Page 120 of Aftershock
Before the SIM card comes out and my phone goes dark.
The driveto my destination went exactly as planned.
I wasn’t pulled over. Fraser’s assistant answered almost immediately after I emailed her again earlier, assuring me—as in, Mr. Robinson—that no one would bother me while I enjoyed a stress-relieving break upstate.
I didn’t bother asking about Steven because Fraser wouldn’t care. His assistant confirmed my suspicions when she didn’t send a report about him.
Now, after the train ride back, I’m handling the last task before heading to Lilith’s and later to the hospital. Crouchedbeside the chair in the storage unit, a wrench in hand, I lock the last leg into the concrete, knowing the soundproof walls swallow enough noise that no one will think twice about it.
Fraser’s miserable gaze has been darting between me and the door the entire time I’ve been at it. Hope glimmers in his bloodshot eyes, as if he has a chance of being saved.
He doesn’t.
Must be a bitch to be on the receiving end.
“Almost done,” I say without a shred of cruelty in my voice.
I hate him and everything he represents. I hate the damage he did to his son.
I hate the world for ignoring the six healed fractures I saw on Steven’s X-ray.
But I’m not interested in fucking with Fraser this morning.
It’s Lilith I want.
It’s Lilith I miss.
Even more so now, after wrapping up the tasks I needed to check off my list, with the worry of getting caught no longer at the forefront of my mind.
In its place is the memory of how Lilith tasted on my tongue last night.
How she came on my mouth. How hard I was for her. How pissed I was that I couldn’t spend the night, in case Fraser tried that shit again, before I had to head out and dump his car upstate.
My cock strains in my jeans. My heart pounds like it’s about to crack my ribs.
Suddenly, it’s as if my body has had enough of being patient. It starts rebelling at the idea of being a gentleman, picking her up, then settling for a kiss until the evening. I can’t wait hours to have her all to myself.
Can’t.
So, painfully turned on and fully obsessed, I give in to the urge.
26
LILITH
Familiar sounds surround me as my sneakers pad against the hospital’s linoleum floors.
People move from one place to another, gurneys roll past, monitors beep steadily in the background.
And rising above it all is the thundering of my pulse. It roars between my ears, growing louder with every step that brings me closer to Alaric.
After the cryptic text he sent me this morning, who could blame me?
Alaric:Morning. Something came up, and I won’t be there to walk you to work. Meet me in OR5 an hour before your shift instead.
A million questions rose to the surface when I read it the first five times. What came up? What’s wrong with either his home or mine?
But since I trust him, I didn’t ask any of them, just sent him an,Are you okay?
