Master (An Impossible Novel) (Impossible #6) (21 page)

The room suddenly seemed far too small.  All my focus honed on the woman sitting in front of me.

Red hair.
  Green eyes.  Pale skin.

“You’ll come to love me.”

“Katie.”  Reed’s hand found mine, and I jumped at the contact.  My eyes snapped to his dark ones, and they pulled me back to him, away from my panic and burgeoning terror.  His gaze shifted back to Kathy, but his grip remained firm around my fingers.  “Thank you, Kathy.  Will you excuse us for a moment?”

“Of course,” she eyed me curiously.  I knew my professional front was crumbling.  I had to get away from her before I fell apart completely.  Not only could I not risk distressing her with my own fear, but there was something about her that upset me deeply.  Her calm in discussing what she had been through was far more disturbing than Lydia’s vacant eyes had been the first time I spoke to her.

I allowed Reed to steer me out into the short, empty hallway.  The sunlight that drifted in through the floor-to-ceiling windows helped allay the sensation of being trapped that had assailed me in the small office, but I was still teetering on the edge of panic.

“Reed…”  His name was a helpless plea on my lips.  His muscles coiled with the effort of stopping himself from pulling me into a tight embrace.  We couldn’t risk that, not at the field office.  But his hands grasped both of mine, his hold tying me to him.

“I know,” his voice held its own edge of distress.  “She’s
his
Kathy.  And she looks like you.  We both read the case file.”  His features became pinched.  “I know what he did to her.  He wants to replace her with you.  I can tell you know it, too.  You can’t be anywhere near this, Katie.  It’s not worth it.”

I swallowed back my nausea.  “But he could be doing it to some other woman right now.  What about her?  What about the other women he’s taken?  They deserve justice.”  I tried to find that professionally numb place within me, but I couldn’t quite reach it anymore.  Reed had helped me let go of that asset, and now I was beginning to regret it.  “Keeping me in the open is still our best shot at this.  I have to find him.  I can’t hide forever.”

Reed’s hands tightened around mine.  “You won’t have to.  We just caught our biggest lead yet.  We have Kathy’s sketch.  We know when and where she was taken.  You don’t have to be involved anymore.  I’ll protect you.”

A chill clung to my skin.  “I can’t hide from him.  He’ll find me anywhere.  You know he will.”

Reed’s jaw firmed.  “Not if I find him first.”

“You can’t-
”  I was cut off by the trill of my phone.  Checking the text provided me with a distraction from the argument.  The truth was, Reed was only a few words away from convincing me to go to a safe house.  But in my heart, I knew what I was telling him was true; I wouldn’t be safe anywhere.

I glanced down at the text.

I’ve seen how he touches you.  I told you he wasn’t allowed to touch you.  You belong to me, pet.  I’m going to have to punish you now.

Terror spiked up into my throat, and my eyes snapped to Reed’s.  A small, unnatural circle of light flashed across the wall behind him. 
Rifle scope,
I recognized the reflection immediately.  My scream mingled with the sound of glass shattering as I threw my body into his.

Chapter 16

I lay atop Reed, covering his body with mine.  I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, to see the damage.  If he was hurt…

Strong arms closed around me, and Reed rolled, flipping our positions so that his weight held me down.  Relief that he was alive mingled with a new flood of panic.  I tried to shove him off, to cover him again.  He didn’t budge.  Instead, he frowned and pinned my arms, ceasing my struggles.

“Get down!”  I shrieked.  “He won’t shoot me!”  He had to understand.  So long as my body was in front of his, The Mentor wouldn’t shoot again.  He wouldn’t risk killing me.  He wanted me too badly.

“Not happening.”  Reed’s hard gaze forbade my resistance.  That didn’t stop me from trying to fight him.

My eyes honed in on a red line across his jaw.  “You’re bleeding!”  My brain recognized that it was superficial, but that didn’t stop the swell of fear.

“It’s just a graze, Katie,” his voice was low and soothing.  “I’m fine.”

