Logan's Company [Soldiers of Passion 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Dace Everan

  Ben stood and wanted to smile at the way Logan’s eyes widened. He’d always had that effect on people. Sitting, he didn’t look impressive, but at over six foot six, with two hundred pounds of muscle, he could be intimidating when standing. He reached above the mantel and hung the rifle on the gun rack. Rachel peeked up at him, smiling and hugging her arms around his thick waist. He returned the smile, hugging a meaty arm around her.

  Logan nodded. “Okay, sorry for complimenting your beautiful woman and having dirty thoughts of her.” he voiced before the hulking man found out and beat the pulp out of him.

  Ben chuckled, shaking his head. “Rachel is not mine to speak for. She is her very own person.”

  Logan furrowed his brow. What in the hell was that shiver that tore over him at the sound of this hulking man’s voice? So deep, velvety, and fuck if it hadn’t licked him in places it shouldn’t have.

  Ben smiled, his gaze darting to Deni. Deni shook her head. “No, Ben. We wait and see what transpires first,” Deni voiced, seeing the familiar look of lust in his eyes. Rachel stepped away from Ben and looked at him with surprise. He wanted the human! Ben offered her a sly smile. “He wants it as well,” he hummed. Rachel looked at Logan. What was happening here? She looked to Deni for conformation. Had she heard anyone’s thoughts in regards to wanting? She was sure she hadn’t.

  Deni smiled. “You are too innocent, Rachel, to hear them,” she replied, looking to Logan and chuckling at the thoughts whirling through his head now.

  Logan gave his head a mental shake. “Enough! What the hell is going on here? Do you have a way to control others’ minds?” he asked, or more so ordered.

  Deni shook her head. “Your thoughts are your own here. We cannot manipulate your mind.”

  Logan couldn’t believe her. There was no way he wanted the hulking man now sitting in the rocker in front of the fire. The little one, Rachel, sitting on the floor next to the hulking man, absolutely, but him? Hell no!

  Deni took a seat on the stone hearth jutting out in front of the blazing fire, her attention on Logan. “You came here to capture us. You have information no others have. How come you don’t believe me?” she asked, puzzled by his thoughts.

  Logan shook his head. “Just because I have information on you does not mean I have all the information on you. For all I know, you three are some sort of alien species and will eat me for supper!” he uttered. Oh fuck, let the fear take over now, idiot.

  Deni smiled at his personal chastisement. “We are not aliens. We are manmade artificial life. We are a prototype given to the government from another species.” Logan shook his head. No way in hell the government actually made deals with other species. What the fuck! He needed to talk to Harley. “You will not be calling this Harley till we have confirmation of who she really is,” Deni replied, nodding to Ben. Ben gave a curt nod, standing and leaving the room.

  Logan stared after the man. “What’s he doing?” he asked. Keeping his gaze on Ben as he went down a long hall then disappeared into a room out of sight.

  Deni released a heavy breath. “We are a superior species to you. We have our own way of finding out our own information.”

  “Do the people in this little community know what you are?” he asked.

  Deni shook her head. “No. They think we are siblings and we help them take hunters to the deeper woods, or higher peaks of the mountains. Guides,” she said simply.

  Logan grunted. “How long have you been in hiding?”

  “Long enough, you shouldn’t have come. It will alert others,” she warned.

  Logan shook his head. “You underestimate me and my team. We do not make mistakes.” He glanced at the one they called Rachel then back to Deni. “We’re not here to hurt you. We want to help. If they find you, you will be in danger. We, the team I’m with, want to make sure you’re in a safe location and out of harm’s way. Figure out what we can all do and how to work with each other.”

  Deni shook her head. She assumed the ‘they’ he talked of was this government of his he kept thinking about. To her, they were the ones who had tortured and used her in ways that was not human. “No, they will capture us and the tests will continue! I will not allow that to happen again.” She stood, eyes glowing.

  Logan clenched his fist. How the fuck was he to get through to this woman?

