Desolation Road (Torpedo Ink 4)

“Adrik, did the two of you have a contract? Did you set the terms, and did she fulfill those terms?”

Adrik shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Adrik, you want to give me a truthful answer. Did Scarlet fulfill the requirements of the contract you set for her?” Absinthe’s tone was lower than ever, but his voice carried across the sidewalk to the other man easily.

“Yes,” Adrik answered grudgingly.

“Are you working for Holden? You want to tell me the truth, Adrik.”

That velvet-soft voice could wrap a person up so easily. Scarlet felt the power and she found it irresistible. More, she found it darkly sensual. There was something about the combination of softness and power that stroked at her insides and her sex, making her want to do anything he said.

“I told you no. I want to take Scarlet back with me. She won’t love you, Absinthe, any more than she did me. She’ll tear you up and leave you a shell. She’s some kind of a curse. You won’t be able to get her out of your head.” He pushed his hand against his head as if it physically hurt.

“Adrik, have you been having headaches?”

“Since she’s been gone, all the time.”

“He had them while I was there. I used to massage his temples and his head for him. He would have these terrible fits of violence and then blinding headaches,” Scarlet whispered. “He wasn’t able to have sex most of the time and it made him so angry.”

“You want to go with Savage to see Steele and then you’ll do whatever Steele says is necessary. You know Destroyer. You knew him as Rurik Volkov. He will go with you and Savage. Gavriil will be at the clubhouse as well.”

Adrik rubbed his temples several times and shook his head. “You have to be careful, Absinthe. I came to tell you to be careful.”

Absinthe’s voice dropped another octave. He moved several steps closer to Adrik, reminding Scarlet of a wolf homing in on prey. She went to follow him, matching his footsteps, but Savage caught her wrist, preventing her. He ignored her glare, just giving his head a quick shake, barely sparing her a glance, his gaze fixed on Adrik and Absinthe. Not knowing how Absinthe’s talent worked, she remained still, watching as well, her hand dropping to a weapon, just in case Adrik became hostile.

Absinthe was very close to Adrik now. “I appreciate the warning. You came to tell Scarlet she was in danger. You wanted to warn both of us that we were in danger. You wanted to help us stop Holden from hurting her.”

Adrik nodded several times and rubbed his head. Absinthe very gently reached out and brushed his fingers over Adrik’s inner wrist. Scarlet stiffened, her breath hissing out in warning. Adrik hated to be touched unless he initiated the contact. He didn’t seem to notice, or Absinthe’s ability to exert mind control was so strong it was just plain scary. She knew Adrik was a strong man. What kind of power did Absinthe actually wield?

Her heart went wild, a crazy, almost out-of-control response to his abilities. What was wrong with her that seeing and hearing, just knowing what he could do made her weak for him? She watched him walk Adrik to his truck, open the door and help him into the passenger side, all the while talking in a low tone to him. The tattooed man he’d identified as Destroyer slid into the driver’s seat and started up the truck. Absinthe stayed on the sidewalk until the vehicle had disappeared down the street, Savage’s Harley following behind it.

Absinthe came straight to her, caught her hand and pulled her into his arms, tight against his chest. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. What was that? Why did you have him go to the clubhouse? He can be very violent, Absinthe.”

“Destroyer indicated something was very off with him. I thought it best before passing judgment to have Steele check him out, especially once you said he’d had headaches and violent outbursts and had problems having sex. It’s very possible he has a tumor, or some kind of medical condition.”

She would be thoroughly ashamed of herself if Absinthe had figured out that Adrik had a tumor in five minutes when she’d been with the man for a year. “Is Inez going to be all right?” She glanced back at the grocery store. “I liked her.”

“Everyone likes her. You can’t help it. Yeah, she’ll be fine.”

He straddled the Harley and placed her hand on his shoulder. Scarlet stepped on the foot peg, feeling like she was getting the hang of riding with him. The moment the bike roared to life, so did the fire between her legs that had started when Absinthe had spoken, showing his power so casually.

She hugged him tighter, pressing her body closer to his. She had questions for him, all kinds of questions about what he would want from her sexually, but part of her didn’t want to ask them. She wanted to be alone with him and just find out what he would demand of her. She found the idea of him demanding something from her exciting, even thrilling.