Oak, Sophie - Siren Enslaved [Texas Sirens 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Sophie Oak

  The hunting cabin came into view as he and Jimbo quietly slunk through the trees. Every sound made Finn wince. He had a rifle in his hands. He could see the big window, and what he saw made his heart clench. Dani was clearly visible. Her back was to them.

  “Is that Val, too?” Jimbo’s soft whisper held a note of desperation.

  “It looks like it.”

  A long, tortured sigh came from Jimbo’s throat. “Damn it. When the time comes, I’ll take care of Val. She’s a bitch, but damn it, she’s kind of my bitch. I don’t know why, but I got a thing for her. If we make it out, I’m going to make sure she understands.”

  Poor guy. He didn’t envy anyone who had the hots for Val.

  A slender male figure came into view. Jeremy. He could see him through the glass. His hands stroked Dani’s hair almost lovingly. Bastard. He’d pay for touching her. Finn strained, but he couldn’t see Julian. Was he even here yet?

  “Hand me the binoculars.” Finn held out his hand for the slim binoculars. Jimbo’s truck had proven to be a treasure chest of hunting aids. He kept rifles and ammo, knives, vests, and binoculars. Finn looked through the binoculars. He could see Dani’s lovely form hanging limply. Jeremy had some sort of baton in his hand. Finn stared for a minute before his gut churned. He passed the binoculars to Jimbo. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Jimbo’s face went white. “Cattle prod.” He brought the binoculars down and put his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “It’s actually good news. Unless he modified it, it won’t kill her. It hurts like hell, but she’ll be fine.”

  “How the hell do you know?” The thought of someone treating his Dani like a cow had him clawing at the rifle. Jeremy was too close. He’d never make the shot without hurting Danielle.

  “Hell, Finn, I’m a redneck. You think I’ve never been hit with a cattle prod? That’s a regular Saturday night around here. My point is we have a little time.”

  Finn nodded, now happy he’d spent his childhood on the outside if cattle prods were regular weekend toys around here. His mind raced. “We need a distraction. I need to get Jeremy to a place where he’s not so close to Dani. If he just moves to the left I can get him.”

  “Yes, can you use that rifle?”

  “Of course.” On that Finn was completely confident. The only time his father had spent real time with him was on the shooting range. He’d never liked hunting, but he’d always had a fondness for target practice. “Three years as the 4-H Sharpshooter.”

  “That’s what I like to hear. Now I’m going to give you a distraction. When that bastard heads for the door, be ready.”

  “What kind of a distraction?”

  Jimbo shrugged. “I thought setting off some firecrackers right outside the door oughta scare the shit out of him.”

  “Why the hell do you have fireworks? They’re illegal here.”

  “That never stopped a redneck from celebrating.”

  Jimbo set off, silently making his way toward a shed on the back of the property. Finn got into position and prepared to wait.

  He promised himself he wouldn’t miss.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dani shook. Every inch of her body felt bruised and battered from the inside out. It felt like someone had twisted her insides around over and over until nothing seemed to be in the right place anymore.

  “He’s in agony you know.” Jeremy had taken to talking to her like they were girlfriends gossiping. “Not over you. He hates the fact that he hasn’t protected someone he’s contracted to protect. You’re like property to him.”

  “We don’t have a contract.” Dani heard the words coming out of her mouth, but they sounded foreign. Her eyes were on Julian’s form. She couldn’t stand to see him like that. The last ten minutes had been hell. Jeremy had shifted his attention between the two of them. He would work Dani over with the prod and then zap Julian. Watching her big, strong man shake and writhe was worse than feeling the pain herself. She could take the pain, but not the agony of watching Julian’s pride fall away.

  Jeremy stopped. “What do you mean?”

  Dani tried to focus on him. “No contract.”

  “I thought you were sleeping with him.”

  “I didn’t write a contract on her, asshole.” Julian’s words sounded weary. He leaned back. “I never meant to keep her. She’s a vacation fling, nothing more.”

  The words stung, but she knew what he was doing. He was trying to protect her.

  “You don’t have flings.”

