Kade takes the crystal, nearly dropping it because I shove it at him so roughly. His eyes cut to me, then to Dusty, then back tome again. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but I can feel the weight of himwatching. Evaluating.
I fix him with a sharp, desperate look:Let me handle this.
For a beat, he doesn’t move. Dusty’s eyes flick from me to Kade, suspicion rising by the second. He looks like he’s two seconds from bolting. Finally, Kade’s mouth presses into a hard line. “Yep,” he mutters, backing toward the door. “Thanks for the reading. Sorry to have to barge back in.” He throws one last glance at Dusty, narrowed and dangerous, before pushing the door open.
I know there’s no way in hell he’s actually going to leave. He’ll probably be plastered against the door the second I get Dusty in the back room.
“Can we get on with the screening?” Dusty asks, sounding completely annoyed. He can’t be too annoyed though, his pants are already tenting, for fuck’s sake.
I force my voice low, coaxing, sweet enough to hook him again. “Why don’t we take this to the back? We’ll have privacy.”
That gets him moving. He smirks, his swagger returning as he follows me. His steps drag with greedy anticipation, and bile creeps up my throat.
We step into the dim back room, and I’ve learned my lesson from last time. I shut the door all the way. The oak table waits, daggers hidden, tarp neatly tucked away, everything set. I swallow down the chaos of the last three minutes and slide into my role again.
This is not how the ritual was supposed to go. But it’s still going.
“So,” I purr as I turn, locking eyes with the pig, “why don’t we start with a reading? It helps me understand people.”
He snorts, still standing. He’s taking in the room, and absolutely judging it. “Sweetheart, I didn’t come here forcards.”
And then, dammit, he undoes his belt, unbuttons his pants, and pulls the zipper down. The look in his eyes darkens. “There’s a reason the rent is so affordable. But just a few payments here and there offset the cost. Call this… your deposit.”
And the very next moment, he shoves his pants down to his knees and whips himself out like it’s a magic trick.
My stomach lurches.Oh fabulous. Exhibit A in why men should come with safety recalls.I swear if genitals came with user manuals, his would have a full-page spread underbiohazard.
He places his hands on his hips and leans back, smug as a cat in the cream. “If you wanna get into my building, you’re gonna start here.” He gestures, like I couldn’t possibly know where his shriveled ego is attached.
The sneer is just forming on my lips when the door slams open.
Not-Kade storms in like a hurricane in black boots. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he snarls, voice low and lethal.
Dusty flinches, scrambling, but his pants are still tangled at his ankles. He looks ridiculous, half-hobbled, half-hard, a predator suddenly caught.
Kade crosses the room in two strides, and his hand is on Dusty’s throat before I can say a word. Dusty’s head snaps, hard, as Kade pins him to the wall, sheer fury radiating off him.
I freeze, breath caught, watching the two men—the disgusting and the devastating—in the same space.
Kade bares his teeth, his jaw flexing. And that rage in his eyes? That raw rage is powerful.
Dusty’s face purples, his shoes kicking against the floor.
And me? My brain is split down the middle: halfdammit, not-Kade, this was supposed to be MY kill ritual,and halfholyhell, this man just went feral for me, and I’ve never been more turned on in my life.
Kade’s hand clamps harder around Dusty’s throat, pinning him like he weighs nothing. His biceps flex, shoulders taut, every vein in his forearm standing out. He looks like a god carved out of rage.
Holy shit.
Dusty’s whole body jerks like a fish on a line. His pants are still around his ankles, his dick deflating, and I’m fighting off laughter. But dammit, this is going so off the rails.
“Kade,” I say calmly, my tone stern. “I’ve got this. Let him go.”
His head jerks toward me, eyes burning, still holding Dusty pinned like a ragdoll. “Not a chance in hell. You hear what he said to you?” His voice cracks like a whip. “I’m not gonna stand by while some piece of shit drops his pants and demands you—” His jaw locks. He doesn’t finish, but the air vibrates with violence.
Dusty wheezes, eyes bugging out. “She—she wanted?—”
Wrong move. Kade slams him into the wall so hard that a picture frame rattles. “Don’t you dare, you sick fuck,” he snarls. “Now, you’ll do what she says, or I’ll make this ahellof a lot worse than she will.”
