Beast's Demands (Crude Hill High Book 3) Read online

  How dare he? “I didn’t.”

  “I’m given a certain level of respect, and if my men think you’re breaking them, I will lose theirs. I’ve built my empire through pain and fear. Don’t make me have to make an example out of you again, Ashley. Now, come for me.”

  I wanted to deny him.

  I wanted to tell him to go and fuck off and suck his own dick.

  Instead, much to my shame, I came at his command. I was weak to him, and what was more, he knew it as well.

  ****

  “What?” Ashley said, brow furrowed as she turned toward me.

  I didn’t want to repeat myself because as far as I was concerned, what I just told her was not happy news. “Tomorrow night, we’re going to Crude Hill. You’ll get to see Emily.”

  This made her jump off the bed and rush toward me.

  Ever since I’d given her an orgasm in the bathroom, I’d kept some distance between us. Her ass had stopped hurting her when she sat down. The truth was I’d had important business to deal with.

  I broke my word when I took Ashley away, but I’d kept my promise to the Monsters in keeping Emily safe. I’d arranged for the bounty on her head to be removed. It had cost me a small fortune and a couple of favors, but I’d done it. Mainly because the bounty on Emily’s head was also attached to Ashley.

  The moment those assholes took Emily back to Crude Hill, it awakened the bounty and put my woman in danger. I couldn’t have that.

  “You heard me.”

  “We’re really?” she asked.

  “I don’t lie.” That lie fell easily enough.

  Some lies needed to be told to help people. Staring at Ashley, I saw the sparkle in her eyes. A jealousy I’d never known before reared up inside me, threatening to consume my very soul.

  She reached out and grabbed my arm. “But, does this mean you and I are over?”

  I turned to her now, giving her my full attention. “I’m going to help protect your friend. Our arrangement, Ashley still stands. Your virginity, all of your firsts, they belong to me now. I’m not going to give them up.”

  Taking her to Crude Hill put her in the hands of the Monsters, of Emily. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear. You’re leaving with me. If you give them any reason to try and keep you, or to fight me on this, I will make it my mission to ruin their lives. I will hurt Emily in every single way a man can hurt a woman. I won’t do it myself, but I’ve got plenty of men who don’t mind taking what isn’t offered. She will be nothing more than a shell, and only when I’ve taken every single part of her soul, I’ll kill her, and make you watch everything I do. Do I make myself clear?”

  Tears welled in her eyes.

  I was angry.

  She was hurt.

  Ashley licked her lips, her gaze going to my shirt as she gave her head a jerk in acknowledgment.

  “Good. Think about that when Emily’s asking you if you’re okay. If you want her to get those bastards of her to stop me.”

  “I’ll be good.” Her voice was just above a whisper.

  “Get ready.”

  I left her alone, slamming and locking the door of my bedroom. This wasn’t part of my plan. With the Monsters on my case, as well as many enemies of my own, I always stayed one step ahead. I’d already gone over the logistics in my head, and the way to get Ashley off the ocean was to deal with the Monsters, keep Emily alive, and then I could take her to my private island, undisturbed.

  The ocean normally felt freeing to me.

  Since having Ashley with me, my life hadn’t felt normal.

  I watched her. Living on my yacht wasn’t healthy for her. Of the food provided, she often only picked at it, and I’d noticed in the few days we’d been here, she was already starting to lose weight.

  I didn’t want a skinny bitch in my bed.

  Heading back out on deck, I spent an hour organizing the security detail and the necessary plans that would be in place while I was in Crude Hill. For a town, it was a piece of shit. Not a lot of beauty to be had.

  The Monsters who had overruled their fathers had done so but not in a good way. If anything, they’d thrown a little temper tantrum, and the town had suffered for it. Not good. They were children doing men’s work. Not that their fathers were any good. They were just as bad, but at least they had more control.

  I’d earned a great deal of money from working with them. Swallowing down my pride to make money was easy. Especially as I’d already set my sights on Ashley.

