Mercenaries

by Anne Kane

  Trace raised her hand to his lips, teasing the center of her palm with the tip of his tongue. Waggling his eyebrows he gave her the sexiest grin she’d ever seen. “I can’t wait to see your little clearing.”

  * * *

  “So what do you think?” Winter swept her arm in a wide arc to encompass the entire clearing.

  Trace gave the forest glade the briefest of glances. “It’s everything you said, but not nearly as lovely as the woman at my side.”

  Pulling her into his embrace, he reclaimed her lips, giving her the kind of kiss a man gives a woman when he intends to make sure she is supremely satisfied with him. It involved lips and tongue and a lot of passion. He might not be the most cultured guy around but he did what he did with enthusiasm.

  Winter surprised him by taking over the kiss, winding her arms around his neck and sliding her tongue along the side of his in an erotic duel that set his blood on fire. She kissed him with a fierce intensity that took his breath away. He’d never met a woman so honest about her sexuality before, one who was comfortable making the first move and asking for what she wanted. He felt a strange sense of connection to her, had since he’d first seen her earlier this evening. There was something about the way she carried herself, the self-confident way she strode amongst her sisters, that touched a chord somewhere deep inside him.

  Hell, maybe he had a heart after all. Wouldn’t that surprise the guys!

  He felt her hands go to the waist of his jeans, fumbling with the buckle on his belt, and he suddenly found it hard to think about much of anything except how very much he wanted the woman in his arms.

  Winter made short work of both the belt and the fastenings on his jeans, and then her fingers touched his shaft, exploring the length before pulling it free of his underwear and cupping his balls.

  Damn, she definitely wasn’t shy.

  He pushed her shirt up, not surprised to find that she didn’t wear a bra. Her breasts were small and pert, the nipples tilted up to the sky. They fit in his hands just perfectly, and the feel of her naked skin against his palms sent a curl of lustful heat right through him.

  She let go of him long enough to pull the shirt over her head and throw it carelessly to the ground, and he took advantage of the time to rid himself of the rest of his clothes. He didn’t intend this to be one of those hurried encounters where both participants kept half their clothing on in anticipation of a quick departure. Hell no. When he was done with Winter she wouldn’t forget him come morning.

  Winter sucked in an audible breath as the metal zipper on his pants clanked noisily against a rock on the ground. Her gaze locked on his groin and he felt himself grow even larger under her eager scrutiny.

  “Damn, you are one fine specimen of a man.” A single step brought her to his side and then she was touching him everywhere. His chest. His hips. His buttocks. She wrapped her thumb and forefinger around his cock and traced its length.

  Trace let out a breath he hadn’t been aware of holding. He wasn’t going to last long if she kept this up. Grasping her hands, he pulled them up to rest on his chest, while he lowered his head to suck in one delightfully pink nipple. Scooping her up in his arms, he laid her gently on the moss-covered ground.

  The earthy damp moss and rocks vied with Winter’s unique scent to tease Trace’s highly developed sense of smell. He inhaled deeply, his eyes closed as he stored her scent away for future reference. One of the upsides to all the experimental DNA spliced into his was an almost canine ability to recognize people by smell. He’d know Winter anywhere.

  She shivered delicately in his arms. She felt small in his embrace, small and very curvy. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Winter was all woman.

  “Trace?” Her voice came out a husky whisper.

  “Yeah?”

  “You going to just lay there all night or are you going to make love to me?”

  He felt a hint of a smile curve his lips, and he lowered his head with slow deliberation until his lips hovered right beside her ear.

  “I’m going to make love to you until you beg me to stop, darling, and then I’m going to make love to some more.”

  “Good.” She wrapped her arms around him, scoring her fingernails down his back in a slow sensuous tease. “‘Because right now I need me some loving real bad.”

