by Lora Leigh
Tanner are keeping track of them and they’re working on the doors now.”
Merinus hurriedly took her boots off, jerked her shorts over her legs, then her T-shirt over her head. As she struggled to put the boots back on then, she glanced up. Only then did she see the small earphone and mic that he had over his head. He talked quietly into it for a second as he loaded another box into the jeep.
“What about Dayan?” Sherra questioned him as Merinus jerked on the pants and pulled her boots back on.
“Out of contact.” Callan’s voice was hard, cold.
“He ran again?” Sherra questioned in amazement, anger pulsing in her voice. Evidently it wasn’t unusual for Dayan to be out of the line of fire when trouble arose.
“Packed.” Callan ignored her question. “Sherra, you and Dawn get the doc the hell out of here. Get to the safe house and wait for me there. You know what to do if you don’t hear from me.” Merinus felt fear crawling through her body. What would they do? What about Kane? Sherra was supposed to meet with them that morning, she knew.
“You promised Sherra would meet Kane.” She stared across the room at Callan’s cold expression.
“And we weren’t attacked until I talked to that cutthroat brother of yours,” he bit out. “Until I know if he’s the one who betrayed us, then he can cool his heels where he’s at. This isn’t a team, Merinus, like before. This is a full assault, over a dozen soldiers. They aren’t taking chances this time.” Merinus shook her head at the accusation in his tone.
“Kane didn’t do it. He didn’t know where we were.”
“Kane is a soldier, Merinus,” he growled. “He could have had a trace on that fucking cell and pinpointed us within minutes. Had I not been so concerned with your worry and fears, I would have thought of that.
I’ve risked us all with my own ignorance.”
Merinus bit her lip as he strode quickly to her, pulling a large backpack over his shoulders and carrying the smaller on his shoulder.
“We have to go.” He grabbed her wrist, pulling her along behind him as Sherra and the doctor rushed to the jeep. “Hopefully, the soldiers will see the signs of the jeep and follow it as far as they can. Sherra and the doctor will have no problems when they emerge outside, because the area is heavily used by hunters and the road into here is unknown. There’s a smaller, hidden corridor on up here that takes us out into the mountains.”
“How will that help us?” She fought to keep up with him as he rushed through the narrowing tunnel that led through the mountain they were currently in.
“Because I know the fucking area and they don’t,” he bit out. “We’re not safe anywhere else, Merinus.
Only here.”
“Call Kane,” she gasped when he pulled her into a shadowed crevice.
He pushed a large rock out of the way, drew her into the dark corridor, then rolled it closed once again.
Seconds later, a small beam of light lit the way.
Merinus could feel nerves and panic washing over her. Callan thought Kane had betrayed him, she knew he did, and she couldn’t think of a way to convince him otherwise. She knew her brother would have never, ever put her in a position that could get her seriously hurt. Bruised a little, but never hurt.
“Maybe it wasn’t soldiers.” She struggled for breath as he loped along the narrow passageway, pulling her behind him, forcing her to keep up. “Maybe it was Kane and my brothers.”
“Then they came in the wrong way,” he bit out. “Whoever was out there was packing weapons, Merinus, and plenty of them. It was the first thing I smelled. They were outside our bedroom window right before I woke you. If it were your brothers, they should have fucking knocked. And Taber would have recognized your family.”
“Kane wouldn’t try to hurt you,” she argued.
“Dammit, Merinus, the bastard has enough sense to know that an animal is fucking his baby sister. He was furious on the phone. If it were me, I would have already killed him.” She flushed at the knowledge. Of course Kane would know, but still, she couldn’t see him rushing in and doing anything so impulsive without assessing the situation first. It just wasn’t like him. But she didn’t have the breath to argue further with him. He was moving them quickly through the passageway, his steps silent as she fought to keep her own movements just as quiet. Her boots were soft-soled, but still there was a shuffle, a scrape of leather over stone that seemed to echo around her.
It seemed they strode though endless miles of weathered stone before he slowed the fast walk they were in. He began to move slower, easing her through the corridor, his head tilted as he listened carefully.
