Evanesce (The Darkness #2) (5 page)

“You mouthy little bitch. I’ll show you just what I’ve got. Gag that smart mouth of yours full of my cock. See how much of a smartass you are when I’m hittin’ the back of your throat,” his voice raised with each word, his hand moving to his belt. Squirming, Brooke struggled to get free.

“Get off me, you limp dick prick!” she shouted. Her struggles only seemed to entice him further, his hand sliding down to cup her through her pants.

“I bet you’re wet, aren’t you, you fucking whore.” His breath was hot on her face as he panted and he began to push her shoulders, forcing her to her knees in front of him. He unzipped and just as he reached to free himself, a throat cleared behind them.

“Milo. That’s enough, let the girl up.” Milo let out a frustrated, “fuck,” but he loosened his grip on her and pulled her to her feet. Brooke wiped impatiently at the tears that had escaped, her relief at avoiding Milo’s assault mixing with her fear of the boss standing in front of them.

“Come.” He didn’t wait for a reply from either of them, just turned and walked down a short flight of stairs and across a long landing, disappearing into a room.

Milo grabbed her hand and dragged her along. Reaching the room, he gave her a dark look that suggested what they had started was far from finished. Shivering, Brooke was left with two choices. Kick up a scene that would likely get her dragged off with the horrible Milo where he would do God’s know what to her, or enter into the unknown room with the man that had already done unspeakable things to her. The choices were dismal and either she knew would have unbearable consequences. Deciding that perhaps the boss was the lesser of two evils, she quickly stepped into the room, promising herself that she would stay alert and sharp. Anything that she could get her hands on as a weapon would be a welcome addition to her arsenal of a little screw.

The boss stood waiting for her in the center of the room, his hands clasped behind his back. His stance was unthreatening, however Brooke still approached with caution. She knew all too well that his strike was as quick as a snake’s. She would be prepared and ready to fight this time.

Looking around, it appeared they were in some sort of doctor’s office. Or a lab? There were several stainless steel tables, tall glass door fridges, cages with shelves of tubes with small white labels and a few people in white coats roaming the area. Her curiosity got the better of her and she raised questioning eyes to his.

“You look well, Brooke. Did you get some rest?” his tone was friendly, a fact that infuriated her. Did he think they were friends? Refusing to dignify his ridiculous question with an answer, she stared at him silently. It had been twenty-four hours since he had attacked her, but looking in his eyes the rape came flooding back as though it had only happened moments before.

“Ah, well perhaps I should start by introducing myself. My name is Marcus Drake. And this,” he swept his arms wide. “This is my business. I thought it might be a good idea for you to understand why you are here and what my expectations of you are.”

Taking a closer look at her surroundings, Brooke began to pick up things she missed. The small metal chains attached to the stainless steel tables, the absence of any chatter amongst the workers, the row of tiny bassinets in the corner of the room. Just what in the fuck was going on here?

“I don’t understand,” she finally answered. “What type of business do you run where you need to kidnap women, and—and,” Brooke couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud.

Marcus offered her a smile and crossed the room to her, drawing her into his arms. She stiffened and struggled, but he proved to be too strong for her to break his hold. Releasing her, he slung an arm around her shoulders as he guided her around the room.

“Well, beautiful girl. I’m a business man. And quite a successful one, I might add. This operation here has proven to be very profitable for me, especially when delivering a pure product, as opposed to one engineered in this room.” His explanation made no sense, although something was starting to niggle at the back of her mind.
“They take the tiny lives…”

Her blank stare must have alerted him that she wasn’t following as he continued. “Consider this house like a factory. We manufacture the best product that money can buy. Our satisfaction rate is 100%, our repeat business numbers are through the roof. It’s quite spectacular,” he beamed at her with pride.

Despite all her instincts telling her not to ask, Brooke couldn’t keep the words from falling from her lips. “What’s the product?’

Marcus grinned, a sinister look that sent chills down Brooke’s spine.

“Infants. My product is infants. My preference is to offer pure stock made between a man and woman, but sometimes the customer prefers a child conceived from their sperm. In that case, we offer a wide variety of women here to meet that request. And should none of that be available, well let’s just say I have other resources at my disposal to make things happen. No customer is ever turned away.” Marcus finished touring her around the lab by stopping at the side of one of the stainless steel tables.

“You sell babies…” Brooke’s whispered reply wasn’t a question, but a confirmation of what she was hearing. Selling babies, kidnapping women—it was unthinkable; unbelievable. How something like that could be in operation and no one knew about it, was beyond Brooke’s comprehension.

A man with black rimmed glasses appeared at Brooke’s side, snapping on a pair of latex gloves. Eyeing him warily, Brooke took a few defensive steps backwards.

“Yes, Brooke, I sell babies. The black market is a gold mine if you know how to use it, and infants are a rare treasure. There aren’t many in the world that have the balls to do what I do, which is very fortunate for me.” Marcus grabbed her by the upper arms and lifted her onto the table, halting her subtle attempts at escape. Brooke’s eyes widened in fear as the man in the lab coat approached again, pulling a set of metal stirrups up from the end of the bed.

“Now, I should have done this first, but I must admit—my appetite for you got the best of me. I’m anxious to have you start producing.” Brooke felt light-headed at his words.
Producing…he wanted her pregnant.

“No, please. You can stop this right now and just let me go. Please, I—I want to go home,” she begged.

