by Anna Hackett
The raptor seemed to take that in, thinking for a few seconds. Then he shrugged. “I do not care. I have my orders.” He nodded to the other raptor.
A flash of movement caught Taylor’s eye. The raptor guard had pulled his knife, and, like the other one, it had a jagged black blade. He shoved it into Devlin’s shoulder.
“No!” she cried.
She took one step and felt the sting of a blade at her throat. The Doctor’s blade was smaller than the guards’ knives, but still sharp.
Once again, she looked at Devlin, and the slow slide of blood down his shoulder.
It looked like they’d run out of options.
Chapter Two
Devlin hissed out a breath. The pain searing through his shoulder was bad, but he’d had worse.
Right now, he was more concerned with the knife at Taylor’s throat.
The tall raptor moved his hand, sliding the blade lower. He cut through one of the straps of her tank.
“Stop,” Devlin snapped. “Get out.”
There was a flare of satisfaction in the raptor’s gaze, and he jerked his head at the raptor guard. Devlin grabbed the hilt of the knife still stuck in his shoulder and yanked it out.
The raptor guard snatched the knife from Devlin, and then grasped the arm of his dead comrade on the ground. He brushed past Devlin, dragging the body behind him.
“Mate,” the tall raptor warned as the door swung shut with a clang. “Or her blood will wash the walls.”
Devlin was breathing heavily, trying hard to control his emotions and the pain. Taylor stepped in front of him, pressing a wad of cloth to his wound. He frowned at it and realized it was the tattered remains of the shirt the raptors had torn off him.
“It’s not bad,” he said.
She dabbed gently. “I guess we’ll have to put on a better show.”
He reached out and touched the thin, red line marring her neck. It wasn’t deep, but he knew it would sting. Then he lowered his finger and touched one of the black sucker pads.
“Raptor version of a sensor pad, I guess,” she said.
“Does it hurt?”
She shook her head. “Not anymore. Yours?”
“Same.”
She glanced over her shoulder and he followed her gaze. The Doctor was standing with the other raptor, huddled around a screen attached to one wall. The raptor screens were made of a black, glasslike substance, but he was too far away to see what was on it.
“I think they’re measuring our heart rate, and who knows what else.” Devlin ran a hand through his hair. “Taylor…shit—”
“Bleeding’s slowed.” She shoved the stained cloth in her pocket. “It’s fine, Devlin.” She pressed her hands to his chest. “We’re in this together. So, we’ll make it look more convincing. We can do this.”
Devlin hated feeling so helpless. He’d been there once or twice, and did his best to stay one step ahead.
She cleared her throat. “And if we have to—”
“No.” His hands curled into fists. He really wanted to hit something.
Taylor stepped back. Then she gripped the hem of her tank top and yanked it over her head.
He froze. “Taylor?”
She undid the buttons on her cargo pants and let them fall to her feet. She stood there, wearing a set of sporty-looking, black underwear and bra. Hooking her thumbs in the side of her panties, she pushed them off.
“It’s got to be a good show, Dev.” She pulled her bra off, leaving her naked. She was studiously not looking toward the raptors. She stood there, straight and proud.
Bloody gorgeous. Devlin let himself look, couldn’t make himself stop. She had full breasts and curves, but every inch of her was toned up by her job.
His cock pressed hard against his trousers, desire a hot burning in his gut. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. This was supposed to be a show only. Outside the cell, he heard the grunts of the raptors.
Block them out. Okay, they needed to put on a show, he needed to keep Taylor safe, and he needed to keep his unruly cock under control.
Then her hands smoothed up his chest and she pushed him down to sit on the stone ledge again.
She straddled him, her legs tucked into his hips, and this time, she was gloriously naked.
“They’ll think human women are dominant during sex after watching us,” Devlin said, trying to keep some sort of control.
She shot him a smile. “I don’t care. I’m sure as hell not lying on this filthy floor.” Then she winked. “Besides, I kind of like being on top.”
He let out a strangled laugh, his hands touching her hips. “I like you being on top, too.” His hands itched to move up and touch her, but he ruthlessly kept them locked on her hips. He couldn’t let himself forget the situation that had led them here.
“You are so beautiful, Taylor. Strong…with gorgeous breasts.”
Now she laughed. “Men. So easily pleased.” She moved against him.
“If things were different…” he murmured.
She arched a dark brow. “You’d be all shut up behind your icy, super-spy shell.”
“My what?”
“Come on, Dev. You hardly ever socialize and I’ve never seen you with a woman. You’ve got more defenses than the Enclave.”
A faint smile touched his lips. “I do better alone.”
She moved closer, the warmth of her pressing against him. “No one does better alone. Especially not since the world went to hell.”
Their conversation was heading somewhere he wasn’t interested in going. Time to focus on the task at hand. “This time, they need to see our heart rates increasing, and the responses of our bodies.”
“Oh, yay,” she muttered.
“Touch yourself.” He wasn’t going to touch her, refused to violate her for the aliens’ whims.
Her eyelids fluttered, a flash of hesitancy in her eyes.
“Right here, it’s just you and me, Taylor.”
