Colter's Revenge (22 page)

Anger blazed in his eyes. “Now’s not the time to argue. Get your cute ass moving. I won’t say it twice.”

Maybe because she’d lived with the trained responses to commands compliments of the X-virus, but for a split second she expected the familiar submission fog to slip over her. To her relief, nothing happened.

Son of a bitch! She didn’t have to do a thing anyone said. Not even Colter. But now wasn’t the time to exert her newfound freedom.

She’d have plenty of time for her revenge against him.

Later.

When Colter raised his head over the lobby desk and set off yet another volley of gunfire, she made a run for it, plowing into the nearby hallway where she perched herself on her knees and zipped off retaliatory shots.

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Jesus! There were so many guards shooting. One fired from behind the potted planter. Another one from a side foyer. Yet another one from the front entrance doorway replacing the fellow she’d taken down just seconds earlier. Hysteria niggled at her as she watched Colter ready himself to come to her. Instincts told her he wouldn’t make it.

She wanted to yell at him. To warn him to be careful. She had no time. He sprinted from the hiding place and she just opened fired at anything that moved. Adrenaline roared faster as immediately from behind Colter she saw the basement door crash open. Cheri and her husbands piled out of the basement with guns in their hands.

Ashley swore softly. She should have hidden the rest of the guns and not left them outside the dungeon doorway as they’d done. It had been a stupid thing to do, but they hadn’t had the time to carry them along.

The group fanned out to various points throughout the lobby. Dammit! She couldn’t hit all of them.

When they spotted her, they started shooting.

Her stomach sank as if she were on a runaway elevator.

Colter was in the crossfire!

Ashley knew the instant he got hit. He was in the process of diving through the air when she saw him flinch ever so slightly. He hit the ground hard right beside her then, to her amazement, he rolled into a crouched position and popped off some more rounds.

She spied a blossom of bright red bloodstain on the pink ceramic floor beneath him. Alarm zipped up her spine.

Shit!

“You’re hit,” she screeched. Her guts twisted in anguish.

“Get the hell moving down the hall out the back and head into the woods! I’ll be right there,” he hissed.

As if answering her question the glass door at the back of the hallway burst inward and a handful of men in camouflage fatigues came roaring in. She sighed in relief when she spied Blade among them.

Blade zeroed right in on them while the others whipped past at lightning speed, opening fire on anyone who moved in the lobby.

“Got a car waiting just out back,” Blade said as he crouched beside them.

“Hold on a minute, Blade,” Colter answered. Perspiration glistened across his face and his eyes narrowed as he took a bead on one of Cheri’s husbands. Ashley jumped as Colter eased off a couple of rounds and the man screeched then dropped to the plush carpeted floor.

“Four down. Three to go.”

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“Nice job,” Blade grinned.

It was then that Ashley realized Blade’s nose looked twice the size as normal and was all black and blue.

“Here’s the file outlining the cure,” Colter said as he held up the file folder Cheri had given her. Blade reached for it, but Colter shook his head.

“You get the file along with a vial containing the cure once you get my brother’s ass out of wherever he is.”

“But Bev won’t—”

“Fuck Bev. Tell her she does it my way or I sell the cure on the black market.”

Blade nodded. “Will do. Where can we find you?”

“The Outlaw farm.”

Blade’s gaze narrowed slightly.

“Both of you?”

“Both of us,” Colter replied.

“Together again. Like old times,” Blade said. Even though the words sounded innocent enough she detected the sexual innuendo in Blade’s tone, recognized the heat flaring up in his eyes as his gaze raked her form. For some reason his anger toward her had vanished. Why? Why was he looking at her with so much lust in his eyes? She found herself shivering at the intensity of it. It reminded her of the time she’d first met him. A scorching, open stare that told her he wanted to have sex. That’s when she realized she must look quite the picture wearing nothing but a man’s jacket that barely covered her ass, allowing Blade quite the eyeful of her long, naked legs and probably a whole heck of a lot more.

Her face flamed.

Shit! Now was not the time to get embarrassed. She’d have plenty of time later when she could think of how she’d been laid out on the metal table in the dungeon fingering herself in front of all those people.

From the general direction of where Blade and his team had come inside, she made out the cracking sound of gunfire and then abrupt silence. Suddenly Blade nodded affirmation as if he were listening to someone. That’s when she noticed an odd device plugged into his right ear.

“Okay, S.K.U.L.L.’s cleared a path to the Jeep. I’ll relay the message to Bev. Off you go, lovebirds.”

Before she could thank him for his help Colter was yanking her down the hallway and into the warm night air. He pointed to a black Jeep with a man in camouflage.

“That’s our getaway car. Come on!”

She noticed he was breathing heavily when they settled into the backseat of the Jeep. Noticed the tight grimace of pain around the edges of his mouth. The way his eyes fluttered.

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And when his eyes rolled into the back of his head and closed, Ashley couldn’t help but let out an agonizing scream.

* * * * *

“How is he?” Ashley asked, anxiety clawing through her as Blade opened the door of the bedroom they’d put Colter in and came out into the hall where she’d been anxiously waiting.

When Colter had passed out in the Jeep, the driver had radioed Blade who had quickly joined them. While the driver whisked them away, Blade had quickly located the bullet wound behind Colter’s upper right thigh.

