by BJ Brandon
"I told you it wouldn't work" Rafe growled silent to his thickheaded brother.
Over his shoulder and more pointed to Chayle, Rafe said, "It's a precaution, Chayle. You don't have to worry about the creeps who took you, promise!"
He risked a quick look behind him again, catching the panicked look in her dark eyes. "However, we do know the group had connections with others, an extensive network that wasn't at the cabin. We can't take a chance with your safety and you haven't healed enough to trust others to protect you."
His matter-of-fact explanation sounded so plausible, so believable that for a few heartbeats it didn't even cross her mind to argue with him. Until she moved in the giant's arms that held her, until she felt the raging hard-on that pressed against the bruises that still covered the tender cheeks of her ass and rock hard thighs that pressed like a furnace against hers. Her stomach flip-flopped and her mind raced as she felt the panic race over her again, reaching like a demon with icy fingers around her chest to squeeze the air from her lungs.
Her vision blurred, her breathing caught as she fought to drag air into her tortured lungs. She didn't see the buildings as they blurred past the SUV in the night or the bright lights that could possibly tell her where she was.
The smell of sweat and blood, curses and pain filled her vision. A deep cold descended upon her, tremors shaking her body from the inside out to the point that her teeth began to chatter. All she could hear was her own heartbeat, her mantra inside her head telling herself to survive just a little longer, they can't touch the core that was her soul.
Clinching her eyes shut, her body felt those fingers brutally pinching rosy nipples again, felt tender bare skin slapped and cut that had only felt a lover's touch a few times in the past. A whimper escaped through lips pressed tightly together to hold back a scream. Chayle hadn't realize she had clinched her eyes shut or wrapped her arms around herself until Kayne began shaking her.
"Stop it!" he growled directly into her face. "Open your eyes and look at me, damn it!"
Chayle's lids flew open the instant she heard his growl, blazing blue eyes drilling into her, pulling her into their unusual blue depths. Trembling fingers reached up to touch a chiseled cheek covered in a day's growth of stubble to ensure he was real before huge silent tears leaked from the corners of her dark eyes.
"I can't close my eyes, Kayne," she whispered. "Every time I do I smell them, feel them." And then the shudders started, bone deep, starting all the way from her soul and taking her breath away.
"Ah baby," he breathed.
It was all he could say as he wrapped her in his strength and met Rafe's gaze in the rear view mirror. "No one will find you. I promised, didn't I?"
"But you can't take the memories away. I have to live with those," Chayle whispered softly as she lay her head against his shoulder. He felt her quiet sobs as she cried and it broke his heart, the one Kayne was convinced he no longer felt. "How will I ever sleep with the nightmares now?"
He couldn't take her sobs, they were killing him. She never felt the small prick as he injected her with a sedative that quickly took effect. One minute she was quietly clutching his shirt in a death grip and sobbing, the next she lay limp and silent in his arms.
"Fuck!" his curse was loud and hard, filling the SUV with vicious anger as he stared down at the woman in his arms.
"My thoughts exactly!" was the only comment Rafe contributed as his brother continued to hold her.
Chapter Six
Some distance away, another was livid!
"What do you mean they escaped?" The one who called himself 'The Master' stood before the large bank of windows looking out over a meticulously groomed lawn that stretched for acres. The estate afforded him the facilities necessary to camouflage his various ventures under the guise of a working gentleman's ranch. At the moment he could see several quarter horses being trained in a paddock, but his eyes didn't see the beauty of their gait.
"We lost them at the hospital," the young man stuttered, eyes on the floor. "Our informant gave us a heads up that something was happening so men were sent in to acquire the test subject but they were already on the move. By the time we were able to locate them, she was gone."
The Master was quiet, never allowing his control to bubble above the surface that threatened to turn the light into blackness. Failure was not an option. Those who failed him paid the consequences.
"Who was on this assignment?" he asked, never revealing his intentions.
"Davis, sir."
"Have him recalled and placed in the training facility by 1600 tonight. I will personally see to his discipline!" The barely controlled violence almost bubbled up, but he continued to controlled it. Until he turned to look at the young man waiting for further orders.
Eyes as black as sin stared at the young man, chilling his soul. Davis would never walk out of the training facility this night. The young man would bet his soul on it.
Chapter Seven
The room was quiet and dark as he sat slumped in the overstuffed chair in the corner, feet propped up on the end of the bed, watching her sleep. Chayle had not moved once since he had placed her in his large King-size bed, gently tucking the soft sheets and quilt around her slender body to keep her warm.
He and Rafe kept the house cool because it suited them due to their unique metabolisms and it had never occurred to him how it could affect someone else. Now he had Chayle to worry about, and she was still healing, barely out of the hospital a day.
The humidity of east Texas could be stifling at times to those not use to it and especially since Chayle had live the last few years in Colorado. He loved the green hill country around his home but he wondered how she would compare it to the mountains. Kayne could not wait to show her the compound but it could wait.
A soft moan and quick eye movements reminded Kayne why he stood silent guard, unable and unwilling to risk her waking up in a strange place yet again, alone. Too many changes in too short of time, still she retained such spunk and temper that it drew him like a dark flame.
