by S. E. Smith
He closed his eyes as his hands slipped under the waistband of the thin, cotton pants he wore. He cleaned himself as thoroughly as he could before tossing the cloth against the bars in fury. Throwing his head back, he bit back the loud roar that threatened to escape him. He would not give the guards the satisfaction of knowing how violated he felt.
His eyes moved to the door when he heard the sound of footsteps outside it. The lights were off in the room, but the darkness did not bother his vision. Moving to the side of the cage so the thick corner sections of it partially concealed him, he waited as the sound of the lock disengaging echoed in the cold room. Perhaps he would get the chance to kill another one of the guards.
A cold smile curved his lips as the door opened and the light came on. His eyes narrowed when the door opened wider and he saw a slender figure backing into it. Long blonde hair, piled into a messy ponytail, hung down the back of what had to be a female. He couldn’t see her face, yet. She appeared to be trying to pull a large cart into the room.
Amusement and curiosity reluctantly tugged at his lips when a low, muttered curse escaped her when the cart became stuck in the opening. He watched as the figured straightened and groaned as her gloved hands moved to her lower back. She rubbed it as if she was in pain.
A tired sigh escaped her this time and she leaned forward to grab something off the cart. He stiffened until he realized that she had turned to the counter. His eyes followed her as she sprayed foam on the countertop before wiping it down. She did the same to the cabinets and sink.
A soft growl escaped him when she bent over and opened the trash can to pull the bag out. The movement pulled the black cloth trousers she was wearing tight over her ass. Merrick frowned in annoyance. First, because he didn’t understand why his body was reacting to the female with such an unexpected intensity. The second reason was because he knew she must have heard the sound that escaped him, but she continued to clean the room as if he wasn’t there.
He watched as she pulled a long stick out of a yellow bucket. She pressed the strings until most of the water was removed before she started cleaning the floor. A frown creased his brow when he noticed she still hadn’t turned around to look at the cage. The need to see what her face looked like was beginning to grow to an irritating, but persistent ache.
The frown darkened as she tiredly brushed her cheek against her shoulder. It was obvious from her demeanor that she either had no idea he was there, or she was pretending. He rattled the chain on his arm against the metal bar to draw her attention. His brow furrowed suspiciously when she still didn’t turn around.
It must be another test, he thought as the murderous rage he had felt earlier swept through him.
Dr. Rockman had tried to ‘research’ his mating habits once before. She had a drugged-up woman brought in two months ago at the previous place they kept him. The foul smelling female had taken one look at him, licked her lips, and run her eyes over him as if she had been given something sweet to eat.
The look of desire on her face hadn’t lasted long once he proved he wasn’t interested. Her screams and wretched cries for help had echoed once she came close enough for him to wrap his hands around her neck. He would never mate with such a female, no matter how desperate he might become.
He continued to follow the movements of the woman as she ran the mop from side to side. He tugged on the chains holding him. Frustration burned through him when he realized that he couldn’t reach through the bars far enough to grab her. She would have to actually be against them before he would be able to touch her.
All thoughts flew from his mind when she suddenly turned until she was facing him. A soft squeak escaped her and her eyes widened in shock when she saw that she wasn’t alone. Dark green eyes stared back at him in surprise before it was replaced with confusion as she noted the bars and the shackles around his wrists.
A low, menacing snarl escaped him when her eyes returned to his. His own glittering gaze captured and held hers for several long seconds as they both assessed the other. It took him half that time to realize that the feeling of rage had been replaced with another emotion. An emotion that he wasn’t quite sure how to describe.
He impatiently waited for her to speak. The frown marring his brow deepened when the silence dragged on as they continued to stare at each other. He finally released a frustrated grunt when she blinked in slow motion, as if she wasn’t sure if he was real or not.
Merrick watched the female’s face as a multitude of emotions swept over it. Surprise, confusion, uncertainty, and finally, curiosity glittered in the expressive green depths. Another jolt of unease ran through him as he felt himself being pulled into their brilliant depths. He tightly clenched the bars in aggravation knowing that he would never be able to reach the woman from this distance. His lip curled in warning as a figure suddenly appeared in the hallway behind her.
“Hey! What are you doing in here?” A voice demanded angrily behind her.
Merrick’s eyes flickered from her to the guard called Crawford before moving back to her. He watched as she turned to look at the man in confusion. Her eyes flickered back and forth between him and the guard. A low growl of warning escaped him when Crawford pulled the cart out of the doorway and caught the door before it could close.
The female stumbled backwards away from the guard when he pushed the door hard enough that it banged against the wall. Her foot caught in the tangled strands of the mop and she lost her balance, falling against the bars of his cage.
Triumph filled him as he wound his fingers into her hair, pulling her close enough for him to wrap the fingers of his other hand around her neck. The triumph quickly changed to surprise when an electrical shock flashed through his fingers the moment he touched her skin. It was so unexpected that he jerked back, releasing her.
“Damn it,” Crawford snapped, reaching out and grabbing the female by her forearm and jerking her away from the bars. “Get the fuck out of here!”
