by Joy Blood
It isn’t until I open my eyes that I find I’m on the bed, with him looking down at me. “Get some damn sleep.” With that he turns from me but not before I see him adjust his sizeable erection. Then he is pulling on a coat and going outside.
Chapter Forty-One
Light starts to trickle through the small cracks of the window coverings as the sun starts to come up. Today is the day we get the hell off this mountain. We. Never thought I would be leaving this cabin with someone, let alone with someone who came here with every intent on killing me. Last night when I left her on the bed I paced outside for at least an hour trying to get my hard on to go away but it didn’t work, the cold didn’t even do anything when I took my dick out and started stroking. The thought of plunging into her while she was lying on that bed got me off in seconds. The sight of her flushed from her orgasm was all the picture I needed. “You know for a killer you don’t have hardly any weapons,” she complains, breaking into my thoughts. I look over to see her packing up the bag I gave her. The pistol and knife the weapons she is referring to lying on the bed next to her.
“And telling the woman who came here to kill me where my weapons stash is, is the best idea ever?” She laughs causing a snort to fall from her mouth. Damn that’s cute.
“You have a weapons stash? I’m only asking because we could maybe use something other than a hunting knife and a pistol.” I nod in agreement and stomp over to the bed where she has stopped packing her bag.
“Move a sec.” She does as told and I slide the bed over far enough for me to pull up the small rug and expose the trap door.
“You son of a—
“That she was. But that is another story, for another time.” I reach down and open up the door. Inside lie a sniper rife and two glocks, complete with four boxes each of ammunition. Along with my satellite phone. I pull it all out and stack up everything on the countertop.
“That’s more like it,” she says, going to the weapons grabbing the sniper rifle and loading the clip. I do the same with one of the glocks. The clicking sound of the bullets clipping into the cartages is all that fills the silence until a humming noise breaks in.
“Quiet,” she hisses stopping my movements, “Do you hear that?” Her voice is a small whisper as if whatever is outside can hear her. It takes me a spilt second for the rumbling sound to find my ears.
“Shit.” Quickly I snap my full clip into place and put one in the chamber. The light pours in through the crack between the window covering and the wall, just enough for me to peek out and see five snowmobiles circling the cabin pull up. I can’t tell who any of the men are, but it doesn’t matter, the semi-automatics in their hands all signify their intent. “All heavily armed,” I tell her as she comes to take my place by the window to see for herself. We are both dressed and ready to go, only now we are sitting ducks.
“We know you are in there, come on out, pup and we won’t shoot.” Lara’s face drains of all her blood at the voice letting me know the dick out there is probably her master.
“Fu—”
“Shhh.” Her hand flies to my mouth making me stop talking. “Let me think,” she says, pulling away as she starts pacing the floor.
“Count of five, pup,” the voice calls out again. She shoots me another warning glance to make sure I don’t speak before continuing her path.
“Fuck this,” I grumble and shove my gun inside my coat before throwing open the cabin door. The bright sun hits me in the face making me flinch and use my hand as a guard to shield my eyes. “Something I can help you boys with?”
“Well there he is, in the flesh. You’re a lot smaller than I thought you would be,” the same man says, coming forward a few steps before stopping in front of me, gun firmly pointed at my chest.
“And who is it you thought I would be?”
“Spare me your bullshit. Where is the girl?”
“In the cabin, sleeping off the ten orgasms I gave her last night.” I let the dig creep past him, rubbing at my stubbed jaw, with a smirk on my face. By the fire sparking in his eyes I can tell my little lie has done the trick.
“You are lying, that bitch couldn’t muster up an orgasm to save her life, has a dry cunt, too. Frigid bitch.” He tries the same tactic but it doesn’t phase me. Fucker will have to do better than that.
“Guess you just need to know what you are doing.”
“That’s enough!” Lara’s voice calls out from behind me. “I told you I could handle this, Bruce.” Figures he would have a dipshit name.
