by Lora Leigh
The pleasure, the exacting explosion of release, still left her strangely aching for more.
Beneath her, Archer’s cock was still iron-hard, throbbing. He’d eased the painful, aching need torturing her, but he hadn’t—
“I’m sorry,” she said, as his hand stroked down her back.
“For what?” His head lifted, his lips pressing against her temple.
“You didn’t—” She stopped, heat flushing her face as she felt and heard the chuckle that vibrated in his chest.
“Well, yeah, babe, I did,” he admitted, abashed as she lifted her head to stare up at him.
She swallowed tightly. “You did?”
His grin was one of male bemusement. “Hell if I can explain it. Haven’t done that since I was a damned teenager.”
“Oh.” She blinked back at him.
“Yeah. Oh,” he teased her.
Anna wished she could smile so easily, wished she could find the laughter inside her that she used to find so easily whenever Archer was around.
“Come on, pretty girl. We’ve both had a hell of a night and day. I think it’s time we went to bed.” Gripping her hips, he lifted her from him, steadying her until he rose to his feet as well.
Taking her hand, he led her through the house to the staircase and upstairs.
As they stepped into the bedroom, she suddenly broke away and rushed across the room.
“Oscar.” Going to her knees beside the cat bed, she stroked the suddenly pitiful-acting feline with gentle strokes.
Oscar stared up at her as though he’d had bones broken from the attack the night before. And if Archer didn’t know better, he would have sworn the cat actually gave a little moan rather than a purr.
“Poor baby,” she said, avoiding the shaved area of his head where his cut had been checked at the vet. “Poor Oscar.” She turned to Archer then. “He bit Amory, you know. Right on the inside of the thigh. It was all he could do to make Oscar stop attacking him.”
She continued to rub the cat’s fur, and he ate it up like cream, the little bastard.
“Oscar did good,” Archer agreed as he moved to her, gripped her arms, and lifted her to him. “Now forget the cat for a minute and come to bed with me, Anna. Let hold you, baby. Just for a little while before we have to fight the world again, let me hold you.”
He wanted to hold her, and Anna admitted she needed to be held by him, comforted by him.
As he said, before they had to fight the world once again.
CHAPTER 22
Elizabeth Haley was laid out and waiting. Strapped to the metal table, gagged, the drugs having worn off, and he couldn’t kill her.
He’d known before having Anna Corbin—or rather Sarah Ann Callahan—abducted that he couldn’t kill her. Knowing that, the moment Amory had located Elizabeth Haley, the woman whose name had been Ellen Mason, he’d had the other man abduct her and bring her to the small cabin in Aspen that he kept for just such occasions.
Unfortunately, so very unfortunately, there was another young woman there as well. One he hadn’t ever imagined having to kill, not really. But betrayal was betrayal, and he couldn’t allow it to go unpunished.
There were few things so frustrating, he thought as he paced the floor in front of the large monitor, as knowing the daughter a man trusted and loved could betray them to the point that his sweet, precious Amelia had attempted to destroy him.
Why had she done this?
Because he’d forced her away from Crowe Callahan’s arms?
Or had she somehow learned the truth about her mother?
There was always that chance. She could have found the basement room where her mother had been buried, the gravestone marking her grave and listing her crimes.
And all the inconsequential thoughts or questions in Corbin County weren’t going to change the decision he had to make where she was concerned. Nor would it change the fate of the young woman he viewed now.
Staring at the screen, watching as Elizabeth struggled against the straps, he could feel his cock hardening, anticipation rising despite the circumstances, and resentment building.
How dare those fucking Callahans interfere in his fun? Every time he turned around in Corbin County now, they were locating yet another of his little hidden playhouses.
Not that they could possibly know who he was, but they were finding and destroying the secluded line cabins he and Amory often used for their fun and games.
It wasn’t as though there were many ways to find recompense for everything he and his ancestors had been cheated of.
This one pleasure was all that was to be had for so many decades of searching.
Naked, young, and so very beautiful.
Finding Elizabeth hadn’t been easy.
Hell, it had been damned hard because Crowe was real damned careful. Finding his lovers was an almost impossible task. Catching up with Elizabeth had been even harder, and he couldn’t figure out why.
It was almost as though she had been aware danger stalked her and refused to back off. Hell, she had nearly managed to escape again. If he hadn’t gone looking for her himself while Amory ensured Anna was released, then she would have escaped again.
“Are we sending her back?” Amory asked, his tone lazy and unconcerned as he tipped back in his chair and watched the monitor.
Amory didn’t seem in the least concerned with the fact that they couldn’t kill this girl either. At least, not at the moment.
Wayne had been set to enter her room and begin the fun himself when Amory had arrived with the news that word was sweeping Corbin County that Anna Corbin was actually Sarah Ann Callahan and Amory had been identified as her abductor.
“Do we have a choice?” he growled, knowing they didn’t. “If we don’t and she doesn’t show up, then the governor will have the excuse he’s looking for to take over that investigation.”
