Chapter 10

"Fuck!" I roar as my fist slams against the wall of the building and rage nearly blinds me. I was so goddamn close, I swear I could feel the heat of the person I want to slaughter the most against my fingertips.

For more than four years I've been looking for the person known as Whisper, and every time I get close, he manages to slip from my grasp. It's fucking maddening.

Whisper is the person who took half of my family, and the reason the family I have left is barely holding on to her sanity.

He was given the moniker Whisper because there are only whispers of the man. No one knows who the real person is behind the proverbial mask. And if someone gets close enough to uncover his true identity, they suddenly disappear, never to be seen again. Not a single person I've interrogated over the years has been able to give me a name. Either they don't know it, or they fear him more than me. Which is a testament to the shit Whisper can do to a person, because my methods of interrogation aren't gentle and are oftentimes lethal.

"Fuck!" The expletive grates past my clenched teeth. I aim my fist at the wooden sign by the door. I pull my hand back and barely register the mangled mess of my knuckles.

"Lock it down, Hunt," Silas growls, anger giving his voice a sinister vibe. "He can only hide for so long. This bastard is walking on borrowed time and he knows it."

That may be true, but fuck all if it helps my mood. I want that asshole found now.

I gave Lenny two days to think over his options before I returned to finish what I started with him in the basement of Slate. He knew either way he wasn't leaving that room still breathing. Not after I found him in the process of attempting to rape a woman who was passed out from the drugs he had given her. It was up to him whether his death would be painfully slow or quick with a bullet between the eyes. It was unfortunate for him that he thought Whisper's wrath would be harsher than mine.

It wasn't until all of his fingernails had been ripped off, one eyeball plucked from its socket, and I was sawing off his dick with a rusty knife that he finally gave in. It seems that Whisper enjoys visiting Mad Town, a sex dungeon-type place with rooms in the basement where select clients can indulge in their darkest fantasies. It's rumored that sometimes the girls aren't quite so willing.

Whisper was due to visit Mad Town. He always enters the establishment through the back door in the alley. Silas and I have been here all night at the other end of the alley, waiting for him to show. At three in the morning, a black BMW pulled down the darkened street and parked. We were too far away to see the person who emerged from the car and walked inside the building. However, we did see enough to be able to recognize the figure if we saw him inside. Like a druggy shooting up heroin, adrenaline pumped through my veins. We searched every fucking inch of that place, including the basement, and the bastard was nowhere to be found. When we returned to the alley, his car was already gone, and a handwritten note was left on the windshield of my SUV.

Say hi to your wife for me.

The goddamn asshole somehow figured out we were on him, and now he's playing games. I'm sure he knew we were there the whole time, and even showed up just to fuck with me. He was probably hiding in the hallway where the alley door is and watched us from the fucking shadows as we crept inside.

I crumple the piece of paper in my hand and throw my fist against the wall one more time.

"Let's go," I bark at Silas and yank open my door, climbing behind the wheel. The paper gets tossed into the console as I speed down the alley and onto the street.

Even though I've left prints all over it, I'll give Marcus the note to check for fingerprints or DNA. Marcus is a former detective with connections within the department. While I don't think Whisper would leave evidence behind, damn if I won't have it checked.

Silas and I don't talk as we head out of town back to River Heights, but the silence in the vehicle is loaded with pent-up aggression. Silas keeps quiet because he knows I'm on the verge of losing my shit, and my own thoughts are filled with what our next move should be. No one can stay hidden forever. No matter how good Whisper is, there will be a time he makes a mistake.

And I'll be there fucking waiting.

* * *

Thirty minutes later,I park behind Cat's car in the driveway. Jacob and Peggy's car is next to hers. I owe them an expensive bottle of wine for staying with Cat while I've been gone. Of course, they won't accept it. They worry just as much as I do about her being alone.

The house is dark when I walk through the door, except for a small lamp in the living room. Going in to turn it off, I notice a dark lump on the couch. I walk toward it, already knowing who it is. Cat lays curled up on her side, one hand tucked beneath her cheek, and a throw blanket pulled up and tucked under her arm. She should look peaceful in sleep, but I don't miss the tiny stress lines between her eyes, as if, even in slumber, she's worried.

Pulling the blanket off of her, I lay it on the back of the couch, then bend and pick her up. I look down at her face just as her eyes crack open. A soft smile curls her lips at the corners, and she wraps an arm around my shoulders.

"I missed you," she whispers sleepily.

I drop my head and lay a tender kiss on her lips. "I missed you too, baby."

I carry her up the stairs to our bedroom. After setting her down on her side of the bed, I flip on the bedside lamp. I'm reaching for the belt of her silk robe when her eyes drop and she notices my busted hand.

She sucks in a startled breath and immediately reaches out to gingerly grab my wrist.

"What in the world did you do to your hand?" she asks, lifting it closer to get a better look.

"Nothing," I say, trying again to unwrap my wife from her robe.

She lets my wrist go and bats my other hand away from the belt I'm tugging on. Pressing her palms against my chest, she pushes me back enough for her to stand. Reclaiming my wrist, she pulls me behind her to the bathroom, then I'm shoved down on the closed toilet.

The whole time, I watch Cat with a smirk. I'm more than capable of taking care of my hand and was intending to do just that after I got her into bed, but I let her do her thing. It's not the first time she's treated my wounds, and it won't be the last.

