Atonement: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book One)

by Morgan Kelley

  Dakota generally wasn’t gentle.

  This was no different. He held her hands above her head, pinned to the pillows as his lower body destroyed her control. She never looked away from his eyes.

  They stayed locked together, the mating tying them as one.

  “Mine,” he said, picking up the pace.

  She came on that one word, and he didn’t offer her anywhere to retreat.

  Dakota took what was his.

  Dakota owned their relationship.

  As he drove into that heat, that wet warmth that he craved, he knew this was right.

  She was his.

  “OH GOD!” she hissed, her body bowing beneath his as another orgasm ripped through her.

  “More,” he insisted, the perspiration beading on his brow. He wasn’t going to cum until he couldn’t hold on anymore. In the meantime, he was focused on her body, her reaction, and her begging for release.

  Dakota kept moving, repeatedly finding his way home. As the sexy redhead whispered his name over and over, he did the same.

  “My love.”

  It made her heart quiver.

  She was being claimed.

  She was his.

  “Dakota, I can’t,” she begged, her whole body shaking from the pleasure.

  “You can and will,” he whispered, his mouth now close to her ear as his hips destroyed any walls between them.

  They were one.

  Her body sung in pleasure as he held her hands above her head with his one larger one. With his free one, he slid it down her torso, caressing her flesh.

  Then he let his nails do the talking, as he scraped her sensitive skin.

  She tumbled again, and still, he wasn’t done.

  Pulling free of her body, he tugged her to her knees and pulled her to his torso. He left kisses across her shoulders and neck.

  She smelled like Heaven.

  Sarah felt like sin.

  He loved her.

  Driving himself back into her body from behind, he kept her trapped against him as his lower body did all the work.

  “Dakota,” she whispered, as he drove himself into her so hard she bowed against him.

  “I love you,” he vowed. “I’ll love you until my dying day on this Earth.”

  She shook, her one hand finding his thigh and the other going into his hair to hold on.

  “I love you too,” she promised. “You’ve always been the one.”

  And now he saw that.

  It changed everything.

  His tempo increased as the need was driving him to the edge. He’d pummeled her body with so much pleasure, and now it was time to take more.

  With his fingers, he pushed her toward the edge, teasing her to the final fall.

  “Oh GOD!” she shouted, again, as he drove into her one last time. That push past the eruption of her muscles pulled his own orgasm from him.

  They fell.

  Her name on his lips.

  His on hers.

  They ended up on the bed, her body protectively housed in the frame of his. Dakota was still buried in her.

  He never wanted to be free.

  Slowly, their breathing returned to normal, and his hands began stroking her bare flesh.

  Then he focused on the ring.

  Yeah, it was always meant to be hers.

  “So, will you marry me?”

  She laughed.

  “Uh, yes. It’s about damn time, Dak.”

  Oh, he was aware.

  “I’m sorry I made you wait. I’m a slow mover,” he admitted.

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

  He laughed. “Uh huh.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Dakota. You got there. It’s about the journey, not the destination.”

  Yeah, he was damn lucky.

  “I want you to have a big wedding.”

  She glanced over her shoulder.

  “All I want is you. That’s what makes me happiest.”

  He was so damn lucky to have her.

  “Baby, you can have anything you want.”

  “Does this mean you aren’t leaving when it’s done?” she asked, trying not to sound afraid.

  “No, we’re staying. New Orleans is a pretty city. I think I could get used to it.”

  “Really?”

  “Well?”

  She stopped moving. “What?”

  “It’s going to take a lot of women to convince me.”

  “A lot of women?” she asked, trying not to freak out.

  “Bunny, Trixie, and Sarah are going to be damn busy the rest of our lives.”

  She started laughing.

  There was that relief.

  Softly, he whispered in her ear. “There will only ever be you, Sarah Jessica Valley. Only you.”

  Sarah couldn’t be happier as she cuddled against her fiancé. Her goal was in sight. She was going to be married.

  To the man of her dreams.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Harrington

  Manor

  When he went to transfer the money to pay the man he’d hired, he saw that her account was empty. In fact, everything out of that shared account was gone. She hadn’t left a penny behind.

  It pissed him off.

  His Stella never behaved like this before she met that filthy Indian. Was she spoiled, yes, but she always focused on her career and whatever she was told to do.

  Now everything had changed.

  Why?

  HE came into her life.

  Well, that was going to end.

  He was going to make sure that he handled the situation, and fast.

  Oh, there was only one thing that could be done, and it was going to involve one Native man going away.

  For good.

  Oh, he was definitely going to fix this. He was going to kill that Indian, and maybe strangle his daughter too.

  That last part was still up in the air.

  If she lived, she’d have to make a change.

  A big one.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Tuesday Late

  Night

  After nearly being caught on the boat, he was safely back at his hideout, ready to finish up business.

