by Susan Hayes
“If we get out of here—” He cut her off with another soft kiss. It was sweet, and tender, and it warmed her better than the hot meal they’d just eaten. He tasted of chocolate, and she belated remembered they hadn’t finished their deserts, though if she had to choose, she’d take more of his kisses over chocolate any day. Not that she was telling him that. His ego didn’t need that information.
“When we get out of here,” he corrected her eventually, but by then her head was whirling and she’d almost forgotten what she’d been talking about.
“Okay. When we get out of here, will you help me get answers out of FUC?”
A low, satisfied rumble rose from his chest. “It would be my pleasure.”
“Thank you.” If she had Sergei on her side, maybe she’d finally get hard facts instead of vague statements. Plus, it would be nice to have someone in her corner. She snuggled into his arms, feeling safer than she had any right to be considering their situation. It was more than a little nuts, but she couldn’t deny the truth - the big, pushy tiger made her feel better about everything, even when he was driving her crazy.
She shut her eyes and tried to ignore the little voice in the back of her mind that kept whispering words she wasn’t ready to hear. Falling for Sergei wasn’t just a bad idea, it was a waltz off the cliffs of insanity and into an ocean of heartache… wasn’t it?
They stayed like that, eating chocolate, sharing kisses, and staring up into the breathtaking beauty of the night sky until the cold crept into their bones.
“You know, we have this lovely hot spring. Maybe we should use it to warm up before we go to bed,” she suggested.
“Brilliant idea.”
They got to their feet, both of them moving a little stiffly. Picking their way carefully to the edge of the pool, she stripped off and eased herself into the blissful heat.
“Tomorrow morning. Any thoughts on how we’re going to handle the SCUMBAGs?”
He didn’t answer until he was submerged to the neck. “With extreme prejudice.”
“I figured that much. I was hoping for more details, mister I-used-to-be-a-FUC-agent.”
He shrugged and reclined until he was more or less floating, one hand gripping the rocks to keep his head above the water. The moon was rising, and there was enough light for her to catch tantalizing glimpses of his gorgeous body just beneath the surface.
“I’m not sure yet, but I’m working on it. A lot will depend on when and where we cross paths. If the universe is feeling generous, we might not run into them at all.”
She snorted. “What are the odds of that happening?”
“About as likely as me going vegan.” He watched the sky for a long, silent moment. “We’re getting out of here, Tabi. No matter what, I’m taking you home tomorrow.”
She moved to his side, curling one arm beneath his head and bending down to kiss him. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
He stared up at her, the moonlight making his pale eyes glow. “Say it with me. We’re going home tomorrow. Together.”
“We’re going home tomorrow.” She kissed him again before whispering. “Together.”
He had her in his arms a second later, a god rising from the steaming water clad only in moonlight and shadow. “Damn right we are.”
He made love to her standing in the middle of the pool, and again once they were inside the shelter. He took her with bruising passion, neither of them speaking a word as they came together. It was more than sex and the sharing of their bodies. This was wild, and primal, and as she finally fell asleep, she felt like they were connected on levels she hadn’t known existed.
If she hadn’t been so exhausted, that would have terrified her. She wasn’t falling for Sergei anymore. She’d already fallen, and she still couldn’t think of a way for them to be together. She was going into hiding, and she could never ask him to go with her. Hiding wasn’t in his nature.
17
Sergei crouched behind a patch of scrubby bushes and cursed. The universe was not feeling generous this morning. In fact, it was clearly in a shit mood. He’d hoped to start while it was still dark and navigate by the stars until there was light enough to see, but that plan had died the moment he’d looked outside their little shelter. The weather had turned foul overnight, blanketing everything in a pall of thick, dark cloud. Between that and the gusts of wet snow that filled the air, they were navigating more by instinct and hope than by the landmarks he’d been able to see so easily yesterday.
If that wasn’t bad enough, now they had a new problem to deal with. Unwanted company. He glowered at the man they could barely make out in the early morning light. He was patrolling the trail they needed to follow. Without landmarks, they had to risk it, but the fucking mercs had come to the same conclusion and were apparently waiting for them. He and Tabi were both channelling just enough of their animal forms to have increased speed and agility, but even so, they were racing the clock. Dealing with this guy was going to cost them precious time.
Tabi tugged at his sleeve. When she had his attention, she leaned in and breathed a few careful words in his ear. “Only one of them. Trap, or stupid?”
She had the instincts of an agent. He held up two fingers to indicate he thought it was the second option. He couldn’t detect anyone else nearby, and when she nodded in agreement, he knew she thought he was alone, too.
She whispered again, and despite the situation he couldn’t help but be turned on by the way her breath caressed his skin. “I distract. You take him down?”
That was a good idea, but he hated it. Distracting the merc meant putting Tabi in danger. He shook his head, and to his surprise, she rolled her eyes at him and raised her hands in a clear message of ‘Do you have a better idea?’
Much to his chagrin, he didn’t. He shrugged, then pulled his hunting knife out of its sheath, and made several gestures indicating he wanted her to move down the trail before revealing herself so he could come up behind their target while he was distracted. He had to go through it again, because the first time Tabi’s eyes were on the knife, not him. He didn’t blame her, but there was no other way. Leaving the enemy alive and at their backs was a good way to wind up dead.
