The American Soldier Collection 10: Compromising Love (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Get her an ambulance,” Zin said.

  As Winter headed out of the room with his phone to his ear, Storm called out.

  “Wait. Why the hell didn’t they take the elevator? Where would Aspen be going with Pamela?” he asked.

  “She came up clean remember? Do you really think Pamela was involved?” Winter asked. Storm raised one eyebrow up.

  “Aspen felt so. Even after the reports came back. Get some video. Check with them while York calls the airport and gets the plane ready.”

  Winter saluted and left the room. York pulled out his phone and called the private airport to get the jet ready.

  Zin Looked at Storm. “We let our guard down. They took her right out from under our noses. Right here at the company.”

  “We’ll get her back. She’s smart, she’s stronger than before, and she had the know it all to make the phone call. As long as we keep that signal and can verify her location, we’ll get to her in time. It’s time to use all our resources, Zin. We may be made men, but we’ll always be American soldiers. Let’s do what we do best. Hunt down the enemy and take them out. This time, once and for all.”

  Chapter 8

  Aspen awoke in time to be dropped on the concrete floor. She reacted on instincts and swung her fist at the man who dropped her, but her arm came right back at her. She was chained to some post like a dog.

  “Let me go. You’ll never get away with this!” she screamed at them.

  The blow to her side by a boot shocked her. She cried out and rolled to the left but the chains brought her back over.

  “She’s a wild one, I think she needs to be broken in before the sale.” The one man said in his thick Russian accent. He had a beard, a big belly, and was filled with muscles.

  “Leave the breaking in for me. Leave us be. The boat is fueling up, we leave in fifteen minutes.”

  She turned toward that voice and knew who it was immediately. Iakov that Russian piece of crap. He was the one who tried to sell her when she was seventeen. Dread filled her belly and made her feel sick. She wasn’t going to make it out alive this time. Storm, Winter, Zin, York, and Weston were not going to be able to rescue her. Andrei and Iakov were different. They were smarter now and knew what to do to succeed in destroying Storm. They would gain his territory. They would use her to make him hand it all over as they threatened to kill her. But once it was done they would say she was long gone. Sold to some sick fuck with deep pockets who had to buy women held hostage by men like Iakov and Andrei. They deserved to die a sick death. If she had a chance, she would take it and kill them herself. Even if it cost her own life.

  Iakov took a deep breath and released it, as he squatted down next her thighs.

  He reached over and she jerked her leg free. He widened his eyes at her. “It would serve you better to be obedient. Perhaps there would be room to negotiate who will buy you.”

  What was he saying? That he would buy her? That she would be his sex slave? She would rather die a thousand deaths than succumb to his touch, his possession.

  “You need to cooperate, Aspen. If we have to mess up this pretty face and this sexy body, some shady characters will be the only ones interested in purchasing you.”

  “You’re sick!” she yelled at him and tried pulling away only to lose her balance from the chains binding her to the concrete as she fell to her side. In a flash he gripped her hips and straddled her.

  She felt the pain on her back as it scraped against the concrete. He gripped her throat, her arms reached out to stop him but then came right back to the concrete because of the short chains she was attached to. Pain radiated through her arms, her shoulders.

  Iakov smirked. He trailed a finger over her lips as he maintained his hold on her neck with his other hand.

  “You will go for a very high price, Aspen. You know why?” he asked her.

  She felt the tears sting her eyes. Iakov was a monster. He was enjoying this.

  “Because you like to get fucked in every hole. There’s no need to ease you into it. The man or men who get to have you will probably tie you to a bed, or maybe just to a pole and have their way with you whenever the urge is there.”

  He cupped her breast and squeezed it.

  “No! No, you can’t do this. Stop. Stop it please!” she cried out.

  “There are three men right now in the running to make you theirs.” He continued to play with her body, and do what he wanted. She cried, felt like vomiting.

  “One wants you for himself. He likes to use whips and chains to ensure his slaves are obedient. They don’t last long though. A week tops, before they die from his actions.”

  She whimpered as he pinched and pulled on her breast.

  “The other likes to share, too. Something you’ve grown accustomed to over the last several weeks, from what my sources say.”

  She didn’t want to hear any more. She couldn’t take it as tears streamed down her cheeks.

  She needed to change the subject, and get him to stop torturing her body.

  “What sources?” she asked, voice quivering.

  “Ahh…just a few individuals working at your lovers’ company.” He lifted up so he could push his hand under her dress and up her thigh. She tried wiggling away, and he thrust downward on her, making her hip and back ache from the heavy weight of his body. He squeezed her throat tighter and she couldn’t fend him off, being restrained like this. Her wrists burned as the skin broke and she began to bleed.

  She felt his hand move up her thigh to her mound.

  “You know Pamela,” he told her. That woman was a conniving liar. She hoped that her men saw through her lies and knew that Pamela aided in her abduction. They would look at the surveillance tapes. They would see the truth right there. But if Pamela blocked those cameras somehow, the men wouldn’t know the truth. She worried that they might believe her and fall victim to Pamela’s lies. If Aspen died, would Pamela get her claws into the five men Aspen loved with all her heart?

