Silent Hunters (3 page)

“No. I don’t think you’re crazy at all. But for right now come on into the kitchen. You need ice on that bruise and a drink to settle your nerves.”

SILENT HUNTERS

Desiree Holt

15

The ice felt so good on her jaw, easing the throb of the pain, and the drink—bourbon, she thought—was settling her nerves. She looked at the five people sitting around the kitchen table with her and tried to figure out what to tell them. Who would believe her story?

Yet there was a feeling in the air, something so reassuring that she thought she could blurt out everything, even about the wolves, and no one here would turn a hair.

Luke cleared his throat. “Why don’t I tell you a little bit about who we are?” he said.

“Maybe that will make you feel a little better.”

Lauren frowned. “Who you are?”

“Yes. Besides being very nice people…” he grinned…“we’re all partners in a private security and protection agency in San Antonio called The Sentinels.”

“The Sentinels?” she repeated.
I’m starting to sound like a parrot.

“Yes.” Damien had made sure he was seated next to her, his thigh gently touching hers.

“Luke and Sierra and Kelsey and Mack run an office from here that covers New England and New York, but the main office is in San Antonio. Of course, if a case comes up that requires all of us to be in one place then that’s what we do.”

Lauren was trying to wrap her mind around what he was telling her. “How many of you are there in this agency? And exactly what do you do?”

“We started out with eight,” Luke said, “but as different partners have married they’ve been added to the agency. Some full time, like Sierra and Kelsey, and Anne Marie, Drew Noland’s wife.”

“Luke’s brother is married to an assistant district attorney in San Antonio,” Sierra added. “She’s kind of an adjunct member because she has a full-time job. Like Cale Martin’s wife, who’s also an ADA.”

“As to what we do, it’s simple.” Damien picked up the thread. “When people are in trouble, when they need protection or there’s a situation where law enforcement just isn’t doing it, they come to us. And we help them.”

“So you see,” Kelsey added in a kind voice, “whatever trouble you’re in, you managed to stumble into the right place.”

SILENT HUNTERS

Desiree Holt

16

Lauren clutched the glass with the remnants of her drink with one hand and kept the ice pack pressed to her face with the other. Could she really tell these people what had happened? Could they help her find the answers?

As if her turmoil had communicated itself to Damien, he reached out and stroked her arm with lean fingers. It was such an intimate gesture from a total stranger yet for some reason it seemed perfectly normal to her. Not to mention the fact that his very touch set her nerves to sizzling and a pulse beating in her cunt. A throbbing that spread to every point of her body. Between the wolves and this man she felt as if she’d fallen down a rabbit hole.

But what choices did she have? She was literally stranded in the middle of nowhere and someone wanted to harm her. Even kill her. Maybe fate, in the form of the wolves, had led her here specifically so these people could help her.

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Remember I mentioned wolves before?”

Everyone nodded and shared a smile. A smile? Yes. As if they all held a common secret.

Lauren mentally shook herself and plunged ahead.

“Well, this is on that same list of things you won’t believe. I was driving into town tonight to…well, whatever. Anyway, my car ran out of gas, which shocked the hell out of me because I’d just filled the tank the day before and hadn’t gone anywhere since then.” She took another sip of her drink. “I was standing outside the car on the godforsaken road trying to get more than one bar on my cell phone when this black SUV pulled up.”

She shifted the ice pack and looked around the table. Everyone was paying careful attention. Okay, then.

In less than two minutes she had given them the rest of the details of what had happened, ending with the wolves attacking her captor and leading her to this house in the middle of the woods.

“So.” Again she looked at each of them. “That’s what happened. All of it. What do you think? Is this the kind of thing you get involved in?”

They had her repeat the story two or three times, asking her questions, asking if she’d ever been to that cabin before. Lauren was shocked they took her weird tale as gospel. That they all remained so calm as if they heard stories like this every day. Of course, considering their line of work, they probably did.

SILENT HUNTERS

Desiree Holt

17

But every time she mentioned the blow to her jaw the look in the eyes of the men was nothing short of lethal.

