On cue, a high-powered rifle shot echoed across the meadow. Yuri gave a soft chuckle, raising his eyebrows arrogantly. “I don’t think we will be interrupted. You didn’t expect me to come unprepared, did you?”
Marie couldn’t hide the trembling of her body. She jerked involuntarily when another blast shattered the silence. Yuri turned his head as if he were listening to the resulting silence. Even the birds had stopped singing. With a wolfish smile, he turned back to Marie, marginally relaxing the grip on his gun. “And now I know we won’t be interrupted. My men are good. Two shots, two kills. Which of your cowboys will you miss the most, little one?”
Tears streamed down Marie’s face. She couldn’t stop them. She didn’t try to. She knew the tears made her look vulnerable, when in fact her anger was boiling up to the point she had no fear. She would attack Yuri at the first opportunity and to hell with the consequences. She wanted to hurt the bastard. She wanted to make him pay. “You didn’t have to kill them, you son of a bitch.”
Yuri looked impatient. “Don’t be an idiot. Of course I had to kill them. And I am on a tight schedule here. You have something to tell me? Something this change in your ideology has prompted you to share with me?”
“What if I’ve changed my mind?” Marie asked defiantly. “I was willing to bargain with you, so I could have a life. Now you’ve taken too much from me, Yuri.” His pale face reddened and his arctic cold eyes took on a glacial shade of blue. He reminded her of a cobra, full of death and ready to strike at any second.
“You know who I am, Marie. You know what I am capable of. You will talk to me. We can do it easy. Or difficult. I think you will much prefer easy.”
“I prefer you to drop dead.”
Yuri backhanded Marie so hard, her head bounced off the rough boards of the wall behind her. For a few moments, she saw stars and tasted blood inside her mouth. Good. His violence kept her anger elevated higher than her fear of him. She needed to stay focused and watch for an opportunity to attack him. Fear was an emotion that froze action. Anger released the need to react. Marie needed that fury to build until she had no fear of death. It would be the only way to fight the Russian.
“Last chance, Marie. What are you going to tell me about Mufid Elashi?”
Marie glanced around the barn. Damn Jack’s obsessive compulsion to keep everything in its place. There wasn’t anything she could use as a weapon. Yuri watched her with hooded eyes, obviously enjoying her realization that this was the end. She would die right here.
He chuckled. “Come now, Marie. Don’t make this painful for yourself. You tell me what I want to know, and I will make sure your death is easy. I will protect you from Sergey and Viktor. A good bargain, don’t you think?”
Still, Marie defied him. She would never tell him what he wanted to know. Not now.
With the speed of a cat, Yuri lashed out, throwing a punch to Marie’s stomach. She stumbled against the wall, sliding down the unfinished boards. Painful splinters imbedded themselves in her skin through the soft material of her shirt as she sunk to the floor, trying to draw air into her lungs. She wasn’t a wuss, but Yuri was unbelievably strong. Another punch like that, and he’d rupture something. She needed to come up with a plan to take him out now.
Yuri shook his head at her stubbornness. “Have it your way.” He lowered the gun to point at Marie’s stomach. “This is a painful way to die. You know that, of course. But since you will not talk to me…”
He got no further with his threat. The sound of pounding hooves distracted both Yuri and Marie as Ranger came galloping through the backside of the barn with his usual enthusiasm. She’d forgotten that Jack locked the outer corral. When the horse bolted, he ran through the small holding corral and into the large fenced in area, giving him access to the back of the barn. It was Ranger’s usual shenanigan to make several loops around the outer corral, blowing off energy before allowing himself to be settled for the night.
Startled that the horse was nearly upon him, Yuri threw his hands up to ward off the oncoming collision. He barked a sharp order in Russian, flailing his hands in a flapping manner as if shooing off a bird.
Marie watched as Ranger nearly skidded to a stop, rearing up in alarm when he saw the quick movement in front of him and the loud voiced stranger blocking his path. Panicked now, his hooves came down on the top of Yuri’s head. The sound was like a ripe watermelon being thumped hard. Yuri’s fingers clenched reflexively, discharging the pistol into the wall somewhere above Marie’s head.
