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“Ryan, if you don’t get your cute ass over here so I know where you’re at…” He took a brief moment to glance over at me. “Fuck. I’m pissed, proud, and turned on all at once, babe,” he growled.

Unable to help myself, I slammed my mouth on his, biting at his bottom lip before pulling back to look into his eyes.

“You’re welcome. Now, keep one of these assholes alive. I have questions,” I commanded.

At that exact moment, Dex moved back behind the truck. “There’s only one left, boys and girls, and he’s running away. Gunner, will you do the honors?”

I popped my head up to see a man booking it. He was probably a hundred yards away now.

“Someone started running before the firefight ended. Coward,” I spit out. “Gunner; he’s too far. Let’s just go run him—”

I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence, because in the next second, the man’s arm flew up as he fell. My eyes cut to my left. Gunner had his Glock propped on the hood of the truck.

“You shot down a moving target from a hundred yards away—with a Glock,” I said in awe.

“I know you like me in your mouth, babe. But now’s not the time,” Gunner whispered, his thumb brushing along my bottom lip and gently closing it. Dex started busting up at my expense.

“Why did you think we call him Gunner? The man is an assassin with a firearm.” Dex looked like he was about to say more but snapped his mouth shut. I rolled my eyes. MC clubs and their whole “no one without a dick can know” bullshit.

Who cared if I knew Gunner’s kill count? Or maybe he thought that might scare me away and didn’t want to be a cockblocker. If only Dex knew it turned me on to learn how proficient this man was with a gun.

“Let’s go pick him up. I was aiming for his spine, so if my shot was true, he shouldn’t be feeling his lower half at the moment,” Gunner casually announced, like he was talking about the weather.

I blinked up at him for a few moments, stunned.

I was fucked when it came to this man.

Gunner

I couldn’t help the smirk on my face as I watched Ryan move toward the reaper we’d left alive. She reminded me of a lioness stalking down her prey. There was no question Ryan was an apex predator, and this man would be eaten alive. The confidence she walked with would have me adjusting a hard-on soon if I didn’t focus on something else. Her ass looked great, but what had me worked up was the dust coating her clothing right now. Because I knew that dust was from her taking out threats from a fucking lying down position under a box truck.

“You know, she kind of scares me. But also, low-key, I want to be her,” Dex piped up from beside me.

A genuine laugh fell from my lips, drawing Ryan’s attention.

“This guy must think we’re deranged with how you two are acting,” she said, shaking her head and focusing back on whatever she had planned, but I spotted the smirk on her face.

Groans of agony hit my ears. The reaper I’d shot attempted to drag himself away from us. But the bullet severed his spinal cord, so his legs were useless. He clutched a gun in his hand, but it wouldn’t do shit for him. Ryan strode up to him, slamming her boot down. The sound of crunching bones and cries filled the desert air.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you planning on using that?” she asked. Her sugary sweet tone did nothing to hide the malice. She lowered to a squat, her boot still pinning his hand to the ground. His gaze lifted toward her.

“I swear to God, Dex. If you get a hard-on watching my girl work. I’ll shoot you in the spine too,” I whispered to my brother.

This was Dex’s first time seeing this version of Ryan. A peek into the darkness that surrounded her. The same darkness that encompassed our souls. The darkness needed to handle shit others couldn’t. The world had good because people like us could handle doling out the bad.

Ryan’s cold voice cut through the agonized groans. “Glad you’re still alive because I have some questions I need answering. If you cooperate, I’ll shoot you in the head and end your pathetic life quickly. Which is more than you deserve, honestly. Since you fuckers sell women like cattle.”

I caught the sinister grin spread across my brother’s face at Ryan’s words. Maybe now he would understand why I couldn’t walk away from her, why I was willing to alter my whole path for this dark goddess.

“But if you decide to be an asshole about this, I’ll make our time very painful.” She emphasized her words by digging her heel farther into his ruined hand. His yells were so loud that Ryan had to raise her voice to be heard. “And then, when you inevitably give me what I want, I’ll leave you lying out here, half dead, so the scavengers can pick you apart. I hear they start with the eyes,” she hissed. Her face held no kindness.

The reaper dry heaved.

I didn’t know if his reaction was due to the pain or how fucking scary Ryan was.

“Oh, I definitely want to be her. She’s so fucking cool,” Dex stated, his mouth opening up to ask a question.

“Before you even ask, Dex, because I know you’re about to, I wouldn’t fuck you,” I announced. Dex’s shoulders sagged like he genuinely was hurt by my statement.