Close to the Edge

by Dawn Ryder

  There was a shifting among them but still an acceptance of their female member’s ability to take on the task in front of them.

  Dare followed close on her heels as they loaded into a helicopter. Greer was in the pilot seat, starting up the rotors. The chest harness made it all very real as Dare reached over and gave it a tug to make sure Jenna had secured the shoulder straps correctly. She offered him a thumbs-up before the helicopter was lifting away from the ground.

  Unlike on the site-seeing tours she’d splurged on during her vacations, Jenna’s belly twisted like she was on a roller coaster when Greer took them into the air at a sharp angle. Dare patted her thigh as they leveled out, and she laughed.

  Live in the moment?

  She sure as hell was going to. And if she lived, she was going to make Kagan let her call Sam again.

  That thought sobered her but not because she was afraid she might die.

  No, what she couldn’t live with was the fact that Dare would give up his life to protect her.

  She’d never survive that.

  But what sickened her was how real a possibility it was.

  * * *

  She was there to distract.

  Thais knew her job, even understood the premise, and the success rate for operations that utilized female agents in such fashions.

  But she hated reality and had for a long time.

  It had never been a friend of hers.

  “You’re going to be my bitch now.”

  Kirkland was sitting on the sofa, like some king watching the debauchery being unleashed around him for his amusement. Except he was spoiled by the excess, desensitized to the point where he needed more and more perversion to achieve satisfaction.

  She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

  He frowned. “Maybe I’ll let my men gangbang you first.”

  There was a girl laying across a dinner table suffering that fate. Stripped bare, she was being used as an example to two other women who were holding out.

  “Kings don’t take sloppy seconds,” Thais said.

  Kirkland licked his lower lip. “That’s right, I am the king.”

  “Not my king.”

  He reached forward and slapped her. Pain went through her face, the impact spot throbbing as she smiled at him.

  “Only Daddy is my king.”

  Kirkland sat back, trying to look nonchalant. “You’re never going to see him again.” Kirkland opened his fly, exposing his cock. “No, you’re going to be my cock-sucking slave.”

  “If you plan to kill me, there is no reason for me to please you.” Thais didn’t fight against the handcuffs binding her wrists. She had a part to play. “Too bad really.” She glanced around the room. “This had the makings of a good start to something that wasn’t going to be boring.”

  Kirkland’s brows lowered.

  “But you should have saved some of them.” Thais looked around the room. “There are men who pay a lot for exclusivity.” She let out a little sigh. “Private pet parties are very lucrative. I know men who pay a lot for cherries and a pony they can ride bare back without fear of getting dirty.”

  Kirkland sat forward, his cock forgotten. “Who the fuck is your father?”

  * * *

  “Are we doing this or not?” Ricky demanded.

  Dare shot him a deadly glance. Vitus stepped between them, forcing Ricky back a few paces.

  “Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll just cool my heels and wait for you to kiss each other bye-bye.”

  Jenna caught the gleam of enjoyment in Dare’s eyes. “I’m guessing there is a history between you two.”

  Dare nodded and his face tightened, but he snapped back to the current mission in the space of a heartbeat.

  “Agent Thais Sinclair is in there.”

  “Got it,” Jenna muttered.

  “It won’t be pretty, Jenna.”

  She reached out and placed her hand on his forearm. “I was in that shipping container with this guy.”

  Dare nodded. She watched him fight to maintain his professionalism but lost, reaching out to stroke the side of her face.

  “I will be right behind you,” Dare promised.

  He looked straight at her as he spoke, but a moment later he lifted his attention and shot Ricky a look full of warning.

  Her belly tightened as she felt the danger increasing. It didn’t take very long to kill someone. Just a squeeze of a trigger. Somehow, that seemed so very wrong.

  Ricky got into a car as Vitus pulled the trunk open. Dare locked her hands in cuffs while she heard Greer pulling a length of duct tape from a roll.

