by Becca Van
Tabby couldn’t explain it, but for some reason she felt so connected to them. She had only just met them, but she felt like she’d known them for years. It was crazy and she had no idea why she felt the way she did. Cal, Law, and the sheriff followed her and Fletch out, and the sheriff walked down the steps until he was standing in front of her. Law sat down beside her and took one of her hands in his, and Cal stood beside the sheriff.
“Can you tell me what happened to you, Tabitha?” the sheriff asked.
Tabby took a deep breath, nodded her head, and then started explaining. Once she had finished telling the sheriff about being kidnapped and tied up for two long days, she was utterly exhausted.
Tabby tensed again when another vehicle pulled into the driveway of the property, but she relaxed again when Fletch caressed her arm. “It’s okay, love. It’s only the coroner.”
Cal’s voice drew her attention. He and the sheriff had moved away from her and she couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the sheriff nodded and then handed what looked like a business card to Cal. Cal moved closer to her and held a hand out to her. When she reached for it, she expected him to help her stand up, which he did, but then he lifted her into his arms and began walking down the long driveway toward the road.
Law hurried past them at a quick jog and she wondered where he was going. She looked up into Cal’s gray eyes, and even though there was hardly any light left, she could have sworn she saw possessiveness and hunger in them.
“Where is Law going?”
“He’s gone to get our truck, kitten. He’ll have it here before we get to the road.”
It was only after Cal spoke that she realized how slowly he was walking, as if he was trying not to jostle her too much so he wouldn’t hurt her.
“I’m not hurt. My shoulders and arms are a bit sore, but other than that I’m fine. I can probably walk now, too.”
“No,” Cal snapped and then sighed when she flinched. “Sorry, Tabby cat, I didn’t mean to snap at you, but there is no way in hell you’re walking. You don’t have any shoes on and I don’t want you cutting or hurting your feet.”
Just as Cal finished speaking she saw the truck lights, and then Law stopped the vehicle right next to them. Fletch opened the back door and stepped back for Cal. Cal didn’t even let her go as she had expected him to. Instead he stepped up into the truck, taking her with him and maneuvering so that none of her body touched the door or the truck frame as he got in, and then he sat down and placed her on the seat beside him.
Fletch got into the front passenger seat and Cal secured her seatbelt.
“We can’t take you back home, Tabitha. You’re coming home with us, kitten,” Cal said.
“What? Why?” she asked in a shaky voice and shivered.
Cal reached into a hidden compartment she hadn’t realized was there, and after securing all three rifles, he pulled a blanket out and covered her with it then put his arm around her shoulders and drew her into his side.
Tabby listened as Cal, Fletch, and Law began to explain about the Japanese underworld criminals and how they had been taking women from the streets of America just because they had certain genes and characteristics. The more the three men explained, the more horrified she became until she was shaking again as she imagined what would have happened to her if the men hadn’t found her. Then she frowned because the sheriff had said that the only person who had witnessed her abduction was the cleaner from the hospital, and they hadn’t even seen the vehicle or license plate of the car she had been taken away in.
“How did you find me? Were you following those men, and if you were, why did it take you so long to come into the house and get me out?” Tabby asked and moved back so she could see Cal’s face.
He glanced at his brothers, and she turned just in time to see Law looking in the rearview mirror and he nodded. Fletch was turned in his seat and he also gave Cal a nod.
Cal cleared his throat, and she looked back up to meet his gaze. He swallowed audibly as if he was nervous then drew a deep breath before he exhaled slowly.
“We served in the Marines for five years, kitten, and we had a very high success rate on completing our missions. We were in a team of twelve men and we used to rotate and go out on our missions, six at a time, and called the other six in for backup if necessary.
“Anyway, our time was up and we were due to either re-sign or retire. A couple of weeks before that was to happen, our team was approached by one of the higher-ups in the military and government. They asked us if we would be willing to volunteer for an experiment which had proven successful once before.”
“What sort of experiment?” Tabby asked.
“I’ll get to that in a second, kitten. After we asked all the questions we needed answers for, all twelve members of our team agreed to go through this experiment.” Cal paused and looked toward the front and Fletcher. She looked over at Fletcher and met his eyes when he started speaking.
“We were injected with a lot of drugs we can’t even pronounce the name of.” Fletch glanced at Law and then back to her. “By the time we finished having those drugs injected into our system, we were much stronger and faster than the average human male, plus all our senses were more enhanced. We have very good hearing and eyesight, and our sense of smell is apparently nearly as good as a wolf’s. We can jump nearly twelve feet high without any help from equipment, and we now also have empathetic skills.”
“Oh. My. God,” Tabby whispered but knew they had heard her. Law looked at her in the mirror and then back at the road.
“We can send each other pictures with our minds, and we can feel the emotions of others when we lower our mental shields,” Law said and glanced at her again.
Cal reached over and pushed her chin up. Tabby hadn’t realized her mouth was gaping until then and snapped her teeth together with an audible click. She couldn’t believe what they had just told her. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie, but she didn’t think they were lying. Their words had rung true, but she still didn’t have an answer to her question.
