by S. E. Smith
There was no way she was going to let some guy claim her as his bond mate. She saw what happened when a man held power over a woman. No matter how much her mom tried, she had been too weak to leave her dad.
That weakness ended up killing her mom. Runt preferred being alone. Her eyes flickered to the lights as the elevator descended. Rubbing her itching left palm against her leg, she was good at two other things besides computer programming; running and hiding. It was time to disappear again, only this time it would have to be permanent.
Chapter 9
Addie shivered in the darkness. The two men had brought her down to a level she didn’t even know existed. The one she now recognized as Weston, had bound her hands in front of her with a sharp warning that if she resisted, he’d shoot her.
He had then proceeded to push her into the back of a van. She caught a brief glimpse of Merrick being loaded into a second van before the doors closed. Biting her lip, she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. She should have listened to Merrick. She shouldn’t have come into work tonight.
Guilt filled her at the selfish thought. No, it wouldn’t have been right to not have tried to help him. Still, his haunting words filled her with dread – Weston killed the guard – Crawford was dead and couldn’t help him now. What she didn’t understand was how they knew she was aware of what was going on? Surely Crawford wouldn’t have told them after he warned her to keep her mouth shut?
Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she leaned her head back against the metal side of the van. It had started to move slowly several minutes earlier. She had no idea where they were taking her or what they would do.
“Please, I don’t want to die,” she whispered in the darkness.
*.*.*
The next four hours blurred together in a mixture of exhaustion, terror, and worry. The van she was in arrived at another location. She was pulled from the back and shoved toward the back of a semi truck trailer. Turning her head, she saw an immaculately dressed woman in a tan pantsuit studying her with a cold look of disappointment.
“You think that he will want her?” The woman was saying to Weston.
“Markham seemed to think so,” Weston replied. “If not, he’ll kill her like he did the last bitch.”
Addie paled at Weston’s answer. Merrick had killed a woman? Addie felt sick that she had been about to help him escape before she remembered his promise not to hurt her. Still, what if he was lying.
Hell, it wasn’t like he would have said ‘Yeah, release me and I’ll kill you before I leave to return to my world.’
Maybe the woman had been trying to hurt him. Still, she wasn’t about to find out the hard way, if she could help it. She gulped in a deep breath as her eyes flashed toward the open doorway leading outside.
Panic gripped her in its steely embrace when the guard pushed her forward again. She started to turn away from where Weston, the woman, and Merrick were, but the guard behind her stepped in the way and forced her back around. Twisting the opposite direction, she pulled her knee up and struck the man in the stomach. The moment he bent over, she brought her tied hands down across the back of his head.
She didn’t bother looking behind her. Instead, she sprinted for the opened door. She only made it five steps before she stumbled and fell to her knees when she felt the stinging burn cut along her upper arm. Tears burned her eyes as she knelt on the floor with her head down.
A cry of pain burst from her lips when a thick hand pulled on her ponytail. She tried to grab the hand wound in her hair even as she rose unsteadily to her feet. The man holding her jerked her around and struck her hard across the right side of her face. It took everything inside Addie to lock her knees so that she wouldn’t sink back to the floor again.
“I warned you, if you tried anything I’d kill you,” Weston growled, pulling Addie’s head back so that she was forced to stare into his eyes.
“Wait!” The woman said when she heard an unearthly howl of rage. She turned to look at where the alien male was fighting savagely against the chains holding him. His eyes were glued to the blonde’s face. “Don’t kill her.”
“We don’t need this,” Weston retorted.
“You don’t, but I do,” Rockman replied in a calm, serious voice. “Put her in the cage with him in the back of the trailer.”
Addie whimpered when the man holding her pulled her across the warehouse floor. She wanted to struggle, but something told her if she did, it would be for the last time. Instead, she stumbled beside him. It took a moment for her to realize what they were going to do.
“Please… no,” she cried out in a husky voice.
She fell forward several steps as Weston released his grip on her hair and placed his hand between her shoulder blades and pushed her toward the cage. Her hands wrapped around the bars to keep from falling. Pure, undiluted terror poured through her when she saw Merrick’s face.
His eyes were glowing a dark silver with black flames in the center of them. His face was a mask of rage and his teeth… His teeth had lowered like they had the night before, only this time, she was seeing them up close and personal.
Merrick, she whimpered in fear. Please don’t kill me.
“Oh my,” Rockman whispered, studying the caged creature as if seeing him for the first time. “I have to have more time.”
“It won’t happen, Doc,” Weston muttered, staring in fascinated horror at the savage beast chained to the thick plate of steel that made up the back wall of the cage. “He is too fucking dangerous and he has made some pretty fucking powerful friends here.”
“Who?” Rockman asked, turning to stare at Weston. “Why do you think he has made any friends here on Earth?”
“Because Cosmos Raines is looking for him,” Markham stated, stepping out of the shadows. “I’ve just received word that Keiser has been shut down. Raines has his security going through the building with a fine tooth comb.”
“Raines…,” Rockman repeated. “He’s just a billionaire playboy.”