The loud report of the gun inside the building spooked Ranger even further. He attacked the source of his fear, continuing to bring his hooves down on the offending object in front of him. Yuri lay still, even while the horse’s hooves cut his skin to shreds. He was incapable of movement. His neck had been broken with the first strike of Ranger’s hooves.
Marie glanced around her. She needed to calm the stallion enough so she could get him out of the barn before Yuri’s two thugs showed up. She wouldn’t have a chance with them once they found her, but if she could ride Ranger into the hills, it was a safe bet she could escape. No other horse on the farm could keep up with him when he wanted to run.
Marie’s training kept her from giving in, but it didn’t stop her heart from breaking. How could she live without Jack and Reno now that she felt like she truly belonged somewhere? How was it possible to love two men equally? She didn’t know. She only knew that she did, and now they had been taken from her, leaving a hole where her heart should be. A fresh set of tears tracked down her cheeks. She would make Viktor and Sergey pay with their lives.
A sharp whistle halted Ranger’s fury. The stallion backed up, quivering, listening for the distant sound again. When he heard it the second time, he pounded out of the barn, running over the top of Yuri’s broken body in his haste to exit through the front doors.
Marie recognized the whistle, too. It was Jack. She scrambled to mount Myst, ignoring the pain in her stomach from Yuri’s unexpected punch. Kicking her heels gently against the horse, she let Myst follow Ranger. At the gate, she leaned down from the horse’s back to unhook the single strand of rope Jack had tossed over the post to lock the entry. Before the gate swung fully open, Ranger galloped through the opening, heading into a grove of pine on the south side of the ranch.
Could it be possible the guys survived?
She prayed they had.
Racing along after Ranger, she practically fell off the horse when she saw Jack standing in the cover of a circle of pines with a rifle in his hands. Sprawled on the ground at his feet lay one of the Russians. The man had a gunshot wound to his leg. He’d live, but he wasn’t going to be walking for a while. Someone had tied a tourniquet around the wound to slow the bleeding. Still, Jack wasn’t taking any chances from the looks of it.
Dropping out of the saddle, Marie hit the ground running, throwing herself at Jack. She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tight for a minute, fighting the urge to laugh and weep at the same time. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Jack. Where’s Reno?”
“He’s okay.” Jack held her tight with one arm while keeping the gun trained on the man at his feet. “What about Yuri?” He risked looking at her, his eyes flaring with anger when he saw the bruise on her face and blood at the corner of her mouth.
“He’s dead.”
Jack’s arm tightened, drawing her closer. “I heard the shot.” His voice sounded huskier than normal. “Oh, God, I thought I was too late to help you.” He dropped his face to her head planting a kiss on her hair, holding his mouth against her for a moment. Marie felt him tremble and she held him a little tighter.
“The shot you heard was from Yuri’s gun.” Marie looked up into Jack’s eyes, trying to reassure him she was fine. “He spooked Ranger. The horse reared up bringing his hooves down on the top of Yuri’s head. I think he must have died at the first hit, but he was holding a gun on me. When Ranger’s hooves came down, he fell and the gun went off. That sent Ranger into a fury, he
kept stomping him over and over.”
“Shhh.” Jack comforted her, and then stiffened when he heard a sound in the underbrush. He shoved Marie behind him, leveling the gun in the direction of the noise.
Reno burst into the clearing with sweat pouring from his long run. “Where’s Marie? I stopped in the barn and Yuri’s dead. He’s shredded. Honest to God, I almost lost it. There’s blood everywhere and no sign…”
Marie rushed to him, wrapping her arms around him as he crushed her against his chest. She could feel his heart still racing. “Oh, girl,” he groaned, pulling her face up, so he could look at her. “You okay?”
Marie nodded, laying her head back against his chest, clinging to him like she might never let him go again.
“Where’s the other one?” Jack threw a hard look at his brother as if to make sure he was truly okay.
