Colter's Revenge (19 page)

“If piercings and figgings are your way of punishment, I’ll have to get you mad at me more often.”

The corner of his lip curled up slightly as if he approved of her answer.

“Just don’t draw attention to yourself the next time we meet with Cheri, Starry Eyes. I know you want the cure for the general but I don’t want you in any kind of danger and—”

She smoothed her hand over the skull tattoo just above his hard cock, stopping his words cold. She didn’t want to discuss the general or the real reason she was there. She trailed into his pubic hair, wrapping her fingers tightly over a tuft until he yelped in pain and tears welled in his eyes.

“Shit, woman! I didn’t think you’d be this bad.”

“Do I have your attention?”

“With a fistful of my sensitive parts, you got it.”

She grinned impishly at him, feeling a surge of confidence. Confidence that seemed to be oddly lacking even after taking that last pill before she’d hopped into the bathtub with him and had her nipples pierced. “First of all, don’t tell me what to do. Even if I am infected with a submissive disease, I am my own woman. I prefer to make the decisions about my own life.”

He looked at her oddly. Probably not used to seeing her so bold. “Whatever you say Starry Eyes.”

105

Jan Springer

“Second of all, I want you to tell me about your wife. I heard you mention you had one to Cheri when you first arrived. Why aren’t you using your real name? And who is this research company you’re working for? How high are they willing to bid to get the cure?”

He frowned and said nothing. Not quite the answers she was looking for. She pulled at his pubic hairs a little harder, making him grimace.

“Ashley, you pull any harder and I may have to punish you again.”

His stalling annoyed her. She tightened her grasp just a little. “Just tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“What I want to know.” Or maybe she didn’t really want to know about his wife. His arms came down from behind his head. His long fingers settling onto her wrists, most likely to prevent her from pulling too hard when he upset her, and by the frown on his face, he was definitely going to say something she didn’t want to hear.

“Ashley…it’s a really long story.”

“So give me the short version.”

He said nothing, but his fingers tightened on her wrists, keeping her hands immobile. If that wasn’t an answer that he had a real wife, then she didn’t know what was.

Oh damn, he’d been making love to her all this time and he had a wife at home. She really hadn’t given it much thought during their time together. She’d been too busy being angry at him and aroused while he’d held her as his slave. But now that her anger was diminishing, she needed to know more about him. Maybe that had been the reason he’d left that note for her years ago. Why he’d changed his mind about taking her away from the general. Because of his wife.

“Do…do you love her?”

“No,” he exhaled softly.

“Oh…” Relief splashed around her. He wasn’t in love with another woman. It’s the answer she’d been looking for but hadn’t really expected him to say it.

“I care for her. It’s an arrangement, Ashley. That’s all.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know who this woman is. How did you meet her? Why did you Claim her? What’s this arrangement?”
And do I have a chance of taking you away from her?

Taking you away with me?

He chuckled and his abdomen rose and fell beneath her arm.

“Are you jealous?” he asked.

“I just want to know why you would Claim a woman you don’t love?”

He frowned. “Like I said it’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time. Tell me.”

106

Colter’s Revenge

“She was one of Blakely’s guinea pigs.”

Shockwaves curled through her. Blakely was notorious for having a harem of women to experiment on, sexually and otherwise. His wife Cheri was certainly no better.

“She’s one of the women with a natural immunity to the X-virus. The government had her kidnapped and held her against her will for almost five years before turning her over to Blakely. He…” Colter hesitated for a moment before continuing. “He did some experiments on her. He drugged her, cut into her and took most of her eggs. I’m sure he had them fertilized possibly using the embryos to gain this cure that Cheri is talking about.”

Ashley’s tummy knotted at the thought of what had happened to the woman’s eggs, her embryos, and the things that must have happened to the woman herself. “But none of these women who have been kidnapped have ever been seen or heard from again. She must have escaped somehow.”

“She did. Then she hid out on Outlaw land. She was my brother Luke’s fiancée before she was kidnapped.”

