by Arran,Olivia
I blushed, strange given the fact I was nearly naked in his arms. “I want you, but on our own terms. Not theirs.”
He growled, the wolf flashing back into his eyes. I was losing him, I had to do something. “Remember Holly?” I hated saying her name. He had obviously loved her, and he’d lost her. They had used her to get to him, and now I was going to do the same. “Don’t make me hate you, too,” I whispered, wanting to pull back the words and smash them to pieces.
But I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t fight him, hell, I didn’t want to.
His eyes flicked over my body as if he hadn’t heard me, lazily tracing a path across my naked breasts. Then he flinched, a twitch working in his jaw.
The speaker crackled, a low hiss of static, then the voice echoed loud in the room, a commanding drawl of pompous lies designed to stroke the fire, “Take her, Abel. Make her yours, as is your right. She is your true mate, you belong together. Own her, command her to submit, demand that she obey. Once you are bound she will love you because of the bond you’ll share—”
I’d had enough of this bullshit. “Shut the fuck up!” I screamed, panic surging as Abel stiffened against me. Was he buying into the inane crap Getts was spouting? Did he really want to own me?
My heart fluttered in my chest, my grip slipping as I stared into the face of the man I trusted with my life.
His eyes were blank orbs of gold, his lips stretched tight and nostrils flared.
I should be scared. This wasn’t the Abel I’d known all these years, the grumpy man with the hidden heart of gold.
This was his wolf; the predator I’d never met.
I swallowed. His body was hot against mine, hard and unyielding and powerful. But it was familiar. This was him, all of him, and I wasn’t scared. How could I be? He already had my heart.
Recognition flickered in his gaze, something ghosting around the edges of insanity, then it was gone.
On a heart stopping growl he yanked my hips high and thrust forward.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Abel
She will love you because of the bond you share.… Getts’ words echoed in the thrall that held me, slicing a clean path through the fog of lust and instinct.
The silver cross I’d thought was long gone slid between us, each dig of a sharp edge serving as a physical reminder of the past, of the lies I had lived and the trust I had misplaced. The blind faith I had put in another, only to have it thrown back in my face. But not her, not the woman burning in my arms. She was the reason I had to fight this, she was my last chance for redemption.
My last hope for a future I hadn’t known I still craved.
I gritted my teeth, dragging my wolf back through a pure force of will. Extending a single claw, I sliced through the chain, tossing it onto the floor. The past had no place between us, not now, not ever.
Every inch of my body burned, the pain from a living thing crawling through me and sawing at my insides. But the pain meant I was still alive, still fighting—which meant I knew this was wrong. I hadn’t lost myself, not yet.
Getts hasn’t tamed me.
Her scent beat at me with unrelenting determination, calling my name with a soft purr that promised untold pleasure and sweet relief.
Frankie’s eyes were wide and unblinking; her mouth open in a perfect ‘o’.
“Play along,” I growled against her ear, rotating my hips and sliding my aching shaft back and forth where it was trapped between our bodies, digging into her soft belly.
She stared at me, a million questions in her eyes.
Work with me, sweetheart …
Jerking to attention, she groaned, throwing her head back and writhing in my arms.
If I hadn’t been in so much pain, I might have laughed. She was going all out, bouncing in my arms and squeaking with every faked thrust.
My God, she’s amazing.
Her head fell onto my shoulder, her voice a low whisper, “Not that I’m complaining—and it’s good to see you looking a little saner—but what’s the plan?” She finished on a loud moan, her hips jerking forward in a way that nearly tipped me over the edge.
Just bare inches separated me from burying myself in her lush body, the sliding friction driving me crazy.
I grunted, not having to fake the look of pain on my face. “You said they’d kill her. You were talking about Dez?” I murmured, nibbling at the edge of her mouth.
She nodded, her face scrunching up … as if she had an ice-cream headache.
Smothering the snort of astonishment at her obviously well thought out repertoire of facial expressions, and consoling myself with the fact I’d never seen this one before—ever—I sped up, rocking against her with a mounting urgency, keeping our bodies pressed flush, her back against the wall. To whoever was watching it would look like I was trying to pound my way through her, with no hesitation or hint of remorse.
