Page 41

Cassidy

One Week Later

All week we have been in the house, and I am going insane.

I love being here with these guys, but Eliza and I desperately need time away from them.

There is so much testosterone in this house that it’s overwhelming.

We have been fucked into a stupor every day by all of them.

Well, Calder hasn’t fully fucked me yet, and Oscar hasn’t gone after Eliza yet, but it’s coming soon.

He told me last night that he is finding amusement in her anticipation.

She is constantly on edge thinking he’s going to corner her.

Julian told me he thinks that Oscar is sensing that she might not be ready, so he is waiting for something specific first. Both Eliza and Julian told me that Calder is afraid of triggering me, so he is going slow to ease his own mind.

I have a scene every night with Ryan. He and I go down to the basement alone and work on sensory play, impact play, and even temperature play.

Once I get more comfortable and we can go, he wants me to experience the bullwhip.

I would need to be restrained, and I’m just not there yet.

I have gotten really good at not moving, though, so it’s an improvement.

“Think they will let us?” I ask.

“Hmm. I think so,” Eliza says hopefully. “If not, we can sneak out.”

“You rebel,” I laugh.

“What are you two plotting?” Oscar asks, pulling my head back and kissing me.

“We want to go up to the bookstore,” I say. “I doubt I’ll get my Kindle back anytime soon, and I need to read smut.”

“Need?” he laughs.

“Yes, need,” Eliza says. “You boys watch your porn; we read it.”

“What kind of word porn are you reading?” he asks, looking between us.

We grin at each other before saying “guy on guy smut,” at the same time. He laughs and shakes his head at us.

“It’s very educational,” I say. “I’ve learned all sorts of new words.”

“Oh?” he asks, raising an eyebrow in trepidation. Oscar’s still very shy about being bisexual, so I know this conversation is hard for him, even despite us being supportive.

“Mhmm. Apparently, some men refer to a man’s ass as a boy pussy,” I tell him.

“Mmm. Oscar likes when I pound into his boy pussy,” Gunner says, throwing his arm around Oscar’s shoulders.

“Asshole,” Oscar laughs. He tries to shrug him off, but Gunner grabs his face and kisses him hard. For the first time, he fully melts and lets the kiss turn more passionate. Eliza and I squeal and clap watching this play out.

“Hot,” Julian says. When they pull away, Oscar blushes at Julian. The guys haven’t really mingled much outside of their norm, but I am suspecting more will happen soon.

“The girls want to go up to the bookstore to get Cassidy a new Kindle, since the FBI has hers.”

“Oh, that’s right. You left it at the apartment,” Julian says. “It’s just a few miles down the road. I don’t see why not. It will give them time away from us, at least.”

“And you can all, maybe, mingle a bit. Have an orgy. Train fuck Oscar,” Eliza says.

“Why me?” Oscar laughs.

“You’re the one who blushed, or it would have been Julian,” Eliza laughs. “Either way, you all should get comfortable with each other.”

“Mhmm. You all go to the bookstore. Nowhere else, please,” Julian says.

“Be good,” Oscar says, kissing me.

“We will!” I say happily. We jump up from the couch and rush to go get our shoes before they possibly change their minds.

When we get back to the living room, we say goodbye to everyone and go out to Eliza’s car.

We have the windows down and the music turned up.

I feel amazing and free being out of the house.

The drive is only a few miles, but it’s glorious.

We get parked and go inside. We want the guys to have enough time to spend together, so we decide to roam around and pick out a few books after I pick out a new Kindle.

We end up in opposite aisles, but I can tell where she is based on her footsteps.

My steps are quiet, so she peeks through every now and again to see where I am.

I am looking through a book by my favorite author when I no longer hear her movement.

“Liza?” I call out.

Silence.

“Liza?” I call out again.

Silence.

I walk to the end of the row and turn down the one she should have been in, but she isn’t there. Panic starts to wash over me, and I pull my phone out to call Oscar. “Hey,” he says.

“I can’t find her. She’s gone. Maybe I’m crazy. She isn’t here. She was just right here.”

“Woah. Slow down. Eliza? What do you mean you can’t find her?” he asks calmly.

“I could hear her on the other side of the bookshelf. We were browsing. I couldn’t hear her, and then she was just gone. I’m walking around and I don’t see her.”

“We are on our way. Keep me on the phone, and if you see anything or get scared, be loud and draw attention,” he says. “She might have just gone to look at something.”

