingers. He groans and I earn another vibration. My eyes roll back and I moan into the small amount of space between our lips.
I stroke him a little faster and the vibration increases.
“Oh,” I gasp, my hips jerking involuntarily.
Spettro smirks and then pulls my mouth back to his, claiming my lips in another hard kiss.
“You’ve been looking for me,” he murmurs, and I nod. “Why?”
“At first because I was obsessed with you,” I confess.
My palm glides over his slicked cockhead, gathering the pooling precum there and spreading it down his shaft with my next downstroke.
“I wanted to know the man who had the balls to take on the Sleepless Reapers. I wanted to lay eyes on the kind of psychopathic vigilante who wasn’t afraid to send them a message. ”
He makes a needy, desperate noise that catches in his throat and sucks my bottom lip until it’s damp and throbbing, then sinks his teeth into it. My cock spasms and my hole clenches again, the steady vibrations against my prostate making me pant and squirm.