Now she was beginning to understand this “arrangement”.

“You Claimed her to protect her from the government and Blakely, didn’t you?”

She’d heard about the newest of the Claiming rules. A Claimed woman immune to the X-virus and its mutations was automatically protected under the laws from being legally taken by any other group of men including the government. According to the Law, a group of men’s sexual satisfaction and the bearing of hopefully resistant-free females outweighed everything, including any Claims the government would have on a woman for experimental purposes.

“Do you have sex with her?”

Oh my gosh! She couldn’t believe she’d just asked that question, but something deep inside her wanted to know.

“Yes. My three brothers and I did.”

Four men? Of course! Claiming Law stated there had to be a minimum of four husbands to take a woman.

She felt a stab of envy for Colter’s wife. She had four Outlaw men making love to her, protecting her, bringing her pleasure. If the others were anything like Colter…

She blew out an aroused breath. Four men making love to her? Have mercy, now wouldn’t that be something!

Her bubble burst at his next words. “We had sex until we found out she was pregnant.”

A baby. My God. He was already making a family with her and his brothers. How could he so easily have buckled to this new way of life? How could anyone accept this damned Claiming Law?

107

Jan Springer

“It’s Luke’s baby,” he continued. “We…he was the only one who took her vaginally. It seemed better that way since he’s the one in love with her.”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough.” She let go of his pubic hair and pulled away from him, grabbing the blankets to cover her suddenly chilled flesh.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you all that.”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked. None of my business.”

“It wasn’t as if we couldn’t not have sex with her. The Claiming is taped to ensure that each man…enjoys the woman…she did enjoy it too. You could say she became addicted to having sex with more than one man.”

“Just shut up, will you?”

His low chuckle made her irritation burn higher.

“Wouldn’t you like to have three or four men making love to you, Starry Eyes? I could arrange it.”

Sweet Jesus! She was insane for even getting excited at his suggestion. Hated herself at the warm gush of cream sliding down her vagina at his softly spoken suggestion.

“I hear many women fantasize about ménages,” he continued.

“Well, I don’t,” she found herself snapping, feeling guilty for wanting to indulge in sexual pleasures with Colter…and maybe his brothers as that other woman was doing. But it didn’t mean she was going to do it.

“That’s not what you told me during our time together in Iraq, or I wouldn’t have brought Blade into our foray.”

“The general must have withheld my medication…”

He grinned wickedly. “Even so, you did say a ménage à trois was your fantasy…

Medication can’t plant that idea in your head, and all I did was ask what your fantasy was.”

“Shut up.” She felt her cheeks warm up with embarrassment. “I think it’s time we faced reality, Colter. You’ve got a wife waiting for you and three brothers who are depending on you to keep this Claiming shit legal. I’m not into casual ménages. I’m into a serious relationship with one man.”

“You’d have to go into hiding. My brother Jude did that with the woman he loves. They took off on the
Outlaw Lover
.”

“Outlaw Lover?”

“Our boat.”

“The general has several yachts…” she found herself whispering. Found herself hoping Colter would suggest they take one and sail off together into the sunset. He didn’t.

“I suppose this means you and the general have discussed you and he going into hiding already?”

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Colter’s Revenge

She didn’t like the way this conversation was heading, nor did she like the odd need to tell him the truth about the general. Maybe if she could just tell him what was really going on and get him to help her…

No! She couldn’t trust Colter. He’d proved it in the past by walking out on her.

“The general has his plans for me and only me. He doesn’t go around fucking another woman just so he can Claim her,” she lied, hoping to see jealousy rage across his features. A shallow inhalation of his breath was her only clue that she had made some sort of impact on him. Otherwise, his face remained impassive.

“He plans on taking me to Monaco. He’s got a wonderful villa there fully staffed with faithful servants.”

The villa was where she’d finally taken Colette when she’d escaped the general’s mansion that night with the help of her bodyguard.

“And, of course, you’ll be there to pleasure him anytime he wants.”