“Don’t look like it to me, pup. Got orders to off the both of you.” So, this motherfucker isn’t the Master. Just someone else I need to kill.
“You know he didn’t give the order to kill me, I’m the best he has.”
“Not anymore, I took lead when you went rogue. Team is mine now.” Bruce flicks a glance back at the other four men still quiet, holding their guns ready to fire upon us. Each has on a ski mask covering their face from the elements and my view.
“Here’s the deal how about I—” I don’t get to finish my sentence. A loud bang erupts at the same time blood does from Bruce’s head. The bullet pierces directly through his forehead spraying a mist of bone, blood, and brain matter before his limp body drops to the snowy ground. Only seconds later, more bullets fly from both in front of me and back. Lara is shooting off the rifle as the men with the semi autos pepper the cabin with bullets. Quickly, I drop to the ground and I crawl on my stomach to the back of the cabin, promptly getting myself to my feet with the cover. Peeking around the corner, I find one guy crouched behind a snowmobile while the other three have taken refuge behind the outhouse. Perfect. Going to the window on the wall I crack it open to call for Lara on the other side. “Lay down some cover fire, I’ll get the asshole by the snowmobile. Then get the three behind the shitter.” I don’t give her time to answer me before I’m moving again.
Shots ring out in all directions as I dart and run for cover behind the first snow machine. Something slices through my arm before I get down to my cover. The pain is directed in the fleshier part toward my shoulder it’s just a graze, but the way it came from makes me grumble knowing she fucking shot me.
The door to the cabin is still wide open as she looks me over from the safety of the inside. “I thought you said you were a good shot,” I hiss loud enough for her to hear and she has the gull to laugh at me right now.
“Sorry, you got in the way.” Shaking my head, I start I maneuver myself enough to see out toward where the asshole behind the snowmobile is. I wait for only a minute before the idiot sticks his head out and pop. I put one in him. I look back over to Lara where she starts laying down more cover fire as I jump up to run toward the remaining three men moving as fast as I can in the snow. Making my way toward the outhouse, I start spraying and praying. Two of them are hit in the process as one takes off running toward the trees. That is when Lara starts firing her gun. Pop, pop. All she fucking wrote. I let my smile grow on my face as I start walking back to the cabin, ready to take one of their sleds and get the fuck off this mountain when another shot rings out. This one sends my stomach sinking into the snow.
Right in front of me stands Lara, expressionless face holding the glock from inside. “Steven.” Her small whisper is the last thing I hear leave her mouth before she crumbles to the snow-covered floor.
“Little Sobaka proved to be worthless.” The Russian word causes rage to bubble in the base of my gut. That fucking voice. I have heard it in my nightmares more than I can count. At night when I wake in a cold sweat vowing to myself that I will gut him from end to end for all the hell he put me through. Sebastian. “I knew she would fail as soon as she took off without instruction.”
“You are her fucking master?” I growl at Sebastian stepping closer, uncaring he has his gun leveled right at my gut. He lets out that laugh that always made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Not anymore.
“I am. Dug her out of the very grave you put her in. Groomed her to be a
killing machine, to kill you. I fueled her fire, her need to get even with you all the while getting my revenge in return.” He pauses gesturing to Bruce on the ground. “How does it make you feel to know that she was fucked each and every night by that man? That when you tried to get her out of the compound you put her into an even worse living environment.” He clicks his tongue. “Don't know how many of my men—” I don’t listen to any more, instead I raise my gun and pull the trigger. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Click. Click. Click. Click. Over and over until I hear a small whimper break into my haze. I snap out of my funk and my eyes find Lara, unmoving on the ground. Instantly I’m on her.
