by Jools Louise
“I already hurt quite a bit, lover. Just do it. I want to do some hurting myself…to the morons who own this ship.” I groaned low in my throat. Whatever Louis did, he was able to release the lock on the cuffs. A quiet “snick” of sound, then the slight rattle of the chain.
I felt tears trickling down my cheek as the pain in my arms and shoulders grew excruciating. It was pure torture as he eased my arms down, rubbing gently along the sore flesh. Another kiss, this time to each swollen eyelid.
“I’m going to kill whoever did this to you, Jess.” His voice was soft, but no less emphatic as he made the promise. “I love you, baby.” He kissed my lips, the soft caress a welcome balm against my dry mouth.
“I think there are more children aboard, Louis.” He froze, and I could feel, rather than see his surprise at my comment.
“How do you know that?” He continued to rub the circulation back into my shoulders, his hands warm on my chilled skin. I could smell the faint scent of clean sweat on his skin and breathed a sigh of relief that he was here. I leaned into his hard, warm body as the tears continued to roll. I hadn’t realised how scared I had been. Snarky attitude aside, my relief at Louis’s presence was palpable.
“I heard a scream earlier, when I was first brought here. It sounded like a child’s scream, then crying. I think there’s another holding area next door.” I let out a yelp of pain as his arms wrapped around me. Louis froze again, then his hands moved over my upper torso. He cursed when he felt my ribs and I let out a hoarse cry of pain again.
“They broke your ribs? I’m definitely going to kill the bastards. Slowly and painfully.” His cheek rested against mine, his hold around me loose but still comforting. He must have felt my tears, as he began peppering kisses across my cheeks, sighing. “We really are going to have to find a way to stop you getting hurt. Maybe a leash?” I snorted at this suggestion, then giggled slightly, flinching at the pain darting across my rib cage.
“Darling, you know I don’t do BDSM!” He chuckled a little, stroking my tangled hair, his touch welcome in the pitch blackness of our prison.
“Darlin’, I like having my balls right where they are, so I’m not going to push the point!” I snorted again, relaxing slightly as the pain in my arms began to ease slightly.
“We need to get those children, or at least find out who else is being held prisoner here.” I really did want to get off this bloody ship, and away from the thugs on board. But if they were hurting kids…that just wasn’t going to happen.
“You do realise there’s about twenty fully-armed and extremely brutal mercenaries on board, don’t you?” He asked the question with a sort of resigned acceptance of the inevitable. “And you have cracked ribs, are half blind and have barely any clothes on.” His fingers found the rip in the camisole top I was nearly wearing. Fortunately, my ubiquitous bikini top was in place or I’d be flashing a bit more than was really necessary.
“Of course, they didn’t search me properly. So now that I managed to get on board, and since no one thought to secure me, we should be able to get help.” Louis continued to speak in such a matter-of-fact tone that I nearly missed what he said.
“You mean you got captured deliberately?” I was incredulous. He could have been killed.
“What? Did you think I’d be able to fight off twenty bruisers all by myself? Nah! I’m not Rambo, luv!” He sounded cocky, and despite the circumstances and my relief that he was here, I suddenly wanted to slug him.
“They might have decided to shoot you dead rather than slinging you in here like a sack of spuds, luv,” I retorted, my voice still hoarse, but my tone gave no doubt of my bad temper.
“Yeah, I thought of that. Good job they wanted us alive, ain’t it, sunshine?” I didn’t need any light to know that there was a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. The man did like to tease me. I’d known him for nearly two years, and like the rest of the crew, he liked to bait the tigress…meaning me!
“Marcus and the guys are on their way, luv. The boys are safe in the bunker, so you don’t need to worry about them. We just need to get out of here without dying!” His tone changed from warm and comforting to scarily cheerful on the last sentence.
We both heard a bone-chilling scream and froze in horror. The scream cut off abruptly and I cringed inside, not wanting to think about what that meant.
“We need to get out, now!” I hissed. “That was a child’s scream.”