“We’re getting ready to move out of the tunnel. I want you to stay quiet, Merinus and stay right behind me,” he warned her as he stopped and laid his mouth at her ear to speak. “No matter what I tell you to do, you do it, and do it quickly. Do you understand?”
His voice was quiet again, that throb of savagery in it making her heart beat out of control. She nodded her head quickly as he glanced back at her. His eyes glittered in the darkness, a dull gold, furious, cold.
He extinguished the penlight and eased around a corner, moving silently toward the dim light ahead. He stilled, his fingers going to her lips as his head tilted, listening intently. He pushed her against the wall, indicating she should stay there, stay silent.
He was going on without her. Merinus shook her head violently, her fingers gripping his arms. Then she heard a sound, a shuffle of feet, a light scrape against stone. Her eyes widened, terror flooding through her. Callan’s eyes narrowed as he pushed her tighter into the stone, a warning in his expression as he pulled the gun from his belt and began to move away from her.
Merinus took a deep, silent breath. She fought to keep her breathing normal, her heart rate slower. She couldn’t hear anything past the desperate drum of blood rushing through her body. She was terrified. Her own fear was like a separate entity choking her, strangling the breath in her throat as Callan moved silently away from her. She watched his face, seeing the cold threat in his expression. This wasn’t the lover she had known in the past days, or the teasing, elusive prey she had stalked the weeks before.
Callan was now the creature those damned scientists had created. Cold, hard, his body primed and ready to fight.
Stay! He mouthed silently.
She nodded, unwilling to worry him. Kane had warned her many times of the danger of a soldier allowing his concentration to fracture under fire. He had to be able to fight without the baggage of internal or emotional conflict. She pressed herself tighter against the stone, watching him desperately, praying he knew she would stay put as he warned her to.
He smiled softly, approvingly, then disappeared from sight as a tear fell from her eye.
* * * * *
Callan could smell them despite the camouflaging scent they stupidly thought would mask their presence from him. There was no way to hide the stink of sweat and the desire to kill. They were good, he gave them that. Had it not been for the smell, he would have never known they were there before he heard the shuffle of feet. And that would have been masked by his own rush through the corridor. The men sent after him were well trained and determined. A hazard. Taber and Tanner were still on the other side of the caves ensuring Sherra and Doc Martin’s escape.
There would be no help there. Only God knew where Dayan was. As usual, he had disappeared when trouble came calling. There were three of the soldiers waiting for him in the small cave where the corridor emptied out. The good thing was that they seemed to think they would hear him in time to react. They weren’t hidden, rather in plain sight.
Callan slid a hunting knife from the sheath at his thigh, palmed it carefully, then stepped into view. The weapon went flying into the shoulder of the man whose weapon came up first. He dropped to the ground as Callan turned his gun on the other two, another knife whipping from sheath to hand and flying to the arm of another.
“I don’t want to kill you bastards, but I will,” h
e announced softly, his gun trained on the injured, more than surprised soldiers. He looked to the last one left standing, watching coldly as the man held his hands carefully at shoulder height.
“We’re not here to kill you, Lyons. We just want the girl.” The surprising statement had Callan growling low, dangerous.
“Why would you want the girl?” he asked him softly.
The soldier shrugged. “Council orders. They didn’t give a shit about you on this one.” Could the Council know? How could they have known unless Kane had relayed the call to them?
“Throw me the restraints.” Callan indicated the plastic ties the soldier carried in his belt.
He moved carefully. Callan saw the bunch of his muscles, the intent in his eyes. He pulled the last knife, aiming it as the soldier stilled.
“The next bastard who tries gets it in the heart,” he warned them. “Now do as I said, real damn careful.” The restraints landed at his feet. He threw two back to the standing soldier.
“Take care of your buddies.” He watched impassively as the ties were placed over the soldiers’ wrists then jerked tight, but not tight enough to restrict blood flow. “Sit down. Hands behind your back.” Callan waved the gun at him, indicating the floor.
They sighed and did as he ordered.