Merrick slammed into the bars at the woman’s cry of pain when the guard roughly pulled her away. He hit his fists against the bars again and flashed his teeth, which had elongated, at the guard when he continued to push her toward the door. An overwhelming need to capture and protect the female swept through him.
“Holy shit!” Crawford whispered, stumbling backwards after the woman who was staring at Merrick with a combination of horror, confusion, and fear. “They didn’t say nothing about you being a Vampire.”
Merrick’s eyes glowed with silver flames and he knew his face was distorted into a mask of rage as he stared at the woman who was holding her left hand protectively against her chest. Her eyes widened even more when she saw his eyes glowing with a fierce possessiveness at her before the contact between them was broken. Crawford jerked open the door and pushed the female through it before pulling it closed behind him.
Merrick struck the metal bars again. Stepping back, he stared at the door in disbelief and confusion. His eyes slowly lowered to his clenched fist while his mind swirled with a barrage of unexpected thoughts. Uncurling his fingers, he stared down at the delicate pattern forming in the center of his palm. The intricate patterns seemed to mock his earlier thoughts.
I have to escape, he thought with a growing determination as he clenched his fist and raised it to his chest. His eyes moved to the door. I have a mate.
Chapter 4
Addie stared at the guard with a combination of fear and confusion. She absently rubbed at her arm where he had grabbed her. She knew she would have bruises from his fingers.
She didn’t understand what had just happened or why there was a guy locked up in the exam room she was cleaning. Her eyes flickered to the door, then back to the guard. She stumbled backwards when he turned furiously on her and shook his head.
“You don’t go in there!” He ordered, pointing to the door in aggravation before he looked back at her. “You didn’t see anything, do you understand? Nothing! They will kill you if they knew you saw him.”
>
Addie’s eyes widened when he pointed his fingers at his eyes and shook his head vehemently at her. She slowly nodded her head. Raising a trembling finger to the corner of her eye, then down to her lips, she slowly shook her head.
*.*.*
Crawford released the breath he had been holding. He had caught a glimpse of the cart in the hallway video monitor and rushed downstairs. Fortunately, Josh had changed places with Ted for a scheduled break. Josh would have reported the incident immediately and shit would've hit the fan, or worse.
I would've been dealing with another dead body, he thought in growing aggravation.
Ted didn’t know what was going on. He just nodded when Bradley told him to stay put at the upstairs desk until he got back. Now, Bradley turned back to glare at the frightened green eyes staring at him. In the back of his mind, he knew he should report what he had seen, but he wouldn’t. Reporting that the new girl assigned to housekeeping had seen whatever in the hell the creature was in the other room would've opened a shitload of other questions.
This wasn’t what he had signed on for when he accepted the fucking job as a security guard. Drawing in a deep breath, he released it. Pulling a pen and a piece of paper out of his front shirt pocket, he quickly scribbled down a note for Addie.
He waited as she tentatively reached for it. Her eyes stayed locked with his for several long seconds before she dropped it to the paper in her hand. She frowned and bit her lip as she read the brief line.
Say nothing and you won’t get hurt. Understand?!
He nodded his head at the cart when she raised her head and looked at him again. A frown darkened his features when she jerked back against the wall as he reached out and snatched the paper out of her hand. He crumpled it up, scowling in frustration when she slid along the wall before hurrying to push the cart back down toward the elevators.
“I fucking hate this job,” he muttered as he followed her.
*.*.*
Addie breathed a sigh of relief as she pushed the door to the building open and exited it. She glanced over her shoulder where the guard from earlier stood watching her. He had followed her as she returned the cleaning cart to the janitorial closet before escorting her to the exit.
Focusing on her car, she hurried over to where it was parked. Her fingers were trembling so badly it took her three tries before she could press the unlock button on the remote. It was only when she was safely locked inside that she stopped to think about what she had seen.
It had been almost two-thirty in the morning when she went into the exam room. That had been the last level of the night that she needed to clean before she could go home. She had been so tired that she was running on autopilot. It had taken everything in her to just lift the mop. Since every other room had been empty, she had assumed that one would be as well.
Sighing again, she shook her head and started the engine. She didn’t understand what was going on. After the first moment of surprise, she had thought it was someone participating in a test group. She had just finished a class where several of the students had signed up to be in one study group or another to earn extra money. It might have made sense if Crawford hadn’t written that note. Say nothing and you won’t get hurt.
Why would anyone want to hurt her for what she had seen? The guy had been chained, as well as, caged. Why? Had she just imagined that his teeth had grown longer, like a Vampire? What was going on with his eyes, too? They had been a strange color and glowed?
This is not what I need right now in my life, Addie groaned to herself even as she waved her hand to Ted as he raised the gate for her. I just want to finish my degrees and open my own business.
Addie glanced back and forth before turning onto the deserted street. Biting her lip, she couldn’t help remembering the furious expression in the man’s eyes as he stared back at her. A shiver escaped her when she remembered the shock she had felt when he first touched her. Rubbing the palm of her left hand on the steering wheel cover, another shiver wracked her body at how sensitive it felt.