She leaves me long enough to grab a first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet before returning. She bumps her legs against my knees, and I widen them so she can fit herself between them. A deep V forms on her forehead as she picks up my hand to inspect it.

"I don't like seeing you hurt," she says quietly.

"I'm not hurt, baby." I flex my fingers to show her I'm not in any pain.

"Stop that," she grumbles, reaching for a pair of tweezers.

As she begins plucking out the small grains of grit and splinters of wood embedded in the open cuts, I drop my eyes to her chest. While I hadn't managed to untie the belt of her robe, I did loosen it enough that a small amount of cleavage peeks through the parted material. There is no part of Cat that I love more than the others. Every fucking inch of her is perfect. But seeing the hidden valley between her breasts makes my mouth water. I want to bury my face there and never come up for air.

While she concentrates on her task, I lift my other hand to the back of her thigh. After a brief pause at my touch, she continues working. Slowly, I inch my palm up her smooth leg, my gaze already shifted to her face to watch her. Satisfaction fills me when her lips slightly part and her breathing comes a little faster. She doesn't look away from my hand, seemingly still focused on cleaning my knuckles, but she can't hide the fact that what I'm doing is getting to her.

I stop my hand when I reach the curve of her ass and chuckle when a barely audible whimper slips past her lips.

Her eyes move to me and her tongue darts out to lick the corner of her mouth. "Behave," she mumbles.

Flashing her a wicked grin, I don't respond verbally. Instead my hand continues its trek north, over the little silk panties covering her ass.

"Hunter," she whines breathlessly.

"Continue what you're doing, Cat," I tell her.

Flattening her lips, determination enters her eyes and she drops them back to my hand.

Reaching the top of her panties, I wiggle my fingers underneath the band and slide them over one of her luscious ass cheeks. Her breath catches and her eyes flutter when my finger trails down the line of her ass crack. I've never taken Cat's ass before. Not because I haven't wanted to, but because she hasn't shown any interest in the carnal act. It's not something I need from her, so I've never pressed her for it.

Unbidden, an image of Scarlett on her knees in front of me, my cock buried deep in her tight little asshole, flashes through my mind. I force the image away, unwilling to let my experiences with the two women mix together. Cat is who I'm with right now, and she deserves every bit of my attention.

Sliding past her back hole, my fingers encounter the slick juices seeping from Cat's pussy. My cock, which is already trying to punch a hole through my slacks, jerks, begging to be set free. I slip just the tip of my middle finger inside her, the ring of her entrance clenching me tight.

Cat stops pretending she's still cleaning my hand and curls her fingers around my shoulder, her nails biting into the flesh.

"Why did you stop?" I ask, then hold back a grin when she glares at me.

"You know why," she growls in the only way my pretty little Cat can growl.

One of my brows angles up. "Do you want me to stop?" I wiggle the tip of my finger inside her.

"No!" The word comes out in a rush and this time I can't hide my grin.

"Then continue. We don't want it to get infected, do we?"

Sometimes I can be an asshole, even though it's done in fun.

Cat wiggles her shoulders, likes she loosening them before a fight, and blows out a breath. The action draws a chuckle from me, but she ignores it.

After dropping the tweezers on the counter, she grabs a cotton swab and soaks it in alcohol. I barely register the sting when she begins dabbing it over my knuckles.

Pulling my finger from her slick pussy, I drag it back up her ass crack, momentarily pressing the pad against her other hole, curious to see her reaction. Her breath stutters and her eyes flutter closed. Hmm… Maybe she wouldn't be as opposed to anal as I thought.

I slip my hand out of her panties. The plea barely has time to form on her lips before it's quickly replaced with a sigh of relief when I begin sliding her panties down her legs. They stop at her knees.

"Feet further apart, baby," I coax and she immediately widens her stance, stretching the material of her satin panties.

My hand moves back to her pussy, poising one finger at her entrance. I watch her face as I push the digit inside, not stopping until the outside of her pussy prevents me from going any further. I pull it out, then shove two fingers inside.

"Oh God, Hunter," she moans and her ministrations on my hand stop again. I flex my fingers to remind her to get back to work.

Daggers shoot from her eyes and the look only intensifies my need. I pump my fingers in and out of her and add a third finger. She's so fucking tight, I have to force the digits inside.

Cat grabs a roll of gauze, quickly rolls it around my hand, and rips off a piece of medical tape with her teeth before securing the cloth.

She drops the tape in the sink, but before it has a chance to hit the porcelain bowl, I'm already up from the toilet. Grabbing her hips, I spin her to face the sink and bend to press her hands on the edge.

"Keep your hands there," I demand huskily. "Don't let go."

My cock is out within seconds. With one hand gripping one of her ass cheeks and the other holding the root of my dick, I notch the head at her slick entrance. I slip just the tip inside, and fuck, I'm already on the verge of exploding. Keeping my eyes down, I slowly and steadily slide through the tight walls of her pussy. It's hot as fuck to watch my cock disappear inside her.

Once I'm all the way in with my pelvis against her ass, I lift my head. My gaze clashes with Cat's in the mirror. Her eyes look glazed, a red blush coats her cheeks, and her bottom lip is tucked between her teeth. Her expression is filled with intense pleasure, pure love, and absolute trust.

And by some miracle I'll never understand, those emotions are directed at me.