  When the time was right, I made my way back to my room where Ashley waited. She stood the moment I appeared.

  Holding out my hand, I waited for her to take it. She slid hers into mine. I was aware of how right she felt next to me. Just another reason as far as I was concerned why I needed to keep her.

  We walked out of the room, and I took her to where we were docked. My men were all ready, and a car sat waiting.

  I helped Ashley inside first, sliding in beside her.

  Her body shook a little.

  “All you’ve got to do is behave, and it will go well.”

  She didn’t speak to me.

  My warning to her clearly struck a nerve. I was now pissed off at the quiet, but I didn’t say anything.

  Tonight needed to happen.

  I didn’t want any more bloodshed, but if she decided to push me, I would strike.

  Arriving at the Monsters’ house, I hated the garishness of the property. It was large and pointedly said they were the kings.

  The car came to a stop, and Ashley looked nervous.

  “Are you sure you can handle this?” I asked.

  “Yes. I want to see Emily. I bet she’s so happy.”

  I couldn’t give two shits if that woman was happy or not.

  Climbing out of the car, I held my hand out for Ashley to take. She did, and we approached the door, which opened.

  There they were, Caleb, Gael, Vadik, and River. All four men, looking like they wanted to kill me.

  Emily broke the tension as she rushed forward, hugging Ashley as if her life depended on it.

  Before Emily could have a chance to fire off questions, Ashley started her accusations at the men. I was proud of her. She wasn’t frightened. Emily kept glaring at me, but I ignored her.

  All too soon, Ashley was taken away. One of my men was with her, and I was alone, dealing business with the main assholes who had put us all in this mess in the first place, in the library, of all places.

  “You betrayed us, and now you think you can come into our domain and bark orders?” Caleb asked.

  I should have known it would be him to start making demands. Pissy fucker. “The only part of our arrangement I didn’t keep was staying too close to you. You think I didn’t know there would be consequences of staying close? That woman has all four of you by the balls. One snap of her fingers, and I’d be dead and Ashley would be free. I’m not that desperate, and I’m certainly not an idiot.”

  “What about dealing with our fathers’ prior arrangement to have Emily killed?” Gael asked. “What do you have to say about that?”

  “I told you, I broke one part of our agreement. The other, I took care of. There wasn’t a threat to Emily’s life. All of the prior negotiations and bounty are over. I know how your fathers handled that mess, so I knew how to get rid of it.” I didn’t like any of this. It would be so much easier to kill them all, but I didn’t want the Monsters’ business. I was more than happy with my own.

  “You knew how to erase it because you put it in place,” Gael said.

  This, I couldn’t help but smile at. Gael was right. “Well, well, well, I had to wonder who would figure it out eventually. The fact it was you, I’m rather impressed.” It was why I could make the bounty go away, and why I knew how to do it, the favors to call in, and how to make it stop. Taking a bounty contract away always had certain clauses attached. It was far easier to create a bounty than to take one away.

  “Cut the crap. You did this to start with. Did you give them th
e ammo they needed to take Emily from us?” Caleb asked.

  “I need a drink.” I stepped toward the drinks table, pouring myself a large shot of brandy. “Do you want one?”

  I got glares as a response.

  “That’s our booze, asshole,” River said.

  “I know.” I smacked my lips together after taking a sip. “Your fathers, they came to me with so many … options and concerns. They truly felt this girl, Emily, my intended, was a problem. Of course, she was supposed to be my sweet virgin, but we’ll call that water under the bridge. So good. They first wanted to kill Emily. To get one of their MC contacts. Make it look like a complete accident.”

  “Let me guess, you decided against that out of the goodness of your heart?”