  There were things to handle, and word from his ‘associates’ was that there was a new big spender in town. His acquaintances from the boat had spoken to them.

  Well, he was going to make sure he hooked up with him to get more money into his retirement fund.

  One had to save for a rainy day.

  It wasn’t like they had a four-oh-one plan for the criminal element.

  For now, it was about the last girl he had stashed away. She’d been battered, broken, and basically trained.

  Plus, he’d shot her up with enough coke to make sure she was…agreeable. After being drugged the last few days, after her mother’s death, he was actually doing her a favor.

  In the haze, she wouldn’t think about it.

  While he hated killing the woman, she wouldn’t have brought them any money. She was used up.

  Besides…

  His partner was running this one. He was just there to utilize the situation, make a quick buck, and scope out future endeavors.

  When he got off the phone, he hunted down the ‘BOSS’ running the show. He wasn’t going to question anything. They’d already made nine million in cash. Even after paying off their hired help, they still had almost four million stashed. While they told the old man that he’d have to drop more, they didn’t think that was going to happen.

  It was getting risky.

  His guys didn’t want to get involved with one more attempt to get Stella Harrington back.

  Then again, his partner had a pretty solid plan. While they were focused on a drop, they were going to handle it a completely different way.

  Work smarter.

  Not harder.

  With the next haul, they could retire, and that was what he was looking forward to now. He wasn’t getting any younger, and it was going to be tim
e to leave the New Orleans scene.

  When he saw his brother next, he was going to tell him to get out of town. Sebastian could lie low with the best of them, and he was protecting his family.

  “Is she gone?”

  “Yeah, she’s gone,” he said, taking a seat. “I sent the girl off to a buyer in the city. Supplies are running low around here. We’re going to have to contact that woman in Vegas. She’s got good stock.”

  “That sounds lucrative for you.”

  “I’ll share like you’ve done for me on this one. We can both get rich in this city.”

  Speaking of…

  “What do we do now?

  “I plan on taking him.”

  “Taking him where?”

  “You’re an idiot.”

  That made him laugh.

  “You love me. We’ve been together a long time as you create mayhem in this city. That day I met you in the bar…”

  She agreed. “It was the best drink ever.”

  He leaned into her and stole a kiss.

  “If I were gone, you’d miss me. Admit it, sugar,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “You’re insane.”

  “Oh, well, no one was talking about sanity. If that’s the topic, yeah, I’m loony.”

  She agreed.

  “Will you help me?” she asked, batting her eyes at him to get him to comply. “There will be more money in it for you.”

  She was singing his song.

  “Oh, you know it. How’s it going down?”

  She’d planned this one out.

  “Tomorrow, we’re going to grab Danforth. He’s a bossy, vile, man, and I hate his guts. He’s cutting into my profit in the city, and payback…it’s a bitch.”

  Yeah, he didn’t blame her. He’d messed with the wrong woman. His babe was a snake. She slithered among the minions of the city, weaving her mayhem.

  If you were smart, you didn’t mess with her.

  “How are we going to get to him? He has mercenaries playing for the team.”

  Yeah, she knew.

  She saw them and it freaked her out. Later, she’d tell him more about how freaking close he came to getting caught, but for now…it was planning time.

  Besides, going on that booze cruise was lame. It was stupid to risk your neck.

  “This is an easy one. We wait until he leaves, and we grab him. He travels alone—just his idiot chauffeur—because he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s as crooked as the day is long.”

  That sounded feasible.

  “What are we going to do to him? We can dump him in the alligator pit. Sebastian will handle it. He loves those pets. I swear he’d sleep beside them if they wouldn’t turn on him. They have to be hungry.”

  She didn’t care.

  “Whatever, but kill him.”

  “Why not ransom him?” he asked.

  She laughed. “I don’t need him. I heard him talking to his lawyer.”

  “I told you bugging that place was perfect. That security dude did his job. He was easy to pay off, and then he made sure we had an ear inside. Those stupid mercenaries never checked.”

  Yeah, she was aware.

  Thank God!

  “We need him temporarily. He’s my bargaining chip until I get to Stella.”

  “Why?” he asked. “This seems like a lot of work.”

  It was simple.

  “He doesn’t have the money.”

  That appalled him.

  “Well, who does?”

  “Again, that’s why we need Stella. She has it.”

  That was all she had to say.

  “She was a fine piece of ass. I’d love to use her to keep the boys busy. They get restless if they don’t get to try the merchandise. They like a job perk every now and again.”

  “I don’t care after I get the money. She’s nothing to me but a means to an end.”

  “What are we going to do when we have him? I’m confused.”

  “We’ll trade him for the money. His sappy girl cried for her daddy all day when she was our prisoner. She won’t let him die. She’s a daddy’s girl.”

  He grinned.

  “Then? Once we have him, what?”

  Oh, that was easy.