  “Oh I know her. I broke her fucking nose, the weak bitch.” Aspen spat at him and Iakov rose up and slapped her face. Blood dripped from her cracked lip and she cried in pain.

  “Iakov, the boat is ready!” one of his men yelled to him from the doorway.

  He stood up then reached in his pocket to grab a key.

  “You’re not so tough now are you?” he asked, and when he bent down to place the key in the lock by her head, she head butted him. Blood splattered everywhere even on her face. He grabbed his nose and yelled in anger before he retaliated.

  He unlocked the lock, lifted her up, and shoved her forward. She fell to her knees scraping them as he kicked her and yelled at her to move faster.

  She gasped for air from the strikes to her ribs but knew she needed to make a move before they got her to the dock.

  She saw the piece of metal bar and grabbed for it.

  He pulled a gun and she swung with all her might.

  The gun fired, missing her, but she didn’t miss him. He fell over and she ran, picking up the gun but then dropping it because of the bindings on her wrists. She needed that gun, and she struggled to pick it up best she could with the bindings still in place. She looked around quickly then ran the other way away from the dock and boats.

  She didn’t know where to go when she heard yelling in Russian, then some sort of commotion outside and behind her. She was out of breath, unable to get enough oxygen into her lungs because of the pain in her ribs. She knew they must be broken.

  She dodged between large wooden crates and ducked down catching her breath.

  She checked the gun. It was fully loaded minus the one shot Iakov had taken at her. But there weren’t enough to take out all the guards around the place. She needed to get out of here quickly.

  Aspen slowly backstepped farther and farther from the entrance to the boat dock.

  “Where do you think you’re going, sweetheart?” The huge Russian with the muscles and beard grabbed her by the shoulders. He turned her around, and
she went to point the gun when he slugged her in the belly. She fell to the ground, holding the gun as he yelled out that he found her. She couldn’t let Iakov get to her. She couldn’t let him take her on that ship.

  She gripped the gun and trigger and he turned her over and she shot him.

  He gasped and grabbed his stomach as she scooted backward, back onto her feet, experiencing even more difficulty breathing. She knocked over some boxes as she struggled to move straight and not off-balance.

  Someone gripped her hair and pulled her back.

  “No!” she screamed out as Iakov dragged her across the concrete and in between boxes, kicking and screaming.

  He got her close to the dock where the large boat was when he let go of her hair.

  She turned, rolled, and tried scrambling away when she felt the strike to her back. He pulled her up and she knew this was it. She needed to fight him off or die here. She wasn’t going on that ship.

  He struck her again and she continued fighting him until she no longer had the strength. He dragged her onto the wooden dock, her legs scraping, filling with splinters of old wood sticking out of the dock. She didn’t want to be sold. She didn’t want to go on the boat and never see her men again. But no one was coming. Andrei and Iakov had succeeded.

  He pulled her up toward the ramp, dragging her kicking and screaming when she heard the commotion.

  She recognized the sounds immediately and held on to the metal bar of the ramp.

  Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

  Around her bullets hit the guards, the metal bar where she was and right next to Iakov. He pulled his gun from his waist and knocked her in the head with it.

  He then fired back. She was losing focus. The blow was too much as blood dripped from her temple.

  More men went down.

  Iakov’s body jerked as bullet after bullet hit him and he grabbed her throat and fell over the edge of the boat ram, taking her with him.

  * * * *

  Nicolai Merkovicz had come through. Someway, somehow, he alerted Storm and his men to Aspen’s location and got them there pronto. Storm didn’t know if the head of the Russian mob just cared about Storm and the team so much that he wanted to help, or if there was something in it for him. Storm really didn’t care. He owed the man his life anyway, and now he would owe him Aspen’s if they got her out of there in time. If it weren’t for Nicolai, Storm would have gotten killed years ago before he entered the military. With Storm’s family connections, he was up for a high position in the Russian mafia based on his father’s name. But Storm wanted nothing to do with that life and instead joined the military to escape it all. Word got out and one of their family’s enemies decided to ensure Storm never changed his mind about his position and went to kill him. Storm would never forget that night. He was as good as dead. The gun to his head, the man, Senok Slovonich, had nothing but hatred in his eyes.

  The almost silent shots hissed through the air taking Senok out and saving Storm’s life.

  Storm had looked up in the direction the bullets came from and saw Nicolai Merkovicz putting away his gun. He was walking away as if he was out for a stroll and hadn’t just blown a man’s head to pieces. Strom knew that he would never be severed from his ties with the mafia, but he had a calling. He wanted to serve his country, and being a soldier became his life.

  They heard her screams, could see her being dragged across the wooden boardwalk all battered and bruised, her clothing ripped and torn. She had put up a hell of a fight, and still now, appearing seriously injured, she continued to fight.

  He gave the hand signal from the water below. They had swum up, using their abilities as Navy SEALs, to infiltrate the vicinity along with the rest of the team and their friends they called in for backup. Porter had his team infiltrate from land.

  As they shot their silencers being sure not to alert any authorities to their presence, they began to take out each guard one by one.

