Retrieval (3 page)

Kisses, plural, because one hadn’t been enough, and it had gone way past a simple kiss anyway. His words brought her out of her lust-induced stupor, and her brain finally kicked in with some reality.

“Oh my God.” She let her head hang forward.

He didn’t let her down. Her head rested on his massive chest. What they’d done together, the heat they’d generated in such a short time began to ramp up her anxiety. She unhooked her legs from around his waist and dropped to the ground. He refused to let her go, though, and she stood there, head hanging down, afraid to meet his eyes, lungs billowing like a horse after running the Kentucky Derby.

“You don’t even know my name, do you?”

“I know all of my objectives names. Yours is Skylar McKannon.”

His voice wasn’t the husky lover-like voice from seconds ago; it was the I’m-all-about-business-soldier voice from earlier. He didn’t sound remotely affected by what just transpired between them.

She got her shit together. She lifted her cuffed hands from around his neck and pushed away from him, anger replacing the consuming passion from moments ago.

She took a deep breath, steeled her spine. “You need to leave.”

“No can do. I’m not leaving, and I think it’s in your best interest to come with me.”

“And if I refuse your so carefully worded suggestion?” she asked tartly, anger digging deep.

She’d fallen into immediate lust with someone employed by her father.
I’m not a novice. I’m a stinkin’ babe in the manger.

“Then it gets ugly, and I take the decision away from you,” he responded pointedly, no give in his tone.

“You’re all the same. And like the ones he’s sent before you, you’re going to fail.”

“No, I’m not. See I have a little something the ones who have come before me didn’t have.”

“Oh really?” she asked as she began drawing energy for dematerialization.

“Yeah, really. I have this,” he drawled confidently.

In his hand was a little black box that she hadn’t seen before and didn’t care what it was.

“You know what they say about men and their toys, right Sebastian?” she inquired sweetly.

She’d used his name, which caused his pupils to widen slightly, betraying his surprise. Other than that he betrayed no reaction.
He’s got a crazy poker face
.

“Have no idea, Sky. What do they say?”

He had to feel the electricity from the energy she was amassing, yet there he stood, unmoved. She’d gathered more than she would need for a simple jump, but she found herself unable to leave him. The energy was bleeding off, then flowing back toward her in waves. The light in her bedroom flickered, and the lamps on the street did the same thing. Wind moved restlessly through the room. The breeze cooled her overheated skin. Her hair whipped and tossed in the growing tempest. Her feet remained rooted to the floor.

She used the excuse that she needed to know, for the safety of her family, who was chasing them. If it truly was Smythe-Ward, they’d have to disappear again.

But that excuse was flimsy at best when she stood in front of the man she was pretty sure had been created for her. This must have been why nobody but her had picked up on the danger in the cafeteria. The danger he represented could be to her alone. Well, her and her heart. Her nipples peaked, and her stomach clenched at the joy of knowing that there was someone just for her. His smell, his essence, bled into her pores, and the ultimate irony of her regret pierced her heart.

He may have been more than a match for her, but she could never have him. There was no happily ever after for her. There weren’t going to be any happily ever intermediaries either.

“They say that the size of a man’s toys is directly proportional to the size of hi—”

“Don’t even go there with me,” Sebastian said with a smirk as he cut her off, “because after what just happened you know damn good and well just how much size I’m bringing to the table. And if you don’t, well then, come on back over, and I’ll be more than happy to show you again.”

Her mouth fell open, followed by another fast, hot blush.

“I was going to say they’re directly proportional to the size of his brain and mental capacity. Maybe you’re a special case. I was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you probably entered this situation only semi-prepared for me. But, after all this talking we’ve been doing, well, I’m starting to wonder if you know what I’m capable of at all?” she scoffed as the house began to swell with the multitude of energy she was channeling.

The walls undulated and bits of drywall began to zip past them. The floors rippled as doors ripped off their hinges. Windows shattered inward but no sound followed their breakage. Items from closets began to swirl in the maelstrom of her anger.