“That is all so unbelievable. I just can’t even begin to imagine…”
“You don’t believe us?” Cal snapped out his question, and she thought she saw pain flash across his eyes.
Tabby reached out and touched the hand he had resting on his thigh. “No. That’s not what I meant.” She swallowed nervously when she became aware of her hand on his and felt heat travel up her arm and across her chest, making her breasts feel swollen and heavy as her nipples hardened. She shifted in her seat and squeezed her legs together when her clit began to throb in time with her heartbeat, but it didn’t help relieve the ache building between her legs. In fact, the action only seemed to make things worse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that I don’t believe you, because I do. I–It’s…just a lot to take in.”
“I’m sorry, too, kitten. I guess I’m a little sensitive about our skills,” Cal replied and then turned his hand over and threaded his fingers with hers.
“So, how did you know?”
“How did we know what, baby?” Law asked.
“How did you know where to find me?”
“You dropped your keys in the hospital parking lot,” Fletch said as he shifted in his seat, and then he looked at Cal before locking gazes with her again. “After I picked them up, I was instantly connected to you. The other members have experienced the same thing when they were looking for their women, but it was different with you. At first I thought there was something wrong because I couldn’t see, but then I realized you must have had a blindfold or something like it covering your eyes.
“We felt your emotions instantly and were able to follow the connection as it grew stronger and stronger. Your fear was so clear at first I thought it was my own, but once I got a handle on the bombardment of emotions and pushed everything else away and concentrated on yours, we were able to pinpoint where you were being held.”
“Wow,” Tabby breathed out in awe, and then a smile slowl
y spread across her face. “That is so amazing. I’m so glad you found my keys.” The smile slowly faded as she remembered the fear she had for her life and how scared she was when she thought she was going to be raped. Tears pooled in her eyes and she blinked a few times, trying to dispel the moisture so it wouldn’t spill over, but a sob erupted from her throat and she lifted her hands to cover her face.
Cal pulled her back against his side and into his arms. “Let it out, Tabby cat. Let all that fear go, kitten. We’ve got you. We’ll keep you safe from now on.”
Tabby slung an arm around Cal’s chest and hung on tight. The emotions she’d felt while being detained by those assholes erupted and she cried so hard she could hardly breathe. All the time she cried, Cal held her tightly against him and rubbed a hand up and down her back and over her shoulder and arm. When the storm of emotion finally subsided, she was totally spent and didn’t even try to fight off the exhaustion. She embraced it and sunk down into slumber.
Chapter Four
Cal sighed with relief when he felt Tabitha slump against him as she fell asleep. He looked toward the front and saw that Fletch was staring at her with concern and Law was frowning at her as he frequently looked into the rearview mirror.
“She’s asleep.”
“Thank God,” Law muttered and fixed his eyes on the road ahead.
“She damn near broke my heart with all that crying,” Fletch said.
“She had good reason to,” Cal replied.
“I know. We all felt what she did when that fucker touched her,” Fletch said through clenched teeth.
“I want Dalton to check her over as soon as we arrive back at the ranch,” Law said.
“We aren’t going to get back home until the wee hours of the morning, Law. I don’t want to have to wake her if she doesn’t wake up by herself.”
“I hear you,” Law sighed, and then Cal felt the truck speed up as his brother pushed down harder on the accelerator.
“Watch out for the highway patrol,” Cal said. “You don’t want to end up with a ticket.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Law snapped. “I just want our woman in our home where we’ll be able to protect her properly, but more importantly, I want to know that she really is okay.”
“We all do, brother, but our little Tabby cat is a nurse, remember? If she was injured I’m sure she would have let the sheriff call the paramedics.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Fletch interjected. “We’ve all heard the stories of what horrible patients doctors make. You never know, that could apply to nurses, too.”
“We saw her body. Other than her wrists and ankles being rubbed raw from the leather straps and a couple bruises, she didn’t look like she had any other injuries. Those fuckers drugged her and didn’t have to knock her on the head to make her unconscious,” Cal said.
“Fuck!” Law slammed a palm down on the steering wheel. “I wish Tony would hurry up with the list of criminals so we can finish this shit. I hate the thought of those bastards knowing where our ranch is. We are going to have to work around the clock keeping guard. What the hell are we going to do with Tabitha? Didn’t the team leaders say that they were going to stash all the other women in a safe place?”
“Yeah,” Cal answered. “We’ll have to talk things over with Whitmoor, Dalton, and Hayward when we get back, but our main priority is going to be keeping Tabby safe.”
“Do you think she’ll be interested in a ménage relationship?” Fletch asked.
“How the hell should I know?” Cal snapped and then caressed Tabby’s back when she whimpered in her sleep and shifted. He made sure to keep his voice lower when he opened his mouth again. “I think she’s attracted to us.”
“How do you know?” Law asked.
“Sniff up, big brothers. While we were explaining our abilities to her, she started panting and shifting in her seat as if her pussy was aching and she couldn’t take her eyes off of us.”
“That could have been fear, Cal,” Fletch said skeptically.