As if that wasn’t what I actually wanted to do. Whatever it was they’d given us, it was taking every scrap of will power I possessed not to give in and ride the wave. The only thing stopping me? The only love I wanted from Frankie was of the no-bullshit kind. I needed to know that when she said those words—if she ever did—that it was all her talking.
Sucking in another breath through my mouth, I gritted my teeth against the pressure mounting in my balls. If she kept up her writhing, it would be just my luck to lose it all over her stomach. And wouldn’t that be fucking hilarious? Time to cut this charade short.
Letting out a howl, I jerked forward and slammed my lips against her throat, squeezing them tight against the urge to bite down. Blood flooded my mouth—mine, not hers—as my fangs sliced through my aching gums, biting into my lip.
She gasped, her breath puffing out in short, hot bursts against my ear, then she shuddered in my arms, and I knew it wasn’t faked.
Fuck. I nearly came then and there.
Shoving my throbbing cock away, I scooped her up and strode to the door. “We’ve done as you asked, let us out.” My voice was nearly unintelligible, my wolf too close to the surface and steadily pushing my humanity away with every second that ticked by.
The door slid open silently. Striding out into the corridor, I was immediately surrounded by four men, all armed to the teeth and looking mean as hell. They were grinning, shooting knowing looks and smirks at each other. Every single one checked out Frankie’s ass, openly leering like assholes.
Good. That meant I definitely wouldn’t mind killing them.
“You ready?” I whispered into her hair, anticipation heating my blood.
“Always,” she murmured, jumping down out of my arms and swinging at the first man.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Frankie
My fist connected with a square jaw, the force of the blow vibrating up my arm and making my teeth shake. Damn, where did Getts find this guy? I shook out my hand, flexing the creaking bone.
His eyes flicked down my body, pulled by my movement, and clearly enjoying the view from the grin on his face.
Checking me out. Asshole. Had he never seen a half-naked woman before? Probably not one trying to kick his ass. “Hey, asshole … seriously?”
He arched a single eyebrow, tilting his head. “Can’t blame a man for appreciating what’s on offer.” His hand went for his gun.
“Seriously, you’re fucked up.” I kicked out, sending the weapon flying and crashing into the wall.
Then he was on me, elbows cocked and big meaty fists jabbing out.
Ducking and swerving, I hit back, my blow sailing through the air where his head had just been.
His fist plowed into the side of my face. Pain radiated through my jaw, my ears ringing and eyes watering.
“See you on the other side, bitch,” he sang and dropped his guard, pulling back his arm to deliver the knock out blow.
Gritting my teeth, I slammed into him, pushing him back against the wall with a gut wrenching, breath stealing grunt.
Not giving him time to d
raw his back-up weapon, I crowded him with short, sharp jabs, blocking out everything but him and trusting Abel to take care of the rest.
But the space between my shoulder blades itched, vulnerability crawling all over me and poking holes in my concentration. Dammit. I had to finish this now.
“What’s on the other side?” I quipped, blocking his fist with my forearm and sliding to the side.
“Huh?” he grunted. Finally coming to his senses, he pulled his punch and made a grab for me.
Uh, nope. If he got me in a lock, it’d be game over. I took a guess, sizing him up. “Is it you? Are you planning on doing the nasty with me while I’m unconscious?” I swallowed back the nausea that boiled in my stomach, clamped my lips together against the bile that rocketed up through my throat at his answering self-satisfied smile. I swallowed, going for broke. “Oh, why didn’t you say so? If it’s you …” I fluttered my eyelashes at him and cocked a hip.
His hands landed on my bare skin and I nearly threw up on his shoes.
He blinked at me, then heat poured into his eyes as his hands walked down the side of my ribs, fingers spreading around to cup my breasts.
Men … they just couldn’t help it.
My knee slammed into his groin.
