by Amy Deason
The exaggerated pout he gave her did wonders for his mouth. “No? Well, in that case, there are clothes in the other room you can wear and the shower is that way,” he said, motioning toward the back of the house before turning his back to her and walking to the kitchen.
Knowing a dismissal when she saw one, Madison couldn’t help but to be a little stung by his remoteness. But what had she expected? For him to show some interest in her as a woman? She must be losing her mind. A long, hot shower and some clean, dry clothes was just what she needed right now. Not some handsome stranger looming over her, filling her head with unbidden, erotic thoughts. Spinning around on her heel, she headed into the direction he had pointed, putting as much distance between her and Seth as she could, given the circumstances.
“And don’t think you can escape out of the windows.”
“Why?” Madison quipped, her chin lifting slightly. “Are they locked as well?”
Seth’s lips tightened before answering. “Not locked so much as inoperable. They are not made to be opened or broken so there is really no sense in trying.”
Not bothering to reply, she turned and stalked in the direction he had motioned. The bastard! God, how she hated him.
The small bathroom was just as barren as the rest of the house, containing only the utmost necessities. There was no window in this room, like it would have done her any good. There was no way she was trying another daring escape. As if in reminder, the cuts on her back continued to sting, making her entire body feel as though it were on fire. Quickly shedding Seth’s coat, she breathed a sigh of relief until she caught her reflection in the mirror. The image was enough to make her want to cry.
Her blond hair was a mess of tangles which went absurdly well with the dark smudges under her eyes. Part mascara, part shock and lack of sleep, she resembled a disheveled raccoon. Her bottom lip was stained a dark red with her own dried blood and bruises spread along her upper arms and wrists. No wonder Seth didn’t pay much attention to her, she was a total wreck. Not that she really wanted him to. He was, after all, a dangerous man. But that thought didn’t do much in the way of dispelling the lustful thoughts filling her head. It only added more heat to the fire, so to speak.
Gingerly, she stepped out of the remains of her black dress. A black dress which was now nothing more than a muddy, torn mess. Robert would be so upset if he could see this. Poor Robert. He would never be able to see this or anything else. Madison felt the tears start to build up but she bit them back. She didn’t want to cry. Not here and not now. She wanted to wait until she could be completely alone with her grief. To give Robert the proper respect he deserved. But not while she was being held captive against her will with some emotionless stranger. Well, she allowed, he wasn’t completely emotionless. On a few instances, she had seen real feelings just below the surface so she knew that he was human and not some uncaring robot. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. All she wanted was to get clean. And breathe.
Madison turned on the shower, making the water as hot as she could stand it and climbed in, pulling the shower curtain closed behind her. Although she was no longer cold on the outside, inside, she felt like a block of ice. The hot water felt good but the moment it hit her back, she cried out sharply. The stinging in her back escalated several notches as the water washed over her cuts. Needles of pain shot through her, struggling not to jump out of the shower. With the hot water running over her, she allowed herself to think of the man in the alley. Inside the privacy of the shower, she relieved the horror of it all. She cringed but forced herself to relive it.
Her uncontrollable sobs were covered by the water as she scrubbed every inch of her skin until it was lobster red and throbbing with pain. It seemed to go on forever but slowly, she was able to regain control of herself. Her skin burned but she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stand under the hot water until she felt clean.
Gradually, the pain and revulsion was dulled by the searing heat from the water as it flowed over the open wounds, leaving a blissful numbness in its place. When she could take no more, she turned off the water and stepped out, drying herself gently with the thick, fluffy towels. Dropping the towel to the floor, she wiped away the condensation from the mirror and bravely turned.
Long, ragged scratches ran almost the entire length of her backside. Staring just below her shoulder blades and ending at the small of her back, the deep lacerations were an angry shade of red, standing out even on her scalded skin. They were too painful to look at. Facing the mirror once again, she examined the unhealthy swell of her lip. She leaned in toward the mirror for a closer look when suddenly the door swung open. Jumping in surprise, she shrieked as Seth stepped into the small bathroom. Scrambling for her discarded towel, she quickly covered herself, before whirling around to face him, heat creeping up her cheeks.
Seth’s gaze was intense. “What the hell happened to your back?” he demanded, his voice rough and his blue eyes ablaze.
“Get out of here!” she yelled brokenly, pulling the towel tighter around herself. Shaking, she was overwhelmed with both anger and embarrassment.
Crossing the short distance between then, Seth ignored her outrage as if she hadn’t even spoken. She tried to shrink away but her ass was firmly pressed against the sink. There was nowhere for her to go. Swiftly, he grabbed her by one bare shoulder and spun her around, pinning her against the sink effortlessly. Seizing the towel, he yanked it down, exposing her entire backside.
“Now tell me what happened to your back.”
Madison tried desperately to pull the towel back into place but Seth had a firm grip on it and wasn’t letting go. She had no way to cover herself although he didn’t seem to be too concerned with her nakedness.
