Michael scoffed. “That’s pure horseshit.”
Cricket shrugged. “Believe what you want, but the daggers were like brand new when I last saw them, many years ago, and they are several hundred years old.”
“Where are they?” Michael demanded. “I want them now.”
Cricket shrugged and got to her feet. She kept Jemmina with her and carried her on her hip. There was no way she would let this bastard near her. She went over to the wall opposite the huge fireplace. She took a small picture off the wall and set it down with one hand, then broke through the wallpaper under it.
Michael came to stand behind her.
The she felt the knife he had in his hand as he pressed it into her back. The tip of the knife pricked her skin and she felt a drop of blood run down her lower back.
Michael watched as she punched in a code on the keypad under the wallpaper.
A section of the wall slid back, showing off a rack of weapons that hadn’t seen the light of day in over a decade.
Michael’s jaw slacked as he viewed his uncle’s gun collection.
Cricket moved a step away and swiveled Jemmina away from him, but Michael grabbed her by the arm. Pressing the knife deeper into her back he snarled, “Don’t go too far. I’m not sure I trust you.”
“I’m not sure she should trust you,” a whisper of a man’s voice came from behind them.
Michael gasped and tried to turn but something hard slammed upside his head. He crumbled to the floor.
Cricket screamed and pulled Jemmina to the side shielding her with her body. The little girl cried quietly into her shoulder. Cricket’s scream wasn’t so much because Michael fell to the floor but because the knife he had in his hand was pushed into her back by the momentum of his fall. Raising her head, she found herself looking at four men standing there.
All of them wore combat fatigues and had their faces blackened by grease paint. The biggest one had pure white hair and looked to be older but who could tell under all that paint. He was the one who struck Michael and she could still see his weapon butt end up.
He lowered it as he nodded at his men. Turning back to her he spoke, “Don’t worry darlin, Sam sent us.”
“Oh, thank God!” she cried out as she trembled badly. She carefully set Jemmina down. “P-please take care—of h-her…” Then she fell into his arms and collapsed.
~* * * *~
Stone looked over at the other men with him in confusion.
One of them stepped closer and noticed the hilt of the knife sticking out of her back. That and the growing patch of red as her blood seeped into the fabric of her shirt. “Damn Colonel, he stuck her!”
“Fuck a duck!” Stone swore. “Sam’s gonna kill me. I must be getting old. I didn’t even see the knife.” He glanced over at the men with him. “Doc, get your ass over here! We need a medic.”
One of the men stepped forward as Stone picked up the screaming baby and stepped away.
Another of his men secured Michael while the man he called Doc eased Cricket to the floor. Turning her over, they could see the knife sticking out of her back. Doc grabbed his pack and began grabbing gauge pads as he eased the blade out. “I don’t think it hit anything vital.”
“It better not have.” Stone sighed as he rocked the baby in his arms. He peeked over at her and smiled. “Don’t cry, your dad and granddad are on their way to get you and take you home to your mama.”
The little toddler stopped crying and repeated, “Mama?”
Doc glanced up and said, “Let’s get her on the sofa where I can get a better idea of her wound.”
The other men carefully picked Cricket up and laid her face down on the sofa.
Doc knelt beside her and began cleaning the blood off her skin. A short time later, he finished taping a bandage on, just as the door swung open hard enough to smack against the wall behind it.
The first one who entered was Sam, then Deke and three others. All had their weapons ready and they all looked slightly disappointed when they saw the calm scene in front of them.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Utica, New York…
Bastian drove into the barn slowly. As his car slowly lowered to the basement level, he looked over at the small box sitting on the seat next to his. With Sawyer’s help under the influence of the truth serum, he knew exactly where to look for the missing item. Now that he had it, he knew his time with Sawyer was running out.
He raised his gaze and glanced into the rearview mirror. His battered blue eyes looked weary to him. The bruise on his cheek told its own story. He was two hours later getting back, but then he never expected to run into Malvin at the church either.
Malvin had caught him unaware. He must have been waiting in the shadows until someone came for the Hand. He’d turned his head at just the right moment. The flashlight in Malvin’s hand was set to crack his skull but Bastian turned and caught it alongside his face instead. The pain from the blow would have laid him low except for one thing—Bastian was used to setting his own pain aside. His survival instinct often put him in this position and he needed to push through it.
The battle between the two men was over quickly as Bastian instinctively struck him with the heel of his hand in the throat. Unfortunately, for Malvin, Bastian had been holding a small screwdriver in his hand when he struck out. He watched as the other man collapsed on the floor. The screwdriver he’d been using on the pew bench had gone deep into Malvin’s neck and it didn’t take long before his wheezing stopped altogether.
Rather than stay and explain things to the police, Bastian had dragged the man into the confessional booth and closed the curtain. He was thinking about the awful surprise someone was going to get when they opened the curtains to confess their own sins.
Bastian went about taking the loosened board off the outside bench. Reaching inside, he found the relic, then after replacing the board, he tucked the relic inside his pocket and left the church. Snapping off the latex gloves, he shoved them in his pocket and escaped the area before anyone knew he’d even been there.
