I finished my last deployment four months ago. I'm never going back.
The man I am now, crouching on a fire escape, gun in hand, is a far cry from the man I once was. I'm still a trained sniper lurking in the night. But now I’ve teamed up with the bad guys, providing cover as bad men punish other bad men.
It's a means to an end. And I'm close to that end. After tonight with a little more cash in my pocket, I'm gone. I have a cabin in the middle of nowhere in northern Wisconsin. It's only six hours north of Chicago, but it's a different world. No backfiring cars sounding like gunshots. No jostling, noisy crowds triggering my fight or flight response. No crying children giving me flashbacks of airstrikes. I'm going to vanish without a trace, heading into the wild to live off the land. No one will even know my name.
Next to the restaurant’s dumpster, the gleam of a cigarette glows in the darkness. It’s like a flare going up to signal an exact location to a copter. Looks like the bad buys have finally arrived—alert the neighborhood. Who the hell lights up a cigarette while working this kind of a job? Amateurs, that’s who. The heyday of the Chicago mafia is long over. Those two down on the corner are no Al Capone-era mobsters. They're small-time, two-bit thugs.
That's why Big Rudy has to hire me to cover his ass. He needs no witnesses, no escaped assets. I'm his back-up plan. If all goes well, I won't even have to do a thing to collect my money. But with those two idiots in charge of sealing the deal, that's a big “if.”
That sweet young thing had best not come outside again. She doesn't want to get caught in the crosshairs. No way would I hurt a hair on her head, but those two gorillas on the corner have the precision of a giant meteor. There’s no telling what might happen if she gets in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Damn, she had some juicy curves. When she'd put a bag into the recycling bin, she'd had to strain up and over. That little skirt had pulled tight across her full ass. I could see the outline of her cheeks, the hem only a couple inches down from her pussy. I’d swallowed watching her tug it down after, as if a skirt like that could do anything to hide what she had to offer. I wanted her in something longer, baggier, so no one else could see those thighs, that ass. But for me and me alone, I wanted her skirt shoved up to her waist. Pushed against the brick wall, she could show me everything.
She’d paused before she’d headed back inside, a worried look on her perfect, heart-shaped face. So young and innocent, she stirred something deep within me, a yearning, a hunger. If I were a good man, I might think good thoughts. I might consider stopping by the restaurant tomorrow, ordering a cup of coffee, maybe asking for her number to take her out on a proper date.
But I’m not a good man, not anymore. A growl forms in my chest as dark thoughts surface. I picture her down before me, those full lips wrapped around my thick cock. Right there in the dark alleyway, I could make her kneel, her bare knees on the rough pavement. That ponytail wrapped in my fist, I'd feed her my cock. She’d look up at me with those wide, innocent eyes as I fucked her mouth.
I stifle a groan. My balls ache. I'm rock hard, my dick hammering for release. It's been too long since I've been with a woman. It’s not that I haven’t had the chance. I left the SEALS, but not the training. I still push myself to the limit every day like I’m training for the zombie apocalypse. Some habits die hard.
Women want me, but I haven't wanted to be with a single one. Not until now. Inconvenient timing to suddenly have my inner caveman roar. Nothing I can do about it, though. I’m nothing more than a ghost making my last appearance before I vanish.
I don’t even know the details of this job I’m on. I don’t want to. All I know is what I need to know—protect the men stealing the asset. Someone’s done something to piss off the big guy. Now they’ll pay. If I had to guess, I’d bet it’s the owner of that restaurant where my little beauty works. He probably owes Rudy money. The place looks like a legit establishment, but the best scams have the best fronts. He’s probably running something on the side. Maybe he took a loan and didn’t sell enough of whatever he’s moving.
Now he’ll be taken and tortured until he pays. All bad people, doing bad things. The less details I know the better.
The back door opens again and I get ready. Damn it, my girl comes out again, looking up, looking down. She’s nervous, like she can sense the danger. I tense, every muscle in my body ready to go. She needs to get out of there.
She hesitates, peering down the alleyway into the dark. My finger on the trigger ready to keep her safe, I hold my breath, watching. Run away, beauty. Bad shit is about to go down. She needs to be far gone when it does.
The gorillas move first. Quicker than I would've guessed they could act, they grab her, wrestle her arms behind her back and secure her wrists in a zip tie. She’s so much smaller than them, her eyes wide with terror. What the hell are they doing? This girl's no threat. This girl needs protection.
One gags her before she can even get out a scream. The other takes out a syringe. He brings it to her slender, pale neck and pumps it into her.
Hell no. She’s the asset. She's the one they're going to kidnap.
Not on my watch. Instinct takes over, so strong it pierces through my darkness. They will not hurt her. I will save her, and I will keep her safe if it's the last thing I do.