  Julian laughed, but it was a shallow, bitter sound. “Shows what you know. I only came after her because you pissed me off.”

  “Really?” Jeremy moved toward Julian. “I think you’re lying. I think you actually might give a shit about her. Why fucking her? Sally was more beautiful, and I hated Sally. Why women at all? Why do you need a fucking hole? I never understood that. I never understood why I had to share you with a fucking cow. Do you know how that made me feel?”

  His bucket was completely full of crazy. Even his eyes were wild now. He was building. She could feel it. Val cowered as much as she could. Dani tried to catch her eyes, but she was lost to terror. Lexi was unconscious in the corner. Julian was firmly bound, and even if he managed to get out, Dani doubted he would be able to move. He’d been hit several times with the Taser.

  Dani managed to shift her feet. Her arms felt numb above her. The pain had gone away a long time before, but if she concentrated she could still move. She turned her head up to the ceiling. The crack was there, perfectly visible, simply too small to give her what she needed.

  “I don’t care how you felt, you little prick. I never cared.” As tired as Julian sounded, the bile just kept spewing out. Since that moment when he’d begged Jeremy to spare her, she’d watched as he retreated further and further into himself. There seemed to be nothing left but an indefatigable rage. And then she saw it. He moved his foot with purpose when Jeremy turned his back. He flexed and pointed it straight her way. The hardness was still in his eyes, but he wasn’t giving up.

  “I knew that, too. And you call yourself a Master.” Jeremy reared his foot back and kicked Julian straight in the gut, the sound a dull, resounding thud that filled the room.

  Beside her, Val cried out. She begged to no one in particular.

  “Shut up!” Jeremy screamed the words. He dropped the Taser and shoved his hands in his hair, pulling and pulling.

  “He’s crazy,” Val said, tears streaking down her face.

  “Really?” Dani couldn’t help the sarcasm. If she gave in to the terror, she would be utterly useless. Sarcasm seemed safer. “What gave it away?”

  Jeremy stopped and turned to Dani. The resolute look on his face nearly stopped her heart. He was done playing.

  God, she wasn’t done. She wasn’t done with anything. She wasn’t done with life or love or any of it. She couldn’t die when she’d just started to figure out who she was. But her body didn’t agree. She couldn’t find the strength to pull anymore.

  “Let’s see how much of a fling you are.” Jeremy spun her around until she was facing the window. At least she could see the sunlight.

  “Fucking leave her alone!” Julian’s shout was hoarse. Dani could hear him pounding at something, most likely the floor. He was giving away too much. He was panicking.

  “Not a chance.”

  Dani shivered as she felt hands on the waist of her pants. She remembered his promise from before. He was really going to do it. He was going to shove that damn prod where it shouldn’t go and turn it on. Dani’s previously numb hands shook. How could she take this?

  “Please.” There was a shaking cry to Julian’s words, and her heart broke. He was begging for her. It would kill a piece of him.

  “I begged you once, Julian. I cried and begged. It didn’t do me any good. It won’t do you any good, either. You don’t deserve forgiveness. You never have. There’s a reason you’re alone. There’s a reason terrible things happen to the people around you. I’m just helping
the universe along, Master.”

  Jeremy pulled at her jeans, and Dani struggled. Tears filled her eyes. Nothing was working. She stared at the woods in front of her. She’d played in them as a child. She’d run through the woods pretending she was somewhere else. She’d never go anywhere, never be anything now. She’d seen a future, and now it was all about to end. He was going to kill her.

  And then she saw him. He stood alone in the woods, his back to a pine, his face peering out.

  Finn.

  Finn had come for her. Numb or not, Dani felt a thrill of hope run through her body. She couldn’t see him plainly, but she knew it was him. A brief thought played in her brain. It could be a trick. Her mind could have made up the sight of Finn, like a mirage of an oasis in the desert, but something made her discount the idea. Even if it wasn’t true, she had to fight. She had to fight until she took her last breath. If Finn was out there, he was waiting for his chance.

  She saw the rifle in his hands. He couldn’t shoot Jeremy because she was in the way.