  An innocent sound.

  At least she used to think it was.

  Now her belly heaved as Dare smoothed her hair back and Greer fitted the tape across her mouth. Zane tipped her chin back before dropping fluid in her eyes. It burned and sent tears down her cheeks. The final touch was some mud from the road. Dare scooped it up and smeared it in her hair and down her clothing.

  Someone had tossed a thick blanket into the trunk. Dare laid her on it before closing the trunk and sealing her inside. It wasn’t as pitch black as she thought it might be. As the engine started and Ricky pulled onto the road, she could detect when they drove under a street lamp.

  Was she afraid?

  She wasn’t sure. There was a heightened sense of anxiety in her belly but it wasn’t really fear and she realized why.

  She was doing the right thing. Standing up for someone who was helpless.

  It felt damned good.

  * * *

  “Who is your daddy?”

  Thais was on the ground. The blood in her mouth just made her more determined to survive.

  Oh, and deny Kirkland what he wanted.

  Someone hauled her back up to her knees. Kirkland was flustered.

  “I’m going to start cutting your toes off.” He warned her.

  “Daddy wouldn’t like that,” she warned. “Uncuff me now and I’ll think of this as just a little role-playing game.”

  “You’ve seen too much.”

  Thais laughed. “This?” She looked around the room. “You’re a small-time player. Haven’t even branched out into pet services. Besides, when it comes to Russians, you can motivate them with promises. It’s only the Koreans you have to break. Anyone,” she stressed, “who is experienced knows that.”

  Two of Kirkland’s men had ventured closer to listen. She watched as they contemplated what she’d said.

  “My daddy is Conrad Mosston.” Thais delivered a well know name in the underworld population of men who bought and sold other men. Conrad was a spy, among other things, one who had done business with Kirkland’s father. Kagan kept Conrad around, to use as bait against men like Kirkland. Conrad belonged to the Shadow Ops teams though. Kirkland could do all the checking he wanted.

  Kirkland swallowed. “Unlock her.”

  His men hesitated. Kirkland snapped his fingers to get them moving.

  “You should have told me who you were,” Kirkland said dryly.

  Thais rubbed her wrists. “Why? You wouldn’t have invited me out here if you’d known who I was.”

  She climbed right up on his lap. Surprise took command of his features. “So far, it’s been a very interesting evening. Don’t start boring me now by being afraid of my daddy.”

  Thais heard the car pull up, but Kirkland was focused on her. She rubbed against his cock to make sure she had him captivated as his men moved away to give them privacy.

  “Hmmm…” She purred as she stroked him up and down his body, finding his gun and his back up one. Thais tugged his shirt up, pulling one of the guns in the process.

  “You won’t need that sort of weapon right now…” Thais whispered.

  He flashed a grin at her, eating up the moment.

  God, there were times she loved her job …

  * * *

  “Told you I got her.” Ricky smirked.

  Mack looked at Jenna and pulled his gun.

  “Hold up t
here,” Ricky pushed the gun away from her chest. “Your boss wants to draw Servant out with her.”

  Mack grunted, but put the gun away. “Boss is inside.”

  He grabbed Jenna by the arm and pulled her through the door of the house. The curtains were drawn tight and the moment she made it inside she realized why. Her face burned scarlet as she walked into a pornography movie.

  There was actually a camera being used to film one of the gangbangs going on in the dining room.

  “What the fuck!”

  Jenna just had enough time to recognize Thais as she was pushed off a man who came up off the sofa. He was shoving his cock back into his pants as he glared at Mack.

  “Don’t bring her in here,” Kirkland yelled. “Take her into the garage and put her in one of the cages.”

  The word ‘cage’ drew Jenna’s attention back to Kirkland. He snickered, thinking she’d been mesmerized by the sexcapades taking place.

  No, she’d noticed Thais was taking the bullets out of two hand guns and stuffing the bullets between the cushions of the couch.

