The Token (#10): Shepard (22 page)

Read The Token (#10): Shepard Online

Authors: Marata Eros

Noose

Rose is quiet as we use the old pickup to get back to her little car at Scenic Park.

She looks a little better. She took a drive-through shower at the hospital, and her color's back to normal.

I hate how relieved I am.

“I said some shit back ther
e…
” I shake my head. This relationship shit blows.

Is
this relationship shit?

“Yeah,” Rose replies. We both start talking, and she holds up her hand. “I'm not saying I don't like you.”

I whip my head in her direction. “Like me? Fuck!” I pound the steering wheel, and she flinches. “I think we've goddamned established the
like
part, Rose.”

Her face dips, and I swear, this girl makes me feel like a dick without even trying. Unless I
am
one.

That bit of self-realization bites.

I ease into a parking slot, jamming the gearshift to park, and slide to face her.

She looks so small and vulnerable sitting there.

“I can't let you leave this truck without knowing what cocksucker tried to choke you.”

Her eyes tighten, and her lips flatten. “Why? So you can go all gangsta on him and kill him?”

What the fuck?
I lean forward and growl the truth. “Maybe.” Images of killing knots shuffle through my mind like a deck of cards.

She leans back against the door. “I don't want any more killing, Noose.”

“Killing needs to be done sometimes. All the beautiful people want to believe that they're safe, but they're not. Nobody's safe, Rose.”

A tear rolls out of her eye, she brushes it away, and another takes its place.

My status in dickdom is now secure. “Fuck,” I mutter, tapping my fingers along the wheel.

“She was only nineteen,” Rose says, stuttering through her tears, and I sharpen right up. Her angry eyes glare up at mine. But she's talking, and I keep my fat mouth shut for once.

“She met some biker guy.” Her eyes accuse me. I finish the sentence for her,
like you.

I let that go too, but patience isn't my best trait. I can feel it thinning like skin over a drum.

“He was dangerous. Had money. Showered Anna with the forbidden fruit type of stuff. She was in love.”

I can tell by her tone of voice she thinks Anna didn't know about love yet.

“Then he started getting mean. Violent.”

This is where she really piques my interest.

“One day, Anna never came home, and she wouldn't have left Charlie for anything. Even though by this time, she was smoking out with weed, lying to our parents—anything to be with Drake.”

She says his name like a curse word.

Rose bites her bottom lip, and an image of her mouth on my dick floats through my mind. I kill it ruthlessly. What kind of dick lets thoughts of sex run through his mind when a chick's in shambles?

Uh-huh.
I get back on point. “You think Drake killed Anna?” I know he did. I know more about him now than I want to.

Her eyes land on mine, dark and fathomless. Eyes like Rose's could bring a man to his knees.

Maybe they have.

“I know he did.”

I don't let her off the hook. “Did Drake do this?” I sweep my palm in the direction of the bruise necklace around her throat.

She tries to look away.

I move across the seat, cradling her face between my hands, forcing her to look in my eyes. “Tell me,” I command.

Rose jerks her head in a nod, her chest heaving as she begins to sob.

I pull her against me. Her fright beats like a rabbit in a cage against me.

That fucker Diablo will not have her.

No one will.

But me.

Rose

I can't believe I told him.

Noose turns off the engine of the truck and slides out. He strides toward the door and opens my side.

He holds out his hand, and I slip mine inside.

The shower I took at the hospital didn't cut it, I need a hot bath. I need my own house—and some space.

Charlie.

Noose hauls me into his arms, and I slide down the front of him, burying my nose in him as I go.

I could drown in his scent. I tip my head back, staring into his light eyes. “The police let you go.”

He smirks. “I'm here, aren't I?”

I laugh. “Yeah.” I shake my head. “I'm not so smart right now, Noose. My nephew's at my parents’, and the hearing is Tuesday. I'm scared and tired.”

“He
y…
” He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses each knuckle. “You've got protection now.”

