But she was swinging the flashlight again. “Dead, dead, dead!”
He hadn’t lied when he’d gone to see Dr. Summers the first time. Cathy was violent. She had attacked before.
It was just hard to blame her. She’d been hurt so much. Hurt while he could only stand there and watch her pain. She’d been a victim back then.
Only I’m afraid she’s gone too far now. I think she’s becoming one of the monsters.
She swung the light at him again, but he caught her wrist. Hating it, he ground her bones together. She screamed, and the flashlight fell from her fingers.
“Don’t be like him,” he whispered to her. “Please, don’t.” That’s what he wanted. He wanted to make us both freaks like him.
She started crying. He kept his tight grip on her wrist. He didn’t want to break it.
He didn’t want to break her.
“Don’t be,” he warned.
Cash shut and locked the motel room door. His room. Just where Ana wanted to be.
I don’t want to miss my chance.
He turned off the light just inside the door.
She stood near the bed, watching him. Her heartbeat seemed too fast in her chest.
Cash headed toward the bathroom and turned off the light in there. Now the only illumination came from the lamp on the side of the bed. He reached for the lamp—
“Cash.” His name came from her—a little rough, a little shaky but that was only to be expected. She was terrified. “Leave the light on.”
She saw the tremble in his fingers.
Then he clenched his hand into a fist. “You want to talk?” He turned toward her. “Ana, we’ll do anything you want. We’ll—”
“I want to make love with you.” She wanted to stop thinking about death and pain and killers that escaped justice for too long. And . . . “I want to take a chance with you.”
“Baby . . .”
“Leave the light on.” Her stomach was in knots. “Though at any moment, be warned, I may tell you to turn it off. I may lose my nerve.”
“Not you. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”
She didn’t always feel strong. Sometimes she felt scared and confused. Hurt.
Damaged, deep on the inside.
Warped.
“Will you . . . will you sit on the bed?” It would be easier if he wasn’t standing up, all big and strong and watchful. She needed a position of power. He had to sit and—
“Anything you want, Ana. Always.” The bed groaned beneath his weight.
“Don’t touch me, not until I’m done, okay?” Because if he touched her she might not be able to get through this. His touch always did strange things to her.
Just as he did.
“I won’t.”
Good. Okay. The lamp was still on. The light was oddly soft. She eased out a low breath.
This won’t be taken away from me. Not anymore.
Because she realized that it was something she’d given to the bastards who’d hurt her. Simple joy in her own body. Confidence.
Her fingers curled over the hem of her shirt. She lifted it up and tossed the shirt behind her. Goose bumps rose on her stomach.
She kicked off her shoes. Ditched her socks. Realized this was probably the unsexist strip tease ever—
“Don’t stop,” Cash rasped.
She swallowed and her hands went to her waistband. She unhooked her jeans. Slid down the zipper. The hiss seemed incredibly loud to her, nearly as loud as her racing heart.
Ana pushed the jeans over her hips. She let them fall to the floor, then stepped out of them, clad just in her bra and her boy shorts underwear.
The scars sliced across her stomach and her sides.
His gaze was slowly traveling over her body. Seeing all of those scars.
For just a second, she closed her eyes, almost feeling dizzy.
I won’t let them take this from me.
Her shoulders straightened. Her eyes opened. She lifted her hands, putting them behind her back, and she undid the clasp of her bra. Then she let the soft material slide over her arms as she dropped the bra, too.
Cash was silent, but his jaw had hardened.
He hadn’t touched her. He’d followed the rules. But . . .
She wasn’t done. Not yet.
Her hands were toying with the sides of her underwear. Not a sexy tease, just . . . a fear movement. A delaying action.
No more delaying.
She shoved the underwear down her legs and then she stepped closer to the bed. Closer to the light. There was nowhere to hide now, and she didn’t want to hide. She was sick of the dark.
I want the light.
His gaze slid over her, from the top of her head all the way down to her feet. He didn’t miss anything. His green eyes darkened. Gleamed. And—
“Do I get to touch you yet?”
She barely managed a nod.
“Thank Christ.” His hands curled around her hips and he pulled her between his spread thighs. “Ana Young, you have the most gorgeous breasts that I’ve ever seen in my life.”
She blinked. He was—he was talking about her breasts?
“Knew they tasted like heaven. Now I see they look like heaven, too.” And he put his mouth on her nipple. He licked and sucked and her fingers sank into the thickness of his hair.
Heat began to pool. Her sex ached.
“So sexy.” He kissed his way to her other breast. His tongue slid over her nipple and she moaned. His fingers tightened on her waist. “You are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”
Ana started to shake her head.
“Stop.” His voice snapped out, hard. Angry.
She stared down at him.
“You. Are. Gorgeous.” He gave a rough laugh. “Ana, I am so turned on by you right now that my dick is going to have a permanent impression from my zipper. I look at you, and I nearly explode. You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” And once more, he licked her nipple. “Sweet pink nipples.” He sucked. Nipped.
She moaned.
He kissed a hot path down her stomach. “Pure temptation.”
Her knees wanted to buckle. It was a good thing he had a grip on her waist.
