"What are we doing?" I asked, wondering if she'd catch on, and she did. She didn't miss a beat.
"We? What, are you coming with me to commit some crimes?" She laughed darkly, her eyes returning to their intoxicating color as they bored into mine.
"I told you, I'm always with you whether you know it or not... always." I winked, leaving out the part where I've been stalking her ever since she got home from the hospital.
She raised her brow, challenging me. "I'm going to kill someone tonight, Hunter, maybe more than one person. So do you really want to come?"
I held her hip and spun her toward me, cupping her ass as I pulled her chest against mine. Brushing my lips across hers, I sunk my teeth into her bottom one, before whispering seductively, "I'll go wherever you go, sinner. You're mine, there's no fucking way I'd let you go alone. I don't even let you out of my fucking sight."
Scarlett's breath hitched at my words, her eyes widened in shock, and for a moment, the intensity between us crackled with unspoken possibilities as a storm began to swirl in her eyes. The look made me afraid, only shortly. But nonetheless, I was fucking terrified of seeing what she was truly capable of, partly because it turned me on that she was just as sadistic as I was.
“You’re playing with fire, Hunter,” she warned, her voice barely above a whisper, the thrill of danger lacing her tone. But that flicker of excitement in her eyes told me that she wanted to play this game as much as I did.
“I’ve always loved a good blaze,” I chuckled, letting my hands roam from her waist to her arms, feeling her pulse thrum with nervous energy. “Just tell me what I need to do—and I’ll do it.”
Her gaze softened for the briefest second, her vulnerability becoming a palpable thing as we shared this tense moment together. But her resolve quickly returned, the mask slipping back into place.
“Fine. But you need to trust me. Everything I do might not make sense to you, but I have to do it.”
"Then fucking enlighten me, Doc." I leaned closer, my voice low and steady. “What's the plan?”
She hesitated, the air growing thick with expectation. Biting her lip, she glanced at the clock on the wall. “The guy I’m looking for—Jack. He's the next one in line according to Gerald's plan. He has connections though, and he’s not the kind of person you want as an enemy.”
She looked in the mirror as she coated her lashes in smooth, black mascara and drew a little line with a wing on each eyelid, making her dark brown eyes look almost as black as her hair.
“Then we take him out,” I suggested, trying to sound calm while my heart raced at the prospect of our next move. “But how do we do that?”
"I've got it under control. I've been doing surveillance on him for the last week." Scarlett stepped back, separating us and allowing the coolness of logic to seep back into her voice. “He runs a bar downtown—a dive, nothing fancy. But it’s a front for the real business he operates.” She looked mad, and it gave me a chill that made me shiver from the darkness that settled over us.
I took a step forward, my curiosity piquing. “And what’s the real business?”
“Sex trafficking. Money laundering. Murder. All the shady shit that keeps him in power,” Scarlett explained. “I can’t let him keep running things this way. Not after all the pain he's caused and the poor girls he kidnapped, raped, and sold to be slaves for whoever had the most money.”
I could tell she was holding back about something, but I couldn't put my finger on it, and the more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got from not knowing what it was. But I could see the shame in her eyes. The guilt. Her broken heart. And then it finally came to me: her father had something to do with Jack's operation, and the realization only made my blood boil.
“Okay. What do you want from me?” I asked, fully aware that I’d follow her wherever she led—even into the depths of danger.
"Get ready, because it's almost time to leave." She eyed my body, lingering on the uncovered part with a haze in her eyes as she involuntarily licked her lips like she was hungry for me.
We hastily pulled on our clothes, moving through the familiar rhythm of getting ready—with a sense of purpose igniting every action. I admired her as she did her hair, making it straight tonight instead of having it curly. It flowed down her back and the ends stopped just above her lower back, showing off the two diamond piercings abover her tailbone.
As I stepped into my black boots, she slipped into a pair of black and white checkered Vans, which caught my attention because she always wore her boots. Tying them, she bent over slightly, still giving me a view of her firm, little ass from beneath her tiny black skirt. I ran my eyes up her body and took her all in. From her Vans to the fishnet stockings she was wearing beneath her tiny skirt. The waistband came to above her belly button, hiding the dangling skeleton belly ring she had in her navel unless she moved the right way. Her pink shirt clung to her chest, and you could tell she wasn't wearing a bra. My eyes flicked to the outline of her nipple piercings, and my mouth got extremely dry.
She was something else. She was the girl I always wanted but she was also the one that I shouldn't want. I should stay far the fuck away from her. But I couldn't. I was like a fiend, and she was like a drug I had to have. I knew shit wasn't going to be allfucking magical together. I knew getting into this it was going to be a fucking explosion between us, and we were going to be doing some very bad things.
But I wanted her, and if burning the world down for her let me have her, I'd pour the gas and light the match without a doubt. We were fire and fire when we were together. There was no fire and ice. It was either fire and fire or ice and ice, it just depended on our moods. Regardless, we shouldn't have been anywhere near each other, but we couldn't seem to stay away no matter what we tried. She was the moth to my flame—I just wasn't sure if she knew it or not.
A few minutes later, we were outside, the chill of the night air wrapping around us like a blanket. I helped Scarlett mount my bike, a sense of ownership and protection surging within me as I revved the engine and handed her a helmet. Once I felt her arms around me, something inside me shifted, and I began feeling things I never thought I was capable of feeling.
Her body pressed into mine, and I got hot pretty quickly. Her hands rested just above my cock, and it took all the strength I had in me not to put them down my pants. I reached back and rested my hand on her thigh as she leaned into me and held me tightly. It just felt right as we rode off into the night, the vibrations keeping the sparks inside me hot and alive.
Scarlett had it all before she didn't, and the events that took place over the course of a year severely traumatized her—she hasn't been the same since. But I can't blame her. She went through hell at the hands of the men she's still madly in love with. It made absolutely no fucking sense, and honestly it pissed me the fuck off feeling like we were just newer versions of them.
But now she was mine, and I had the advantage when it came to getting Scarlett: I was fucking alive. I knew I could sway her mind, but she was a special case that needed to be handled carefully and with caution. She was broken. But broken in the sense of her mind. Her schizophrenia is getting worse daily, but it was because she wouldn't take her medication. I like my girls crazy, so I was willing to go along for the ride.
Wind blew angrily with each turn of the wheels, we flew past empty streets and neon lights, her arms locked tightly around my waist as she pressed herself against me, a reminder of the moment we just shared. I could feel her heartbeat sync with mine, both of us alive and ready to face whatever awaited us.
17