  She smiled.

  “Then we kill them both. There will be no love lost when I pull the trigger, but I get to do it. I want to watch him squirm.”

  “I love how devious you are. Thank you for being mine,” he said.

  “You’re the only one who has ever gotten me. We get the money, and then we run. I want to see his face as I put a bullet in both of them.”

  “Well, then let’s go watch him. Then, we do what you planned. We can be at the house first thing in the morning.”

  Yeah, they could and would.

  She’d waited a long time for this moment, and he was going to pay.

  Revenge was best served cold.

  Like death.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Wednesday

  Morning

  H e’d just taken his shower and was getting dressed to start his day. While he’d worked out, his wife had watched him lifting weights, getting all sweaty, and keeping his body in top shape for his job.

  It was hot to work out with someone ogling you. He only wished his Stella would strip down and join him. Working out with his wife would lead to amazing things.

  God!

  He loved that word.

  WIFE.

  It was a beautiful thing to a man who never thought he’d get that damn lucky. His raven-haired, sweet angel was a gift from the Great Spirit.

  He knew it.

  As he pulled on his jeans, he noticed she was watching him from the bed. “See anything you like, Mrs. Thundercloud?”

  She grinned. “I watched you work out. It turned me right on, Mr. Thundercloud.”

  “I was thinking,” he said.

  “About? Sex maybe?” she teased.

  “I’d like to get your name tattooed on my chest. I want something to remind me of you in case I have to go away on ‘business’.”

  She stared at him, not saying a word.

  “I mean, if you think that’s some cheesy thing, forget I asked,” he said, feeling like an idiot.

  “Don’t close down, Zayn. Is it important to you?”

  He fought that darkness that made him escape when he felt uncomfortable.

  He fought it for her.

  “Yes, it is. Since meeting you, I’ve had nothing but good luck. Look at my life. You’re my four-leaf clover, but with some really sexy leaves.”

  She laughed. “I say do it, but…”

  “But what?”

  “I want to do the same. If I’m your lucky charm, you are mine too.”

  He hopped onto the bed, shirtless. “Really, Mrs. Thundercloud?”

  “Yes, really, Zayn.”

  He pondered it.

  “Well, okay, but I think you should get it where no one can see it but me,” he said, teasing her neck with his teeth.

  “Oh, yes,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck as she found his mouth with hers.

  There was that heat.

  It exploded around them. She had his jeans open, and her hands in them before he even knew what was going on.

  He was about to kneel so she could work him hard with that hot mouth of hers, but then the worst thing happened.

  The tablet beeped.

  Christ!

  They were newlyweds!

  “God, no! Not now,” he muttered, as she stroked him. “If someone isn’t dead, I’m going to kill them.”

  She giggled and zipped him back up.

  “Remember where we were. This is our honeymoon, and I want some wife sex.”

  She whispered something dirty in his ear.

  “Yes! That kind of wife sex!”

  She giggled.

  Zayn tried not to look all hot and bothered as he focused on the tablet.

  Connecting the video call, he wanted to get this done and over with. He
had better things to be doing.

  Mainly?

  Stella.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “Why are you flushed?” Rogue asked, knowing exactly why. Still, he was going to have fun with it.

  Zayn stared at him.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zayn said, pretty sure he was flushed. Then again, maybe not. All the blood had rushed MUCH lower in his body.

  “Is that a hickey on your neck?” he asked.

  “Bug bite.”

  It was clear, he wasn’t going to play.

  “You’re no fun.”

  “Are you calling to bug me? If so, you did it. Bedroom, honeymoon, wife…Bye.”

  He stopped him.

  “Wait, Casanova. We’re checking in. While you were playing around, we were on that boat,” Dakota said, taking the tablet from Rogue.

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Well, you can say that.”

  “What?”

  Gently, he broke it down. No one wanted to tell him that they’d let Chesky escape, so they followed it up with how Sarah had nearly died, and then about what he learned playing poker.

  “Is she okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, she is. Thank you for asking,” Dakota replied. The man was calm.

  Marriage looked good on him.

  “I wouldn’t want to see her get hurt in my quest to handle Chesky. His day is coming. What I do know is that we have to shut that shit down. I want to know all of their names. I’m going on a spree.”

  “Slow your roll, big guy,” he said. “We are going to do this methodically. Is your wife there?”

  She knelt behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder. “I’m here.”

  “I need to say something, and I’m sorry.”

  “About?”

  He ripped the bandage off quickly. There was no point beating around the bush.

  “It’s all pointing at your father, Stella. We lost Chesky for now, but we really think he hired the man to get rid of your stepmother and sister. We can’t find any other motive.”

  “Oh.”

  They heard it in her voice.

  Rogue stepped in.

  “Stella, honey, it’ll be fine. We’ll keep looking. Maybe we’re wrong.”