  Why was he alone? Where were Leo and the police and the FBI?

  Suddenly there was a loud popping sound, and Dani thought she just might know where they were. It sounded as though they were right outside the door.

  “What the hell?” Jeremy jumped back.

  Dani twisted her head to look at her kidnapper. He was staring at the door but made no move toward it. When she looked back at Finn, she could see the frustration in his stance. The rifle was up. He was waiting, but he couldn’t get a shot because she was in the way.

  With a burst of energy she was sure she didn’t have left, Dani pulled her legs up. She brought her knees to her waist. Every ounce of her weight hung by that small hook. Her wrists ached, and she thought she could see a thin line of blood beginning to trickle from where the zip tie bit into her hands. Dani groaned.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Jeremy asked.

  “Dani,” Julian started to call out to her, but he was interrupted by a long groan that came from the ceiling and finally, blissfully, a loud crack. One minute Dani was suspended, and the next, her knees hit the hard floor, and she jerked forward. She looked up, and Jeremy stood over her, a scowl on his face. The cattle prod was in his hand.

  “You think that will stop me, bitch? Nothing is going to stop me.”

  “Don’t you fucking touch her again!” Julian shouted. Dani could see he was pulling at his own bonds. His face was chalky white, but he fought, trying to get to her.

  Jeremy practically glowed as he pulled the prod up. “No one’s going to stop me. Even if that was the cops, they’re too late to save her. Live with that, Master.”

  Dani gasped as the sound of glass breaking cut through the air. Jeremy stopped and looked down at his shirt. A slight stain broke through the fabric, blooming like a rose opening to the sun. He staggered back as he was hit again. Two to the chest. He fell to his knees with a low groan.

  “Was that the cops?” Val asked breathlessly. “The cops are here?”

  “No, it was Finn,” Dani replied, struggling to get to her knees. Her legs felt wobbly, but she started to crawl toward Julian. He stared at Jeremy’s body, his gray eyes colder than she could ever remember.

  The front door flew open with a crack. Jimbo strode in, rifle at the ready.

  “He dead?” Jimbo looked down at Jeremy’s body. One side of his mouth quirked up. “Damn, he took out both lungs. Remind me not to get on Finn’s bad side.”

  “Dani!” Finn burst in and completely ignored the body on the floor. He was at her side in a second, pulling her up and taking her in his arms. “Baby, I was so worried.”

  “Get Julian out.” Dani couldn’t take her eyes off of him. There was something about how still he was, how cold his eyes were that made Dani wonder if the worst wasn’t yet to come. He should be relieved, but there was nothing in the way Julian held himself that told Dani he was happy this was over. The rest of them were relaxed. Even Val was sagging into Jimbo’s arms as he pulled her off the hook. Julian was stiff, his gaze on Jeremy’s body as though he expected him to get up.

  Finn kissed her cheek and helped her sit up. “Jim, you got a knife?” Jimbo snorted as he reached into his pocket. “Yeah, I know. Dumb question.”

  Finn quickly sawed through the bindings on Dani’s hands and moved toward Julian. Dani got to her wobbly feet, rubbing her wrists. She bit back a groan as the blood started flowing again. The pain meant she was alive, so she would take it gratefully.

  The minute Finn pulled Julian’s hands free, Dani tried to get into his arms. If anyone needed a hug, it was Julian. She remembered all the terrible things Jeremy had said to him. At least her torture had been purely physical. Jeremy had been ruthless in his mental torture of Julian.

  “Are you okay?” Dani asked, trying to get close.

  “I’m fine.” Julian turned to her, his face was a blank mask. “You call the police now, unless Finn brought them with him.”

  Dani shrank back. He might need a hug, but every signal he gave off told her he didn’t want one from her.

  “Here, let me help you up, Sir.” Finn held out a hand.

  Julian stared at it. “I’ll manage on my own.”

  There was the sound of sirens and cars squealing up the road.

  Jimbo held Val in his arms as he looked out the window. “Looks like the cops finally figured it out. Damn, I think that’s Jack Barnes’s truck. I think that kid there should be glad Finn killed him. I don’t think he would have liked what Barnes would have done with him.”