“What the fuck is going on?”  I registered Dex’s furious growl over the whistle of the wind blowing through the circular hole in the window.

I twisted my head back to turn terrified eyes on my friend. 
“Dex!  Get out of here!”  I let out a small cry when Reed pushed to his feet, pulling me up along with him.  I found myself caged in his arms, cradled against his chest.  His back was to the window.  “Damn it, Reed, stay down!  He won’t hurt me.”

But Reed was already running around the corner, out of view of the shooter.  He shoved Dex hard with his shoulder on his way by, driving him out of range with us.

“What the-”

“Sniper,” Reed cut Dex off before he could go on a tirade.

My friend was suddenly crowding my body as well, creating a wall of solid muscle around me as we moved deeper into the building.  I twisted in Reed’s arms, even though it was a useless endeavor.

“You’re making it worse!  He doesn’t want you to touch me.  Put me down!”  Logically, I knew we were out of view of the window, but I still felt as though his eyes were on me.  The Mentor was everywhere, always watching.

Dex shot a glare at me over his shoulder.  “Don’t you dare put her down, Miller.”

Reed’s muscles corded around me.  “He’s not watching now, Katie.  And even if he is somehow, I’m not putting you down.  Stop fighting me.”

“I told you, he won’t hurt me,” I insisted again, but I went still in his arms.  “The text.  He wants to kill you, Reed.  Not me.”

His brows drew together.  “What did the text say?”

I bit my lip, not wanting to divulge the contents.  They would just send Reed and Dex into even more hyper-protective mode.  They would keep themselves exposed to cover me, when I needed to be doing the exact opposite.

“Tell him, Sparrow.”

“It was the same thing as before,” the words tumbled out in response to Dex’s stern order.  “He said I belonged to him.  And he said he would punish me for letting you touch me, Reed.”

Dex’s shoulders
stiffened, and he didn’t look back at us.

I turned imploring eyes on Reed.  “He’s going to kill you.  You have to put me down.  Please.”

His jaw took on a stubborn set.  “In a minute.  And only long enough to get you in Kevlar.  I’m taking you to a safe house.”

I fisted my hand in his shirt.  “Then you’re coming with me.  And you’re staying there.”

“Katie.  If he does want to hurt me, then I’m not staying anywhere near you.  Dex can take you-”

“She’s right,” Dex cut him off.  “Both of you need to go.  I’ll look into the text and the sniper.  I have to go get on it right away.  We might be able to catch him if we act fast.”  It seemed to take a great deal of effort for him to turn to face Reed.  “You get her to safety.”  He looked pained saying the words, and I knew he wanted to be the one holding me, protecting me.  I broke from his gaze.  I was already about to come apart at the seams without guilt and grief over Dex ripping my heart apart.

Reed nodded.  “I’ll contact you when we get to the safe house.”

“Thank you.”  The words were meant for both men, for Reed’s agreement to stay out of harm’s way, and for Dex making him see reason.  I closed my eyes and tried to find the numb place at my core.  It was cruelly elusive.  Reed had destroyed that part of me.

The safe house was a ratty little studio apartment that left a lot to be desired, but it was inconspicuous enough.  It wasn’t nearly enough to make me feel safe from The Mentor.  He had shot at Reed in the FBI field office.  He could find me here.  He could find me anywhere.

“I could take you any time I wanted.”

I was more certain than ever that The Mentor was in law enforcement.  He had the necessary skills, and he knew exactly how to cover his tracks.  He knew where Reed would be in the field office.  Could it be someone in our own unit?  The thought made my stomach turn.  It had been easier to think of him as an obscure agent or member of the police force than one of the people I worked with every day.

I looked over at Reed when he locked the door behind us.  He hadn’t let my body drift far from his, but I had been careful to keep as much space between us as possible.

I can’t let him touch me.  He’ll die if he touches me again.

It was all I could think about; that little flash of light, the feeling of my heart hammering in my chest when I tackled him to the ground.  My eyes kept finding the angry crimson graze across his jaw.

