Cutter's Hope by A.J. Downey Read Free Book Online Page B

my come had a chance to drip onto the sheets.
    I’d waited, been there for her and during the height of her grief she’d come to me for comfort and like the selfish asshole I am, I took full advantage of the situation. I know for a fact Reave didn’t hold it against me. I mean fuck, he was gone six months or more. I knew that L’il Bit felt a whole lot of guilt for it though, and that part is what made me feel guilty. Not that I’d done it, but that she bore the burden of it. I switched on a cold shower and stepped under the spray, rinsing off, lathering up and rinsing off again.
    I didn’t think I would ever let myself get over it. I still wasn’t over it, over her… but I had to admit, Hope was providing a nice distraction for the moment. Only thing she was missing was the damsel in distress routine. I loved being the big damn hero but at the same time, it was refreshing that Hope was solid and didn’t need saving. In fact she didn’t have a single damned vulnerability that I could see. I shut off the tap and dried off on the way back to bed.
    Didn’t have a clue what was going to happen or where shit was gonna lead, the only thing I knew for sure is I needed to protect my club. But I was the kind of guy that liked his beer and drank it too, so I would see what I could do about having the best of both worlds. I stared at the ceiling for a long time, wide awake, my mind turning over the possibilities and roving down every avenue. Last thing I thought of before I finally crashed was, whether I should wait on Hope to come to me like some kind of feral cat, or if I should go to her. Maybe I should leave it up to fate? The town was small enough, I’d be bound to see her again at some point.
    Yeah. I’d give it a day or two and see what turned up. That’s what I’d do.

 
    Chapter 7
    Hope
     
    I lay in the hammock on the beach between two palm trees, soaking up the sun. It’d been two days since the disaster on Cutter’s boat and I’d had zero luck with the rest of the town on locating any information on Tonya. I’d canvased the entire damn place. Even went so far as to go door to door. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. No one had either seen her, or would admit to seeing her. All roads to Tonya Anon led straight to The Kraken MC’s door.
    I needed a time out. To relax, sure, but mostly to think. How the fuck was I going to get those happy bastards to cooperate? So here I was, taking my time out, lazing in the sun and working on my tan. They had about six of these Hammocks all in a row between palm trees just sitting on the beach for anyone to use and so I took advantage. The warmth of the sun soaking into my skin made me drowsy, and I didn’t pay much mind to the first touch on the instep of my right foot. Another came, just above it on my ankle, then another on my shin. I opened my eyes and tensed, staring wide eyed from behind my big, bug eyed, sunglass lenses.
    Cutter knelt beside my hammock and placed another gentle butterfly kiss up higher on my shin from the last. I watched him curiously for a minute. He smiled, no, grinned and it was one of those secret little boy smiles that immediately made me wet. Fuck. So not fair, the kind of effect he had on me. He pressed a kiss to my knee, all the while his gaze locked with mine and even though I ached to have him keep going, I mean shit, it felt really damn good, I had to open my mouth and break the spell.
    “What are you doing?” I demanded and arched one brow, putting on my resting bitch face.
    “Seducing you, is it working?” he asked.
    I laughed, then stated dryly, “Not really,” when what I really meant to say was, incredibly well, please continue. Guess Cutter had some ESP going for him, because he pressed another kiss to my knee, then above my knee and I think I stopped breathing because the playfulness was bleeding out of his eyes and the heat index in them was rising, turning them molten.
    “What ‘cha thinking, Sweetheart?” he asked and his voice