Lover Mine (Blood Brothers 1) (2 page)

"Clear!" he whispered into the
communications link for the team, Rafe's nod to his right.

The nape of his neck tingled and he could
still feel a tentative, almost hesitant vibration pushing at his
psyche as though trying to reach out but it made no sense. He could
feel where each member of his team was located, knew beyond a
shadow of a doubt that there was no one else within miles of the
area other than the team who had their enhanced abilities, so it as
impossible for someone close enough for him to feel them. There was
no movement, nothing to indicate hostiles in the cabin. Otherwise,
he would sense them, their intent, the evil. All he could pick up
was silence, no movement and no one coming at them . . . what was
going on?

Rafe cleared the small kitchen and the front
of small structure while Kayne took the last room to the back,
pushing the door open slowly. What caught his attention had his
breath freezing in his lungs, his heart nearly stopping and his gut
clinched at the sight.

Suspended from the ceiling was the "package"
and she was in no shape to travel. Chained to the ceiling, she was
stripped bare and hanging by her wrists, her toes barely touching
the floor. Glancing at her hands, he could see that she must have
fought, the skin bruised and torn by the chains holding her in
place.

Her face was hardly touched, but the rest of
her body looked like someone had used it for a punching bag. Every
inch from her perfect nipples to her waxed feminine mound was
almost one massive color and in places there was blood from several
scratches and sliced cuts. It took everything he had not to go back
and kill the bastards all over again.

The instruments lying next to her were
abominations meant for torture, some so-called sex toys streaked
with blood and gore. His stomach almost rebelled at the thought of
what those monsters must have done to this small slip of a woman
and his hands fisted in an effort to control the rage quickly
spiraling out of control.

"Rafe, I need your shirt!" he hissed,
reaching behind him for it. "Now!"

Kayne didn't even flinch when the shirt was
slapped into his hand. "Help me get her down."

With gentle hands, growls and curses for the
death of her captures, the brothers managed to cut her down without
further injury and gently wrapped in the huge shirt that hung below
her knees. She managed a few moans as Kayne brushed back tangled
strands of long tawny hair from a beautiful face that was too pale,
normally lush lips that were cracked and dry. He was just as
shocked as she was when chocolate and honey colored eyes fluttered
open to lock with his, her scream locked deep in her bruised chest.
The instant their eyes locked Kayne realized who he had sensed all
this time.

Kayne secured a massive hand over her lips,
leaning close to her ear.

"Hush, little one, you're safe now!" he
crooned, inserting a mental push to calm her as much as possible He
felt her inner turmoil, and instantly recognized how strong she was
even now. Here was the terror he had felt up on the ridge, the
strength.

"Sleep," he whispered, forcing his strong
willpower deep into her confused semi-consciousness, careful of the
fragile hold she had on reality. He watched her long dark lashes
flutter then close back over those luscious rich eyes filled with
pain and loss, eyes Kayne knew he would be lost in if he continued
to look at for too long.

He could feel Rafe's emotions as he
continued to bundle the female up in his twin's huge shirt. Careful
of her injuries, he allowed himself a slow caress along her side
before handing her off to the only man he trusted at his back. It
made no sense, this sudden need to guard a female he had just
rescued, one of many over the years as their team worked to break
up the human trafficking rings that were as popular as crack or
heroin and just as profitable. Without realizing it his hand
smoothed over a taunt stomach that was covered in massive
contusions, marveling and wondering how this little bit of feminine
flesh had lived through whatever these killers had managed to do to
her.

"We need to go . . . Now!"
Rafe
growled silently.

"You carry her, I'll cover the rear."
He gently lifted the female and handed her to his brother, taking
another quick look at the room.

For the first time he noticed there were
other items scattered about. Pictures of additional females hung
above a metal desk in the corner. A camera with what looked like an
internet connection sat propped against the other corner but no
laptop or other device was anywhere in the room.

Looking closer, he could tell the women were
of different ages, different backgrounds but all appeared to be of
gentle breeding. This operation was about more than trafficking,
much more.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he
whispered into the communications link as he quickly gathered
everything he could quickly grab for evidence.

"Explain!" Merc's command came over the
link.

"Later, we need to move!" he whispered,
looking toward his twin. Rafe's nod assured him the female was
secure. "Davey - report!"

Silence - damn it, where was that boy!

"Merc, do you have a location on Davey?"

"He's got the other package and is headed
toward extraction. So far so good." Kayne could tell there was more
to it than what his teammate was saying but for now they had to
evacuate. Too much time here and his neck itched. Not a good
thing.

His gut crawling, the spirits of the forest
screaming at him to get a move on it, Kayne's senses were telling
him something was wrong but he couldn't see, taste, or smell it.
Yet it was there!

"Move out!" Signaling his twin, Kayne pulled
up the rear, allowing Rafe to carry the fragile burden in a
fireman's carry that couldn't be helped. Taunt flesh peaked out
from under the bottom of the shirt, crisscrossed with shallow
slices from either a well-placed blade or some kind of whip. He
found his hands wanting to smooth them, take the pain away.

"
Do you have her?"
The twin-speak the
two of them had used for so long came natural and swift, easier on
the mind and body, automatic.

"
She's coming around again, Bro. I can
feel her body temp and heartbeat changing. When she does there's
going to be panic. She won't understand who has her now."
Rafe
didn't so much as miss a step, he just ensured nothing hit the
female as they hung low and made for the extraction point.

"
Let me know if I need to put a narc
patch on her before she comes to all the way. She isn't respective
to my mental pushes. We can't have her giving away our location
yet, and I don't want her more terrified than she already is."
He knew Rafe understood. Even badly injured men trained for this
type of work barely managed to keep quiet and usually required
sedation, must less a slip of female.