I hope life doesn’t get any crazier than this, she thought as she turned onto the freeway.
*.*.*
Forty minutes later, Addie pushed opened the door to her small, one bedroom apartment and tossed her car keys onto the narrow entrance table. Turning, she quickly locked the four deadbolts. Whoever had lived here before had been extremely paranoid. It was either that, or they had a lock fetish. Either way, she decided it wouldn't hurt to use them since they were available.
Ted had re-keyed all the locks for her the day she moved in. That was the good thing about having a Locksmith-slash-security guard as your next door neighbor, she decided. Addie kicked off her tennis shoes by the table and walked into the narrow sitting room.
She didn’t bother turning on a light. She always left the one over the stove on. Since the apartment was so small, that one light practically lit the entire thing. Opening the refrigerator, she rubbed her left palm along her pant leg as it itched again. She was thirsty, but didn’t want the water, orange juice, or milk on the shelf.
With a grunt, she reached into the door and grabbed the wine cooler that Pam had left last weekend. Tonight was a good night to have something with a little kick to it. Shutting the door, she turned and leaned against it while she used her shirt to twist off the metal cap.
The cold glass felt good against her itching palm. Raising it to her lips, she drank almost a quarter of the Strawberry Daiquiri flavored liquor. Lowering the bottle, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment.
“Why? Why do they have him chained? Who is he?” Addie whispered out loud.
Even though she couldn’t hear the words in her ears, knowing that she could still speak helped ward off the feeling of not being whole sometimes. One of her teachers at the School for the Deaf had shown her how to measure the volume by the force of air she expended in her diaphragm.
According to her teachers, the fact that she lost her hearing at sixteen helped with her understanding of speech patterns and enunciations, making it easier for her to speak in a clear voice. The fact that she didn’t speak often was because people tended to think she could hear them. Often times, they would turn away from her when they replied and she hated having to ask them to repeat themselves.
Opening her eyes, she pushed herself away from the refrigerator door and walked into the sitting room. She turned, and half fell-half lowered, herself onto the flowered sofa. Her eyes flickered to the street lights outside. The light looked as if it was dancing because of the wind and trees that lined the front of the apartment building. The nice thing about being on the third floor was that she didn’t have to close the blinds most of the time.
“Why?” She asked again, switching the wine cooler to her right hand so she could rub her palm against her leg again.
Addie growled in frustration when the itching got worse. Turning her palm up, she glanced down at it in irritation when the slight sensation of burning and itching continued. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed something in the middle of it. Setting the wine cooler on the coffee table, she leaned to the side and turned on the table lamp next to the couch.
Holding her palm under the light, she frowned when she saw a circular design in the center of it. Pushing herself up off the couch, she walked back into the kitchen and opened the drawer where she threw everything that she didn’t know what to do with. She pushed aside the manuals to the coffee maker, the scissors that she had been looking for the day before, and a variety of other items before she wrapped her fingers around the small magnifying glass in the back of it.
Closing the drawer, she returned to the couch and balanced her palm on the edge of the armrest. Using the magnify glass, she peered at the mark. Her lips parted in amazement when she saw that inside the circle were what looked like symbols of some sort.
“What the…?” She breathed, blinking to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
Frowning, she stood up again. This time, she he
aded for the tiny bathroom. Flicking on the light, she walked over to the pedestal sink and turned the water on. Grabbing the bar of soap and her fingernail brush, she began scrubbing at the mark on her hand.
The growl she emitted turned to a startled yelp and the soap and fingernail brush dropped with a rattle to the bottom of the sink when a voice suddenly resounded in her head. A voice that was definitely not hers! Staring up at the mirror in shock, Addie stared at her reflection. Dark green eyes, pale pink lips, a small nose covered with a light dusting of freckles, and a slightly dimpled chin framed by a mass of long, blonde hair gazed back at her.
What… What is a bond mate? She thought back to the voice.
You are my bond mate. It means you belong to me! Tell me your name, the distinctly male voice demanded.
Addie felt a sudden, strange light-headedness cloud her mind. The dizziness threatened to send her to her shaking knees. Gripping the edge of the sink, she sank down onto the toilet, thankful that the lid was down for once. Breathing deeply to keep from fainting, she forced her swirling mind to go blank.
*.*.*
Merrick leaned back on the bed in his narrow cell. The fatigue and anger that had consumed him for the past months still burned inside him, but so did another emotion. He stared at the palm of his hand with a sense of amazement and wonder. He had found his mate.
His eyes flickered to the door when it opened. The corner of his lip pulled up into a sneer. Crawford glanced at him and blanched. The man was nervous as he stepped into the room.
Merrick kept his eyes on the male as he closed the door. He didn’t get up off the bed. Instead, he waited to see what the male wanted. A low oath escaped Crawford and he stunk with fear.
“Listen…,” Crawford began before he stopped to clear his throat. “I know… I think… Hell, can you understand me?”