Ruthless

Chapter 31

A knight in black armor

April 21

Sunday. Seriously, who gives a crap when…

Where didthat man learned how to kiss? I’d like to know. I’d give whoever it was a trophy.

Melt? Me melting? His taste, his scent, the feel of his arms around me and his mouth moving over mine again—

Lexi Steele had never felt so safe, so cared for. With that one kiss a sense of strength and healing flowed through my body that made the nightmare at Cabot’s hand a brief blur, if only for that tiny moment in time.

My cast was pressed between our bodies, but I did wrap my good arm around his waist. So strong and sturdy. Something good after everything being so bad.

When he finally raised his head, I wondered if I’d ever catch my breath.

“You can come to my rescue any time.” At least my mouth still worked.

He brushed my scraggly hair away from my cheek, which probably had smears of dried blood on it. “By the Sig in your hand and that battle cry, I bet you did a good job of just about nailing him yourself.”

“Oh!” Speaking of nailing. I raised my head and started to pull away from Donovan. “We’ve got to get—”

All those big men with the big guns were gone. The guys must be Donovan’s “special, special” recovery specialists. From what I briefly got to see of them, they looked special, all right.

“My boys are already on Cabot’s tracks.” He brushed his lips over mine. “Right now, we need to get you out of here.”

Okay. I could go for that.

Enough was enough.

I glanced down at the Sig, then met his eyes. “When your guys catch Cabot, I still get to rip his nuts off.”

Donovan looked so sexy when the corner of his mouth quirked like he was trying to hold back a smile. I loved the way he did that. “I’ll give Cabot a two-second lead, so you’ll have a little sport.”

I did smile. “I’m great with moving targets.”

He shrugged out of his raid jacket and put it around my shoulders. It almost hit my knees. “I think it’s time to go home—after we get you checked out at RED’s infirmary.”

Yeah. Home. Where I’d scrub myself until my skin was raw.

He guided me along one of those long black hallways. “Did you leave a trail of bread crumbs?” I asked.

“Probably should have.”

But it was only moments before we walked out of the building, Donovan with his arms around my shoulders like he was supporting me. Caring for me.

The cheers that rose up to meet us just about knocked me silly. “Steele is back,” “Knew she’d kick ass,” “Never had a doubt.”

Damn it. I didn’t choke up over mushy stuff.

Agent after agent slapped me on the back and some even dared to hug the unhuggable Lexi Steele. Okay, so I’d let them get away with it.

April22

Monday afternoon

“This couch is heaven,” I told Donovan as my body sank into the comfortable cushions.

“How are you feeling?” He sat in the chair closest to the couch.

“My arm itches like crazy.” But the cast’s plaster was fresh and new and bright white. “I am so friggin’ glad to be home,” I said. “Staying overnight and then the whole frig-gin’ day today in RED’s infirmary was about to drive me out of my mind.” It would have been even better to be in my own home at the trip, but I had to admit that having someone take care of me while I healed would be nice, especially when that someone was Donovan.

He frowned. “You should have stayed longer. One night and one day isn’t enough.”

“But then I’d miss all the mind-exploding sex,” I said with the naughtiest grin I could muster. Hell, I’d been holding back for too long.

“Sex, huh?” He grinned. “No sex for you until you’re better.” He leaned forward, his forearms on his thighs. “And don’t try begging. It’s not going to work.” His expression was only half serious, but I knew the serious side planned to keep me from tackling him.

Oh, yeah?

“If Oxford hadn’t insisted that I stay in the freaking infirmary, we could already be having wild monkey sex,” I said.

I swear Donovan almost laughed. “Wild monkey sex, huh?”

“But oh, no,” I said with a good dose of sarcasm. “She even made me debrief with the nut crew today. At least the therapist was a chick in slacks instead of some cigar-smoking freak with a beard. Not that I’ll be talking to the psychologist again. I’ll do my ‘therapy’ with my Glock.”

Donovan’s mouth was lifting at the corner. I was almost getting a smile out of him. “I’m still stuck on the monkey sex part,” he said.

The big oaf had hung around the infirmary to make sure I didn’t leave before I was officially released. He limped a little from the bullet wound, but because the bullet had gone through soft tissue in his thigh, not muscle or bone, he said he was down to being sore.

Georgina had come to see me today, and it had been so good to see her bossy self.