“Why do they want the girl?” He repeated the question as he restrained the soldier, then placed the straps on the feet of all three men. “And answer me this time or you’ll shed blood, too.” He could hear the gnash of teeth. They had been taken out efficiently, easily. It wouldn’t look good on their records.
“All I have are the orders.” The soldier shrugged, his weather beaten face resigned. “We don’t know why they want her. Just that she’s your woman, and they now consider her Council property.” Rage burned in Callan’s stomach. Council property. Disposable merchandise. If they knew Merinus was his woman then her life was in more danger than his was at the moment. He moved around the men, pulling lethal knives from hidden sheaths and boot straps. Little daggers came from under shirt collars and shoved in sheaths beneath shirtsleeves. There were a million places to hide a weapon and he could only hope he found those the soldiers carried.
“When did the order go through?” Callan asked him, his voice hard.
“Late last night. We were rushed in on a Council jet and brought here.”
“Where were you rushed from?”
The soldiers grunted. “Now, Callan, you know better than that shit.” They wouldn’t tell, they never did.
“You made a mistake.”
“Naw, you did when you killed the last team,” the soldier told him quietly. “They reported your rescue of the girl, when they showed up dead, you proved she was more than just a nosy journalist. You should have known better, man.”
Callan took a deep breath. He didn’t know this soldier, but he was like all those he had known. They knew what he was, who created him. They knew the main goal was capture, but the Council would accept his death if there was no other way. And now, they knew about Merinus.
“Tell the Council and your buddies, playtime is over,” Callan told him quietly as he moved back to the corridor entrance. “I won’t be playing anymore. I’ll be killing.” He paused, listening carefully. He could smell Merinus’ fear, and the beginning lust in her body. Damn, he wasn’t moving fast enough. He had to get her to safety, fast.
“Merinus,” he called out to her softly.
She rushed to him, her hands reaching out to the broad palm he extended to her. He wrapped his arm around her, watching the soldier carefully. The man’s eyes went immediately to the mark on Merinus’
neck.
“Shit, you mated her.” The soldier shook his head as he watched Callan wrap his arm around her body, censure lining his voice. “You may as well kill her now, man. She’ll never survive the tests those bastards force on her when they catch her.”
Callan felt Merinus jerk in fear.
“Shh, say nothing,” he warned her, his breath at her ear. “Let’s get out of here.” He moved her through the cavern, careful to skirt around the soldiers. They were well trained and still more than dangerous, even restrained. If they got their hands on Merinus, they could easily use her to force his compliance in any area and he knew it.
Dawn was barely peeking over the ridge as he moved her through the forest. The soft chirps of morning, the sounds of animals awakening, feeding, moving about freely assured him that the danger had yet to stalk them too close. He had to get her out of the area and to the jeep he kept carefully hidden. Even the others had no idea of some of the safeguards he had in place. That jeep, carefully hidden and packed for emergencies, would get them far enough away for him to ensure Merinus’ safety and to pay her brother back for his betrayal of her.
He had to get her to one of the safe houses though. Already her body was heating, needing his, just as he was beginning to need her. Even in the danger of the moment, he could feel his need for her pulsing in his blood.
“How did they know about the mating?” she questioned him as they moved through the thick growth of forest, following what appeared to be little more than an animal trail.
“My ignorance,” he bit out. His mistakes were going to end up costing him the life of the woman who was beginning to mean everything to him.
“You didn’t do anything,” she argued breathlessly, but she still kept up with his fast pace. He had to get her as far from the damned cavern as possible before those soldiers got free and managed to call their buddies.
“The mark on your neck, the fact that I touched you. Pulled you into my arms,” he bit out. “I rarely touch, and only during the actual fuck do I embrace a woman. They know this. The soldiers know everything about my DNA, my training, my habits. I gave us away.” He was filled with self-disgust and impotent anger. He had made his first mistake in killing the soldiers.
