by S. E. Smith
You aren’t the one who did it, the others are, she reminded him with a crooked grin. But, since you’re feeling so guilty about it, I’ll let you figure out how to get us out of this in one piece, okay?
It took Merrick a moment to understand that she was teasing him. A low, rusty laugh escaped him and he shook his head in wonder. Yet again, Addie was proving to be a surprise.
“You are a beautiful mate,” Merrick murmured, stroking her bruised lip with his thumb.
Another smile tugged at his lips when she rolled her eyes and looked at him in disapproval. He could hear her automatic denial, just as he knew she could hear the determination in his ‘voice’. She shook her head, pulling away from his caress and glanced around the room. He knew she was trying to avoid looking at him.
“What do you think is going to happen to us?” She asked in a suddenly husky voice.
“I will try to protect you, but….” Merrick paused as he thought about what happened back in the cage when they arrived. As much as he wanted to promise her again that he would protect her, he was defenseless against their drugs. He turned his head away from her. “I will do everything I can to protect you, Addie. I wish I could promise you more.”
He turned his head back when he felt Addie’s fingers against his chin. She touched his lips, then the corner of his eye, before she laid her hand softly against his cheek. It was a gentle reminder that she needed him to look at her when he spoke. He had shut her out part of the way through his sentence.
“But…?” She asked.
“I do not know if I will be able to,” he admitted.
Then, we’ll have to figure out a way together. I have my cell phone. I’ll try again the first chance I get. Oh, and I took a set of keys from the guard back at Keiser. If they try to lock you up with the same locks, we can use that, she whispered into his mind.
Sit here while I check the room, Merrick ordered, rising to his feet.
*.*.*
Addie watched as Merrick explored every inch of the small room they were locked in. She scooted back until her back was against the wall and pulled her legs up. The room was cold, but that wasn’t what was causing the goose bumps on her arms.
She might be in danger, but she wasn’t dead. The man roaming the room was totally hot, even if he was an alien. His long, black hair hung down well past his shoulders.
Correction, massive, muscular, delicious shoulders, she thought, making sure she had a firm wall around her thoughts.
A sigh of relief escaped her when he didn’t stop what he was doing to glare at her. She felt pretty sure her thoughts were confined within her own head. Feeling more confident, she let her eyes roam over the rest of him.
He was tall, but nothing that would be too unusual for a human. He had to be at least six foot five, maybe a little taller. Hell, two of her older brothers were almost that tall. The difference between her brothers and Merrick wasn’t in height, as much as, in build. Neither Zach, Colin, or Brian had muscles like that, no matter how much they worked out.
Addie’s eyes lit up when he bent over. She couldn’t help, but admire the way the loose fitting pants he was wearing suddenly grew taut over his ass. A blush rose in her cheeks when he straightened and turned. She glanced away, pretending to be studying the door.
After several seconds, her eyes moved back to him. His eyes were a dark silver with black pupils that appeared to shimmer in the center. His nose was a touch broader, but if anything, it made him even sexier. Overall, it would be hard to tell from a distance that he wasn’t human. The biggest difference was his muscular build, his eyes, and the fact that his teeth did that weird up and down thing.
Okay, so even that was sort of hot in a horror movie kind of way, she thought, glancing at him under her eyelashes.
“Are you a Vampire?” She asked suddenly, wincing when she bit her lip again. “I mean, you look like one when your teeth do that thing…” Her voice faded when he turned to gaze down at her. “I’m just wondering.”
“What is a Vampire?” Merrick asked.
“They are a… Well, they’re dead and they suck people’s blood and…,” her voice faded when she saw the amused look on his face. “I don’t know. They’re Vampires.”
“I do not drink blood,” he replied, walking to where she was sitting with her knees drawn up.
“Oh,” she whispered when he sat on the edge of the bed. “It was just that your teeth… they kind-of, you know, they…” Addie opened her mouth and wiggled her fingers in a downward motion.
