His skin crawled from the electrical buzz that continued to flow from Miguel, but the door flew open and Sage met the eyes of the guards just as they raised their weapons.
There was a crackle of power in the air. Sage cut his eyes to the left, narrowing them as the teleporter who had grabbed her appeared out of thin air. His body tensed and he had to fight not to lunge for him.
No…no time for taking blood now. But the time would come.
Softly, Sage said, “You all are dead.” He glanced at the Firewalker and whispered, “And you…you’re going to wish you were.”
The man smiled. “I already do.”
And then he pivoted, lifting one hand. The men aiming their las-rifles at Sage, Miguel and Anni went flying back, crashing into the wall, through it, falling into bloody broken piles just beyond the wall.
He slid Sage a glance. “Get lost. There’s not much time.”
There were more coming. Sage heard them, rushing down the hall. Looking at the teleporter, he said softly, “This isn’t over.”
“No. I’m afraid you’re right—it’s just beginning.”
Guards hurtled through the gaping hole in the wall, but before they could so much as get a bead on them, Sage flung them into the void and this time, they kept moving through it.
One place—there was only one place he could think of right now.
Home… The little house in the foothills of the Rockies belonged to Sage.
As he touched solid ground, Miguel’s hand fell away and the other man stumbled a few steps away before sinking to his knees on the freezing ground. “You ass,” he mumbled.
Sage ignored him as he pulled Anni against him, carrying her up the steps as the door slid silently open.
The lock on the door wasn’t one that could be opened with any sort of key or code. He’d designed it, using a science so advanced many of the World Government geniuses would have been amazed.
It responded to brain waves.
And only to brain waves—his and Kelly’s. “Get up here, Miguel, unless you want to spend the night out here and freeze.”
He carried Anni through the living room, down the hall, past Kelly’s room, into his. From there, he crossed the thick, plush carpet, carrying her trembling body into the bathroom.
Caris had spoiled them. Instead of the typical sonic cleansing units most people had, he had installed a large shower, and a deep sunken bath.
It had cost an arm and a leg, three or four times as much as he would have paid if he could have used typical contractors to lay the extensive water pipes. But typical contractors might remember the house, so isolated no normal person could get there—not by any air or land vehicle, unless they wanted to land in one of the clearings to the south and hike through the thick forest growth for a day and night.
That was why Sage had built it. Isolated, private, but to build it had required people who wouldn’t talk.
He had never been so glad about spending that money as he was right now, stripping Anni’s stinking, saturated clothes from her pale skin, stripping his own away as well, once he realized that she was shaking so hard, she might fall on the black tile floors.
Some of the blood was gone from her face and hands—she’d tried to clean up. A memory rose up—that odd connection he’d shared with Anni, watching through her eyes as that teleporter entered her cell and left the rag and water.
Even the memory of that man’s face made him want to spill blood. Forcing that from his mind, he focused on Anni.
“Come on,” he whispered against her brow. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Her eyes met his briefly, darting down to his nude body, then to hers. A soft flush stained her cheeks pink and she started to shake her head. Using one finger, he lifted her chin to his. “It’s okay, Anni. Come on, now.”
Taking her in his arms once more, he carried her into the shower. The water automatically turned on, the temperature set to one hundred degrees. As he propped her against the wall, he ordered both the showerheads to adjust their angle and lowered the temp. The showerheads moved silently down to her shorter height, striking her just below shoulder level and the water streamed over them in a soothing curtain of heat, sluicing away the filth.
Anni just kept staring down, the tension holding her spine stiff. As Sage soaped his hands, she stood there shaking. He murmured to her reassuringly as he started to smooth the slick lather all over her body. There were bruises on her flesh, dark ugly circles that marred the silky pale perfection of her skin. He clenched his jaw, trying to hold back the furious growl that rose in him as he counted the injuries.
