by Becca Van
But then she thought of how she would feel if she refused them and eventually walked away. She would spend the rest of her life wondering and imagining what if. Prue wasn’t usually such a timid person but after the experience she’d endured at the hands of the Japanese Underworld criminals she was a lot more wary than usual. She’d been beaten and had been in danger of being raped and the thought of having three men touch her naked body, making love with her, made her nervous. She wasn’t scared they would hurt her, never that because she knew they would never hurt her on purpose. They had done everything they could to put her at ease. She’d been the one to keep them at arm’s length but not really out of fear, she was more worried about feeling exposed, vulnerable.
Prue didn’t want to go through the rest of her life wondering. She wanted to know what it would be like to have them loving on her. Taking a deep breath, she then let it out slowly and then did it again and again.
She looked into the eyes of each man and hoped she wasn’t setting herself up for a fall. She didn’t know if she could survive having a broken heart but she needed to know.
Finally she answered with a whispered but emphatic, “Yes.”
* * * *
Even though Adam had just been kissing and touching Prue, he had been unsure of her response. He had been worried that she would refuse them even after he had made them both come by dry humping her. For a while there he’d felt a little bad over the way he’d lost control with her. He’d only wanted to kiss her but that kiss had turned into so much more.
Relief had coursed through him when she had seen the wet spot on his jeans and giggled and even though he hadn’t wanted to leave and go and clean up, he’d been too damned uncomfortable to stay in soiled clothes.
Adam hadn’t experienced such a powerful orgasm before and he hadn’t even been inside her. He was eager to get Prue naked but he wouldn’t have pushed her if she wasn’t ready. Now that she’d agreed to be with them, to let them make love to her, he was feeling rather nervous. He’d never been with a virgin before and hated the thought of hurting her. He was glad that he had his brothers with him because between the three of them, they would be able to watch her and make sure she wasn’t hurt. As far as he was concerned a ménage was better than a one-on-one relationship between a man and woman. Having three sets of eyes could see way more than one.
It hadn’t taken him long to fall in love with Prue. In fact, he probably had from the moment he’d first seen her. It was really hard to keep those three words locked down tight but he wasn’t sure she was ready to hear any declarations from him or his brothers yet.
Now that she’d purged the turmoil she’d experienced at the hands of those Japanese assholes, she seemed so much lighter and freer. It was as if a burden had been lifted from her heart. Hopefully now he and his brothers would be able to engage her heart and soul since she wasn’t so skittish and worried anymore.
God, I hope so.
Chapter Four
Hunt had been so worried that Prue would refuse them. And when she answered in the affirmative, he exhaled quietly so she wouldn’t know how unsure he’d been of her reply. His heart filled with joy and his cock twitched and then filled rapidly with blood. He’d never felt the way he did for Prue for any other woman. He was shaking with desire and he knew he had to get himself under control before he touched her. If he didn’t he was scared he would hurt her by being overzealous. He glanced at Thorpe and Adam and saw that they too had been unsure. If their teammates could see them now they would probably laugh or jibe them since they were all usually so confident and aggressive, but this situation was different than going out on a mission.
Hunt moved closer, leaning forward with the intention of kissing Prue, but an alarm went off. He cursed under his breath when he realized that one of the computer’s alarms had just been triggered.
“As much as we want to continue with this, honey, we have work to do.”
“What’s that noise?” Prue frowned.
“One of the alerts on our computer has gone off.” Thorpe kissed Prue’s temple and then lifted her from his lap and sat her on the side of the bed. As much as he wanted to ignore that alarm they couldn’t. Their laptops had been linked to the police database nationwide and now whenever a blonde-haired woman was reported missing the alarm sounded. It was their job as a team to respond as soon as possible.
“We have to go and check it out, baby. Another woman could be in trouble.”
“Oh, no.” Prue covered her mouth as an expression of horror crossed her face. “Go.”
“We’ll talk more later, sweetie,” Adam rose to his feet and kissed her gently on the lips.
“Okay.” She stood, too. “I think I’ll go and see May, Sara and Nicole.”
“All right,” Hunt stroked a finger down her face. “We’ll see you later, honey.”
It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. To leave that room and Prue when she had just accepted to make love with them all, but work came first. He was the first of them in the study and he hurried over to his laptop. After sitting down and tapping away at the keyboard he was able to get a fix on the location the alarm was coming from and was surprised to find that it was in Alliance, Nebraska, Prue’s hometown. These bastards were either damned stupid or they had an underlying plan. Why they continued to operate out of the same towns was beyond him.
“Another woman has gone missing in Alliance,” Hunt said. “We need to set up a meeting over at the main house.”
Thorpe pulled his cell phone from his pocket, “I’ll send a blanket text with a five minute deadline.”
“Do we have any particulars on the missing woman?” Adam asked.
“Not yet, but I will in a minute.” Hunt picked up the phone and dialed the Alliance sheriff’s office after looking the number up online. When the phone was ringing he put it on speaker phone.