I spring like a panther down to the sidewalk, silent, on my feet in a fraction of a heartbeat. They don’t hear me. They don’t see me. I don’t even have to use a bullet. An elbow to a windpipe, the butt of my gun to a forehead and the gorillas are down, crumpled, one sucking wind, one unconscious.
Beauty lies at my feet slumped in a heap, motionless on the sidewalk. I crouch down, a quick finger to her pulse. It’s strong and sure. I knew it would be, but still I exhale in relief. I know how these bastards work. They knocked her out so they could drag her off. Then she'd wake up in a basement somewhere where no one could hear her screams for mercy.
That’s not going to happen. I cradle her in my arms, holding her tight to my chest. She doesn’t stir, but I feel her breath, warm and even against my neck. Her breasts pressed against me, I stand, carrying her with ease as I take off into the night.
Crack dealers late on their payments, pimps not pulling their weight, those were dirty, rotten crooks. When Big Rudy messed with them, as far as I was concerned it was scum screwing around with scum in a petri dish brimming with filth, every one of them beneath my moral radar. Over the past few months, it had been easy to detach and stay removed from the jobs. I’d rationalized it in my head. They were just bad guys taking out other bad guys. All I was doing was keeping watch.
But this woman? Shit got real once I saw her. Asleep in my arms, vulnerable and soft, she’s all that's good in the world. And she's mine now.
In seconds, I reach my car around the corner. I lay her gently in the back seat. Passed out as she is, she’ll be more comfortable lying down. Her dark hair spreading out over the seat, contrasting with her milky skin, she looks so peaceful, a sleeping beauty. Her breasts are splayed, full and round, almost too big for her shirt. The hem rides up, exposing a glimpse of her stomach.
Her skin begs for my tongue. I want to trace a searing path, do it now while she's bound. But I want her awake. I want her to feel every filthy, dirty thing I'm going to do to her. And I want to watch her as I do it, so I can drink in every response, hear every breath as she tries to struggle.
That way I can savor the moment when her cries turn into a moan of need. I can watch as her eyes glaze with desire. I'll suckle her clit until she begs for more. I’ll bury my cock in her again and again, feeding a need I already know will never be sated.
After we get somewhere safe. I buckle the seatbelt snug around her waist, leaving her wrists tied. I don't know how much they gave her, so I don't know how long she'll be out. She might panic when she comes to and injure us both. Better to leave her bound. But I untie the gag, exposing her plump, berry pink lips.
I have to close my eyes and shake my head to try a
nd clear it. It takes all my training to force myself to step away, close the car door and climb into the driver's seat.
She may have escaped two monsters in the night. But she's fallen into the clutches of another. And I’m going to drag her deep into my cave.
I hadn't taken her with a plan. But now it comes to me, laid out clear like a soldier in battle. I know where I'm headed, what I need to do to keep her safe. And I will keep her safe. They’re not going to touch a hair on her head.
They will try to. I know it with certainty. They will come after her and me. Big Rudy will not like what has gone down.
In the blink of an eye, acting on impulse, I've fucked up all my plans. One second I'd been poised and ready, about to gain my freedom. Now I've painted a huge bullseye target on my back.
But that doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore except getting her safe. From everyone else.
But not safe from me. I’ve got her right where I want her.
3. Olivia
My head hurts like hell. It feels like someone smacked me with an iron skillet. I open my eyes but it's dark, and something's buzzing. Or roaring.
I groan and try to bring my hands up to rub my eyes, but I can't. What the hell? My wrists are tied behind my back.
“Help!” I gasp, my throat burning. Disoriented, I can't sit up. Something's pinning me down.
“You're all right. We're almost there.” A deep masculine voice I've never heard before addresses me from the front seat. I'm in a car, I realize, in the back seat.
“Where am I? Who are you?” Panic seizes through me as memories shoot into my brain. That feeling I'd had of being watched. The moment I'd realized I’d been right. Men had grabbed me and tied me up. One had stuck me with a needle. “Help!” I scream, louder, struggling against whatever’s holding me down.
“Calm down.” He sounds authoritative, commanding. It probably shouldn't calm my nerves, but something about the way his voice sounds does. “Breathe,” he instructs me. “Don't panic. You're going to be all right.”
“What happened? Why am I tied up?”
“Some men tried to hurt you. I stopped them.” Outside the restaurant, I remembered. In the alleyway. “You shouldn't go places like that alone. Anything could have happened to you.” His voice sounds tense, as if he’s clenching his jaw.
“Can you untie me?” If he's rescued me, why am I still tied up and in the back of a car?
“I will, as soon as we arrive.”
“Are you taking me to a doctor?” My voice sounds weak as fear seeps in again. Even as I ask, I know it's not happening. He said he stopped the bad men, but I can sense that this nightmare isn't over.