“It’s nothing. I scraped it a little when I climbed out of the window back at the apartment. I’m sure it will be fine.” She wasn’t sure of anything at this moment beyond her extreme and ever-growing embarrassment. She just wanted him out of there, away from her. She wanted his strong, warm hands off of her skin. More than that, she wanted to erase the strange, throbbing feelings of inadequacy she was constantly cursed with.
“The hell it will be,” Seth grumbled. “You’ve got the beginning of a very bad infection.”
“Well then, I’ll take care of it myself. I don’t need your help,” she said stubbornly.
“And just how do you plan to do that? You can’t even reach around to apply medicine to it.”
Not waiting for an objection, Seth reached past her and pulled out a brown, unlabeled bottle from the medicine cabinet.
“What’s that?” Madison asked suspiciously, craning her neck around to look at the bottle he held.
“Something that will take care of that infection,” he said, opening the bottle. “You know, it would be easier to put this on if you go lie on the bed.”
Her heart thumped wildly at the prospect of lying, naked, on the bed with him. Even for such an innocent reason as applying medicine to her back. She pushed the erotic images away and growled, “Go to hell. I am not getting on the bed with you.”
Seth leaned closer into her. She could feel the softness of his clothes against her naked skin. His breath was warm as it glided over her neck.
“Really, Maddie, does everything have to be about sex with you?” Seth whispered, his words playing gently in his ear. “I’m just trying to doctor your wounds. Now, would you like to lay down or stand?”
Damn him! Why did he have to make her so crazy? She really needed to get control of herself. And if she laid down on that bed . . . No, that couldn’t happen. No way was she going to allow it. “I’ll stand, thank you.”
Shrugging, Seth replied, “Suit yourself. Hold still, this is going to sting a little.”
She barely had time to brace herself before she felt his fingers touch her back. The warm liquid did a lot more than sting.
It lit her on fire. Immediately she stiffened against the pain, whimpering softly. Not caring anymore that she stood in front of him completely naked, she grabbed tightly onto the base of the sink and leaned over it, her hair framing her face, the tears stinging her eyes. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before. The heat began in the open cuts, searing nerve endings as it sent fire coursing through her blood. It was if her skin were melting. Sucking in her breath, she held it in tightly, a last effort to stave off the pain racing through her entire body. Her lungs were on fire and screaming for release but she just couldn’t let go. The pain was too severe and too immense.
“Breathe, Maddie,” she heard Seth say somewhere dimly behind her. His voice seemed to float to her over a long distance. Sluggishly, she shook her head, feeling lightheaded.
Faintly, she felt his hands on her arms as he spun her around making her instantly dizzy with the quick motion and the lack of air. Opening her tear-filled eyes, she stared up into Seth’s blazing blue ones. His face was filled with anger and she could see the violence simmering just below the surface.
“Damn it, I said breathe!” he yelled, shaking her roughly.
Not able to hold back any further, Madison let her breath go in a loud whoosh, immediately gasping for air. Her knees threatened to give way but Seth continued to hold her, steadying her and keeping her on her feet. Her lungs burned as she sucked in the air she had been denying herself. Breathing hurt almost as much as the lack of air and she stood, forcing herself to take small, even breaths. When she was finally able to breathe somewhat normally, she realized Seth still held her arms and she was standing completely naked in front of him, her towel pooled around her feet on the floor.
Alarmed, she tried to move away but he held tight, not allowing her to step back. Being close to him like this, she became even more aware of him as a man. The long, dark hair fell to brush the tops of his broad shoulders and framed his face, emphasizing his strength and beauty even as the unnatural depth of his eyes drew her in, threatening to mesmerize her. And his mouth . . . His mouth was so full and sensual she longed to taste it again, to feel it against hers. Even as she studied him, she saw his blue eyes drop to her feet and climb up the length of her body. Slowly. Her supreme self-doubt kicked in and she became even more conscious about her physical shortcomings. Nervously, she licked her lips, watching as his eyes shifted, following the movement of her tongue as it skimmed her mouth. Abruptly, Seth’s eyes deepened in color until they were nearly black and she felt her heart began to speed up in immediate feminine response. She wanted him. This revelation stunned her but it was true. She wanted him like she had never wanted anyone before. That scared her. Terrified her, in fact.
Without stopping to consider her actions, Madison stepped in, her chest pressed firmly against Seth’s and brought her lips to his, tasting his mouth, tasting those luscious lips. His body was hard with lean muscles, a strength effectively hidden underneath his clothing. The thought of those muscles, that strength, made her burn inside, made her press herself even tighter against him. For a moment, Seth stood completely still, like a block of stone and she worried that she had made a mistake, that she had read him wrong. But then he was kissing her back. She hungrily gave into her lust and opening her mouth, she ran her tongue over his lips, teasing, inviting him to open his. He groaned against her mouth and then the sudden flash of his tongue over hers sent an electrifying shock through her entire body from head to toe. Distantly, she felt Seth’s hands slide down her arms, gently stroking her still damp skin. Stifling a moan, she brought her arms up and began unbuttoning his shirt, letting her fingernails scrape against the smoothness of his muscled chest.
