The Island
Page 13
I almost laughed. God, she was adorable.
I held her in a bear hug, not allowing her to move, needing her to see my point. “Now I’ve got you, sweetheart. If this were one of those guys who mean to do us harm, you’d be dead meat right now. Can you see why I want you to hide while all this shit goes down?” I kissed the tip of her nose. “I’d be worried about you, and my focus wouldn’t be completely on the men I need to subdue.”
“Eli, I want to help.” She tried to squirm, but I wouldn’t give her an inch. I had to show the stubborn woman how easy it would be to keep her immobile.
“I know you do. The best way you can help is to stay out of sight until I get things taken care of.”
She moaned and laid her head on my chest. “If I agree, will you swear to me that you’ll call out for my help if you really need it?”
I gave a few loud grunts for our captors’ sake, making her giggle. This was crazy. How could either of us laugh at a time like this? There was serious shit going on, yet I was also happy in some strange, demented way.
Squeezing her tighter, she gave a few moans and another loud, “Yes.”
I kissed her hair. “If I really, really need it, and see no other possible way of getting myself out of a jam, I promise to ask for your help.” Kissing the top of her head again, I let her go, and she stayed right where she was, wrapping her arms around me.
“Please be careful. I’d kind of like to see where this goes with us.” She kissed me then. Her soft lips forming to mine as our hearts pounded in unison.
When she pulled away, I was lost in her. “We will see where this goes. I’ll be careful, and we’ll get out of this mess.”
She climbed off me, held out her hand and helped me up. “Cool. Now, what should we do? We have a few weapons here. You could go in with both high heels in your hands, or would you rather take the ashtray? I can toss you a heel if you get into a bind.”
I grunted a few times, making her smile, and looked over our meager haul. I prayed one of the men had a gun, so I could take it from him, take him down. It occurred to me then that there might be more than just bloodshed. “I might have to kill someone. Will you be okay with that?”
She blew out a breath and nodded solemnly. “I will if you will. Let me assure you that if you get hurt or worse, I will go bat-shit crazy on whoever is left. You won’t be around to stop me.” She smiled and batted her eyelashes at me. “Hero.”
I guessed if I were dead or hurt very badly, I would want her to fight like a tiger for her life. But I prayed it wouldn’t come to that. “Like you agreed, stay hidden unless the worst happens, then you can come out with high heels blazing, but only if you have no other choice. Got me?”
“Yeah, I got you.” Wrapping her arms around me tight again, she leaned her head against my chest. “Before we go out there and start this shit-storm, I want you to know that I like you more than I’ve liked anyone else. I think you’re the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.” She traced the lines of my face with her fingers. “I’ve never even thought about having sex with anyone until I met you. And I think you smell better than any man I’ve ever smelled before.”
We both laughed, but there was a nervous edge to the sound. She stepped back and held out a hand. I took it and let my eyes sweep over her beautiful features, memorizing her face, just in case this was it for me.
“I guess you know how I feel about you.” I picked her up, loving when she wrapped her legs around me immediately. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
She rolled her eyes. “Liar.”
“I’m not lying to you. Your beauty is beyond skin-deep. It goes all the way down to your soul.”
“We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?”
I nodded, giving her a look that I hoped conveyed a certainty I didn’t completely feel.
I took her mouth with a vengeance. Pulling her braid as she ran her nails over my back, we melted together, the passion and desire we felt for each other igniting a fire that would help us do whatever was necessary to overcome the men who sought to destroy us.
My cock pulsed as I ground it against her soft core. I knew that if we made it through everything, she and I would see the day when our bodies finally united. No matter what that took.
The heat we made between us had a thin sheen of sweat clinging to my skin. I was ready to go into battle. My options were limited, and I had no choice but to take on the five men. I’d kill them all or go down fighting. I’d never been in this position and didn’t know what I’d had in me. Not until I had a woman I’d gladly die for.
When I ended the kiss, she and I stared into each other’s eyes so deeply, I could’ve sworn I felt her inside of my head. “Promise me this won’t end when we land.”
She nodded, and that’s all I needed.
I was ready to go.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Kendra
I nearly screamed when Eli opened the bedroom door and the huge “cook” appeared in the doorway. Eli reacted quickly, his arm striking out at lightning speed into the goon’s gut, then taking him down as he bent over. I winced as Eli twisted the big man’s neck, killing him instantly.
The entire thing took only seconds and barely a noise was made. Still, Eli held up a finger, telling me to be quiet while he listened for the other crews’ reaction. When there was none, he quietly dragged the man into the bedroom.
One down.
Eli patted the man down and cursed when he didn’t find a gun or other weapon. This team had vastly underestimated their quarry, I realized, feeling a flair of hope that we might be able to escape this thing.
Back at the door, Eli peeked into the hallway before heading toward the cabin with steps so stealthy even I was unable to detect them. There was a space between the front row of seats and the second row that he wanted me to wedge myself between. It was a hell of a lot better than being in the bedroom, unable to see what was happening, so I didn’t complain.
