Riley slid her hand into the pigeonhole, her fingers sliding over cool metal. Her heart raced in her chest and she froze, almost knowing that Eden would turn and catch her in the act.
The smooth metal keys slid across the timber, and she stiffened. Eden’s head drooped, and Riley closed her hand around them slowly so they wouldn’t clink.
Come on. Come on.
She slowly drew her hand out, the ring of keys fisted in her palm. Each second felt like a year. Turning, she grabbed her bag, using her body to shield her hand as she slid the keys inside.
“I’m sorry, Riley. I’ll do what I can.” Finally, the other woman looked around and Riley nodded, slinging the bag over her shoulder.
“I just wish there was some other way,” Riley murmured.
“So do I.”
The door slammed open.
Lucius slowly opened his eyes, his legs folded and his hands resting on his knees. His chest still hurt like a son of a bitch, but the wounds had closed over, leaving nothing but the pale slickness of a new scar. It was inside that he wasn’t sure had healed completely. It hurt to cough, and his lungs felt like they’d shrunk a few inches.
“Well,” he drawled, his gaze lighting over McClain. “And here I was hoping to see the pretty face of your sweet little sister again.”
He almost glanced over McClain’s shoulder, but there was no one there. Not that he’d expected to see anyone else. They’d shoved him in the cage that morning, and apparently everyone had forgotten about him. So much for curious blondes.
“Not quite as sweet.” McClain’s teeth showed. It wasn’t a smile.
Lucius eyed him. “True. She’s all grown up, McClain. Tits and all.”
McClain didn’t take the bait. Instead, he paused in front of the cage, hands on his denim-clad hips, the black felt of his hat hauled down low over his eyes.
“Hiding something?” Lucius smiled. “If they only knew what they had in their midst….”
“Does it have to be this way?” McClain asked abruptly. “You’re not going to goad me into getting close enough. You might as well talk to me.”
“I’m not very interested in anything you have to say.” Slowly, Lucius closed his eyes.
“Not even if it’s got to do with a certain troublesome blonde?”
Lucius forced his body to relax. Taking a deep breath, he let it expand his lungs slowly. “No. I got what I wanted from her.”
Let McClain make of that what he willed. He’d have been able to smell Luc’s scent all over Riley when he rescued her, and seen the signs: the tang of sex, the graze of stubble that had left its mark on her dusky skin. She might want it to be their dirty little secret, but she hadn’t counted on McClain’s superior senses.
“Did you?” Instead of anger, the words were soft. Curious.
Lucius’s lashes opened; he couldn’t read the intent behind McClain’s words. And they pricked at him, as McClain had no doubt intended.
“You want me to describe what she was like?” Lucius mocked, sitting forward until his nose almost touched the silver-coated bars. His fists curled around them, the stink of burning flesh making his nostrils flinch. “How sweet she tasted? The noises she made?”
A flicker in those icy green eyes. He’d scored a hit, and the thought made him smile.
“I keep looking for something human inside you,” McClain said, staring at him long and hard. “But its not there. You’ve changed. You’re not the man I knew.”
“That man died. Got stabbed in the back by someone who was ‘s’posed to be watching it.” He smiled and went for blood. “So you watch your back now, McClain. And you make sure you sleep with one eye open....” He opened his hands, showed the silver burn along the inside of his palms. Most wargs couldn’t handle the feel of it, but he’d spent years in cages, slowly forcing himself to push past the pain. Not all of his warg life had been spent freely, and when the enforcers wanted to study you.... “This cage won’t hold me for long.”
McClain nodded slowly, before taking a step back. Not out of fear. Instead, a hard implacability filled his face. “So be it. I’m sorry it had to come to this, Luc.”
Lucius watched him hungrily. “I’m not. I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, to come face to face with you again.”
“And what about the settlement? These people need me.”