  Storm and his team had perfect aim on Iakov, and as he struck Aspen with the butt of the gun, they took their shot.

  He grabbed onto Aspen, her head bleeding from the blow, and fell overboard.

  He didn’t even have to issue the order as they went underwater, swimming to her as fast as possible. It was pitch black in the water as night overtook the harbor near Brownsville, Texas. The boat was heading toward Mexico and a final destination of Monterrey.

  Storm used his special underwater night vision goggles to locate her as did his team. Zin got to her first and brought her up to the surface.

  “She’s not breathing!” he yelled out. “Bring her here. Lift her up.”

  Winter called out as he and York swam quickly to the dock and used their height and muscles to reach up to the high post and pull them up. Then they made a body ramp to lift Aspen up so they could provide first aid to her on the dock.

  The others climbed up, including Storm, with a helping hand from Weston.

  Winter began chest compressions. Weston cleared her passageway and began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

  York, Zin, and Storm kept their guns drawn as they made sure no bad guys were coming. Storm communicated with Porter and his team as they headed toward them.

  “Come on, baby, breathe damn you. Breathe.” Winter cursed at her.

  “Come on, sis. Come on now,” Porter stated firmly as he fell to his knees and watched.

  The sound of her coughing then choking up water as Winter and Weston rolled her to her side was the most amazing sound.

  “Fuck yeah, she’s tough as nails,” Zin stated, sounding proud.

  She moaned and held her head.

  “Easy, baby. We’ve got you. But we need to haul ass before the law shows up.”

  “Winter?” she whispered.

  “Yup. Weston has you. We’re all here,” he said as Weston lifted her up into his arms.

  “Let’s move now,” York said from down in the water. They eased her down and all surrounded her.

  “You need to hold on to Weston’s neck. I’ll be right behind you. Then we’ll get to the boat,” York told her.

  “I don’t know if I can. I think I’m going to pass out or puke,” she said.

  Storm swam up behind her. They were already moving.

  “Don’t you dare pass out, soldier. That’s a direct order. Suck it up and move damn it,” Storm ordered. She close her mouth and held on.

  They all swam out of there and to the awaiting motorized blow up boats they had waiting in the distance.

  They climbed in and pulled Aspen up and onto the boat.

  “Now you can pass out,” Storm told her. She closed her eyes and he could see the bruising, the blood oozing from her head.

  “We’re going to need an ambulance,” Weston said as he held Aspen between his legs.

  “No need. There’ll be help waiting for us as soon as we get to the location again,” Storm told them.

  “Who the hell have you been communicating with? Dmitri?” Zin asked.

  “Nicolai,” Storm said and everyone became silent.

  It was York who whistled. “Holy fuck, you do have friends in low places and high ones.”

  After that no one said a word. Storm hoped Aspen would be okay now as they prepared for the next steps of taking over Andrei Renoke’s territory, too.

  Chapter 9

  Storm stood outside of the room where Aspen was being treated. It wasn’t a medical facility, more like an abandoned building with secret rooms set up for emergency medical situations needed by the Russian mob boss Nicolai.

  He ran his hands over his face, feeling the stubble and the need for a shower and shave.

  “This place is something else,” York said.

  “Yeah, we could have used this type of place in the service when on a mission. Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten that damn infection, Zin, that nearly fucking killed ya,” Weston added, and they all mumbled about that.

  Storm chuckled. “We’ve been through a lot together.”

  “We sure have. And w
e always come through in one piece,” Winter added.

  “But the question is, what will you do now that you have this woman to protect?”

  They turned to see Nicolai Merkovicz and his guard Karlicov Lenvick heading toward them.

  They all stood straighter and bowed their heads toward the head of the Russian mafia family. Storm’s team knew that his own family were connected to the Merkovicz family.

  Nicolai smiled as he placed his hand on Storm’s shoulder. “Your woman is good? She’s tough, handled herself well as she bought you time to save her.”

  Storm nodded his head. He knew that the Russian had knowledge of the answers already. They didn’t even have to explain what happened.

  “I owe you so much, Nicolai.”

  He nodded his head and pulled his hand away from Storm’s shoulder.

  “You have great decision to make, Storm, for your team and your woman. Dmitri has some ideas. Things may be able to be worked out differently.”

  “Differently?” Storm asked him.

  “For family,” he said and began to walk toward the room where Aspen was.

  “Family, Nicolai? What do you mean? My team and I don’t have a choice. Andrei took off. He gave up possession of his territory and the members of the family have already denounced him and placed my name as the new owner.”

  “It is not final yet, Storm. There is more at stake here. More decisions to make. Come, I want to see for myself that Aspen is okay.”

  They all followed Nicolai into the room. The moment he entered the medical staff bowed their heads and the doctor winked and nodded at Nicolai.

  They exited the room leaving Storm, Winter, Zin, York, Weston, and Nicolai gathered around Aspen.

  Karlikov stood by the doorway on guard even here.

  Nicolai walked closer. He cursed under his breath and then moved closer and caressed her hair.

  Storm’s gut tightened and one look at the others and he felt their concern, too.

  “Nicolai?”