He tapped his watch and flashed her two fingers again. Two minutes for them to both get into position.
She nodded, squeezed his hand hard for a second, and then she was gone, fading into the forest without a sound. She might not believe she was cut out for a life of adventure, but he knew better. She’d been born for this. Now all he had to do was help her see that.
The two minutes he’d given her stretched out like an eternity, giving him time think. He’d been doing a lot of that since last night. Making plans for today, but also thinking about what would happen after they got out of here. He’d meant what he’d said to Tabi. He would get them both home, but he hadn’t just been talking about the academy. For the first time in his life, he wanted more than a place to crash between adventures. He wanted something permanent. The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that it was the right choice.
Bast in a wicker fucking basket, is this was maturity felt like?
At two minutes and two seconds, Tabi stepped out of the woods. Her eyes were downcast, her shoulders hunched, her hands raised. “I give up. I’m cold, tired, and exhausted. I just want this nightmare over with.”
The merc spun to face her. “Where’s the tiger?”
Tabi’s face screwed up, and she looked like she was on the point of tears. “He left me behind. Said I was slowing him down and wasn’t worth the trouble.”
The man raised his gun partway, then held position. “He won’t get far. We’re covering every inch of this trail.”
Liar. There were only a few of them left, and if they were stretched out along the trail, they were leaving a lot of open ground.
Tabi sniffled. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I found this trail, or I’d have frozen to death out there in the woods.”
“Which way did he
go?”
She pointed in the opposite direction to their goal. “That way. He said with all of you looking for me out here, it would be an easy run back to the parking lot.”
“Son of a…” He gestured with the muzzle of his rifle. “Sit your ass down and don’t try anything. I need to tell the others.”
Sergei was about to make his move, but he stopped when the other man tried to keep his gun trained on Tabi while fumbling one-handed with his radio. Like everything else he had on him, it was military surplus and had seen better days. Probably during World War I. That wasn’t his biggest concern, though. Tabi was. The idiot had no concept of firearms safety and could drop Tabi with a tranq dart any second, the way he was fumbling around. As much as they needed the merc to make that call and send the others on a wild goose chase, he couldn’t risk her getting hurt.
He took a step out of the bush. Tabi’s expression didn’t change, but she reached up to scratch the back of her neck, flashing him a subtle signal to wait as she sank to the ground. The move took her out of range of the merc’s weapon. Clever girl.
He froze, waited a heartbeat, and melted back into the bushes.
Finally, the merc got himself sorted. “This is Hottie. Primary target acquired.”
“For fuck’s sake, none of us are going to call you that, so quit trying, Scottie. I didn’t hear any gunfire, so how the hell did you acquire her?”
“She surrendered. She’s in rough shape, cold, tired, and scared. The tiger bugged out and left her. He’s on his way back to the parking lot.”
“Fuck! The client wants them both. They’re willing to triple our fee for ‘em. You stay put and guard the primary. We’ll go after the fucking cat.”
“Roger that. Good hunting.”
Sergei stepped in behind the other man and slashed his throat the moment his finger was off the talk button.
The merc went down with a surprised gurgle, dropping both the gun and his radio as he clutched at the wound in his neck. He’d be dead in seconds.
Sergei grabbed both dropped items, tossed them both to Tabi, then grabbed the still form of the mercenary and dragged him off the path.
“Do what you can to hide the bloodstains, would you?”
“On it.” Tabi scrambled to her feet and started kicking fresh snow over the gore. If it kept snowing, there was a chance the other mercs would miss it. Not a great chance, but they didn’t have time for more elaborate measures.
He used snow and the dead man’s sleeve to remove the blood from his hands, then did a quick search of the corpse, looking for anything that might help FUC identify him later. Proving once again that they had to be bottom of the barrel mercs, he found the man’s wallet and ID in an inside pocket of his jacket. Amateurs.
The merc had another rifle stashed in his gear. It was an automatic, and his blood ran cold as he recalled yesterday’s firefight. The tranqs had been for Tabi. The rest of those shots had been intended to kill. If Joshua and the others hadn’t turned back, or if Annie and Danny hadn’t been fast enough getting away, someone might have died.
He rejoined Tabi, who had finished doing what she could to hide the evidence of their attack. She held the gun awkwardly, though she kept the muzzle pointed at the ground and her finger far from the trigger, which was more than the former owner had managed.
“I’ll take that. Can you monitor the radio? Volume low so it doesn’t give them away, but I’d like to keep tabs on them while we run.”
“Already on it.” She tapped the radio, which she’d managed to clip to the strap of her pack, close to her ear.
“Smart and sexy.” He checked the rifle, reactivated the safety, and pulled Tabi in for a quick kiss. It was all the reassurance they had time for, but later he planned on a thorough debriefing of everything they’d gone through today. He’d start by debriefing her of her panties and tumbling her into a warm, soft bed that neither of them would leave for at least a day, possibly two. If the academy cafeteria didn’t have room service yet they would soon. All he needed was a hot shower, a big bed, steak on demand, and Tabi.