“I don’t give a shit.” He’d softened once, and look where that had gotten him. In this fucking cage, because of a woman who tempted parts of him that he hadn’t even realized still existed. He crushed that longing ruthlessly. The goal was clear. McClain was right in from of him. He just had to get at him. “I want you dead, McClain, and I won’t stop until one of us is down.”
McClain straightened. “I know.” His lips thinned. Something that looked like hope died in his eyes, replaced by resolve. “Tomorrow at dawn. I’ll give you the night to heal. Then you’ll get your chance at me.”
What? Lucius surged to his feet, grabbing the bars again. “You’ll meet me in the ring?” He’d expected a bullet to the back of the head. Hope swelled as bitter vengeance burned through his veins.
McClain turned on his heel, toward the door. “Just you and me, Luc. My knife, your claws. One survivor.”
“No rules,” he called softly.
“No rules,” McClain echoed.
Riley leaned back against the wall, tapping her palms restlessly against the stone as she peeked around the corner. She’d seen McClain go into the examination room. The keys were burning a hole in her bag, but she couldn’t do anything. Eden might find them missing soon, but with McClain and the two guards at the door she was useless.
Butterflies swarmed in her stomach, and she looked each way down the corridor, checking for witnesses, certain she’d be caught at any moment.
The door jerked open and she bounced back onto the balls of her feet as McClain’s voice echoed in the courtyard. The jingle of keys sounded as he locked the door, then he swore under his breath.
Riley shoved her hands into her jeans pockets to still them. With his heightened sense of smell, there was no point hiding. Stepping out into the courtyard, she waited for him to notice her.
McClain went still. “What are you doing here?”
She tipped her chin up, shrugged. “Eden said you were considering a reprieve. I wanted to know if that were true or not.” A lie, but she had to know.
A breathless moment.
His eyes hardened. “No. I’m not.” He turned and dead-locked the door, slipping the key into his pocket. “I intend to execute him, Riley. Tomorrow. At dawn.”
Then he pushed past, leaving her staring blindly at the door, guilt burning in her throat like bile.
She had to do something.
Now.
11
Staging a jailbreak was never going to be easy, so Riley had planned ahead. After she’d stolen Eden’s keys, she’d swung by McClain’s room for a few necessary items.
Taking the dart gun out of her bag, she raked her gaze across the windows of the main house to see if anyone was looking, then shot the guard in the back of the thigh. He grunted softly, his leg giving way beneath him.
McClain spun around, his eyes widening. “Riley!”
She bit her lip and pulled the trigger. “Sorry.”
The dart bloomed high on his chest. McClain winced and ripped it out. The guard fell at his feet, already out to the world.
White teeth gleamed as McClain bared them. “This is... twice.” His knees hit the stone.
Riley hurried to his side. He grabbed her leg, but the strength was going out of him.
“See? We’d kill each other within a week,” she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and easing him onto his back. His furious gaze locked on hers, and Riley softened. “Let me do this, Adam.” The first time she’d ever used his first name. Stroking his jaw, she watched those luminous eyes fluttering closed. His hat had fallen off. “For Lily. For me. For you. I know you don’t want to have to kill him. Let me
get him away. Solve all our problems.”
“He’s not... trustworthy.”
Riley laughed. “I know that, remember?”
“What about you...?”
Fingers caught her sleeve, then dropped. He was going under.
“I’m going with him,” she whispered. “I might come back when I can change his mind about this revenge scheme. I don't know.”
“No!”
She patted his shoulder, then dragged the bag over her own. It was full of supplies and ammunition. She’d hidden a shotgun near the stables, and borrowed the keys to one of the jeeps. Once McClain was down, there’d be no one to stop her.
“Riley.” The word was a whisper. McClain’s eyes shuttered closed, and his head lolled.
“Sorry,” she whispered, though he couldn’t hear her. “I truly am.” She straightened. “This is to save both your lives.”
It was short work to drag both him and the unconscious guard into one of the sheds that lined the courtyard. She eased them onto the hay, then wiped her hands on her jeans. Time for part two.
