TooDangeroustoLove

by AliyahBurke

  Momentarily exhausted, he collapsed on top of her. Still not a word was spoken. Nothing about how they didn’t feel empty as they had in the past with different partners, about how they felt connected. Nothing.

  After a moment, Raven rolled him over and stroked him until he was fully engorged again. Then she sat on him and rode him until he cried out her name and came once more.

  Chapter Ten

  Not another word was spoken, at least not in conversation. Words were moaned and screamed for the rest of the night as they made love repeatedly, from the bed to the balcony and even in the shower. Standing, sitting and halfway in-between. It became increasingly gentler as the night progressed. The anger they both had felt melted away with the incredible passion they shared between them.

  In the pre-dawn hours, they slept in each other’s arms. Brandt’s lips were on her forehead as if he had fallen asleep after giving her a kiss, and her face lay buried in his neck.

  Raven’s brain told her it was time to get up. Slowly she opened her eyes and found Brandt still slept. Her body was so sore. Well, she knew it was time for her to go. One hour of sleep, she would pay for that later, but it had been worth it. Oh boy, had it been worth it.

  Ever so carefully she slid out of the bed and took a quick shower. After she dressed in her shirt and jeans she packed up her computer and put it in her bag. His clothes she left folded on the chair by the massive bed.

  There was nothing left to be done except leave. She stopped by the bed and brushed a lock of his hair away from his face. He looked so peaceful in his slumber.

  “It never was you, Brandt, it was always me. I had to hurt you so I could stay strong. I’m too dangerous to love. Raven Dare is too dangerous to love. I love you as well. Stay safe, Brandt Fowler. Stay alive.” She kissed him on the lips one last time and turned to leave the room. There was a piece of paper on the table that she picked up.

  It was a certified check for fifty thousand dollars. Anger swept her body as she remembered his words. Well, she earned it. Into her back pocket it went and then so did she, silently down the back steps.

  In the fog of the early morning Raven crossed the dewed grass to the garage and got in her car. The morning was warm and so she lowered the top and drove down the driveway. She had one last assignment to complete. A last promise to fulfill.

  She drove south towards Tennessee. Her laptop sat open on the passenger seat showing her where to go. As she drove the wind blew dry the tears that streamed down her face. Her body felt even emptier than when she had been betrayed by Morgan.

  Raven let the tears run their course. “I won’t cry again, not over a man.” She made her promise to the morning air.

  * * * *

  As Brandt was roused from his deep and fulfilling slumber, he knew right away she was gone. Not just gone from the bed, but gone from the property. Her essence no longer lingered around him. There was an emptiness that filled him, and at that moment Brandt realized how much she had meant to him.

  He transitioned from a feeling of contentment to shame as he recalled those horrible things he had said to her last night. Brandt had stood there and called her a hooker. It was not hard for him to remember the pain that flared up in her eyes at those words, for she was a woman that usually stayed so stoic and unemotional. When the hurt flashed through her chocolate depths he knew he would remember that for the rest of his life.

  With the pillow she had slept on gathered tight in his arms, he pressed his face to it and, as the fading smell of peaches filled his nose, he wept. What the tears were for, he would never put a name to, it was just something that had been needed to be done.

  Brandt remained there, in the bed she had used, until the door opened and two maids entered to clean the room.

  They both emitted sharp shrieks at finding him in there. “Excuse us, Mr. Fowler. We had no idea anyone was in here.” Both of them were younger girls, one black and one white. They both looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.

  “Never mind.” His cleared his throat. “If you give me a minute I’ll be out of your way.”

  They bobbed a curtsy and the elder one, the black girl, spoke again, “Very good, sir.” She tugged on her companion’s arm. “We will just . . . just be in the hallway, sir.”

  The door closed behind them and Brandt climbed out of the bed. As he scanned the room with frosted eyes, he noticed his clothes were folded in a pile on the bedside chair. He dressed and walked to the door when the lack of paper on the table caught his gaze.