  * * * *

  Ben’s fingers skimmed over the keyboard and his eyes scanned the screen in front of him. Logan was right. What he said was all true. His team had gotten to the others, all of them. He furrowed his brow. Harley… he snarled as old memories floated through his mind. He remembered this woman. She had cried for help. His fingers trembled, floating over the keyboard. She had been small when he had seen her. Small, defenceless, and they had experimented on her tiny little soul. He growled as old anger built deep in him. The things they had done to her. The things he had been made to do to her. He wondered if she remembered him. He hoped she didn’t. The place they had known each other had been a living hell that he hoped she was small enough to block from her mind. If she had assembled a team and was trying to save them, maybe Deni should listen to what this Logan had to say.

  He flipped through the information he had on the others. They had known when they had all started to go missing and then seemed to disappear from the face of the earth. He started a search of his own, seeing exactly how safe Harley had hidden them. If he couldn’t find them, no one was going to find them. He’d been designed to find people. Specific people. His lip twitched. It was how he had met Deni. She had been one of his many targets. She had taken Rachel and by the time he had gotten to them they had formed an alliance to protect each other. He knew better than try to take them in. He wouldn’t have lived taking them back. Staying with them and hiding had been the best option. That and the heart he had been installed with eased the emotional torment from the meaningless killing and torturing he had been doing. Deni and Rachel were his calm in life now. He was better off with them.

  * * * *

  Deni handed Logan a cup of steaming coffee. “How long are you going to keep me here?” he asked, sniffing the aromatic liquid. His stomach grumbled at the smell. Shit, when was the last time he had eaten? He had a cookie last night when he had returned to his small camp. Had a bagel the day before. His cousin had stopped in with some of auntie’s fresh bread and the ham they had obviously had for supper as it had still been warm. Yeah, two days of eating little bits of nothing did not do his body well.

  “Rachel, can you please make Logan some food? He’s not eaten in a while.” She looked him over. “You’d think someone with your background would know to take care of yourself when doing what you’re doing.”

  Logan shrugged. “I’ve always worked better on an empty stomach.” It was true, food made him tired and drowsy.

  “You’re just eating the wrong food,” Deni replied, taking her seat near the fire again. “Tell me about the others,” she ordered. She wanted to know more. Know who this team he thought about so much was. Who they were. So far all she could really pick up was he loved them like family. She furrowed her brow. In fact, to Logan they were his family. She also needed to know more about their targets. Had his team really managed to get the rest of the runaways? Were they truly safe? Had they gone willingly or had they been forced?

  Logan snorted. “You’re not the boss lady, and I don’t need to answer you,” he grumbled, sipping at the coffee.

  “If you want answers from me, you will answer me, Logan. It’s called compromise,” she replied lightly.

  Logan grunted. This wasn’t how he had thought this would go down. “How long are you going to keep me here?” he asked, ignoring her order.

  “For as long as it takes to get you to talk,” Deni replied, watching Rachel from the corner of her eye as she prepared food. It worried her to have this man close to Rachel. Rachel was still young and compulsive. She could hurt this human.

  Logan harrumphed. Well he supposed he had nowhere to be, really. Harley wo
uld worry, but hey, he was a big boy. They would be good. He hoped they would be.

  Chapter Two

  Logan stood in the middle of the large yard. A circle of children danced around him, singing and laughing. He tilted his head back and looked heavenward. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could honestly take. He released a steady breath and focused back on the kids. “Okay, okay! One more game.” He grumbled, a smile coming to his lips. “I’ll give you fifty seconds then I’m coming,” he called and all the little ones scattered. He closed his eyes and started counting out loud. Loud enough that they all could hear him.

