Circle of Desire

by Carla Swafford

  The rumble from his chest alerted her and when she looked up, he burst out laughing. So handsome and masculine, he almost hurt her eyes looking at him. He’d finally loosened up enough to let the submachine gun hang from its sling and held it to his side with one hand.

  She smiled with him. Even during their days and nights of making love he’d never appeared so relaxed as he did now.

  Just like a man. He enjoyed having the odds stacked against him.

  He wiped at the corners of his eyes. “You’re definitely a city girl.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  She shifted, bringing her other butt cheek to rest on the rock beneath her as she rummaged through the backpack looking for a way to protect her heels. All she needed was a stick-on bandage or socks. Socks would be lovely.

  Facedown in the pack, she felt something soft brush her arm. She scrambled off the rock, pulling her knife and looked around. A white ball rolled to a stop a couple feet from where she’d sat seconds ago.

  “Socks!” She held them up and grinned, feeling giddy.

  Collin’s laughter didn’t bother her. She had socks! She snatched them from the ground and at the same time kicked off her shoes. The thick material felt so wonderful against her mistreated feet.

  “We need to get going. It’s not much further,” Collin said.

  “Not much further to where? Tell me again, why in the hell did we go to a cabin in the woods instead of that nice protected building you have?” she asked more to aggravate, knowing he wouldn’t answer. Then she noticed the little silver box in his hand. “Why in the bloody hell didn’t you tell me you had a compass?”

  “You never asked.” He stood and picked up his backpack and adjusted his hold on the MP5.

  “I never . . .” She closed her eyes and inhaled. Such a man! When she opened them, he was several feet away. “I expect an answer this time. Where are we going?”

  That felt more important at this juncture. Get out of the sticky situation first and then insist on all of the answers later.

  With efficient movements, she sheathed her knife as she slipped into her shoes, cringing a little from the backs touching her heels even with thick socks.

  “It’ll take about a half-hour hike and we should come across a relatively flat field,” he said as his eyes scanned the area.

  “And? What happens then? A helicopter picks us up?” Sure she sounded hopeful, but she didn’t really feel that way. Hope wasn’t in her vocabulary after hiking and hiding in the forest since dawn.

  “Yes.” He kept walking.

  She glared at him as she hesitated beneath a massive hickory tree. Had he said what she thought he had? He knew that a helicopter would be picking them up? And he hadn’t felt a need to tell her earlier? Several quiet strides brought her up against his back to press her knife to his kidney.

  “I think you better stop and explain.”

  He slowed his steps. “Olivia, get that pig-sticker away from me.”

  His no-nonsense voice made her consider dropping the knife. Just then the whoop-whooping of a helicopter overhead changed her mind. For emphasis, she jabbed the tip, most likely breaking a little skin. Poor baby.

  “If you don’t want us to miss your ride, you better start talking.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” he muttered.

  He turned, his foot kicking at her feet as she jumped out of the way. At the same time, his hand sliced through the air, trying to knock the knife from her hand. He miscalculated and she acted instinctively, rolling her wrist away.

  Blood quickly covered his sleeve. “Fuck! You cut me!”

  “You deserve it, asshole!” She glared back at him. God! She hoped she hadn’t cut him too deep.

  Before she could step away, he took the knife from her, throwing it into the tall grass and grabbed her shoulders as he put them nose to nose.

  “I’m trying to save us.”

  He looked at her, eyes narrowing as his forehead creased in a frown. Then he kissed her, a tongue-possessing, soul-searching, mind-blowing kiss.

  Her heart quit beating. The world stopped spinning. Falling in love with him was the most dangerous thing she’d ever done. Once they returned to civilization, she needed to escape. Better to disappoint him now instead of later.

  After he released her, she didn’t try to make him answer her or trip him in any way. They ran for the helicopter as its big blades continued to spin. Once on board, Collin shook his fist thumb up and the big hunk of metal took off. When she looked at the clearing below, she saw about a dozen camo-wearing men emerged from the tree line, firing at them. The pinging of metal hitting metal had her scooting to the middle.