It was like time slowed down, his eyes widening, mouth gaping and saliva dripping, his back curling as he hunched over, his roar deafening and distinctly high pitched.
Locking my hands together, I slammed them down on the back of his neck.
He crumpled at my feet.
I swung around. No sign of Getts—figured he would run like a coward. I sucked in a deep breath at the sight that met me.
Abel circled the small corridor, his tall, muscular frame moving with hypnotic grace as he slashed out his extended claws with merciless precision. Blood and sweat coated his skin as his muscles flexed and bunched with every calculated blow. Chest heaving, he showed no sign of slowing down. One man laid at his feet, but two remained. As I watched, one fired at him, the bullet carving through the air. Abel spun, taking the bullet in the shoulder without so much as a flinch, his fist flying toward his attackers face.
I started forward.
Hands drag me back. I twisted, ready to fight.
A blade dug into my throat.
“Stop.”
Fuck. I’d underestimated Getts.
He directed his words over my shoulder, his breath sour against my ear. “It’s time you learned your place, dog. I’ll kill your mate—”
“Uh, I’m not his mate.” I was aiming for casual, but it came out a little high pitched.
At Getts’ command, Abel had frozen. The look on his face shouted shut the fuck up!
He didn’t move when the two men he’d been fighting grabbed his arms, yanking them behind his back with vindictive ruthlessness, smug grins on their faces.
I bared my teeth at them in a snarl, just in case they didn’t already know they were on my shit list. I’m not taking Abel down with me, if the Agency want to dispose of me, then I’d deal. But he lives.
Getts chuckled, the sound harsh and pointed. “The monitor I was watching told a very different story.” His free hand smoothed over my bare stomach, caressing me with a proprietary air. “It won’t be long until you are with child. You’re very valuable to me, Frankie. Please don’t underestimate the lengths I will go to, to ensure this experiment is a success.”
Abel snarled, making a pathetic mockery of my earlier attempt. He lunged forward, dragging his jailers inch by inch across the floor as his eyes flashed molten gold with pure rage.
Shit. He was going to get himself killed! I blocked out Getts’ hand, the sickening feeling of his touch dirtying my skin like a black invisible stain, seeping into my soul. “You were watching? Oooh, you dirty, kinky pervert!” It wasn’t my best retort, I wouldn’t even list it in my top ten, but I didn’t care so long as it did the job. More worrying was that my bottomless well of snark was rapidly running dry, my amazing wit and charisma dissolving under the strain of watching Abel take the fall—for me. I didn’t care what they had planned for me, I had accepted my fate a long time ago, but he deserved a chance at a full life. The ghost of a plan was forming—a vile, despicable, horribly painful plan—but it would do the job.
I could almost hear Getts grind his teeth, could feel the tension in his arm as he dug his fingers into my flesh. “Enough! It was like watching an animal rutting.”
“And you hate the fact that you liked it.” I wasn’t sure I knew what I was doing, but while his attention was on me, Abel had a chance.
All he had to do was leave me.
“I said, shut up!” Getts’ voice was shrill, his calm melting away to reveal agitated denial.
The sting as the blade slid into my skin took my breath away, driving his point home in a way that I had to admire. After all, I did like my knives, and it was my knife sticking me. Karma, huh? Steeling myself, I gave him another prod. “It won’t work, he fucked me but didn’t claim me.” Each word stuck in my throat as I forced them out, my eyes locked on Abel. He had to understand I didn’t mean them, that I was lying through my teeth. He had to know. “I mean nothing to him…” you mean everything, “…which means you’ve got nothing—no mated pair, no hold on him.” I’m setting you free. “Give up.” Fight.
Gold eyes faded to gray, clouded with an emotion so intense I couldn’t mistake it.
I love you too.
I leaned into the knife, the blade biting into the soft flesh.
“Stop!” Abel roared, his arm shooting out and reaching for me across the wide expanse of space.
I jerked back as though pulled on a string, the center of my chest aching. Giving Abel a what-the-fuck look, I rubbed at it until it eased.