Suddenly the skies behind them lit up, as
the ravine seemed to imploded. The concussion took several seconds
to hit them, but when it did the noise sent animals screaming in
all directions.

No fire, no debris.

The team ducked, unsure what was happening
until they saw the destruction left behind. Total annihilation of
everything that had been in the ravine. Only a thin trail of smoke
gave evidence that the cabin had even existed, the contents of the
structure obliterated. Whoever had been there had not intended for
there to be any witnesses, including the guards that had been left
behind.

He stood in the library sipping brandy,
gazing out the tall windows as he contemplated the reports sitting
on his desk. Everything was supposed to have been destroyed in the
small valley, every shred of evidence including the two hostages.
However, the idiots had somehow messed up when setting the
detonation sequences. Once again, Alpha Team had interfered where
they shouldn't have and he was going to have to deal with it.

Suddenly the brandy sniffer flew across the
room and into the quiet fireplace, shattering the silence of the
room. He was getting tired of their interfering.

Circumstances were at a critical stage and
he couldn't have those freaks continue to impede progress, not if
he was to meet his deadlines.

"Robert!" he yelled, summoning his
second-in-command.

"Yes sir?" The tall ex-Marine stood at
attention, waiting for instructions as if he were still in the
military, which in reality he was.

"It's time for Operation Daisy," he
whispered. The seasoned Marine visibly swallowed, his eyes never
showing his concern.

"Are you sure, sir?" the Marine chanced the
question only to wince when his superior turned blazing eyes around
to look at him.

"Don't question me, Marine! Do it!"

"Yes sir." The solider did an about face and
left the room to follow orders, never seeing the sadist smile on
his employer's face or the calm that returned.

"Now we'll see who is superior, won't we?"
he whispered to the empty room, reaching down to stroke his
hardening cock in anticipation of the plans he had just put into
place.

The light hurt her eyes.

It was the only thing Chayle Olsen could
concentrate on. She struggled to open her eyes to find the constant
annoyance of beeping nearby. Through the haze and sluggishness of
her brain, someone was loudly whispering in the background and it
wasn't a voice she recognized.

"There are multiple contusions, deep bone
bruises that will take a while to heal, but no permanent damage
that I can find so far. She has also been sexually assaulted both
anally and vaginally, and I've had a rape kit sent per your
instructions in hopes of gathering any DNA." The person seemed to
hesitate before continuing.

"Stop looking at me with murder in your
eyes! I wasn't the one who did this to that poor young woman, so
get your ass out there and find out who it was because they are
sadist assholes. They intended to inflict as much pain as possible
while having their fun. And they almost killed her. If you had been
any later, I can assure you that she wouldn't have survived another
day." The talking stopped, then Chayle heard them quietly closing
the door as they left.

She reached up to rub her temple, finding
something attached to her wrist. She could only stare at it for
long seconds before she could finally focus. Once the fog cleared
and she could see enough, she realized there was an IV leading to
the side of the bed, then up to the bag hanging from the pole.
Instinct had her trying to jackknife away from whatever danger was
nearby, but strong hands gently held her in place.

"Easy, sugar. Nothin' to worry about." A
deep drawl so low it whispered over her senses soothed her jingling
nerves, yet didn't penetrate the fog or terrible memories crowding
her mind.

How had they moved her to this place? What
did they want now?

She struck out with everything she had,
slapping and struggling to move away as her body screamed that it
couldn't move this fast yet, but instinct had her fighting to get
away or die.

"Damn it . . . . Stop it or you're going to
hurt yourself again! They just finally got you cleaned up!" A male
voice cursed long and low again as strong hands held her still.

Something made her hold still . . .
something primal.

She stopped fighting those strong fingers,
frantically searching for the source of the velvety voice, needing
an anchor before the panic took over. When she found sparkling navy
blue eyes watching her closely, Chayle stopped breathing.

"Now don't you go and pass out on me again.
If you do, Rafe will be pissed with me and I just don't want to
deal with one of his temper fits right now." A quirky grin tilted
at the corners of lips that should have been on an angel's instead
of the giant gently holding her arms pinned to the bed. The darkest
blue eyes fringed by the sexiest long, black lashes she had ever
seen drew her in and made her chest ache.

Her first coherent thought was a man
shouldn't have eyes so beautiful. Chayle caught her breath and felt
it hitch with pain. A military haircut didn't hide the fact that
the color was as blue-black as the lashes, and Chayle had to stop
herself from wanting to touch it to see if it really was as black
as a raven's.

"Where . . . where am I? Who are you?" Was
that really her voice? Scratchy and dry, it sounded like an old
lady's whisper rather the normally bold Chayle most of her friends
knew.

She licked chapped lips, realizing it must
have been since the sound came from her throat. Chayle forced
herself to look away from those assessing blue eyes and tried to
concentrate on her surroundings. The quiet room was small, light
filtering in from the one window that now didn't seem quite so
bright as it had a few minutes ago. Or was it only seconds? It was
obviously a hospital room of some kind, but where?

The pale green wall softly absorbed the
light to keep the glare down and the blinds were barely open to
blunt the brightness from outside. Chayle could tell it was
daylight but what time was beyond her.

She felt her chest squeeze, her stomach roll
as panic filled her. The men, the pain - oh God, where was she?

Frantic now, she slapped at huge hands
trying to hold her still her, hearing an animal's cry somewhere
nearby, not realizing it was coming from her.

"Easy . . . you're in a private hospital!"
The stranger eased toward her, whispering as if to a wounded
animal, "My name is Kayne MacIntyre. Can you remember
anything?"

Chayle could only stare at the stranger as
the nightmares came to life, reality replaced by the men who had
held her. The lancing pain, the terror and the raucous laughter all
came slamming back through her mind as they told her what they were
going to do to the other girl once they finished with her.