  Talk about a close call. She closed her eyes for a moment, head resting back. Numb and tired beyond reason, she turned to stare at the man sitting across from her as he chatted with the OS operatives manning their escape.

  He’d never answered her question of why they had stayed in the Smoky Mountains. She’d become so involved in touching him, making love, and seeing what would come of their time together, she’d completely forgotten her doubts. So why risk their lives when the OS’s building was as safe as any fortress? He was up to something and it certainly didn’t have anything to do with protecting her. No matter how she would like to deny it, that hurt.

  The roaring engines sputtered and then went quiet. Thankfully the whoop-whooping of the blades continued. The pilot was screaming at his copilot as they flicked switches and turned dials.

  Olivia watched the ground coming closer and faster as the helicopter dipped to one side. Her heart pounded with the beat of the blades. She checked on Collin and was surprised to see him watching her. The look he gave her brought warmth to her face. She’d never had a man watch her like he did. His stares had turned from distrust to desire. He needed to know how she felt even if he didn’t return the feeling. Fear seized her in its grip. She was afraid their last few seconds on this world would be over before she told him she loved him.

  Oh, God, she did.

  As she opened her mouth to shout the three words, she stopped. What expression would be on his face if she told him?

  Now or never.

  She cleared her throat and then the engines burst to life, long enough for the pilots to pull up the helicopter’s nose, causing her stomach to flip, and they landed with a jarring slide.

  “Olivia, are you all right?” Collin waited until she nodded before turning to the pilots to find out the damage.

  Talk about glad! She was relieved not only to be alive but she hadn’t made a fool of herself by shouting her feelings. Being vulnerable, especially to Collin, spelled disaster. However she felt about him had to be hidden. Men used women in the name of love. Besides with an organization to run, his position required that he not get involved with ex-Circle operatives.

  How would his people trust him if they saw his tenderness toward her? His hard-nosed reputation was important to maintain order and . . . hold on! Was that the real reason they’d stayed at the cabin? Was he ashamed to let others know he lusted after her?

  “Olivia!”

  She turned toward him, blinking, unable to focus for a few seconds. From his concerned look, she knew he’d been calling her name more than once.

  “We have to abandon the copter and we need to move now!” Collin jerked his head toward the opening.

  Her eyes and nose burned from the smoke now billowing into the cabin. She jumped to the ground and darted toward the thick brush. Behind her she heard the other men following and then several loud pops echoed around her. The snapping of leaves and tree limbs around her confirmed what she’d thought. They were being fired on.

  As soon as she found cover on the opposite side of an enormous fallen tree, she looked around. No one was there. Taking a chance, she peeked over the trunk. A pilot was down. The other one struggled with helping Collin who was dragging his leg. Oh, hell no. It better be a flesh wound. Jumping back over the tree, she ran to Collin’s side.r />
  “Dammit! Go on! He’s got me!” Collin shook his head.

  She ignored him, almost panicking when her hand touched his shoulder and came away wet with blood. How many bullets had he taken? Out of the corner of her eye she noticed movement near the downed helicopter. The gunman pressed his body to the cockpit, his rifle against his shoulder, aiming at Collin’s back.

  Without thinking it through she grabbed Collin’s MP5. “Go!” She pointed to the fallen tree. “Go on!” As she pressed forward, she muttered, “I’ll take care of the asshole that shot you.”

  Ignoring the shouting behind her, she kneeled and fired. The man went down. She turned to leave, happy to see that Collin and the other pilot were out of sight, but then the humming of ATVs brought her back around. About twenty of the larger four-wheel vehicles came out of the surrounding forest. Each one had two operatives and their weapons pointed at her.

