Captive of the Beast

by Lisa Renee Jones

  He wanted to tell her it was okay, to comfort her, but he couldn’t. Because it wasn’t okay; he wasn’t okay. The primal part of him was on the rise, too long without a battle or sex to sate its demands.

  “Laura will stop by later,” he said, grabbing his bag, zipping it and heading for the door. He couldn’t look back. Because if he did, he feared she would see the darkness in him, of him, all around him.

  Lucan exited the elevator on Carol’s floor, which was two stories above Kresley’s, having barely pulled himself under any semblance of control. But Kresley was right. He had a purpose. That purpose included completing this assignment and getting her, and the others, off this god-forsaken island. He rounded the corner and was about to turn down the corridor leading to Carol’s door when he heard male voices; he pulled back and hesitated. Standing in front of Carol’s door were two familiar, dark-haired males—the twins, Jacob and Jared. She stood in a robe that hung open in the front, the bare skin a telltale sign she was naked beneath. “See you tonight, guys,” she said a second before the door shut.

  Lucan stayed in his position and waited as the twins approached. They rounded the corner, each a good six feet tall, but Lucan still towered over them as he stepped in front of them.

  “Hello, boys,” he said, inventorying who was who based on their attire from the morning’s blood drawing. To his right, in a red, short-sleeved T-shirt and light blue jeans, stood Jacob. To his left, in a black T-shirt and black jeans, stood Jared. “Guess we were all worried about Carol.”

  Jared lowered his eyebrows. “Worried? Worried why?”

  Lucan patted the medical bag on his shoulder. “The flu bug. Came to give her some antiviral drugs.”

  Jacob laughed. “Carol?” he asked. “She’s not any more sick than we are.”

  “Really?” Lucan said. “I must have misunderstood. I guess it was just Blake and Kresley who got unlucky.”

  Jacob cast Jared a sideways look that Lucan didn’t miss—a look that indicated they had a secret they didn’t want to share. “Maybe she just recovered fast,” Jacob finally said.

  Lucan studied them a moment, determining that he saw no beastly influence. They seemed more like two young men planning mischief without a lot of practice at pulling it off well. “I’ll check in on Carol just to be safe. You boys take it easy.” They murmured a reply as Lucan sidestepped the two of them and started down the hall.

  Lucan stopped at the door and knocked. No reply. He knocked again. Reaching in his pocket, he retrieved the key Laura had given him and then paused, flipping the key between his fingers over and over, thinking, considering. He put it back in his pocket. He didn’t want Carol to know they were onto her.

  Watching her would be a good distraction from his own hell. Let Carol make her next move. And then he’d make his.

  Chapter 15

  The desire Rinehart felt for his mate was automatic, the respect she had earned from him this day was not.

  Telling Laura the true nature of his duty—to protect her, but also to protect humanity from her ending up in the wrong hands—had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. She’d taken the news with amazing resilience, determined to save her patients, working tirelessly to prepare the supplies needed to ensure their safe escape. But he’d watched her work twelve hours straight with no break, leaving her lunch untouched. Enough was enough.

  Rinehart headed for the mess-hall door with his bag of food, planning to insist that Laura take a few minutes to eat. He wanted her to accompany him to the picnic area behind the building where they could discuss her progress while they ate. It would take some prodding to get her out of the lab, but he planned to play on her logical side to convince her. If she collapsed, she wouldn’t be helping the people she cared about.

  He quickened his steps as he approached the dining room exit, finding himself driven by a sense of urgency, a need to get back to Laura’s side. He reassured himself everything was fine, reminding himself that he’d left Rock to watch over her. But he came to an abrupt halt as two soldiers stepped in front of him. “Walch wants to see you.”

  “Don’t suppose he’d wait until I’ve finished my dinner?” He received blank looks in return. “No. Didn’t think so.”

  As expected, Rinehart found himself being led to Walch’s office. Walch sat behind his desk, the facade of the dutiful officer, a disgrace to the military uniform he hid beneath. Rinehart claimed the visitor’s seat before Walch could have the pleasure of ordering him to sit.

