Above the Law

Chapter Sixteen

Another month had come and gone, the bodies were piling up and the manhunt for the man in the mask was becoming more frantic. Parker and Eden spent the better half of each week together training endlessly, and on the nights they weren't practicing they were picking their next victim. Forty-six predators had had Parker's machete pierced through their chests. Eden had helped with twelve, and though she wasn't counting the first three, Parker was.

The faces and names haunted Eden's nights. She dreamed Parker never came to save her, that the worst happened. That she was raped, then left to die in an alley. She dreamt of killing these men—these monsters. She dreamed of Parker's blade piercing through her own chest. That was what every one of their conversations now felt like, she felt as though he was slowly ripping her apart. She wanted him, she did. Each training session made her long to touch him in a physical way, but not the physical way they were used to. Not training. No blood noses and no dark bruises. She wanted gentle touches and kisses, she wanted his skin on hers. She dreamt of those the most. But life leaned more towards nightmares than dreams.

He was grinning down at her as she panted for breath. He held out his large, rough hand for her to take. She gripped it tightly and he pulled her to her feet. "I'm impressed."

"Why? Because you've never gotten a girl on her back this many times in a row?" Hair that had fallen out of her ponytail during her workout now clung to her sweaty face. And despite the exhaustion that plagued her body, Parker was starting to witness a lightness in her features that he hadn't noticed four months prior. He liked it.

He fought his mind from going to an erotic place where he could vividly see Eden under him, moaning. "No. I'm impressed that you know what attack I'm going to do before I do it."

"Lot of good that does, I still end up on my back."

"Yeah, well, I have that effect on woman." The second he said it he regretted it.

Anger and jealously gnawed at her insides. She ducked her head and stalked over to her water bottle, opening it rougher than necessary. She took a long drink then turned back to Parker, eyes cold.

"I was joking, Eden," Parker said softly.

She stared at him for a long moment. Of course he was joking. Because he felt comfortable joking about sex. Because sex wasn't a big deal to him, he was a man. Not many people could easily rape an adult male. No one slut-shammed a man for having sex. But what really made her mad was the fact that he even brought up other women. Eden liked him a lot, she didn't want to hear about his sexual escapades. Even if she kept turning down his dinner invitation, she didn't want to think about him with other women.

"Eden... that was a stupid thing to say. I know that and I'm sorry."

She ignored him and motioned for the mat. "Again?"

Parker's jaw clenched and he checked his watch, then shook his head. They still needed to go over tomorrow's plan of action to take down Date Rape Danny. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be? I need the training."

He stared at her for a moment, frowning. "No. Just... you should be focusing on school. I'm already keeping you later than I should."

She folded her arms over her chest. He sounded like a concerned parent, not a mass murderer. She only had a month of school left, anyways and although her grades were slowly becoming less than substantial, her P.E. grade had gone up and so had her social statues after the incident in the hallway with Mike and his friend. School wasn't her top priority, there were worse things in life than getting a D on her history exam. "I don't care about school, or a higher education. I care about being able to protect Lily."