Scorch

by Liliana Hart

  “You think you can keep us to the center?” she asked.

  “Do bears shit in the woods?”

  “I would assume so. Though it’s been a lifelong quest of mine to find out.”

  “I do love a smartass.”

  He veered the wheel back toward the center and she gritted her teeth as the SUV scraped the guard rail. She rolled down the window and waited for her opportunity, though she knew it would be small.

  Rodriguez braked suddenly, slamming her against the seatbelt, and then he pressed the gas to the floor again, separating the two cars just long enough to be able to move to the center of the bridge.

  Lacey undid her seatbelt and stuck her body out the window. All she needed was to blow the tires. She wasn’t Lady Rambo, and getting into a shootout when they were probably outmanned and outgunned didn’t seem like the smartest idea.

  She focused on her shot and not on the fact that she was a target. Then she pulled the trigger and watched as the front tire exploded. Rodriguez grabbed her by the back of the shirt and jerked her back inside, and then he floored it all the way back to the compound.

  Rodriguez dropped her at Shane’s cabin and she saw Shane standing on the porch, the phone to his ear and a look of ice cold-fury on his face.

  “I think I’ll take a raincheck on the ice cream,” Rodriguez said. “I might be lactose intolerant anyway.”

  “Thanks for the ride,” she told him, hopping out of the SUV.

  “I’d say anytime, but let’s save it for special occasions. Whew, you’re going to have some explaining to do to your man. He does not look happy. I once saw that look on his face on a mission in Syria. Whole lotta people died that day.”

  Lacey knew that SEALs and Delta Force often worked with each other, but she hadn’t realized Rodriguez had worked directly with Shane.

  “I’m not sure he’d like being called my man,” she said.

  “A man looks like that at a woman, believe me, he’s your man and he knows it. Later, Doc. I’ll be down the road trying to mooch a meal while they see to the car if you need me.”

  She waved him away and then headed up to the porch to face Shane. He hung up the phone as she reached him.

  “That was Declan. They said all traces of the vehicle that tried to run you off the road were gone by the time he got a team there. They’ll keep looking. I’m sure they’ll dump the Hummer and had another vehicle waiting for contingencies.”

  “You look angry,” she told him.

  “And I thought I was hiding it so well,” he said. “Of course I’m angry. You could’ve been killed. Thank God you were with Rodriguez.”

  “That’s what he told me too.”

  “I know Declan has a plan, and I don’t know what it is, but my gut is telling me we need to leave.”

  “You want to leave the safety of the compound?” she asked surprised.

  “That’s the thing. Nothing is infallible. Whoever is hunting for you knows things about you. Knows your weaknesses. I guarantee they know ours too. Too many people live and commute in and out of here. It’s a secure facility, but a breach isn’t impossible. I’ve got a place up in the mountains. It doesn’t have electricity and it uses well water and the creek behind it. No one knows where it is except a few family members. Let’s let Declan do his job here and gather intel so he can hunt these bastards down. And let’s get you out of the picture and keep you safe.”

  “And the suit,” she told him. “We need to keep that safe too.”

  “Is that it?” he asked, pointing to the pack on her back.

  “That’s it,” she said. “Give me five minutes to grab my go-bag and we’re out of here.”

  “I’ve already got it,” he said, reaching inside the door and handing it to her. “We’ll have to take your Land Rover. Declan still has my Jeep.”

  Chapter 18

  Maxim Petrovich knew if he didn’t take things into his own hands he was in danger of losing everything. And Declan MacKenzie wasn’t the only one with power and influence.

  Maxim’s private plane flew him to North Dakota, and from there his bodyguard drove him into Montana and toward Surrender. The SEAL had proved himself useless so far. And Hughes had proven himself a worthless coward. The others he’d placed there as backup for the SEAL had kept tabs on her as best they could, but they’d failed to kidnap her on the road back to the compound. And then they’d lost every trace of her once she’d left the compound with Declan’s brother. She’d vanished. No cellphone signal. Nothing. They had to find her. And there was only one way to do that.

  Maxim vowed to himself and his country he wouldn’t leave without the doctor and the XO51 suit in his possession.

  Declan MacKenzie had one weakness. In that, he and Maxim had much in common. Family was their weakness. And this particular family was as close as his own, though more trusting of each other than those who shared the Petrovich name had ever been.

  “Declan MacKenzie has a wife, three brothers, a sister, parents, nieces, and nephews. Any of them are viable targets, but we need information, so focus on the adults. The SEAL has told us Shane MacKenzie spoke of a cabin that he owns, off in the mountains for solitude. Only immediate family members know of this cabin. He never revealed the location to his SEAL brothers, which goes to show the level of privacy he wished to have.”

  He looked at the SEAL who’d been such a disappointment to him. If he didn’t redeem himself soon he would start marking his family just for the hell of it.

  “Since you have access to the compound, you have the greatest chance of being able to find the MacKenzie who will lead us to Shane and the woman. All you have to do is convince them that Shane told you he needs their help at the cabin. We’ll be waiting to follow and take them as a bargaining chip.”

  The SEAL nodded and left the room, preparing for his task.