  The check he had set there was gone. Brandt’s heart fell; she had taken it. He still couldn’t believe that he had written it. How could he have treated her like that?

  Brandt left the room and headed down the hallway to continue his life without Raven Dare as a part of it.

  * * * *

  Raven drove until she needed gas for her car. Her gaze took in the small town as she pulled up to the pump. She was in lower Kentucky and she smiled as she saw a Waffle House across the street.

  She attracted attention but she ignored them. She kept her focus on what was ahead. She wore a pair of fitted black jeans, black boots with a two-inch heel on them, and a light grey shirt. Her long hair was up in a ponytail.

  When her car was full she walked inside to pay. That done, she took her car across the street to the restaurant and went inside.

  With her laptop sitting beside her in the booth, Raven ordered breakfast with a large tea. Sweet, of course. This was definitely something she missed in Alaska. There wasn’t much southern cooking up there.

  As she waited for her food, she worked on her computer. Her tracer had moved, which meant the man she was following had finally gone home. Too late for him, she already got the place that he had been to, marked and flagged on her computer. She could be there by tomorrow evening if she pushed it.

  All her weapons were secured in the car, and unless the police were really, really smart they wouldn’t be able to find any. She called up the topographical maps on the area where she was headed.

  Her food came and she ate as she pulled up some images from satellites and discovered what was lurking around the cabin she was headed towards.

  Right now, there were two cars parked beside it. So that meant there was no way for her to tell how many people there were watching over her.

  Raven sat in a corner so no one could come up from behind her, so she could watch the door. It chimed and she saw four policemen come in. They sat down in the booth next to hers.

  Her cell phone vibrated. “Raven. No. Sorry. Right. Stay safe.” It had been Morgan saying the admiral wanted to know where she was. She was not about to give out that bit of info. Not to that man.

  After asking for a tea to go, she closed her laptop and put it in its case. Bill in hand, she walked up to the counter and paid for her meal. Raven noticed that all the officers were watching her. Their looks had nothing to do with work but everything to do with being male.

  With a saucy smile and a wink for them she put her shades back on, walked out the door, and got back in her car. Then she left the small southern town, driving a consistent speed with her destination in mind.

  The night grew cold and so she put the top up on her car.

  She drove continuously for the next day after stopping for the night at a motel. Around dark she reached her objective. Two miles from her destination, she pulled off the road and parked her car so it would be hidden from sight to passing cars. She opened the trunk of her car and got prepared.

  Jeans were exchanged for black BDU’s. T-shirt exchanged for a black tank top. Heeled boots were swapped for a pair of combat boots, also black. Long hair was rapidly braided and wrapped around her head so it couldn’t be used as a weapon against her. She took out her weapons from the hidden compartment of her car.

  The black matted Glock P21 made of high-strength polymer plastic was checked and double-checked before put in the left leg holster. Arm guards were strapped on and knives were slid into them. A larger Bowie knif
e was shoved into a sheath on her lower left leg. Into the holster on her right leg went her favorite weapon, a black IMI Desert Eagle—matted, of course. The .357 Magnum held nine rounds a clip.

  Six extra clips were slipped into pockets. A Browning High Power, also black in color and matted for concealment, was shoved into the back of her pants. Now she was ready. Her glasses were back on her face, giving her the world in green.

  Hugging the shadows and moving silently, she ran the two miles to the cabin. Clouds moved in and rain was threatening. Raven could hear the distant rumble of thunder. Lucky for her the top was up on her car.

  At the outskirts of the cabin Raven saw only one vehicle. With a touch to her glasses, she was just looking at the cottage through tinting.

  A light went on in the back and she heard a woman scream. She climbed one of the tall trees and maneuvered closer to the building above ground.

  “Leave me alone.” The cry came again.

  “You know you want it. All your kind does. Besides, he didn’t say we couldn’t enjoy ourselves,” a low voice said.

