Call Me Cat (Call Me Cat Trilogy #1)(38)

Lucky fell to the ground with a loud thud, and when I looked down I saw part of his brains spilling from his skull. I turned and emptied the contents of my stomach in the corner. Ash kicked Lucky's knife away and checked his pulse. "He's dead. He can't hurt you."

I fell to the ground shaking. "I killed him."

Ash dropped to his knees, hugging me. "I killed him. He would have died from the beating I gave him. It was me, love, not you. Don't take this on yourself."

I crawled over to the man, his mask still clinging to what was left of his face. I slipped it off.

"Who is that?" asked Ash.

"Lucky. But why would he try to hurt me? Why would he have gone after my parents?" How could I have seen him so many times, spoken to him almost every day, and never realized?

"We'll get some help and let the police sort out the details," Ash said, pulling me from the room.

Pulling me away from the man I'd killed.





Chapter Thirty Two


Forgetting


I SAT BEHIND Ash, straddling him on his Harley as he called 911. When he hung up he drove me somewhere and said some words but I couldn't think. Nothing penetrated the fog around my mind. All I could do was hold onto him and try to breathe.

The motorcycle stopped, and he helped me off and led me into a hotel room with one queen bed, a television, dresser and bathroom. Nothing fancy. I had the absurd thought that he took Cat to the most exotic hotels in the world and I got this.

He left the room, saying something I didn't catch, then returned with a Coke he made me drink while he dabbed something onto my wrists and ankles and wrapped them in bandages. Then he handed me a sandwich from a vending machine and told me to eat.

"Catelyn, listen to me. You're in shock and you need sugar in your system. Eat. Drink."

I did as I was told and felt a carb and sugar rush jolting me awake from my fog. I shook harder, a sob building in my throat. "I killed a man. Oh my God, Ash, what have I done?"

He pulled me against his chest and rubbed my arms and back, murmuring into my ear about how it wasn't my fault and it would all be okay. The warmth, his warmth, finally reached me. The cold that had settled into my bones abated, leaving me craving more of him.

I wrapped my arms around him, resting my face in the nape of his neck, relishing the feel of his skin against my cheek. Lucky would be torturing me right now if not for this man. I would either be carved up and wishing I was dead, or dead.

Looking up into his eyes, I saw him for the first time. This man who put aside his own safety to save those he cared for. Or those who needed his help. This man who had walked away from the safety of his family legacy to carve his own path in life, come what may. This man who looked past the label of phone sex operator and saw the girl behind the job. This man who carried the weight of his heroism with him everyday.

"Ash—" my voice cracked. I rested a hand on his cheek and he didn't pull away.

"Catelyn… " I could see him resist. He knew what I wanted and he didn't want to take advantage of me while I was vulnerable.

So I took the initiative and kissed him.

The cool mint of his mouth made everything feel right inside of me. When he stopped kissing me I made a disappointed sound.

"Catelyn, you're hurt. In shock. We shouldn't."

"Ash, you have to learn. I make my own decisions. I know what's best for me. And I want you. I need you."

I stood, slipping off the blue dress I'd thought he'd gotten for me, and pulled off my bra and panties, exposing myself to him the way Cat had so many times in our imaginations. I reached for his hand, placing it on my bare breast.

He groaned, his pants showing a visible reaction to my body.

"Make me forget," I said. "Make me forget everything about tonight except this. Just for a few minutes. Just for right now, take me somewhere else."

He nodded and I helped him pull off his shirt as he discarded his jeans.

He explored my body with his hands and mouth, trailing promises across my flesh with tongue and teeth, gentle and demanding all at once. When he bent his head between my legs and slid his tongue into me, nothing in my imagination could have prepared me for the pure pleasure that pulsed through my body.

Everything truly disappeared from my mind, my physical and emotional pain vanishing as he worked my muscles into knots with his tongue and fingers, pushing me closer and closer to the point of no return.

When I came, I grabbed his head, pushing his tongue deeper into me and screaming his name as the spasms rocked me. Not all orgasms are created equal, I learned in that moment.

He gave me no time to recover as he moved his body over mine, trailing kisses up my abdomen and breasts until his cock rubbed against my wet *.

He pushed into me slowly at first, easing the massive girth of his cock in one inch at a time.

A dull ache formed, then a sharp pain as he pushed through my virginity, and then another wave of pleasure crashed over me as he rubbed my clit while thrusting himself in and out.

"Oh God, Catelyn, you're so tight." He looked close to coming and I needed more.

I reached for his ass, pulling him harder into me, my nails digging into him as I begged for him to go faster, harder, deeper. I wanted to feel him throughout my body, claiming me as his. His release rocked us both, and I came again, clutching him as I lost control.