CHAPTER 19
Paul watched as Emily, after being thrown into a wall, got right back up and killed the soldier who had done it.
She moved with such grace he had trouble keeping his eyes off of her. He knew he had to watch the guy he was kicking the shit out of, but it was hard.
He looked back at the soldiers and felt a blow to the side of his face. Shaking it off, he took the knife in his hand and slit the guy’s throat. He never liked the gurgling sound, but that hurt! Knives were his best friends, though. He preferred them over guns. He liked to look men in their eyes as he fought them. Also, guns were so impersonal and easy. Anyone could shoot a gun, but you had to be a master with a knife.
Emily looked his way and smiled. He could see her happiness when she fought. He didn’t think she had realized she was directing it at him, but he wasn’t going to complain.
“We’re clear,” he heard Jason say. Paul looked around and saw dead bodies everywhere. He didn’t realize they’d killed them all. He should have been paying more attention.
“Got it,” Paul said, walking out of the room and heading toward the exit.
“Paul,” he heard Emily say. He looked back and she was running toward him. Huh, that was new. She had been giving him the cold shoulder all week, so why would she want to talk to him all of a sudden? He didn’t expect to ever speak to her again.
“Hey, you did good back there.” “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself,” he said with a smile.
“Ten minutes!” Paul heard someone yell. They’d better get moving or they’d be barbecued. He went to say something to Emily, but she was already down the hall. Paul shook his head and sped up a little, wanting to get out before it was too late.
*** Emily was in her bathroom in the hotel when there was a knock on the door. She was trying to clean up the blood. Some of it was hers, but most of it was from the Hunters.
She always hated having dried blood on her. It got hard and crusty, then itchy, and then just bad. She walked to the door and opened it, not paying attention to who it was, then walked back into the bathroom.
“You know, I could have been a rapist or something,” she heard Paul say.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“I wanted to talk to you.” “I figured as much, since you’re, you know, knocking on my door and everything,” she said, taking a washcloth to her neck.
“I wanted to talk about the other night,” he said.
“Huh? What happened?” she asked dejectedly.
“We fucked.” “So? I was scratching an itch,” she said with a shrug. She knew it was more than that, but she didn’t want him to know that. She knew she couldn’t let anything happen between them. She was a killer and he wasn’t. She knew he’d killed before, she’d seen him do it, but deep down that wasn’t who he was. He was probably more like Mike. She loved her life, and she wasn’t giving it up because someone didn’t like it.
“I think it was more than that,” he said, and walked over to her. She set down the cloth and was ready to literally throw him out, but her body seemed to have other ideas. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him with everything she had.
*** Paul thought Emily was going to kick him out and kick his ass at the same time. He was surprised when he found her in his arms and her lips on his. He wasn’t complaining; he was actually really enjoying it.
He had been a little tired of the hot and cold, though. Not wanting her to change her mind before he got her naked, he picked her up and wrapped her around him, carrying her to the bed. Paul stripped as fast as he could and climbed on top of her. He didn’t want to chance her getting away. She was too good in bed to be let go of so easily.
“Paul,” she whispered. It sounded like she was reassuring herself that it was him. He had a feeling she didn’t know half of her fuck-buddies.
“Emily,” he said back to her, and took her lips in a scorching kiss. Emily used her shifter strength and flipped Paul over so she was on top. He hoped she was going to get naked. It had been too long since he’d fucked her. He needed to see and feel skin.
She stood up and stripped, tripping over her pants when they got caught on her foot. He couldn’t help but laugh.
She gave him a dirty look and moved to put her pants back on. “I’m sorry. Please, come back,” he said apologetically. He didn’t want to chance her leaving and never feeling her soft skin again.
“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes and then smiled and climbed back on the bed. Paul watched as Emily stalked up the bed toward him.
He loved the feral look in her eyes. She wanted him. He tried to grab her, but she shook her head and moved to his cock, swallowing it whole. He couldn’t stop himself from thrusting up and into her mouth. It felt too good.