“Go to hell,” she snapped, suddenly wanting to get away from his knowing smile. She’d climbed out of bed and was heading toward the bathroom to grab a glass of water when she spotted a shadowy figure through the open bedroom doorway in the adjoining room.

Before she could scream out a warning to Colter, he was pulling her behind him, protecting her from the pair of narrowed eyes peering at her. A moment later Blade stepped into the light. Her heart froze at the sight of the lethal looking gun in his hand.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ashley couldn’t believe the anger that laced Colter’s words as he spoke to his friend.

“I could ask you the same thing, friend. Fucking the enemy on S.K.U.L.L.’s time—

not a good thing. But then again, you always were stupid when it came to her.”

There was no hint of friendliness in his voice or in the way he looked at her.

“What’s with the gun, Blade?” Colter asked. She could see the muscles in his upper back flex with tension. As if he were preparing to fight.

“Consider it a hearing aid. We need to talk.”

“So talk.”

“Not in front of her. Get dressed. Meet me at your cabin.” Having said that, Blade turned and disappeared into the darkness of the living room, leaving Ashley wondering if he’d been there at all. A moment later, the soft click of a door closing snapped her out of her disbelief.

“He looked as if he wanted to kill me,” Ashley whispered, allowing the tremors of fear to grab a hold of her.

“He probably did.”

“What? Why? What did I do to him?”

109

Jan Springer

Colter didn’t say anything as he quickly climbed into his underwear and gathered up his clothing.

“It’s not what you did to him…” he said, and hopped into his pants, flashing her a rather serious look she didn’t like. “It’s what you did to me.”

Before she could ask him what the hell he was talking about, he was palming a gun she never knew he had and was heading out of the bedroom.

“Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She found herself nodding as she followed him to the main door and watched his shirtless figure disappear into the moonlit night.

* * * * *

“Are you fucking insane?” Blade’s voice slammed into Colter like a hurricane the instant he entered his cabin. He’d seen Blade pissed off only a few times since he’d known him. It wasn’t a pretty sight. And it sure wasn’t now.

“That bitch burned you and now you’re getting right back in between her legs again like some stupid dog in heat.”

At Blade’s words, Colter stifled an overwhelming need to go for his gun and tell his friend to get the hell out of his face. Instead, he managed to keep his voice calm and cool.

“It’s none of your business, Blade.”

“The hell it isn’t! She’s fucking poison. She landed you in a hell of a lot of hot water when she split the way she did.”

“You better back off, Blade.”

“No! You’re my friend, my S.K.U.L.L. partner and I owe you at least a piece of my mind, or at the very least to talk you out of going near her. S.K.U.L.L. finds out you’re mixing business with pleasure, they won’t be too pleased either.”

“S.K.U.L.L. sanctioned me women—”

“Not of a personal nature,” Blade snapped.

“They won’t find out.”

“They’re already suspicious. You’re not answering your pages. Bev’s been trying to contact you. You didn’t show up for the pre-arranged meet time with her. She wants details of that meeting you had with Cheri. How the hell do you expect to get the cure and get your brother safe while you’re playing house with someone else’s fucking pleasure slave?”

The words pleasure slave felt like a shard of glass grating into Colter’s heart and he couldn’t help but wince. Couldn’t help but realize Blade was right. The assignment was in jeopardy because he’d been following his wrong head.

His friend must have caught his reaction because it appeared as if all the air flew right out of him and he ran a hand in frustration through his golden blond locks. 110

Colter’s Revenge

“I’m sorry I lost it. You’re right, it’s none of my business. You’re out of S.K.U.L.L. now, but we have to get rid of her so you can do your job. We’ll stash her until you two can pick up where you left off. I promise no one will harm her.”

Tension coiled inside Colter. He wanted to say no. Wanted to tell Blade to go to hell, but he knew his friend was right. With Ashley around he couldn’t think clearly. He needed her out of the way. They could pick up where they left off when she was safely out of there and away from the general and Cheri Blakely.