“He’s more than that,” Markham replied in a steely voice. “I’ve given you a new plaything to work with. I know what your plans are, Doctor Rockman. You better hope it works. You have four days to get your clone or they are both dead.”
Rockman raised an eyebrow at Markham before she smiled. Bowing her head in acknowledgement, she glanced at Weston’s stony face before turning to run her eyes over the back of Addie. It would appear at least one of the men weren’t as stupid as she thought.
“Put her in the cage with him,” Rockman ordered. “If she is still alive when we get to Reno, I’ll get my specimen one way or the other.”
Addie cried out and struggled as the door to the cage with Merrick in it was opened. With a hard shove, she screamed when she was pushed roughly forward. Strong arms closed around her body in a crushing grip and her face was pressed against heated skin.
She could feel the vibration in the metal of the cage as the door was slammed shut behind her. Fierce shivers of shock began rocking her body despite the heat surrounding her. Another whimper escaped her when the cage was lifted by a large forklift and slid into the back of the semi-trailer. A moment later, she was sealed in darkness as the doors to the trailer were closed and locked.
Addie, a soft voice pierced through her terror-filled mind. Hush, now.
“Please… Please don’t k… kill me,” Addie whispered into the darkness before a dim light came on to cast an eerie glow in their long, narrow prison. “I was going to help you. Please don’t kil…. kill me.”
*.*.*
Merrick rested his chin on the top of Addie’s head. It had taken almost an hour to get her to stop shaking. He wanted to check over her injuries, especially where he could see the blood on her arm. The problem was, every time he started to relax his hold on her, she would try to jerk away from him. So far, the only thing she had allowed him to help her with was breaking the plastic binding around her wrists.
Closing his eyes, he ran his fingers along her
cheek. After twenty minutes of holding her, she had begun to wilt in his arms. He had carefully lowered them both down to the cold floor of the metal box. It took him another ten minutes of holding her tightly on his lap away from the cold before she finally relaxed against his chest.
I will keep you safe, Addie, he murmured over and over. I will do anything to keep you safe.
“You won’t… hurt me like that man said you did the other woman?” She asked in a small, tentative whisper.
“Never,” he promised. Never, my bond mate.
“I told you not to call me that,” she reminded him before releasing a tired sigh. I’m so tired.
Sleep. I will watch over you, Merrick pushed soothingly.
I’m sorry I didn’t help you get free, Addie thought back. I… Oh!
Relax, Addie, Merrick whispered when he felt her pulling away.
“No, you have to let me go,” she replied excitedly. “I forgot! I have my cell phone! In my bra!”
“You have a communication device?” He asked startled.
He felt Addie nod. A wave of regret pulled at him when she reluctantly moved away from his warmth. Reaching up, he watched when she felt around inside her bra. A shaft of need burned through him when he felt the heat in her cheeks when he slid his fingers inside her blouse next to hers.
“Stop that!” She said furiously, smacking at his hand. “I can get it out by myself.”
“Where is the fun in that?” Merrick chuckled.
Addie’s head came up so fast at his teasing that it collided with his chin. They both muttered a silent curse, he in his language and she in hers, at the contact. For some reason, that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Her eyes widened briefly as she gazed up at him.
A surprised giggle escaped her at the unexpected teasing. The giggle turned to a soft gasp when he suddenly groaned. His right hand rose to tangle in her hair while his left gripped her side to prevent her from moving away from him.
“Merrick,” Addie whispered in uncertainty.
“Yes, my Addie,” he replied, slowly pulling her closer to him.
“I’m not…” Her voice died as his lips closed over hers.
Strange emotions rose up and crashed over him as he held her still. He tilted his head and coaxed her to open for him. He had seen part of a vidcom of J’kar’s mate, Tink, doing this to him. Since then, he couldn’t get the thought of what it would feel like out of his mind.
To have a female respond, on her own, without the use of the chemical from a male’s bite, would be unheard of. Prime females needed the chemical her male released into her blood to become sexually aroused. Without the chemical, her body would not release the pheromones needed for reproduction.
Life had been lonely for him and the other males of their clan. The females of mating age in his clan had all been claimed. Most of his people seldom left the Eastern Mountains except when it was time to participate in the shrinking mating ceremony. Those that returned without a mate faced a lonely existence.
Merrick started when he felt the tentative touch of Addie’s tongue against his. Opening further for her, a low groan of need echoed as he followed her slow dance. The feeling of being one, whole, for the first time in his life set a wave of need through him. This is what it meant to have someone of his own.
Her hand slid over his shoulder to tangle in his hair. Her lips moved more frantically against his and she turned until she was facing him. Her other hand started to move up his chest before she pulled back with a sharp cry of pain.
“Addie.” A curse escaped him that he had forgotten to check her injuries. “Show me where you are hurt.” Let me look at your injuries.
Addie bit her lip, refusing to look back up at him. My arm is what hurts the most, she admitted.
Merrick didn’t reply. He scooted her off his lap so he could see her right arm better. Taking it carefully in his hand, he pushed the thin jacket off her shoulder. She was wearing a short sleeved dark blue shirt. He pushed up the sleeve far enough to see the damage.
