by Nowlan,Anya
Richard squared his shoulders and faced her.
“You have every right. I just wanted an opportunity to say I’m sorry. Everything I did, I did because I care about you.”
Stone caught the pitying look Selina gave Richard. She tightened her hold on his hand and spoke softly to Kate.
“We could still have use for him. And there’s been too much death today already.”
Kate must have agreed, as she slowly lowered her gun, eyes glistening with unshed tears of rage.
“I’m going to wash this blood off. Don’t turn your back on this one,” she said, standing and almost dragging herself towards the bathroom.
Stone looked around the apartment, thinking of the best way to restrain Richard. It was a nice little two-bedroom home with modest furnishings and low ceilings. Kate had assured him no one but she knew about it and it couldn’t be traced back to any of her aliases.
Stone started pulling out random drawers until he found some rope. It was one of those necessities that any assassin’s lair needed. Richard didn’t object when he used it to tie him up to the sturdiest chair he could find. Next, he had the man put in some earbuds and connected them to the entertainment system, turning the volume way up.
“So he can’t hear what we’re saying,” he commented to Selina.
“Yeah, I kind of got that,” she responded with a small eye-roll.
Always challenging me, this one, he thought with a grin.
He pulled her close, tracing a finger along her jawline and reveling in the electricity that crackled between them. The dark pools of Selina’s eyes warmed as she leaned against him, enveloped in his warmth.
“Did he hurt you at all?” Stone asked, even though she looked unharmed.
“No, I’m okay,” she answered, smiling up at him.
“People sure do love kidnapping you,” he grinned, attempting to lighten the mood a bit.
“What can I say, I’m in high demand.”
Stone was just about to plant a kiss on her perfectly pink lips when Kate returned from the bathroom, wrapped in a silk robe. She was still much too pale, but was starting to look more like herself again.
She threw a furtive glance Richard’s way. When she saw he was very securely tied to a chair facing the wall and had music blasting in his ears, she gave Stone a grateful nod. Apparently she didn’t have a lot of love for her prince charming.
They all sat down on the couch with Selina’s hand still firmly in Stone’s.
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
“I sort of have an idea, but there are still a few pieces missing,” Stone answered.
Two pairs of eyes fixed on him, full of resolve.
“Let’s hear it.”
Twenty-Seven
Selina
Selina listened with rapt attention as Stone outlined his plan, fighting through the queasiness that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her stomach. She chalked it up to general anxiety and stress, sipping on her glass of water just in case dehydration was the culprit instead.
“Right now, Parker has the upper hand because he has the whole Crimson Claws backing him up. We can’t take him down without risking some sort of retribution. But if the Claws decided he was more trouble than he was worth...” he trailed off.
“He’s probably already on his boss’ shit list for using so many resources just to get to one woman,” Kate remarked.
The thought of Parker getting in trouble because of his obsession with her pleased Selina, even though it was a very small victory. Stone continued on, his confident voice carrying over the room. It made her feel safe, even if the situation didn’t exactly warrant it.
“Exactly. I learned from Will that Parker handles the cash they raise and arranges its transport to a bank that’s under their thumb. If we could get our hands on that money, we could prove Parker’s incompetence. We could even offer to return it to his boss in exchange for future safety.”
It was as good a plan as any, but…
“We have no idea where he keeps the money,” Selina commented, catching the hint in Stone’s voice.
“Yup, that’s the catch,” Stone said, leaning back in his seat.
“Did you maybe overhear something, were any locations mentioned, anything at all?” Kate asked as she turned to Selina, grasping at straws.
Her eyes looked tired and her hair was straight, not in her usual curls. They were all ready for this whole ordeal to be over. If Selina could just remember something useful, give them a lead, at least.
“I mostly stayed as far away from Parker and his guys as I could and after that first night they never took me anywhere, I only stayed at the apartment,” Selina sighed.
Stone perked up, probing her with his gaze.
“What do you mean ‘after that first night’?” he asked, giving Selina hope she actually did have some helpful information.
She frowned, thinking back to the first evening of terror, where she’d felt so out of her head that she barely noticed a thing as she was led through the mud to her near certain death.
“Tom and another guy took me to this construction site where Parker was waiting. They took me to the nearby woods to kill me,” she explained.
The memory still made her hands shake a little. How close she had come to dying that night… Stone squeezed his fingers around hers. And to think, if she hadn’t been kidnapped, she would have never met Stone. It was an odd thing, being kind of glad someone tried to kill you.
“Would they really take her somewhere important though?” Kate mused.
“That’s just it, they wouldn’t have cared, I was going to be too dead to tell anyone anything. Parker only spared my life at the last second and Tom looked genuinely surprised by it,” Selina argued, growing excited.
This might be it!
Right now, any clue, no matter how small, could help them. Nothing could be dismissed.
“Do you think you could lead us there?” Stone asked, his leg pressing against hers as they sat on the couch.
Could she? She had been more focused on her fear than the ride to her execution. Plus, she had been on the backseat, not really looking out the window. She resolved to not let her doubts sway her.
