Read Online Crave the Darkness by Amanda Bonilla - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Amanda Bonilla
Ads: Link
everything. I don’t trust him, Darian. He’s Xander’s candidate, not mine. Best to leave the boy to other pursuits. Take the four you’ve got. You’ve made a decent selection, and they’ll work well enough together.”
“I’ll take the four. For now. I’m not giving up on this, Raif. There’s something about Asher. I can’t put my finger on it. You’ll cave and let me add him. Eventually.” Call me overconfident, but I knew that Raif would have no choice but to give me what I wanted.
“Gods, but you’re a stubborn woman.”
I followed behind him, thinking I deserved a nice, long nap for putting up with this circus. “Would you like me any other way, Raif?”
“No,” he said, holding open the door for me. “I would not.”
Chapter 6
I left Raif, and my corporeal form, at the gym door and headed for my room. No way was I going to let him follow me around for the rest of the day. I’d been a good girl. Dragged my ass out of bed, ate breakfast, and played nice with the troops. Now,
he
could do me a favor and leave me the hell alone for a couple of hours.
As I fell back onto the bed, my body became a solid thing. The expensive memory foam didn’t exactly let me land with a bounce, but it accepted my weight like strong, welcoming arms.
I missed you, Darian. Why don’t you lie right here and take a nice, long nap
. I was going to do just that. Screw Anya and her precious offspring. To hell with task forces, and mysteries, and loyalty. Take your brooding attitude and velvet voice and stick it right up your ass, Xander. The dark void called, and I was about to answer.
I drifted—faster than I expected—toward sleep. Drift might be a bit of an understatement. I jumped in a freefall toward unconsciousness. My stomach rumbled with hunger; it was almost noon and I’d only eaten twice in forty-eight hours, but nothing seemed as important as leaving reality behind for a while. I rubbed at my sternum, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before the pain would be too great for me to handle. God, I missed him. Wanted him. Needed him to forgive me for how I’d left him and take the pain of my guilt away.
“Tyler . . .” I whispered sleepily against my pillow.
My cell played a muffled tune in my pocket, pulling me from near sleep. I swore under my breath and dug in my pants for the phone. Without checking the c ^ggewine aller ID, I answered and held the receiver to my ear. “When I get my hands on whoever this is, I’m going to tear you a new asshole!”
“Jesus, did I interrupt something?”
I sat up, jumped off the bed and switched the light on, shielding my eyes from the sudden burst of light. “Marcus?”
Tyler’s sometimes lackey laughed humorlessly on the other end. “Miss me? I sure as hell didn’t miss you.”
I tried to speak, but my brain was cranking too hard and fast for my mouth to catch up. Why the hell was Marcus calling me? Was Ty okay? Where the hell was he? What the fuck was going on?
“Since you’re not answering, I’m gonna guess the feeling’s mutual. I told Tyler never to send me on an errand that had to do with your scary ass again. Guess I drew the short fucking straw this time.”
“What?” The word dragged out, like I was talking through a mouthful of pudding. Had I heard him right? Tyler had asked him to call me?
“Tyler has a job for you,” Marcus said, slowly like I might be having comprehension problems. “Where you wanna do this? I’ve got the deets—and the confirmation on the wire transfer. The paycheck for this gig is too big for cash.”
“My place.” Small talk wasn’t on my agenda. I wanted more than job information from Marcus and beating it out of him in public wasn’t an option.
“No. Fucking. Way.”
Coward. He was an insufferable piece of shit. “Fine. The back alley behind The Pit, then.”
“I suppose it’s better than your place, but not by much. I’ll be there in a half hour.”
“Marcus,” I said, grabbing one of my
“I’ll take the four. For now. I’m not giving up on this, Raif. There’s something about Asher. I can’t put my finger on it. You’ll cave and let me add him. Eventually.” Call me overconfident, but I knew that Raif would have no choice but to give me what I wanted.
“Gods, but you’re a stubborn woman.”
I followed behind him, thinking I deserved a nice, long nap for putting up with this circus. “Would you like me any other way, Raif?”
“No,” he said, holding open the door for me. “I would not.”
Chapter 6
I left Raif, and my corporeal form, at the gym door and headed for my room. No way was I going to let him follow me around for the rest of the day. I’d been a good girl. Dragged my ass out of bed, ate breakfast, and played nice with the troops. Now,
he
could do me a favor and leave me the hell alone for a couple of hours.
As I fell back onto the bed, my body became a solid thing. The expensive memory foam didn’t exactly let me land with a bounce, but it accepted my weight like strong, welcoming arms.
I missed you, Darian. Why don’t you lie right here and take a nice, long nap
. I was going to do just that. Screw Anya and her precious offspring. To hell with task forces, and mysteries, and loyalty. Take your brooding attitude and velvet voice and stick it right up your ass, Xander. The dark void called, and I was about to answer.
I drifted—faster than I expected—toward sleep. Drift might be a bit of an understatement. I jumped in a freefall toward unconsciousness. My stomach rumbled with hunger; it was almost noon and I’d only eaten twice in forty-eight hours, but nothing seemed as important as leaving reality behind for a while. I rubbed at my sternum, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before the pain would be too great for me to handle. God, I missed him. Wanted him. Needed him to forgive me for how I’d left him and take the pain of my guilt away.
“Tyler . . .” I whispered sleepily against my pillow.
My cell played a muffled tune in my pocket, pulling me from near sleep. I swore under my breath and dug in my pants for the phone. Without checking the c ^ggewine aller ID, I answered and held the receiver to my ear. “When I get my hands on whoever this is, I’m going to tear you a new asshole!”
“Jesus, did I interrupt something?”
I sat up, jumped off the bed and switched the light on, shielding my eyes from the sudden burst of light. “Marcus?”
Tyler’s sometimes lackey laughed humorlessly on the other end. “Miss me? I sure as hell didn’t miss you.”
I tried to speak, but my brain was cranking too hard and fast for my mouth to catch up. Why the hell was Marcus calling me? Was Ty okay? Where the hell was he? What the fuck was going on?
“Since you’re not answering, I’m gonna guess the feeling’s mutual. I told Tyler never to send me on an errand that had to do with your scary ass again. Guess I drew the short fucking straw this time.”
“What?” The word dragged out, like I was talking through a mouthful of pudding. Had I heard him right? Tyler had asked him to call me?
“Tyler has a job for you,” Marcus said, slowly like I might be having comprehension problems. “Where you wanna do this? I’ve got the deets—and the confirmation on the wire transfer. The paycheck for this gig is too big for cash.”
“My place.” Small talk wasn’t on my agenda. I wanted more than job information from Marcus and beating it out of him in public wasn’t an option.
“No. Fucking. Way.”
Coward. He was an insufferable piece of shit. “Fine. The back alley behind The Pit, then.”
“I suppose it’s better than your place, but not by much. I’ll be there in a half hour.”
“Marcus,” I said, grabbing one of my
Similar Books