Undoing the top two buttons on her shirt, she took a calming breath, palmed the dart gun against her thigh, and then started walking around the corner as if she belonged there. The guard was on the balls of his feet. No doubt he’d heard McClain’s muffled words. Riley shot him her brightest smile and rolled her eyes. There was a piece of hay in her hair. Deliberately. She pretended to see it, then plucked it out with a gasp, her cheeks heating. “Sorry,” she murmured. “Didn’t think anyone was here.” Licking her lips, she added, “You didn’t hear anything, right?”
The soldier grinned. “Not a thing, ma’am.”
“Good.”
Riley lifted the dart gun and shot him in the arm. His eyes rolled up in his head and, with a muffled “Nghr,” he went down hard.
She caught him under the arms and staggered. They were definitely eating better here than at Haven.
She planted the unconscious guard in the garden, beneath the cumquat tree, then returned to the corridor. No sign of anyone. Her hands started shaking. This was actually working. Nobody would ever expect one of their own to break a warg out.
Dragging the keys out, she nearly dropped them in her rush. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. She didn’t know how long McClain would be out for. Who knew how fast a warg's metabolism burned?
“Come on,” she muttered.
Finding the right key took a few more moments. Then the lock clicked, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Slipping inside the lab, she pressed the door closed behind her, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light.
Wade leaned back against the cage bars, his torn black shirt protecting his skin from the silver. Inky black hair tangled over his forehead, and he rested one arm on his knee as though he were reclining at ease instead of trapped in a cage. The knee of his faded jeans was ripped, blood spattering the hem.
A hot look speared her, eyes blue in his tanned face. Then he closed them as if disinterested, letting his head fall back against the bars.
“Didn’t think you’d come,” he announced in a bored tone. “I thought visiting hours were over.”
“Stand up,” she snapped. He wasn’t wearing shoes. She hadn’t counted on that. “We have to get moving.”
Hurrying toward the cage, she snatched the cage keys off a metal hook and started rifling through them.
Wade watched her, understanding dawning on his face. A smile spread over his lips. “Does McClain know you’re here?”
“Technically, yes.” She jammed a key into the lock, but it was the wrong size. Trying again, she was rewarded with a triumphant click. Her eyes met Wade’s and she smiled in relief, starting to swing the door open.
He caught it with a tanned hand and snapped it shut. Ripping the keys from the lock, he threw them across the room.
Riley watched them land. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked, turning back to him.
His eyes closed and he leaned back against the bars, completely at ease. “Go back to your little room – or McClain’s, for all I care – and tuck yourself into bed. I don’t need rescuing. I’m exactly where I want to be.”
Her shoulders sank. “What do you mean?” Kneeling down, she grabbed his fingers. “He’s going to execute you tomorrow!”
“He’s going to get in the ring with me tomorrow.” A faint smile edged his lips. “He thinks he’s going to execute me.”
Tugging at his hand, Wade rested it on his thigh, just out of her reach.
Riley growled in frustration. “He might just do it, you know. What then?”
“I die. McClain lives.” A shrug.
Dumping the bag on the ground, she dragged a hand over her mouth. What the hell was she going to do? She was running out of time, and it wasn’t as though she could shoot him with the dart gun and drag him out of there. Wade had a good four inches on her, and the body beneath that tight black shirt was hard and lean, rippling with muscle.
“But I don’t plan on that outcome,” he added. “If it gives your mind any rest.”
“It doesn’t,” she snapped. “I don’t want to see him die either!”
That drew his attention. He blinked sleepily. “I see. Got a taste for danger now, have you?”
If he wasn’t in the cage, she’d have hit him. “Why do I bother?” she asked herself. “Stupid, arrogant men. This doesn’t have to be this way! I can get you out.”
“Why? So I only have to work out a way to get in again?”
This time, she did kick the bars.
Wade stilled, watching her through narrowed eyes. The thin slit of blue was almost glacial. “Go to bed, darlin’,” he said softly. “You don’t owe me anything. I’m where I want to be. This sees your end of our arrangement fulfilled. You did what I asked of you.”