“I can try.”
She had done may things she wouldn’t have thought herself capable lately. Maybe believing she could do it was half the battle.
Stone gave her an encouraging smile, those brilliant green eyes sparkling. Suddenly, she had a feeling that with him by her side, she could do anything.
“Okay, we’ll give it a shot tomorrow. Right now, I think we could all use a little rest and relaxation, and probably some food,” Kate said decisively.
As it turned out, she had take-out menus stashed all over the apartment. She must have used the place for stake-outs in the past.
Not so fancy after all, are we? Selina thought, secretly pleased.
They ordered some Thai food and ate it together, careful to chat about non-serious topics only. The meal was delicious and she was starving, yet she had to force the egg noodles and curry down, all the smells wafting in the air only adding to her growing nausea.
She felt relieved when they were done and the boxes were thrown away, feeling better as the scent of grease and spices started to dissipate.
As the streetlights outside came on, Kate went to bed, the icepack still glued to her side. Selina and Stone showered, separately this time, before retiring to their own shared bedroom.
Something niggled in the back of Selina’s mind as she undressed, something she hadn’t paid attention to in a while. Thinking back on the little care package Kate had put together for her at the villa, she remembered the toiletries also included a box of tampons.
At the time, she had been relieved at Kate’s foresight, as her period was supposed to start any day.
That was a while ago now, but good ol’ Aunt Flo still hadn’t arrived. And now, she was struck with this weird nausea…
No, stop being so paran
oid, I’ve been under so much stress, it’s completely normal to skip a period, she assured herself, waving the thought away.
There were so many other things to worry about, her mind felt stretched thin already. She could ponder her menstrual cycle when all this madness was behind them and she was safely tucked away in Stone’s arms, finally out of harm’s way.
“Wait, are we just going to leave Richard in the chair like that?” it suddenly occurred to her as she was pulling her shirt over her head.
See? More immediate concerns, she justified to herself, boxing away thoughts of what was going on in her uterus.
Stone was busy caressing her soft curves with his gaze, not really paying attention.
“I really don’t want to think about Richard right now.”
Selina rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious. It’s inhumane.”
“He’s got no one to blame but himself,” Stone shrugged, unperturbed.
“I’m not taking off another piece of clothing until you go out there and find a way to make him more comfortable.”
That certainly got his attention. Selina crossed her arms and kept staring right at him, with a look that said she meant business.
“Fine,” Stone groaned after about fifteen seconds and ambled back into the living room, clearly less than interested about Richard’s general sense of wellbeing at the moment.
There were some dragging and rustling sounds and before she knew it, he was back.
“Thank you,” Selina smiled, shimmying out of her jeans.
Stone sat back on the bed, resting his chin on his palm and enjoying the show. She was now only wearing her bra and panties, acutely aware of the predatory way he was looking at her. She felt like a mouse that couldn’t wait for the cat to devour her.
“You are exquisite,” Stone breathed, and she couldn’t help but believe him.
“Your turn,” she said with a teasing grin.
Selina noticed Stone winced a little as he pulled off his t-shirt. She sat down next to him, suddenly worried. His chest was still mostly smooth and unmarred, but as she guided him to turn around, she could see his back was a different story.
Long, red lines reached from his broad shoulders to where his pants started. The skin looked taut and tender, but puzzlingly, the wounds looked half-healed, not at all like claw marks inflicted only earlier today should look like.
“How…” she started, very gently running her hands along the lacerations.
“It’s a shifter thing,” he muttered, turning to face her, emerald eyes shining with something that definitely wasn’t pain.
A shifter thing? He’s going to have to do better than that.
Whatever questions she was forming in her mind were cut short, however, when Stone edged closer and placed his large, warm hands on her shoulders and started kissing his way up her neck. His soft lips pressed against her skin, leaving fire in their wake. Selina’s head fell back with a sigh.
We can talk tomorrow.
Selina and Stone drove in circles around her apartment building for a while, making sure no one was staking it out. When Stone was adequately convinced it was safe, he pulled the car into the parking lot and Selena sat in the backseat. She would much rather sit next to Stone, but they wanted to keep everything authentic to that terrifying night. Stone’s voice was reassuring when he spoke.
“Okay, I’m going to start driving, you just close your eyes and focus on that night. The sights, the sounds, the smells, anything you remember. Point me in the direction that feels right.”
Selina let her senses take over. Fortunately, being kidnapped was not something one easily forgot. She focused on the fear she had felt and let the memories wash over her.
“I think we took the first left out of the parking lot.”
The ride out of the city was pretty straightforward, but as they got to the back roads, things got a little tricky.
“No, I don’t remember it being this bumpy, go back,” Selina instructed, brow furrowing.
Stone reversed and shot down another path, and the way the car sloped downhill seemed familiar.
“There’s something coming up ahead,” he pointed out, slowing down.
