Page 43 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
Maeve took the duffel and looked inside. “Wow, this is great. Not that I minded wearing your clothes,” she said.
He cursed in his head as he was reminded of just how good she looked in his shirt or how much he wanted to see it again.
“Do you think that whenever the store run happens, I can get some purple hair dye? I really miss my purple.” She held out the ponytail that showed off the faded color on the ends of her raven black hair.
“I like this two-tone look,” he said, reaching out and running the ponytail through his hand. Her hair was remarkably soft, and he had to let go before he pulled the elastic and filled his hands with the stuff.
Maeve’s eyes lit up, and he cleared his throat. “Is that so?”
He didn’t acknowledge the suggestive way she said the innocent comment. Even before they walked into the house, he knew that tonight was going to be a rough night. Even if Maeve didn’t waltz out naked or kiss him again, she was all he was going to be able to think about. She was worming her way into his mind, and he thirsted to touch her as if she were the last drink of water in a desert.
He took a deep breath when he heard the water turn on but froze as his landline rang. No one ever called him on that. Mind you, he no longer had a cell phone other than the old one that used to be his mom’s. He was going to have to let Kes know how to reach him in case he needed to help more victims. Walking over to the phone, he stared at the scrambled number and bit his lip as he tried to decide if he should answer or not.
His gut was telling him not to, and he let it go to voicemail. The black box on the counter clicked, and his standard message played. There was heavy breathing, and then a robotic voice whispered into the phone. Then there was only heavy breathing again, and the line went dead. The hair stood up on his body as he stared at the machine.
Who and what the hell was that?
He’d felt right from the very moment he was handed this case that something was off, and it had only gotten stranger.
“I’m finished,” Maeve said, and he jerked, ready for a fight. “Whoa, sorry.”
Maeve froze as she stared at his hand, and he realized he’d pulled the knife he kept on him as he turned.
“Sorry, it wasn’t you,” he said and quickly put the knife away.
He just couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that had just resurfaced. He needed to try and get in touch with someone. The only numbers he knew by heart were Kes and Trev. He would get in touch with one of them tomorrow, and hopefully, they had some answers as to what the hell was going on.
“I didn’t get the burgers on. I got distracted.”
He walked across the kitchen, pulled the meat from the fridge, and put it in a bowl. He could feel Maeve moving around the kitchen behind him. Every step she took had his nerves fraying a little more.
“Do you mind mixing this?” He pointed to the ingredients he had ready. “I really need to shower.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? You seem off, like not your normal calm self?”
Maeve was leaning against the kitchen table. Her T-shirt was still too large for her and hung off one shoulder. He couldn’t help but stare at the brightly colored hummingbird on her neck.
“Suck my cock slut!”A man growled out and grabbed Maeve by the arm.
“Suck it yourself.” Maeve spat in his face.
The guy backhanded her across the face. “Bitch.”
She screamed like a demon as they fought.
Wolf stumbledback from Maeve and grabbed at his head.
What the hell was that?
The image was clear, and the anger was instant as he pictured the unknown man hurting her.
“Wolf, are you okay? You’re seriously freaking me out.”
Maeve grabbed his forearm and the muscles flexed under her touch as his blood buzzed under his skin. It was all too intense, and he needed to put some space between them.
“Um, has anyone ever yelled at you to suck their cock,” he asked and then realized how that question must sound as her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide. “In anger, like not in a good way…oh shit…never mind. I think I’ve just had too much heat and sun. I’m going to go shower to cool off. I’m sorry for the weird question.”
He stumbled away from her and around the corner. He couldn’t figure out why this was suddenly happening to him or what it was supposed to mean. Was his mind just playing tricks on him, or was he actually seeing images somehow? He didn’t have any answers, but the raging heat coursing through his body made it hard to think straight.