Emily started massaging his balls and he had to bite his lip to try not to come. He wanted to come inside of her and not end things too early.
“Emily,” he moaned. She looked at him, her mouth filled with his cock. He tasted blood when he bit his lip hard, trying to hold back his orgasm.
She winked at him then pulled off. He heard a little purr as she moved up his body. He couldn’t believe she was purring for him. She settled herself over his cock and lowered herself.
Feeling her warm body open for him was almost his undoing. Almost. As soon as she started moving, he had to think of things that would help him last just a little longer. Puppies, kittens, Zeke. Nothing. Instead, he settled for reaching up and pulling Emily down, devouring her mouth.
It changed the angle and she moaned into his mouth before starting to move faster. He couldn’t take any more. He couldn’t hold back. Paul reached down and flicked her clit, wanting to make sure she came before he did.
When he felt her muscles squeezing him, he came. That’s when she threw her head back with a scream, and he moaned and squeezed her hips through the sheer force of it.
When her muscles calmed down, he saw her looking at him. He wasn’t sure why, but he was worried. “Are you going to kick me out now?” he asked her quietly.
“No,” she said, and climbed off of him.
“Why not?” he asked. He knew it might get him kicked out, but he needed to know. “Because that night I slept in your room was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a very long time,” she answered quietly.
He knew she didn’t want to admit it, but he loved hearing it. “Okay. Well, come to bed then,” he said with a smile, and covered her up. He wanted to feel her in his arms again.
`Paul didn’t want to admit it either, but he couldn’t remember sleeping so well before either. He was shocked when she climbed into the bed with him and crawled into his arms.
*** Emily couldn’t believe she’d opened herself up that much. She’d spent so much time keeping everything in and hiding it from everyone, including herself, but sometimes it tended to explode all over everyone.
She should have known it was going to happen. There was just so much going on inside of her, with Stacy missing, that she needed something. Killing the Hunters helped some, but it only went so far. So she exploded on Paul. Just what she wanted.
“Paul,” she whispered. He was almost asleep and she hated to wake him up, but she needed to ask him something.
“Yeah,” he moaned.
“Can you promise me something?”
“What?” he mumbled. “Can you promise you won’t leave?” He sat up quickly with that. “What?” he asked. “Just, please promise.” “Why?”
“Because I… I can’t… I can’t lose you,” she said. She couldn’t believe she just said that. She was never one to express her emotions, but she had to get it out. She felt like she’d just set herself up for rejection and pain, but she needed him to know she really needed him.
“Okay,” he whispered, and gave her a quick kiss before pulling her closer and going to sleep.
***
“I like to run, to chase animals,” Stacy said that night, as Zeke sat in the cell with her.
“How?” he asked. He couldn’t figure out how that was fun. It sounded boring. “When I’m in my tiger form, I can just let go and let her take over. I’m still me, but I can let my worries go and think of the simpler things.”
“Like what?” “How much fun it is to run through the woods and hunt prey. Rabbits are my favorite,” she said with a smile.
Zeke was learning a lot about shifters from her, but she really did sound like a child. He knew she was, but she wasn’t acting like the sixteen year old she was. She almost sounded like a preteen sometimes. Maybe she was loosening up around him or the shifters matured a little more slowly than humans. He didn’t know, but it was fascinating.
“Emily has taught me a lot about fighting. She’s still working on training me, but I think I’m doing pretty well. I can’t beat her or anything, but when some of the guys were over, I’d spar with them and I’d win. Of course they might just be letting me win, but I hope not,” she said.
“Stacy, I’m going to head to bed. I’ll come see you in the morning,” Zeke said, standing up. He liked the girl, but he wasn’t awake enough for the chatter. He hated to say it, but he almost liked her better when she wasn’t talking to him.