“And your sex . . . fucking hell, woman, I think you might drive me insane.” His hand slid around and pressed to the front of her sex. “Sweet . . . hot.”
She was getting hotter with every moment that passed.
Wetter.
He lifted her up, pulling her toward his body and then sitting her on top of him. Her legs curled around him.
“Ana, you are beautiful.”
Her heart drummed faster.
“You are sexy. You are gorgeous. You’ve been starring in my wet dreams for about two years.”
Her lips parted in surprise.
“But I swear, the reality of you is so much better than any dream. So much better.” He kissed her, driving his tongue inside of her mouth.
Something inside of her seemed to break open. The last of her fear vanished and she kissed him back with a wild ferocity. She could feel his arousal pressing against her. Thick and hard and long. He hadn’t been lying. He did want her. He did think she was sexy. Scars and all, he was touching her, caressing her, rocking his cock against her.
The scars don’t matter.
So she just . . . she let them go. Her hand curled around his shoulders. “I want you right now.” In her. Deep. Driving them both to oblivion. “I want you, Cash.” Only him.
Always . . . him.
His hand slid down between them. She arched her hips, making room for him to unzip his fly. His cock shoved toward her, she felt the hard length against her sex. She wanted him in—
“Condom,” Cash gritted. “I’ll get—”
“Are you clean?”
“Yes.”
“So am I. And there is no risk of pregnancy. I’m covered. This time, I want to be this way with you. I need to be this way.” Flesh to flesh. She’d never been this way with anoth
er man. She wanted to give everything she had to him.
Just as she wanted to take everything that he had.
He positioned his cock. Their gazes held. Then his hands were curling tightly around her hips once more as he jerked her down onto him.
Her breath heaved out. He filled her so completely. Skin to skin.
“I love you, Ana.”
She shook her head. No, he hadn’t said—
“I love you.”
Then he was lifting her up and down, making her move faster, his cock driving deep. The angle of her body, the way she pressed against him . . .
There was no restraint. There was no holding back. It was just them. Giving everything. Surrendering.
Igniting.
Her climax hit her, stealing her breath, shaking her body. Her sex clamped around his cock, so greedy for more, and he growled out her name. She felt the hot splash of his release inside of her. And it just made her pleasure last and last. It made her need grow.
Not enough. Her breath was heaving out. Sweat covering her body. She should be fulfilled but . . .
“Baby, I’m not stopping.”
He rolled her on the bed, positioning her beneath him. His cock was swelling inside of her, hardening again as she stared up at him with wide eyes.
“You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. But for that . . .” He gave her a wicked grin. “There are consequences.”
Consequences?
He thrust into her.
Her sex—already wet from their releases and so very sensitive—quivered.
“I don’t think I can ever get enough of you. I could have you forever.” He withdrew, then thrust deep. “And it wouldn’t be enough.”
Her legs rose, her hips arched.
“I’m going to let go this time,” Cash said. “I’m going to—”
“Hard,” Ana panted. “Fast. Make me come again.”
“Hell, yes, baby. Anything.” He bent and kissed her. “For you.”
Make me come. Make the darkness fade. Make me feel alive.
Taking a chance . . . with him.
Living . . . with him.
He tossed away his shirt. Her nails sank into his skin. He drove into her, fierce and wild and rough, and she laughed, nearly feeling high with the pleasure. Pleasure. Power.
Life.
Again and again, he thrust into her. Strong, deep thrusts that lifted her off the bed. That had her head tipping back.
He kissed her breasts. Teased her nipples. Then he caught her legs and lifted them up, pushing them over his shoulders so that he could get into her even deeper.
She moaned and jerked beneath him. Every thrust had the length of his cock gliding over her clit as he plunged into her.
The second climax hit her even harder than the first. She gasped out his name as the pleasure pulsed through her, seeming to charge every nerve ending in her body.
He stilled as the orgasm left her trembling. He was full and so thick inside of her, and her sex was squeezing him with the contractions of her release. Squeezing—
He came. Another hot release inside of her as he growled her name.
In the aftermath, their breath panted out. They fell together on that bed, and his arms just seemed to go naturally around her. Ana didn’t rush to pull the covers over her. She didn’t move at all, except to snuggle a little closer to Cash.
I love you, Ana. His words whispered through her mind once more.
“Do you want me to turn off the light?” His voice rumbled against her.
But she gave a slight shake of her head. “No, I want to leave it on. I want to stay in the light for a while, with you.”
It would be the first time she’d fallen asleep in the light in so very long.
He pressed his lips to her temple, and Ana had never felt safer.
The knife sliced into her skin. It cut deep, and the pain was white-hot. Ana locked her teeth together and stared straight ahead . . . straight into her brother’s horrified eyes. He was tied in the chair across from her, yanking and twisting as he tried to break free.
But he couldn’t escape. Neither could she.
But she could stay silent.
Asher . . . her twin wasn’t silent. He was screaming. Let my sister go! Stop it! Stop, please! Don’t hurt her!
Asher didn’t get it. The man with the knife . . . he enjoyed hurting her.