  “I see I interrupted your dinner,” Walch commented drily, indicating the bag of food.

  Rinehart regarded him with boredom and set the bag on his desk—an intentional sign of disrespect. “I assumed you would have a good reason.” He laced the words with sarcasm.

  Walch clenched and unclenched his jaw, then, without warning, leaned forward, and shoved the bag off his desk. Rinehart could barely contain his laughter as he watched Walch’s lack of control, but he schooled his features into that of the obedient soldier.

  Walch fixed Rinehart in a glare meant to intimidate before settling back in his chair and adjusting his army-issue tie, exceedingly pleased with himself. “Now then,” he drawled. “Where were we? Ah, yes. I’m quite sure you’ve noticed our technical difficulties since your arrival.” Walch reached for a remote on his desk and hit a button. A television to his left clicked on; a view of Laura filled the screen. She was leaning over a microscope at her lab table. Rinehart pretended indifference despite the punch of fear in his gut for her safety. Walch continued, “We’ve managed to restore video and all of the other functions. But oddly enough, we can’t keep the audio online.” A pause obviously meant for effect. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, now, would you?”

  Of course, Rinehart knew the audio was still screwed up, and it would stay that way. Max had random scrambling going on throughout the building to detract from the few safe zones they’d established.

  “I know I’ve spent the day on the backup generators in that lab trying to create miracles.” Rinehart smirked. “So if your army techs can’t get the job done, perhaps one of my men should take a look.”

  Walch leaned back in his chair, his expression mocking. “I think you and your men have done quite enough in that venue for now.” With his elbows resting on his chair, he steepled his fingers together in front of him. “And after tomorrow, I doubt the audio will be much of a concern.” He leaned forward slightly. “See, Mr. Rinehart, I’ve managed to recover enough video to be quite impressed with your expedient actions to bed our little doctor, and I’ve decided to maximize your potential.”

  Rinehart steeled himself for what was to come, certain he wasn’t going to like it. He didn’t hide his irritation, which felt more than appropriate in this game of cat and mouse that Walch continued to play. “My dinner is getting cold,” he said sharply. “Get to the point, Walch.”

  Walch’s expression turned to a satisfied twitch of his lips. “Rather than take a wait-and-see approach on this project, I’ve decided I require insurance. Since the doctor isn’t motivated by the simple greed that seems to serve you so effectively, Mr. Rinehart, I’ll be meeting with her in the morning and providing her with a different kind of motivation.” His eyes lit with malice. “I imagine she will be quite rattled when I’m done with her, so please, feel free to tend to her wounds.” He leaned forward, fingers laced on the desk before him. “A ‘good cop, bad cop’ type scenario. I’m sure you get the picture. After we’ve both done our part, I expect our cloning program to be kicked into high-octane production.”

  Somehow, Rinehart kept from leaning across that desk and yanking Walch over it. Somehow, he came off mildly amused. “As enjoyable as licking Laura’s wounds might be,” he drawled, “I would be far more effective if you actually gave me a clue about what you have planned.”

  “I’m simply offering her ways to protect the patients she adores so much.”

  “Threatening them,” Rinehart said flatly.
/>   “Threats are for people who are afraid to act,” Walch said. “I’m not afraid.”

  Instant anger rushed at Rinehart, his protectiveness for Laura affecting more than the man in him. His dark side flared, already far too close to the surface. It clawed at him, raged with insistence that he act against Walch. With every ounce of will he possessed, he reined in his Beast, finding his control. Somehow he pressed onward, coolly composed on the outside. “Your inability to stick to one plan for more than twenty-four hours makes me nervous. Not to mention this new plan of yours requires more effort on my part. I’m going to require some insurance of my own, as well. Half my bonus, up front.”

  Walch sat up, his back stiff. “Did you forget so quickly, Mr. Rinehart, the pain I can cause your men?”

  Rinehart quirked a brow. “Did you forget how easily I’ve managed to influence Laura?”

  “She’ll cooperate regardless,” he countered. “To save her patients.”