“Sheriff, it’s Hunt Lathan, do you have anything on a missing woman?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. The woman was reported missing by her boyfriend yesterday after she didn’t come home from work. Usually I wouldn’t have filed a report for the prerequisite twenty-four hours but after what’s been going on I didn’t want to leave it so long. As we all know the first twenty-four hours are the most crucial, especially in a kidnapping case. I didn’t want these assholes having the chance of getting too far ahead.”
“Do you think they’re still in the area?”
“I’m not sure, son. Her boyfriend, Billy Kimura, went to all Yvonne’s local haunts and asked around. No one has seen hide or hair of her.”
“Shit! What’s her last name, sheriff?” Hunt asked when dread formed in the pit of stomach.”
“Butters.”
“Fuck! Sorry, Sheriff, I wasn’t swearing at you.”
“Yeah, I know,” the sheriff sighed.
“Do you have a photo of Yvonne?”
“Yes, Billy brought one to me although I’d already seen her when Prudence Peters went missing. I’ll fax you through a copy and the report. What I don’t get is why she was abducted.”
“What do you mean?” Thorpe asked.
“Well, although that lady has blonde hair, her eyes are hazel and the blonde color is out of a bottle.”
“You think they’ve changed their MO?” Adam questioned.
“I have no idea, but I hope to find out. My deputies are out scouring the countryside and I’ve contacted the sheriff in Chadron to keep an eye on that house where you found the other women. There is something in all this that just doesn’t add up.”
“Yeah, I hear you. The fax is coming through. Thanks, Sheriff, and keep us informed,” Hunt said.
“Will do and good luck.” The sheriff disconnected the call.
“I have a bad feeling about all this.” Adam picked up the fax and looked at the picture of Yvonne Butters and then handed it over to Thorpe, who then handed it to Hunt.
“We can discuss it with our teammates but we’d better get a move on, we’re late,
” Thorpe said.
Hunt followed his brothers out and headed to the main house. Once inside, after seeing none of the team was in the living room, he led the way to the large office in the back. The rest of the Elite Dragoons were already seated around the large conference table.
“What have you got?” Whit asked and the chatter died down.
Hunt explained the situation and then let Thorpe take over. “Something else is going on here than just abduction. I, we, feel there is more to this than meets the eye.”
“Explain,” Dalt said and waited.
Adam took over, “We don’t really know what’s going on, but if you look at the picture of Yvonne Butters, who is also Prue’s best friend, you’ll see that her hair is really a brown color by the exposed roots, and her eyes are hazel.”
“Shit. You think these assholes have taken her to try and get to the other women?” Cal Garton asked.
“That’s one possibility,” Hunt answered. “It could also be a setup to draw us out so we can be eliminated. We stuffed up their plans three times already and they have to be getting desperate. Whoever is the leader is probably threatening his henchmen with bloody murder. Our women were taken because of their genes. Orders have to have been placed. If these Japanese assholes fail in fulfilling those orders I’d say they will be facing some very violent, disgruntled customers.
“But why stay in the same area when there are plenty of blonde-haired blue-eyed women in this country? These fuckers are up to something, we just have to work out what it is.”
“Let me place a call to Tony Sullivan and see what he thinks,” Whit said. “But you guys better go and pack and get ready. Meet back here in half an hour. We all know that we are going to be heading to Alliance or Chadron before this day is over. I’ll let you know what our CO says when you get back.”
The team members hustled from the room. Hunt followed Thorpe and Adam and after they had gathered their bags and loaded up with weapons, they went in search of Prue. They found her in the kitchen with the other woman.
Whit, Dalt, and Hay were already kissing Sara good-bye. Nicole was in the midst of kissing her men too.
Hunt walked up to Prue and pulled her to her feet. “Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you, honey, but we have to leave on another mission. When we get back we are gonna spend as much time with you as we can.”
“Don’t worry about me, Hunt. You just concentrate on finding that poor woman and stay safe.”
“We will.” Hunt wrapped his arms around Prue’s waist and pulled her body into his. He bit back a groan when her belly made contact with his growing erection. Holding her face gently between his hands he kissed her softly, but as she melted into him, his need grew and he wound up devouring her. The kiss was hot, wet, and carnal, and he didn’t want to let her go. In fact he wanted to pick her up, carry her over to their house and make love with her, but that wasn’t about to happen, at least not yet. When he lifted his mouth from hers he was pleased to see her passion-glazed eyes and dilated pupils. He stepped back when Thorpe moved in behind her.
Thorpe placed his hands on Prue’s shoulder and turned her into his embrace. He rested his forehead on hers and stared into her eyes. “See you when we get back, baby.”
Prue nodded and then she surprised Hunt and by the look on his brother’s face, Thorpe too. She reached up and fisted his shirt in her hand and yanked before kissing him. He heard his brother groan and the kiss he shared with their woman looked just as hot as the one Hunt had shared with her. Thorpe was the one to break the kiss and then he urged Prue into Adam’s arms.
Adam grasped Prue’s waist and lifted her up until they were eye to eye. His younger brother was usually one to take things slow with women but it seemed with Prue he was totally different. Adam kissed her long and hard and even though Hunt was turned on by watching them, he was a little envious that Adam had been the first of them to give Prue her first climax. He’d never forget the look of surprise on her face when she reached orgasm. To him she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met and he was going to do everything he could to keep her by his side. He couldn’t wait to get this mission over and done with so he could come back to her and show her just how special and precious she was to him and his brothers.