  I laughed. “I’m not that stupid. I’m a man who has built his empire from the ground up. I know you all have had this handed to you on a silver platter. It was so easy for you all, and you merely took it. But for those of us who came from nothing, we had to bleed. You know nothing about me, and anything you do find out, well, it’s not exactly the truth.” I inherited this from my grandfather, but the truth was, I had to bleed to get it. Nothing was given to me. I had to fight for everything I possessed. I played dirty. I’d stopped playing by the rules a long time ago.

  “Why don’t you cut the crap and get to the part where we don’t want to kill you? Right now, I’m feeling mighty ready to kill you,” Gael said.

  “Patience. Your fathers are not going to take a hit out tonight. They’ve lost one of their own. Congratulations for taking care of him. Ace had been more for me killing Emily.”

  “You weren’t down in that basement,” River said. “You don’t know what went on.”

  “I do know what they intended, and I was the one who played out what would happen if you guys ever found out what they did. With their own personal sense of loss, they saw my reasoning was sound. They weren’t exactly the sanest people around now, were they?” I finished my shot. “So, I got them to make a deal. If you arrived, I would do as was negotiated. I’d put a hit out on Emily in the case of you following her. I was the one who set it up. Your fathers funded it. If you didn’t arrive, they were going to handle Emily their own way.”

  “You think this is your helping your cause right now?” Caleb asked.

  “Yes.”

  Vadik charged toward me, and I heard my guard draw his gun. Gael pulled out a gun. Caleb and River did the same.

  I chuckled. I would be a rich man now. I made a little gamble in my head just how long it would be before they started shooting, and I wasn’t wrong. Assholes.

  “Seven years. We’ve been in control for a lot longer than a couple of months. You had the power to bring us what we wanted. Why didn’t you?” Vadik asked.

  They really thought I would willingly give them what they want? Did they not live in the same world as me? Nothing was granted without a reason. “You think I’m just going to hand you what you want? I knew you were all time bombs waiting to go off. Your fathers believed with Emily out of the way, they could control you. Week after week, month after month, I heard the damage you all were responsible for. At first, I had to make sure you had taken real power. Your fathers have a lot of friends, which I’m sure you’re more than aware of. Then, I had to go see Emily for myself, to see that she was still alive, and that she’d even work to fit into my plans.”

  “Where does Ashley fit into all of this?” River asked.

  “She’s my reward.”

  “Do you hurt her?” Caleb asked.

  “You’ve seen her for yourself. Does she look hurt?” They haven’t checked out her ass, which was a good thing.

  “I know there are a great deal of bruises that don’t show up.”

  “I don’t hit my women.” Lies were so easy. I didn’t hit, I spanked.

  “Don’t treat us like fools. We know what you’re capable of. The bodies that mount up from women you can’t control,” Gael said.

  “Actually, that is business, and I have nothing to do with their deaths. To put your minds at rest, I can order Ashley in here to strip and you can see every single inch of her if you’d like, and while you’re checking over my woman, I’ll go to a room, and let’s see what would happen if I was left alone with your woman for as long as you check mine.”

  Vadik charged forward, and I was done playing passive. I grabbed my blade and held it ready to strike. These boys didn’t scare me.

  “I take my protection seriously. You think I won’t protect what is mine? Ashley is mine. Try to take her from me, and I will make you all suffer in ways you’ve only ever imagined.”

  They all stilled.

  I waited to see who would test me first. I was almost desperate for it.

  Finally, Caleb cleared his throat. “I think it’s time we get down to business and allow our women to catch up.”

  It was a damn good choice because it meant we’d all get to live at the end of the day.

  Chapter Five

  Ashley

  I was shown to another wing of the Monsters’ house while I had to wait for Earl to arrive. Dinner had been awful. There was no other word to describe it. Tensions were running high. The men looked ready to kill one another. The fact Emily wanted to speak to him only made my nerves increase.

  Earl’s men stood outside of the room. I’d been surprised we weren’t going back to the boat or to a different house. This wasn’t like Earl to want to be in the same house as them. My nerves were now at an all-time high.