My fault.

He reached for me, and I took a wary step back.  Rather than backing off in the wake of my trepidation, his face hardened and he took a prowling step toward me.  Before I knew it, my back was against the wall.

“Reed…”  I said his name in the low whine of a cornered animal, but he didn’t slow his approach.

He reached out and slowly, deliberately, cupped my cheek in his hand.  His thumb brushed along my lower lip, touching me with the confidence of a man who knows he has the right.

I turned my face away.  “Don’t.”

He shifted away from me, and for a moment I thought he was going to back off.  Then he bent and his arms closed around me.  The world tilted, and I found myself staring at the floor.  Reed had slung me over his shoulder.

“Put me down!”  I tried to kick out at him, but his arm closed around the back of my calves.

“Don’t even think about punching me,” he warned before I could do just that.  I didn’t want to truly hurt him, but a punch to the kidney would do less damage than a bullet to the brain.

“I’ll do what I have to to keep you safe,” I warned.

But before I could fight my way out of his hold, he flipped my body again.  When the world settled back into place around me, I found myself draped face-first over his knees where he sat on the edge of the bed.  In the next second, he deftly unzipped my slacks and yanked them down to my thighs, taking my underwear down along with them.  His other hand caught up my wrists and pinned them at the small of my back.

“What are you doing?”  I cried.  I jerked and twisted, but there was nothing I could do against him in this position.

His palm swiped over my exposed bottom in a soothing motion.  “I know you’re scared,” he said in a low, even voice, as though he was talking to a spooked horse.  “And I know you think you’re protecting me by putting distance between us.  But I won’t allow that.”

Pain flared on my right cheek, and I let out a shocked gasp.  Reed had never spanked me before.  Not like this.  There had been playful swats during foreplay, but he hadn’t disciplined me.

“Please,” I begged.  “You have to stop.  We can’t do this anymore.  He’ll know-”

The second resounding
crack
of his hand on my ass brought another burst of pain.  “I don’t care if he knows.  I’m not leaving you, Katie.  And I’m not going to let you push me away because you’re scared.” 
Crack! 
“I’m not going to stop until you accept that.” 
Crack!
  “I won’t stop until you accept that I’m going to take care of you.”

His tender words contrasted with the sharp pain he gave me.  Each hit was hard enough to propel my entire body forward.  It made my clit rub against his thigh.  Even through my fear and confusion, desire began to pulse within me.  My inner walls contracted with every slap, and the heat that arose on my enflamed skin seeped through my flesh and into my core.  I knew I should protest.  It was so important that I protest.  Reed couldn’t touch me.  He couldn’t…

But he was touching me.  And he wasn’t showing any signs of stopping.  His hand came down on me mercilessly, wringing pain and that strange searing pleasure from me.  Tears trickled down my face with my frustration and from the harsh sting of his discipline.

Despite my resistance, my will began to bend to his.  Even when he was giving me pain, the sensation of Reed’s hands upon me was too sweet to give up.  He wasn’t going to allow my tormentor to tear us apart.

I was ready to accept that.  I had to accept it, because Reed had taken the responsibility of choosing out of my hands.  Even though my fear for him didn’t fully melt, I felt stronger for taking the pain he gave me.  I had thought I was protecting him by pushing him away, but we needed to work together to keep each other safe.  Divided, we were easy targets.  Together, we could watch each other’s backs.  Reed would stand by me, no matter what.

The tension left my muscles as the fight went out of me.  The steady rhythm of Reed’s hits stopped instantly.  His fingers traced light, swirling patterns over my burning skin.  I shuddered as my pleasure spiked at his soothing touch.

“That’s good, Katie,” he rumbled his approval.  His fingers dipped between my thighs and found the wetness there.  “Very good.”  He teased around the edges of my labia, stroking me lightly, but not touching me where I craved it most.  He came so close to my clit, but then retreated.  I whined out my protest as lust overtook me.