Another slice. Even deeper this time. Ana licked her lip and tasted blood. The first slice had been to her face. Only her attacker had stopped after that.
“Let’s save her pretty face for later.”
And the knife had gone into her body, again and again. She tried to keep her eyes open. Tried to keep looking at Asher. When the end came, she wanted his face to be the last thing that she saw. She wanted Asher to know that she hadn’t been afraid. That she was strong.
Another slice of that knife and she could feel tears sliding down her cheeks. The pain was wrecking her. Destroying the girl she’d been. Leaving someone else—something else in her place.
Don’t fear the pain. Don’t tense when the knife hits you. Look at Asher. Look at him.
“Let my sister go, you fucking bastard! You want to hurt someone? Hurt me, not Ana! Let her go!”
Ana’s eyes were sagging shut. Asher’s voice was fading.
Was she dying? Ana didn’t want to go out like this. Tied up, trapped. Some sick bastard’s toy.
She didn’t want to go out like this—
“Ana.” Her eyes opened. The light still spilled from the lamp. Cash’s arms were around her. “You’re safe, Ana.”
Her breath slipped out as the memories faded. “Tell me again.”
“You’re safe, Ana.”
She shook her head. “Not that. Tell me that you love me again.”
And he did. No hesitation. “I love you, Ana.”
She was smiling when she fell back into her dreams.
Chapter Eighteen
Ana’s phone woke her, the loud cry jarring. Her eyes flew open and she glanced around.
There was plenty of light in the room, but the light still spilled from the lamp. The clock on the nightstand showed her that it was just a little past five a.m.
“Ana?” Cash’s voice was a deep rumble.
Her phone rang again. Was it the ME, calling with news?
Or is the killer?
She hopped over Cash and scooped up her phone. It had been in the pocket of her jeans so it took her a frustrating moment to get it out. “Hello?”
“Ana.” The robotic voice was back.
She didn’t hesitate. Her fingers instantly flew over the phone’s screen, hitting the button to activate her speakerphone.
“Ana, I know you found the bodies.”
“I did.” Keep him talking. The FBI can get another trace. Where would that trace lead them this time? Cash was already texting on his phone, so she knew he was alerting his team. The FBI agents weren’t at this motel—there hadn’t been enough room for them all, so they’d been given a house to use near the sheriff’s office. “You wanted me to find them.”
“I wanted the world to know what a twisted fuck Jonathan Bright was. He liked to hurt children. Liked to torture them. Liked to try to turn them into little monsters.” The grating voice blasted from the speaker.
“We only found three bodies.” Not bodies. Remains. “Are there more?”
“Two more victims.”
That would equal the original five that Gabe had mentioned. “Where are they?”
“You come to me, and I’ll show them to you.”
Cash gave a frantic shake of his head.
“Tell me where you are,” Ana responded quietly. “And I will.”
Cash’s gaze flashed his fury.
“Right now, I’m standing in front of the ME’s building. He’s working so hard for you, isn’t he? Trying to find out whose bodies are on his table. But I can tell you their names. I can tell you who they are.”
“Do it then. Say it.”
>
“Christopher Hey. Little Christopher. I think he was . . . twelve?” The robotic voice laughed. “Cute kid, before.”
Nausea rose in her throat.
“Jenny Love. She was thirteen. She lasted longer.”
Longer than what?
“Peter Francis. Twelve. He cried so much for his mother. Cried and cried . . .”
Ana’s breath heaved out. “And the other two victims? Who were they?”
Silence.
“Who were—”
“I’ll tell you who they were. I’ll show them to you . . . when you come to meet me.”
Cash was texting frantically on his phone.
“I lied, Ana. I’m sorry.” Suddenly, the robotic voice seemed repentant. “I’m not outside the ME’s office. I’m in his lab. With him. I have him on his exam table and he’s tied down.”
Ana staggered back a step.
“He cuts open everybody that comes across his table. If you call the cops and tell them that I’m here . . . if you tell your FBI lover . . . I’ll cut him open, too.”
“But—but Dr. Cole doesn’t fit your profile!” The words burst from her. “He hasn’t done anything wrong!”
“Hasn’t he?”
Frantic, her gaze focused on Cash. Had he texted his team already, telling them to rush to the ME’s lab? She shook her head, again and again. “Don’t hurt him!”
“Come to me, and I won’t. Tell no one . . . just come. And I’ll answer all your questions. I’ll finally see if you understand me.”
“Okay, okay, fine, I will be there.”
Cash took an aggressive step toward her.
She threw up her hand to stop him. “Why are you using the voice modulator again?”
Silence.
“I thought we were past that. You let me hear you before. Why not now? Why not now?”
But she saw that he’d hung up on her. Shit. Ana grabbed her clothes, yanking them on as fast as she could. “Make sure your people don’t go storming into that lab! Keep them back, Cash! Keep them back!”
She nearly stumbled as she tried to grab her shoes.
Cash caught her arm. “Keep them back? While you run straight into death? Oh, hell, no, baby, that’s not happening. Not on my watch.”
“Cash, you heard him! He will kill—”