He couldn’t allow that to happen. “Carter Ferguson has a hard-on for us like it ain’t nobody’s business,” he continued. “The last thing we need is the FBI and the state police on our asses. Dammit, Elizabeth Haley isn’t even a resident of Corbin County. No one should have even known about her.”
“True,” Amory agreed. “But it’s not every day two teams of U.S. Marshals are beating the damned bushes searching for one of our playthings either.”
“Ferguson is fueling this,” he snarled. “He just won’t let it go.”
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you rape and murder a man’s daughter. They just get all out of sorts and want to kill ya.”
Sliding a sideways look Amory’s way, Wayne thinned his lips in irritation. Amory was so damned critical of the past, and he was getting sick of it.
“And just how would you have handled it, Amory?” he asked snidely. Damn, he was getting real sick of Amory’s assured attitude that he could have handled everything so much better than his previous partners.
Amory pursed his lips thoughtfully for several seconds before grinning back at him. There was no doubt the other man had been waiting for this question for months now. If he had thought of it, he would have never given the younger killer a chance to answer it.
“First off.” Amory lowered his chair and stared back at him with a smug look. “I wouldn’t have touched a representative’s daughter. Never ever choose a high-profile victim.”
“She slept with Logan Callahan.” What the hell did Amory think the point was here?
“She was a badge,” Amory drawled with a mocking smile.
“What the fuck do you mean?”
“She was an FBI agent, a badge,” Amory repeated. “That made her a challenge to you, and we both know it. Add to the fact she was a representative’s daughter and she was more or less deliberately goading you.” Amory shrugged. “If I had been working with you at the time, we wouldn’t have touched her with a ten-foot pole.”
Since when did Amory think he would have had that much control? The past days since they had taken Anna, Amory had acted differently. More con
fident, perhaps? As though he were certain he suddenly knew more, had more experience than his trainer had.
“She was the perfect target,” Wayne all but snarled, hating the fact that Amory was making him feel stupid.
“The point is, she was a friend of the Callahans, not a lover,” Amory stated. “Your partner did not do his research well.”
And Amy Ferguson had been such a joy to kill.
Particularly sweet, and such a fighter.
“So she hadn’t slept with him?” he mused.
“Does that make a difference?” Amory asked.
He had to grin. “No, not particularly.”
He would do it again.
There was a flash of something dark and disapproving in Amory’s eyes for a second. How amusing, a killer with a conscience.
“We’re still left with another problem,” Amory pointed out, flicking his fingers to the monitor as he leaned back in his chair, one leg crossed over the opposite knee as he cradled a cup of coffee in his other hand. “Ms. Haley is very high profile. I don’t know who she is yet, but she’s obviously in the Witness Protection Program. Two teams of marshals are already searching for her and they won’t stop. She could be the end of us if we keep her.”
“So we don’t get to play for a while?” Wayne asked in disappointment.
“Not for a while,” Amory answered as he forced himself to contain his fury.
This attitude was pissing him off.
“I think I’ll see about finding someone far enough away that they won’t be connected to the Callahans.” Wayne grinned. “Even though they are connected.”
He wasn’t pissed any longer.
“You think that’s possible?” Amory asked.
Wayne’s grin widened. “They were away for twelve years, my friend, I’m certain they had many bed buddies in that time. We just have to find them then we can continue having our little snacks.”
Amory watched the other man, restraining a sigh of regret. At this rate, he would end up having to kill the bastard himself.
“I look forward to it,” Amory agreed, though. “Does this mean we let Ms. Haley go?”
Wayne rose slowly to his feet and glanced at the monitor. “Get her out of here. Thank God you had the foresight to sedate her well before bringing her in. I’ll head back to Corbin County and see what the hell is going on there.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Amory nodded as he rose to his feet and headed for the door.
Halfway there, he paused and turned back with a frown. “What about Amelia? Ms. Corbin has called her cell phone and texted several times. The sheriff will begin asking questions soon. Once he does, her disappearance will be tied to the Slasher.”
His jaw clenched. “It would have been so much easier to get rid of her. She might not have found anything, but it doesn’t change the fact that I caught her searching the basement. She’s suspicious of something.”
“Whatever you want to do.” Amory’s shoulders lifted negligently. “Perhaps the governor will overlook her disappearance.”
“Bastard,” Wayne growled, his fingers curling into fists. “I should have killed him rather than his daughter.”
“What is it they say about hindsight being twenty-twenty?” Amory asked, mocking.
Wayne clenched his teeth furiously. “Let her go,” he snapped. “We’ve kept her well drugged while I’ve been in her room, correct?”
Amory shrugged. “You injected her before taking her blindfold off,” he reminded Wayne.
“Let her go,” he sighed, then smiled slowly with relish before rubbing his hands together gleefully. “Dump her on Crowe Mountain. That clearing before reaching the cabin. Let’s see if she’s learned how to keep her legs closed where he’s concerned. If she can, then maybe we’ll let her live.”
Amory’s grin was amused. He obviously approved. “I’ll take care of it.”
As the other man left the room, Wayne turned back to the monitor to watch Elizabeth in disappointment. He had so been looking forward to her.