Marcus continued, ignoring her please. “Dr. Daniels is going to examine you, make sure that all of our information is correct and you are right on course to conceive,” Marcus pushed her back and held her down easily with one hand. “Don’t struggle, that will only incite my temper and make this a worse experience for you than it needs to be, Brooke,” he warned as the doctor unbuttoned her pants and drew them down her legs. Placing each heel in the stirrups, he pushed her knees apart and grabbed an instrument from the table nearby.

“Miss, this won’t hurt…” his words were drowned out by Brooke’s bloodcurdling scream as he thrust the cold speculum inside her.

G
abe Thornton was
a complicated man. Known in his hometown for his expert marksman skills, his line of work took him all over the world for travel. When the opportunity came up to travel across the country, he leapt at it. Things were beginning to turn serious between himself and Nora and he couldn’t bear the thought of tying her down to him, if he was having doubts coupled with a desire to travel and see the world.

Nora was, without a doubt, the love of his life. His hesitation to commit to her had nothing to do with his feelings for her, but more to do with his own self-worth. Nora had suffered several shattering disappointments from her so-called family, Gabe couldn’t bear to be one more added to this list of regrets and pain. By allowing himself the time away from Norton Springs, he was able to refine his expertise. His skill with a gun was well-known through most of Texas, but he wanted recognition beyond that. Travelling and taking on intense assignments had helped him build the reputation that he wanted, while coming to terms with the realization that he wanted Nora in his life, in his future—regardless if he was good enough for her or not. The time had come for him to claim the one woman who had always been his.

Pulling his truck into the long driveway of his family home, he killed the engine and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath. Seeing Nora again had just about brought him to his knees. She was damn gorgeous, just as he remembered. Being separated from her for two years had done nothing to dull the slow ache he felt for her—she was his, and he was bound and determined to remind her of that fact. No matter what the cost.

Climbing out of the truck, he headed up the gray stone steps and passed the large round pillars of his sprawling estate. This home had been in his family for generations, a fact he took pride in. While his father had been content in running the family farm–Gabe had no interest in taking over the business. Guns and shooting were his passion, and now that he had picked up the skills he needed to advance himself, he was ready to take over as the chief training officer for the entire state of Texas.

The front door was yanked open before he had a chance to turn the handle. His kid sister, Quinn stood on the other side, a fierce little spitfire at the age of eighteen.

“How is it that you’ve been home for almost an entire day, and
no one
thought to tell me?!” With a flair for the dramatics, Quinn was the quintessential younger sibling. Everything bad that happened was the end of the world, and if she was slighted in any way, she did not deal with it well. The look of thunder on her face told Gabe that it was one of the moments where she was feeling indignant.

“Quinlan,” he used the nickname that drove her mad on purpose, as the older brother it was his job to torture her. Pinching her nose, he swept her into a bear hug that left her feet dangling off the ground. “I haven’t even seen Mom yet, sweetness. In fact, you’re the only one that’s even happy to have me back.”

His explanation placated Quinn and her face softened as Gabe lowered her back to the ground. “Well of course,
I’m
happy to have you back, I need you to help me convince Mom and Dad that I’m ready for my own vehicle again. I’m sick of driving the ranch truck to and from town…it doesn’t suit me at all. I’m ready to be responsible this time!” Gabe couldn’t help but chuckle at her argument. Quinn’s driving skills were definitely something to be desired. In her first few months of having her license, the trail of fender benders, speeding tickets and trips to the auto shop were astronomical. Her excuse of “
it wasn’t my fault
,” got old quick. After taking the bumper off her little sports car in a freak parking accident, their parents had decided it was best if she only drove one of the ranch trucks when absolutely necessary. Gabe had been stuck on the phone for hours—with the receiver held far from his head—while she ranted and raved at the injustice, begging him to be on her side.

“I’m not getting involved in that war. I vouched for you last time and look where that got me. You’ll have to show them you can handle it before they will relent, sweetness.” Quinn pouted, but as was her trademark, switched gears faster than a NASCAR driver.

“So, did you see Nora? Did you hear she’s finally in charge of the ranch?” Quinn was digging for information as much as she was genuinely interested. Gabe knew she loved Nora like a sister and was infuriated when he left town—
“fucking everything up,”
as she’d called it.

“I stopped by. She wasn’t as thrilled to have me back in town as you are, which isn’t a surprise. But damn, it was good to see that girl.” Gabe sighed and reached up to remove his cowboy hat. Walking into the kitchen, Quinn headed straight for the breakfast bar and hopped up onto it, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Well, I think you’re lucky that she let you get away without any permanent damage. If you had left me, the way you left her, I would definitely have kicked your ass today. So are you guys getting back together?” Gabe shook his head at his sister’s rapid fire change in topics. Quinn always lived life on fast forward, nothing was ever slow and easy with her –it was fast and often painful. Still, he wouldn’t change a thing about the carefree, passionate way she lived her life.

“First I need to get her to stay in my presence for longer than ten seconds without threatening to cause me bodily harm; but then yes…it’s my intention to get her back where she belongs. With me,” Gabe confirmed. Quinn nodded in agreement.

“Just don’t be a douche about it. Nora still likes the rest of us and if you mess that up, I’ll be pissed.” His sister was always one to give it to him straight.

“Yeah, I got it. Theo already read me the riot act. Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan,” he winked.

Quinn straightened up at the mention of Theo’s name, playing with the ends of her long, curly blonde hair. “Theo? Um, how is he?” Quinn tried to sound nonchalant but knew her brother would be onto her if she asked too many questions. He was suspicious by nature and his over-protectiveness was ridiculous. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice her increased interest in his best friend.