Assassin Territory [Assassins Book 1] (7 page)

Excitement filled her. There was still meat on the large fish, a lot. Perhaps Lando’s stomach had shrunken and he couldn’t eat it all. Christy stuffed the remainder down her throat, choking on a few small bones, not really caring why it was left. The fact he could have saved some for later never entered her mind, she had been so grateful. She ate while trailing after him.

* * * *

Lando heard Christy following him. She moved about as quietly as a pack of rowdy boys. She was lucky he meant her no ill will or he would have discovered her the first time she sneezed. He stayed near the stream, not wanting to give up a water and food supply. This would make taking care of both of them much easier. As he left, he noted with concern she had fallen. He was always in tune with her actions, wanting to make sure she stayed close to him. Christy was becoming tired sooner. Lando hoped with the fish and fresh water she would become rejuvenated. His pace was unhurried; he was looking for a place to spend the night. He wanted to fish again. His belly still rumbled from hunger. Hopefully, he could catch more.

The day was cold. The sky turned overcast and Lando detected the sweet, metallic scent of snow in the air. He would need real shelter if the snow flew. So would she. It was with great relief he spotted a small cave surrounded by a large cluster of rocks. A snowflake landed on his brow, reminding him of how close winter actually was.

Lando gathered sticks and twigs, larger pieces of dry wood. He piled them all at the back of the small cave. He made certain there was a large pile stacked beside the opening of the cave within arm’s reach. Once his fire was established, he began to build a frame constructed to fit over the opening of the cave, to contain warmth. He bound together workable-sized pieces of wood with rope from one of the parachutes. Howard hadn’t been joking. He could have constructed a tent, but felt it wouldn’t provide enough protection or warmth. Once done, he again set out to fish.

* * * *

Christy wasn’t sure what was happening. She watched Lando race around, gathering wood. She wondered at the type of door he placed over his cave. Mystified, she watched him dart from the cave without muttering a single word, and head for the stream. She wondered if the snow had him concerned. Only a few flakes were falling. It wasn’t as if a blizzard was blowing. Maybe his tummy, once having a taste of the fish, was coveting more. She knew hers was.

Christy was too afraid to venture into the cave. She would be unable to leave undetected quickly enough when he returned. She longed to warm herself by the fire. She could feel its warmth beckoning by the opening. Teeth chattering, she was wishing she could sleep in there tonight. The eerie sound of the wolves howling wasn’t quite as enchanting when she felt so vulnerable and exposed. Christy backed away, knowing night would soon fall, and she would need her own type of shelter. But she would be unable to move too far from Lando.

She would need to be aware of when he left. Her options were limited and this was the first night since the crash she wouldn’t be able to see him. She knew she wouldn’t have come this far without his careless and mistakenly-left offerings and the protection of the fires.

How do you miss seeing a man who wanted you dead?
Christy gave her head a shake. Her thoughts were irrational.

* * * *

Lando wanted to bellow in triumph. Not only had he caught three more fish, he stumbled onto a rabbit’s burrow. Thrusting a sharp stick down the hole, he speared it, and carried the now cleaned and gutted food back to the cave. Lando filled his crude bowl at the stream and filled a condom with water for later use if necessary. The condom he’d found in the officer’s wallet.

Once he dumped his bounty inside, and after skewering the rabbit for roasting, he realized he had one more thing to do. The snow was beginning to fall with greater intensity; soon a blizzard would rage, there was no denying it. With grim, steely determination, he left the cave. It didn’t take him long to find her huddled form. As he predicted, Christy hadn’t ventured far. She was curled at the base of a large pine tree, hoping its large branches would offer some kind of protection from the snow and wind that picked up.

The wind howled as snow swirled around his feet unwilling to settle the dance. Christy wouldn’t have been unable to hear his approach over the noise of the storm. Lando needed to make a quick catch; when terrified, people tended to move faster. He leaned down, his hand hit material; grabbing a fistful, he yanked her surprised body out from under the tree, giving her no chance to escape.

