By Honor Bound (30 page)

Laughing to himself, Mace pushed his weary body off the floor. His knees felt weak from relief, but his job wasn’t done yet. He had to get the civilians out of the hospital, and now two enemies knew they were here.

“Anyone know another way out of here? If we go out that door, chances are we’ll be met by two guys with machine guns.”

Faces glazed by shock looked at him with blank expressions. These people had been through so many traumatic events in the last six hours, they were functioning like sleepwalkers.

“I do.”

An older man with “Sanitation Engineer” on his uniform came forward.

“It’ll be a tight squeeze with all these people, but there’s a side door in the furnace room for repairs and stuff. We’ll have to go through one at a time, but I doubt anyone even knows about it.”

“Good man. Lead the way.”

“Yes, sir!” The grizzled man snapped a salute and turned. “Haven’t seen this much excitement since I came home from Korea!” He walked back down the hallway.

Shaking his head, Mace ushered his charges after the janitor. Wonder if it was the same closet that he and Annie had made such memories in? Mace would never be able to look at a cleaning closet the same way again.

The furnace room was indeed a tight squeeze. The exit was a tiny service door, and they had to squeeze by the burner of the furnace to get to it. Luckily with the power out the burner wasn’t running or they’d be risking serious burns to get out.

It seemed to take forever for the group to file through. A couple of the heavier women had difficulty getting out, and Mace had a moment of panic picturing them all trapped in the tiny space while the gunmen picked them off one by one. Eventually, the last of them made it through the miniature door.

The janitor stuck his head back in. “Your turn.”

“I’m not going.” There was no way he was leaving without Annie. He handed the veteran one of the guns he carried. “Take this and get the hell away from the building. The first guy you see in a SWAT team jacket, throw down the gun and raise your hands over your head.”

“Are you crazy? They’re still a bunch of these guys running around. You’ll be killed!”

 “It’s a risk I’ve got to take. Thanks for the help, you’re a real hero.” Mace made sure he had enough ammo then saluted the man and pulled the door closed.

The darkness was overwhelming, and Mace took a minute to get his bearings. Annie should have gotten her crew out by now and be with them.

Should being the operative word.

He was positive that she was still in the building. The two of them were connected in some way, and just as he knew he couldn’t leave without knowing her fate, he knew she hadn’t left him either.

Jogging down the corridor, bare feet slapping against the tiled floor, Mace thought about where Annie might be. She was familiar with the route he had planned on taking, so she might be headed back to the laundry area.

And if she was, she could be headed right back to two unfriendlies with grenades! Mace began to run.

* * * * *

Annie’s thoughts were focused on finding Mace and staying alive. Would she be able to find him? He had insisted that she leave the building with her group, but wouldn’t say what he was going to do.

The smart thing would be for him to leave and they’d meet up outside, but he was a hero and she was sure he was up to something. If he thought he was going to single-handedly save the hospital he was in for a big surprise. She was either going to help him or drag his ass out of the building.

Now she just had to find him.

Rounding the corner to the café, Annie saw the body of Brett, pants down around his ankles. She didn’t even bother to check his pulse, if he was still alive there was nothing she could do to save him anyway. A shudder ran down her back as she thought about whether or not Mace had stopped him from raping one of her friends in time.

Drops of blood on the floor trailed off towards the laundry. The same direction Mace was supposed to have taken. Was that Mace’s blood? Had he reinjured himself, or was that a new injury? Annie felt her heart lodge in her throat as she followed the bright red drops.

The farther away from the café, the harder it was to follow the trail. The halls got darker and darker, and Annie’s heart pounded with anxiety. Had he been shot? Was he still alive?

A sudden flood of light blinded her and she instinctively dropped to the ground. Bullets whizzed over her head as she rolled to the side and returned fire. Her eyes watered and she couldn’t see what she was aiming at. Trying to look out of the corner of her eyes, she aimed at the silhouettes in the door and kept firing.