“Didn’t make it.” Reno glanced down at the Russian on the ground. “Looks like you’re the lone survivor, comrade.”
The wounded man shot Reno an insolent smile. “I’m not your comrade, cowboy.”
“Still, you’re going to talk to us like we’re old friends, Viktor.”
The Russian’s eyes widened at the mention of his name. “I know nothing. You are American cops. You have to give me my rights. I want a lawyer.”
Reno chuckled. “Oh, yes, Sergey lived long enough to tell me his name. And yours.”
With a gentle push, Reno moved Marie back from his embrace so that he could squat down to look at the tourniquet on the Russian’s leg. “Looks like you’ve lost a lot of blood. You need to be taken to a hospital. Probably need to be flown out pretty quickly if you want to have a chance of making it.”
“I know nothing,” Viktor insisted, squirming around on the ground to get distance from Reno.
Reno leaned over to put his hands on the knot of the tourniquet. “Of course, if I loosen this just a little…”
“No!” Viktor yelled, slapping his hands over the wound and pushing himself even further away. “I will tell you what I know. What does it matter, anyway? Yuri can’t kill me from hell.”
Jack moved closer, cradling the rifle in his arms as he leaned over to hear Viktor’s words. Reno sat back on his heels, giving the man some space. Marie held her breath, waiting for what she would hear.
The Russian wearily dropped his head back against the pine needles. “It was your handler, Marie Maxwell. He sold you out.”
Marie stepped over to the man, steadying herself by putting a hand on Reno’s shoulder. “I don’t believe you. Xavier would never sell out. He wanted a higher political position. He worked hard to have a perfect track record.”
“He had no choice,” the Russian explained, looking at her through half closed eyes. “Yuri found out about his wife. She was Russian. Born here in America, but her parents were KGB. They were part of a deep cover operation to put agents in foreign countries as sleepers until they were needed. I doubt she knew about them herself.”
“That would have showed up when he was vetted for his job at GSA. He would have never been allowed to run the organization with that sort of liability,” Marie protested.
Viktor shook his head back and forth against the ground. “That’s what Yuri did for him. He wiped the records clean in Russia and America. He was much more powerful than anyone knew. Xavier didn’t ask for this favor. Yuri did it to have control over him. Once the files had been altered, Xavier had to keep quiet. Yuri made sure that Xavier would look guilty no matter how it went down. He would have been prosecuted along with his wife and her family. Do you see what I’m saying?”
“But why would Xavier set me up in Paris to try and capture Yuri? That makes no sense.”
The Russian’s eyes snapped open and he glared at Marie. “Do you still not understand? Your uncle wanted Yuri prosecuted and he set Xavier up at the GSA to take care of it. Xavier needed someone he could control. Someone that would be loyal and report back only to him, stretching the law if necessary. But someone who was above reproach with the President of the United States.”
“So he used me.”
“If your President had known everything Yuri had on his cabinet members, I doubt he would have been so eager to capture him. But now it is over, da? I can tell you nothing more. Xavier Jenson was a pawn to Yuri. All of us were pawns to be used in his global game of chess.”
“But why did he kill Xavier? Couldn’t he have used him in a higher position? And why would he try to kill me?” Marie persisted.
The Russian’s voice was growing weaker. “With you and Xavier dead, another investigation wouldn’t be happening soon. That would give Yuri time to put pressure on the President and convince him that if he wanted to keep the rest of his family safe, he would let matters drop. And if he still was convinced he wanted to pursue the matter, Yuri was prepared to start leaking secrets that would shake the world with their global implications. It was all a game to him. Nothing more. It was a power play.”
Marie looked at Jack with pain filled eyes. “I really thought Xavier and I had a true friendship. I don’t understand why he did this to me.”
“I don’t think he could stop it,” Jack said in his defense. “Once his path crossed with Yuri’s, the Russian owned his soul. I think Xavier tried to do some damage control, Marie. You must have been a damn good friend because he sent me to protect you.”
