Page 143 of Corpse Roads
“Come and buy a Christmas tree with me before I fuck you right here, right now, in the middle of the goddamn kitchen where everyone can hear us.”
I choke on thin air. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Trying hard not to pant as his hips rock into mine, I fight to straighten my lust-filled thoughts. “A tree? Now?”
Hunter’s beard tickles my neck as he kisses his way down, his hot tongue flicking across my collarbones. Every place he touches feels like it’s on fire, searing me down to the bare bones of my skeleton.
“Christmas is next weekend, Harlow.”
“Seriously?” I gape at him.
“We’ve been busy with all the craziness.”
“Don’t you have to work? Enzo’s been running himself ragged. He won’t tell me what’s going on with the investigation. I know something’s happened, but—”
“Harlow,” he scolds sharply. “I told you not to worry about it right now. You were kidnapped, threatened and shot. We’re big boys, and we will take care of the investigation while you recover.”
“We agreed you’d be more honest with me.”
“You need to rest,” he insists.
“I need you to tell me the truth!”
Defeated, Hunter releases his grip on my hips. “Another body turned up this week. We’ve been receiving… letters.”
I stare at him wordlessly for several awful seconds. Part of me is horrified. Another part is surprised it took this long.
“Letters?”
“Threats, mostly,” Hunter explains reluctantly. “The latest one had coordinates. We sent two agents, and they found a body waiting.”
Stepping out of his embrace, I rest a hand on the door to stop myself from falling over. Everything is spinning all around me.
“How long ago?”
“Sweetheart—”
“How long, Hunter?!”
He sighs again. “Five days ago. We’ve identified the victim, no family. Nobody reported her missing. He could’ve had her for weeks.”
Hanging my head, I bite back the furious sob that threatens to tear out of me. That woman doesn’t need my tears. None of them did. They needed someone to save them.
“What kind of threats?” I ask in a strained voice.
“We’re taking care of it.”
“Hunter, if you don’t tell me right now, I will walk out of that front door and never look back. I deserve to be treated as an adult.”
Taking a seat at the empty table that we never use, Hunter shakes his head. “You’re right. I just want to keep you safe, and I thought keeping this under wraps for now was the right call.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Yeah, I see that now.”
Softening, I wrap my arms around his lowered head. His nose buries in my stomach as he hides there, breathing deeply.