He had never gone searching for them, and only killed when given no other choice. He should have known the bastards had reported Merinus and her probing questions to the Council. He should have thought, dammit, rather than letting fury guide his actions. The animalistic urge to protect and shelter, to retaliate against any danger to his woman had rode him hard, even then. It was getting worse. It had been all he could do to keep from killing those men in the cave. Only his knowledge of Merinus’ reaction to it had swayed him from doing it. Her emotional connection to him wouldn’t have survived the bloodshed.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Sherra stood silently in the shadows of the motel, watching carefully, her eyes narrowed as the nine men parted company and went to their respective rooms. They were furious, but one was coldly dangerous.
She had watched them at the airport after dropping Doc off at the safe house, then followed them to Sandy Hook and watched as they checked in.
Kane didn’t remind her of Merinus in any way. He was darker haired, the color nearly black, with intense, cold blue eyes. His strong jaw and high cheekbones gave a hint to Native American ancestry, his hard, graceful body hinted at extensive military training. She knew the look, the way a killer moved. She had grown up among them, been raped by them more than once. But this one, she knew personally.
This man had brought her pleasure. Despite her pleas, despite her wishes to the contrary, he had taken her beneath the unfeeling eye of a camera, riding her from one climax to the next, his lust fueled by hers, and hers by his touch.
Had it only been seven years ago? Sweet heaven, that night tormented her, even now, as though it had happened only yesterday. The dark soldier who had sworn to help her, to rescue her. He had come to her, holding freedom in one hand, her heart in the other, and spent the night teaching her the pleasures of her woman’s body. When he left, he never returned. But the doctors had. With the video, snickering, jeering at the things Kane Tyler had done to her, that she had done to him, all in the name of science.
Rape had not impregnated her. They had wondered if pleasure would.
Her hands clenched int
o fists of rage as he lingered outside his room, lazily finishing a cigarette he had lit moments earlier. She wanted to kill him now. She had sworn she would kill him if she ever found him again. Sworn she would see to it that he paid for every moment of pain she suffered all those years ago.
She had sworn he would pay for lying to her, and for doing it so easily without her knowledge. He had betrayed her, just as he had betrayed his sister.
His expression hardened when the last door finally closed and he was left alone with her.
“Where’s Merinus?” His voice was savage, pulsating with a fury that sent a fission of unease down her body. “And why the fuck weren’t we met at the airport as promised.”
“I have a better question,” she said from the safety of the shadows. “Why would a brother betray a sister he swears to love on the eve of promised help?”
He turned around slowly, casually, until he was facing her. She saw hard purpose in his face, and surprise.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“A full team of soldiers swept over Callan’s house. A dozen men. All I know for sure is that they didn’t get him or Merinus. But I know they want her. They know about her.”
“Know what, for God’s sake?” He raked his fingers through his hair, his voice quiet but rough with fury.
“Why the hell would they attack now?”
“They know your sister has mated with Callan,” she told him carefully. “Just as you knew.” Or had he? She watched his face pale alarmingly, his blue eyes widening.
“That bastard touched her?” he bit out.
“No,” she drawled mockingly. “He mated with her. Surely you remember the concept? And now the Council no longer cares if they take him alive or dead. They want the woman and any child she carries.
But you already knew that, didn’t you, Mr. Tyler? Why else would they attack mere hours after talking to you?”
He shook his head slowly.
“I never betrayed my sister. I wouldn’t.” His voice sent a chill over her spine.
Sherra frowned.
“I came to kill you, Kane Tyler,” she said carefully.
He didn’t seem surprised now. His mouth edged with mockery.
“Perhaps you could delay that little attempt long enough for me to save my sister’s ass,” he bit out.
“What the hell is this mating shit?”
“Later,” she bit out. “Now is not the time for explanations. Now is the time for you to tell me how the Council learned of the mating, if Merinus didn’t tell you of it.” And Sherra was nearly certain he hadn’t known. He was a liar, but in this one instance, he was telling the truth. Her gifts had grown through the years, with maturity and desperation. She could now smell a lie as others could diseased trash.
“Who are you?” His voice sizzled. “And you’re going to have to be a little more forthcoming than you are, woman. I can’t help Merinus or Callan with so little information.” Taking a deep breath, Sherra stepped from the shadows. She watched his eyes widen, saw the suspicion turn to knowledge.
