The little handle turned and the lid opened. There lay a gleaming pistol and a magazine of bullets. I took a deep breath and picked them up, slid the magazine in. Everything clicked together so easily. I’d never fired a gun but there were a shitload of bullets. Maybe I should’ve counted them, but I wasn’t game to try removing the magazine, sure that something would fall apart.
This must be the safety. I flicked the switch on then off again. Point and pull the trigger. Easy. And who was I going to shoot?
I ran back to the foyer, halting the other side of the wall from where Chris and Andreas were. They were silent.
Then Andreas spoke. “On the other hand, I’d rather leave Australia than see you killed trying to get women back for a slave trafficker.”
I peeked around the corner and saw Chris nodding, stern look to his face like Andreas had just delivered the commandments in stone.
What did I want? With one hand hanging at my side and the heaviness of the gun dragging it down, I rubbed the heel of my other hand into my forehead. Think.
Run while they’re distracted? See if I can get out via the deck, if they left it unlocked? Unlikely but possible.
Only Scrim said he was tracking the women. If he caught them, and it seemed possible…he might kill them? Maybe if they struggled? Maybe if they ran when told to stop? I could see Zoe doing just that. I wasn’t sure of the reasons that might make him do it, but he might.
Fuck. I banged my hand into my forehead.
I didn’t want her to die. I wanted…I wanted to send Chris to go fetch her back. If he was there, he could help her.
“I am so fucked,” I whispered.
What if she might have truly gotten away? What if I was the cause of her being caught again? What if she got herself killed? I couldn’t see Zoe giving up again easily. If Scrim caught her, she might be a mouse, or she might be a screaming person he’d have to drag back here. Kicking and screaming and spitting.
I could see it, and the bullet in her head. The blood. Or maybe he’d just strangle her, that’d be quieter.
“He doesn’t want me to come, does he?” Andreas again.
“No. And how the fuck would that help us anyway? You need to stay here with Kat.”
Shit. I leaned on the wall, feeling like I needed an extra brain to sort this out. My head ached. What if I just went and shot everybody? Like in Resident Evil, I could be the badass chick who mows down her enemies with dead-accurate shots.
Fuck yeah.
I hefted the gun, reading the etched writing but not really seeing past the blur in my eyes.
I’d rather toss away the slim chance of her freedom and beg Chris to get her back. Though I knew, and couldn’t deny, that I also wanted her in my arms, because, just plain because, I did.
“Decided?” Andreas murmured.
But I didn’t want Chris to die either, and I trusted Scrim as far as I could toss a feather.
With the gun behind my back, I squeezed around the corner, pivoting slowly around the door frame on my shoulders.
“You okay, Kat?” Andreas swung as if to see me better.
“I –”
In one stride, Chris had me against the wall. Arm like steel across my neck, his body pinning me, the gun and my hand holding it fastened to the wall as if stapled there by his grip. I was forced up on tippy toes, feeling the sting where the ring pierced me.
His face was an inch away and his eyes dissected me, separating thought and mind so the words on my tongue vanished and my will fell away to nothing.
I blinked, breath caught in my throat.
“What are you doing, little Kat?”
That I could answer. “Giving you something, Sir. To help you.” I gulped.
“The pistol?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“You want me to go search for Zoe?”
Did I? Wrong or right, I did. “Yes, Sir.”
Then he stepped away and with relief I could reassemble some of my mind, though most of me was in tatters. I’d never seen him as my Sir. No one had been since him. Yet then, for that moment, he had been. I swayed a little, needing time, space, so I could rescue myself, let alone Zoe. If anyone deserved my submission it was Andreas. I didn’t need Chris.
But, he’d stepped away? When I had a gun? I’d been looking at his chest and I marshaled the courage to stare at him.
“Then do it, now. Give me the gun.” He surveyed my face, concentrating, as if seeing me for the first time.
What big blue eyes you have, Sir.
I’d always been able to force myself to meet his eyes in any emergency. Not now. My gaze slid away like glass slipping on ice.