“Lauren.” Luke’s voice was soft. “Here’s the important question. Why would someone want to kidnap you? And brutalise you that way? What’s going on that you haven’t told us about?”

She shrugged. “M-maybe for money?” Luke lifted an eyebrow. “Money?”

She’d have to tell them now. If she wanted their help she couldn’t hold anything back.

“M-my full name is Lauren Rhodes.” They stared at her. “You know.
Rhodes
?” she emphasised.

Mack leant forward. “As in Rhodes Lumber? Rhodes Paper Manufacturing? And all those other companies with the Rhodes name attached?”

She nodded, her fingers tightening around the ice pack.

“Well.” He blew out a breath. “That certainly puts a light on things. Just the name makes you a target.”

“I want to hire you.” She wasn’t usually given to such snap decisions but this was far from a normal situation. She just hoped she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. “Please.

You know I can pay you. Whatever you charge.”

They all exchanged glances again. Then Luke took the lead once more.

“Lauren, we’d help you without the money. But in any event we need a lot more information, and you look like you’re about two seconds from passing out. You’re safe here for tonight, and in the morning you can give us every detail you can think of that might have led to what happened.” He looked at the other two men. “We’ll give Lauren the guest room.

Damien, you’re on guard duty while Mack and I take Kelsey home and then go check out that cabin.”

As if on a signal they all pushed back from the table.

“B-but wait.” She looked up at Damien. “The guest room. Isn’t that where you’re sleeping.”

“Not tonight.” He smiled and heat washed through her again. “Come. Let’s get you settled.”

He put his hand beneath her elbow and it seemed the most natural thing in the world for him to be the one to lead her to the room where she’d be sleeping. To pull back the covers and help her into bed.

SILENT HUNTERS

Desiree Holt

18

Lauren was stunned by the fact that this all seemed so very natural and wondered if there’ d been some kind of drug in the drink they’d given her. Then Damien leant down and brushed his lips softly against hers and for whatever reason her world settled into place.

“Sleep,” he murmured. “You’re safe now. I promise.”

Strangely enough, although she was sure she’d never be able to, Lauren drifted off to sleep almost at once. But the moment the blackness closed over her she was back on the dark road with three men tossing her into the SUV and the fist connecting with her jaw. Hands were holding her down and she struggled to get away from them, screaming loudly so someone would hear her.

“Lauren.”

Someone was saying her name and hands were shaking her gently.

“Lauren, wake up. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

But she couldn’t seem to stop screaming.

Suddenly a mouth covered hers, hot and firm, and a tongue thrust inside. And as if someone had thrown a switch the nightmare faded away and an erotic fog wrapped itself around her. Every pulse in her body throbbed to life, the walls of her pussy contracted and her nipples beaded beneath the T-shirt.

When whoever was holding her moved and their mouths were no longer connected she felt a tremendous sense of loss. Her eyes flew open and she stared into Damien’s black ones.

The soft light from the bedside lamp cast a glow on him, the hoop in his ear glittering, and he looked like a marauding pirate come to claim his prize.

He smiled at her and every one of her muscles melted.

“Better?” he asked, his voice low and deep, sliding over her like warm molasses.

“Uh…uh…yes.” She felt totally disoriented. “What…what’s happening?”

Looking over his shoulder, she spotted Sierra standing in the doorway, concern lining her face.

“It’s okay, Sierra,” Damien said without turning his head. “I’ve got it.” He slid his hands from Lauren’s shoulders up to cup her face. “You were screaming the house down, little one. I thought there was a banshee in here.”

“Ohmigod.” Heat crept up her face. “I’m so, so sorry. I was having a nightmare…”

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He stroked her cheekbones with his thumbs. “Go on back to bed, Sierra. I have things under control here.”

SILENT HUNTERS

Desiree Holt

19

“All right. But holler if you need me.”

Lauren clutched at Damien’s wrists, desperation nearly choking her. “Don’t leave me.

Please. Stay here with me.”

“Okay, okay. I will. Don’t fret.” He glanced around the room. “I’ll pull up that chair and sit right next to the bed.”

“No.” She tried to swallow the panic in her voice. “No. I want you right here next to me. Please.”