“It is natural,” he chuckled. “A warrior’s teeth elongate during battle and during…” His voice faded and his eyes lit with amusement and something that looked a little like mischief.
“During what?” Addie signed as she spoke.
“Mating,” he replied with a grin, capturing her hands as they fluttered in front of her. “What is this you do with your hands? It is very beautiful.”
Addie’s cheeks flushed when he lifted first one, then the other to his lips. She tried to pull them free, but he tightened his grip on them, refusing to let her go. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned into her.
“It is the way I speak to others who can’t hear. Merrick, I don’t think this is such a good idea,” she whispered, straightening her legs when he tugged her forward.
“I think it is a very good idea, Addie,” he whispered, lowering his head and pressing his lips against hers.
For a moment, everything faded away. They were no longer in a cell, in a strange place. He wasn’t an alien male. There was just the two of them.
Addie responded tentatively to Merrick’s gentle kiss. It was different from the first one he had given her. That one had been hot and intense. This one was more exploratory, as if he knew he needed to go slow. He released her hands and tangled his fingers in her hair, deepening the kiss when she opened to him.
For a brief second, doubt started to cloud her mind, but she pushed it away. Life was about the adventures, both good and bad, that you encountered in it. Sometimes the two crossed paths at the most unexpected times.
Addie let her fingers explore the contour of Merrick’s chest. A shiver of need flashed through her at the hard muscle under the thin shirt he wore. Her fingers skimmed over them to his shoulders.
She didn’t protest when he suddenly turned her until she was lying on the narrow bed. The vague thought that danger made people react in unexpected ways they normally wouldn’t, swept briefly through her mind, but she pushed it right back into the little box it popped out of. She was enjoying this too much to quit just yet.
Her arms wound around his neck as he covered her body with his. A shaft of unexpected need pierced her. It was so sudden that it made her gasp.
“Addie,” Merrick whispered, pulling back to look down at her with blazing silver eyes. “I need you.”
The flames were back in them. This time instead of being frightened by it, she was curious. Sliding her right hand up to his cheek, she rubbed her thumb against his high cheekbone.
“I…,” she whispered. “I don’t understand this. I’ve never felt this way before. This is crazy.”
*.*.*
Merrick could hear the confusion in her thoughts and her rationalization of why she was reacting the way she was. He wanted to deny every reason she was coming up with, but something told him it was important for her to accept that they were going to be together on her own. Well, he would give her as much time as he could. Once they were free, all restrictions were off. He would take her back to the Eastern Mountains and she would be his forever.
“You are tired,” he said, noting the dark circles under her eyes. “Rest for now.”
“Thank you, Merrick,” she whispered, knowing deep down that he could sense her confusion.
Merrick bent and pressed a brief, hard kiss to her lips before he pulled back again and rolled onto his side. He wrapped his arms around Addie when she rolled onto her side to give him more room and pulled her back against him. A smile curved his lips when
Except for a toilet, sink, and the bed, it was devoid of anything else. He pressed a tender kiss to the top of Addie’s head as she relaxed. Her soft teasing words echoed in his mind.
You aren’t the one who did it, the others are. But, since you’re feeling so guilty about it, I’ll let you figure out how to get us out of this in one piece, okay?
There has to be a way to either escape or use the communications device Addie had to contact Cosmos’ people. Now more than ever, he had a reason to fight back. He just needed to do it without putting Addie in any more danger than what she already was, he thought in frustration.
A sense of peace settled over him when Addie unconsciously moved her hand to curl around his. Even though he knew she did it in her sleep, it gave him hope that she would accept her fate as his mate. Forcing his body to relax, he slipped into a light sleep, visions of him and Addie back among his people giving him hope and comfort.
Chapter 13
Avery looked at the guard who was sitting back in his chair. The desire to wipe the smug expression off his face was beginning to become unbearable. She itched to see him sweat.