* * * *

Christy screamed with fright. She realized the snow was picking up, soon falling in heavy sheets until visibility was nonexistent. The temperature was dropping at an alarming rate. Shaking violently, she had pulled herself into a tight ball, sobbing as the air became unbearably frigid, each breath an assault to her freezing lungs. The fierce wind shook the limbs of the tree in its intensity, showering her with endless snow until she was fearful of becoming buried alive; she didn’t think she could possibly feel any more miserable. When her arm was captured in a painful grip and she was pulled out from under the tree, she howled with new fear. Lando had somehow found her, and he would kill her.

“
Let me go,”
Christy screamed.

How had he found her? Why did he want her dead so badly? She wouldn’t tell anyone he was still alive, if that’s what was driving him. Did he need to silence her, feeling it would be his only way of real freedom from the police?

“Wait. Oh God, stop. Please don’t kill me, I won’t tell. I will say anything you want me to, I swear. I’ll tell the cops no one survived but me.” She continued to yell, and struggle. It was useless; he was so big, so powerful. His strong arms pinned her small ones. He clutched her legs in a death grip and she couldn’t kick out. She screamed for him to leave her be as he strode toward his shelter.

Will he rape me? Beat me?

“I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry, I didn’t follow you to give you away, I didn’t want to be all alone,” Christy cried out, petrified.

Lando took her struggling form into the small cave, where he dumped her down and pulled the door across. She was trapped; there was no escape—
like with Chad
. Once released, she crawled past the blazing fire, scooting as far from him as possible. Christy continued to scream until her throat protested in agony. The pain had been subsiding, yet returned with a vengeance, until her voice trailed off to a pitiful, hiccupping whimper. Her hands became bloodied as she clawed at the sides of the cave. Fear consumed her until she swore she was in her kitchen cowering on the floor.

She hit at the hard, cold stone in an effort to escape Chad—Lando.
Oh God which one or
are they both here?
She could barely see through the tears cascading down her cheeks, flowing like a river at a frantic pace. Finally exhausted, in defeat she slumped to her knees with her hands held before her in a pleading gesture. She continued to sob. She had tried so hard to live.

“Please don’t kill me, don’t…don’t beat me,” Christy pleaded, her pained voice no more than a hurtful rasp.

Through her tears she saw him, Lando; he hadn’t moved. She remembered how agonizing the blow felt coming from Chad, a man who professed to love her. How could she ever hope to survive a blow coming from a larger, even more powerful man? Her aching body couldn’t withstand any more brutality. The cruelty of her experience washed over her, drowning her emotions. Her head bowed, she waited for the worst. The agony of her thoughts hurt her soul, she wasn’t worthless. Why couldn’t people see that?

* * * *

When Lando entered the cave, he practically threw her struggling form off to the side, sensing her deep terror and need to flee from him. He pulled the covering across the front of the cave, effectively sealing them in together. He then watched as Christy pitifully clawed at the far sides of the cave, trying to find a nonexistent exit. Lando sat near the opening, blocking her way, refusing to allow her escape. He had no choice. She would freeze to death if he didn’t intervene. He hoped if he sat quietly and unthreateningly, she wouldn’t clasp at her heart as a few others had done and expire from her fear of him.
Let her come to you
, the voice in his mind cautioned with reasoning.

Lando watched as her small body slumped to her side, then pulled tightly into the fetal position, her tiny, shaking, bloody hands splayed before her as if to ward off an imminent, attack. She shook uncontrollably. Lando knew he was scary, but he was certain he caught the name Chad. It occurred to him why she didn’t have a cell phone, why she was in the middle of nowhere with a man twice her age. Christy was hiding. She was abused before, and from the looks of it, badly. She begged and pleaded with him, crying out from her terrible fear of present and past. She would do anything…anything. If only he would spare her life and cause her no more pain.

“Do you beg my mercy?” Lando questioned loudly over her incoherent frantic words.

“Yes…please,” she sobbed pitifully, stilling suddenly.

Her long beautiful hair was in disarray, her face red, eyes swollen. Those doe eyes of hers drew him in. There was such pain and fear. He wondered why anyone would purposely hurt the most disarming, enchanting creature he’d ever seen. He hated to sound cruel but she needed to listen.

“You will do as I say?” he again voiced loudly. Her head bobbed with a short nod. Lando began to feel a sense of relief. That she hadn’t succumbed to her terror was promising. Though she was frightened, she was listening to him. He knew he could coax her into doing as he said.