  With no other choice and needing to give Collin more time, she threw down the submachine gun and raised her arms, waving them as if she wanted them to come to her. She counted on them believing she’d been alone with the dead pilot and that Collin had jumped out elsewhere. Not since she was a little girl in the orphanage praying for new parents to love her had she ever prayed so hard.

  Theo would certainly kill her now. And she prayed Collin would live through the ordeal, but any thought of praying for the leader of OS to save her . . . well, she would be beyond crazy to believe that.

  She wasn’t worth saving.

  “We’ve got to go back. They’ll kill her!” Collin struggled as Rex held him down. They were in another OS helicopter and this time no one was shooting at them.

  He’d passed out from loss of blood after the pilot hid them in the tree trunk’s hollowed end. When he’d regained consciousness as they loaded him into the copter’s cabin, he’d expected her to be there waiting, shouting curses at him for getting shot. But when they lifted him inside and she was nowhere nearby, he demanded to know where she was. They’d told him she’d gone willingly with the Circle operatives.

  “Who?” one of the men holding him down asked, shaking his head in confusion.

  “They’ll kill Olivia!” Grabbing for the tubes attached to his arm, he jerked one out but Rex stopped him before he could do more damage.

  “They won’t. She’s the fucking Circle’s top eliminator. She probably gave them your whereabouts. I told you, you can’t trust her.” Rex cut away Collin’s pant leg.

  “Fuck you! Turn this son of a bitch around!” They hadn’t seen her face when she yanked his gun out of his hand. Her beautiful green eyes had been filled with love and worry. She’d saved his miserable hide.

  Damn! He didn’t get a chance to tell her he’d lied.

  Sure he’d hoped their time away from the OS brought out the traitor, but he’d wanted to be alone with Olivia too. He wanted to show her how much he cared, probably more than he should. Not until he dealt with Theo could he tell her how he felt or even promise her a future. That was, if she wanted one with him.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Hello! Anyone out there?” Olivia pushed the unbruised side of her face against the bars inset in her cell’s door, trying to see around the corner. While keeping her eyes on the outer steel door, she listened for any sound from the other cells.

  From what she could tell, counting meals, she’d been in The Circle’s dungeon for four days and Theo hadn’t deemed it necessary to come and see her. Not that she looked forward to the conversation, but she hated to be left in the dark. Her chuckle bounced against the stone walls. In the dark? What a riot. Except for the light shining through the small grate in the steel door, they didn’t feel it necessary to turn on the lights in the cells.

  For meals, a tray was pushed through a long thin opening at the bottom of her cell door. She’d quickly learned to return the tray through the opening or they wouldn’t feed her the next meal.

  The last time she’d visited the cells beneath the Main Sector, it had been to interrogate prisoners, and only two of the six cells had been occupied. After questioning the first man, she’d ordered them both released. He’d supplied all the information they’d needed without her even talking to the other one. Knowing Theo, the cells had been refilled several more times since. At least she had thought he had until she tried to communicate with the other cellmates. So far she hadn’t met with success.

  A groan drifted to her cell. Thank goodness, finally a sound. She was beginning to believe she was alone. She wanted to talk, maybe find out the chances of getting out of here. Anything to break up the monotony.

  “Hey, I hear you,” she said in a stage whisper. “How long have you been here?”

  Amazing how a person could crave the sound of another human’s voice in such a short time. She just knew she needed to escape before Collin tried something stupid to get her out. The thought of anyone risking their neck to rescue her brought a grin to her face. Just having someone care enough to want to save her made her happy.

  Ouch! She cupped her jaw as she moved the lower half back and forth. She counted herself lucky it was still intact. One of the guards had hit her when she insisted on seeing Theo. While she nursed a bruised face, he probably still couldn’t stand up straight.

  Again, she tried to get a response from her cellmate. Nothing.

  When she heard the beeping of the guard punching in the code on the main door’s outside panel, she returned to her bunk and waited to see what happened next. Boot heels thumped toward her cell and then more beeping filled the air before he opened her door and turned on the light.