She had even dared to slap at him, causing a rare grin to lift full lips in the darkness of the room as he remembered her temper. No one had ever slapped him.
Just the thought of it had him growing hard and restless all over again. No other female had ever stood up to him like that and Kayne could only be further amazed as to why he allowed her to continue to do so. It could endanger Chayle's safety if she thought she could sway him, much less that he might actually allow her to think it could work.
"NO!" The scream was high and shrill as Chayle came off the bed in a rush, her eyes wild and blind, mouth open for another shriek. Kayne was there before she could utter another sound, he mouth covering hers in a soft, soothing kiss.
"Easy," he crooned. "No one is here but us, rest easy." Kayne held both hands in one of his large ones, the other gently smoothing back the mop of chestnut curls cascading around Chayle's forehead and shoulders. The mass of dark silk filled his hand as he tried to soothe, slowly pulling her from the realm of sleep where the monsters chased and demons lurked. She shook so hard it was a wonder the entire bed did not tremble under them. Finally he pulled her onto his lap and gently rocked her against his chest, feeling the silent sobs shake her chest as she tried to hold them back. He felt them all the way to his soul.
"There is no one here but the two of us," he whispered.
"They were there," she wheezed painfully between clenched teeth. "I couldn't stop them, couldn't make them stop hurting the other girl!" Her body shook, the sobs soft and yet crippling as he cuddled her close, letting the terror loose rather than remain hidden in the shadows of her mind where it could fester and grow.
"What other girl?" he whispered, already knowing the answer.
"There was another girl at the compound where you found me. She was so much younger, so tiny. I could not let them hurt her. I couldn't," she sobbed. "I tried to keep their attention on me."
Chayle's hiccups tore at his re
solve as he rubbed her back with rough hands that were used to weapons and hand-to-hand combat rather than easing a woman's fears. He did not realize how he clenched her closer, listening quietly as she voiced her terror. "They finally took her away once they started torturing me."
"Chayle, are saying you deliberately made yourself a target to protect the other girl?" Kayne tried to keep the anger out of his voice, but he knew it bled through. She had purposely made them angry to save the other girl. This small woman had fought the only way she could at the time, allowing men to hurt her more than they probably would have in order to buy time and protect the younger girl held captive. Not only was she brave but stupid. With no way of protecting herself from whatever torture those monsters were planning, Chayle had endured horrendous acts, more so than any he had seen in many years and it sickened him.
"I didn't know what else to do, Kayne!" she whispered, finally looking at him with swollen and drenched eyes. "She was so tiny, so young." A sob escaped at her words, and it tore at his hardened soul.
She held onto him as if he was her only lifeline, her fists balled tight into his T-shirt as he gently rocked her. "Do you remember much more after that?"
He hated asking her to remember but knew she needed to talk about it. However, if they had missed anything now was the time to find out. It tore his soul open when she finally looked up at him.
Tawny and chocolate colored eyes looked up into his, the dimness of the room doing nothing to conceal the strength or internal metal of this amazing female he held in his arms, stealing his breath. "I remember everything they did to me!" she growled through her tears.
"Then you should know that my brother and I are here to ensure no one will ever cause you pain again."
He was so confident, unconsciously stroking her back that Chayle knew this giant truly believed his promise. However, how could she trust him when she did not know him or that other hulking brute that claimed to be his twin? The one thing her military father had taught her was always listen to your instincts! Panic, hot and fast, hit Chayle as she finally realized the magnitude of her situation.
Then something deep and primal, and instinctual force rose within Chayle suddenly from somewhere deep inside and she knew - KNEW without a doubt that she could trust this man.
It did not matter that she had only known him since waking up in the hospital less than a week ago, or that there was some strange, intangible force she could feel pulling them together. Her gut told her to trust him; her instincts told her this was important.
The panic attack was not going to back off, though and Chayle found her world narrowing down to the ability to try to just breathe. Struggling to get out of Kayne's grasp was next to impossible as her panic almost consumed her. Breathing became impossible, as reality slammed into her . . . she was dependent upon strangers, in a location she had no idea how she got to and no idea how to escape. As it all came crashing down on her in waves her chest began to ache and her breathing became more labored, her body hyperventilating.
Kayne suddenly realized that Chayle was struggling to breathe and if she did not calm down she could do more harm to her bruised and battered ribs. She could not take much more abuse and he was not going to allow her to accidently hurt herself so he did the only thing he knew to stop it and gain her undivided attention.
He kissed her.
Chapter Eight
Time seemed to stop. Her lips did not soften at once, but he refused to relinquish his grasp on her sharp little chin once he had her quiet and breathing normally. His tongue continued to quest for entrance into her mouth.
When she did not open, he growled.
He was watching her eyes so he saw her beautiful orbs widen at the noise. Her gasp allowed his tongue to plunder her lips, seeking the warmth within as if it were the life-giving force of Mother Nature. His tongue stroked the sides of her mouth, sliding over her tongue and gently pulling the taste over his own, savoring and drowning in her flavor.
Gently, he eased his hold on her chin, continuing the kiss, holding her to him in the only way he knew how, showing her that she was safe, she could trust him.