As for Amelia, he had no desire for her himself, but she was a danger to the future. Not that she was aware of his identity, because she wasn’t. What she was was a danger to the plans he envisioned for Anna if she suspected something or, God forbid, managed to actually find something that he might have missed in his efforts to cover his own ass.
She was definitely suspicious, though what she was suspicious of he wasn’t certain. What he did know was that his daughter was damned intelligent and damned devious. Considering who her mother was, he should have guessed that last part. He had time though.
With the governor’s threat now hanging over all their heads, he had at least six weeks to figure out what to do. At the most, he and Amory would just have to separate for a while. Or as he had told Amory, there were twelve years the cousins had been out of Corbin County. They could continue their hobby elsewhere.
He wasn’t willing to lose Amory though. The other man was the perfect partner, despite his sometimes superior attitude. And perfect partners were so very hard to find.
*
Amory stepped into the room Amelia had been placed in, amazed Wayne was unaware of the APB out for both of them.
He hadn’t wired this room, but that didn’t mean his partner hadn’t placed, at the least, a listening device inside it.
He’d learned over the years to be paranoid and very careful. Not that he didn’t still make mistakes, because he did. His present partner was proof of that. He’d made a hell of a mistake there, and he had less than six hours to fix it.
It was nearly time to go home, thank God.
All his preparations had been made.
The private plane was in place, thanks to his eldest son.
His alternate identity had a vehicle waiting close by.
Within a matter of hours, he would shed Amory Wyatt and become Steven Glasglow until he managed to get out of Corbin County and arrive safely in Aspen.
The plane was waiting at the airport.
The private plane his son had purchased the year before under the umbrella of the family business. Who would ever suspect a well-respected businessman from England to have managed to alter not just his face, but his whole persona for over a year as he worked himself into the Slasher’s little game?
By the time he left, he would have fulfilled his blood lust for a while, and on leaving he would ensure his partner was ruined and no longer a threat. After all, learning the Callahans were innocent of the crimes laid at their feet had pretty much ruined this game anyway.
The rules had been a lie to begin with, because their basis didn’t exist. Because of this, his partner would have to pay.
Amelia, though, had done nothing to deserve her punishment, just as Anna Corbin had not. Yet both of them had paid. Both of them would still pay yet further. And that was truly a shame. They had already paid a lifetime for crimes they had not committed. For men they had not been with.
The men too had been innocent.
What a disappointment to learn the family of Callahans had always been innocent. For generations his family had been led to believe the Callahans had begun the bloodshed all those generations before. That they had deceived his ancestor. That the Callahans worked with his ancestor and Jonathon Mulrooney in their quest for blood, only to have betrayed Jonathon and his partner, Devon Castle—not that that had been his real name—and caused them to be hanged while escaping unscathed himself.
To learn that early Callahans had nothing to do with the betrayal of Devon Castle changed the rules. They could only shed the blood of the enemy, and the Callahans had done nothing to the family of Devon Castle to be considered the enemy.
No, family had always been most important, and they had tried to teach that to the Mulrooneys at one time.
They had never learned their lessons.
Releasing the straps that held Amelia to the bed, Amory mentally shook his head. No, the Mulrooneys had never learned, but they would now.
Wrappin
g Amelia’s slight body in a blanket, Amory carried her from the room without ever speaking to her. Just in case his partner was listening. Just in case he had become suspicious. And that was always possible.
Carrying Amelia’s body outside the remote cabin to the SUV he’d acquired, Amory slid her into the back, grinning at the tension in her body. The mild dosage of the drug was even less than Anna had been given. He had readjusted the active drug in the mix himself. What Amelia had been given had only made her mildly disoriented and completely capable of maintaining her control. It kept her from appearing conscious, while all along she had been. Just as Elizabeth Haley had been fully conscious. Fully aware of Wayne Sorenson’s identity.
Sliding into the driver’s seat of the SUV, Amory chuckled.
His partner had no idea who Elizabeth Haley was, but Amory knew full well. He had run the search on her through his partner’s home computer. He’d even gone so far as to attempt to hack the U.S. Marshals’ network, which had immediately resulted in more than the two teams Amory had told Wayne about being sent to the area. They were awaiting Wayne.
Within the next couple of hours, there would be two young women found. Amelia Sorenson and Elizabeth Haley would be found in Crowe Callahan’s mountain cabin, and what an incredible story they would have to tell. A story that would destroy his partner’s life, and for a while at least, would allow the Callahans to live in peace.
CHAPTER 23
The Corbins had had over two decades to explain their actions, and to explain the truth to her, Anna thought the next day as she dressed.
Buttoning the silk white-and-maroon-striped sleeveless blouse, she straightened the hem over the creamy calf-length full skirt she’d purchased from the Goodwill store after first moving in with Archer.
He liked the skirts. She liked the way his gaze darkened, then flared with hunger whenever she wore them.
The skirts or dresses made her feel more confident. Three-inch or higher heels gave her an illusion of height while the skirts or dresses made her feel more feminine, yet stronger.