  Finn was kneeling next to Julian, who was struggling to get the Taser darts out of his chest. Finn reached down to help him, but Julian pushed his hands away.

  “I didn’t tell you to touch me, sub. Back off.” Now Julian’s eyes had some life in them. Unfortunately, it was rage that Dani could see. He was so angry. He pulled the darts out and tugged the collar off. He tossed it away as though it was diseased.

  “Come out with your hands up.” Someone was yelling through a bullhorn. Then Dani could hear someone shouting. “Damn it, Barnes, there’s a protocol involved in this.”

  Jack Barnes’s enormous form was suddenly filling the doorway. He held a shotgun in his hands. His green eyes quickly surveyed the room. He looked down at Jeremy and then around the room. When he finally saw Lexi’s form, his face fell, and the shotgun was on the ground at his side.

  Lucas Cameron shoved his way past his brother. He looked like a younger version of Jack, but his eyes were wild with worry. He was completely unkempt. He stopped when he saw Lexi’s still form.

  “Oh, god, no, no.” He looked like he might fall over.

  “She’s fine.” Dani prayed that she was telling them the truth. “She’s just unconscious.”

  Lucas had tears rolling down his face as knelt down next to Lexi and pulled her into his lap. He moved her dark hair out of the way and stared down at her face.

  “Is there anyone else, or was this bastard working alone?” There was an odd tremble to Jack’s voice, as though he was containing his emotion, afraid to let it out.

  “He was alone. You can bring Abigail in.” Julian’s voice was perfectly steady. It scared the hell out of Dani.

  Jack waved a hand and Abby was rushing through the door, followed quickly by Leo and two police officers. Abby was at her daughter’s side in a heartbeat. Lucas had already gotten her bindings undone.

  “Thank god, she has a pulse,” Abby said. Her hands moved up and down her daughter’s body, checking her.

  Lucas wouldn’t let her go. He stood up. “We’re taking her to the hospital.”

  Jack nodded. “I think we should take Julian and Dani, too.”

  “Please, take Danielle. I need to stay and clear up all the legalities.” Julian managed to get to his feet. Every movement was careful and seemed to take something out of him, but his face remained perfectly placid.

  “No, I’m not going until you do,” Dani said.

  Julian didn’t look
at her. “You will do exactly what I tell you to. You will go with Jackson and get yourself checked out. She was hit several times, and he used a cattle prod on her, not to mention the fact that he drugged her. She needs blood tests and a thorough physical.”

  “I don’t need anything but you.” Dani felt herself choking up. Julian’s coldness felt worse somehow than the damn cattle prod. He’d come for her. He’d put himself in danger for her, why wasn’t he holding her?

  Finn’s arms came around her. “Come on, Dani. We’ll get in the truck. You and Lexi need to get checked out. Jim, can you bring Val?”

  “Yes,” Jimbo said, nodding. “I think the drive will do her some good. I have a few things to say to her.”

  Val’s eyes got wide. “I don’t know what it could be.”

  “Nothing you’re going to like hearing, babe. And I think I’m going to start taking after this crowd. You give me trouble, and I’m going to spank that ass of yours.”

  “You jerk. You touch me and I’ll call the cops.”

  Jimbo shrugged. “The cops? You mean my uncle and my best friend? Good luck with that, babe.”

  Jimbo strode out of the cabin, Val bitching in his arms.

  “Come on, Dani.” Finn hauled her up as Lucas walked out of the cabin with Lexi. He turned back to Julian. “You feel free to take care of the legalities, Julian. I’ll take care of my girl.” He looked at the cops in the room who were staring down at the dead body. It was probably the first gunshot homicide they had ever seen. “If you want a statement, I’ll give you one. I killed that fucker because he messed with my girl. That’s my statement, and I’m sticking to it. If you need more, I’ll be at the hospital.”

  Dani watched Julian’s face as Finn carried her out. He stood there, stoic and proud, though Dani knew he’d been utterly broken.

  She might never be able to put him back together.

  * * * *

  “This is how you deal with tragedy?”