As she crawled backwards, Annie tried to think about what she could use for cover. She was painfully aware that she stood out clearly in her whites in the darkness of the hallway. Squeezing the trigger on her rifle, she fired a few more shots to keep them distracted. A muffled scream came from the door. Had she hit one of them? She still couldn’t see anything.

Strong hands grabbed her ankles and yanked her back. Panic shot through her and she tried to kick against her captor.

“It’s me, Annie! Calm down!”

Mace!

“I think I got one, but I can’t tell. The light blinded me.”

“You got them both.”

That was two more down. “Are they dead?”

“I didn’t check, but if they’re not, they aren’t going anywhere for a while. What the hell are you doing here?”

Annie rolled over and got to her feet. She could barely make out Mace’s features, but his dirt-streaked face was the most welcome sight she’d ever clapped eyes on.

“I couldn’t leave you. I had to know you were alive.”

“When we get out of here, I’m going to show you just how alive I am.”

“If we get out of here, I’ll hold you to it.” Desire surged through her body, augmented by the adrenaline running through her system.

“Honey, you couldn’t keep me from you. Now come on, let’s get the hell out.”

Following his lead Annie jogged after him. As they passed one of the emergency lights she saw blood dripping down his back.

“You’re bleeding! What happened?” Annie stopped him to investigate the injury.

“Just a graze, it’s more of a burn than anything. Nothing to worry about.”

“It still needs to be cleaned.”

“Later. Come on, I’ll show you a way out.”

Mace led her towards the furnace room. What were they doing here?

“Do you know where we’re going?” She wasn’t really familiar with this area, and if they got lost she wasn’t sure she could get them back.

“Yup. I found a back door. Well, half-door.” He laughed at his own joke.

Maybe the strain was finally getting to him; she didn’t see anything funny about the situation.

The room Mace brought her to was pitch-black and smelled like grease. It was also as small as a closet.

“You’re sure we can get out of here?” A slippery shiver of fear slithered down her spine.

“Trust me, have I steered you wrong yet?”

 “No. And strangely enough, I trust you with my life.” Annie shut her mouth before she blurted out something stupid like “and my heart.”

Whatever Mace was going to say in response was cut off by an explosion outside of the room. Dirt and debris rained down on them, and Annie clung to Mace for balance.

Mace pulled her aside just in time as the enormous furnace tumbled against the wall where they had been standing. Annie’s knees shook and she bit back a whimper of fear. They were alive, but how long could they stay that way?

“What’s going on?” Her voice was breathy with fear. The darkness was closing down on her and she could feel the panic stirring in her belly.

“I think the next grenade they launched wasn’t a dud.”

“Grenade? You didn’t tell me they had grenades!”

“It was a bit of a surprise to me too. Can you let go so I can check out the situation? Will you be okay?”

No
! She didn’t want him to let her go. Damn it, she was an adult, she could conquer this fear. There was nothing to be afraid of, Mace was right there with her.

“Sure. I’m fine.” Cold sweat dripped down her back and she was glad he couldn’t see her face and know she was lying.

“I’m right here. You don’t have to be scared.”

“Who’s scared?”
Me, me, me, me
!

“I’m going to see if I can find a flashlight. There should be something here for when they do work on the furnace.”

“Check next to the door.” Light would make this better. Maybe.

There was a thump and a curse, and then a clatter of something falling. A weak light flickered on and Annie gasped.

The enormous furnace had fallen and lodged itself against the door to the hallway, narrowly missing them. If Mace hadn’t moved them when he did they would have been crushed under its weight.

“Oh man,” Mace groaned.

“I know, talk about a close call.”

“That’s not what I’m thinking about. That’s the way outside right there.”

Annie looked at where Mace pointed. The other end of the furnace was wedged against a tiny half-door. They were trapped.

The fear she’d been holding in check by her fingertips let loose with a vengeance.

* * * * *

In the flickering light of the dying flashlight, Mace watched Annie’s face crumple. Tears streamed out of her eyes and her knees buckled. Mace jumped to her and caught her before she dropped to the filthy ground.