With my heels in one hand, I crept along behind him. We stopped when we heard the squelch of a radio coming from the cockpit. I strained to hear what they were saying behind the closed door and was glad they spoke in English this time.
“Tie him up and kill the girl,” a tinny voice said over the radio. I listened harder but was unable to recognize the man. “Time to take action. I have the chairman of the board of Key Ventures on the line, and he’s ready to negotiate, but he’s demanding to hear Reed’s voice and wants a picture. No proof of life, no ransom money.”
I dug my fingers into Eli’s arm as reality hit me hard. They wanted to use him to get money out of the company. And I was a throwaway.
“You could go along with them,” I whispered softly into his ear. “Maybe if you don’t fight them, you won’t get hurt. The company will pay the ransom for you.”
He looked at me like I was insane. “Get your ass where I told you to and stop saying idiotic shit. It’ll be over my dead—”
I stopped him with a kiss. “Don’t say that.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “You die, I die. End of story.”
I nodded and listened as someone, a bodyguard I thought, spoke. “We had a slight mishap. Reed’s awake. He and the girl are in the bedroom, having sex.”
Someone else chuckled. “Rough sex from the sound of it.”
“What the fuck?” came the man on the radio’s reply. “How the hell could you let that happen? There was more than enough in that bottle to knock him out for six hours. How is he awake and fucking?”
“Maybe he has a high tolerance to drugs and alcohol,” one of the men, maybe a pilot, offered.
“Perhaps you should get him to drink some more, you morons. Dump it down his throat if you have to. You’re almost to Scotland. What are you waiting for? You can’t just land in Inverness. There’s a possibility that authorities are already waiting there for you since we made the call to his company.”
I leaned in close to Eli. “If we can make it to Inver
ness with the men tied up, then the authorities can take it from there.”
He nodded, but his brow was furrowed as he looked around. “I may be forced to kill them all. Can you handle that?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Just be careful.”
It wasn’t a foreign concept. My father often talked about becoming a machine with one goal — take out the enemy. Humanity had no place in war. Albeit a small one, we were in a war. They wanted us, so we had to take them out.
Another man spoke, the steward I realized. I let out a breath, glad to have all four men accounted for. “Look, this isn’t some man we can throw drinks at and expect him to blindly gulp them down. He woke up from what should’ve kept him asleep for a couple more hours. And the lady barely drank at all.”
“Make her,” came the asshole’s quick answer to that.
The men laughed, which I thought was good. It meant they knew Eli was a force to be reckoned with. I liked the way this was going. They might abort this entire scheme since they were being pushed to do something they knew wasn’t wise. I crossed my fingers that the whole thing was about to collapse.
If landing in Inverness wasn’t an option, there could be other ones. I looked out the window and still only saw water. An idea hit me.
I tapped Eli on the shoulder. “Where are the parachutes?”
“Why, you thinking of bailing out?” He eyed me as he shook his head. “This isn’t the movies.”
I scowled. “Are there parachutes or not?”
“Not.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Airstream makes it impossible to open the doors, and it would be impossible to jump far enough out that you wouldn’t be hit by the wing or tail. In a crash, people are safer in the plane.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but if there were no parachutes, it didn’t matter.
“What about flotation devices?”
Eli sighed. “How about we take this one step at a time. Let’s disable the bad guys before we worry about landing.”
Men. They just didn’t know how to multitask.
A loud squelching sound came from the radio. “Stop dicking around and do what I told you to do, however you have to do it. I’ll be radioing you in fifteen minutes with the man who’ll wire the money on the line. Have Reed ready to talk and take a picture of him with your cell. Do not fuck up his face or we may not get the amount we’re asking for.”
“Should I get the boys to draw straws?” one of the pilots asked.
Eli popped his neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Hide. I have to deal with this now before they come out of their little container. They’ll be easier to handle in close quarters.”
My heart went crazy as it pounded harder than ever before. I couldn’t walk away from him. He was about to go to the front lines, as my father put it when he told us stories of war and all the horrible battles he’d been in.
It was hard to differentiate between those old stories and what Eli was about to do. Face men with guns, knives, and God knew what else. And all to protect me.
Well, he didn’t want to be kidnapped either. But mostly to protect me.
Like a woman standing on the tarmac watching her man be loaded onto the helicopter that was about to take him to a place where he’d face death, I cringed. That man would defend his country and those he loved with all his heart. And like the woman, I worried. I worried that Eli was afraid and would be hurt or killed.
“Eli, don’t.”
His hand was gentle as he took mine and led me to where he wanted me to be. I just couldn’t make myself walk away from him. “This has to be done. Have faith in me. Pray for me. Be here for me when it’s done.”
I nodded, swiping at a tear that had escaped. “Go kick some ass. I’ve got your back if you need me.”
He stuck out his fist, and I bumped it.
I held my breath as he walked toward the cockpit, just as one of the men ordered someone to, “Get the job done.”