  “You leave the note for Servant?” Mack asked Ricky.

  “Sure did.”

  “Good. He’ll come looking for her,” Kirkland answered. “And when he does, I’m going to feed the two of them to the gators.”

  Mack snickered and grabbed Jenna by the bicep.

  * * *

  “Come on,” Kirkland said to Thais. “Time to go.”

  Kirkland reached down and picked up his guns. He stuffed them into his waistband before letting out a whistle.

  His men were quick to answer his commands. They pulled up their pants and started herding the girls toward the door.

  “Party over?” Thais asked.

  “This one is,” Kirkland answered before pushing her toward some of his men. “Put her in the truck.”

  “What the hell?” Thais exclaimed.

  Kirkland offered her a smirk. “You’re a prime dish. Just don’t go thinking you’re enough to distract me from checking details. I’m going to see what Conrad has to say. If you check out, you live. If not, you can decide how many toes I take off before you tell me who you really are.”

  “You’re going to regret this…” Thais grumbled as she was taken along with the girls to the metal shipping container which was loaded on the back of a semi.

  But once the door was shut, and she heard the engine starting up, she pulled the handcuff key out of the pocket it was sewn into on her bra strap and used it to start freeing the girls.

  “Federal agent,” she muttered. “You’re going to be free, soon.”

  It would be a bitter sweet victory but better than the plans Kirkland had for them.

  Yes, she was well acquainted with reality’s sharp edges. The best she could hope for was to dull them from time to time.

  Today, she would count as a victory.

  Tomorrow, she’d be at the mercy of fate again.

  But the victories made it worth the risk.

  * * *

  He’d said a cage.

  Somehow, Jenna hadn’t really envisioned a true cage.

  You should have …

  Yeah, with everything else going on in the house, the sight of the steel bars really should have been anticipated. Mack pulled her toward it and shoved her in. It looked like some kind of shark cage, used to keep divers safe.

  “Don’t go anywhere.” Mack smirked at her after locking the door and tucking the key inside his suit jacket.

  Ass.

  He’d left her in handcuffs and with the tape across her mouth.

  Of course he had. She was no different from the girls he was helping his boss to turn into prostitutes. Just a commodity to generate income.

  Well, she was going to be more.

  She was going to make a difference in the world by helping to put them out of business.

  And she would not be scared.

  Absolutely not.

  Dare Servant wouldn’t fail to rescue her.

  * * *

  “Big rig is moving,” Vitus reported.

  “Good,” Dare replied.

  And it was good that there were fewer civilians in the line of fire but Jenna was still inside.

  Nothing was going to feel right until she was safe.

  “Move in.”

  Dare had to dig deep for his control. He was pissed at himself for the need because a case had never mattered so much.

  Tonight, it was personal.

  * * *

  Ricky waited for the semi truck to make it down the road so he could be heard without shouting. Standing outside the house, he wiped his nose across his arm as dust kicked up from the tires settled on them.

  “I’m out of here,” Ricky declared. “Servant is going to come in here with the cavalry.”

  “The note told him to come alone,” Kirkland argued.

  Ricky snickered. “Right. Know something? If you believe that, you deserve to rot in a cell. As for me,” he pulled the door of his car open. “I’m not sticking around for your gator feeding.”

  “Not going to feed him to the gators,” Kirkland sneered. “Got a better plan.”

  “Hands up! Federal Agents!”

  Kirkland pulled his gun, attempting to fire off a round.

  “What the fuck?” he growled when the gun didn’t fire. He was looking at the weapon when Greer took him to the ground.

  The team was fast.

  Efficient.

  “You wanted to see me?” Dare asked Kirkland.

  “Told you to come alone.”

  Dare felt a chill go down his spine. There was a glitter in Kirkland’s eyes, a warning of something they’d all missed. Kirkland shifted and a moment later a blast knocked them all to the ground. Dare rolled, feeling the heat as he turned and looked at the house.

