Down Range (Tungsten Protective Services Book 1)

by Aliyah Burke

  “And where is Mac?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “With the hostages.”

  “Gave up his weapons, did he?”

  “He is a weapon.”

  “True but even he can’t stop a bullet.”

  “Don’t tell him that, he thinks he’s Superman.”

  “We all did at one point. And Cole?”

  “Searching for another way to get all of the hostages out. We figure this place is being watched by whoever orchestrated this fiasco. So we have to sneak out similar to how we got in. But not sure everyone will be able to make it out via the tunnels. We may be taking some wheels.”

  “And what do you need from this end.”

  “Do you have any intel on what’s going on here? Have they reported anything to the news? Given a reason?”

  “Silent as fuck. Nothing is on this incident. For whatever reason they’re keeping a lid on it. I’ll let you know what I turn up. I want to hear back from you in thirty minutes. And incidentally, when Lex made that demand, I would have listened to her, even though I wouldn’t have been happy about it.”

  “Roger that, Harrier. Lucifer out.” He shut the phone and unclipped it from the wire prior to shoving the item back in his pocket. Then he cautiously moved back out and returned to where he’d left Riz.

  He climbed through the small hole and belly crawled to the tiny space he’d left her. “Riz?”

  She didn’t respond and he moved faster. He could hear her in there, breathing ragged and shallow. He reached out in the dark and found her foot. The tremor nearly knocked his hand away, it was so violent. Shit. Her fear of the dark slammed into him as he scurried up to her head. How the hell could I have forgotten that? He hadn’t but he had forgotten how severe it was.

  “Riz,” he murmured, drawing her into his chest. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

  “Ralston?” Her word, jagged, raked over his skin like smoldering fire pokers.

  He sank a hand into her hair. “I’m here, baby. I’m right here.”

  “Can we leave now?”

  “We’re ready to go whenever you are.”

  “And the hostages?”

  “We’re still working on it. Shouldn’t be long, but I will get you out now, Riz. I can do that.” He held her tighter. “I will do that.”

  “If you get me out, will you come back here and help the other two rescue the rest?”

  “I’m not leaving you alone outside in the jungle.”

  “I was thinking more of a hotel room. I could shower and sleep.” He stiffened.

  “That’s dangerous.”

  “Why? I have a room here. I’ve been visiting, remember?”

  “And you have your room key?”

  “Nope. But I’m confident you can pick the lock and get me back in there.”

  “Do it,” Mac’s quiet words came only to be echoed by Cole.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he told the two men with him. Damn it, I don’t like leaving them. They must have known for they each assured him they would be okay and to get Riz to safety.

  “Let’s go then, Riz.” He placed a kiss on top of her head before leading her back through the small hole. Capturing her hand in his, he led the way back the path he’d come into the building. She didn’t speak, nor did she slow him down. They had to wait while a duo of patrols went by their location before he could sneak her back into the streets and head for the hotel. Face mask shoved into his pocket and only his pistol on him, he interlaced their fingers as they neared the hotel. It had taken a while given the cab driver had problems moving through the throng of people out on the street at this time of night.

  Rush hour apparently happened in every city, one way or another. At the hotel, he tossed the man some money and slid out, Riz’s hand still firmly in his own.

  “Which floor?”

  “Second.” She smiled at the woman behind the counter who watched him as if he were her next meal. “I think you have an admirer there.”

  “I think this is how a praying mantis feels right before his mate bites his head off.”

  “So you’re thinking of sex with her then?” She jogged easily up the stairs beside him. “Because I think with the mantis that is done after coitus.”

  “Is it called coitus with a pair of praying mantises? Manti? What is the plural for them?”

  He released her hand and picked the lock then ushered her inside. Her entire body sagged the moment he closed the door behind them.

  “I can’t believe were talking about the proper term for two insects to get it on. Point is, you’re thinking of sex with the woman downstairs if you have the thought of losing your head after.”

  He secured the room in moments, it wasn’t that big. Then he stood before her. “The only one I’m thinking of fucking, having sex or even coitus with is you, Riz. That woman down there looked at me like she wanted to eat me.” He took Riz’s hand and put it over his cock. “She doesn’t do a damn thing for me, you on the other hand, I could be dying and I’d want to fuck you until we couldn’t walk.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “Why not? It’s true.”

  “About dying,” she muttered, releasing his cock after a brief squeeze. “You should get going.”

  Damn this woman and her perchance for changing the subject with the tic of a clock. He didn’t want to leave her. She watched him with eyes ringed by fear and exhaustion.

  “Riz.”

  She shook her head. “I’m going to shower and go to bed. You rescued me. Thank you for that. Go rescue the others and get yourselves home safe.”

  “I’ll be coming back to take you home. Do not leave this room.”

  “I don’t plan on it.” She rubbed her bare arms. “Not at all.”

  “I’ll be back.”

  “Be careful out there.”

  “I will.” He placed two fingers beneath her chin and lifted her face to his. “I meant what I said, Riz. You and I are far from finished.” He kissed her hard then left before he took her to the bed. Instead of going out the front, he slipped out the back and made tracks back to where his men were, sneaking back in to join them in freeing the hostages. Even so, his mind lingered with the woman he’d left in the room. Had he made a mistake in leaving her there alone?