  “If he does not prove himself this last time, kill his family,” Maxim said to his private guards. “I grow impatient with incompetence.”

  It was almost dark by the time Shane turned into a narrow and steep driveway. Maybe driveway was the wrong word. No one passing by would’ve known it was a driveway. Lacey still wasn’t sure and she was witnessing it.

  The trees were so thick and canopied it was pitch-black, and the high beams of the headlights showed only the path directly in front of them, though she could hear the rushing water of a creek or river nearby.

  Shane had sent Declan a quick and cryptic text so he’d know where Shane was taking her, and then they’d both turned off their cell phones before they’d passed through the gates of the compound. It was the only way they couldn’t be tracked, and it also kept Declan’s responses—which were bound to be unfavorable—from coming through.

  “I keep the cabin stocked with minimal provisions,” Shane said. “Canned goods, beef jerky…things of that nature. Lots of bottled water. Nothing perishable, but hopefully we’ll only be here a couple of days. How are your primitive living skills?”

  “Depends. Is there a toilet?”

  His lips twitched and he said, “There’s an outhouse.”

  “If there’s an outhouse then I don’t consider that primitive. You and I both know what primitive is.”

  “And yet, I still prefer the creature comforts of this life, though there’s something to be said about sleeping under the stars. It’s amazing how different the sky looks in the desert versus the jungle.”

  The driveway was steep and he had to use the four-wheel drive to maneuver up to the clearing where the cabin stood. The headlights slashed across rough wooden planks and a sturdy front porch, but he pulled the Land Rover around the side so it was hidden from the front.

  When he turned the car off, she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, but he had a high-powered flashlight ready to go. She grabbed her pack and got out of the car, and then made their way to the door at the back of the cabin. It was unlocked as she’d expected it to be. Shane was the only one who was likely to find the cabin, given its remote loca
tion. And if he needed to take shelter in a hurry or there was a threat, he wouldn’t want to have to mess with unlocking the door.

  She stood inside and waited for him to go from lantern to lantern, lighting the wicks and replacing the glass covers. The cabin wasn’t what she’d been expecting. There was a hominess about the one-room space. A large rug in muted colors sat in the middle of the room. There was a simple wooden table and two chairs by the window and a small couch and rocking chair in the center of the room. The kitchen had a wood-burning stove and the sink had a pump that she assumed drew well water. The cabinets all looked to be handmade and stained in a golden honey color, and there was a double bed in the corner covered with a patchwork quilt. Instead of a closet there were pegs on the wall near the bed where shirts could be hung.

  She pulled out an extra gun from her pack, a change of clothes, and a few protein bars in case they needed them, and she laid them on the table along with the XO51 suit she’d brought. She also had a couple of passports and cash in several currencies lined in the pack, but there was no need to remove them. Declan was always insistent that everyone with a high security clearance level be prepared for the worst. She hung the pack on one of the pegs and turned to see Shane doing an inspection of the cabin, making sure no one had found his stash while he was away.

  He opened a kitchen cabinet and pulled out a handgun and extra magazines. He kicked up the corner to the rug and stepped on one of the boards, lifting out an assault rifle. There was another handgun under a couch cushion and a Ka-Bar he strapped around his ankle.

  “This should last us for a little while,” he said.

  “Longer than a little while,” she told him, pointing to the black box the suit was packed in.

  “It’s field ready?” he asked. “I’ve only seen the specs and individual component tests over the last couple of years.”

  “It’s ready for field testing. So far I’ve limited all tests to the lab to contain privacy. I’m glad I did.”

  “No kidding,” he said, moving over to the case. “Do you mind?”

  “Be my guest,” she said and put her thumb on the center of the lock for it to scan and simultaneously said, “Winnebago”, which was the password to get into the case. It clicked open and she folded the top back so the suit opened up with it, and then with Shane’s help they laid it flat on the countertop.

  “It’s beautiful,” he said. “The design has been streamlined a lot since the early drawings.”

  She nodded. “It was too bulky. Too cumbersome to move. The exoskeleton is built within the lining, which moves more like a neoprene suit, but is much stronger. It actually sits a couple of inches off the skin, like a protective shell. There’s also a layer of Kevlar in-between the layers.”

  “This one is made for you?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’ve got another one made based off your brother’s physical stats, but his neurological system hasn’t been aligned. It takes a series of several days and a series of tests before the suit is ready for the user. If not done properly, it can cause disorientation and nausea, even memory loss.

  “The suit takes time to put on. When you step inside, the computer activates and begins tuning into the frequency of your body. It aligns with pulse points and does a body scan to assess what the user’s initial health status is. Once the body and suit are online and in sync, the suit seals itself so there are no weaknesses in the body armor. Then the face mask and helmet go on. Think The Matrix, where the suit actually plugs into the brain, only without the pain and weird hole in the back of your neck.”

  “I’ve gotta say, all this science talk is turning me on,” Shane said. “If I wasn’t so fascinated by the suit, you’d be flat on your back right now.”

  “You’re such a flatterer,” she said, patting him on the ass. “The computer can upload a predetermined mission to the brain. Anything from coordinates to known hostiles and their backgrounds. It’s also built with dual day and night vision, facial recognition, and a heat sensor, so there’s adequate warning if hostiles are closing in.”