“You weren’t killed,” he whispered, blinking, trying to assure himself she was there.
Bitterness filled her with a wave of pain so intense, she threatened to drown beneath it.
“No, lover, I wasn’t killed. But that doesn’t mean you have much longer to live.” And Sherra faced her past as she never had before. Nightmares and broken hopes fragmented around her, drawing her soul into a bleak, dark void she feared she could never escape. She felt the surging lust, the need, just as Callan and Merinus knew it, thundering through her blood, through her very being.
Before her stood the man who had betrayed her years before. In a bleak, cold lab, his body laboring over her, throwing her into pleasure despite every barrier she put up against it. Her mate. The father of the child she had lost. The one man she had sworn to kill.
* * * * *
It was dark before Callan made it to the hidden jeep. The precautions he insisted on taking and the rough terrain they were going through had turned a half-day’s hike into a full day’s. He pushed Merinus into it, cranked the engine with a prayer, then a sigh of relief when it turned over easily. Pulling out of the small, deserted shed at the edge of a logging camp he started down the road at an easy pace. Merinus was lying in the back seat, tired, drained from the run and the drugged lust raging through her body. Callan had quickly replaced his camouflaged T-shirt with a plain white cotton shirt. His hair was pushed beneath a baseball cap, and his gun lay in easy reach. The drive to the next town wasn’t far and if he stayed on the main road, well away from the paths he was known to take, then he might get out of this relatively unscathed.
His safe house was tucked away several hours from his home. On the edge of a large town, unassuming, with only a few neighbors and it was fully stocked. He could hide there long enough to figure out what the hell had happened.
He pulled into the garage hours later, sighing wearily as the garage door closed automatically behind them. Merinus had slipped into a restless sleep earlier. She whimpered occasionally, shifted around, but the weariness dragging at her body had been too much.
“Are we there?” She rose slowly from the seat, her voice drowsy, aroused. God, he wanted her.
She was ready for him, her body wet for him. He took a steadying breath. He had to get her in the house first.
“Come on.” He jumped from the jeep then helped her out, lifting her carefully into his arms and stalking to the door.
“I can walk,” she protested, but she pressed herself closer, her mouth finding the warm skin of his neck as he fit the key into the lock.
“And I can carry you,” he told her, feeling something in his chest tighten as he held her close.
The house was dark, silent. He flipped on low lights as he walked into the kitchen, inhaling carefully to be certain no surprises awaited. All he detected was the closed scent of the house and hot, wet woman.
“Hungry?” He stepped into the living room, placing her on the couch as he stepped back.
She raked her fingers through her hair as she stared up at him.
“Yeah. And a shower. I need a shower bad,” she sighed. “Where are we?”
“Other side of Ashland,” he told her quietly. “Come on, I’ll show you where the shower’s at so you can bathe. I’ll use the other one and get dinner together when I’m finished. It won’t take long.” He led her to the master bedroom. The heavy wood furniture and spotless appearance gave it an impersonal feel. He never cared much for the place, but the very fact that it was the opposite of what he would have personally chosen made it that much safer.
“Go on.” He nodded to the large master bath and its garden tub. “I’ll lay a shirt out for you to wear. I’ll use the other bathroom.”
She turned to him, her eyes heavy lidded, weariness dragging at her, and she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. He lifted his hand to smooth his fingers over her cheek, staring down at her, longing for her. Only the fact that she was worn to the bone, tired and hungry, kept him from putting her on that big, unused bed and pounding into her.
She pressed her cheek to his fingers, a smile lifting the corners of that pouting mouth.”
“Take your time.” Callan bent to her, his lips whispering over hers in a gentle kiss. “I’ll go ahead and start supper after my shower. I’ll come up for you when it’s done.”
“I love you, Callan.”
His heart broke. He felt it shatter, the pieces slamming into his soul as she stared up at him, her eyes slumberous, her body filled with need, her life in more danger than she could know, and still