Contract Killer

She nodded, her eyes still closed, her breathing picking up as she clearly wasn’t feeling the best.

Once out of the SUV he grabbed his cell and sent a message to the main compound that he was stopping to let Neeka rest. He’d get shit for it, would get flack for last night as well, but they could fuck off. He knew what was best, and that was making sure he didn’t push Neeka too hard. He was confident in knowing he could protect her no matter what.

He walked into the front office, the feel of the fifties era surrounding him. An ancient-looking air conditioner sat in one of the windows, rattling and chugging as frigid air blew out of it. Burnt-orange carpet lay beneath him, numerous stains sporadically dotting it.

The walls and ceiling were also covered in brown stains. A few chairs were pushed against the wall, the velvety-looking fabric on the seats printed with a hideous brown and mint green paisley design. A scuffed and chipped coffee table sat between the chairs, a few dog-eared and stained magazines scattered on it.

The place smelled musty, like it hadn’t been aired out in years.

He stopped at the front desk, the yellow counter with gold flecks looking worn and abused in several places. Gage pressed his finger down on the silver bell that sat on the counter, the ding loud in the small office.

A second later a middle-aged woman shuffled out, her feet covered in what used to be white fuzzy slippers, but now looked more brown and tattered. A bandana was wrapped around her hair, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

“Yeah?” she asked in a scratchy, smoker’s voice. She popped her hip against the corner, eyeing him.

“I need a room for a few hours.”

The woman looked out the window, presumably seeing Neeka. “We don’t do pay by the hour. We aren’t that type of establishment.”

“I’ll pay for the whole night. I just need to let my companion rest.”

She looked him up and down and then out the window again. She reached under the counter and pulled out a sign-in book, laying it on the counter and flipping to the day’s date.

“And the room at the end.”

She eyed him again and then shrugged.

“I only have a single bed.”

“That’s fine.” He didn’t need to sleep anyway.

She pulled out another book, ash from her cigarette that hung from her lip falling on the counter.

“I’ll give you room twenty-six. It’s the farthest one down.”

She handed him a key, and he took it, and turned and walked back toward the door. Once he was back in the SUV he pulled up to the room. He left the vehicle idling and got out.

Gage grabbed the duffle bag he packed earlier and unlocked the door. He threw the bag on the floor, checking the room and making sure it was secure before going to the passenger side door and helping Neeka out.

He shut the door and got back in the car, pulling it around to the back of the building and shutting it off. There was no dumpster to hide the vehicle behind like the last motel, but there was also no access road where vehicles could easily see the SUV in the rear of the building.

These off the road motels were a dime a dozen, pretty much built the same, as well.

He examined the back of the building, noticing that small windows were placed in perfect intervals running alongside the brick wall, bathroom windows he surmised. He walked around to the front and entered the room. Neeka was already on the bed, her eyes sleepy.

Gage set his keys and one of his guns on the bedside table and went over to the window air conditioner. He cranked it on full blast and shut the blinds.

“I’m so tired all of a sudden.”

“Car rides, the heat, and getting your life fucked over will do that to a person.”

She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, stretching her arms out.

He swallowed, letting his eyes roam over her exposed flesh, her shirt riding up so her tiny belly button showed. She looked like an offering … like his offering.

He started to sweat, definitely not from the heat. His dick was pressed uncomfortably against the zipper of his pants, pulsing and aching with the need to be buried inside of her.

The one person that fueled his desire was only a few short feet away, lying on the bed, her glorious body laid out like she was waiting for him. She maddened him, inflamed him, and drove him crazy.

And he knew what he wanted to do, what he probably wouldn’t be able to stop himself from doing, was be with her.

Chapter

Nineteen

Neeka opened her eyes. She didn’t know how long she’d been sleeping, but she felt better, exponentially better in fact. She sat up and reached for the bottle of water Gage had set on the bedside table when they’d first arrived, and drank half the bottle.