“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning,” she said with a smile. Zeke liked her and she seemed to be growing on him, but he didn’t think he had the patience for teens.
CHAPTER 20
“Sir, there was another raid,” Sam told Richard.
“Where?” he growled out. “Chicago,” he answered.
“Fuck, I was just there.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam said, and cowered away. Richard took a deep breath. He had to catch whoever was doing these raids. “Were there any survivors?”
“No, it was like the others,” Sam answered. “Okay, they seem to be hitting them shortly after I leave,” Richard said. Sam nodded. “I’m staying here. I want to see where they hit next. Maybe we’ll be lucky and they’ll come here.”
“Yes sir. I’ll call in extra security,” Sam said, then left. Richard looked around at his temporary office. It was Zeke’s, but he’d been using it while he was there. He had maps and reports from what was left of the compounds. They were blowing up the buildings so they couldn’t be used again. They needed to rebuild and start recruiting, both of which would take a long time. They were being destroyed for the sake of one little girl. Picking up his phone, he dialed Zeke.
“Hello?” Zeke said when he answered. “There’s been another hit,” he said.
“Where?”
“Chicago.” “Fuck! Richard, you have to take care of this. Do something! I will not have everything I’ve worked so hard for be destroyed because of some stupid thing you did. Do you have any idea who the girl belongs to?” Zeke asked.
Richard thought she was just some kid. He didn’t know she was someone special. She was just a shifter. “No.”
“She’s Emily Kincade’s sister.”
“Fuck,” he said. That explained a lot. “I take it you didn’t know.”
“No,” Richard said angrily. “So, take care of this,” he said and hung up. *** Paul watched as Jason and Emily fought over where they were going next. Emily wanted to give up on Paul’s plan and just hit the ones where Stacy might be, but Jason wanted to stay with the plan. Either way, Emily seemed to want him, and he wasn’t going to do anything that would jeopardize that.
“Paul,” Emily said. He looked up and saw both Emily and Jason looking at him. “What?” he asked.
“What do you think?” Emily asked him with a raised brow.
“About what?”
“About what we should do next,” she said. Apparently he seemed to have missed something. “Umm…” He didn’t know what to say. Should he agree with Emily so she wouldn’t be mad at him, or should he be honest?
He looked at Jason and saw a smirk. He knew what he was thinking. “Fine! I think we should stick with the plan,” he said. He didn’t want them to think he was pussy whipped. He might be, but that didn’t mean he wanted them to think it. “Sorry, but there is a reason we’re doing it this way. We don’t want them to know where we’re going to head next.”
`Emily looked pissed. Yeah, he wasn’t getting sex any time soon. “Fine!” she said angrily, and stormed out of the room. When she was gone, Paul couldn’t hold back the laugh. He knew he shouldn’t be laughing at her, but he never thought he’d see her having a tantrum.
“You are so going to regret that,” Jason said with a laugh.
“I know, but I don’t want her to not find Stacy, or worse, get killed.” Jason sighed and said, “I know and I don’t blame you. But just remember that Emily is moody at times, and she hates it when she doesn’t get her way. She is a killer on the outside, but she’s all woman inside. She just doesn’t show it very often.”
Paul nodded and left. He was going to give Emily a chance to cool down while he went to the bar for a beer, but he knew he would have to talk to her soon.
*** Emily was pacing her room. Deep down she knew Paul and Jason were right, but she really wanted to find her sister. She wanted things to get back to normal. She knew she had to wait and fight toward getting her sister back, but she was just getting so frustrated.
Then you throw Paul in and there really were problems. She hated it. She needed some grounding. Someone who would help her and talk to her. There was only one person who could do that. She loved Maggie, Bill was a great friend, but they weren’t her crazy Aunt Martha.
Aunt Martha wasn’t really crazy, but everyone called her that. She was the person who had taught Emily to be the fighter she was.