Images rushed through my head as time slowed and sped up simultaneously. The first time I saw Eli. The way he stared me down like he knew me. The way I tried to hide from him as he came for me.
He knew from the beginning that he and I had some kind of special connection. How could I have been so closed off?
The click of him opening a door flooded my head and time began to move at breakneck speed.
Oh shit!
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Eli
I could hear my heart pounding, it was so loud. Fear was running through me, and I was trying my best to gain control of it. It wasn’t that I was afraid for myself. I wasn’t. I was afraid of what they’d do to Kendra.
It was a given that they’d do everything but try to kill me. I was valuable to them, Kendra wasn’t. If they captured me, they’d kill her. If they killed me, they’d still kill her. They couldn’t leave her as a witness. Her life was in my hands. Hands that were shaking as I turned that doorknob and readied myself to take on these men.
Each one of them was nearly an even match for me. But there were four of them. I was in for the fight of my life. Every fiber of my being was on full alert. When the knob was fully turned, I took a deep breath and threw it open.
The door hit the steward right in the forehead, knocking him back. I’d gotten in a hit without even trying. He stumbled into my bodyguard who threw him at me, where he was met with my fist, knocking him out before I tossed him out the door, into the cabin. I’d have to worry about him later.
The bodyguard rushed me, and I was able to sidestep him easily, giving him a couple of kidney punches as the copilot stood to join the fight. He yanked a cord from a bag beside him, snapping it between his hands as he came toward me.
Keeping one eye on him as my bodyguard and I traded shots in the tiny compartment, I clenched my teeth together, needing to get this over before I was beaten too badly and lost my strength. I caught his jaw with an uppercut, making him spill backward into the copilot, then punched him in the throat, collapsing his windpipe.
Two down.
Listening to him try to breathe while he died was excruciating, but I had no time for remorse. The steward was up and hit me from behind, spinning me around. In an instant, the cord was around my neck, the copilot pulling it tight.
“Don’t kill him,” the pilot ordered. “We need him alive.”
I couldn’t draw in even the shallowest of breaths. I grasped at the cord, but couldn’t take hold of it as it was too tight on my neck. Black began to fill the outer edges of my vision as he said, “I’m just knocking him out.”
My head began to swim. I was about to pass out and couldn’t let that happen. Kendra was the only thing I could think about. Not my money, my cars, my Fifth Avenue penthouse. Not my prestigious job as CEO of a multibillion-dollar company. No, only Kendra was there as my brain was slowly starved of oxygen.
It was her beautiful face that filled my mind. The first time I saw her, when she was ducking behind the other interns to hide from me, came flooding back. The memory of the first time I touched her, when I took her hand and how it filled me with an electric current, made my body tingle — or was that the lack of air? I wasn’t sure, but I felt it now.
The blackness was creeping in faster as I lost the battle. I heard someone say, “Just a few more seconds then let him go.”
We were in this predicament because of me. Because of my lust for her. I had to push it to the point of taking her away so I could have what I wanted. And we were going to die because I couldn’t control my dick.
They’d tie me up and most likely kill her right in front of me, but I didn’t know what I could do to stop it.
I struggled as much as I could, trying desperately to free myself with the last burst of energy I could muster. I managed to get free for only a split second, just long enough for a gulp of air before I was pinned to the wall.
I’m sorry, Kendra.
The thought seemed so very far away as blackness consumed my vision and mind.
Kendra!
Sucking in great gulps of air, I saw her standing in the doorway, a bloody stiletto in her hand. Behind her lay the steward, blood seeping from his eye, also dead.
She saved me.
She’d taken out numbers three and four, leaving only the pilot for me to deal with.
“Eli!”
The terror in her eyes had me whirling to face our remaining enemy. My heart seized in my chest as I stared down the barrel of a Glock. Shit.
“Hands up,” he said, his eyes not leaving mine.
I did what he said, taking a half-inch step toward the door with the movement. I had to get between him and Kendra.
“I’m going to kill you,” I said, keeping his attention on me. “Just like all your buddies, you’re going down.”
He smiled. With his dead eyes, the movement of his mouth was vastly unpleasant. “I don’t think so. If you move, your little girlfriend dies a long and painful death. Cooperate, and I’ll show some mercy and kill her quickly. Her fate is in your hands.”
Assessing the situation, I knew I had the upper hand. If he killed me, he’d lose his ransom, so he’d avoid doing so at all costs.
“Kendra?”
The pilot’s eyes squeezed to narrow slits. “Shut up.”
I ignored him. “I need you to do exactly what I say.”
I watched the pilot closely, waiting for him to flick his eyes at my girl.
“Anything,” she said.
A bead of sweat trailed down the pilot’s temple. He recognized his predicament too.
“Run!”
From the corner of my eye, I saw her leap out from her place in the doorway, distracting the pilot just enough for me to attack. My hand came down on his wrist, and the gun exploded, the sound reverberating in my ears.
The pressure changed in the plane, indicating the shell or a window had been breached, but I had no time to assess the damage. I needed to unarm him. Now.