  Three goddamn weeks Deni had kept him here. Three weeks Ben had tried to find where they had put the others. But as of yet he had not come up with anything. He peeked open an eye and glanced around the yard. He could see Ella’s bright pink dress under the porch. Poor girl couldn’t hide for the life of herself. He closed his eyes. One more game of hide and seek and then he was headed out to the northern mine to help Ben with a fix on stabilizing a section of that mine. The first week here they had showed him all the things they did for this small community. Took him on one of the guides they had said they did. In the second week the community kids had sought him out. Apparently some sweet little lady, Rachel, he assumed, had told them he loved playing games. His third week in and he was trying to convince Deni to allow him to call his associates. To let them know he was alive. He could see in her eyes that she was getting close to letting it happen. But no, her stubborn streak was getting in the way.

  “Ready or not here I come!” he yelled, heading opposite of Ella’s bright pink dress. He would let her have a chance to run to start and be safe as he sought out the older boys.

  Deni perched herself in the tree, Rachel a few trees over, and the two watched as the human played with the children. “You should go tell him he can’t go help Ben,” Rachel said and she giggled as he scooped up little Jenny off her feet and swung her around.

  Deni shook her head. “Ben will keep an eye on him. Those under dwellers won’t bother him if Ben is around,” she assured her. She’d been in the mines enough to know when those were wolves were on the prowl. They were smart enough to stay away from herself, Rachel, and Ben for them not to worry.

  Rachel grunted. “I don’t like the thought of him being out there. At least let him arm himself.”

  Deni glared at her. “No! He wants to help and he needs to be kept busy until we figure out where they have hidden the others.”

  Rachel furrowed her brow. “Obviously in a place where we cannot find them. Maybe you should meet up with this Harley and talk. At least find out what it is she really wants!” she said, her voice rising in anger. She hated that Deni would not even try to contact this woman named Harley.

  Deni glared at Rachel. “Do you want to go back to the labs, Rachel? Do you want them poking and prodding you? Bringing in innocent people to hurt you?” Rachel snarled at the memories of her past. “Those men were in no way innocent, Deni! Don’t you dare try to frighten me with memories!” she hissed.

  Deni narrowed her eyes. In a physical fight she could take down Rachel. But if Rachel locked gazes with her, she was sure to lose. “We will wait one more week and then we will take him into the town and allow him to call her and make arrangements for a meet up.”

  * * * *

  Ben tossed the heavy beam and grunted as Logan danced around it. “Whoa, man! I told you I was coming out. You’d think you would keep an ear out for me,” Logan greeted him, slipping his leather gloves on and assessing the mess Ben was working with. The main head beams were loosening and the side beams holding them up were decrepit looking. Okay, stabilizing this would be an aggressive job but it would feel good to feel his muscles aching tomorrow.

  “I told Rachel to tell you to stay home,” Ben grumbled, grabbing another beam and tossing it with ease.

  Logan nodded. “Yeah, she mentioned something, but your, oh-so-hotty of a leader told me to get my ass out here and help you,” he said, grabbing a beam and dragging it to the pile Ben had already made with the ones he tossed. “I do know how to do physical work, Ben. Need to do it. I’m going to go crazy soon.”

  Ben grinned, his gaze scanning the darkened area. He liked Logan. His light humor and his work ethic. He was one of few humans that he did like. “All right then. Just stay close. Dwellers are out and about. Don’t need you getting hurt.”

  Logan burst out in laughter. “Oooh, dwellers are gonna get me and take me away,” he teased, taking hold of another beam. He wasn’t sure what the fuck the dwellers were but he could handle just about anything thrown at him. He was sure he could take on some backwood miners. There was no way they were fucking werewolves like Ben, Deni, and Rachel told him they were.

  Ben stopped and looked at him with all seriousness. “Do not joke, Logan. The dwellers will take you and they will hurt you. They don’t want me. But you are like a sweet to them. When we tell you they are real we are not joking. Please stay close,” he requested, grabbing up a new beam and placing it next to the old one he would soon rip away. It wasn’t common for the werewolves to hunt in the mines for humans, but there was the rare human that did go missing.