“It doesn’t matter. Tone whatever the hell you’re doing down right now, or I’ll use this. And no matter what or
who
,” he inclined his head before continuing, “you are, I don’t think me using this is going to make us friends. So just leave with me quietly, and nobody will get hurt.”

Yeah, that’s so going to happen.
“So you won’t tell me who you’re working for?” She went for nonchalant. The desperate tinge to her voice decimated her effort.

Standing there in the flickering lights of her bedroom, wind whipping around her and electrical currents zapping from her fingertips, she had a pretty good idea of the picture she made. His face was hard, eyes flat. He betrayed nothing of what he was thinking.

“I won’t. If you’ll calm down though, we’ll talk and try to come to some kind of agreement. I can’t give you much, but I can give you some information that might make this a little more palatable.” His response was what she’d known it would be, and she blinked against the mysterious burn in her eyes.

“I don’t think so, Sebastian. How about this? I leave and you leave, and we never see each other again. Tell your employer nice try, but no dice, and if he persists, I’ll have to get ugly, and nobody wants that.”

She pulled the final thread on the energy surrounding her as Sebastian hit a button on the black box he held. An intense, bright light emanated from the small device, pierced her retinas, and tunneled into her head like a locomotive.

Her dematerialization terminated as quickly as it had begun. She fell to the floor in a paralytic shock, muscles locked, and the last vestiges of a scream echoing through her bedroom.

Her eyes were wide open, and her body twitched. The scream continued to echo in her mind, and then her world went black.

Chapter 3

“What the fuck, Sebastian? Did you kill her?” Morrissey asked, as he busted into the bedroom.

“No, Morrissey, I didn’t. You’re the only one who causes death as an adverse reaction in women. Get Bleak in here. I don’t know why she screamed, but her pulse is high, and we need to get her stable before we transport her,” Sebastian ordered, his tone hurried but not alarmed.

“I’m here. This shit gives me the heebie-jeebies, Seb. I don’t know if we picked a winner of a job this time. Smythe-Ward is one nasty son of a bitch, and I, for one, don’t want to be taking this pretty lady to drop her off with the big bad wolf.” Bleak’s tone was heavy, as he gazed at the woman lying out cold on the floor between them.

“No choice. He paid us for retrieval. We’ve been working on this for a while now. She’s not our concern. This is just a mission, Bleak.”

No matter how many times he said it though, he couldn’t believe it. Not after what had just happened between them. He’d listened to Dr. Dolan Smythe-Ward’s impassioned plea to return his long-lost daughters to him. The geneticist had wanted a good special-ops crew that excelled in retrieval. General Post, Sebastian’s former commander in the Navy, had called Sebastian. He’d assured him the money was good.

Smythe-Ward was a vital asset to the U.S. military, and anything they could do to make him happy was a good thing. Even if the contactor performing the retrieval was retired military, which Sebastian and his crew were, Uncle Sam needed the help. God and country and all that. Sebastian had wanted specifics before taking the job. He was private sector now and had all the veto power when it came to the jobs he took and the ones he turned down.

Unfortunately, while this job had seemed all good on the money front, he hadn’t amassed many of the specifics he’d been promised. Nostalgia was a great reason for reuniting family, but when you tracked four women balls to the wall for over a month and received daily pressure to get the job done quickly, well, it stirred up all kinds of hornet’s nests and questions. None of which had been answered by Smythe-Ward. Nostalgia wasn’t driving this mission. No fucking way.

Then there was the primary objective. Smythe-Ward had been adamant about her return more than the others. The other siblings were compensatory, but if Sebastian’s team couldn’t get them, no harm no foul. It’d always been about Skylar.

The problem? She was pretty damn resistant. This whole situation stank of setup, but Sebastian was a pro at watching his back and keeping his team safe. This time would be no different, but it might be more entertaining than usual.

“She’s okay, Sebastian. We’re ready to move out. Did she say anything about Smythe-Ward?” Bleak asked him as he packed his BP cuff and monitor up.

“No, was she supposed to?”