I was on the edge of a precipice, teetering, with the clouds blowing past. If he blew on me, I’d fall. I shuddered. Fuck.
I cleared my throat and went to hand him the gun.
“No.” His hand was on me again, slowly he raked his fingers upward through the nape of my hair and he tilted my head back, tightening the grip as he twisted his fingers. Delicious force. I groaned. My eyelids fluttered. My clit throbbed, in time with my heartbeat, reminding me I had a part of him in me, always.
“Look at me, Kat.”
I did, for all of two seconds, before the glass on ice effect hit me again. I wavered.
“No. Look at me. You could have tried to use this to shoot us, couldn’t you? To get free. But you didn’t.”
“Yes,” I whispered, squirming my already sore butt against the wall. I was ashamed that he’d figured that out. Obvious though. Looking at him staring back at me was so uncomfortable, and yet, he was so there, so determined to make me see him. Nervous, I swallowed.
Away. Need to get away, remember?
His hand moved a little more. Pain twisted in. “Yes, I see you too, Kat.”
Then he released my hair, and slipped his hand a little lower, to my neck, and he stroked me there for a moment before he drew me to him and wrapped his arms about me, surrounding me with him.
I…let myself go. For the first time ever, I sank into him, his scent, the feel of his muscles moving against me, the sound of his voice at my ear and of his heart thudding.
“Andreas told me I should be gentler with you. But you only need a little of that, don’t you, Kat? What you really need is me, as I am – a big bad sadist.
“On a day when you’re sad, and a man who loved you would bring you flowers, I’ll give you pain if that’s what you need. Fuck flowers. But if instead of pain you need the head of the person who caused your sadness, I’ll do that for you too. I’ll bring you their fucking head.”
I couldn’t stop listening as his words rumbled out.
“They say if you love someone, you let them go free. Understand this. I’m not letting you go, Kat, not in a million, million years, because what I have for you isn’t love, it’s obsession.
“Now I want you to tell me. What are you?”
His murmur had stolen in and invested some part of me. My heart it seemed, from the warmth there. And yes, I knew this wasn’t exactly love from me either. I had simply done what he’d said – I’d finally comprehended what I was.
Getting away meant leaving him behind, and if what I needed was him?
The price for having him was terrifying. For it was me.
But nothing held me back anymore. I was prepared to pay.
My pulse beat so loud it filled my head; my fingers trembled against his shirt feeling his body beneath. How solid he was when I was fragile. I was warm, safe. I buried my nose in his shoulder, inhaled. The world disassociated and floated.
He released me, and I slipped away and went to my knees. “I am yours, Sir.” Then I put the gun down and my palms to the floor and I bowed my head, amazed at the liberating feeling that flooded me, washing away my resentment and anger. “I am yours,” I repeated softly, because the words seemed to work magic.
He went to one knee before me. “I know. You are mine.”
I understood. I’d lost a part of myself yet I’d gained something also. Him.
I raised my head, surprised at the tears in my eyes. “Zoe?”
He smiled. “You want her? I’ll get her for you.”
My world had turned upside down. Now, I was scared that he wouldn’t come back. I closed my eyes trying to sort this out. I was right though. This was right. I needed him. I was like a jigsaw that had found the last piece.
I sighed and resurrected my tougher self, sat back on my heels. I nodded. “Thank you, Sir.” I couldn’t stop saying what came next. “Please, come back.”
I was such a wuss.
“I will.”
Chapter 31
Chris
Please come back.
That she cared enough to say that…I was still in shock.
I readjusted my hands where they rested on my knee, wishing I could instruct her to do something deeply kinky just so I could see her finally obey me without question.
There was triumph for me in what she’d done as well as a very simple and pure pleasure. I’d wanted her submission for so long. I’d had subs spout versions of the same words many times but hearing it from Kat, who’d fought so hard against it – the ultimate thrill and power rush and satisfaction.