“Bet Zane raised hell when he found out I’d been kidnapped and no one had told him.” I shifted my cast on my belly. “He sure looked like he was holding back when he stopped by to see me.”

Donovan shook his head. “Yeah. I’d say he was pretty pissed nobody had notified him.”

I could just picture Zane losing it. “I bet the ‘it’s part of the job’ rhetoric didn’t go over real well. Or ‘you’re in a different department,’ and ‘it was a highly secretive op.’”

“Uh, yeah,” Donovan said. “Zane wasn’t a good boy when it came to talking to Oxford. She threatened to get him fired from RED, and to kick his butt out the door, personally.”

I snorted. “She could do it, too. Both.”

“I believe it.”

“But now I’m back.” Back from hell to the insane life that I loved.

The sigh that left me was pure relief that I was out of that place where Cabot had held me prisoner, and that I wasn’t being drugged every day. I tilted my head against the couch and closed my eyes.

And frowned. Tension made my temples ache.

“What’s wrong, Steele?”

I opened my eyes and looked at Donovan. “That bastard escaped, that’s what.” No one knew where Cabot had gone, or how he’d gotten away.

Donovan rubbed his jaw, looking both pissed and tired. “We thought we had everything covered, but the sonofabitch managed to pull one over on us again.”

“The best part,” I said, “is that Alyona and two other girls were rescued before the next auction.”

The seriousness in Donovan’s eyes mesmerized me. “The best part was finding you.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say.

Donovan didn’t give me a chance, anyway. “I’m going to check on dinner. It’s just about ready.”

Donovan’s expression and his words stayed in my mind as I heard a few noises coming from the kitchen.

I closed my eyes again, and images of more girls being auctioned off started rolling through my mind, just like they had been every time I was alone. What if Cabot had other girls he’d already kidnapped, kept in different areas before the next auction?

Picture the good, Steele, not the bad. For now.

Before you have to face every last demon.

The demons that still haunt your dreams every night.

Forget demons. Drink in that heavenly smell rolling from the kitchen.

Mmmm. Food. Real food. Prepared by the best cook I’d ever met.

While Donovan stayed in my infirmary room he had brushed his lips over mine. No deep, coma-inducing kisses like when he’d found me.

My arm was healing just fine beneath that lovely new cast. As much punishment as my ribs had taken, I was surprised that they weren’t worse, too. But the doc said they weren’t perfect but still perfectly okay. My face ached from bruises, thanks to Cabot’s fists, but I wasn’t about to complain.

As far as the tattoo of the Devil’s initials—I’d get that taken care of as soon as possible. Even if the doctor said they couldn’t be lasered away…I’d figure something out.

For now, I kept them hidden behind a huge gauze bandage that was behind enough waterproof first-aid tape that I could leave it on while I showered.

I didn’t want to see Cabot’s brand. I didn’t want to acknowledge it. As soon as my flesh healed where he’d cut me, I’d take care of it. Somehow. Right now, the flesh had been sliced too deep and the ink injected just as far.

The small things in my life seemed even more important now, and I wanted them back. What I wouldn’t give to head to Foley with Marty and the other guys, and hit a few out of the park. And kick back on my own couch, drinking Guinness with Georgina and naming all the attributes of the hottest agents at RED. Seemed like just about every agent RED hired was hot. A requirement, I’d lay bets. But most of all, my mind traveled to the bigger, more important things. Being with my family again. Mama, Daddy, my sister, and my brothers.

Zane was the only one in my family who knew what had happened, and it would stay that way.

I glanced at my cast and wondered how long I should wait before I went to see them. With Cabot still out there, I couldn’t put my family in danger. From the crazed look in Cabot’s eyes when Danny dragged him from the room, I knew Cabot might try to find me.

Donovan entered Kristin’s living room carrying a tray, and I breathed deep and couldn’t help a smile. Despite the number of missions I’d been on, I’d never appreciated the good things in life so much as I did after this experience.

Like real food.

He set the tray on the coffee table. Two plates piled with roast beef, baked potatoes, fresh corn—off the cob—warm cornbread, and a couple of bottles of Guinness.

The sigh that left me was one of pure pleasure. “You’re worth having around, Donovan,” I said as he set up a wooden TV tray table in front of me, so that I wouldn’t have to try to hold my plate with my cast while eating. I’d bet he went out and bought the tray before I came home from the infirmary.