  “Or she’ll make you think she is, while that brilliant mind of hers plots against you.”

  Walch’s eyes flashed red—his control over his primal side seemed limited at best. Seconds passed as Knight and Beast sat in silent standoff. “You’ll get your money by morning,” Walch growled between his teeth. “But if you cross me this time, I’ll kill you.”

  Rinehart smiled and pushed to his feet, looming over Walch as he stared down at him. “You’re welcome to try.” With those words, he turned and left, a slow saunter that said he felt no fear, his mind already on Laura.

  He had promised Laura dinner, and she was going to get it—and not let it sit on her desk and get cold.

  They would eat together on the beach. Only now, that shared meal wouldn’t be about taking a break. It would be about him warning her about the hell to come the next morning. He would make sure Walch found his version of hell, too, before this was over.

  Oh, yeah, Walch. Please. Try and kill me.

  When they were alone in the lab, the evening hours crept forward far too quickly, with so little time left until their departure. Even so, Laura took the time to look through the microscope at the same specimen for a fifth time, amazed at what she saw. She blinked. Blinked again, and smiled despite the hellish threats surrounding her every move, because she’d found a very good reason to be positive.

  Rinehart’s voice sounded outside the door as he exchanged words with Rock, her resident watchdog per his directions. Rinehart acted as if someone might come in and steal her away. Unfortunately, her nerves said they just might.

  Laura pushed to her feet a moment before the door opened, anxious to share her discovery with Rinehart, excited in a way that completely defied their circumstances.

  “You won’t believe what I found,” she said as he crossed the room. The scent of food floated from the bag he held, awakening a rumble in her stomach that she quickly dismissed for more important matters.

  “You’re smiling,” he said, surprised. He stopped in front of the lab table and scrutinized her. “And beautiful.”

  Despite herself, the warmth and sincerity in his expression had her blushing, her lashes fluttering and lifting. The look he gave her was tender, adoring, but without an ounce of lusty male intrusion. It was dumb-founding, considering her lipstick had long ago worn off and she was completely exhausted.

  “Thank you,” she said, feeling out-of-character shyness.

  He didn’t instantly respond, but stood there in all his male perfection, regarding her as if she were some sort of hidden jewel he’d found. What woman wouldn’t be flattered? He was gorgeous. Sexy. Protective. She had needed none of those things, but yet, here and now, she wanted them all, and more.

  “Tell me what has you so excited over dinner,” he said, closing the distance between them. The heat of his body lanced through the numbing tiredness in her limbs. “We’ll sit on the beach and eat.”

  “I can’t leave, but I—”

  The bag settled on the lab table a second before his fingers slid into her hair, his mouth slanting over hers in a passionate kiss. When it was over, he stared down at her. “I want to hear what you have to say, but I really need you to go outside with me.”

  Her hands went to his, her need to share her news too great to contain. “Okay, but I have to tell you this. The twins. I had Lucan run some tests. We combined their blood with a variety of viruses. Rinehart, it killed the virus every time.”

  He leaned back a bit to look more fully into her face. “Are you saying they hold the cure to these viruses?”

  “Yes! Isn’t it wonderful?” Her mind was racing. “Hypothetically, each twin’s strength must be connected to his immune system.”

  His thumbs stroked her cheeks. “You really love this stuff, don’t you? The science. The lab. The discovery.”

  She considered that for a moment. “The discovery, yes. I like finding answers for people. I like changing lives for the better. I had no choice but to embrace science to make that happen. Life made that choice for me.”

  He seemed to digest that with something that felt oddly like tenderness, though she couldn’t say why the subject matter would provoke such a feeling. Amazement, excitement, yes. But tenderness? Regardless of how misplaced that tenderness seemed, Laura found herself responding, found her heart squeeze with emotion. It was truly wonderful to share her excitement and her work with someone, but also terrifying and unfamiliar. Had the circumstances created such openness or had he?

  “Let’s continue this conversation outside while we eat,” Rinehart urged.