Louis paused for a minute. Then…
“Start screaming, luv. Like you’re being attacked by a whole nest of giant spiders. We need to lure them down here so I can increase our odds of survival a bit.”
I shuddered, more from the reference to spiders than anything else. My mind thought over the plan and I realised our only hope was to have someone open the hatch.
I began to scream hoarsely.
Chapter Three:
Two Times Twenty Equals Ass-Kicking
I’d always despised people who said “trust me” and expected blind obedience. As soon as those words were uttered, you could almost guarantee something would go tragically wrong. It always happened in the movies. The hero said “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay. I’ll protect you. Trust me…” and then everything went to shit, bullets started flying, and people died.
Louis did not bother saying the words to me, since he knew me fairly well. I suspected he wasn’t quite as confident in our plan as he made out. As plans went, it was fairly simple. I was to scream loudly enough to get one of our guards to open the hatch above. I would keep screaming until the guard came down the gangway into the hold to investigate. My hero, in the shape of Louis, would then bop the guard on the head, rendering the guy unconscious. Then we would leg it up the gangway, bopping any other guards who got in our way, rescuing the person whose screams led to this plan in the first place. Our final task was to get off the ship without dying or being recaptured and return to base camp.
Simple, right?
Hah! There were one or two noticeable problems with the plan.
Currently we had no weapons with which to bop anyone on the head. The guards all carried firearms, knives and, machetes. I had possibly broken ribs and no shoes and was half-blind since some bastard, who I had every intention of kicking in the balls, had smacked me around the head a few times. Oh, and one eye was swollen shut and the other would open only halfway.
What could go wrong?
I’d been screaming for all of ten seconds when we heard the hatch open and the rush of footsteps down the gangway. I had the thought that these guards really weren’t too bright. At the first screech of rusty hinges, Louis dove for a spot under the gangway so he could spring on the unsuspecting guard and bop him.
Quick as a striking snake, Louis grabbed the guard who came down in a headlock. He squeezed for a few seconds, and the man was soon unconscious before he could even utter a sound.
I blinked. Louis was one of the more laid-back of my lovers, and he wasn’t known for his speed at anything. Usually, he could be found sunning himself when not working. The Louis I had just seen had me remembering that he had once been a lethal member of the British Army, in the Parachute Regiment’s most elite unit.
Swiftly, Louis stripped the guard of his assault rifle and hunting knife, and then made quick work of searching for any more useful items which might aid us.
I heard a sound above and hissed at Louis in warning. Immediately, he handed me the knife and then hid again, dragging his victim out of sight.
I heard cautious footsteps, the muzzle of a rifle pointing downward.
I stood at the bottom of the stairs staring up at the hatch. Moving back a little, I used the deep shadows to hide me, gritting my teeth as pain lashed my ribs. I gripped the hilt of the knife tightly, my sweaty palms making the hold slippery.
A head peeped around through the hatch, peering down. I’d seen the man before. He had been on one of the poacher’s RIBs last year. He’d been the one to order the murder of five of his men and ha
d knocked one of the boys, Benji, unconscious. A nasty piece of work, he was someone to be afraid of. I slipped deeper into the shadows.
The man was Asian-looking, maybe a little taller than me. His eyes darted about, soulless black orbs like those of a cobra ready to strike. He made his way down the stairs, trying to see into the gloomy hold. “We will kill your friends if you do not show yourself.” He hissed the words, his words harsh. I hesitated, needing him to come further down the stairs to give Louis a chance at taking him out.
“Keep your panties on, dickhead! I’m here.” I stepped forward, staring up at the murderous prick haughtily.
A vicious smile creased his lips.
“Well now, my dear, I do believe it’s time we got acquainted.” He moved further down the steps, the barrel of the rifle pointing at me. “Tell your friend to come out where I can see him, or I’ll kill you where you stand.”