Donovan sat maybe a foot away from me on the couch and picked up his own plate. “How’d the debriefing go?” he asked as I was letting a piece of the most incredible cornbread melt in my mouth.

The cornbread nearly caught in my throat as I swallowed. “Honestly?” I studied my plate and punched the baked potato with my fork. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was serious, and I met his eyes. “I shouldn’t have asked you now.”

“It’s okay.” I gripped my fork tight as he held my gaze. He had the most beautiful blue eyes that made a twisty sensation in my belly. The good kind of twist. “Sooner or later, I have to talk about it.” I groaned. “And they actually think I’ll be spilling my guts to that shrink they assigned me to.”

“That’s a good thing, Steele.” He peppered his baked potato with a hand grinder. “You’re going to need to get it all out.”

“I guess,” I said, and he set the grinder down and looked at me again. “Have you ever seen a shrink for anything you’ve been through?” I asked.

He shrugged and turned back to his plate. “Yeah.”

“You’ll have to tell me, sometime,” I said, but he stuffed a big piece of roast beef into his mouth.

My stomach growled. Okay, I was going to have a piece of that roast beef before I died.

Pure bliss. I made orgasmic sounds as I ate. “You are amazing.” My mouth was working double-time as I caught his gaze. “I bet you’re as good in bed as you are a cook.”

Those blue eyes didn’t even blink as he looked at me. “I bet there are quite a few things that smart-ass mouth of yours excels at.”

My body went on immediate overload. The ache between my thighs was instant.

“Eating.” Where the heat in my cheeks came from, when I started the whole thing, I don’t know. I stabbed another piece of roast beef. “My mouth’s real good at that.”

“Uh-huh.” From the corner of my eye, I was sure I saw that almost-smile again.

Everything was heaven. Even if I hadn’t spent time in captivity drinking only broth, I would have been in a puddle at Donovan’s feet just over this dinner.

The charged silence while we ate had my entire body prickling. Those inches between us might as well have not been there at all. With every bite I took, I could swear my body brushed his. That his hand was on my thigh. Moving higher. And higher.

Unfortunately, it was all wishful fantasizing because Donovan kept his hands to himself.

The cushions threatened to swallow me again when I sagged back after stuffing myself.

“Hey, where are all the pillows?” I asked. Lots had been scattered throughout the room on the couch, the settee, and the chairs the last time I was here.

Donovan looked almost sheepish. “I’ve got to pick up some new ones.”

If I wasn’t so tired I would have laughed. “You abused them, didn’t you?” I pictured him pummeling the crap out of every pillow in Kristin’s living room while I was gone. “At least you didn’t kill the walls.”

“Gotta get this mess cleaned up,” he said without looking at me.

“Let me help, since you cooked,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure my body would agree to me getting up off my butt.

“Uh-uh.” Donovan leaned down and caught me by surprise when he scooped me into his arms. “It’s bed for you.”

“Mmmm.” I snuggled against him as he carried me to the guest room. How did he smell so freaking good? “In a hurry tonight? Works for me.”

He settled me on the edge of the bed. “Steele, you never slow down.”

I clenched my fists in his soft blue T-shirt. “Right now, I don’t want it slow at all.”

Donovan shook his head. “You need rest. Not sex.”

“It’s the other way around.”

What a tight ass he had as he walked to my duffel and pulled out the long Red Sox T-shirt I usually slept in.

A sigh made my chest rise and fall. “Not going to give in, are you?”

“Nope.” He brought the T-shirt to me.

I raised my cast. “You’re gonna help me into that shirt, right?”

“You need rest.” He tossed me the shirt and I caught it with my good hand. “And I doubt you’ll behave.”

“That’s because behaving’s no fun.” I looked down at my shirt and back up at him. “Don’t trust me, Donovan?”

“Never.” Still he came toward me and knelt to help me out of my shirt. He was so careful and so slow that it warmed my heart. The air didn’t feel cool at all when my shirt was off. I hadn’t worn a bra because all Donovan had brought to the infirmary were my jeans, panties, and a loose T-shirt.

“You had that planned all along.” My voice was husky as I spoke. “Forgetting to grab a bra when you got the rest of my stuff.”

An electrical sensation traveled straight between my thighs as he skimmed his fingers over my belly when he went for the button of my jeans.

Bye-bye, sleepiness. Hello, horniness.

“Stand,” he said, his voice low and rough.

Yeah, I was going to be a regular electrical transformer and explode by the time he finished with me.