  Suddenly, the idea of escaping the continual surveillance seemed more than appealing, it felt necessary. There was a concern, however, that she couldn’t quite discount. And that was the menace she’d sensed the night before. She opened her mouth to say as much, but didn’t have to. Rinehart seemed to have picked up on her concerns. “We’ll stay close to the building, but not so close—” he said, sliding a wayward lock of her dark hair behind her ear “—that I don’t have you to myself.”

  The fire in his eyes left no doubt he, indeed, wanted her to himself, but there was another message there, too. One that spoke of a need for privacy that they wouldn’t find anywhere in the building.

  Privacy would never truly be theirs while they were on this island, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there would be a time or a place where they might find it in the future. A place without Walch and the Beasts.

  In sweats, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes, Kresley wobbled toward the front door of the building, her body weak from her illness, her stomach queasy. But dang it, Blake had insisted he had an emergency and had to see her outside, so what could she do? She climbed out of bed and hiked outside, praying she didn’t run into Lucan again when she was looking like death warmed over. Or maybe hoping she would run into him. She couldn’t get him off her mind.

  Distancing her thoughts from the steamy new addition to the island, Kresley reminded herself of her real reason for dragging herself out of bed. Blake tended toward the extreme, but he’d mentioned Laura, and that was enough to get her attention. She opened the front door of the building and paused on the top steps leading down to the beach. “It took you long enough.” Kresley jumped and let out a little yelp at the sound of Blake’s voice as he materialized beside her.

  “I told you to stop doing that to me!”

  “You knew I’d be here.”

  She shoved her hands to her hips. “So be here. Don’t be invisible.” Dizziness made her head spin, “Ugh. I feel…not so good.” She sat down on the step and glanced up at Blake. “And you don’t look so good yourself. Why are we out here?”

  “I—” He hesitated and claimed the spot beside her. “Sorry, Kres. I’m just worried. Everything is going wrong.” He studied her. “Are you okay?”

  Kresley pressed her hand to her throbbing head and rested her elbow on her thigh. “I’d be better if you told me what was going on. Then maybe I can go sleep in peace.”

  Blake grimaced. “Laura is out on the beach with Ri
nehart.” He grumbled something else under his breath, and then added more clearly, “I don’t trust him or any of his people.”

  “I like Rinehart,” Kresley countered. And Lucan, too, but that was an entirely different matter, better left untouched. “I like that Laura likes him even more. She hasn’t had a man in her life in forever, since she began taking care of us. Don’t blow this for her, Blake, or I swear I’ll singe your brows and make you look like a freak so you’ll never find a woman.”

  He rotated around to face her and blurted, “I heard two of Rinehart’s men say they are planning to take us off the island.”

  “What?” Kresley was a bit surprised by that news, but since she and Laura had talked about taking a trip off the island, it didn’t seem so odd. “You told Laura this?” He nodded. “And she said what?”

  “She said…” He narrowed his gaze over her shoulder, looking into the distance.

  Kresley turned to see what had caught his attention. She frowned as she noted two male figures walking toward the woods. “Is that Jacob and Jared out there? And Carol?”

  Blake stood up. “Yeah, it is.” He gave her a pointed stare. “I’m telling you, Kresley,” he said. “Something is going on and we’re the only ones who don’t know what it is. You go to bed. I’m going to find out what’s happening.” He faded to invisible.

  She grabbed where she thought his arm was and latched on. “Not without me.”

  Blake grimaced. “Fine.” He grabbed her hand. “But hurry up.”

  Keeping step with each other, they ran down the stairs. Kresley’s stomach protested with each jolting move, but she kept pushing herself. What Blake had said about something being wrong—deep down she knew it was true. That was why she’d melted down with Laura and Rinehart the night before. She’d felt the trouble but couldn’t identify the cause. She’d blamed it on being sick, but there was more to it.

  They started across the sand in a rush and entered the edge of the woods. With light steps they followed the path they’d seen the others take, and a clearing came into view. Then they saw Jacob and Jared, who were standing in front of two gorgeous twin females. Blake grabbed Kresley’s arm and pulled her behind several large rocks.