Selina craned her neck and looked out the window. They were parked on a hill, overlooking a small clearing. Trees gave way to a muddy plot of land, dug up and uneven. An excavator stood, unmanned, in the middle, surrounded by a couple of shelters. She could hardly believe her eyes.
“That’s it!”
Twenty-Eight
Stone
Stone backed the car up and parked it away from the road that lead them here. He and Selina picked out an isolated spot on the hill, well in the tree line, and crouched down, waiting to spot any movement.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s here,” she whispered, her excitement both palpable and adorable.
“I think I hear something though,” Stone answered, perking up his ears.
Selina grew still beside him. The sound of a revving engine grew closer and closer, until even Selina nodded, signing to him she heard it, too. A truck rolled past their hiding spot and came to a stop next to one of the shelters. Four men poured out, each getting to work on their own tasks.
One of them hopped in the excavator and the machine groaned to life.
“What do you think they’re building?” Selina asked, adjusting to get into a more comfortable position on the damp earth.
They no longer had to worry about being heard with all the machinery sounds.
Stone sniffed the air.
“I don’t know, but they’re definitely shifters.”
Whatever they were working on here, they were no doubt acting on Parker’s orders, which made Stone curious. Anything they found out could be useful.
“We can’t scope the place out until they leave,” Selina remarked.
She was right, they just had to wait it out. It wasn’t like they had anything better to do, anyway. This place was the only lead they had.
“Better settle in then,” Stone said as they lay down on their stomachs.
Even in this markedly unromantic situation, Stone couldn’t help but steal glances at Selina, undressing her with his mind. He already knew what lay beyond her clothes, of course, but it was a sight he would never grow tired of seeing.
Selina used her elbows to edge closer to him, pressing their bodies together. Knowing she craved to be near him just as much as he did made Stone’s lion purr.
Hours passed as the men down at the site kept working. For Stone, it was one of the most pleasant stakeouts he had been on, thanks to Selina being there with him. Stone kept his eyes peeled, but didn’t notice anything unusual going on. They were really just doing construction work. Selina shifted next to him and sighed.
“I think I’m getting a cramp,” she complained quietly.
“Don’t worry, I’m more than happy to give you a massage once we get back to the apartment,” Stone grinned, already imagining his hands on her body.
“Leave it to you to make involuntary muscle contractions sexual,” she replied with a huff, but Stone could see a hint of a smile dancing on her lips.
It was getting dark, and Stone hoped that would mean the end of the workday for the guys below. Just then, the men brought out some portable lights.
“Are they going to work all night long?” Selina groaned, her stomach rumbling.
Stone chuckled. This little stake-out didn’t even register on his discomfort scale. After you’ve stood neck deep in the freezing ocean for hours, waves pushing salt water up your nose while your drill sergeant yells at you to ring the bell and quit, lying on the forest floor next to a sexy woman seemed like a reward.
He grinned at Selina.
“The only easy day was yesterday.”
“Oh, that’s the SEAL motto, right?” she asked, earning a nod from Stone. “Man, I’m an idiot. You’ve probably had it far way worse and here I am, complaining,” she continued, apologetic.
“Don’t fe
el bad. I went through a hell of a lot of training to get used to situations like this. You are allowed to complain,” he said, playfully bumping Selina’s shoulder with his.
That got her to smile again. He loved seeing that.
The excavator rumbled to a stop and Stone looked down to see the men finally packing it up. They turned off the lights and got back in their truck.
“Finally,” Selina whispered.
Stone and Selina flattened themselves against the ground as the car full of shifters sped past, a couple hundred feet away from them. When he could no longer hear the sound of the engine, Selina slowly got up, stretching and groaning.
“Okay, let’s get down there,” Selina uttered, sounding optimistic.
He understood her enthusiasm, but they were in a position where they had to be very careful. Seeing as he wasn’t alone, he wanted to be even more sure things went smoothly and with no surprises.
“Let’s just wait it out for a little while longer, until we’re sure those guys aren’t coming back and that no one else is lurking around,” he reasoned.
Selina quickly sat back down.
“Oh, right.”
Stone put all his senses to work, listening to every little rustle and chirp, scanning the darkness between the trees with his excellent vision. He was just about to give Selina the all-clear, when he heard rumbling coming down the road.
“Get down!” he ordered, voice low.
Selina burrowed back into her previous spot and so did he. It wasn’t long until a car breezed past. It wasn’t a truck this time, but a flashy blue Audi.
Stone could hear Selina’s breathing grow faster as the car’s door opened and Parker stepped outside. He turned the portable lights back on before getting a duffel bag from the trunk and striding into one of the shelters.
They spent about five minutes staring at the shelter before Parker walked back outside, the duffle bag in his hands looking a lot lighter than before. He hopped in his Audi and drove off, seemingly having concluded his business there.
Another hour went past under the guise of waiting, just to make sure no one else was going to stop by, before they carefully sneaked into the shelter. The lock was flimsy. If Parker was stashing something here, he was probably counting on the remote location and unassuming surroundings.