  Trace slid his hand down across her belly to cup her mound. He could feel the wet heat emanating from her sex. She was ready for him, more than ready. Shifting positions, he straddled her hips, resting his weight on his forearms. Reaching down between them, he parted the soft folds guarding the entrance to her sex and positioned himself to enter.

  Brushing the hair away from her face, he stared down into her gorgeous eyes. They were the color of new leaves on a tree in the spring, and right now they were glazed with lust. He felt so incredibly powerful and yet at the same time so very humble. She didn’t even know him, but here she lay trembling beneath him, trusting him with her very being. “I have no idea what I did to deserve you, but I’m thankful to whatever quirk of fate led you to me tonight. You are so beautiful.”

  He kept his gaze locked on her and gave one powerful thrust of his hips, burying himself balls deep in her slick heat. Her tight sheath surrounded him immediately, gripping him, making him feel welcome. “I intend to make you so happy you’ll keep coming back for more.”

  A mischievous twinkle shone through the heat in her eyes. “Give it your best shot, mercenary.”

  Heat flared through him, dark and edgy. He’d never felt like this before with any female -- this burning lust, this aching desire. He rotated his hips, grinding himself deeper inside her delicious warmth. “You got it, darling!”

  “You’re so damn big,” she whispered softly. “I can feel every inch of that cock of yours.”

  “It’s all for you.” Trace circled his hips in a slow tease. Lust flared along every nerve, building up speed as erotic heat gathered deep inside him, urging him to move ever faster. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to slow down. He wanted this first time to be one of many, and rushing it wasn’t going to help his case.

  Winter matched him thrust for thrust, her inner walls gripping at him with every stroke. She let out a choked scream, signaling the start of her orgasm. Her sex clamped down hard on his shaft, and he thrust one last time as his own orgasm swept over him, carrying him along in a tidal wave of feeling more intense than anything he’d ever experienced.

  Rolling to his side, he collapsed beside her, too spent to hold himself up. He wrapped his warm arms around her, holding her close. She murmured softly, but he couldn’t make out the words. It didn’t matter. She sounded satisfied.

  He didn’t know how to describe how he felt about Winter. It had been a long time since he’d bothered to care if he’d satisfied his partner.

  Of course, once she learned the truth about him, she’d probably run screaming for the city guards.

  Chapter Two

  Present Day

  Trace watched the way Kalie leaned into Shotgun, as if she could actually draw tangible support from physical contact with the big sniper. A sharp pang of jealousy pierced him. He wanted that. Wanted a woman to lean into him like he was the very center of her existence. If he were totally honest with himself, he wanted Winter to look at him the way Kalie looked at Shotgun, as if he were the center of her universe.

  Unfortunately for him, he was too damaged, too warped by the animal DNA the Government had spliced into his own to ever find that kind of acceptance from a woman.

  “We really need your help to find her.” Kalie’s voice quivered just enough to tug at his heartstrings. She really cared about her adopted sister.

  “Please.” Shotgun gave him one of those brother-in-arms looks guaranteed to make him feel guilty if he even considered saying no.

  Trace let out an audible sigh. “So tell me the whole story. I met Winter at that pit party you dragged us to.” He had no intention of relating the details of that meeting. “She looked quite capable
of taking care of herself, so why are you worried about her dropping out of sight for a day or two? Maybe she met some guy and is shacked up with him across the city. Maybe she’s having too much fun and doesn’t want to be found.” He felt his heart contract at the thought of Winter letting some other guy touch her, laugh with her, make love to her.

  Kalie shook her head. “Winter would never do that. None of my sister friends would just leave without telling us where she was going. She’s in trouble, and we need to find her.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the wrist-mounted com-devices that Jackson had fashioned for them all. “She took this off. Why would she do that if she were just going away for a day or two? Something is very wrong.” She let the device dangle from one finger as she chewed on her bottom lip, looking down so that she didn’t have to meet his gaze.

  Ah, there was more. Trace waited patiently for her to decide to tell him the rest of the story. Kalie might be the love of Shotgun’s life, but she was a terrible liar.