  The moment the door opened, I stopped pacing and turned to see Earl standing in the doorway.

  “You haven’t had a bath?” he asked.

  I glanced around the room then at him. “Are you okay?”

  “Emily is not a problem, if that’s what you were worried about.” He closed the door and flicked the lock into place.

  I watched him remove his jacket.

  I didn’t know how he could be so calm, so collected. It didn’t make any sense. All I wanted to do was scream at him.

  We were in Crude Hill. I lied to my best friend. Earl wasn’t a gentleman. I didn’t tell her about the money I was earning daily. I didn’t know if I’d earn the same amount for getting punished. My life and my thoughts were all a mess, but it was so good to see Emily again. To be with her. I loved her like a sister.

  “It’s not just Emily. It’s all of this. You knew what it was like at dinner. Doesn’t that bother you?”

  “We won’t be staying in this house for much longer. The sooner my deal with the Monsters is done, we’re out of here. When that time comes, I suggest you be prepared not to see Emily for some time.”

  I wrapped my arms around myself.

  Things had been tense between us since he spanked me. My ass no longer hurt. There were bruises still. If Emily had wanted to see me completely naked, she’d have seen them. It was so embarrassing.

  I didn’t want to think about it.

  Earl moved toward me and cupped my face. His thumbs ran across my cheeks. “Did you have fun?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

  “Good. You’re going to be here tomorrow to keep Emily company. I don’t want you leaving. Do you understand? You’re to stay here while I go and take care of business.”

  “You’re trusting me to stay here all by myself?”

  “Yes.”

  I nibbled on my lip, trying not to let my mind wander. “Do you think you can help her? Emily, I mean.”

  “I know I can help her.” He removed his jacket, opening the buttons of his shirt.

  I was struck by the sheer power he possessed. He kicked off his boots and looked at me. He caught me ogling his body. He had a very nice body, and I couldn’t just look away. I totally should have.

  “If you’ve been pacing since I went to talk with Emily, care to join me in the shower?”

  See, this was what I was talking about. He was scary as fuck throwing out his threats, but when we were alone like this, he was sweet, almost like a gentlem
an. It was these moments I thought about when I talked to Emily. He was sweet and caring, and like a normal guy.

  I loved it when he held his hand out, waiting for me to take. Sliding mine within his, I followed him into the bathroom.

  “You can’t shower without getting naked.”

  The way he said it sent an ache through my body. It was strange that I’d rather go back in time with him, before I thought about what he did to all of those women. I wasn’t one to judge. My mother had decided she couldn’t stand having a difficult life, so she’d fucked a married man, all in the name of getting it easy.

  With my gaze on his, I slowly peeled away my clothes, watching his reaction. He didn’t give me anything. I didn’t know if he liked what he saw or if he hated it.

  I stood before him, naked. He still wore his pants, but once he looked his fill, he took them off and stepped beneath the shower.

  He stood beneath the spray, taking the brunt of the cold water.

  The moment I was under, I let out a gasp. It was nice and warm. Earl moved me under the main spray and reached for a bar of soap. He didn’t grab a sponge and instead lathered his hands. I gritted my teeth as his hands touched my body, working the suds in, washing my body. The moment he grazed across my breasts, I couldn’t help but close my eyes. The pleasure was instant. He didn’t linger though.

  He washed my pussy and my thighs. Once my body was taken care of, he got to work on my hair. I closed my eyes, loving his ministrations.

  I was so turned on. I couldn’t help but press my thighs together so I could feel something, anything.

  He tilted my head back, and his lips brushed across mine, his tongue swiping along my bottom lip before plunging inside, and I moaned his name. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I gasped as his cock pressed against my stomach.

  He was so hard, so thick. He made me ache.

  Earl broke the kiss first, and I missed his touch, his warmth, his heat. I’d give anything to have him surround me again. All I wanted to feel was completely possessed by him. At that moment, I truly believed I’d give him my virginity. All he had to do was take it.