One ugly, long mark on the side of her ribs. He touched it gently, searching her face as he checked the injury. “Doesn’t feel broken,” he whispered quietly. “We’ll get one of the healers to check it.”
Somebody had kicked her.
He wanted to lower his head to that dark stain and kiss it, but he didn’t. On the outside of her right thigh was another mark, and the skin had split. “God, Anni…I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes moved to his for the briefest second. “It’s not your fault, Sage.”
The hell it wasn’t, Sage thought. He hadn’t ever felt so helpless. So pissed. She had bruises on her—he should have saved her.
He filed away each mark on her, swearing silently that he’d have blood for every last bruise. “How many of them were there?”
“I lost count. But they look worse than I do.” As she spoke she flexed her right hand and he lifted it, staring at the bloody, torn knuckles. Both fury and pride moved through him and he murmured, “I bet they do.”
Still holding her hand, he rubbed some of the soap across it, opening her palm and checking for any other injuries.
The elongated tips of her nails, thicker than his own, but not quite as dense as a true cat’s, were still showing. He saw why once he started washing each individual finger. Blood, and unless he was mistaken, a decent amount of human skin was embedded under them. If she retracted her nails, some of that might get inside her system. Anni had a hypersensitive immune system and could fight off damn near every germ, virus and bacteria known to man, but she was very fastidious.
Grabbing one of the loofah sponges that Kelly had stocked in all the bathrooms, he used it to clean under her nails as best as he could. “That will have to do for now,” he murmured, reaching for her other hand and cleaning it as well.
“Thank you.”
Once he had cleaned her hands and finished washing her torso, he turned her around, checking her back as he went. There were small scrapes in her skin that had him seeing red.
Dermal scrapes. Somehow, they had gotten her down long enough to get dermal skin samples.
Damn them.
They hated people like Anni and Sage, but that didn’t keep them from trying to figure out what made them different. An odd thought flashed through his mind.
That other teleporter—did he have scars left from the government’s tests?
Sage clenched his jaw. Anni…she was what mattered right now. After slicking shampoo through her short black cap of hair, he nudged her under one of the showerheads, rinsing the bubbles away, then washing the dark strands again. Once he was sure he had her hair clean as could be, he turned her back around.
He’d put it off as long as he could. Staring at the sweet curve of her ass was hard. He kept remembering how he had pushed inside the snug heat, how she had screamed and begged just before she’d climaxed around him.
But it wasn’t as hard as this. He knelt in front of her to wash her legs, putting his mouth right on level with the core of her. Maybe he should do it with his eyes closed, he thought briefly as he skimmed his soapy hands over the outside of her thighs.
Shit. That wouldn’t do any good. The memory of her body wasn’t one he’d ever forget.
Besides, Sage was anything but a saint. Glancing up, he saw her cheeks were flushed red, but her eyes were closed. His cock jerked, aching, demanding. Slowly, he lowered his eyes bac
k to her mound, his blood pounding through his veins hot and heavy.
Hell, he could practically taste her, feel her clenched around his cock, hear her screams.
He ran his hands up her thighs while he stared at her hungrily, taking one foot and massaging it with his hands. One hand came up, bracing on his shoulder and Sage slid a glance upward.
Anni still had her eyes closed, her lashes a black fan. She sighed shakily, and as Sage released her left foot he caressed one hand along the inside of her calf. Her breasts heaved as her breath hitched in her lungs and Sage damn near came.
The telltale flush on her cheeks, her erratic breathing…
He started to lower his mouth, intent on fucking his tongue inside the hot little hole of her pussy, but then he made the mistake of running his eyes over her sleek form. Bruised and battered.
Shit.
Fucking timing. He shifted his aim and just pressed a gentle kiss to her belly. Then he settled back on his heels and closed his eyes, focused on breathing in slow, steady breaths. His hands were shaking—for the love of God, his hands were shaking. He wanted her that fucking much. How could he want her like this? They’d damn near killed each other earlier and then… Damn it!