A red mark, about an eighth of an inch wide and almost half an inch long ran across her upper forearm. It had stopped bleeding, but looked painful. Bending, he ripped a portion of his shirt from the bottom of it. He was gentle as he carefully wrapped it around her arm.
“I will kill him,” he muttered under his breath.
He turned in surprise when Addie touched his chin. A frown darkened his brow when she looked at him in frustration. She touched his lips, then pointed to her eyes before tapping her forehead.
“You have to look at me when you speak. Or, you must think what you are saying to me, for me to understand you,” she said in a husky voice.
“Why?” Merrick asked in a puzzled voice.
“I can’t understand what you are saying otherwise,” she explained. “I need to see how your mouth shapes the words or when you talk to me in my head to know when you are trying to ask or tell me something.”
“This is not the case for all humans. Cosmos often had his back to me or others when he was communicating with them,” he commented.
“He is not deaf, I am,” Addie replied, studying his lips.
“Deaf?” Merrick replied in shock.
Addie nodded. “I lost my hearing after an illness when I was sixteen,” she explained. “I have to tell you, hearing you in my head after being alone for so long is a little freaky.”
It took a moment for him to understand what the word ‘freaky’ meant. She seemed to understand his confusion because she used the index finger of her left hand to make a series of circles at her temple, crossed her eyes, and stuck her tongue out. A low chuckle escaped him until he saw her wince and touch her cheek.
I will kill him for hurting you, he said, brushing her fingers aside so he could look closer at the bruise forming.
You can’t kill people, she replied before going very quiet. Is it true… that you killed a woman?
Merrick’s fingers paused against her cheek. He hated the uncertainty and slight tremble of fear that flashed in her eyes. Releasing a sigh, he shook his head.
No, I did not kill her, but Weston did, Merrick said. Doctor Rockman wished for me to mate with her.
“Mate! As in have….” A deep blush rose in her cheeks.
He nodded grimly. “I refused,” he stated.
“Oh! Why?” She asked.
Merrick grunted and sat back against the bars. His eyebrow rose at her question before he sought the words to explain. His eyes followed her as she gingerly pulled her jacket back over her wounded arm.
“I did not find the female attractive,” he stated bluntly. “She smelled.”
Another blush rose over Addie’s cheeks as she watched his mouth while hearing his words in her head. At first he thought of just speaking to her silently, but he liked that she watched him. Knowing that she could not hear, answered several of the questions he had last night.
Her surprise when she turned to see him even though he had made noise and her silence when he waited for her to speak now made sense. The fact that she was not a part of Doctor Rockman, Weston, or Markham’s group was a relief. He felt a moment of regret for the guard who had tried to help him. Before he left this world, he would keep his promise to help Crawford’s mate.
“I didn’t mean that!” Addie muttered in a low voice. “I meant why would they say you killed her when you didn’t?”
Merrick’s eyes lit up in amusement. “I might have frightened her… a little,” he admitted.
“What do you mean by ‘a little’?” She asked in suspicion.
“The female lost consciousness when I wrapped my hands around her neck,” he reluctantly confessed. “I rendered her unconscious. When Weston ordered the guard to remove her, I did not expect him to kill her.”
“Oh God,” Addie whispered, wrapping her arms around her waist. She jerked when she felt the bump from her cell phone. “Damn it! I have a way to save us and I’m such a dope, I keep forgetting! I swear I’m too stup
id to live sometimes.”
“Never!” Merrick interjected. “You should not say such things.”
Addie glanced up and rolled her eyes before focusing on the phone again. She needed to know who to call. Shaking her head, she glanced back at Merrick.
“You said you knew how to contact your friends to come help you,” she murmured in a husky voice. “What is their number?”
Merrick looked at Addie’s pale cheeks and strained expression. Regret burned through him that she was in such danger. Rising from where he was sitting, he moved to sit next to her.
“Cosmos said to call this series of numbers and someone would come,” Merrick replied.
He watched as Addie carefully punched in the numbers he had memorized. She bit her lip and held the device up. He rose, helping her to her feet, and watched as she walked around the small cage. It took a moment before she turned back to look at him. Tears of frustration burned in her eyes as she stared at him in dismay.
“There is no signal,” she whispered.
Chapter 10
Merrick’s head jerked up several hours later when he felt the transport slowing down. He didn’t wake Addie. She had fallen into an uneasy sleep a little over an hour before, and he could feel her exhaustion.
A low rumble of warning escaped him when the doors to the back of the trailer opened several minutes later. His arms tightened instinctively around Addie when she stirred. He hugged her closer to his body when he saw Weston.
“Looks like Markham was right again,” Weston commented with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, he was, wasn’t he?” Rockman replied with a satisfied smile. “Have them delivered to the lab.”
“Yes, ma’am,” one of the guards responded.
*.*.*
“Merrick?” Addie whispered in a husky voice as she blinked sleepily up at him. “Where are we?”
I am not sure, he replied. They will be moving us. I will not let them take you away from me, Addie.
Addie struggled to sit up as his words sunk into her tired brain. She rubbed her eyes, ignoring the fact that she was still sitting on his lap. Fear began building inside her when she saw the forklift heading toward them.