Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 62782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“It was an accident,” I say as I set his mug down in front of him. “I was worried about Remy.”
He sips the coffee and scowls at me. “Seems you do a lot of that.”
I’m not enjoying the turn of this conversation where it implicates me as some sort of monster. I do what I have to do to protect what’s mine. End of fucking story.
“You won’t see me apologizing,” I grind out. “The kid is mouthy and putting Remy in danger by taking him out into those woods late at night. If the killer would have found them…”
My hands tremble at the thought. I’m forced to set my mug down so it doesn’t slosh everywhere.
He lets out a heavy sigh. “That’s actually why I came to see you. I’ve been up since I got a call around three this morning.”
A quick glance at the clock says it’s nearly seven.
“What kind of call?” I demand, bringing my gaze back to him.
He grinds his molars together before eyeing me warily. “Body on the side of the road. Near Whelks Beach on Red Hake Mountain Road.”
“How’d they die?”
“Gash to the throat. Claw marks. Looks like it could have been a wild animal.”
“Rape?”
He winces and shrugs. “Don’t know yet. The medical examiner is checking to be sure but…”
“But what?”
“Just a kid, man. A teenager. Probably sixteen or seventeen. He looked to be a hitchhiker if I had to guess.”
He?
Teenager?
My body thrums with the need to see Remy and make sure he’s okay. I must be sending panicked vibes through the bond because seconds later, he walks into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes. He’s just wearing a tight pair of boxers, all his lean muscles and scars on full display. If Jax wouldn’t have dropped his gaze to his coffee, I’d have clawed his eyes out.
“We have company,” I growl. “Put some damn clothes on.”
He ignores me, choosing to pour himself a mug of coffee, taking his sweet ass time. His dark hair is messy this morning, hanging in his deep brown eyes, and his plump lips are extra pink today. Probably still swollen from sucking face with that kid. Images of Cash’s body pinning Remy’s to the earth have uncontrollable fury battering me like a fucking hurricane inside me. It takes everything in me not to lash out and drag him into his room so I can hide him from anyone seeing his mottled flesh and firm ass.
Crimson blooms over his chest and crawls up his neck, painting the flesh there too. When he glances my way, he gnaws on his bottom lip. I’m fixated on the way his teeth indent the pink flesh. I have an insane craving to storm over to him, cradle his face in my hands, and gently tug his lip from his grip with my thumb. Shaking away those thoughts, I try to bring my attention back to the sheriff. It isn’t until Remy awkwardly shuffles out of the kitchen, keeping his back to me, that I’m finally able to break the trance.
“So,” I grit out, “another body. Any leads?”
“Not yet. And, because of the injuries, I still can’t rule out a wild animal,” Jax says, “which is why I need you to canvas the area. See if any new animals have migrated this way.”
Again, animals don’t rape humans, but I bite my tongue. The last thing this human needs is insight into the supernatural world. Probably give him a fucking heart attack to discover there’s more out there in this world than what he knows.
“I’ll make it my priority.” I lean back in my chair, the wood creaking beneath my weight. “Time of death of the victim?”
“Estimated between eleven last night and one this morning.”
“Cash?”
“Unlikely. Red Hake Mountain Road isn’t exactly close to here. It’d be quite a trek by car to get over there, kill someone, and return by midnight, which is when he said he met up with Remy. I asked him about his whereabouts before coming here to see you, and he says he was at home.”
“Afterwards? He was pissed at me for ruining his wannabe fuckfest with my…with my…” I trail off, my body thrumming with the need to cause violence on Cash motherfucking Easton. “With Remy.”
“He went to the ER,” Jax clips out, his features tight, “for an X-ray to see if anything was broken. He’s wearing a sling for a few days. It would have been physically impossible for him to do all that damage to the victim.”
“His brothers?”
Jax sips his coffee, taking his time to respond. Finally, he cuts me with a hard glare. “I get that you don’t like the Easton family. Trust me. I do. However, it doesn’t mean they’re the ones doing all this. The timing is a coincidence, but you can’t pin them for this just because you don’t like them.”