by Anne Kane
Of all the asinine things he could do, this had to be at the top of the list. The man was about as civilized as a grizzly bear. He simply had no clue. “It’s a tracer collar. It marks me as your property. You have no right to do this!”
“On the contrary, I have every right.” A satisfied smile lit his rugged features. “I purchased you for quite an exorbitant amount of money, and I actually have all the paperwork to prove it. You need someone to look after you, and it might as well be me.”
“The hell it will. I can look after myself, thank you very much.” She stomped her foot on the floor.
One raised eyebrow showed what he thought of that statement. “Really? In that case, why did I find you on the auction block? I don’t think you would have been happy if the other bidder had taken you home. He looked a tad too bloodthirsty to make a very good master.”
“I didn’t intend to let him take me home.” She’d forgotten how much of an asshole Kaeden could be when he disagreed with her. “I would have escaped once I was off the block.”
“Yeah. Good plan. I’m sure he would have been quite happy to look the other way.” He dismissed her argument with a decisive snap of strong white teeth. “Doesn’t matter. That collar stays on until I’m convinced you aren’t going to take off again. Running seems to be your answer to everything.”
“Oohh!” Anger goaded her into action, and she lifted her hand to slap that arrogant smirk off his face.
She hadn’t counted on his enhanced reactions, and he easily caught her wrists before she could connect. Forcing her arms down to her sides, he lowered his head and seared a punishing kiss across her lips.
She shouldn’t react. She shouldn’t. The last thing she needed was to lose herself in his arms. Again. She knew from past experience just how easy that was.
She held herself rigid for a few precious seconds while his hard lips moved over hers, his tongue sliding along the seam to demand entrance. Desire raced through her system as she struggled not to respond. Damn him, he knew the effect he had on her.
“You can’t force me.” She bit the words out between clenched teeth.
“I won’t have to.” The supreme arrogance in that statement sent a new surge of anger washing through her. The worst part was, he was right and they both knew it.
She held out for an eternity while his arms moved up to crush her against his unyielding body. He slid his hands up under her shirt, and the feel of his callused palms on her skin had her melting against his hard body. It was so easy, almost inevitable. All the damn man had to do was touch her and she turned into a melting pool of lust. Damn him to hell and back!
She caught his lip between her teeth and bit down, hard. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, but Kaeden just laughed. Picking her up, he threw her onto the bed and followed her down to straddle her hips. Grasping her arms, he drew them up over her head.
His eyes gleamed darkly as he stared down at her, and Dee could feel the desire coiled tight in her belly. It didn’t take long for lust to replace the anger and she rolled her hips, rubbing herself against the hard bulge in his pants.
“Damn, woman. Have you any idea of the hell you put me through?” Kaeden stripped off his shirt, tossing it to the floor as he reached for the fastening at the waistband of his pants. “If you ever even think about taking off like that again, I’m going to whip you within an inch of your life.”
“Yeah, right.” The hurt in his voice made her feel just the tiniest bit guilty for the way she’d run out on him. “Shut up and get those damn pants off.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He complied with laudable speed, the pants and Jockey shorts joining his shirt on the floor. “And now for you.”
It was amazing how quickly he managed to remove her clothing without actually tearing it off. Within minutes, they were both fully naked, and she had to admit this was the one part of their tempestuous relationship that she’d really missed.
She gave herself up to the heat coursing through her veins as Kaeden bent his head and sucked one nipple into his mouth, grazing the sensitive bud with his teeth. His big hands moved over her body, mapping every inch, and he slid one down to cup her warm mound.
Dee let out a soft moan, arching against him, and he chuckled softly. “Good to know you missed me.”
She ignored the comment, winding her fingers through his thick locks of hair. He had no idea how much she’d longed for his touch some nights, and she had no intention of telling him. The damn man was too cocky as it was.