“It’ll be okay, baby. I promise I’ll get you out of here.”

“We don’t even know what the hallway looks like out there. We might be trapped in here for days!”

She was headed towards all-out panic, and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it. He had to distract her!

Hauling her to her feet, Mace pulled her face to his and kissed her. He could taste the tears on her slack lips moments before she responded to his touch.

And respond she did. One second she was a quivering mass of fears ready to curl into the fetal position, the next second she was a wild woman clinging to him and attacking his mouth with a vengeance.

“Slow down, baby, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t remind me!”

Oh crap, bad word choice.
Mace had to keep her mind off the situation. He was still kissing her, but she was starting to pull away. Thinking quickly he drew her closer.

“Want to play a game?” he whispered as he nipped her earlobe.

“What kind of game?” Her voice had a quaver in it and he didn’t know if it was from fear or desire.

“Let’s pretend.”

“Aren’t we a little old to be playing pretend? I mean, isn’t the situation a bit desperate for childhood games?”

She scoffed at his idea, but didn’t pull back. Mace took that as a good sign.

“This is a great time to use our imaginations. It’s just the two of us here; we can be anything we want, do anything we want.”

“O-okay. What do you want to pretend?”

“Let’s pretend we’re in the desert, in a secluded tent.” Mace ran his hands lightly over her bare shoulders. He shut the flashlight off and the room plunged into darkness again.

“I was in plenty of tents in the desert, they weren’t very fun.” Her voice quivered, but she was still standing.

“This isn’t field ops; this is a sheik’s tent. Gorgeous rugs are on the floor, silk cushions are everywhere.” Mace racked his brain to think of what else would be in a tent like that. He had a vague recollection of something like this from a porno movie he’d seen once. “There’s soft music playing in the background, and a gentle breeze comes in through the top.”

It was working, she was starting to relax. Her hands were stroking his back now instead of clutching him in a panic. He just had to keep it up now.

 “What are we doing in this tent?”

Oh boy.
What the hell had happened in that movie? “Ah, I’m the sheik, and you’re my concubine.”

“Oh really?”

“Hey, this is pretend, and I’m making it up. When it’s your turn, you can be the sheik.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Mace’s cock slammed painfully erect at the thought of Annie being in complete control of him. His balls were achingly full and lust was driving him hard. This better be working to distract her, because it was driving him insane!

“As my concubine, you have to do whatever I want, or you’ll be punished.”

Her breathing got faster, and he could almost smell her sudden desire. Blood pounded in his veins in response.

“What if I don’t want to be good? What if I’m a very bad concubine?” Annie’s hands stroked his stomach then moved down to cup his sac.

Desire punched him in the gut, driving the air right out of his lungs. He ran his hands up her chest until he reached the elastic of her bra. Very slowly Mace drew the fabric up over her breasts, until her creamy mounds fell free.

“I guess if you’re very bad, you’ll have to be punished.” Before she could react, Mace pinched her nipples quickly, then bent over to draw one into his mouth.

“Oh!”

Mace wished he could see her face. Her rapid breathing told him she was aroused, but he wanted to see what she looked like as he brought her up and over. Licking his way to her other nipple, he eased her pants down her legs until she was completely naked. Slowly he kissed his way to her belly button, then over to her hips, avoiding her pussy completely.

“You’re killing me!” she moaned.

“That’s the point, you’re supposed to be punished.” Standing back up, Mace used one hand to part the silken curls between her legs. She was soaking wet, her juices drenched his hand as he parted her pussy lips. Sliding one finger into her tight channel, Mace fought for control as her muscles squeezed him. God, he wanted to feel those muscles around his cock.

Annie moaned and pulled him closer, thrusting her hips against his hand.

“Oh no, you don’t. You’ve been a very bad slave.” Smiling to himself, Mace gently swatted her ass.

“Whoa! You just spanked me!” A flood of fluid washed over his hand as he pushed a second finger inside her pussy.

“And you liked it.” He slapped her again while driving his fingers deeper into her channel.