  Shotgun gently rubbed her shoulders and Kalie growled impatiently. “Fine. She did leave without telling us, which probably means she doesn’t want us to find her, especially since she left her com unit behind, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t in trouble. Just the opposite, in fact. The only reason she’d leave the com unit behind is because she doesn’t want us to find her, and that means she thinks finding her will put us in danger. Something’s off. I can just tell. Shotgun says you can track down anybody, especially if you have something of theirs. Please, won’t you help us find her? If she really doesn’t want us, then we’ll back off. I just want to know she’s okay.”

  The concern in her voice was real and Trace felt a rush of adrenaline flood his system. He had a very real interest in making sure Winter didn’t disappear forever into some black hole the Alliance conveniently forgot to close.

  He’d fallen irrevocably in love with the elusive woman. After a lifetime of meaningless one-night stands, with women he could barely remember the next day, that brief encounter with Winter at the gravel pit had changed his life forever. He could remember not only her name, but every inch of her delightfully sexy body. He’d been keeping an eye on her from a distance ever since. He knew he should leave her alone, let her find someone normal that she could settle down and be happy with, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to forget about her.

  It would be damned inconvenient if she weren’t around for him to stalk.

  “Do you have any idea why she left, or where she was going?”

  Kalie shook her head. “No idea at all.”

  “Doesn’t really matter.” Although the information would have come in handy when he found her. “I need an item that’s been close to her, preferably skin close.”

  “Here. Shotgun said this would work.” Kalie thrust out her hand, passing him what looked like a pile of material.

  He took it and felt an immediate jolt of recognition. Lingerie. Kalie had just handed him one of the most intimate pieces of Winter’s clothing, unaware of what it would convey to him.

  He schooled his features to their usual impassive state, doing his best to hide the brief flash of possessiveness he’d felt.

  Shotgun lifted one brow, his face dead serious. “So? Do you think you can find her?”

  Trace nodded, his mind far away, his senses greedily soaking up the information contained in the fabric. His senses flared out of their own accord, seeking the woman whose persona permeated the thin silken garment.

  He knew her. Knew her intimately, and now he’d been given carte blanche to find her. What her friend Kalie didn’t know was that when he found her, she’d never get away again. He’d let her go once, kept a discreet distance away so she could have a chance at a normal life without him. He didn’t think it would be possible to let her go again.

  “Now what do we do?” Kalie looked at him expectantly.

  “We?” Trace blinked, the question breaking into his trance. “We don’t do anything. I do.”

  Kalie twisted her neck, frowning up at Shotgun. “What does he mean?”

  Shotgun put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing soothingly. “That’s how it works. He goes off alone and hopefully when he comes back he has your friend with him. Trust me. If anyone can find Winter, Trace can, but you need to let him do it his way.”

  Trace stood still, watching as Kalie looked from him to her Shotgun. He could see the struggle going on in her expressive countenance, but eventually he saw the acceptance on her face. She nodded slowly. He could tell she wasn’t really happy, but then he didn’t really care if he made his buddy’s girl happy. All he cared about was finding the woman who’d been haunting his dreams since the moment he’d met her.

  Closing his eyes, he blocked everything but Winter from his senses. He drew on the energy trapped in the lingerie and remembered the feel of her in his arms that one night when they’d made love.

  She’d called it a one-night stand, but then she didn’t know Trace. That night had been anything but a one-night stand.

  There! He could sense her presence, faint at first but growing stronger as he concentrated, isolating it from everything else. A slow smile curved his lips.

  He had her.

  * * *

  Winter hunkered down in the corner of the tavern, keeping a wary eye on the rest of the patrons. Being alone wasn’t a new experience for her but this was different. For the first time since she’d escaped from the lab she’d cut herself off from her sisters. She couldn’t risk the big mercenary she’d slept with that night in the gravel pit finding out about her condition, at least not until she’d decided what she was going to do about it.