She nodded and then lifted her hands to cup her breasts. Devlin couldn’t drag his gaze off her. She flicked her fingers across her nipples, her lips parting and her breath hitching.
Her hips found a rhythm, moving against him. He saw a flush spread across her skin, her pulse pounding in her throat.
“You are so pretty.” He didn’t mean to say it. The words just slipped out.
“Charming me, super spy?”
“Do you like being charmed?”
Her hands slid downward now, across the creamy skin of her taut belly. “You know what? I do.” Her fingers inched lower.
Devlin’s gaze followed, to the dark, neat strip of hair between her toned thighs.
“I like nice things.” Her voice was just a little bit breathy. “Good wine. Pretty flowers. I have a notebook fetish, the prettier the better.” She moaned a little. “There is too much bad in the world, and I like a little light every now and then. When I was a little girl, I saw how much darkness there was. How quickly things could be snatched away from you.”
The tone of her voice had changed. He wondered what darkness Taylor had seen. He understood because he’d seen darkness too. Hell, there was darkness inside him.
But when she moaned again, his concentration shattered.
She needed to come, and he wanted to help her get there. “Are you touching yourself?”
“Mmm, yes—”
“Are you wet?”
Slumberous gold-brown eyes met his. “I am now.”
“Touch your clit, Taylor. I want to watch you come.”
***
Sensations cascaded over Taylor. She rubbed her clit faster and faster.
She looked up, staring at the hard planes of Dev’s face, and the way his muscles were straining in his neck.
Right now, it was only the two of them, caught in this private connection. There was no denying the man was delicious—dark, lean, dangerous. That magic combination that could drive any woman crazy.
“Are you close?” he murmured.
>
The deep rumble of his voice made her pleasure spike. “Yes.”
“Come.” His gaze was locked on her face. “I want to watch you come.”
That was enough to catapult her over. Her back arched, and she bit her lip, trying to stop from screaming. She shuddered under the rush of sensation.
“Beautiful.” His voice was a deep, harsh whisper.
Taylor dragged in a deep breath, her pulse still racing. She shifted, and felt the hard bulge of his cock beneath her.
“Your turn,” she murmured.
He gave her one short nod.
She scooted back so she was balanced on his knees. “Open your trousers, Devlin.”
His eyes flashed. “I prefer to give the orders.”
She smiled. “Why am I not surprised? Get your cock out.”
With a growl, he flicked open his cargo pants and pulled out a long, hard cock. God. She’d never thought a man’s penis was beautiful before, but Devlin’s was.
She wanted to touch it. So badly.
She released a long breath. But not here, not like this.
His strong fingers circled his cock, he started to pump. His moves were rougher than she would have done herself. She watched each tantalizing movement.
“That is so hot,” she said.
As she watched, a drop of pre-come glimmered at the tip of the thick head.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he groaned.
Her eyes flicked up to him. “Like what?”
“Like you want to put your mouth on me. I can see everything you want to do to my cock reflected in your eyes.”
Oh, yes, there was a lot she wanted to do.
He kept moving his hand with hard, rough pumps. She sensed him getting closer to his release, felt his thighs tightening beneath her.
“Damn. I don’t—” his muscles strained “—I don’t want to leave anything for them to get their hands on.”
The words ripped out of him, his hand slowing down.
She understood. If the raptors got their hands on any of their bodily fluids, who knew what they could do. She reached down and snatched up his ruined shirt from her trouser pocket. “It’s okay, I’ll take care of it. Come, Dev.”
With a deep growl, he did. As his release started spurting from him, she pressed the shirt down, catching his come.
Finally, he fell backward against the wall, his chest heaving. “Damn.”
She pulled in a deep breath. Damn was right.
Chapter Three
Devlin watched Taylor shimmy back into her trousers and pull her tank top back over her head. Beyond the bars, the raptors were talking quietly to themselves and looking at the screen. They seemed satisfied. Bastards.
Taylor tied a knot in her torn tank strap and then came and sat beside him. “We okay?”
He slid his arm across her shoulders. “Yes. You did great.” He’d been stuck in some bad places, and he’d seen some terrible things during his career. But watching Taylor Cates come was definitely not one of them. Damn, he wished circumstances were different.
“Now, we work out how to get out of here.” She shifted, opening the palm of her hand. He saw a jagged shard of one of the raptor knives. She’d wrapped some fabric around the bottom to make a makeshift hilt.
“When—?”
“When you dropped it earlier, it shattered. I managed to snag a piece of it.”
“You are brilliant.”
“I know.” She tossed her dark hair back. She’d lost her hair tie long ago and her locks fell past her shoulders. “I also have a garrote wire threaded into my bra.”
He stared at her. “I could kiss you.”
“Save it for later, super spy.” She reached under her top, tugging and pulling, and then a second later, she passed him the thin garrote wire.
“Now, we just have to wait for the right moment,” he said.
“I wish we had our shoes.” She cast a wishful look through the bars at their pile of confiscated armor, weapons, and shoes. Then her face hardened. “And I’ll kill that raptor for taking my necklace.”
Devlin studied her face. “It was important?”