It was almost his undoing.
"Oh God, make it go away!" she groaned, surprising him.
"What baby? What do you want?" Kayne whispered against her mouth, refusing to let go, licking those lips as he continued to watch her eyes.
So expressive, so telling. She may fight him on every conscious level but Kayne could look into her eyes and tell what Chayle was really thinking, and right now he had no plans of letting go.
"Make the nightmares go away, Kayne. Make them stop!" she begged, hating herself but unable to halt the plea. She clung to him, wrapping herself around him as the sob bubbled from her soul.
"Only time will help with those, little one. But we can replace some of them with new ones that you will want to keep," he whispered. He licked her lips again, constantly watching her expressive face, ready to stop at the slightest indication from her.
Kayne proceeded to lick her chin, down her neck to the pulse at her throat. There he gently sucked at the pulsing vein, evidence of the need throbbing in her veins. One hand slowly moved up her rib cage to rest under her generous breasts, waiting to ensure she did not panic.
Kayne was taken back when Chayle pulled his hand to her breast, allowing his thumb to gently strum across the raised pebble of her right breast. He groaned, feeling the small bud under his touch.
"You aren't ready for this, baby girl!" he whispered, licking Chayle's neck. Her taste was so unique and he continued to lick, tasting her essence, feeling it sink into his soul like no other drug he had known existed.
"Don't stop . . . please don't stop!" she just managed to say before dragging his head down toward her breast. "Make the monsters go away!"
Kayne gently laid her back on his huge bed where he began a slow, deliberate exploration of the most delectable body he had ever held in his arms. Slowly, he pulled the tank top over her head, watching Chayle's eyes the entire time to ensure she was fully aware who was in the room with her. He wanted no ghosts now.
Those dark eyes dripped with tentative but weary need, and Kayne leaned down to pay attention to those beautiful breasts that were still marred by bruises and faint cuts. If he could kill the bastards all over again the torture would have been worse than what they had done to this small brave woman laying beneath him. Pulling a hard rosy nipple into his mouth, Kayne continued to watch her eyes and knew the instant the ghosts vanished and passion replaced them.
Chayle was floating . . . lost in a sea of feelings that had nothing to do with nightmares or the pain that had awakened her. Rough hands gently held her but did not restrain, plucking at nipples straining for more and taking only what was offered. Warm pulls sent shards of need snaking down the muscles of her stomach to clench her womb when common sense tried to intrude, telling her to push this stranger away. Yet her body responded to the gentle pulls as if she had known him all her life, as if he had always been . . . there!
God . . . she could not stand this empty feeling. She needed to replace the clawing at her insides, replace the terror like a living, breathing thing to drive her mad, forcing her to feel alive. She needed a reminder that she was alive, not the nightmares that continued to haunt her, the taunts and snickers from the monsters that had held her.
All she could do now was feel, hands that teased yet were gentle. Lips and teeth that created so much heat her skin felt like flames were licking along the surface yet his hands hadn't left her nipples, those lips hadn't stopped tugging and suckling. A wail escaped as he tugged once more just enough to border on pleasure/pain and Chayle felt herself begin to unravel.
""Not yet, sweetheart," he cooed. "I'm not done with you yet."
Callous hands skimmed over her stomach, past quivering muscles to the waistband of her thin cotton sleep pants and Chayle forgot to breathe as a warm tongue followed those hands, stopping along the way to distract her as he delved into the indent
ion of her navel. The diamond stud she had previously worn in her belly button before her abduction was now gone, but the area was still sensitive and tender. Kayne's warm tongue was a gentle balm as he first circled it then softly pushed the tip of his tongue into the center several times.
Chayle never felt the cotton pants as they skimmed down her long legs, all senses fixated on that tongue as it lapped and worshipped the indention at her belly button. When she felt Kayne begin to move down her body, she was lost.
Strong hands gripped trim hips, not bruising but in a grip to hold her as he settled between her thighs as if it was an almost natural place for him to be, and then he stopped.
"Look at me, Chayle." She had not realized her eyes were closed until Kayne's command penetrated her tortured thoughts. When she finally forced them open it was to see him lying between her thighs, his face above her naked mound, dark blue eyes blazing with lust and something more she could not identify.
"See me," he demanded. "Just me, Chayle. No ghosts, no monsters are here! Just you and me . . . here - now!"
Kayne waited, determined that she acknowledge who was in her bed and what was happening now. He wanted no doubts but more than anything, he did not want shame to be a part of their first time together.
"Please . . . " she whispered, unable to finish.
"Say it, Chayle. Tell me what you want. I will stop right now if this isn't it, so help me God."
"You would stop?" she screeched.
His grin was beautiful if not pained. "It would kill me, my beauty, but yes . . . I would walk away from you if that is what you asked me to do."
He waited, giving her the choice because Kayne knew the only way this strong woman would be able to fight her demons was on her own terms. He knew the instant she had made up her mind.
A slow, slumberous look came into those chocolate colored eyes turning them almost honey gold and his heart melted. He could smell her arousal before but now it rose from her like ambrosia calling him home.