Now after a two hour trip back, Bastian was exhausted. His head was pounding and he could feel the skin around his wound cracking as the dried blood broke with his every movement. He made sure he closed the doors behind him then checked the outside cameras. Nothing moved outside, so he went down the hall.
Sitting down heavily at his desk, the first thing he checked was Sawyer. Turning up the volume, he heard her calling his name.
“Hey, Priest. Where are you? I need to talk to you.”
“Can you give me a little time to clean up?” Bastian asked. His words echoed back through the microphone in the speaker.
Sawyer nodded.
He closed his eyes for a moment as his head pounded, then got to his feet and opened another door opposite of the one that led to the room Sawyer was in. He entered his bedroom, stripping off his clothes as he went. Going to his dresser, he grabbed a clean pair of jeans and T-shirt then walked naked to the shower. After a short cleansing shower, he dried himself off and got dressed.
Going back into the office, he checked the monitor again. Sawyer was still laying on the bed, blindfold still in place. Bastian ran his fingers through his hair. His wound hurt but it had stopped bleeding. Straightening his body, he went to the door pausing in front of the mirror. He studied his face. The bruised eye and cheek didn’t hurt as much anymore but he still had his headache.
Not wanting to think too hard about it, he pushed open the door and went over to the bed. Sitting down beside her, he asked quietly, “What can I do for you?”
~* * * *~
His voice made Sawyer tremble, but not from fear. It caressed her and made her feel warm inside. The clean soapy smell of him was pleasing but she could still smell his real scent. It smelled clean and fresh almost like being outside in the woods.
Why wasn’t she afraid of this man? Her feelings puzzled her. She did know that whenever he was near, her heart pounded and it wasn’t from fear either
. “So did you find the Hand?” she asked.
“Yes, I did. It was right where you told me it was.”
Sawyer shook her head. “I never would have remembered that day. My mother told me to forget everything that happened, then Max’s evil twin told me the same thing. I was so scared I didn’t want to remember. What was that stuff you gave me?”
He didn’t answer for a moment then he replied, “It was a simple truth serum. I’ve used it before. Then all I did was ask the right questions.”
“I remembered things I thought long forgotten.” Sawyer shuddered. “I had forgotten the church we went to after the meeting with Max.”
“Fear will block a lot of things. You were only a child at the time and Max’s brother threatened your whole world.”
“Max’s brother?” Sawyer frowned. “I didn’t know he had a brother.”
“Neither did anyone else,” he whispered. “He didn’t want anyone to know about his brother, or the fact that his brother was living with him.”
Sawyer stretched her arms out uncomfortably. “Is there any way you can untie me? I can’t lay here anymore.”
Bastian studied her for a moment. “As much as I’d like to I can’t. I don’t want anyone to know what I look like or where I am.”
Sawyer stilled for a moment then asked, “If I promise not to move the blindfold, can you let my hands go? My arms are sore from being tied so long.”
“Do I have your word that you won’t take the blindfold off?”
Sawyer nodded. “I promise.”
“Before I do that there is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now,” he whispered.
“What would that be?” Sawyer asked.
He kissed her. It wasn’t a gentle kiss but a needy kiss.
Sawyer felt his lips on hers and something strange lit up inside her. Her breath quickened and her heart began to race. She opened her mouth and his tongue slid inside. Colors spun out of control behind her closed eyelids. She groaned as her body heated from within.
She felt something unfurling inside her and she wanted so much more.
~* * * *~
This was the kiss that Bastian had held back for a whole year. He didn’t realize the depth of passion he felt for this woman, until this kiss. They both were breathless after a couple of minutes and he pulled his mouth from hers.
“Please…” she begged.
“What? What do you want?” Bastian whispered brokenly. His lips found hers again and his tongue began doing what he wished his body could. It went in and out of her mouth. Then he knew he needed to stop himself from going too far and he pulled his lips from hers again.
“I want you,” Sawyer whispered to his lips. “I need you.”
He brushed his groin against her thigh. “I know it’s too soon for this and you aren’t ready for any of it, but I just want a small taste, just a sneak peek of what we could be together.” He unbuttoned her jeans. His fingers traced a path along her leg inside her jeans. His lips kissed along her skin as he made his way back up her body. “I can smell you. Your need is getting stronger as is my own.”
She paused then whispered, “It’s insane, truly, but I do want you to show me what passion is. I want you to take me where no other man ever has.”
“Or ever will,” he whispered back.
Sawyer groaned when his lips nibbled their way along her neck to her collarbone.
Bastian stopped and laid his forehead against hers. “I can’t do this.”
“Why?” she cried out.
“I promised your father I wouldn’t hurt you. I promised Leon.”
“How can this hurt me?” Sawyer asked. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you right now.”
“I just feel as if you may just be feeling fear and its’ not—”
“Please?” she pleaded. “You were right before. I cannot see or touch you, but somehow my other senses know you so well. Like you were meant to be the man for me. I have never felt anything for a guy before. Some tried to kiss me or touch me and it just felt wrong. Your touch is so…” She bit at her lip. “…It’s like I know your touch. I even love your scent. I know just when you are near. It’s like you’ve crept right into my soul.”