He slipped one finger through the soft folds guarding her sex and scored it across her clit. Bolts of lust exploded across every nerve ending, sending coils of heat curling through her belly. She let out a wordless whimper, her fingers clenching and unclenching in his hair.
Kaeden lifted his head, his expression fiercely possessive as he gazed down at her. “You belong here. With me. Don’t you ever forget that.”
He plunged the finger deep inside her, and she lost all ability to think, to reason. Reason didn’t matter, only feelings mattered; the feeling of his finger scraping along her inner walls, the heat racing through her and sending her libido soaring. She moved her hips in time to the plunging of his finger.
It had been too damn long and she hadn’t lain with a man since she’d left him. In no time at all, she felt the orgasm bursting over her, washing away everything as her sex clamped down on his finger, and she buried her face in his shoulder to muffle her scream of fulfillment.
While the aftershocks still rippled through her, Kaeden lowered himself on top of her, his rigid shaft bumping eagerly at her damp entrance. “You. Are. Mine!” He seated himself balls-deep with one massive thrust of his hips.
Dee whimpered, unable to speak as yet another wave of sensual heat rolled through her. How had she ever thought she could live without him? Leaving him the first time had been hard. Leaving him again would tear her heart to shreds. She had to find Wren.
Kaeden braced his arms on either side of her head, pulling his cock almost all the way out of her, and then slamming it back in. A darkly wicked grin lit his rugged face as he settled in to shaft her with a steady rhythm. In and out. In and out. His massive shaft sent quivers of lust blasting through her with every movement.
She locked her heels behind his back, matching him thrust for thrust as she clung to him with every ounce of her being. She could feel another orgasm starting hard on the heels of the first, curling up from her toes. It washed over her with the strength of a tsunami, sweeping away everything and leaving behind an incredible feeling of fulfillment.
She let out an inarticulate scream, clinging to Kaeden as the world dissolved into a rainbow of incredible sensations. She could tell the exact moment he joined her, his thick seed spurting out in strong jets that bathed her pussy with heat.
They clung to each other for what seemed like an eternity, two people alone in a sea of sensual overload. They drifted back to reality at a snail’s pace, still holding on to each other. Dee closed her eyes and snuggled closer to Kaeden. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with reality.
For tonight, at least, they were together.
Chapter Two
“I have a sister.”
She wasn’t sure who looked more stunned when she blurted that little piece of information out, her or the guys seated around the breakfast table. She had no idea why she’d suddenly decided to share. Wren had nothing to do with this world. Nothing at all. These men were cynical, world weary and emotionally exhausted by the horrors they’d experienced in the provincial wars. Wren was sunshine and light. She was naïve and innocent. And missing. Maybe it was time to ask for help.
The fact that Kaeden and his band of mercenaries had showed up to rescue her from the auction block indicated two things; they still considered her to be one of them, and they’d been keeping tabs on her since she left.
Six pairs of eyes regarded her with expressions ranging from surprise to shock. Snake jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair. “We had
no idea. Did we leave your sister back there at the auction?” Snake stared at her intently.
“Don’t be silly. Of course not.” Dee shook her head, almost amused at the relief visible on the man’s face.
“Then why did you suddenly feel the need to enlighten us about your family ties?” He looked miffed as he picked up the chair and sat back down.
“She’s missing.” Dee fingered the collar on her neck.
“Missing how? Where? For how long? And why did I not know you had a sister?” Kaeden reached for her hand and pulled it away from the collar.
“If I knew where she was, she wouldn’t be missing.” Dee rubbed the spot where the old collar had chafed, glaring at him. While she understood his reasoning, even conceded he had a valid point, she still didn’t have to like the damn collar. “Wren is my younger sister, and up until my mother got herself killed in a food riot, I didn’t even know she existed. I guess dear old mom didn’t approve of me as a role model. When she kicked the bucket, though, I was the only person left to take care of Wren. The child welfare people dug through Mom’s papers and found out I existed, but it took them months to track me down. I’m not sure who was more surprised to find out they had a sister, her or me.”