Damn, he was good. It didn’t take him long to unfasten my jeans and slide them over my hips straight to the floor. I kicked them out of the way, totally ready for Donovan to take me into his arms. He stepped around me and pulled the covers aside.

Straight to the bed, fine by me. Who was on top or bottom, I didn’t care.

He helped me lie on my back. Before I even had a chance to say anything, he snatched up my nightshirt and brought it over my head.

“What—” The T-shirt muffled me and I sputtered, not able to get a word out until he had my cast through one sleeve, my good arm through the other, and the neckline dropped over my head.

He pushed me backward onto the mattress. “Sleep.”

“But—”

“When you’re better,” he said in a low and hungry tone, “I’m going to fuck you good and hard.”

His words, so erotic and filled with meaning caused my belly to twist.

My glare should have poked him all over, like a million little needles. “You are such a tease.”

“And you need your rest.” He tucked me in, like I was a defiant child, as I narrowed my gaze at him. “As well as some time to recover,” he added.

“You know I’ll get even.”

“I’m sure you will.” He brushed his lips over mine, making me sigh and melting some of the irritation at being sent to bed without a treat.

Donovan switched off the light, then left the room. I was so tired, I think I was asleep before the door closed behind him.

April23

Tuesday, early, early morning

Nameless, faceless people. I shoot, shoot, shoot.

I’m strapped to a chair. I smell the sweat and stink of the Cuban prison. A man slugs me. I see stars, and then the man starts to unzip his pants.

Randolph. Dead. Her face white as she floats face up in the harbor, her throat slashed, her eyes and mouth open in a scream no one will ever hear.

Kristin. I can see her. But she’s so far away. Must get to her.

Fire sears my skin, my entire being, as Cabot presses the brand inside my thigh. I scream, then scream louder as he pulls the hot metal from my skin.

The pain goes on forever as I struggle against the bonds on the St. Andrew’s Cross. He’s going to take that horrid metal and brand every bit of my naked flesh.

B. C. Benjamin Cabot.

His property.

“No! ” I scream over and over again as he heats the metal again in red-hot coals. An orange-red glow from the flaming brand lights the devil’s features as he raises it and brings it toward the inside of my other thigh.

Cabot jabs the brand at me like a fencer going in for the kill. He presses the hot metal so hard and so long against my flesh that I know he’s going to burn it away, through to the bone.

I’ll never stop screaming. I’ll never be able to escape. I’ll be his property forever.

“No, no, no.” The word comes out over and over again before I start begging. “Please, no. Please, stop!”

He laughs. His eyes gleam red, matching the red glow of the coals. He brings the brand up to my breast—

“Lexi!”A male voice shouted at me.

In total darkness, a heavy body pinned me down against something soft. Still I fought, and the man gave a loud “oof” sound when I rammed my elbow into his belly. His shin was hard against my heel and he said, “Lexi!” before holding me tighter.

“No!” I shouted. “Not the brand! I won’t let you do it again!”

I fought and screamed with everything I had. For some reason my right arm wouldn’t move, but my left elbow worked real well.

“Lexi! Stop.” The male voice gave another grunt of pain as I rose and slammed the back of my head into his forehead.

“No,” I screamed again. “Get it away. Get it away!”

The man practically growled, “It’s Donovan, Lexi. Donovan. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare. Wake up.”

I still struggled, but my movements were more feeble as my mind started to clear.

Donovan. His scent. The hardness of his body. The way he held me so tight, but trying not to hurt me.

The mattress was soft beneath me as my whole body went limp. Reality crept to my consciousness. I was away from Cabot. He couldn’t brand me.

Again.

I pressed my hand to the bandage over my belly button. His initials seemed to burn as hot as the brand that had burned me in my dream.

When I swallowed my throat hurt, probably from screaming.

“Hey.” Donovan’s voice, softer now as he let up his tight grip on me. “It’s going to be all right. It was just a nightmare.”

“His brand is there. It’s never going to be okay,” I whispered.

“We’ll make it okay.” He pressed his lips to my temple and gave me a soft kiss. “But we’ll talk about it in the morning.”

“Hold me. Please.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Donovan wrapped his arm around my waist and spooned himself against my back. “I’ll hold onto you while you sleep. You’re safe.”

“Thank you,” I whispered before I eventually slipped into a dreamless sleep, secure that for the rest of the night Donovan would keep the demons away.