Hand still shaking, Abel sucked in a deep breath. “Time’s up.”
Getts must have given him the same kind of look, because Abel’s face broke out into a wide grin, the kind a guy got when he was crowing over a big, fat, juicy secret.
The lights blinked out sinking us into pitch black.
A red beam flashed through the corridor, tracking over my face.
My heart flipped, then catapulted into my stomach.
“Say hello to my friends.” Abel’s voice was a deep growl, his eyes flashing gold and shining in the darkness.
A soft pop echoed in the eerie silence.
Then Abel was in front of me, steadying the knife as Getts fell to the floor with an almighty crash.
Emergency lights flashed on, casting an eerie haze over the scene.
Men surrounded Getts’ remaining bodyguards, dressed head to toe in black and wearing vests declaring them SWAT. One of them kicked the guy Abel had taken out, grunting when he didn’t twitch. “Still got it, I see.”
“Never lost it,” Abel shot back over his shoulder, but he didn’t turn around, never taking his eyes off of me for a second. “Does it hurt?” he murmured, his hand hovering near my throat, but not touching.
“Not really.” It stung like a motherfucker, but I wasn’t admitting it. Nope, not when it could have been a lot worse.
“Frankie—” Abel started.
“He’s dead.”
I followed the sound of the voice, laying eyes on Getts for the first time. I’d heard him fall, my mind had made the jump, but seeing it … then I knew for certain it was true. “Good.” It was all I could summon.
“Lose your shirt again?” One of the guys called out, while slapping cuffs on a miserable looking bodyguard.
I turned to Abel, eyeing him with a speculative gleam. “Do you make a habit of bumping into SWAT guys without a shirt?”
The guy that had been seeing to Getts rose to his feet and slapped Abel on the shoulder. “When he was on the team we used to place a bet on how long he could keep it on.” Seeing the pained glare in Abel’s eyes, he chuckled. “Abe, you can’t bullshit …”
“…A bullshitter,” Abel finished, the glare morphing into a grin as he returned the back slap. “Good to see you,
Neil.”
“Shucks, it’s been like, what, a couple of days? You missed me?” Neil clutched his chest, faking a love struck swoon.
“Feels like longer.”
My eyes yo-yoed between the two men. Abe? And he used to be SWAT?
Neil looked around, his demeanor hardening until all trace of humor was wiped away. “I hear you. We crashed the mainframe, wiped it clean like you asked. Men are evacuating the lower level as we speak.” He touched his ear, listening intently for a moment. “There’s children down here, for Christ’s sake! Had to kill a woman to get to them, a Ms. Smith, the guys are reporting? What the hell is this place?”
“Fucked up.” I spoke for the first time, my voice sounding a little croaky, but thank God, it didn’t wobble.
Neil glanced at me, then averted his eyes. “Fucking agreed, Ma’am.” He coughed, smoothing a hand over his chin. “Someone else want to get naked?” The guys blinked at him. With a big, put-upon sigh, he shrugged out of his bullet proof vest and tugged off his T-shirt, thrusting it toward me with his eyes pointed at the ceiling. “Abe here is shielding you, but you might want to put this on.”
I glanced down at myself, fire heating my cheeks. My top that had been shredded before the fight, now hung in tatters.
Jaw clenched, Abel grabbed the T-shirt and shoved it over my head, bundling me into it as if I were a small child.
“Wait!” My voice was muffled by the soft cotton. My head popped out. “What about Dez? Whoever Getts had there will be waiting for a call. We have to—”
“Easy, Frankie. I sent two of the team to your apartment.” Abel glanced at Neil, who nodded. “They’ve eliminated the target.” His arm snaked around my waist, securing me in place as he stole the breath from my lips with a long, lingering kiss that carried a promise of more to come.
Wolf whistles pierced my ears, along with a few colorful curses.
“What? Are they five years old?” I muttered, but I didn’t pull away. I was perfectly happy right here.
“Time to move out!” Neil called, a shit-eating grin on his face as he eyed the pair of us. “It’s Frankie, right?”