Kaeden shook his head, a ghost of a smile curving his craggy lips. “Can’t say you’d be my first choice to look after a little girl.”
Dee raised her eyebrows, surprised at how much that hurt. She was just as capable of looking after a child as anyone in the room. “And who would be your first choice? Shotgun over there?” She nodded at the company’s sharpshooter, lounging against the counter.
“Well, at least I wouldn’t lose the little tyke.” An easy smile lit up Shotgun’s scarred face. “How little are we talking? You have a picture? We don’t have a contract at the moment. Maybe we can help find her.”
Dee rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Where do you think I would have put a picture when the cops grabbed me?”
Shotgun just settled back into his seat and grinned at her.
“He’s not dumb enough to answer that.” Kaeden reached into his pocket and produced a shiny metal bracelet. Before Dee had time to blink, he snapped it around her wrist. “What with the shock of seeing you again, I forgot to give you this last night.”
“What’s that for?” She fingered the delicate silver swirls. The pattern was intricately woven and she couldn’t even see where the catch was. “It’s beautiful.” Just when she thought she understood the wily mercenary, he did something like this. The thing looked like it cost big bucks.
“Don’t get all sentimental on me. It’s a com-link bracelet. Now I won’t have to lose any sleep wondering where the hell you’ve wandered off to. I can call and ask.”
Snake snorted, a derisive grin on his face. “Old Kaeden here thinks if you had a chance, maybe you might have called his sorry ass sometime during the last couple of years.”
Kaeden picked an apple out of the bowl on the table and lobbed the fruit at Snake’s head, barely missing as the man plucked it out of the air just before it connected with his face. “You haven’t learned any manners while she was gone. Sit down and shut up.” He turned to Dee. “We all have com-links now. If we’re separated we can keep in touch. No big deal. Yours looks like a piece of jewelry so no one is going to question it. The rest of us have them hidden in different places.” He pointed to the shiny green stone in the center of the silver swirls. “That big gem is actually a liquid crystal. It can receive pictures or files from any of us. Another one of Jackson’s handy little inventions.”
“Okay, I guess it will be more useful than a real bracelet.” She secretly wished he had surprised her with a real piece of jewelry.
She looked at the men lounging around the room. She’d missed them all, missed their ready humor and their fierce loyalty to each other. Jackson, with his knack for all things techy. Pete the pyro, who loved to make things blow up. Snake, who grew up in the bayou and could sneak up behind you so quietly you’d swear he was a ghost. Trace, with his ability to track anyone without tipping them off. And last but not least, Shotgun, the team’s sharpshooter. Once Shotgun went after a target, it was only a matter of time before it had a neat hole through it. Kaeden was the nominal leader, but each man was an essential part of the team.
She felt a smile curve her lips for the first time since she’d realized Wren was gone. “So if you guys want to help look for my sister, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t seem to be making much headway on my own.”
“Might be fun to go looking for an innocent person for a change. Not a lot of them around these days.” Jackson stood, stretching to his full six and a half feet. “Tell us a bit about the sister and how you managed to lose her.” He pulled a tablet out of his pocket, his fingers poised expectantly over it as he waited for her to speak. If information was available anywhere in the Ethernet, Jackson could find it.
“Go ahead.” Kaeden leaned back and stretched an arm along the back of her chair. “Jackson’s been getting bored lately, and you know how obnoxious he can get when he’s got nothing to do. Sic him on someone.”
Dee nodded. “Her name is Wren, like the little bird. She just turned twenty last month and she’s small, but wiry. She has blonde hair down to her ass, and she usually wears it in a ponytail. Says it gets in the way if she leaves it loose. I was tracking down a lead in the Loden Province when I got careless and the feds picked me up and sent me to auction.”