  “Please. Let me go.”

  “I don’t think so. I am not sure what he wants to do with you, but I am sure it won’t be pretty for you.” There came an evil, grating laugh.

  Raven scanned the ground the best she could, looking for wires or any other type of warning devices, before lowering herself to the leaf-covered turf. Pressed up against the wall under the partially open window, she waited.

  “Why do you have me? What do you want with me?” Her voice was raspy as if she had been crying for a while. Or screaming.

  “We got you because he told us to. You know what I want with you.” His disgusting laugh flowed out the window and even Raven tried to suppress a chill at the sound.

  “I thought you said I would be let go when the job was done.”

  “Guess he lied.” There were heavy footsteps on the floor and Raven knew he was moving toward the woman. She let the faint cry of a raptor pierce the night air.

  “Did you hear that?” the man asked, a twinge of uncertainty in his tone.

  “Sounded like a hawk or something like that. A bird of prey, maybe an owl. It is night out,” the woman said, alerting Raven that she heard and understood. Help had arrived.

  “I hate nature, all those damn creatures. That’s right. It’s night. I am a man and want a little woman before I go to sleep.” The footsteps began again.

  This time, however, the woman was backing up to the window that Raven was under. “Please don’t. Just leave me alone.”

  “Why should I?”

  “Because I asked you to.” There was panic in her voice. Her shoulders opened the window the rest of the way. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  He laughed. “Right. You gonna hurt me?” He pushed her away from the window and smacked his hands down on the frame. “Or is your man out there and gonna do it for you? I hear you got a man, so you must already know what we like.” His head stuck out and he yelled to the night, “Well, come on then. I’m waiting.”

  His body was large. His neck seemed larger. “Well, pretty lady. Seems it is just us. And then it will be the rest of the men in the house and you. No man to rescue you.”

  At the same time as he was taking his big bald head back in the open window Raven struck. Her arms shot up out of the dark, reached around his neck, and yanked him out of the window. The man never had a chance for his neck was broken before he hit the ground.

  Raven said in a flat tone, “Be careful what you ask for. You were right about one thing, however, it isn’t a man here to rescue her.” She put her gloved hands on the sill and effortlessly pulled herself inside the cabin.

  “Raven?” the woman whispered as she blinked away tears.

  “Are you alright, Laurie?” Immediately she checked the room and snuck a peek out the door and down the hall to see if there was any more right there.

  “How did you find me?”

  “Tagged the admiral.” Raven ran a critical eye over the woman in the room. She looked shaken up and very scared. Hair was back in a ponytail and her clothes were dirty. She favored her right leg as she moved around the room.

  “But he said that none of the Raptors would come looking for me.”

  “Well, I am not technically a Raptor anymore, so I guess he was right. Listen, we have to get out of here. How many are there?”

  “Seven more.” She shuddered. “I think he was worried that you would try something. Who is with you?”

  “No one. I came alone.”

  “Alone?” was her horrified response.

  Raven let that pass. She didn’t have to prove anything to her. All she had to do was get them out of there. “What is the layout of the cabin from here? Do you know if all the men are in one area?”

  “What happened to the man that was in here with me?”

  “Dead. Now focus. Tell me all you can.” No sympathy for the man being dead. She was all business as she waited for the frightened woman’s answer.

  Footsteps were heard coming up the hall. “Drake? Drake? You done with her man? I want a turn.”

  Raven positioned herself beside the door on the hinge side and tapped her finger across her lips to make sure Laurie kept quiet.

  “Man, I am coming in, in thirty seconds, so make sure your clothes are on.”

  Raven pointed to the bed and jerked her thumb. Laurie ran and dove under the cover and curled up into a small ball, sobbing silently just as the door opened.

  Jeez, where did he find these guys? This one was huge as well. A few prison tattoos graced his trunk-like arms. Well, that answered that question.