  He met up with Cole and they struck out for where Mac was with the main group. It wasn’t easy, but he pushed thoughts of Riz to the back of his mind. They had work to do and people to save.

  “She’ll be fine,” Cole commented.

  “She better be or I’ll kick her ass.”

  His friend snorted. “Right, that’s what you want to do to her. Perhaps you’ve been down range to long if that’s what comes to your mind.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Cole smacked him on the shoulder. “Far too long. You’re not my type, dicks to small.”

  “If you ladies are done sucking each other, could you get here please? These fucks are too damn edgy and are about to shoot someone.” Mac’s statement sobered them up as they began moving faster.

  “I go left, you go right,” Lucifer commented as they reached the main holding room. Seconds before they went in gunfire began.

  Holy moldy fuck. Time to get some work done and take out the trash.

  Chapter Four

  Riz waited while her bags were being unloaded from the plane. She hadn’t stopped trembling. Sure it wasn’t as noticeable as it had been previously, but inside she continued the shakes. She refused to look at the man beside her and that feat could only be described as monumental. Grit lined her eyes and she craved to crawl into bed, pull the blankets up over her head, and cry for a week.

  He didn’t touch her yet she had no way of ignoring his presence. His was so commanding it surrounded her, engulfed her. To her left, she spied people hugging and laughing with one another. The joy of being reunited, apparent.

  For her it was merely another reminder of how alone she was in her life. She sighed and shifted her weight. The yellow light
flashed and the air filled with the loud beeping sound indicating the arrival of the luggage. Numerous people surged around the conveyor belt yet she hung back, in no rush to get in the mix. She’d wait until she spied her bag coming down. Her luggage tag was purple and sparkly plus she had two purple ribbons tied to the handle.

  When it showed, she stepped forward to grab it, only to stop when Ralston moved by her, reached out and snagged it before it moved more than two feet on the carousel.

  “Let’s go,” he said, not putting it at her feet but retaining a hold on her suitcase.

  She stopped reaching toward her bag and looked up at him. “What? I don’t need you to go with me. Nor do I want you to.”

  “I’m not asking.”

  Seemed as if being back on American soil had renewed her snippy trait. “I didn’t listen to you over there what the fuck makes you think I’ll do so here? Give me my bag and get out of my way.”

  His phone rang and he ignored it, keeping a hold of her bag. “I’m escorting you to your apartment, then we will go from there.” He glared. “Get moving.”

  Her back snapped straight and she narrowed her gaze back at him. “Don’t bark orders at me.”

  “I just went to fucking French Guinea,” he growled low in her ear, “to get you out of some situation that you’d managed to get into. I’m not letting you out of my sight until you’re back in your home.”

  “I never asked for you or them to come for me. Christ, I was just taking a fucking vacation.” Her voice rose slightly and those close turned to look at her. She cleared her throat and held out her hands. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”

  “This would have been done if you’d not felt the need to argue with me on the issue.”

  “Let’s go,” she bit off.

  He splayed a hand along the small of her back and she immediately swallowed hard, praying not to beg him to stay once he dropped her off. Outside a black Suburban waited and without any hesitation, he guided her to the back door, held it and slid in after her. Her suitcase, he lobbed into the back.

  She crossed her arms and leaned against the far door, determined not to say another word. But when he turned back, she caught the wince on his expression and she leaned toward him.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fine.”

  Slicing her gaze to the front, she noticed the sunglassed man didn’t seem the least bit interested in her conversation so she inched closer to Lucifer. “Bullshit.”

  One black brow jacked up toward his hairline. “Excuse me?”

  “You know the saying, don’t try to con a conman. I know you’re hurt, I saw it on your face. When did it happen?”

  The true and deathly honest question was why it bothered her so much.

  “Gunshot wound, grazed by a 9mm.” His features softened. “I’m fine, Riz. Promise.”

  It only hit it home harder than she’d caused him pain. He’d sustained that injury because she had been a whiny bitch and refused to leave those other innocents there to suffer. His blood was on her hands and she hated that fact more than she cared to admit.

  The man knew her like he knew himself and reached for her face, cupping her chin in one callused palm.

  “It wasn’t a direct hit, just a glancing one.”

  “So, that means you couldn’t have died?”

  He drew her close to him, allowing his masculine scent to wrap around her. “It means I survived, and you did too. Focus on that, not what may or may not have happened to me.”

  Sometimes he said the perfect thing.

  “You should let me go, don’t want to give your driver anything to gossip about.”

  He didn’t. In fact, he nuzzled the top of her head instead and held tighter. “I haven’t ever heard Razor gossip about anything or anyone. Man barely talks.”

  “Are Mac and Cole okay? They weren’t hurt because I was being a bitch, were they?”

  “Both are fine and healthy. Mac is home visiting his family and Cole is back at headquarters.”