Watching his teammate shrug his massive shoulders and shake his head negatively, Sebastian looked at his friend and was reminded of why the man was called Bleak. His countenance never changed. Neither did the depths of despair in the man’s eyes. He knew firsthand the type of betrayal Bleak had dished out to his former team, but for the life of him he couldn’t condemn the man for his choices. Bleak had damn near lost everything important to him in his own quest to save a sibling. But something had been hounding the man for months now, and even though Sebastian had repeatedly questioned him, Bleak hadn’t shared.

His gaze tracked back over the woman on the floor. She was beautiful. Even her unique smell drew him. He’d never been so thrown by a woman’s smell. Hell, didn’t they all smell good? But her unique blend of cinnamon and apples made his mouth water. She was tiny, but had the strength of ten men. She’d damn near felled him with one kiss. The way she’d crawled up his body and ratcheted her legs around his hips? She was a woman who could not only keep up with him in bed, but maybe do a little leading of her own once they were there. He took a moment to brush a few wayward strands of hair from her face. He ignored the fact that his hand lingered and traced the contours of her face.
Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!
She’s a mission, damn it.

He had to remind himself of that every second it seemed. He knew that if he lost sight of that very important fact, she could prove to be his downfall. Sebastian shook his head and concentrated on the task at hand.

“Any sign of the other women?”

“None. They seem to have vanished in thin air.” Morrissey snorted.

“Really?”

“Not shittin’ you, man. They gone, and nothing we did with any of the high-tech stuff prevented it. One minute they was there and the next—poof. They was gone,” Rover said quietly, his Louisiana accent heavy, his face a mask of unease.

“Well there you go then, Rover—a little something to believe in, huh?”

Morrissey needled the big black man relentlessly about his voodoo mama, and how she’d raised him. Tonight was no different from a hundred other assignments they’d operated together, and their bickering was proof some things never changed.

“Shove it up your ass, New York. Just because you can’t make sense out of it don’ mean it don’ exist. Tell you what, when this is done, you come down my way, and we’ll go see my mama. Bet you money you don’ make fun of me again.”

“Cut it out. We’ve got to move out and make contact with Smythe-Ward. Get your shit, and let’s move,” Sebastian ordered.

He leaned over to pick Skylar up. Her eyes were open. Her face blank and giving nothing away, she raised her hands and placed them against his scruff-roughened cheeks. Her look softened, became tender for a moment. Then steely resolve settled in gaze.

He didn’t have time to anticipate her action. She whispered two words, “I’m sorry,” and then he knew no more.

*

The floor shook as he fell beside her. Three other
thumps
sounded as the other men crashed to the floor. It took her moment to regain her equilibrium. She got to her knees and took several deep breaths to calm her heart rate.

She checked his vitals to make sure she’d done no more than put him to sleep. God, she hurt. That gadget he’d turned on her had done a damn good job of incapacitating her for a short time. She’d known about her susceptibility to intense UV light for a while but had ignorantly thought no one could’ve figured that out.

More fool her. How could she have forgotten the brilliance of the one who haunted all her living moments, waking and asleep? Her gut churned. What if he’d figured it all out? What she was. What she was capable of.

She once tried to kill Dr. Dolan Smythe-Ward herself. She had to stop when the man had begun to feel intense pain at her efforts. Every pain she’d visited on him rebounded back on her a hundredfold. So much so, that even her sisters had felt bleed over, and she’d been forced to stop. He’d encoded into her DNA a precise end stop that would prevent her from initiating the killing blow. Yeah, the bastard must’ve always had a pretty good idea of what she’d become as she grew. He would hunt her until he caught her.

Well bump that. He may suspect, but only she knew the power contained in her genetic makeup. She’d never be used as a weapon. It would only happen over her dead body, because then it wouldn’t be able to happen at all. That was probably where it was headed.

She had to get out of here before these men woke.
Where the hell is that device?

She yanked her hands apart, and the flex-cuffs fell off. She located the device beside Sebastian’s right hand. She lifted his arm, which wasn’t easy because the man was huge, and pulled the tiny device toward her. She hesitated as she went to grab it and finally picked it up and carefully placed it in a bag she had hanging over her desk chair. Piper could look over and disable it later.