Marie dropped her gaze from Jack, squeezing Reno’s shoulder as she turned away. “Viktor needs a doctor. I’ll get the jeep.”
Chapter Ten
“Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President.” Jack closed his cell phone disconnecting the call from Washington, D.C. “The President wants me to convey his appreciation.”
“Ummmm, nice,” Reno answered around the kiss he planted on Marie.
“Is that nice to the President? Or nice kiss?”
“Both.” Reno broke away from Marie with a grin. “So, what are we going to do with ourselves for the next few days till we get reassigned?”
Marie stared past Reno into Jack’s solemn blue eyes. He was pretending her answer didn’t matter, but she knew differently. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you guys about that.”
Jack flexed his shoulders and Marie knew he was trying to loosen the kink he always got when he tensed up.
Taking Reno’s hand in her own, Marie pulled him over to where Jack stood. “Group hug?”
The two men obliged, holding her sandwiched between them with a pressure that might be considered desperate.
“I asked for reassignment in the States,” Marie said. “I’m going to be working with your team, Jack.”
She felt him shift. “The President didn’t say anything about that.”
Marie looked up with a smile. “That’s because I asked him not to say anything until I talked to you.”
Jack blinked rapidly a couple of times, seemingly at a loss for words. He ran his fingers through Marie’s hair and waited for her to explain.
“I want to stay with you.” Marie tiptoed up to brush a kiss across his lips. “You and Reno.”
Jack shot Reno a look over Marie’s head before he crushed her against his chest, holding her like he might never let her go. “Damn, baby, you just made me a happy man.”
“How happy?” Marie shot a mischievous wink at Reno.
Jack’s chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Do you want me to show you?”
“Actions do speak louder than words,” Marie reminded him.
Without another word, Jack picked Marie up, heading up the stairs with her. “You coming, Reno?”
He didn’t have to ask twice. Reno was right on their heels.
Jack took Marie into his room, dropping her gently into the center of the bed. “Showtime,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt.
Reno was already getting undressed. Neither man seemed in the mood to take it slow as they dropped their clothes and joined Marie on the bed.
A light rain began to fall against the tin roof, whispering out a lazy beat to accompany the distant th
under echoing over the valley. Marie was aware of the rain, of the breathing of the two men as they lowered their faces to her skin, each choosing an area of her body to lavish individual attention to.
Jack chose her breasts this time. His mouth clamped over a nipple and he sucked hard, nipping her with his teeth until she squirmed, opening her legs wide for Reno’s mouth to fasten over her clit. Like Jack, he spared her no sensation. His mouth was relentless as he sucked firmly, scraping his tongue back and forth over the inflamed nub until she whimpered.
Marie gave a breathless sob, bucking upward into the two men who were now using their hands to gentle her as their mouths teased and tortured her into a climax.
“Aaaaaa’aaaaa.”
“Ride it out, baby,” Reno whispered. His tongue found her inner lips, pushing through till he could lap her cream as she gushed from the sensation of their mouths pleasuring her simultaneously.
Jack barely gave her time to catch her breath before he got on his knees, straddling her face. Reno sat up in bed between her legs, pulling her over his lap until his cock hovered at her pussy while Jack waited at her lips.
Marie put her fingers around Jack’s large cock, pulling it forward into her mouth as Reno changed game plans and shot his erection into the tight confines of her ass, burying himself with a low groan that elicited spasm contractions from Marie’s inner muscles.
She clamped down on Jack’s penis, driving him into the back of her throat until she swallowed the large head, working her throat muscles around him like swallowing a glass of cool lemonade on a hot summer day.
“Fuck, Marie,” Jack groaned. He held back, letting her set the tempo to match the sensation Reno provided in her ass.
Aching with the burning pleasure Reno’s cock produced, she sucked at Jack with an intensity that made him twitch. It wouldn’t be long. She could tell he caved into the feeling of her tongue licking the precum off his erection. Unrelenting, her fingers stroked and lightly squeezed his balls until she knew he was in physical pain with the need to release.
A Pair of Jacks (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 8