She had already interrogated the other guard who had been at the gate. It was clear he hadn't known what the hell was going on. In fact, he had been concerned about another employee called Addie Banks, who did Housekeeping. So far, the team had found the dead body of the guard whose girlfriend had called them and no one else.
“Listen, asswipe,” Avery said with a cold glare. “I don’t have time for this. I want to know where your friends went.”
“I know my rights. I haven’t done anything wrong,” Josh Johnson said. “I want an attorney.”
“If you haven’t done anything wrong, then, you don’t need an attorney,” Avery commented. “Though, I think finding a dead body might be considered a touch unlawful.”
“I didn’t kill Crawford,” Josh replied with a shrug. “I didn’t know anything about it until you mentioned it a few minutes ago.”
Avery knew the bastard was lying through his teeth. She started to turn away to tell Trudy and Rose to leave the room, she didn’t want them to see what she was about to do, when the familiar lights of a portal suddenly appeared in the room. She heard Trudy and Rose’s low curses at the same time as she heard Johnson’s louder one.
“What the fuck?!” Josh muttered hoarsely, pulling the chair that he was handcuffed to up with him when he twisted and watched in horror as three huge warriors stepped through the shimmering door. “What the hell is going on?”
“That, Mr. I-didn’t-do-anything,” Avery replied sarcastically, “is something you are going to wish you really hadn’t seen.”
Avery watched warily as Core Ta’Duran stepped through the portal. The last thing she needed right now was another damn headache in the form of a huge ass, bossy, in-her-face, alien. She had plans for him, but she refused to become distracted before she had completed her current assignment.
“What are you doing here?” Avery demanded, folding her arms across her chest and looking at the three men with a raised eyebrow. “Does Cosmos know?”
“I do not answer to Cosmos,” Core snapped, glancing at the handcuffed male. “Have you found Merrick?”
“He was here,” Avery replied in a clipped voice.
“But no longer?” Core stated more than asked.
“But no longer,” Avery agreed, glancing to where Josh Johnson stood pressed as far as he could go into the corner with the chair attached to him. “I was about to have a conversation with Mr. Johnson here about that.”
*.*.*
Core’s eyes narrowed on the pale male. His eyes swept over him in distaste. He was beginning to intensely dislike the majority of human males. In fact, except for Cosmos, he would just as soon not have anything to do with another damn one.
“Why?” He asked bluntly.
“We found the body of another guard,” Avery explained in exaggeration. “This one has the guard’s blood on his shoes.”
“What the fuck!” Johnson exclaimed, looking down at his shoes and turning even paler than he had been before. He had forgotten to check them after he dumped Crawford’s body in the Biohazard waste container out back. “Listen, I was just doing what I was told. I didn’t kill Crawford. I had to do it, if I didn’t Wes… If I hadn’t, I would have been next.”
“Leave,” Core ordered, not looking at Avery as he took a step closer to the trembling guard.
He heard the door open and close behind him. The human male knew where Merrick was and he would get the information out of him one way or the other. He was finished with wasting time. This had dragged out far longer than it should have.
“Core,” Teriff’s voice cautioned from behind him.
Core glanced over his shoulder at Teriff, before turning his head when he noticed that while the other two females had departed, Avery had not. She stood near the door, silently watching him.
“You should leave,” he ordered.
“Since you shouldn’t be here in the first place, I think that is a moot point,” Avery reflected.
“I will get the information that I need, Avery,” Core cautioned her. “All of it.”
“What’s he saying?” Johnson demanded, looking back and forth between Avery and the creature that had stepped out of the nowhere.
Core watched Avery’s face turn to a blank mask as she turned to look at the guard. His respect, and curiosity, about her continued to grow. While she had maintained her distance from him, refusing to allow him close enough to touch her, he was certain she was his bond mate. The physical pull to be near her, have her, was becoming almost impossible to resist.