Bastian let out the breath he’d been holding as he couldn’t believe this woman was saying what she was. “I don’t want you forced or to feel like you need to bargain for your life by—?”
“It is of my own free will. I already know that you won’t kill me. You may even love me?”
Bastian tilted his head. Yes, he might indeed love her. He should have caught her before this, gotten his info and then dumped her, but no…he’d instead, followed her around for almost a year. Dreaming of her at night. Thinking of her instead of other things. This is in fact is what he’d dreamt of. Her lying beneath him, wanting him. He reached for her shirt and began unbuttoning it. He parted the material and sucked in his breath at the sight. Her breasts were full and barely contained in her bra. With his knife he cut the material away from her skin. Her rosy nipples stood erect. Waiting for his mouth, his fingers. Her skin looked smooth and slightly tanned. Her bruises were mostly gone but faint traces could still be seen on her ribs from her ordeal with that scum. His gut twisted. The man was lucky he was dead or Bastian would kill him for what he’d done to her.
He clenched his fists telling himself to stop right here…right now. He just wanted a taste is all. He would just take a taste. It may have to last him a very long time. Then his lips were on her unbound breasts. Kissing and caressing her skin. His teeth nipped on her nipples.
Her waistline was bare as were her breasts, but Bastian couldn’t help himself. He had to see all of her—taste all of her.
He slipped her jeans all the way down and off her legs and now the only barrier between them was a pair of dark blue panties. Bastian rubbed his hand over her hot wet core. He could feel her excitement and smell her arousal. Her scent was driving him crazy.
He leaned down and began tonguing the wet spot on her panties. Her essence was diluted but still there. He growled when he couldn’t get close enough to what he wanted. Then he pushed the cloth aside and went after it again. This time, he could taste her and her flavor drove him wild. She smelled of chocolate and tasted like sweet cream. His fingers brushed against her mound and found their way to her core. He smoothed her dark brown hair away from her clit and she gasped in awe as he parted her lips and thrust two fingers deep inside her.
Bastian reached inside her as far as his fingers could go. His own body betrayed him as the blood rushed to his cock. His muscles bunched as he tensed. He wanted to replace his fingers with his cock. He closed his eyes and could smell her arousal and it was driving his need to possess her.
“I need you,” she whispered. “Please…”
He pulled away and his fingers found their way into his mouth. He closed his eyes again while he tasted her essence and groaned aloud. This was what he’d wanted for so long. He fought with himself even harder now. Taking a virgin wasn’t something he ever wanted to do. Despite his reputation, he’d never delivered pain with sex and never violated any of his assignments in that way.
“Why have you stopped?” she asked in a breathless voice. “I know there’s more. I want you to be the one to show me.”
Bastian watched her bare breasts heaving with her panting, he leaned forward and swiped a finger through her cream between her thighs again. She was soaking wet, her nipples were hard an erect while her body was quivering with need. She did want him. He tugged her thighs apart, gathered her into his arms and groaned again, as her wetness covered his face. His tongue speared inside her body and she cried out in pleasure. He nuzzled her outer lips and found her clit. Licking it roughly, he heard her moan. Sucking the tiny nub inside his mouth, she screamed.
Bastian knew she just came and the sensation made his cock hard. He lapped up her sweet nectar and he knew he was a doomed man. She was made for him. He could feel her body responding and he slipped two fingers i
nside her again. Her core walls tightened around his digits. As he fingered her, he leaned close to her and whispered in her ear, “I want to fuck you so bad right now.”
“Please do it,” she begged as she panted. “Fuck me. I need you so much. I don’t think I could stand it if you don’t take me. I have never wanted anything so badly.”
Bastian couldn’t deny her what they both wanted so badly. He quickly shed his clothes before he could think about the consequences again, and moved over her. He settled between her thighs and pressed forward. His cock felt her tightness and he pushed in gently. He felt her maidenhead and halted. He knew it would kill him to remove himself, but he pulled himself back. What the fuck was he doing? He couldn’t do this…take her while she was bound as his captive! God dammit, it was wrong. His body told him how right it was and his mind disagreed. He raised himself up, intending to move away. He couldn’t have any innocents on his conscience.
Just then, Sawyer wrapped her legs around his waist and tightened them tugging him forward into her.
His pelvis pushed forward again, breaking through. He sucked in a breath as he paused. “Are you all right?” he whispered as his body went rigid. She was so dammed tight. It was he who was imprisoned now. At the mercy of her. The realization floored him.
“I-I—more!” She tugged him closer with her thighs wrapped more tightly around his waist. “I need more.”
Pulling back and thrusting deeper, he set the pace. Each thrust went a little deeper and soon, he was bottoming out. Closing his eyes, he simply let himself feel. Leaning over her his lips suckled her breasts.
She moaned. “Harder, I need more of you. This is so wonderful!”
Bastian picked up the pace and soon, lost himself in everything that she was. He felt her pussy flutter and contract and he knew she was close but so was he. Plunging deeper, he felt her give in to her passion. Her muscles clamped down on him and he felt lightening run along his spine as she came on his hard cock, then like a speeding train drove him, he felt himself give in. His cum flooded her insides, filling her.
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