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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Declan

“You good?” Pres asks Hawk. He’s been quietly observant since we all arrived. His usual laid back laugh-at-everything demeanor is all but gone. His shoulders are tense, his mouth pinched in a thin line. He looks like he’s ready to burst at any moment. Nothing like himself.

“I’m fine,” he answers. Hopefully, he can hold his shit together long enough to end this shit and we can all go get a few drinks in us and relax a little.

We head into the basement cell where Mack has not one, but two guests strung up from the ceiling. James Swanson is stripped to his underwear, his hands tied to the meat hook dangling from the ceiling. His shoulder is still bleeding, but not enough for my liking. His head hangs and his eyes are closed. Walking over to where he hangs, I dig my finger into the bullet hole and stretch the skin.

James screams, and it’s music to my fucking ears.

“Wakey, wakey, Sheriff,” I taunt.

“Fuck you. Fuck all of you. You have no idea who you’re fucking with.” He spits in my face.

Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out a handkerchief and wipe my face. Slowly, I remove my cut, draping it over the empty metal chair next to Mack, and shove the handkerchief back into my pocket. Eyeing the table of equipment Mack has laid out—the man loves his tormenting tools—I find a set of brass knuckles and slide them on. Flexing my fingers, checking the weight and feel of them against my hands.

“I think we’ll start old school, eh, Pres?”

Gabe nods. “He’s all yours, Dec. We’re just here for the show.” The others in the room chuckle. Everyone but Hawk.

“What’s he doing in here?” I ask, pointing toward Paul Halloway, who is also strung up from the ceiling in his underwear. He’s knocked clean out. “And why is he unconscious?”

“That would be my doing,” Mack says. “Kayce’s men dropped him off a little while ago. I had the prospects string him up for me. But when I came down here, he wouldn’t stop whining, the little bitch. So, I put him out.”

“He’s been out a long time, Mack. You sure he’s still breathing?”

Mack shrugs. “Should be. I didn’t give him too big of a dose.”

“Of what?”

“Basically, it’s Valium.” He says it like it’s the equivalent of an Advil or Tylenol.

“How the fuck did you get that?” I have to know. I know his wife is a nurse, but it’s not like Lisa to steal from her work.

“The good doctor had the syringe on him when the guys dropped him off. Apparently, he was waiting inside Violet’s apartment for her to come home after she was released this morning. You know, to be supportive and drug her ass while he had his way with her.” Mack’s eyes narrow, and a sinister smile curves across his lips. “I thought it was only fair we return the favor.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

“You have about—” He checks his watch. “Another thirty minutes from what Lisa told me. Carry on.” He waves his hand in the sheriff's direction.

“How many ribs did you break on Violet’s body?” I don’t wait for the answer. I punch his ribs with the brass knuckles repeatedly, switching from his left to his right ribs. The satisfying crack rents the air. He screams and curses, but none of it registers. None of it matters. This piece of shit hurt my Dove, repeatedly. He deserves every bit of what’s coming to him.

“Cut him down.” Mack and Hawk lower Swanson to the floor. His arms drop and he falls on all fours, spitting on the ground. He reaches up to cradle his ribs, and I take the opportunity to kick him until he falls over.

“You’re wasting your time,” he spits out. “I’ve got nothing to tell you. Kill me already.”

“Oh, we aren’t looking for information. We have what we need. This is just for our pleasure. For everything you’ve put Violet and Carter through.”

“That good-for-nothing bitch. I never should’ve married her. Could never do anything right. Had a tight little cunt, though. And the sounds she would make when I’d choke her almost to the point of passing out …”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three guns. Three shots. All aimed at his head and torso. When I look around the room and find my brothers with their guns drawn, all aimed at this piece of shit, I’m overwhelmed with emotion.

Mack, Jake, and Gabe all put their weapons away, waiting. I don’t know if they want me to say something or what.

“No one wants to hear what that sick fuck had to say. Honestly, his voice was starting to grate on my nerves. Hurting my ears,” Jake says. I nod, not able to say anything yet.

A low moan sounds from Halloway. Something comes over me, and I make a quick, impulsive decision. Grabbing Mack’s favored karambit, I walk over and stab it between the ribs in an upward motion, striking the heart and ending his life. I watch as the blood drips from his mouth and the gaping hole left by my blade. I don’t move until I see all life leave his eyes.