She nodded. “From my parents. The charms held special meaning.” She pulled a small piece of silver out of her pocket. “I managed to save this.” It was a tiny silver heart. “My mother gave it to me.”
“It’s pretty. Now, we should rest while we can.”
They sat side-by-side and waited. The minutes turned to hours. They both watched a raptor carry away their armor and weapons. Damn. Escaping with no armor or shoes just made things tougher.
At one point, a raptor shoved a container of water through the bars.
“Drinkable?” Taylor sniffed it.
Devlin tested it. “It seems okay.”
They shared the water, but it was barely enough to quench their thirst. Taylor leaned against him on the bench, curling her legs beneath her. “You’ll keep watch?”
He nodded. “Sleep.”
Devlin lost track of time. Both of them dozed, one keeping watch while the other slept. With no windows, it was impossible for him to judge what time of day it was or how much time had passed.
Taylor got more and more tense. “You think we missed the deadline to check in with the Enclave?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say yes.”
“So maybe a squad is coming after us.”
“They’ll never find us here.”
She leaped to her feet. “Then we need to get out. We need to make the raptors come in.”
He’d been toying with the idea, too, and he didn’t want to wait any longer. “Ideas?”
She tapped her finger on her chin. “Pull these sucker pads off?” She looked down and grimaced. “I want them gone anyway.”
He nodded. “Excellent idea.” He gripped the slimy edge of one of his and started peeling it off.
Instantly, pain shot through his chest, and he felt like his skin was on fire. Damn, it hurt. He could feel the tentacle buried deep into his skin, wriggling. He gritted his teeth and kept pulling.
Taylor’s hand joined his, helping him to pull it off.
Outside the cell, there were grunts.
“Stop.” Someone banged on the bars.
Devlin and Taylor ignored the aliens. Finally, their hands jerked away. Taylor held the sucker pad, one long tentacle waving in the air like a crazed worm. Devlin swallowed a groan and grabbed the second pad.
Taylor tossed the first one through the bars and out of the cell. It flopped around on the floor like a fish out of water.
Devlin got the second sucker pad free, his entire chest feeling like it had been hit with a blowtorch. Panting, he flung it against the wall, squishing it.
The sound of raptors approaching caught his ear.
“Ready?” Devlin whispered to her.
She gave a barely perceptible nod, bouncing a little on her bare feet. He saw her right hand was held down by her leg and knew she had her makeshift knife ready.
His chest was still burning, but he fought to block out the pain, using every trick he’d been shown in his training. He wound the fine garrote wire between his hands.
The door banged open, and two scowling raptors entered.
As soon as the raptors had completely entered the cell, Devlin and Taylor exploded into action.
Devlin took the raptor on the left. He ducked in low, and after a quick jab to the raptor’s thigh, he slid behind the alien. He jumped up and slid the wire over the alien’s head. It settled against the creature’s neck, and Devlin pulled back hard.
His opponent was stronger, bigger. Without his armor, Devlin knew his strength couldn’t match the raptor’s.
They started a deadly tug-of-war, the alien trying desperately to get free of the wire cutting into his neck. They spun in an unwieldly dance and smacked into the wall. Devlin jammed his foot against the stone, and used it as leverage to jump upward. Then, he used his weight and pushed backward.
It was enough to topple his
raptor over. Enough to have the wire dig deep.
As they hit the ground, the raptor twitched a few times before going still.
Devlin jerked his head up. He had to help Taylor.
She was darting forward, stabbing her raptor over and over with her blade. His chest was a mass of bleeding cuts. Taylor used the advantage of speed to stay clear of her opponent.
With a bellow, the raptor swung a huge, clawed fist. She ducked beneath the swing, coming up beside him, and jammed her blade into his side.
Devlin rolled to his feet, intent on helping her, but by the time he reached her, the other raptor was down.
Taylor stood over the body, wiping blood off the blade onto the raptor’s trousers.
She looked up. “Ready to get out of here?”
Devlin reached down and grabbed one of the raptors’ guns. They were large and ugly, covered in scales. He knew they fired some sort of debilitating poison. But their carbines were gone, so these would have to do. He tossed the gun to her, and she caught it deftly. She started checking it over.
Devlin snatched up a second raptor weapon. “We need to get those sucker pads off. They might be able to track you through them.”
“I want the damn things off.” She widened her stance, bracing herself.
Devlin gripped the first one. It squirmed in his fingers, like it knew what was coming. He yanked it hard, pulling it out in a slippery rush. He dropped it and slammed the butt of his weapon down on it.
“Goddammit,” Taylor bit out. “You’re supposed to count to three.”
He gripped the second one and yanked on it fast, too. But this one fought, sticking tight to her skin. Devlin pulled and pulled, and Taylor let out a pained moan.
The noise cut into him. It was really hurting her. “Almost there, baby. Hang on.”
She made a hissing sound, and Devlin watched the tentacle slide out of her skin.
As he squashed that one, Taylor hunched over, her hands pressed to her thighs, sucking in deep breaths.
He rubbed her back, wishing he could take her pain away. “You okay?”
She straightened, lifting her weapon. “I will be.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
Her amber eyes flashed. “Hell, yeah.”