“I will do as you say. I will listen,” she whimpered.

“You will obey me without hesitation?” Lando demanded. If he commanded her to stay, yet she ran away in fear, she could be caught in another storm, or by a predator. He didn’t want to have to go looking for her. That would be an inconvenience and he would be very annoyed. He spent a great deal of time and effort keeping her alive.

“I will obey you, I swear,” Christy cried out.

Christy’s sobbing calmed, and he knew she was concentrating on his voice. He knew his had become a familiar voice over the last few days. Though he knew he terrified her, he had been the one to feed her with his left behind offerings. He had spoken to her, albeit offhand. He waited for her to catch up with him. Perhaps deep down, both knew Christy was following him all along.

“I won’t kill you or hurt you, Christy.”

Christy looked up at him through misted eyes; her chin quivered. “Promise?”

She looked so hopeful, so doubtful.

“I promise,” Lando said.

Head bowed, cautious, Christy approached him. She crawled toward him in deference. Lando waited, breath held, to see what she would do. She reached and clasped at his jacket with a shaking hand. Her gaze lifted to his, then fled, lifted, and he knew she was fearful he would yell or strike at her or shove her away.

When he did none of these things, Christy crept closer. She tentatively placed her head, her hair tossled, on his shoulder as he had seen her do with Sam when she was frightened. Lando didn’t push her away or hurt her. Christy grasped at him; she gave a soft hiccupping cry. Her small arms pulled him close; he could feel her warmth. Her chest pressed to his, and she uttered an almost inaudible plea. It was apparent she sought his compassion, a kindness.

Never having offered another intimate kindness, Lando hesitated. Then, sensing her desperate need for reassurance, he placed his arms around her, enveloping her tiny form. She cowered against him. She again wept pitifully for him not to cause her any harm. She hid her face into her bent elbow.

“Be still, sweetheart. I won’t hurt you,” Lando soothed. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Please don’t leave me,” she begged. Her arms tightened around him. He remembered that was often a plea of hers while she slept. He wondered who abandoned her.

“I won’t leave you. We aren’t going anywhere,” he informed her.

The blizzard raged outside their small shelter. The temperature dipped well below freezing. The two within the small cave huddled as one, both fearful of different things. The night closed in with a vengeance. The fire burnt brightly, offering warmth filling the small area.

As Lando held Christy’s shaking form, he realized he had won the most important conquest of his life. He had, in fact, succeeded in saving a life. After having taken so many, he couldn’t believe the ultimate,
intimate
euphoria in this one act. The all-powerful rush at having dominance over someone’s life intensified when that life was allowed to keep breathing by his own hand. Ceasing an existence became nothing…the absolute challenge of existence danced before him as auspicious as a rainbow after a violent storm.

Lando decided since he spared her life, it now belonged to him.
She
belonged to him. She was, in fact, now his. Never before had such intensity engulfed him; it was intoxicating. Lando’s grip on her tightened possessively.

“Lando?” she questioned on a soft, quiet plea.

He liked the quietly voiced sound of his name on her delicate lips. Breathing in the exquisite scent of her hair, Lando held her grasped to his broad chest, though he gentled his touch, realizing she was distressed.

Mine.

The voice in his head screamed triumphantly. Damn. He wished he could turn that voice off.

Christy watched as Lando pulled a Swiss army knife from his boot and cut into the crisp, cooking rabbit. Red and fatty juices dribbled lazily down its side to land, sizzling, dancing about on the hot coals beneath. Her mouth watered. She swallowed the building saliva, mesmerized, already devouring the meat. She licked her dry lips. Christy had never before eaten rabbit, yet could tell it was going to taste wonderful.

Lando blew on the aromatic meat. The steam floated about his face, reddening his rugged cheeks. He placed a small amount into his mouth and chewed; she knew he wasn’t teasing, just testing it to make certain it was fully cooked. Christy watched him, knowing her gaze was wide, and hopeful. Lando cut a large chunk of its hind quarters and offered it to her, while she hung back against the side of the cave. His look was encouraging, as if he thought she might not accept it.