Page 11 of Craved By You (Dark Desires Duet #1)

Colt

Colt : Ouch. A pervert huh?

Astrid : Well, you WERE in the women’s locker room.

Colt : Only looking at one woman, who happens to belong to me.

Astrid : ??I don’t think anyone besides you would feel that makes you any less of a perv.

Colt : ??Come to my concert tomorrow.

Astrid : ??Are you asking or is that a demand?

Colt : It depends on your answer.

Before she could respond, I flung my phone onto the passenger seat and sped away. Any reply would derail my focus from tonight’s mission. She was a distraction, a welcome one, but nonetheless I had to focus.

I couldn’t fuck up.

?? It would ruin everything.

I pulled up to The Shack a few moments later and cut the engine so that I could sit in silence and think about what I was getting ready to do. Astrid had made it quite difficult to get set up for tonight, but luckily I didn’t have to wait for a concert to corner tonight’s victim.

It was interesting to me, a podcast host renting out my space was doing weekly excerpts on disappearances and other local crimes. Yet, when he wasn’t recording, he was out on the streets.

Perhaps he thought it would help keep his secrets hidden and he would never have to worry about being a suspect. Until he started sharing his own stories, trying to pass them off as something he was looking into because the local authorities wouldn’t listen or do their jobs.

Don’t worry, James. I listened, and did my own research, which led me right to your basement. The poorly cleansed workspaces and signs of struggle lingered in the cracks and crevices of the walls.

Slowly, I stepped out of my car. Even though I hated the thought of leaving Astrid alone for long, I left my phone in the seat to prevent any further distractions. I walked back to the trunk of my car, the quiet air granting me serenity as my footsteps clomped across the gravel.

In my trunk was my bag. It held all of the essentials that I would need to ensure tonight was a success, including the mask that I always wore in an attempt to keep my identity a secret.

The biggest reason I wore masks for the concert was not because women seemed to get turned on by it, but because it helped conceal who I really was in the instance I needed to take someone out.

?? I could care less who in the crowd had a mask kink.

The only woman I wanted to turn on already belonged to me. My cock pulsed at the thought of her .

In this case, my identity had already been given up and he knew exactly who I was.

He wouldn’t live to tell a soul. The mask would just help me keep my head in tonight’s game, a bit of normalcy I needed.

I grabbed the mask and the bag. Part of me wanted to rush through and get the job done so I could get home and see what Astrid was up to.

I needed to make sure she was at least drinking water.

The other part of me knew that I couldn’t get sloppy now. I couldn’t allow myself to have a situation like James did that gave me away so easily.

In the distance I could hear the hoot of an owl. It felt encouraging, like a “go on, you’ve got this.” I took a deep breath and headed to the door, my feet dragging across the gravel no matter how careful I tried to be.

The door to The Shack creaked open and I let it slam behind me for a more dramatic effect.

Tonight, James had come by to record a variety of sponsored ads so that he could edit them into future episodes - which meant he was alone.

Once he finished recording, I offered to give him a tour of the rest of the warehouse, explaining that I felt like he could help me come up with ideas to best utilize the rest of the space.

I’m pretty sure his brain was working overtime as he realized I had the perfect kill space and that’s when one of the giant chains met the side of his head, knocking him unconscious as his body fell to the floor.

“ Honey, I’m home!” My voice echoed through the warehouse and I headed back to the room where I had held James hostage while I was away.

Just to be safe. I couldn’t risk him figuring out a way to escape and revealing my secrets.

I peeked through the window and saw his puny body crumpled into a pile in the corner of the room. I could hear his muffled sobs. “What did I do to deserve this?” he whined.

I knocked on the glass and he was startled.

“ P-please. D-don’t hurt me!” he stuttered, his eyes growing wide as I pulled on the creaky door and entered the room.

I paused, staring down at him, debating on if I was going to take my time or end his life quickly. “You mean don’t hurt you like you hurt all those women?”

“ What are you talking about?” I could hear the lies through his teeth. The way he seethed when he said his consonants made me want to smack the shit out of him and impale him with a hook right then and there.

I had to be patient.

This wasn’t the room that I typically did my bidding in. That room had become a safe space for Astrid and I didn’t want to taint it with another pervert's blood. Unfortunately, tonight I would have to overlook that small detail because I was not prepared to kill anyone in this tiny space.

I stood there, towering over him, as I mentally lectured myself over letting that beautiful creature trap me in my own mind.

Those thoughts were quickly interrupted by James as he began to heave.

????“Pathetic,” I mumbled as I turned around and walked out, letting the door slam behind me and his cries grew louder.

“ Please, I’m sorry!” James continued to beg as I latched the door and walked back to my office to finish getting set up.

???

I stepped back, looking at my handiwork once again as I placed the freshly ground meat into the freezer.

He should have never gotten to me that badly but I couldn’t help myself.

As soon as I showed him the images that I had taken on his property, he transformed from this pathetic human into a monster spewing poison into the air.

I slammed my knife down into his chest and listened to his last few garbled words. Then it was over.

It wasn’t my finest work. Normally I play with my prey before I convert it into food, but I couldn’t shake my need to talk to Astrid. She was consuming me, a feeling I hadn’t felt before with anyone.

I finished cleaning up, making sure that the room James had been in prior to meeting his demise was left looking untouched.

Then I ensured that the machinery and cutlery I had used was all free of incriminating debris.

Gathering up my trash bag, I headed to the front door, stepping out into the night air and inhaling deeply to get my senses flowing once more.

A raccoon scurrying around the dumpster caught my eye and I decided it was best not to leave the bags here tonight, not with trash day still being a week away.

The last thing I needed was to wake up the next morning and see a blood-spatter fort made of plastic strung across the street.

I decided to take tonight’s evidence home with me, shove it down into the trash bin, and let it go out with my trash next week.

Tomorrow, I would make a trip out to my uncle’s farm and give the pigs a special treat.

Was it risky? Yes. But it wasn’t like anyone had a reason to suspect me for anything. Especially when James specifically mentioned that his podcast partner didn’t know that he was recording the ads alone.

“ It’s going to be a surprise. Jeremy kept bitching about needing to get them done and how much he hated them.

” James was ecstatic about his idea, and I had let him record for free tonight instead of charging him to rent the space, and with the recordings already erased… It was like he was never there.

A coyote yipped in the distance as I got in my car and drove home. For a moment I thought about driving over to Astrid’s place and keeping watch while she slept, but I had already surprised her enough for one day.

Eventually, I won’t go home to an empty house. Instead, I’ll enter a home that’s full of love.