“Smell,” Cal ordered, and then he watched his brothers as they inhaled deeply.
“I can smell the lingering scent of her desire. That has to be a good thing. Doesn’t it?” Law asked.
“I can smell it, too,” Fletch said.
“Let’s just hope that we get the time we need to spend with her so we can court her. I hate to think that Whit and the others want her away from the ranch. Although if it comes down to it for safety reasons, I will personally escort her to where the others are hiding.”
“Do you know where the men were going to send the women?” Law asked.
“No, but I think the Elite Dragons, their women and kids were going with Sara, Prue, and Nicole.”
“Thank God for that. I’m glad that they won’t be alone. They’ll have the other women and the kids to keep them company.”
Cal leaned back in his seat and inhaled Tabby’s light perfume. She felt so damn good and right in his arms, he just knew that she was special. He had felt a connection to her the first time he had laid eyes on her, and it wasn’t just a physical attraction. Although that was there, too, and it was strong. He’d never reacted to a woman the way he did to Tabitha, but there was something more there, too. It was like she already had a hold on his heart and he never wanted her out of his sight again. He felt protective and possessive of her, and he’d never reacted like that to anyone except for Tabby. Now all he and his brothers had to do was convince her that they were the right men for her.
* * * *
Law sighed with relief when he turned into the driveway to the ranch. He was so eager to spend more time with Tabitha, and he hoped like hell that their team leaders didn’t want her to go into hiding with the other women. He and his brothers had already been on their way to rescue Tabitha and wondered if the other members of their team had sent the women into hiding like they were going to, while they were away.
Whit hadn’t said anything about it when he had contacted his team leader and given him an update after dealing with the sheriff. He pulled up close to their house and was about to get out of the truck when he felt a knock on his mental shield.
He lowered it and started the truck again when Dalton sent an image of the main house to him and his brothers. He turned the truck around, headed for the house, and parked close to the steps leading to the wraparound verandah.
Dalton, Whit, and Hay came out onto the porch armed to the teeth with weapons. He wondered what was going on and wanted to ask, but he and his brothers’ main priority was getting Tabby safely inside first.
Fletch leaned over the backseat and he unlocked the hidden compartment where they kept their rifles. He handed one to Law and then slung Cal’s over his shoulder before gripping his own gun and getting out of the truck. Law rushed around the vehicle and stood guard while Fletch helped Cal out of the truck and made sure that none of Tabby’s body hit the frame as his brother lifted her out.
Law didn’t relax his vigilance until they were all inside behind closed doors. Dalton showed them to a guest room at the other end of the house then stepped back so Cal could carry Tabby to the bed. After they had her under the covers, Law gave her a last lingering look then quietly closed the door and followed his medic and team leader back down the hall to the kitchen. He wasn’t really surprised to see the rest of the team sitting around the table drinking coffee.
“What’s going on?” Cal asked as he poured coffee into three mugs and handed a cup to Law and Fletch. They brought their mugs to the table and sat down.
“We’re being watched,” Whit said. “I sent Ty, Rand, and Brom out to do reconnoiter so we could get the women off the ranch safely, and they saw signs that more than one person is watching us.”
“Shit,” Law muttered before taking a sip from his mug. “Did you manage to get your women out?”
“No,” Hay sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m surprised you didn’t have any trouble getting to the house.”
“What a
bout the Elite Dragons?” Cal asked. “Did they manage to get their women and kids out without any trouble?”
“Yes,” Dalton replied.
“Thank God for small mercies,” Fletch said.
“So what are we going to do?” Law asked. “Do you want a team of us to go and find these assholes and take them down?”
“Not yet.” Whit sighed in frustration. “Tony’s asked us to give him as long as possible to get that list from Aguri Akashi. We have no idea how many people are involved in this sex slave ring, and we could end up starting an all-out war. I wanted to go and take them out, too, but we could be putting the women in grave danger. If we don’t get them all at once, they are going to call in their cohorts and we could end up with the whole goddamn Japanese underworld on our doorstep.”
“Fucking hell.” Law growled.
“Go and get some sleep. Ty, Rand, and Brom are going to stay on watch. The rest of you head to bed, too. God knows how much sleep we’re going to get before the shit hits the fan,” Whit said.
“Dalton, first thing in the morning, can you check our woman over?” Cal asked and then explained that she was a medical professional and that she said she was fine, but also told him what she’d been through.
“Sure, but it sounds like she’d know if she needed medical attention.” Dalton looked at Fletch then Law and back to Cal again. “Does she know that she’s your woman?”
“Not yet, but she will very soon.” Cal pushed to his feet, and Law and Fletch did the same. After rinsing and placing their mugs in the dishwasher, they headed out. Whit’s voice called to them, and he and his brothers paused in the doorway.
“Does she know about our abilities?”
“Yes,” Law answered.
“Well, at least we won’t have to try to hide them if we have to use them,” Hay said.
Law followed his brothers down the hall and back to the bedroom. Thank God their team leaders had massive beds in all the guest rooms. He just hoped that Tabitha wouldn’t freak out when she woke up and found him and his brothers in bed surrounding her.