A rush of movement behind him caught my attention. Louis had managed to clamber up onto the steps behind the killer. Silent and deadly as a panther, he suddenly leapt onto the man in front, his weight pushing his prey to the floor. A short, swift battle ensued. Louis won. Quickly disarming the man, he twisted his arm around the guy’s neck and, in a quick and lethal move, broke his neck. I stared at Louis in a mixture of awe and just a little fear. He looked up and noticed my expression.
“Jess?” My gaze locked with his. Those green eyes of his which usually gleamed with laughter and love were sombre. He looked a little fearful himself. “Please don’t be afraid of me.” He looked as though I’d punched him.
My eyes filled with tears.
“I’m not afraid of you. I just hate this.” I whispered the words, every muscle in my body aching. The ache in my heart was worse. Louis was having to go back to a life he had left far behind. He’d trained with Marcus in the British Army’s Pathfinders unit. He’d seen too much of the horrors in war, and suffered PTSD as a result. When Marcus left, so did Louis, and the pair had travelled around together for a while. Eventually, they had landed on El Santuario with Jackson. For many years, they had not had to kill.
Now that was changing. Louis had just killed a man in front of me. I felt sick that he’d had to. Sorry for the man he’d killed? Never. Child abuser, murderer, thug. No sympathy for such a creature.
Louis dragged the body next to the other guard. Retrieving the other rifle, two further knives and a pack of ammunition, he approached me. He hesitated, as though afraid I would reject him, and I flung my arms around him, burying my head against his strong neck.
“I’ll never fear you. I love you.” I held back a wince of pain as his arms went around me, holding me close. I could smell the tang of sweat, gunpowder and his unique scent despite the other less-appetising odours around us. “He was the bastard who broke my ribs.” My last comment had him going still. “He flogged Max.”
He lifted my head, staring into my eyes.
“Then I’m sorry he died so quickly.”
“No, luv. You aren’t a monster. You just killed one.” I kissed him softly, kissing away the weary look in his eyes. “And we’ll make sure these other monsters know we are not a place to visit ever again.” His teeth flashed, gleaming white in the dimness of the hold.
“Darlin’, I think they’re beginning to realise that already. You know it’s early morning, don’t you? That’s why Jackson said we needed to rescue you now, instead of later. He said you’d be a great…asset before you had your coffee.” My eyes widened as that shit-eating grin spread and he chuckled softly.
“Is that so? Well, let’s hope I don’t run into him before I get my fix. Or I may just kick an asset of his!” I raised a brow at his choked-off laugh until he gave me a more serious look, albeit with a gleam of laughter in his eyes.
“Shall we go see who’s next door?” I asked, brandishing the assault rifle in an effort to look badass.
With a mock bow, a swift kiss to my lips and a laughing look at the rifle, he led the way. Cautiously, he moved up the steps. I wasn’t sure what was going on above, and gripped his belt as I followed in his footsteps. Each step I took had my ribs protesting vigorously. I’d been a prisoner here for a week, so my legs felt shaky. No sweet pastries for breakfast in this establishment. I wasn’t quite sure what had been in the broth they fed me, but “vile” described the taste. I’d eaten it anyway.
We reached the top of the gangway. I peered over Louis’s shoulder, blinking in the light. Dawn was just about to break. We needed to get moving or we’d be too visible in the predawn glow as the sun began to make an appearance.
Suddenly, Louis lurched forward, grabbing at something with a lightning-fast move. Swiftly, he had another guard by the throat, slicing through sinew and blood vessels with the large knife he carried in his fist. I tried not to vomit as the body was thrown over the gangway to the floor below. Three down, only seventeen guards to go.
“Here we go,” Louis whispered, exiting the hold and helping me out after him. We moved quickly away from the open deck. Hugging the dull gray of the ship’s siding to a doorway, we made our way slowly to a doorway, which was slightly ajar.
A quick peek through a porthole had Louis’s expression turning fierce.