“Don’t you fucking dare be dead!” I yell to her as I pick her up and carry her inside. “Lara, look at me.” Holding her face in my palms I try to get her to open her eyes but nothing happens. Ripping off her coat and tee shirt to begin searching for her wound. What I find causes my heart to stop. Right there, almost directly in the center of her chest, is a hole greeting me, along with what seems to be buckets of blood. Her face now ashen letting me know this shit isn’t going to end well. And that end will come soon if I don’t figure something out. I know what I need to do but the thought sickens me nearly as much as the thought of losing her does. Ripping my own coat and shirt from my chest I use my tee shirt and bundle it together to press down hard onto her chest to try and stop the bleeding. Then, I quickly step away to find my satellite phone on the counter. Powering it on seems to take a lifetime, but when it finally comes to life I hit send on the only number programed in.
“Yeah?”
“Need an E-vac. Right fucking now. Bring medical,” I bark into the phone before tossing it to the side and go back to her chest to apply more pressure, holding out hope that she keeps breathing.
Chapter Forty-Two
The wisp and hiss of the ventilator fills the small hospital room as I look down at her. The bruises on her face have started to heal, as have mine, giving that yellowish hue to her skin that makes her look even worse off than she is. “You used your lifeline on a woman. I have to say, I’m a little surprised.”
“Me, too.”
“Where to now?” Kinkaid asks from the door.
“Not sure. Did you find out who she is?” I ask turning from Lara.
“Yep, daughter of Judge Carlo Baker. She went missing at age ten, father found dead in the home along with the maid and driver. No next of kin. Mother died years prior.” I nod knowing most of it but needing confirmation she had no one else. Maybe you should stay. I shake my head at my thoughts answering them. “You sticking around until she wakes up?”
“No.”
“Probably best. You are still a wanted man.” He comes closer, extending his hand, “Can’t say it’s been a pleasure but it’s been something.” I take his hand in mine and give it a good squeeze before he walks out the door. Tuning back to the bed I go to her side, placing her soft cold hand in mine.
“You have a good god damned life, Lara.” Keeping her palm in mine I lean forward and place a kiss on her temple, silently telling her sorry again for being such a fucking disappointment. Then I’m out the door, leaving the hospital and her—again. But now I know she will live, and I didn’t kill her this time around.
Chapter Forty-Three
Present
The pressure pressing down on me rivals that of a hundred elephants. Every breath I take makes my chest feels as if it will rip apart. The whirling beep of machines fills my ears along with voices. They are muffled so I can’t make out any words but as my eyes start to crack open I find blurred objects moving around me. “Ms. Baker, can you hear me?” The first voice to breaks through the fuzz that is my brain, looms over me speaking a name I haven’t heard in years. “Ms. Baker?” My vision slowly comes into focus on a man towering over me. He has on a rumpled suit, his tie undone enough to give his neck a break with his top two buttons undone. Why I’m focused on those buttons, I don’t know.
“Wr…Steven?” The name scratches from my parched throat causing me to cough.
“Take it easy, Miss.” I want so much to get off the bed I find myself laying in. Its only when I try to sit up that I realize I’m in a hospital bed. The IV that sticks its way into my arm tugs when I move to touch my chest where I remember the bullet hitting me. How am I even still alive? “He had one favor and he used it on you,” the man says, crossing his hands over his chest. “Must mean a great deal to him. The bastard I knew didn’t give a shit about a thing except for himself.” He is talking about Wraith. It’s when I take him in further that I catch sight of the badge that hangs from his belt. FBI. He must see my wandering eyes because he nods down toward the belt. “I’m only here to take your statement, not to arrest. It will be a shit load of paperwork but I think it will make me and him even.”
“Even?” I ask, my voice coming back in small doses. “With who?”
“I think you know who. He helped me out so this is me returning the favor. Through I wasn’t expecting this one being the favor he asked for. So, tell me, what happened up on that mountain?” he asks and with a glass of water I tell him the story. Well a story.