I couldn’t resist cupping her face in my palm. When she leaned her cheek into my hand, an unfamiliar ache spread in my chest.
What a time for this to happen. I needed to move my ass or Scrim would leave without me.
“May I give you the gun, Sir?”
It lay next to her hand on the timber floor. Innocuous metal. Potential violence. I wasn’t a weapons man unless it had a sharp edge or was my own body.
“Yes.”
She took it up in both hands and offered it to me with the pistol laid across them. An unusual way to do it, as if this meant more to her than merely a weapon. As if this were her submission made solid.
“Thank you.” Keeping hold of one of her hands, I checked the safety was on then tucked it into the back of my jeans. I looked up and found Andreas where he was propping up a wall. “Grab me a T-shirt?”
“Sure.”
Once he was gone, I could pay attention to Kat again.
Her mouth pursed and she wriggled and tried to disengage her hand from mine.
“No. Do not.” I hung on to her fingers, pleased when she instantly relaxed.
“Sorry, Sir. Umm.” Kat ducked her head, then peered up at me, blinking. She wiped her eyes.
The ache in my chest intensified. This had struck her as deeply as it had me.
Formal words seemed right. “I accept your submission, Kat, and I thank you. But there’s something I need to know. Where did this weapon come from?” There so many possibilities that could be disasters in the waiting.
The wavering in the line of her mouth said she was worried.
“Kat ?”
“Zoe. I don’t know how she found out but she told me it was in a safe in your bedside drawers, and she gave me the combination. She seemed to be frightened that she even knew about it.”
“I understand how difficult that must have been to say. Thank you for telling me.”
Then I kissed her hard, only pulling away when Andreas jogged back into the room.
He threw me the shirt and I stood to yank it on.
The fast stomp of boots on the steps forewarned us. One of Scrim’s men poked his head in the door and grinned. “Scrim says to get your ass in gear! You’re got one minute.” He chuckled. “Last guy who fucked up a shipment is six feet under, and his girlfriend paid too. She was fucking hot.”
“I’ll be there.” Asswipe. I stared him down until he left, then I turned back to Andreas. “Right. Gotta go. Be careful. Keep our girl safe.” I flashed Kat a dark smile.
“You too!” Andreas shouted as I hit the stairs, going down them three, four at a time. “Don’t come back with any fucking holes in you!”
The first 4WD was edging through the gate already. I jogged up to the second. When the rear side door opened and Scrim hollered, I climbed in the back.
Once inside, the driver gunned the engine and we surged forward.
“Made it, did ya.” It wasn’t a question. Scrim leaned in and put a pistol on my lap. “Beretta. Silenced so it won’t be as accurate at a distance, but beggars aren’t choosers. It’ll do the job. Like I said to the rest of these shit kickers, don’t shoot any of these girls lest you have to. They’re valuable.”
“Right.” Nice to know. Any man who tried shooting Zoe was going to need to duck fucking fast.
“And here’s the piece de resistance. Night vision glasses.”
He set to pointing out all the features. The man was efficient. Knew his job. Once he’d helped me get them on my forehead, Scrim fell silent.
Half crescent of a moon up there. Not a lot of light but some. Moonlight bathed the interior of the vehicle in light silvery greys whenever the tree cover overhead broke. Scrim’s hard-edged face turned even uglier, and the glimpses I had of the men in the front looked just as mean. This could’ve easily been a platoon of soldiers going out on night patrol.
This was where my obsession had brought me – out at night hunting women. It wasn’t something I’d ever brag to Mum about. She’d slap me into next week if she knew.
Where were we going? I needed more info and so far Scrim hadn’t coughed up much. Most importantly, who did he think was the traitor?
The man in the passenger seat up front held a smartphone with a beeping app. “Lost them somehow,” he grumbled.
“Give it here, Pieter.” Scrim leaned forward and put his hand between the seats. “You South Africans probably only just got your spears upgraded to muskets.”
“Kak.” Pieter smacked the phone into Scrim’s palm. Was that a South African swear word?