  “What about water?” he asked, thinking of what the SEALs could do with that kind of technology.

  “It’s completely waterproof up to two hundred meters. The rebreather fits tight into the mouth slot.”

  “I changed my mind,” he said, moving quickly. “I’m more interested in having you flat on your back than the suit.”

  He was in a predatory mood, and he moved close to her, backing her against the counter. The hunger in his eyes made her wet, and he leaned in, catching her bottom lip between his teeth. She leaned her head back and let him take, shivered as his mouth moved to her neck and raked the skin there. He parted her thighs and rested the thick ridge of his cock against her clit, grinding into her and bringing her close to the edge so fast she whimpered.

  The clasp of her holster was undone easily and he caught the belt in his hand and set it on the counter. He ripped the t-shirt and undershirt she wore from her pants and jerked them over her head, trailing kisses along her collarbone. Her nipples were beaded into tight buds and his mouth found one, suckling it, his tongue flicking across the rigid bud.

  “Oh God, Shane. Too much.”

  “It’s never too much, baby.”

  Her hips jerked against his cock, and she felt so hot she was amazed she didn’t spontaneously combust. She went wild against him, tugging at his shirt and tossing it across the room. Kissing and nipping his flesh like a starving woman. She had to have him. Needed to feel him inside her more than she needed to breathe.

  Her fingers worked at the clasp on his BDUs, jerking at the zipper, and then pushing them down to his hips so she could take his cock in her hand. He groaned in her mouth and then began moving her toward the bed, but it was too far. His fingers were working at the snap of her pants and she cursed herself for wearing her heavy-soled boots, wondering how fast she could get them off and get completely naked.

  But Shane had other plans. He spun her so she was bent over the back of the couch, and jerked her pants down to her knees. She could only widen her legs so far, and her fingers bit into the back of the couch as she felt the head of his cock probing the soaking wet folds of her pussy.

  He felt huge this way, and she bit her lip and cried out as he worked himself inside her. Even as wet as she was, they were both sweating, holding their breaths as he pushed himself inside her, inch by inch.

  “Christ, Lacey. You’re so fucking tight. I could come just standing here.”

  She laughed teasingly. “Not me, so you’d better get that fine ass moving.”

  “Such a smartass,” he said, giving her a sharp spank. She yelped in surprise, but found she loved the way her ass heated beneath his hand, and her pussy squeezed tight around him in response.”

  “Liked that, did you?” he asked. “Something to remember. I have so many things I want to do to you.”

  “I hope the first thing on your list is to fuck me. I can’t wait any longer.”

  “So impatient. And so pretty,” he said, trailing his finger down her spine and the crease of her ass, circling the tiny rosebud of her anus.

  His breathing came in harsh pants, as his fingers bit into her hips. And then he pulled out almost all the way before shoving himself back inside her. Her back arched and her cries echoed in the tiny room as he took her mercilessly. It was exactly what she needed. His name was a chant on her lips and his thrusts were so hard her booted feet were coming off the floor.

  It was beyond pleasure. Beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Little explosions of light shattered behind her eyelids as an orgasm ripped through her. And then she felt it—felt him swell inside her as hot spurts of semen filled her.

  It wasn’t her name that came from his lips and startled her into surprise. It was the words he said instead. Three little words she’d wondered if she would ever hear him say. And maybe he didn’t even know he’d said them. But she heard them.

  I love you.

  “I need to tell you some
thing,” she said some time later.

  They’d finally gotten their clothes off and made it to the bed. She wondered if there’d ever be a day when they started there.

  “What’s that?” he said drowsily.

  “You asked once before about the doctor who’d brought you back from death and who’d made the decision to take your leg.” She let out a long shuddering breath and said, “You should know it was me.”

  She felt his inhalation of breath and how he held it for several seconds before exhaling slowly.

  “I couldn’t let you die,” she said quickly. “Not only because I’m a doctor…but because I think I loved you even then. I never thought it was possible that you might be able to love me. So I focused on creating what Declan asked of me, and watching you from the sidelines. When faced with you dying on that operating table, I never thought you’d be less than who you already were if we took your leg. You’re so much more than you think you are. And I love you for it.”

  He was silent for several minutes, but he held her close. “I think I always knew it was you who made the call. After my mother had said you’d spent so much time with me, even when I didn’t know it, I think I realized how much of yourself you’d sacrificed to save me. I have something I need to tell you too,” he said.

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it, but she found her courage and asked, “What’s that?”

  “I’ve been through the depths of hell,” he said. “And I’d walk there again to be with you.”

  Chapter 19

  For two days they waited for Declan to come and tell them it was safe for Lacey to come back. That the threat to her was gone. It was late in the afternoon when they heard a vehicle making its way up the steep hill to the cabin, the four-wheel drive working overtime.

  “That’s got to be Dec,” Shane said, grabbing the pistol off the table. “Blow out the lights over there,” he ordered. “Just in case.”

  She did as he’d directed and then moved next to him at the window. There was a protective coating on the outside of the panes, but there were also blinds that were cracked just ever so slightly.