He studied her face carefully—looked into her eyes for a long time.

“Lauren, if I do that, we’re both in trouble. I think you know that. I knew the minute I laid eyes on you that you were mine. But you’ve had a very rough night, we have no idea who’s behind all this, and I’m not about to take advantage of you.”

She tightened her fingers around his wrists. “Please. I want you to. There’s…a man who thinks he wants to marry me and I feel more for you after only a couple of hours than I ever felt for him in two years.”

He started to pull back and his expression hardened. “You’re engaged?”

She shook her head vehemently. “No. No, no, no. He’d like us to be, but there’s never been… I didn’t want… It’s all in his head. I don’t want anything to do with him. I never have. I swear to you. I just… Please, Damien. Don’t turn away from me. I’ll tell you everything in the morning. But tonight I need you. I need you.”

She could feel the struggle going on inside him.

“Lauren, there are things about me you don’t know. Things…”

“I don’t care. There are things about me, too. But they can keep until tomorrow. Please.

Don’t make me beg.”

She couldn’t explain it but there was an urgency to her need for him that she’d never felt before. Not ever, not with anyone else.

This is crazy. I don’t even know this man.

Still, she hitched herself backwards on the bed, tugging Damien with her. She felt the exact moment he chose not to resist, accepted her plea. He brushed his mouth over hers, then stood and pulled his T-shirt over his head. Lauren barely swallowed her gasp at the sight of his magnificent body. Bronzed from the sun, thick dark hair covering his chest, sculpted muscles rippling beneath his skin as he moved his arms.

SILENT HUNTERS

Desiree Holt

20

His hands dropped to his belt and he paused, giving her a last chance to call a halt to this. Feeling as if she was being pulled along by some unstoppable force, her answer was to wriggle out of the shorts then grab the hem of the T-shirt and yank it over her head. Now she was sitting before him completely naked.

Fire flashed in his eyes like streaks of lightning and every muscle in his body tensed.

Tightened.

“Your turn,” she whispered, wanting him to hurry as if a moment’s delay might cause her to change her mind.

He kicked off his shoes and in one lithe movement shucked off his jeans and boxer briefs. Standing there completely nude, he was stunning—like a god from a fantasy world or a graceful animal from the jungle. His black hair gleamed in the ambient light from the lamp, his eyes glowed with inner heat. She wanted to run her hands over every inch of him. She could never remember ever feeling like this about another man. Not ever.

Her mouth went dry as his cock sprang free, a thick magnificent shaft rising from a rich nest of black curls, the purple head dark and swollen. Her muscles contracted in response, her cunt hungering for his thick length to fill it. She reached out a tentative hand and he moved to stand beside the bed so she could touch him. The moment her fingers closed around his length every erogenous zone in her body throbbed in response.

The skin was soft and silken but beneath it was a rod of hard steel. A tiny bead of fluid seeped from the slit and she bent her head to lap it up with the tip of her tongue. He jerked in her hand in response, a sound of pleasure rumbling in his throat, but he lifted her head away.

“We don’t want this over before it starts,” he growled.

His eyes burned with the heat of appreciation as they swept over her exposed body and he took one nipple between two fingers, squeezing it gently. Electricity shot directly to her pussy and her inner walls fluttered in response. When he squeezed the other stiff bud she rose to her knees, arching into his touch.

Still holding her nipples Damien bent his head and pressed his mouth to hers, being very careful of the swelling on her jaw. When he licked the seam of her lips, the erotic touch sent shock waves through her, every pulse suddenly pounding with need. His tongue moved back and forth in a gentle glide, licking the surface of her lips until she opened for him and SILENT HUNTERS

Desiree Holt

21

he swept inside. She felt as if a living flame had invaded her, igniting every nerve on the slick surfaces.

As he tasted and licked the inside her mouth, coaxing her tongue to dance with his, he kept the pressure on her nipples, increasing it just enough to send heat flashing over the surfaces of her skin. A tiny whimper echoed in her mouth and she lifted herself to him. Her hands slid up and down his muscular arms, feeling the power surging through his body like a constant flow of electrical current.