  It was a mass of burning roof.

  “Jenna!”

  He was running and it wasn’t fast enough. Dare was aware of his teammates joining him, converging on the garage. Dare kicked the door in as Vitus dragged him down so a wave of smoke and heat didn’t hit him in the face.

  * * *

  Kirkland snickered. Mack was fitting the handcuff key he’d had in his shoe into the cuffs behind his back. The roof of the house was a fireball. Flames were dripping down the walls, the heat making the skin on his face prickle.

  He rolled free and unlocked Mack.

  “What the fuck?” Ricky yelled as they jumped into his car and peeled away, leaving him lying in the dirt.

  * * *

  Jenna felt the waves of heat hit her.

  So intense.

  As strong as ocean water, she felt them moving her like a leaf floating on the surface.

  Only she didn’t feel serene, like she would have at the beach. No, she was in hell. Her skin blistering from the heat. The cage had fallen over, leaving her staring up at the roof as it became a living wall of fire. She could see the different colors of the flames.

  Red, orange, scarlet, ruby, and yellow.

  Rolling like boiling water.

  She wanted to cough and hack but the tape kept her mouth sealed. Her nose just wasn’t big enough to draw in enough air. She felt herself suffocating.

  Well, it beat burning to death.

  Her vision was narrowing, darkness closing in like she was being lowered into a hole.

  Deeper …

  Deeper …

  At last all she saw was Dare’s face. Right above her. He was yelling but there was a ringing in her ears keeping her from understanding. She struggled for just enough breath to see him for a moment longer before darkness took her completely.

  * * *

  “It’s locked!” Greer yelled.

  “Pick it up!” Dare ordered. Jenna’s eyes fluttered, her nostrils flaring as she fought for breath. “Don’t quit on me, Jenna!”

  The shark cage was hot, burning his hands as he held tight in spite of the pain. His team members dug in, giving everything they had.

  At first, it didn’
t move. Dare stained, demanding more of himself as he felt the fire burning the skin on his nape.

  But the thing budged. The team strained, forcing the cage through the opening where the garage door had been.

  The air was icy cold by comparison. It hit their skin, making them shake as they shoved and forced the cage farther from the garage.

  “Jenna!” Dare yelled as he reached in to yank the tape off her mouth.

  “Get some water over here!” Vitus ordered.

  There was a crash behind them as the roof fell in, sending a shower of sparks up into the early-morning light.

  “Anyone have a crow bar?” Greer asked.

  Emergency sirens were starting to be heard in the distance. Someone was on a radio. Dare was focused on Jenna, reaching through the bars to press on her chest.

  So close.

  And yet too far away to save her life.

  It was the torment he’d decided he couldn’t face.

  The pain was far worse than he’d ever imagined it could be. Vitus pulled him back as a firefighter brought in a power tool. Dare dropped to the ground, reaching through the bars to cover Jenna’s face with a fire fighting jacket as sparks rained down from the blade cutting through the steel.

  * * *

  She loved the way he tasted.

  Dare’s kiss that was.

  Jenna let out a little sigh as she opened her eyes and looked into his.

  But as she drew in breath, her lungs were on fire. She hacked and contorted as her body tried to clear out whatever was in her lungs in a violent motion of purging.

  Dare rolled her to her side, holding her as she fought to control her body.

  “Easy Jenna … breathe … in … out…”

  “I’m … trying!”

  And with God as her witness, she was. Caught between the impossible and the necessary, she struggled to make her body work. Moments lasted for hours as she struggled and then suddenly, her chest filled and the air didn’t get rejected. She savored a few long, deep breaths before her brain began to function again, running the moments of the fire through her memory as she struggled to sit up.

  And then nothing mattered because Dare was beside her, his hand against her cheek. He was warm and whole and hers.

  No, nothing fucking mattered beyond that.

  * * *

  Kirkland was snickering. “That was too fucking easy.”