He felt a little guilty for not telling her that it was her best friend they were going to rescue, but he didn’t want to cause her any unnecessary stress or pain. Prue had already been through more than enough. He just hoped that they could find Yvonne and bring her back to the ranch safe and sound. The last thing he wanted to have to do was tell Prue her friend was missing and they hadn’t been able to find her.
Adam finally lifted his mouth from Prue’s and lowered her feet back to the floor and then they began to leave. After one last look, Hunt followed his brothers and teammates out the door.
Ten and a half hours later the Elite Dragoons arrived in Alliance, Nebraska.
On the long drive Whit had spoken to everyone through their James Bond-style communication and tracking earring devices they each had in their pierced ears. He explained that Tony had no idea what the Japanese Underworld criminals were up to either and advised them to go in with extreme caution.
Tony and his underlings were still working in conjunction with the feds, the Japanese government, and law, and now the CIA trying to find out who the head honcho of the sex slave ring was. So far none of them had had any luck.
After settling into their motel rooms, Hunt and his brothers prepared for bed. It was already going onto 2300 hours and they had an early start. The first stop would be for their team leaders to meet with the local sheriff. After that he wasn’t sure, but no doubt they would be out and about all day, skirting the town of Alliance and the surrounding areas.
He wondered if Whit would get the chance to meet with Yvonne’s boyfriend. Hopefully in doing so they would be able to garner a little more information and get some clues into why Yvonne had been targeted when she was nothing like the other women who had been taken.
It took a long time for Hunt to relax enough to fall asleep. All he could think about was getting back to Prue and finally starting their relationship. She was definitely the woman for him and his brothers. He only hoped that Prue agreed and hung around.
* * * *
Thorpe, his brothers, and the rest of the team reconvened in their leader’s hotel room after Whit, Dalt and Hay had visited the sheriff. Alliance’s sheriff hadn’t found any hint of the missing Yvonne Butters.
“All right, listen up everyone,” Dalt said to get their attention. “Whit, Hay and I along with Ty, Rand and Brom are going to stay in Alliance and see if we can find anything on the missing woman. We are going to walk the town with our shields down.”
Whit rose to his feet and began to speak. “The local sheriff got a call from the Chadron sheriff and told him there had been some activity in the house where Sara and Nicole were being held. I want you, Thorpe, and your brothers, as well and Cal, Fletch and Law, to head there and stake it out. You aren’t to go in unless you find out that they are holding Yvonne there, but make damn sure you know how many people you’ll be up against before you go in. If there are more than six then you call us and wait for us to get to you so we can back you up. Is everyone clear?”
“Yeah we’re clear,” the team answered simultaneously.
“Good,” Dalt said then tapped the communication tracking device in his ear. “Make sure you keep in touch. All right let’s get moving.”
Hunt and his brothers headed back to their room. After checking their weapons and their bags they hurried toward their truck. Hunt chose to drive while Thorpe got into the front passenger seat and Adam got in the back. After receiving a nod from Calbert to let him know to take the lead, he backed out of the parking space and then drove out of the hotel parking lot. It was going to take them nearly two hours to get to Chadron and after hiding their vehicles they would have to go in on foot and see if they could see what was going on in that house.
Hunt pulled the truck into the parking lot behind the Museum of the Fur of Trade on the outskirts of Chadron. It was only a mile from there to where the stakeout was. After securing their trucks, re-checking their weapons and grabbing their backpacks, all six of them jogged toward their target.
A few minutes later they had the house surrounded but they kept hidden in amongst the trees a hundred yards from the building. Hunt removed his backpack and took out his smartphone which was also a thermal image scanner that had been incorporated into his cell phone with specialized software. All he had to do was point the sensor in the right directions to get a thermal image reading on his screen. He’d put it into his pack after holstering his 9mm pistol around his waist. Of course he also had an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder and several knives hidden on his body, just like the rest of the team.
He tapped the screen app for the thermal scanner and waited for it to load. Within seconds he was seeing the heat signature of four people. He wondered if Yvonne was one of them. Two were in what he remembered was the living room while another two were in the bedroom where he and his brothers had found Prue.
Hunt lowered his shield and concentrated on each of his brothers and the Garton brothers. He sent them an image of the number four, knowing they would understand what he was sending them.
Thorpe’s voice came over the hearing devices and although his brother spoke in no more than a whisper his voice came through loud and clear.
“Sixty seconds to get into position and another ten before we head in.” Hunt glanced at his watch. “On my mark. Now.”
Hunt left his gear beneath the tree and raced across the open grass area. Within moments he and Adam were standing on either side of the front door. Four clicks sounded in his ear and he knew the others were also in position. He looked at the dial of his watch and twenty seconds later he followed Adam into the house after his brother kicked in the front door. A resounding crash came from the back as Cal and Fletch came in through the back. Thorpe and Law would follow their respective brothers in as back up.