“I’m going to get cleaned up and then I’m taking my family home.”

Gabe nods. “Someone get the prospects down here to clean this shit up.”

I head upstairs, then down the hall and slip into my room, not expecting to see Violet sitting on my bed waiting for me. Her eyes are wide and her face pales. I know what she’s looking at. My hands are covered in blood. My shirt soaked with a mixture of their blood and my sweat.

I don’t know what to say. I’m almost afraid to say anything. There are no words that will make my killing someone easier, and after all the violence she’s seen and how hard she’s tried to avoid it, I’m afraid this may be her breaking point.

“What happened, Declan?” Her voice is soft, but she doesn’t sound angry.

“It’s done.” I don’t explain the what, as I’m sure she knows. I told them he wouldn’t hurt them again, and I meant it.

Her eyes meet mine, and she nods. Reaching for my wrist, she pulls me into the bathroom. I follow, waiting to see what she’s going to do. She seems both frightened and determined, but I’m still not sure of what. Is she frightened of me? Determined to get me out of the room so she can bolt?

She reaches to turn on the shower water. When she is satisfied with the temperature, she turns to me and begins pulling off my shirt, lifting it up my chest and over my head, dropping it to the floor behind me. Her hands trail gently down my torso, caressing every ridge and plane until she reaches the top of my jeans. She undoes my belt, then my button, sliding the zipper down. My rock-hard cock is relieved to have the restrictive metal out of the way.

Her soft hands reach around the band of my underwear, and she tugs them and my jeans down my legs until they hit the floor. Tapping my calves, she nudges me to step out, still not saying a word. I step out and wait.

She pulls my hand and opens the shower door, ushering me inside. I reach back to close the door, thinking she’s done, only to find her removing her own shirt, followed by her bra. She makes quick work of removing her jeans and panties.

“Fuck.”

Her eyes meet mine and my heart clenches at what I see staring back at me. Her hazel eyes are filled with love and acceptance. She wasn’t angry or fearful—she was happy.

“Thank you,” she says, lifting onto her toes and kissing me gently but hungrily. I kiss her harder, ravaging her mouth. I drive my tongue deeper into her mouth, wishing it was my cock driving into her sweet cunt.

Drawing back, she nips my bottom lip. “There’s something I want to do. Will you let me be in charge? Just for a little bit?” Her eyes plead with me. I nod, and damn near lose my footing as I watch her lower herself to her knees.

I wrap her long tresses around my hand, giving me a clear view, not wanting to miss a damn thing she’s about to do to me.

Fisting the base of my cock, she gives a harsh tug, stroking up and down. When her plush, hot mouth touches the head, and her tongue sweeps over, licking the bead of pre-cum, my muscles clench. I groan when the burning heat of her mouth finally engulfs my cock. She takes me deep, and it feels fucking amazing.

“Goddamn, baby. Your mouth feels like fucking heaven.” Her response is to hum her pleasure.

Holy shit.

Seeing her on her knees, her soft lips wrapped around my cock, taut nipples, and the softness of all that is Violet … it’s my nirvana.

She sucks, hard, swirling her tongue under and around, her head bobbing as she picks up speed. I groan with pleasure, and she slows her pace, prolonging my orgasm. As much as I love her mouth on me, I can’t take the games anymore. I need to be inside her. Now.

Her mouth makes a popping sounds as I lift her up and off my cock. I kiss her soundly, capturing her breathy little moans and whimpers. Gripping her ass, I lift her up and lean her back against the wall, taking most of the hot shower spray on my back.

“This is going to be hard and fast, Dove. Hold on to me.”

My cock enters her hot, wet heat and she drops her head back with a moan. I lick her collarbone, up her neck to her ear. “You feel that baby?” She moans. “You feel what you do to me? How hard you make me and how good you feel wrapped around me. Squeezing me. Milking me.”

“Oh god, Declan,” she moans. Her eyes flutter at the same time I feel her walls squeeze me tighter. I pick up my pace, grinding against her clit with each thrust. I watch as her eyes roll back and her body shakes.

“Now, Dove.” Like the good girl she is, she falls over the edge. Three more pumps and I fucking explode inside her. Coating her inside with my release, and silently thanking the man upstairs for giving her to me.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get dressed. I want to take my family home.”

She looks up at me, her eyes shiny and her smile bright. “I’d like that.”