She could have been killed.
With quick, almost brusque motions, he finished washing her, but he couldn’t resist pulling her against him as he rinsed her body off. Her soapy flesh pressed against his as he lowered his head and asked, “Is that better? All clean?”
Her sense of smell was acute. Though he imagined she’d feel dirty for some time, if she knew in her head she was clean, she might rest a little easier.
She nodded shakily, her wet cheek against his shoulder. Pressing his lips to her brow, he eased her gently back against the wall of the shower so he could quickly slather soap over his body.
A few suds still clung to him as he pushed against the door. At his touch, the water stopped automatically and the door slid open. In a puff of steam, he carried her out and grabbed a towel from the heated rod, wrapping it around her and setting her down on the commode, rubbing at her wet body until her flesh glowed pink.
The choppy, short strands of her hair were still wet, clinging to her head as he rose and ran the towel over them. Once he had absorbed most of the water, he tucked the towel around her and caught her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. “I’ll be right back.”
Her mouth trembled and he saw the fear enter her eyes for one brief second before she nodded, a muscle jerking in her jaw. Forcing a tremulous smile, she said, “I’ll be okay.”
As Sage walked out of the bathroom, Anni heaved a sigh of relief.
Damn it.
This was too much emotion for her to handle. The fear and disgust from what the guards had done, having to fight the urge to puke, to cry from the pain. The confusion she’d felt when that guy had shown up with a rag and water. Relief at getting even some of the blood and gore from her body.
And then the relief she’d felt when the tightening in the air alerted her of Sage’s arrival. She had known it was him.
Somehow, she had known he’d come for her.
The fear and shock had overtaken her mind for a long time, but then he had taken her into the shower and as his roughened hands traveled over her body, the shaking changed from tremors of fear to tremors of need.
She wanted him so much she ached with it. Tears stung her eyes and her clit seemed to throb as she recalled his hands traveling over her.
Anni had heard his heartbeat as it sped up. Had felt his eyes on her as he knelt at her feet and washed her clean.
She knew what those physical signs meant.
He wanted her.
For a minute, she had thought he was going to touch her. She had ached for him to do just that. She needed something to wash away the dirty feel that clung to her skin.
And even as she wished he’d touch her, she had remembered the bruises. The pain. She ached deep inside. Breathing was a trial. Each time she tried to breathe regularly, she felt it pull in her side.
No. She wasn’t ready for him to touch her yet.
She studied the bruises on her wrists. The bruises would heal. She wouldn’t have so much as a single scar within a few weeks. Just the memories.
He’d gotten dressed. She wished he’d waited—she hadn’t had nearly enough time to admire his naked body.
Uh…hello? You just got rescued from hell—maybe that can wait. Even as the calm voice of reason tried to settle her libido down, Anni had one sudden, powerful vision of her kneeling behind him, his hands pressed against the wall, her hands skimming over the hard planes of his body, then leaning forward and sinking her teeth into the muscled curve of his ass.
Closing her eyes, she flushed, feeling the cream as it gathered in her pussy, slicking her folds in preparation for his cock. She pressed her lips together to keep from moaning aloud. Memories rose to taunt her. Sweet hell, had it just been hours ago? Not even a full day had passed since they’d left her small apartment.
As his footsteps neared, she took a deep breath and tried to calm the fire in her belly. By the time he crouched down in front of her, she was able to raise her head and levelly meet his eyes.
He’d pulled on a pair of jeans, but nothing else. In his hands he held a white T-shirt which he started to gently tug over her head. Voice muffled, she said, “I can dress myself.”
The shirt smelled like Kelly, Sage’s younger sister, and the only female Anni could scent throughout the house. Of course, her senses were probably a little dulled by now. Fatigue. Shock. Hunger. But she was glad he hadn’t given her something that a lover of his might have worn. Anni wasn’t sure she could have handled that.
“I bet you can,” Sage murmured.