“Ahh. Yeah, you got the brightness turned up too fuckin high. Easily fixed.” He nudged me. “You’d think a guy who’s killed a few hundred terror-bloody-ists could use a phone.”
Was he trying to taunt Pieter?
“Look at that. It’s got satellite GPS positioning on their collars.” Obviously bragging, Scrim showed off the screen. It was multi-colored and had flashing red dots alongside what seemed a river. “All four of them are showing. They’re going between the river and the road. Sensible way to find your way to the bridge. Mating season’s gone so the crocs will be slow. What they don’t know is…” He tapped the map. “There’s a new little branch of the river that they’re running toward. We can trap them in there. No fucking worries.”
Pieter spoke without turning. “Won’t the ladies just go across the little bit of water?”
His South African accent was close to a Kiwi one but different enough to sound odd. Pieter looked bigger in here than I remembered. Incredible Hulk territory. The big ones tended to go down hard when you kicked them but this guy was ex-military from what Scrim hinted. Maybe I should’ve brought some kryptonite?
“Ladies. Fuck. Don’t think I’d call them that anymore, dude. Yeah, they might if we don’t get there in time. But there’s a couple more creeks that don’t show on the map. Last wet season ripped some new holes in the riverbank. All the maps are out of date. This’ll be like catching fish in a barrel.”
“Isn’t that shooting fish in a barrel?” piped up the guy driving. He had long blond hair that whipped back in the breeze from his open window – like some misplaced hippie.
“Whatever,” Scrim chuckled. He typed into the smartphone. “Okay, I got Matt and Red to stop at the right place and we’ll catch up and follow them into the bush. If you bag yourself a girl, use your duct tape and zip ties. Here, Chris.” He dumped a bag on the seat between us. “Take some. No bagging only this Zoe, though. You got to help us with them all.”
“Sure.” I nodded, easier to agree than argue. “Understood.”
The euphoria from Kat’s submission had drained away and been replaced by stomach-tightening apprehension. I needed to be focused anyway. Anything could happen. I fingered the c
lick-on key chain light attached to the set of keys in my jeans pocket. Anyone wearing night vision goggles could be incapacitated by a bright flash…unless they had a cut-out filter. Worth keeping in mind.
Less than a minute later we pulled up behind the first car. No one was left inside but Scrim had been getting updates via text. When we entered the scrub off to the side, Scrim stuck with me and waved Pieter and the blond driver off to the right.
This situation was surreal. Zoe would be scared into next week. Where she found the courage to do this I couldn’t imagine. The woman had been barely able to function around Scrim as it was. She must know he might do something terrible to her if he caught her. I vowed then and there to keep her safe. I already had vowed that to Kat, in a way, but now, yeah, it was way more personal. Kat was a tough lady. I knew she could take me kidnapping her. Zoe looked as fragile as a lacewing bug.
Pieter and the driver had a second smartphone that Scrim had downloaded the app onto.
“Keep an eye out and text me if you need to,” he instructed them. After waiting for the distance between us and them to lengthen, he started talking. “Keep up with me. I want you covering my back. Pieter got into Australia illegally because of his dear little criminal past barring him from entering the country. He’s ex-military from the South African armed forces and he’s my best candidate for the man who helped them escape.”
With night vision, navigating under the trees was simple. These things weren’t some cereal packet variety – they distinguished between leaves and earth and whatever else was around extremely well. Scrim and my own body stood out like a green Christmas tree with lights. A few times I glimpsed the other men off to the right, slinking through the forest.
“What if you’re wrong? Maybe the women managed this all on their own?”
“Maybe.”
The crunch of leaves underfoot seemed loud compared to the smaller noises of the night animals and the clicking and chirruping of insects. I could almost smell the river nearby, the air was that thick with moisture.
“But I don’t think so, and Pieter is sweet on one of the girls. Jazmine. Could be one of the others but my gut says it’s him.”
Make me Yours Evermore Page 24
