Page 91 of Caged Hunger

The body beneath him slowly lost strength. Each powerful punch met less and less resistance.

“Basher! No!” Cameron’s sobbing voice cut through the piercing ringing in Basher’s ears. The pain and torment in the young man’s voice cut through him like a shard of glass.

He immediately stopped.

“Basher!” Warm, soft hands gripped his angry face, causing him to pull focus.

Soft blue eyes locked onto his.

“Basher. Come back to me. Please.”

The rage was still there, burning hot beneath his skin, but Basher clung to the sound of Cameron's voice.

It drifted through the chaos like a lifeline.

Sweet. Calm. Safe.

Listening to his voice felt like being wrapped in a warm, comforting blanket, shielding him from everything else threatening to tear him apart.

The compassion, the love, all of it.

Basher’s breathing slowly returned. His eyes remained on Cameron’s as his heart rate began to return to normal.

“Cam?”

Cameron’s eyes watered as he wrapped his arms around Basher’s neck.

“Yes, it’s me. Please stop. I don’t want you to kill him. Please. I love you.”

Realization set in.

Basher was suddenly aware of the man struggling to breathe just beneath him.

He had two choices: He could ignore his lover’s plea and finish ending this miserable man’s life, or he could turn this man in and let the authorities handle administering justice.

“Please,” Cameron whispered into his ear.

There was no question about it. Basher would always do whatever it was that Cameron desired.

He wrapped his arms around Cameron and lifted him as he stood and stepped away from Romeo’s body.

The desperate wheezing coming from the man’s throat told Basher he was no longer a threat… and probably only had a limited amount of time to seek medical attention.

Taking Cameron’s face in his hands, he locked eyes with Cameron. “I’ll always do whatever you say. You own me. I’m yours, now and forever.”

Basher leaned forward and took Cameron’s lips in his. They kissed long and deep, committing to each other a life of love and devotion.

This was what he wanted—a love so deep you felt it in your bones. Cameron was Basher’s life, his water and his oxygen.

Without him, he had no chance of surviving.

“Holy shit, dude!” Blade’s voice cut through their fairy-tale romance story. “Did you fucking kill him?”

“What? No. He’s still fucking alive,” Ace answered, pulling up next to them. “But he isn’t going to be winning any beauty pageants anytime soon.”

“Not bad, but you’re bleeding too much,” Nikolai said in a thick Russian accent.

“Oh shit!” Cameron shouted, quickly pushing himself off Basher and nearly knocking his weak ass over. “You’ve been shot! Like, a lot!”