She flicked a glance at him, frowning at the odd, tight note in his voice. His eyes were gleaming, pulsing hot, the way they did when he was angry. Arching her brows at him, she said, “You okay?”
His jaw clenched and Anni found herself staring at the firm line of his jaw, the curve of a mouth that looked almost too soft for Sage’s face. When he spoke, she jumped, so caught up in staring at him, she’d forgotten she’d asked him a question.
Swallowing, she shook her head and focused on his face. The anger in his eyes softened, just a little, as she said, “I’m sorry. I’m not thinking straight. What were you saying?”
When his hands touched her skin, drawing her gently to her feet, Anni had to fight the urge to throw herself at him and wrap her arms around him. But she didn’t know if she wanted to jump him—or break down. The tears that had been threatening her for hours were looming ever closer. She wasn’t going to be able to hold them back much longer, but her pride—could she break down in front of him? She wanted to cry—hell, she needed to cry. She needed to feel his arms around her and have him hold her while she broke down. Sage was so damn strong, had always been—and she felt so weak.
Then he was holding her, and the knot in her throat rose, and she thought, surely she could cry. Now she could break.
“It’s okay—you can cry, Anni,” he whispered.
She mutely shook her head. No, she couldn’t. She didn’t know why, she wanted to cry, but the tears just wouldn’t come.
He sighed, stroking a hand down her back. “Let’s get you into bed,” he murmured.
She wouldn’t sleep. She couldn’t. No way.
But Sage stretched out next to her, drawing one of his blankets over her, his warmth, the scent of his body surrounding her. Without warning, she tumbled into sleep, wrapped in his arms.
* * * * *
Sage moved to the doorway, standing there in silence and watching as she tossed restlessly on the bed. Her sleep was restless, but that did not surprise him.
Once he was certain she’d stay asleep, he searched out Miguel.
When he found the kinetic sleeping like a babe in Kelly’s bed, he grinned. Pushing the small notch on the wall, he waited until the door closed behind him, a soft snick assuring him the soundproofing ha
d been engaged and then he crossed over to kick the bed.
The thick gel pad absorbed most of it, but Miguel rolled to his feet, his eyes heavy-lidded but aware. When he saw Sage, the tension drained from his body and he dropped back onto the bed, falling down flat on his face. “What do you want, you sick bastard? After you damn near killed me, can’t you at least let me get some sleep?”
Sage laughed. “Hey, you’re the one who insisted on coming.”
Miguel pushed up, propping himself on his elbow and glaring at Sage balefully. “Actually, Kelly insisted I come.” Then he flopped back down, face first, into Kelly’s sheets.
Sage laughed. “Yeah, like she could really make you.”
Miguel muttered, “You have no idea.”
The odd note in Miguel’s voice had Sage’s eyes narrowing. “You know, she’s going to skin you if she finds out you’ve been sleeping in her bed.”
Miguel lifted his gaze, and from under his lashes, his dark eyes gleamed. “Might be worth it.”
Sage scowled. “You know, that’s my baby sister you’re talking about. I don’t think I like the look in your eyes.”
Miguel grinned, a sleepy smile that looked entirely too— Fuck!
“You want to sleep with my sister,” he snapped.
Miguel’s grin faded and a serious look crossed his face. “Sage, that doesn’t even cover what I want from your sister. But she’s still in love with a guy who died years ago.”
Opening his mouth, Sage started to say something, but then he just snapped his mouth closed and glared at Miguel. “That’s my baby sister,” he finally muttered.
Miguel sighed, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling with brooding eyes. “That’s the woman I’m in love with.”
Sage turned away, pacing to stare out the window at the rolling creek that bisected the side yard. “I don’t want to think about this right now. Matter of fact, I don’t want to think about it ever. I’ve got to get back to the base—let everybody know Anni’s okay. Get some clothes for her.”
“Why’d we come here?” Miguel asked, closing his eyes once more.
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