She paused, watching as Jackson’s fingers danced across the tablet. “We were in the market sector, bartering some of the herbs we raised for meat when she disappeared. Wren said she was going to see if she could find some stakes for the taller plants, and I didn’t even see which way she went. They had to be pros to grab her from a public market like that.”
The nightmare threatened to overwhelm her again. The bewilderment when she couldn’t find Wren, then the dawning knowledge that something was really wrong. Her sister wasn’t a toddler; she didn’t just wander off and get lost. Dee had been coaching her on her fighting skills, but they’d left their weapons in the truck, and Wren was still much too trusting.
“Take it easy. You know the drill. Details count.” Kaeden took the glass of water from Trace and handed it to her. “The grunts picked you up two provinces over. What kind of lead was it?”
Dee took a long sip on the water. “I heard about a gang abducting young women. Rumor has it they transport them across the provincial lines so they are harder to locate.” She paused, unable to swallow the lump in her throat. “Then they just disappear.”
“Your sister. What color are her eyes? Any tattoos or identifying marks?” Jackson was all business, and it helped her to pull herself together.
“Hazel eyes, and she has a tattoo on her left shoulder, a bird. A wren.”
“Does she know how to fight?”
Dee frowned. “Not well. I’ve been teaching her but she’s a lousy shot, and can’t seem to get the hang of aiming.”
“How about close quarters? Hand-to-hand stuff.”
“She knows a bit. If she’s not outclassed she can probably hold her own.”
Jackson looked over her head at Kaeden. “Might have something, Sarge, but it’s not pretty.”
Kaeden withdrew his arm and reached for the tablet. “Never is. Let’s see it.” The rough sympathy in his voice failed to calm her.
Jackson handed the tablet over, and Kaeden didn’t try to stop her from reading it over his shoulder. The display panned over an arena where two young women, dressed in skin-tight suits and some sort of harness, were sparring. The style seemed to be some variation of martial arts with a few back alley low blows sprinkled in. As they watched, the taller of the two women swept her opponent’s feet out from under her, causing the other woman to plunge backward, her head smacking hard on the ground. She didn’t move, and the victor stood over her, her hands held up in a victory salute and a vicious grin on her face.
Dee frowned. “That’s disgusting! My sister would n
ever do that.”
“She might not have a choice. It’s a fight block.” Snake shook his head. “They snatch the girls from all over the provinces, give them a crash course in fighting, and then stick them in the arena until one of them isn’t moving anymore. It’s broadcast on private channels and a bunch of sickos bet on the outcome.”
Jackson took the tablet back. “I didn’t find your sister on the competitor list, but she could still be in training, or they could have given her a different name. Give me a minute.” His brow furrowed as he worked, making him look like a grumpy giant. “There. I hacked into the arena feed and pulled up the intake records.” He held the display up. “Any of these look familiar?”
Dee’s stomach churned with dread as she scanned the faces on the tablet. Kaeden’s hand on her back gave her small comfort. “Nope.” She dragged her finger over the display and more pictures sprang onto the screen. “Oh my God! That’s her!” The picture was grainy, and Wren lacked her usual cheerful smile but it was undoubtedly her. Dee jumped up. “Where is this place? How hard is it going to be to go get her out?”
“Hard enough. It’s back across the provincial lines, which means we all need fake IDs.” Kaeden took the tablet. “She looks okay for now, but we need to move fast.”
“Then let’s go, Sarge.” Jackson got to his feet. “I’ll get the Hummer decked out and meet you around front in fifteen.”
“You heard the man.” Kaeden slid a reassuring arm around Dee’s shoulders. “We’ll need flak gear and as much ammo as you can pack. These guys are nasty.” He dropped a quick kiss on Dee’s forehead before turning her loose. “You too, darling. Your gear’s in my room where you left it.”
He turned to address the rest of the guys. “Let’s lock and load!”
* * *
“Is this really necessary? I feel like I’m naked, and that’s not very reassuring when we’re heading out on a mission.” Dee frowned at her reflection in the mirror.