“Fuck. It’s him,” I say when I turn a corner and see that Trey has Eliza cornered. “Hold on…”

“No!” Oscar yells at me. “Cass, don’t…”

I slip my phone into my back pocket and pick up the giant bible on the podium next to me. How appropriate that I’m about to knock the fuck out of a demon with a bible.

Eliza

I don’t realize I’ve lost Cassidy until I look up and realize she’s walked off. I turned back for just a few seconds, and she disappeared. “Shit,” I mutter.

I look around, and I don’t know where I am. These rows are like a maze. I was just putting a book back that was in my hand. Fuck, we should have stayed together. I hear footsteps behind me and turn, expecting to be greeted by Cassidy, only it’s not her.

A hand covers my mouth as I am shoved back against the wall. He has me in a corner, and I have nowhere to run. “You stupid fucking bitch,” Troy growls. “Did you not learn?”

Troy wraps his hands around my throat and squeezes as he pushes me up the wall. I can’t breathe, and I kick, thrash, and fight as hard as I can. “You took her from me,” he growls. “She’s mine, you greedy fucking whore.”

Stars flood my vision, and my arms are weakening. Just as the world starts to dim, I hear Cassidy. “Hey!” She screams at Troy. He drops me before turning to her. “The power of Christ compels you, bitch!”

All of a sudden, little Cassidy smashes this massive bible against his face.

He screams out in pain and drops to the ground when she swings her foot up and kicks him in the nuts.

She slams the Bible down on his head again for good measure.

Well, she aims for his head, but the wimp starts crawling away.

Her hit lands on his shoulder and makes him cry out in pain again.

She throws the Bible at him this time before grabbing my arm and dragging me away.

We don’t stop until we get to the front.

They had us pay for the Kindle when she picked hers out, so we go straight for the door and run outside.

“What the fuck,” Oscar says, grabbing her up in a hug as the twins surround her. Seconds later, Julian spins me around and grabs my face. I immediately tear up, and he hugs me tightly.

“You’re okay. You’re safe,” he says softly.

“He was strangling me. He was going to kill me,” I sniffle. My entire body is shaking, and I feel like the world is closing in on me. We sit down and I realize we are in the Escalade.

“Check her throat. He was choking the fuck out of her,” Cassidy says. Julian sits me back and tips my chin up.

“Yeah. You’re going to be bruised. Does it hurt to swallow?”

“No,” I say quietly. “Cass?”

“Yeah?” she asks. I turn and she is sitting with Oscar beside me.

“Did you say, ‘The power of Christ compels you, bitch,’ then hit him with a bible?” I ask and everyone bursts out laughing.

“I did. That bible was heavy,” she says with a proud grin. “I’m sorry I wasn’t…”

“I wasn’t paying attention. I was distracted and turned around to go put something back. I wasn’t thinking. I believe he would have found a way. anyway. I also don’t think he knew you were there,” I tell her.

“It concerns me because it means he knows our movements,” Julian says. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the first time you two leave on your own, he shows up almost immediately.”

“Yeah,” Oscar agrees.

I scream when Jasper pulls the door open but slap my hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” he says. “Cassidy, girl. I have never in my entire career had the privilege of watching a security camera and seeing such a tiny woman beat the hell out of a man with the Bible.”

“Did you…” she starts to ask.

“No. He got out of the back entrance and disappeared. He’s in town, though, so that is helpful. We know he has a goal, so we will use that against him,”

“Goal?” I ask.

“Well… He is obviously after Cassidy, but he’s also coming after you. He’s angry enough to make mistakes, and what he did today was a mistake on his part. He cornered you without even glancing around him. Anyone could’ve been with you, including the dogs,” he explains.

“He’s spiraling,” Cassidy says.

“He’s what?” I ask.

“Spiraling. It’s like… when serial killers, and criminals in general, feel cornered as police start closing in on them, they feel trapped.

They are desperate to continue their crimes, but they are basically too stressed out to be able to function, so they start fucking up.

They leave behind evidence where they just generally make mistakes that they would not have made before.

They are more volatile and sometimes escalate, but it helps lead to their capture. ”

“Basically,” Jasper says. “So, going forward… stay on the property. The gate should only ever be opened for law enforcement, like Carrie or myself. No one else. No other cop is randomly going to come up on that property.”

“Hold on,” Ryan says from the front. “Why emphasize to not let any other cops on the property?”