  Logan nodded, joining him and getting ready to place the new beam where the old one stood. “Okay, fine. Sorry, man…” He grasped the new beam, giving a nod confirming that he was ready. “What exactly are these dwellers?” he asked again. There was no way they were werewolves. Those creatures, if they even existed, would be out in the woods, running through the trees. Logan could not imagine them hiding in the mines.

  “Werewolves. Logan. How many times do we have to tell you?”

  Logan laughed, shoving the new beam in just as Ben ripped out the old. Dirt poured over the both of them. Logan leaned forward, shaking his head, ruffling his hands through his long, golden locks, shaking out the dirt. “Why do they choose the mines rather than the woods?”

  Ben grunted, tossing the old beam. “They don’t live in the mines. They hunt. Sometimes wild animals wander in here and they clean them out. Once in a while we send in some not-so-nice people and they disappear.”

  Logan snorted. “You think werewolves eat them?”

  Ben shook his head in annoyance. How dense could humans possibly be? “No, they just kill them.”

  Logan paused and looked at Ben. “Are you sure? How do you know they aren’t changing them?”

  Ben growled and narrowed his eyes. “They would all be dead. Deni would make sure of it. As would Rachel.”

  Logan held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Ben, take it easy. It was just a question.” He hauled up another new beam and got it ready. He glanced over his shoulder as a cold shiver tore through him. Goddamn, talking about werewolves got his hackles up. Okay, maybe he should have stayed in the small community. He glanced at Ben and swore he saw a shadow whiz by behind him. He licked his lips and gave a nod for Ben to do the switch. There was no way werewolves existed. No way, and now his damn eyes were playing tricks on him. As were his senses that were screaming for him to get the fuck out of the mines.

  Chapter Three

  Celeste stayed in the darkness, her eyes watching the two men work. Her senses heightened at she narrowed in on the handsome one. Her snout twitched at his scent. She had smelt him miles away. Had sensed him for weeks. She lowered onto her hind legs and cocked her furry head to the side. This was the man she had been scenting. The man she could not shake from her senses. Her werewolf had been going stir crazy and now she knew why. She narrowed her emerald eyes and fought the urge to jump at him and claim him and make him hers.

  Logan grunted as he felt the beam shift. “Fuck, Ben, catch it!” he ordered. Breathing heavily as more dirt landed on them, Ben stabilized the falling apart structure. Ben rumbled out in laughter. “Maybe we should have had Deni join us,” he joked, pummeling the beam back into place.

  Logan chuckled, backing away from the structure. “Yeah, I’m sure she would just love getting all down and dirty wi
th the two of us.”

  Ben grinned, going to slap Logan on the back of the shoulder. He came to halt and his gaze fixed on something behind Logan. He had thought he sensed the little bitch. He hoped it was just a lingering scent but apparently not. Shit!

  Logan froze. A cold chill swept over him. He hated when people did that. Make for an action then stop and stare behind you like something was there. He stiffened when he heard the throaty growl echo down the mine shaft. The fine hairs on his neck rose and he looked at Ben. “Man,” he whispered, a tremor of uncertainty in his voice.

  Ben shook his head, holding up a thick meaty hand. “Get behind me now, Logan,” he ordered, keeping his gaze fixed into the darkness.

  Logan made for a step and everything happened so fast. He felt Ben’s meaty hands grasping for him at the same time he felt sharp jagged stabs bury into his neck. He cried out, grasping at Ben’s forearm then hand. He could feel himself falling back. No, not falling, being pulled back. He tried to yell out, but only a gargled sound came from his mouth. Terror filled him as he felt hot liquid spill down his front. He got light-headed. Hot breath surrounded him. His gaze blurred and he could hear Ben grunting and yelling. Could feel his body being tugged back and forth between the sharp, stabbing pain in his neck and Ben’s grip. A startled yelp was the last thing he heard before blackness over took him.

  Celeste yelped as the giant grabbed her by the scruff and tossed her like a rag doll across the small area. Dirt fell from the wall, coating her. She leapt to her feet and growled at the man. Her bared teeth should have terrified him.