“He says you are screwed,” Avery replied in a voice devoid of emotion. “If I were you,” she continued, turning to look at where Johnson stood, “I’d tell him every damn thing you know.”
“And… And if I don’t?” Johnson asked hoarsely.
Avery shrugged her shoulders. “That’s entirely up to you,” she said, leaning back against the door. “Sometimes it can take a very, very long time to die.”
Core watched as the male melted in front of him into a quivering mass on the floor. His loud sobs and pleas would not save him. He would not kill the man in front of Avery, though. Turning, he nodded when Teriff released a sharp command that would not translate in the device that each member of Cosmos’ response team wore. With a nod, he stepped forward, snapping the arms of the chair. Grabbing the male by the back of his neck, he pushed him toward the portal that Teriff had opened.
“You can’t take him yet! I need the information he has first,” Avery demanded, straightening and glaring at Core.
“I will get the information,” Core replied, nodding to Derik, who stood silently next to his father, to take the human. “What we do is not something a female should see.”
“He is my prisoner,” Avery retorted in a low, angry voice. “This is my assignment. We are too close to have it jeopardized now.”
“I will get you your information,” Core repeated, watching Avery’s face closely as he continued. “Once Merrick has been returned to my world, you and I will finish this, Avery. You will not avoid me any longer.”
Avery’s delicate eyebrow rose and her mouth turned up at the corner. He had expected shock, perhaps denial, not the look of challenge she was giving him. A sense of forewarning shivered through him. This woman was not like Borj’s mate, Hannah. This one was a predator, much like him.
“I never complicate a mission with distractions,” Avery replied in a low, steady voice. “But, I do enjoy my distractions, big guy. When this is over, you’d better make sure you look over your shoulder, because I plan on taking you up on your invitation.”
A curse escaped Core as Avery pulled open the door and disappeared through it. Forcing the confrontation to the back of his mind, he turned and disappeared through the portal. The sooner this mission was over, the sooner he could start one of his own.
*.*.*
Addie was startled awake when Merrick suddenly twisted and covered her body with his own. A low, menacing growl rumbled through his chest. She watched in fascination as his top teeth slid down. Instead of being afraid, she found it comforting to know that if she had to be in a situation like this, it was better to be in it with someone who wasn’t human.
Turning her head, she looked at where he was staring. A frown darkened her brow when all she saw was the closed door. Sliding her hands up between them, she carefully touched his chin.
“What is it?” She asked in a husky voice.
Footsteps. I hear at least six different sets, he replied.
Addie opened her mouth to ask him how he could tell how many, but her mouth snapped closed when she saw the door open. Fear threatened to choke her when she saw Doctor Rockman’s face among the group. The look of satisfaction in the woman’s hazel eyes was enough to cause Addie’s stomach to turn in disgust.
“We can do this one of two ways,” Doctor Rockman said. “I can have the guards tranquilize you again and take Addie, or you can cooperate with me. If you try anything, the guards have been instructed to kill her. Do you understand?”
The dark snarl that escaped Merrick had the guards aiming for him. Terrified that they would shoot him again, she cupped his face between her hands and pulled it down until he was forced to look at her. She frantically shook her head back and forth, a look of pleading in her eyes, before she spoke in a low, trembling voice.
“Please,” she begged. “Do as she says.”
I will not let her hurt you, Merrick snarled with such force that Addie winced from the fury in his thoughts.
If she thinks you’ll cooperate with me here, it will give us a better chance of getting out of this alive. She’ll think you are behaving and not be suspicious of me. We can use this to our advantage if she thinks it is a way to control you, Addie insisted. If they knock you out, there is no way we can get out of here.
Merrick bowed his head until his forehead touched hers for just a moment. Addie could feel him trying to get control of his emotions. She could also feel the fatigue pulling at him. It was only going on the second day for her and she was already mentally and physically exhausted and stressed to the point that all she wanted to do was curl up and cry, she didn’t know how he had been able to endure it for months!
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