“Wait here.” He gave the order in a barely-audible whisper before gliding through the door. A couple of dull thuds followed a child’s scream before silence descended once more. Louis reappeared a few moments later, carrying a small child in his arms. A little girl, no more than five and as skinny as could be, lay shivering against his broad chest. She had a blanket wrapped around her, but nothing could disguise the look of fear and pain in her dark eyes. With her dark hair and big brown eyes, she appeared Asian in descent. Her face was streaked with tears and dirt and dried blood. She clung to Louis like a limpet, shivering.
“Jess, they’re holding more youngsters on the ship. We need to get this one to safety, but she won’t let go. She’s terrified.” I met his eyes, my look grim.
“Hey, sweetie, how about we go find your friends, hey?” I spoke softly, gently, soothingly and she looked at me, eyes still fearful. A quick nod showed she understood.
“I’m Jess, and this is Louis. He’s really good at getting rid of the baddies. Do you think you’d be able to let me hold onto you so Louis can go help your friends?” She stared at me again, blinking.
“My name’s Meg.” She slowly unhooked her arms from around Louis’s strong neck and reached out for me.
My heart clenched in relief and ached for all that she’d gone through…and still trusted enough to let me hold her.
I flinched a little as Louis transferred her slight weight to my arms, but gritted my teeth. There was no way I was letting go. I’d kill the next monster who tried to take her from me.
Louis gestured for me to follow and I moved after him, my bare feet making little sound on the cold metal of the deck. I felt a soft kiss on my swollen eye and jumped at the contact. Looking down into Meg’s dark eyes, I smiled at her.
“That’s for the ow-ie.” She stuck a thumb in her mouth, gave me a tiny smile and then rested her head on my chest, closing her eyes. That ache in my heart spread, and for the first time I regretted not being able to have children. Now I knew what maternal instincts were…and I cried inside. This little girl was stronger than many men I knew, not including the crew.
I heard a sound behind me and whirled, clutching Meg under one arm and a hunting knife in the other. The rifle was slung over my shoulder.
“Is that any way to greet your friends?” Marcus was clad in army combat gear, complete with streaks of black and olive green across his face. He looked like an updated version of Rambo, but with short hair.
“Marcus, this is Meg. Meg, meet Marcus, a very good friend of mine. He’s here to help rescue your friends.” Marcus gave Meg a gentle smile.
“Hey Meg. Pleased to meet you. Shall we go rescue your friends?” Meg peeped at him between her lashes, still sucking her thumb. She nodded once, giving him a small smile, and he grinned
back, flashing a thumbs-up sign. She giggled around the thumb in her mouth and Marcus and I shared a look. This little one was a keeper.
Marcus protected our rear, Louis was up front, and Meg and I in the middle as our little convoy made our way cautiously to the stern of the ship. The ship was a midsized freighter with storage holds amidships. Toward the stern was the tower, which had the bridge and cabins. We had been held in a storage hold toward close to the cabins. Apparently, the rest of the crew slept, since no one but us was stirring. Meg pointed out which door we should go through, and ever cautiously, we made our way inside.
A narrow corridor lined with about six doors met us. We heard low voices coming from the far end. Meg pointed to the first door. We figured out this was where the other kids were.
Marcus gave Meg a quick grin, a thumbs-up again, and then put his finger to his mouth to indicate Meg be really quiet. She smiled, nodding, eyes wide.
I was beginning to feel a little faint since, while Meg was certainly not heavy, I still had cracked ribs and had barely eaten for over forty-eight hours. I decided now was not the time to be a wuss, and began to breathe lightly through my mouth, trying to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach and the stabbing pain in my rib cage.
Louis opened the door in question quietly, knife at the ready. Marcus guarded the rear, looking alert and dangerous in his commando gear. I felt a twinge of desire, despite the situation. The fleeting thought of whether he was fully commando had my gaze drifting to the hefty bulge at his crotch. His raised a brow, noted the look in my eye, and winked at me. The smirk on his face told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. I blushed, then gave him a rueful grin in return.
Louis peeped around the door, gesturing for us to enter the cabin.