  “Drake, man, where are you?” The man walked over to the bed and began to tug at the blankets. “Where is he, bitch?”

  “He went out the window.”

  “Drake?” The man walked to the open window and stuck his head out the hole. “Man, where are you? I know you don’t like nature so answer me. What, you have to take a piss or something like that?”

  Raven clipped him and dropped him to the ground, unconscious.

  Raven lowered his body and then looked at Laurie. “Help me get him in the bed.” They struggled to lift him but eventually got him on the bed and tucked in. “Go see if the hallway is clear. But be careful.” With Laurie out of the room, Raven broke the man’s leg. Couldn’t have him coming after them. Then she stuffed his nasty socks in his mouth as a gag.

  “It’s clear.”

  “Good, now there are six. Let’s go.” They headed down the hallway. Raven stopped at each room and if there were someone in it she knocked them unconscious and tied them up. She rendered them useless.

  Their electronics were destroyed so they couldn’t call and alert anyone. With broken legs, there would be no foot chase. Raven wasn’t sure that Laurie would be able to hoof it for two miles under pursuit so she was trying to eliminate that prospect.

  The rest of the men, the last four, were in the living room. From the smell, they were drinking beer and eating pizza. Raven motioned for her to back up down the hall for a moment. When they were out of hearing range she asked, “Do you have everything you need?”

  “I don’t have anything. This is what I was wearing when they took me.”

  “Can you run?”

  “No. They stabbed me in the leg my first day here. It is healed but still very sore.”

  They stabbed her? No way. Time to eliminate the problem. “Stay here.” Raven pulled out her guns, one in each hand, and walked into the living room.

  “You should know better than to mess with one of the Raptors.”

  The men scrambled for their weapons and she fired off four shots, halting their frantic motions. Convinced they were safe from these men, she returned to where Laurie waited for her.

  “I didn’t kill them, just wounded them. Let’s go.” The relief that crossed Laurie’s face made the lie easier to tell. The women moved off into the dark and made their way to the car.

  A little more tha
n halfway there, shots rang out. Raven took them both to the ground as she worked out where they had originated from. Shit, how could she not have seen this? Why wouldn’t he have guards in the woods? Just because she didn’t see anyone on her way in didn’t mean there weren’t any.

  “You hit?”

  “No. What do we do now?”

  “We run for the car. You’re going to have to run.”

  “But my leg?”

  “Leg or your life. Which is it going to be?”

  “I can run.”

  “Good.” She switched her glasses over to night vision, took them off, and handed them to Laurie. “Here, you wear these. The car is straight ahead of here. A black Spyder. Watch your step, I don’t think there are any traps but you never know.”

  “What about you?” There was panic in her voice.

  “I am going to get rid of the hunters.” Raven grabbed her arm. “Move slowly. Keep under as much cover as you can. I will be right behind you. Go.” At the slight hesitation she insisted, “Go. Now!”

  Laurie went, crouched low and hugging the trees. As soon as she left Raven blinked and waited as her eyes adjusted to the dark.

  The men were talking to themselves as they moved closer to her position. Fools. With the silent skills she learned in the jungle, she took out her Bowie knife and flashed through the trees to where they were.

  One at a time, she hog-tied them and strung them up in the trees, leaving them to be found by someone. Sometime. Then she lengthened her body out to catch up with Laurie.

  Who had been caught. The man was trying to get in contact with his mates while he had one arm around her neck.

  “Excuse me. Do you know where the road is?” Raven asked as she stepped into his line of sight.

  “Who the fuck are you?” He raised his gun at her, seemingly forgetting about Laurie.

  “I’m the one that you will wish you had never met.” Before either of them could blink she had thrown her knife. It hit the man, sinking deep into his shoulder blade, making him drop his gun and stumble away from Laurie.

  As he bumbled, Raven moved forward. Seconds later the man was up against the tree with a gun to his head. “How many of you are out here?”