  So sue her that helped ease the burden on her mind. She didn’t speak further, just enjoyed the safety of his embrace for the remainder of the ride. Whoever this Razor was at the wheel, he didn’t need her up in his business nor she him in hers. Her temper, much akin to her relationship with Ralston ran hot and cold. They could be yelling at each other one moment then engaging in the hottest sex this side of the equator in the next.

  For this time, she would take the offered comfort. The vehicle slowed and she sat away from him, a mixture of relief and sorrow flooding her. They rolled to a stop and she reached for the door.

  “Wait for me to open the door.”

  Ralston’s tone froze her to the seat. She watched him side eyed as he hopped out and came around to her side. The adrenaline which had surged through her since the entire incident had begun to fade. More so than during the flight home and the car ride. She took Ralston’s hand and hopped out. He refused to release when she tugged, instead leading her back to hatch where he got her the luggage.

  “I got it from here.”

  “Back in your home, Riz. That’s what I said.”

  She muttered something unflattering under her breath and when he cocked a brow at her she rolled her eyes. “You heard me just fine.”

  “I did, and I have no problem spanking you. In fact I’d find it one hell of a turn on to spank that ass of yours.”

  “Not going to happen.”

  He brushed against her as he passed by with her luggage. “Funny that’s what you said about my cock in your ass. Look how that turned out.”

  Her body trembled at the memory of some of the most exquisite pleasure she’d ever had in her life. But she couldn’t just let it go. “Well, you know people like to try things. You were there currently to try that out. Who knows who will be around to try spanking. Either way, it’s not going to be any of your business.”

  A muscle jumped in his jaw and she hid her smirk. Yes, it was a highlight for her to get a rise out of this man. In more than one way. She paused at the door to the building, not wanting him in her space. It was where she’d gotten on with her life. Where he hadn’t made a mark, at least not one she couldn’t shove into a dark corner and pretend it didn’t exist.

  “I’m home. I’m safe. Go.”

  He grumbled and moved her to the side before opening the door. “It’s like you don’t want me in your place.” He looked at her. “What are you hiding?”

  “I don’t answer to you, Lucifer. And I don’t want you there.”

  He stopped. “Why not?”

  “I have my reasons, okay, just let it go.”

  “Fine. Keep your damn reasons, I’m walking you in, I won’t set foot in your place and defile it with my presence.” He shoved open the front door with more force than necessary and Riz, sighed heavily.

  She just needed a place that was hers only and he had no way of understanding how much of an effect he had on her. And that wasn’t anything she could share with him. Her place was on the first floor and she paused outside the door, keys in hand. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll be back, Riz. We’re going to discuss our past.”

  “When did you want to talk about feelings so much? I thought you were the fuck em and leave em type of guy.” He put her bags inside the door when she opened it then grasped her upper arms.

  “You know exactly what type of guy I am, Riz. Exactly.”

  She gulped under the piercing heat of his gaze. “Goodbye, Ralston.” Damn her heart for thundering so out of control.

  “Not goodbye for I’ll be back to this door and Riz, you’d better answer when I knock or I’m kicking it in.”

  “You’ll be buying a new door for me then.”

  His lips quirked before she tore her eyes from them. “Bye.” She stepped back and closed the door in his face. “What a fucked up relationship we have.”

  She gripped her bags and dragged then to her bedroom where she tossed them on her platform bed. The place was small but she d
idn’t mind. “Now if I could just get this trip and Lucifer out of my mind, I’ll be fine.” Unease slithered up her back and she looked around, needing the reassurance she had returned back to the States and wasn’t about to be part of some fucking coup again.

  “Shower and food.”

  She walked to her bathroom and turned on the water. Back in the bedroom, she yanked the shirt off over her head before shimmying out of her pants. Wearing only bra and panties, she made her way back to the shower, finished stripping and stepped in. Finished with her shower, she padded back to her bedroom, warm, relaxed, and wrapped in her thick robe.

  “Sleep, for a week then go from there.”

  A prickle up the back of her mind, tore her gaze from the bed as she spun back to the doorway. Her scream never left her mouth as the towering man there slapped his hand over disrupting the shout. Panic flooded her as she fought to get away. His other hand gripped her around the middle, lifting her off the ground.

  Ralston!

  Lucifer dragged his feet. Leaving her, not a viable option but she’d damn near kicked him out. He pushed through the door and stepped into the sunny afternoon, scowl firmly in place. Razor had left the SUV and at the sight of him moving in with a swift pace, hand on the butt of his sidearm, Lucifer whirled around and ran back through the darkened interior. Fear pumped through his blood, topped off with anger. He never should have left her. At her door, he tried the knob.

  Locked.

  He drew back, lifted his leg, and placed his size twelve combat boot hard against the door. The wood shattered beneath the force of his blow, flinging open. He entered.

  “Clear.” Razor’s steady voice behind him was welcome.

  Bee lining it for her bedroom, a low roar shot from his chest at the sight of the man over Riz’s body, bloody knife in hand. Her assailant turned, sneer marring his tan face and met his launch head-on. Ralston grunted as they tumbled to the floor. The sharp bite of the knife pissed him off further. He slammed the asshat to the carpet, left arm over his carotid and right hand wresting the knife away from indulging in a second plunge into his flesh.