16. Cade

Washing the blood and mud from my body, I'm hardly bothered by it. This isn't the first time I've killed; it will likely not be the last. In fact, I'm hard as a rock after murdering the man who tried to touch what's mine. The bastard fucking pushed her against the trailer, and I saw red. Nothing could have saved that piece of shit. And no one will find Gareth, at least not until long after I've left this town. By then, they'll never catch up with me or link the murder to me either.

The hot water cascades over my body, washing away the grime and blood from earlier. I barely feel it, though; my mind is elsewhere. My cock is hard and aching, so I grab it and give it a tug.

"Fuck, Lily," I murmur into the empty shower.I can still see my angel on her knees before me, my fingers tangled in her hair while I forced myself deeper into her warm, wet mouth. The look of fear and arousal in her eyes only spurred me on more. I wanted to choke her, to dominate her completely.

Stroking my dick, I imagine what would've happened if Duke hadn't interrupted us. I almost killed him, too, for taking the moment away from me. But I stayed calm, leaving her trembling while I dealt with the broken ride.

And then she fucking escaped, and some piece of shit tried to rape her—tried to touch my angel, which I couldn't tolerate.

The image of her lips wrapped around me keeps replaying in my mind. I can almost feel her again as I roughly stroke myself in the shower. Her body bent to my will gives me a thrill I've never known before. I want to break her, mold her, shape her, and I will.

The thought alone sends me over the edge, my body tensing as I come with a guttural moan. My blood boils with the intensity of the desire coursing through my veins, and I can't help but imagine the myriad of ways I'll bring Lily to her knees.

I'll find her no matter where she runs, no matter where she hides. And when I do, she'll understand that she was never meant to escape tonight. She was always destined to be mine, shaped, broken, and rebuilt to my every whim.

I turn the shower off and step out, drying myself briskly before getting dressed again. Can't waste too much time cleaning up when there's still work to be done.

I head back toward the fairground to double-check that all the rides are powered down properly for the night. As I'm walking, I hear a voice call out.

"Cade! There you are. Where the hell have you been?"

It's Tyson. He hurries over to me, his brow furrowed.

"I was fixing up the Gravitron earlier,"I say with a shrug. "Got covered in grease trying to get the damn thing working again. I had to shower before I came to power everything else down."

Tyson eyes me for a moment before nodding. "Right, well, get to it then."

"You got it,"I reply, clapping him on the shoulder as I walk by.

My lies come easy enough. Nobody is sticking their nose in my business right now, especially since Ty already suspects I'm losing my head over a girl.

I've got unfinished matters to attend to. The hunt. The inevitable acts of domination and submission that will follow. The thought is enough to bring a wicked grin to my lips. She'll be scared and resist, but eventually, she'll succumb.

She may have escaped tonight, but it won't be long until I track her down. When I do, her cries will echo in the night, a symphony of pleasure and pain that only I can orchestrate. And in that perfect moment of surrender, she'll know her place—as mine, forever.

But that will have to wait. For now, I focus on my work, methodically powering down each ride under the glow of carnival lights. The sooner I finish up here, the sooner I can get some rest and dream of the twisted things I'm going to do to my angel when I get my hands on her again.