bare tits crushed against him, making his cock jerk. He kissed her then pulled away. On top of the nightstand, he picked up a knife and pushed it into his left boot, then crossed the room to the control box to disarm the alarm. Smokey looked over his shoulder and locked eyes with Ashley, her bottom lip quivering. Fuck.
“It’s going to be okay.”
“Promise?” she whispered.
Going over to her again, he kissed her. “Promise.” Opening the door, he said over his shoulder, “Stay inside, and don’t turn the alarm off, no matter what.”
“Okay,” she replied in a shaky voice. “Be safe.”
“I will.”
Closing the door behind him, Smokey made his way to the foyer. He plugged in the security code, opened the door, and slowly closed it behind him as he stepped outside. Moving into the shadowy corner of the porch, he stared out into the darkness and the empty street. Nothing was amiss. The feeling that someone was out there didn’t ease, so he continued to scan the area, looking for any signs of movement.
Seconds turned into minutes, and Smokey hadn’t moved an inch. Then he heard it. A noise like someone crawling. It’s coming from the bushes near the garage. Fixing his gaze in that direction, he waited. The noise grew louder, more frenzied, and still he waited, not moving a muscle, focusing his attention on the cluster of bushes. Maybe it’s a racoon or a skunk. But his gut told him otherwise, and it never failed him.
The sound of crawling stopped, and every muscle in Smokey’s body tensed as adrenaline pumped through him. A tall man, dressed in black pants and a hoodie, slithered out of the bushes, and crouched down low as he moved toward the family room window. Smokey resisted the urge to tackle him, opting instead to see what the guy would do.
The man sprang up and lifted his arm to throw something at the window. Smokey guessed it was a rock, thus confirming his belief that this was the fucker who’d been tormenting his woman.
Quickly and silently, Smokey crept off the porch, like a cougar hunting its prey. When the culprit lifted his arm again, Smokey pounced, tackling the guy to the ground, his hard body pinning the screaming man down.
“Shut the fuck up,” Smokey gritted out. The last thing he wanted was a neighbor calling the fuckin’ badges. He had every intention of taking care of this bastard in his own way.
“Lemme go,” the man said.
Placing his elbow against the perpetrator’s neck, Smokey frisked him with his free hand. The only thing he found was a pocketful of stones. Smokey got to his feet, yanking the thin man up off the ground.
He buried a fist in the guy’s belly. “You fuckin’ asshole.”
The harasser doubled over, and Smokey kicked him in the jaw, sending him reeling backward.
“Fuck!” the man shouted as he landed on his back.
Smokey bent over and pulled him up, shaking him like a rag doll. “You fuckin’ sonofabitch. You’ve been harassing my woman.” He slammed his fist into the man’s face.
“Smokey, enough,” the man said weakly.
Caught off guard, he stopped the next blow mid-air. Hearing the douchebag say his name was like someone throwing a bucket of cold water over him.
Stepping back, he asked, “How the fuck do you know my name?”
The man wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket and pulled down the hood, revealing his face.
“AJ? What the fuck!” Smokey grabbed the front of his hoodie. “Come on!” He dragged the young man to the garage. “You’re gonna tell me what the fuck is going on, or I’ll give you a beating you’ll never forget.” Pushing the button on the spare opener Ashley had given him, Smokey pushed AJ inside.
Stumbling, he landed against the trunk of Ashley’s car, holding up his hands.
“Don’t hit me no more.” He glanced over at the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. “I didn’t see your bike out front. If I knew you were here …” He looked down at the ground, his voice trailing off.
“Start telling me shit I wanna know. Now.” Smokey took a step forward, causing the man to flinch.
“I didn’t wanna do any of this fucking shit, but I had to. I told her it was stupid and crazy, and when you started hooking up with”—he wiped his face again with his sleeve— “Ashley, I told Sabrina it was suicide to keep doing this shit.”
Smokey grunted. He knew she was behind the minute he recognized AJ. The dude was a pathetic pussy, hopelessly