“Damn it, I don’t want this.”
Wade’s eyes met hers, the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. The color almost reminded her of that pool of water, of the way the light had gleamed off it, off Wade’s naked skin.
Riley shook the thought away. A moment in time she wanted to forget. A moment she knew she never would. A shiver ran down her spine.
“Why?” His voice was hard and intense.
Wade uncurled his large body with liquid grace and rested his hands on the shiny, silver-coated bars of the warg cage. Resting his body weight on them, he stared down at her, as if daring her to tell him. His hot blue gaze scoured over her. It made her nipples tighten, her abdomen clench.
Her body knew that look. Recognized it. For a second, she was back in that pool, his mouth on her throat, his cock thrusting like hot steel within her. Wetness coated her panties. Damn him.
“Why don’t you want that?” His gaze raked her body, as if he knew exactly what was going through her mind. “Did I get to you, sweetheart? Or is it McClain?”
“You don’t know what I want,” she snapped.
A quick movement. Riley flung her hands up, but he’d reached through the cage, cupped the back of her skull in one warm hand. The grip was firm enough that she couldn’t tear loose. Wade stared at her for long seconds before his hand slowly relaxed, fingers stroking the sensitive skin of her nape.
“You don’t know what you want.”
Her cheeks went hot, her body limp. She almost swayed toward him, hypnotized by his gaze, by the soft promise in his voice. Riley shut her eyes, trying to break the connection. But it was there in the gentle caress against her neck, in the whisper of his breath, flushed and ragged.
In the thump of her heart.
“Yes, I do,” she whispered.
His other hand reached out, caressed her face. Long, steady strokes. So sure of themselves. So sure of her.
“Perhaps. Or perhaps you just don’t want to admit it,” he murmured.
His hands cupped her face. Slowly, he drew her toward him. Riley blinked, her hands coming up to grip the cage bars. She shook her head, but Wade’s grip was like steel.
“No,” she whispered.
The kiss was light enough to burn. Riley’s heart erupted in her ears, her body going liquid in his touch. Yes. He was right. She knew what she wanted, but everything she’d ever known said this was wrong.
But it felt so good. A groan strangled in her throat as she pressed against the bars, the hard steel grinding against her breasts. Wade’s touch deepened, his thumbs stroking her jaw as he kissed her with a lightness that made her gasp.
“Damn you.” She reached through the bars and grabbed his shirt. “Kiss me.”
Lifting on her toes, she opened her mouth to him. The cold bars left imprints in her cheeks, but she didn’t care. Wade’s mouth was hot, desperate, his hands firming on her face. She couldn’t stop herself from wanting more of this. And I tried... I did.
This was the last man she should want.
The last man she should need.
Her heart thumped a crazed rhythm against her ribs as she finally admitted the truth to herself. She was hopelessly infatuated with him, deliciously captivated. Even knowing there was no hope for them, she couldn’t help herself.
Her fists clenched in his shirt, her tongue dashing against his. Wade’s hand cupped her ass, pressing her hips and breasts against the bars. She still couldn’t get close enough.
A sob tore past her lips. She slid a hand into the inky blackness of his hair. “I don’t want to see you die,” she admitted breathlessly.
His fingers dug into the flesh of her ass. He pulled back, breathing hard. “Get the keys,” he growled.
Riley scurried after them, barely able to catch her breath. Tearing through them, she jammed the right one in the lock, and it clicked open. “Come on!” she said, grabbing the bag off the floor and heading to the door.
His hand caught her wrist, fingers wrapping around it. An insistent tug and Riley found herself reeled back into the steel cage of his arms. The bag fell from nerveless fingers as he curled a fist in her hair and yanked her head back, his lips capturing hers.
Riley’s eyes widened. No time! But he shoved her back against the cage, dragging her knee up around his hips. Hauling her up, he ground his hips between her thighs, locking her ankles behind his butt. Riley reached up, grabbing hold of the bars in surprise.
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