Seth’s fingers grazed her ribs and stomach causing her to inhale sharply against his lips. Caressing her skin softly, he grasped the smooth curves of her hips, yanking her closer to him with surprising force. The feel of his slacks created a delicious friction against her bare thighs and she couldn’t hold back a gasp of sudden need. She could feel him grow long and hard beneath the thin material separating them and rejoiced that she did have an effect on him. But then, just as roughly as he pulled her to him, he pushed her away, breaking their intimate contact. “I told you I wasn’t interested. Now get dressed Maddie,” Seth ordered brusquely.
Before she could even mutter a response, he turned around and left her standing naked and alone in the bathroom.
Chapter 13
Shit! Seth stormed out of the bathroom and stomped toward the front door, his blood burning like liquid fire through his veins. Temptation was beating deep within his body, reverberating through every part of him. What the hell was he doing? He was supposed to be killing Madison, not trying to fuck her. But he’d already rejected that order. He was not going to kill her. But that didn’t mean that he had to get involved with her either. He had been lying, of course, when he told her he wasn’t interested. He was very interested in her. Too much in fact. At the moment, he felt as though he were going insane, going mad with desire. He had to be out of his fucking mind. He couldn’t have her but oh, how he wanted her, needed her. He wanted to touch her, taste her, be beside her, and be inside her. And none of it made any fucking sense.
Madison was so unlike the large variety of women he’d been involved with, affecting him like no one else ever had. And she wasn’t even his usual type. Hell, most of the women he’d fucked throughout his career were slim, gorgeous, and sensual. They knew all the ins and outs of sex, knew exactly what they wanted, and just how to get it. More often than not, they, too, were on a mission and not afraid to do whatever it took to accomplish their objective. They were trained for that type of high-level activity. But Madison . . . Madison was not an operative. She was pretty enough but she was shy and inhibited. She had no idea what she was doing. Yet right now, he was on fire like he had never been before and he wanted nothing more than to finish what he had started. He could see the desire burning in her eyes and that was like a drug to him.
Images of her, fresh out of the shower, leapt once again into his mind, sizzling his brain with all of the heat of a raging forest fire. Her soft, blond hair, damp from the shower, laying on her naked shoulders and those full lips, trembling slightly, as her small pink tongue licked them nervously. The fresh, clean scent of her had filled his nose, nearly obliterating his common sense. He could still feel the soft, silky skin underneath his fingertips and her smooth, creamy breasts pressing against his chest. It would be so easy to turn around and take her right there on the bathroom floor. God, the waves of heat flooding through his system was enough to make him feel as though he might reach a virtual meltdown.
Damn it, he was thinking with his dick instead of his head. That kind of thinking was dangerous and would more than likely get them both killed. He couldn’t risk that. There was too much on the line for him to be distracted by sex and he couldn’t let any woman get in the way of the job. He wouldn’t fuck up the entire mission just because he couldn’t keep it in his pants.
But it was more than that. It wasn’t just the sexual need that was driving him to the brink of madness. He was beginning to see beneath her exterior. He was beginning to see her as a real person. A person with emotions. A person with a soul. A person worth saving. And maybe even dying for.
He had to get away from here, away from her. He knew he had done the right thing, pushing her away like that. But the way she looked at him with those huge, brown eyes . . . Oh, he had cut her to the quick with that move. But that was good. She needed to stay the hell away from him. She needed to realize that he was a dangerous man and nobody she wanted to fuck around with. And if he had to hurt her to do it, then by God, he would do what it took. He should never have let it get this far. Holy shit, what the fuck was she doing to him?
Slamming the front door shut behind him, Seth leaned against the closed door and took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp cool air into his lungs. The coldness stung but it h
elped to clear his head but didn’t do much about the rest of the flames surging through his blood.
Damn Charlie and this fucking life . . .
Seth always had a healthy respect for Charlie and everything she must have seen and lived through to become the cold, determined woman she was, but he still cursed her for her absolute ruthlessness. She was hard enough inside to be able to casually order the death of an innocent without a second thought. Her reasons for that ultimate decision was simple. Kill one to save many. The life of one or two innocents was not worth the death of thousands, perhaps millions. To make that decision, to give that order took a callousness he didn’t possess. And one he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to.
Since he’d been recruited by the Perfect Order at seventeen, his entire life had been dedicated to protecting innocent lives. And he’d suffered much in those sixteen years. More than most people had in an entire lifetime. But it had all been worth it because it had been the right thing to do. He’d done terrible things to ensure that normal, everyday people didn’t know about the evil surrounding them. To let them be comfortably ignorant about the world they lived in so that they might feel secure enough to live a regular life. But now, Charlie had ordered him to kill one of those he’d spent his whole life protecting.
More and more, he found himself questioning her orders as he’d never done before. It had always been black and white, good and evil but now, there were shades of grey filtering in. And those were fucking with his way of thinking, with his job. He could not going to follow orders as far as Madison was concerned but he would finish the mission. He would see it through even though that meant that he had to keep Madison safe as well. He just wished to hell that Charlie would give him the order to finish Vance now. But he understood that they had to find a way to stop the poison that he’d come up with from entering the water system. They didn’t know if killing Vance would be enough to prevent that. His death might only be the trigger that set it off.