Her parents hadn’t been killers. Her mother had been a teacher and her father had owned a repair shop. They hadn’t known the first thing about fighting. Aunt Martha was an enforcer. Her job was to kill shifters who went rogue.
The enforcers weren’t exactly known about. All shifters believed the alpha was in charge and that there were rules you had to follow. It was a very short list, well, don’t kill humans unless you have to and don’t expose the shifters. The council of five decided who got killed. There was no jail, just death. Most jails wouldn’t hold shifters, not with their strength.
The only problem was that they dealt only with shifters. They stayed out of human business, even if it affected the shifters, that’s why they didn’t help with the Hunters. Maybe there just weren’t enough enforcers or too many rogues to be able to handle it.
After a few deep breaths, Emily picked up her cell phone and dialed her aunt.
“Hey,” Martha said when she answered the phone. “Hi.”
“What’s up?” she asked. “I need your help.”
“Sure.” “I’m on a mission and there’s a guy…”
“Is he any good in bed?” she asked. “Yes, but that’s not the point. I’m on a rescue mission and we’re arguing on how to proceed. He has a point, but I want to rescue her as quickly as possible.”
“What’s his plan?” she asked. She was all business, and she knew how to handle this kind of business.
“Randomly hit places where she could be, and hit ones where she probably isn’t so they can’t figure out where we’re going to go next,” Emily answered.
“That sounds like a good plan. What are you thinking?” she asked. “I think we need to just go where she might be kept. She’s been missing for two weeks, and if she’s still alive, she probably won’t be for much longer,” she said.
“Yeah, Em, sorry, but his plan is better. What does Jason think?” she asked.
“He agrees with him.” “Does this have anything to do with it being Jason who agrees?” she asked.
“No, I just want her back and safe,” she said with a sigh.
“You care about her. Do you want me to come help?” Emily hadn’t told Aunt Martha about Stacy. She knew she could handle it herself, but it had been so long and they hadn’t found any sign of her, so maybe she should say yes. “I’m in Jersey, in Atlantic City,” she said.
“Funny thing,” Ma
rtha said. “What?” she asked.
“I’m about two hours away. I’ll be there soon,” she said and hung up. Emily felt so much better knowing she had backup she trusted like no other, and someone who would be just as interested in rescuing Stacy. It took just a little of the stress off of her knowing she wasn’t alone any more.
There was a knock on the door and she knew exactly who it was without even looking. Paul was there trying to make her feel better. She opened the door to find him standing there with a bottle of gin and two glasses. He planned on getting drunk with her. Good.
***
Paul had had a beer at the bar, but it didn’t feel right sitting there drinking while Emily was in her room pissed off. So he thought he’d bring the drinking to her. Maybe it would make her feel a little better.
He knocked on the door and saw the instant relief on her face as she saw the alcohol. He knew he was the one who had put it there, which put him in a sour mood. Then he saw the phone in her hand.
“What? Call another fuck-buddy to help? Or maybe someone you want to fuck?” he asked. Okay, so maybe he’d had more than one beer.
“Fuck you!” she yelled, and tried slamming the door, but he blocked it with his foot. “Well, it seems you fucked Jason and now me. Maybe there’s someone else you’re pulling into the mix to make it more fun,” he said, and walked into the room.
“Are you drunk?” she asked him. “Are you?” he countered. Maybe he was drunk. He’d only had a few beers, but considering he wasn’t a drinker, it might have made him just a little tipsy.
“Sit the fuck down,” she said and pushed him onto the couch.
“I’m fine. I thought I might help you by bringing you some booze, but maybe I was wrong.” “My aunt is coming to help. That’s who I was talking to. That’s why you saw the phone in my hand.”
“So you’re having some little old lady help us? I don’t know how much help she can be,” he said angrily.
“Okay Paul, get the fuck out of my room and come back when you’re sober or sane, one of the two,” Emily said as she pulled him up and pushed him out the door.
Emily's Captive (A Lilly Town Shifter Novel Book 2) Page 9