The next hour passed in surreal silence broken only by the occasional outburst from the radio or a curse when one of them tripped over something hidden beneath the snow. At least the storm had passed, the sky clearing by degrees so they had both light and landmarks to navigate by. They’d stayed off the trail at first, but the radio had kept them updated to their enemies’ positions, and as soon as they passed the last mercenary they’d moved to the trail. The fresh snow slowed them some, but they were running hard and only a few minutes away from the rendezvous site.
They were going to make it.
That’s when he heard it - the unmistakable sound of an approaching helicopter. He turned to her and beamed. “The cavalry is coming!”
“Oh, good.” She was breathing so hard she could barely speak. “I would hate to have done all this running for nothing.”
“Isn’t your father a thoroughbred? I thought they were all about running?”
“On a nice, smooth track for maybe two kilometres, tops.” She waved a hand at the trail. “Not hell-bent for leather across a mountainside in winter.”
The radio exploded into a cacophony of swearing. “Fuck! Is that a chopper?”
More swearing, and confirmation the others heard it, too.
“Scott. You hearing this? Is it coming your way?” The one he assumed was the merc’s leader demanded over the radio. When no one replied, the voice returned. “Fine! Hottie, report. Can you hear the copter? Do you still have eyes on the primary target?”
Shit. Hottie was a rapidly cooling corpse hidden in the woods and wouldn’t be answering unless today was the start of the zombie apocalypse.
“Uh oh. Time for more cardio.” She groaned and broke into a run. “When we get back, I’m going to bed for a week!”
“It’s a date.” He caught up in two strides, grabbing her hand as he passed and pulling her along with him.
They bolted up the steep trail like every demon in hell was on their trail, bursting into the clearing only a few seconds before their ride appeared. The helicopter was so low it was almost skimming the treetops, swooping into the large open space like a hawk. Agents in full tactical gear spilled out the doors before they had even touched down, and within seconds they were surrounded in the middle of a veritable army of well-armed FUC agents.
“Hey there! I heard you needed some help busting MUFF ass.” Miranda, legendary FUC agent, lover of carrot cake, and the scariest shifter Sergei had ever met, bounced into view in front of them.
“I was wrong. Not MUFF. They’re SCUMBAGs, and they were hired to re-capture Tabitha. What’s left of their group is headed this way, including their leader.”
“Are the cadets alright? Danny? Annie? They made it back in one piece, didn’t they?” Tabi asked.
“They’re all fine,” Miranda informed her with a smile.
He unclipped the radio from Tabi’s pack and handed it to Miranda. “We took this off one of the bodies. They’re armed with tranq guns and automatic rifles.” He handed over both weapons to her. “If your people could bring one back alive, that would be great. We need to find out who the fuck is after Tabi, and why they’ve eluded FUC so far.”
Miranda just laughed. “Once an agent, always an agent. You sure you don’t want to sign back up?”
“Positive. I’ve already got a career, and it comes with better dental.”
“Yeah, but you don’t get to say shit like this…” She raised her voice. “Come on, guys. Today, we’re hunting SCUMBAGs!”
A few seconds later, the only ones left in the clearing were the two of them, a single, well-armed guard, and the chopper pilot.
Tabi frowned, her gaze moving from him to the trees where Miranda and the other agents had disappeared. “Aren’t you going with them?”
It was time to make something clear to his little gothicus. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard, his mouth claiming hers as he crushed her ag
ainst his chest. He didn’t let up until his chest burned and the guard cleared his throat so loudly they could hear it over the roar of the copter’s rotors. “Why would I want to leave with them, when I can go home with you?”
18
The helicopter was a beast straight out of a Hollywood movie, complete with sliding side doors, a menacing black paint job, and very little in the way of creature comforts. Tabi didn’t care. She hunched against the downdraft from the copter’s massive blades and clambered inside, windblown and almost deafened by the noise.
She waved to the pilot, then made a bee-line for the narrow bench at the back.
She didn’t take more than two steps before Sergei hopped in, picked her up, and dropped down on the bench with her in his lap. The engine noise was too loud for her to argue, and when she wriggled, he just smirked and winked at her.
When the guard came on board, he handed them a pair of headsets. Once she got it on, they cut out the worst of the sonic assault, and Sergei showed her how to use the mic so they could talk.
She was still figuring it out when the helicopter took to the air, and she yelped in confusion and surprise. “Why are we taking off? What about the others?”
The pilot glanced back at them. “Orders, ma’am. We need to get you back to the academy ASAP. Director Cooper was very clear about that.”
“But the agents?”
“We’ll come back for them.” And with that, the pilot and guard lapsed into silence, leaving them alone.
It was noisy, and the ride was far from smooth, but she didn’t pay much attention. She was trying to focus on Sergei, memorizing every detail. Once they touched down, things would happen fast. There’d be debriefings and discussions, and if FUC couldn’t figure out who was behind the attempted abduction, she’d have to go into hiding.
Leaving him was going to hurt so much. She buried her face in his shoulder so he wouldn’t see her cry, but after a few seconds he stroked her cheek, wiping away her tears with a calloused finger tip.