I double clicked my mic in the affirmative. My tech guy, aptly named Radar, had piggybacked the signal Tove had on the tracker for Sweetcheeks. I was in the building across the street. I gritted my teeth as I looked through the thermal imaging glasses. At least she was all alone in that ancient hotel room. On the top floor, her guards were two doors down in both directions. The windows had all been boarded over so I couldn't see her with my eyes. But I knew that body, even if it was outlined in rainbow colors. "Setting up eagle position," Banksy said through the comm link. I double clicked again. I wasn't moving from this spot until I could put my hands on Sweetcheeks. After this, I was going to lock her up in the penthouse. Bar the doors. Demand blood sacrifice before anyone else was allowed in to see her. I took a picture of the thermal imaging with a date/time/location stamp on it. Once we got her back, I was going to toss all of the Christiansens under the fucking bus.
Friday night - Autumn GalaI skimmed my hands down the sides of the dress. I wondered if Ainsley thought giving me a dress with as little material as possible was in some way an insult. Joke was on her. I hated clothing. The dress was really beautiful though. A long line of fabric that hugged every inch of my skin. It was a very pale green, like shoots of new plants in the spring. It also had huge sections missing over the sides and it was slit up so high I couldn't wear any panties. Again. Joke was on her. Panties were the devil in my opinion. Or the master. I snickered. The way Tagan reacted to the strappy outfit Camara had found flitted through my mind. A slow smile pulled at my mouth. Maybe panties wouldn't be so bad if it got that kind of reaction all the time. "Wipe that smile off your face, you trashy girl," Ainsley hissed at me. I rolled my eyes at her, pulled the smile wider. "You might have tricked me into following you at the store. You might even have been in
I wiggled free of Ainsley's touch. My stomach threatened to rebel at having her hands on me. Even through the barrier of clothes, it felt wrong to have someone other than Stretch touching me. "Get the fuck on with it, Ainsley. I'm sick and tired of your shit," I said it under my breath as we passed the mayor and his wife. The man was one of the best we'd had in our city for a long time. After the wars that sprang up following COVID-19, he'd been a voice of reason. The man was a huge advocate of self-policing and natural consequences. "Then you should have just done what I told you to do the first time around, lover," Ainsley said. I clenched my fists to keep from slugging her in the face. I wasn't a violent man, and definitely not against women. But this particular one made me want to do her physical damage. Especially after she kidnapped Stretch to force my compliance. "What do you even want with the land, Ainsley? There's nothing out there. We've checked. Multiple times."
I turned around and stepped forward. If anyone would be getting punished, it was going to be me. Not these brilliant, brave men who'd done nothing but accept me for who I am. I dipped my head. "Master."He stepped closer and I forced myself not to move or shiver. He punished weakness to a brutal degree. "We've missed you in the village, Hollyn. It's time for you to come home."Grumpy, sweet, brave, stupid Grumpy, stepped forward, wrapped his arm around my waist. "That won't be happening. We're keeping her."My eyes fluttered closed. Hollyn. I squeezed them shut now. No. No. No. Get out of my head. I screamed it. Howled it. I grabbed both Tove's and Grumpy's hands. I needed their help. This close to the master, I needed their help to resist his call. Their fingers entwined with mine. Take what you need, sweetcheeks, Grumpy said. I believe in you.So do I, Tove added. You'll kill them. They have no magic of their own. You'll rip their spirits from their chest
I pulled Hollyn's limp body up into my arms. She'd crashed into sleep as soon as we were ensconced in the car. Tove jogged forward, hit the button for the elevator as Tag parked the car. "When do we start the campaign?" Tag asked softly as he joined us in the elevator. "Tomorrow. We need to figure out what they want the land for. There's no way they went to this much trouble just for a buried communication line or the right thereto." Stretch wrinkled her nose as she settled herself deeper into my arms. "Did you see her when she stepped up to that douche, Patrick?" Tove asked Tag. "I about blew my load right then and there. Nothing sexier than your woman getting all feisty.""Or when she cowed Ainsley," I said. "As soon as we were out of eyeline, she dropped me like a hot potato. Keep that bitch away from me, Thane." I tried to mimic Ainsley's voice. By the chuckles from the other two, I was pretty successful. "Damn, I'm glad she's back," Tag said as he watched her.
I knocked on Thane's door. "Come in," he called. Tove was coming down the hall, adjusting his sleep pants over his junk. He raised his eye at me. I shook my head and turned into Thane's bedroom. And stopped dead. Sweetcheeks was sitting cross-legged on the bed. Naked. Her hair was slicked back with moisture as she patted at her skin with a towel. Thane had a satisfied smile on his face as he lounged back against the headboard. "Ask away, Stretch." He shot me a smile and a wink. I looked at the lady in question. "What's up, sweetcheeks?"She nibbled her bottom lip. "I just got to ea-er, umm-blow Thane's head." He winced and laughed. "Give head, suck my cock, blow job, Stretch."She turned back to me. "Right. Those things. And now I feel all empty and achy."I held my breath. There were only two of us left and she only had one available opening. I raised my eyebrows. "And?" I needed her to spell it out. "And, as long as I can keep my butterfingers, I was wonder
Thank the gods and the stars and the thunderstorms and everything else that it was the freaking weekend. I rolled over. My body was achy and sore from another night on the floor. Last night, after another round of showers, the sunshine of my life had grabbed the duvet off Thane's bed and curled up on the floor again. Not one to let dust settle on me, I was on the floor and curled around her before the other two figured out what the hell was going on. I opened my eyes. Bright, blinding light pushed through the unfiltered windows. Thane was already gone from the sleep pile. Probably working on the campaign to bring Ainsley and her craptastic family down for good. I pushed to my feet and made my way out into the living room. Yup. There he was. Face buried in the computer, coffee steaming gently next to him. "Find a good place to start?" I asked as I got my own cup of brain juice. "Yeah. You also got a few emails that said WALSH on them."I looked at the computer again. Fi
Who was crazy enough to break into the triplet's home? I tried to look around Thane's shoulder. But they were so broad that all I saw was the edge of the room. I wanted to see the face of the idiot stupid enough to breach their lair. Not to mention, that feminine voice was so familiar. I had to know what was going on."Who are you and how the fuck did you get in here?" Tag snarled. The former Marine and ultimate protector of the group. My Grumpy.The female snickered. "I've never heard of a deaf dragon. I just told you my name. Breet. Although it's spelled B-R-I-G-I-D. Make sure you get it right." Her accent was wonderful. Along with the sing-song cadence of her voice."Telling me your name doesn't mean shit. Who are you to Hollyn?"Brigid chuckled, the sound musical. "You really need to brush up on your history, love. But fine, as I can see you're big and strong. I'm Brigid. One of the goddesses. Who do you think has been hearing your prayers of late?"My eyes went huge.