  “You want something else?” The barmaid barely glanced at her as she headed to the bar. Tips would be a whole lot more forthcoming from the rowdy groups of men on the far side of the room.

  “No thank you.” Winter gave her a polite smile. Slinging drinks in a dive like this wasn’t the easiest way to make a living.

  “Okay.” The woman glanced at Winter’s almost empty mug of ale, a briefly sympathetic look on her face. “The boss doesn’t like people to stay if they’re not drinking. You might want to nurse that if you don’t want to get thrown out in the cold.”

  “Thanks. I will.” Winter pulled her coat tighter around her, shivering at the thought of going back out into the dark night. Soon, but not yet.

  The barmaid turned on her heels and headed across the room.

  A chill of premonition ran down her spine. What the hell? The door opened, and her gaze went automatically to the man who entered.

  No! Trace. How could he have possibly found her? She knew his buddies bragged about his ability to track down just about anyone at any time, but she’d been very careful. She’d left no indication of where she was going, in fact, she’d left in the middle of the night without even saying good bye to her sisters, and she’d left that damn com-unit behind despite the fact that she felt naked and vulnerable without it. Amazing how quickly she’d come to rely on the instant connection to all of her sisters.

  Trace swung his head in her direction as if he knew exactly where she was, pinning her with a glare from his dark eyes.

  Silence reigned as all eyes went to the new arrival. He ignored everyone but Winter, pulling his gloves off as he stalked toward her little corner of the pub.

  Conversation resumed, although much quieter than it had been. Seems she wasn’t the only one who felt the anger emanating from the big mercenary. He stopped in front of her table, staring down at her without saying a word.

  “Hi?” Well what the heck did he expect? Not like she’d invited him to come visit her, far from it. She’d made it very clear she wanted nothing more than a single night with him.

  He turned to the barkeeper. “Bring me a pitcher of ale, and something with meat in it.” Pulling out the chair opposite her, he plunked himself down. “So you want to tell me what the hell you think you’re doing?”

  Winter blinked. “I beg your pardon?”


  “Why did you just up and disappear without telling any of your sisters where you were going? They’re worried about you, you know, and you know why.”

  Winter felt a brief twinge of guilt. It hadn’t occurred to her that they might think the Alliance goons had managed to capture her. She hadn’t really thought the whole thing through at all, she’d just realized how badly she’d screwed up and she’d run as far away as she could. She thought she’d done a good job of covering up her tracks but apparently she’d been wrong.

  “So how did you manage to find me?”

  He shrugged. “It’s what I do. Find people. Or things. But mostly people.”

  Well, so much for the fond illusion that maybe she actually meant something to him. Thank goodness he didn’t know what had made her run in the first place. The last thing she needed right now was some bad-assed guy thinking he had any right to decide what she should do. Lying would be necessary to extricate herself from this situation. Luckily that was the one thing she was very good at.

  “I just wanted out. I’m tired of running and hiding and worrying about getting caught. I want to live a normal life and that’s not possible in an Alliance-run town.”

  Trace looked around the bar room, his gaze lingering on the unsavory characters swilling down the local brew. “Yeah. This looks like a big improvement. I can see the attraction.”

  Winter felt a smile tug the corner of her mouth. Damn. The guy had an annoying habit of knowing exactly how to get through the wall of ice she’d erected around herself. “It has its good points.”

  The bartender reappeared and plunked a jug of beer on the table, slopping the contents over the edge before putting two mugs on the table. Glaring at them as if they somehow were inconveniencing him, he held out his hand. Trace slapped some cred-chips in it, fixing the man with one of his icy glares. “We don’t want to be disturbed.”

  The man pocketed the coins, grunting an unintelligible answer before retreating to his bar. Trace’s attention returned to her. “So these good points, are we talking about the ambiance or the cheerful serving staff?”