I pull my hand away. “I like you.”

I back up.

“No, you don't,” Noose says, stalking toward me. He stops. “You think after all the shit that's come down, I'd hurt you?”

I don't. There's no way that a man who could worship my body the way he did could hurt me. Physically.

I shake my head.

“Well, thank fuck for that.” He rakes fingers through his hair. “Then what's the problem?”

I open my mouth to tell him that I don't want biker protection. A biker killed Anna and got away with it.

Then he's in front of me, and I can't speak because of his nearness. I'm rumpled, tired, and full of the sex we had.

And I want more.

I hate myself for it. I hate that I'm like Anna. Because she's gone now. She left Charlie and me.

We needed her, and she left.

Then Noose is kissing me as if he'll die if I don't kiss him back.

So I do.

I wrap my arms around his strong neck, and his hands go to my ass, easily lifting me in his arms. He turns with me and presses me against the side of the pickup.

His erection divides me, splitting my sex like a ripe fruit.

“I never brushed my teeth,” he whispers between kisses. “I want the taste of you on my tongue, between my teeth.”

My pussy soaks my yoga pants, and I groan.

Noose says everything he's thinking.

I love it.

I hate it.

I kiss him back harder, wanting what he offers. Not the protection but that part of him that he gives me.

Unguarded. Organic. Pure.

Hard.

Hot.

Noose wins out, dry humping me against the side of a pickup truck in Scenic Hill. Then a noise brings us out of our lust-filled states.

“I'll take it from here,” a voice says.

I know that voice.

Metal sparkles in the final light of day. A wrench hits Noose.

His eyes go wide, and his hands convulsively tighten on me.

He staggers back, dragging me with him. A mix of lust and horror rip across his features.

I scream.

But at the hour between four and five in the afternoon, no one's in the park to hear us.

Noose falls backward, hitting the ground hard. He's dazed but attempting to stand. Blood runs in a thick line from his head.

Drake moves toward Noose, and I don't think.

I land on his back.

“Later, baby,” he says in a leering voice.

I bite his neck like a vampire on crack.

He howls, throwing me off.

But it gets him away from Noose, who's crawling toward the truck.

I blast off, running for all I'm worth.
Yay for glucose drips.

The wind plays with my hair.

Then a hand grips it, and I fly backward, spinning.

A fist rises like a small asteroid coming toward me.

It lands.

Fireworks shatter my vision.

Then blackness is the solace to my dilemma, making the tough decisions for me.

THE END

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Acknowledgments

I published both
The
Druid
and
Death
Series
, in 2011
with the encouragement of my husband, and continued because of you, my Reader. Your faithfulness through comments, suggestions, spreading the word and ultimately purchasing my work with your hard-earned money gave me the incentive, means and inspiration to continue.

There are no words that are sufficiently adequate to express my thankfulness for your support.

I truly feel connected to my readers. It is obvious to me, but I'll say the words anyway for clarity: a written work is just words on pages if they are not read by my readers. As I write this I get a lump in my throat; your enjoyment of my work affects me that deeply.

You guys are the greatest, each and every one of ya~

Tamara

xoxo

Special Thanks:

You
,
my reader.

My husband
, who is my biggest fan.

Cameren
,
without whom, there would be no books.

About the Author:

Tamara Rose Blodgett
: happily married mother of four sons. Dark fiction writer. Reader. Gardner. Dreamer. Home restoration slave. Coffee addict. Bead Slut. Digs music.

She is also the
New York Times
Bestselling author of
A Terrible Love,
written under the pen name,
Marata Eros
,
and over eighty-five other titles, to include the #1 international bestselling erotic Interracial/African-American
TOKEN
serial and her #1 Amazon bestselling Dark Fantasy novel,
Death Whispers
.
Tamara writes a variety of dark fiction in the genres of erotica, fantasy, horror, romance, sci-fi and suspense. She lives in the midwest with her family and three, disrespectful dogs.