  Showtime!

  Squinting, she placed her hand above her eyes. Behind him stood six more guards dressed in black, less likely to show blood, holding MP5’s and they all possessed square jaws and determined stares. Either they expected and hoped for a confrontation since they were probably friends of the guard who now could sing soprano, or Theo was no longer playing nice.

  “Well, isn’t this a wonderful surprise? Such a handsome escort. Theo shouldn’t have.” She slowly stood. Wouldn’t want to alarm the deadly crew with any unexpected movements.

  “Theo didn’t.” One of the guards motioned her toward the door.

  From his tone and the evil stare he gave her, she felt it best to keep her mouth shut.

  At an even pace, she walked out the cell door and through the space the guards made for her. Once they exited into the large hallway and up some steep stairs on the other side of the steel door, the men surrounded her and marched toward a new section she’d never visited.

  After they’d passed the third code panel and no less than a dozen more guards, Olivia became worried. If she’d thought the dungeon heavily guarded, it was nothing compared to this section.

  Maybe in this area they eliminated the operatives who betrayed them. Like incinerators lined up to burn the bodies, no fuss, no muss. Christ! She needed to get her mind off such gruesome thoughts.

  Finally they reached an ordinary looking door and the guard entered another code. After a series of clicks, a beep sounded, signaling it unlocked. She stood in front of the opening staring inside. The huge room appeared to be all glass and steel. The high ceiling and tall windows made her think of a New Age church. The sun was so bright she found herself squinting again. One of the guards becoming impatient pushed her hard in the back. She stumbled inside but kept her footing.

  The door behind her closed with a swoosh and the clicks and beep repeated. She looked over her shoulder. None of the guards had followed her. She turned back around and took a step toward the windows and then stopped. Standing off alone was a familiar silhouette. Collin? Motionless, he stared out across the Main Sector’s exercise yard. He looked grim and didn’t acknowledge her presence.

  She wanted to go to him and pester him about his wounds and not coming for her sooner. But something about his stance held her back. She remained near the door, thankful his wounds hadn’t been severe.

  Although she’d known the pil
ot would protect him and Rex probably wouldn’t be far behind, she’d worried about infection and everything that could possibly go wrong for Collin while she was locked up. Odd that it had been only four days and his hair had grown and curled around his collar. He looked as if he’d lost weight even though his shoulders were as broad as ever. Could she be mistaken? Had she’d been in the dungeon longer?

  “Sit there,” he ordered in a deep voice she didn’t recognize as he faced her. A black patch covered his right eye, while his left glared at her from its light amber depths. Deep grooves carved around his mouth provided clues to a hard life. This man was not Collin but was similar enough to be his twin.

  What the hell?

  “Who are you? And where’s Theo?” Forehead wrinkled, she forced herself to remain standing as a small ache in her head warned of a coming migraine.

  “Olivia, do as Ryker tells you or I’ll order him to use force. And he loves to be forceful.” Theo walked out of the shadows in full kingly red velvet regalia and sat on a throne-like chair at one end of the room. “Isn’t that right, Ryker?” He crossed his legs as he picked up a cup from a small gilded table, and sipped the brew as he watched her over the rim.

  The silent man remained quiet and still.

  She ignored Theo and his role-playing psycho behavior. After living with him so long, she’d learned if she laughed, her punishment would be worse.

  “Ryker, huh? What’s your first name?” she asked, daring them to protest her question as impertinent. Without taking her eyes off the man with the patch, her hands searched for the chair and then she collapsed into the seat.

  The man scowled at Theo and then returned to staring out the window as if answering her question meant nothing to him.

  “So Collin never told you. What does that say about your lover, huh?” Theo’s lips twitched. He enjoyed her surprise too much. “Ryker?” Theo drew the silent man’s attention back to him. Those shark-like cold eyes shifted to Theo. “You can leave us for now.”