“You were a stranded snowmobiler who just so happened to end up at a cabin where some guys showed up and started shooting at the both of you?” Officer Kinkaid, as he introduced himself, asks me. Obviously not believing a single line of bullshit I have fed him. I only nod. “Well then…” He takes the notepad he was jotting down my story on and tucks it into his shirt pocket. “Suppose that will do. You get well Ms. Baker, and try to stay out of trouble,” he tells me with a wink and walks out the door leaving me to wonder what Steven did to get me here.
Chapter Forty-Four
Something jolts me from sleep. A sound? Maybe the wind. Or maybe it’s the feel of toned legs straddling my waist, the cool steel that the owner of those legs has pressed to the freshly shaven skin of my throat. “We are going to have to stop finding ourselves in this situation. I’m starting to think you don’t like me.” I swallow deep, the motion causing my skin to scrape along the sharp blade.
“You left me again.” The hurt in those few words cause my eyes to widen more. The creature above me, wanting to slice open my carotid once again, is wounded. Far more than I have wounded her in the past.
“I didn’t think you needed me there to nurse you back to health.”
“I didn’t,” she snaps. “I just—” She pauses, dragging in a deep breath. Sagging only slightly. I take advantage of the slight drop in pressure she had the knife and flip us both over, with me now straddling her. She doesn’t make a sound, or a move, so I take my chance. Slowly, mindful of the blade still pressed lightly against me, I bring my mouth to hers.
“You just what?” I whisper along her parted lips, the heat of her small pants hitting me, mingling with my own.
“I wanted to know you were okay.” I can see her eyes, even in the darkness, have grown as soft as has her grip so I meld my mouth with hers. Pressing forward to claim a long overdue kiss. She responds by entwining her tongue with mine, dueling for dominance, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m good, tiger,” I tell her, pulling back to nip at her bottom lip. “You still want to use this?” I gesture to the knife before taking it from her hand. She surrenders it without protest, the blade clanging along the floor as I toss it from the bed. “Not much for knife play, maybe we can try—”
“You talk too much.” A small laugh echoes into the darkness erupting from my chest at her words.
“And you try to stab me too much. How am I supposed to live with someone that is always looking to stick a knife in me if I piss her off?”
“Live with? I didn’t come here for—” I cut her off with another kiss, this one slow, penetrating. I take my time exploring her mouth, tasting her every inch.
“You had to know that if you came after me a second time I wouldn’t let you go. Besides, if I’m going to have to look over my shoulder the rest of my life wondering if you are going to kill me, I
much rather have you by my side. Less stress that way,” I say, giving her another peck on her now puffy lips. “So, like it or not, tiger, you’re staying.” She is quiet for a moment, looking up at me with those chocolate pools. They seem to shine in the darkness, gazing at me with something I haven’t seen there before. Hope.
“It was him, wasn’t it? My master. He is the one who tormented you.”
“It was.”
“And he is dead?” Nodding, I move from under her, getting off the bed. “Bruce…” I say the name and it leaves a bitter taste on my tongue.
“Yes?”
“I wasn’t the only one who—” I hear her shift from the bed moving closer to me. The heat of her arms wraps around me before the softness of her seeps into my bones. She is hugging me from behind, engulfing me with her warmth and comfort. Something I have no experience with. “What he did to me and what you had done, were two completely different things.” I shake my head wanting to protest but she continues. “It doesn’t matter now. He is dead. Sebastian is dead. And we are free.” I smirk at that.
“Free.” I echo the word. The one thing neither of us ever were until this very moment. “How the hell did you find me this time?” I ask her turning around to face this woman who I have wronged as many times as she has tried to kill me. This tiny little thing in front of me.
“Wasn’t hard. I just followed the trail you left behind. And did you have to pick another cold place?” Her tone lightens more than I thought possible.
“What’s wrong with this place? I have propane heat and running water. I think it’s a step up from the cabin. And, there is a shower.”
“We are in Alaska. I was hoping to find you on a beach somewhere, sipping Mai Tais.”