It was an ugly wound and Ashley had almost screamed again when she’d seen it. Now as Blade quietly closed the bedroom door, she briefly spied Colter’s very pregnant Claimed wife sitting on the edge of the bed running her hand over his forehead. Colter’s eyes were closed but he sure appeared to be enjoying himself, a happy smile plastered over his lips. The tight knot that had been growing inside her stomach since he’d gotten shot suddenly became bigger.

“Come on. I’ll tell you out in the living room with the others,” Blade whispered as he led her down the hallway to where Colter’s brothers awaited anxiously for the news. The brothers, all three of them, who’d been pacing back and forth in various parts of the large living room, came rushing toward both Blade and her.

“How is he?” came a concerned Mack Outlaw’s hushed whisper.

“What’s the prognosis, Doc?” was Luke’s immediate response.

“What the fuck kind of backup do you have letting my brother get all shot up?” was Cade’s angry question.

“Hey, chill out, guys. Colter’s going to be fine,” Blade replied. Ashley heard loud exhales of relief around the room, yet she felt no relief at all. In the Jeep when Colter had fallen unconscious, she’d thought she’d lost him. At the Outlaw farmhouse she’d seen how upset his very pregnant wife and brothers had been when Blade and the driver had dragged his unconscious body inside. Now she literally felt her heart dying inside. With so much love and devotion pouring out of these people for Colter, there was no way she could ask him to come away with her and go into hiding. It just wouldn’t be right.

“The bullet didn’t do any permanent damage, but he’s going to be sore for a while,”

Blade explained. “At the moment we have a more pressing matter at hand.” He turned to Ashley and her stomach twisted at the seriousness in his voice. “We’re going to have to get you out of here before word gets out the Outlaws have an unClaimed woman on their hands.”

“I’m not unClaimed,” Ashley said quickly, her hand sliding into the pocket of the jacket Colter had given her, her fingers wrapped securely around the cool glass vial. If needed, she would use it to escape, just as she’d done at Pleasure Palace. 126

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“Unfortunately, according to the government records, you are unClaimed, Ashley. I’m sorry, but I had to do a background check on you when I discovered you were with Colter. I know he also wanted you somewhere safe and protected until he could…deal with you. It might not be safe enough for you here, so you should come with me.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” a woman’s voice erupted from the hallway. Ashley swung around to find Colter’s wife holding her swollen belly as she waddled into the living room. She wore a rather firm scowl on her face and it was directed at Blade. Instincts told Ashley when this woman was pissed off, it was best to make a wide berth around her.

Obviously Blade didn’t have the same instincts. He held his ground as she came and stood within inches from him and poked him none too gently in the chest.

“I’m sorry but you were obviously unable to keep Colter safe. That means you won’t be able to protect Ashley, either. She stays here.”

Having said that, Callie moved away and sat down on the nearby sofa, acting as if her word was law and there would be no argument.

Well, screw her!

“No one tells me where I can stay or not stay, especially not Colter or his wife,”

Ashley bit out.

The look of surprise on the woman’s face struck a spear of regret into Ashley.

“Hey, she’s just looking out for your best interest,” the brother named Cade interjected. His dark gaze challenged her to say different. She certainly was going to speak her mind to this broody Outlaw whether he liked it or not.

“She’s just looking out for Colter’s best interest, not mine. I’m leaving with Blade.”

She headed toward the door. Going with Blade was the last thing she wanted. She’d much rather stay as close to Colter as possible. Besides, heading out with Blade would make it just that much harder to escape and get back to her daughter. So why was she being stupid enough in going with Blade? Probably because she didn’t feel comfortable hanging around there with his gorgeous pregnant wife nearby. Before she could grab the doorknob a strong hand wrapped around her upper arm, spinning her around. To her shock she came nose to nose with an ashen-faced Colter.

“Trying to leave without saying goodbye again?” Anger dripped from his voice and he glowered at her with such intense emotion that she couldn’t stop the shiver of fear from zipping through her. Before she could stop him, his hand slipped into her pocket and he withdrew the vial containing the cure.

He handed it to his brother Cade. “Don’t let it out of your sight.”

Shit! Damn son of a bitch!

“What the hell are you doing? Give it back! I got the cure and I’m holding onto it.”

“The cure goes to S.K.U.L.L.—as soon as Bev releases my brother. And you’re staying right here on the Outlaw farm until I say otherwise. You’ve got some explaining to do too.” Before she could utter another protest, Colter pulled her past the amused 127

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faces of his brothers, his surprised wife and a grinning Blade, and dragged her like a rag doll down the hallway and into the large bedroom where she’d seen his wife hovering over him only moments earlier.

The instant they entered the bedroom he turned, locked it with a key and deposited the key into his underwear.

“Oh for crying out loud,” Ashley blurted. “If you think I’m going for the key, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“I’m counting on you not going for the key, Starry Eyes.” Anger was still evident in his voice as he pulled her onto the bed with him. “I’m bushed and I need some sleep. And don’t even think about trying to climb out one of the bedroom windows because I personally installed a high-tech security system and it will alert us if you try something stupid, so just get that jacket off and climb under the covers,” he instructed.

“No way. I want out of here and I want out now.”

“Why?”

His question came so unexpectedly it felt as if he’d socked her in the gut.

“I just want out of here.”

“Why are you suddenly so claustrophobic?”

His fingers were branding her skin right through the jacket and she tried to yank herself free from his grip, but it remained iron hard, making her think he hadn’t been as badly wounded as she’d thought.

“I want out, now. Or I’ll start kicking that damn door down.” Her nerves were strung so tight because of all the events that had transpired in such a short time she didn’t doubt she would hurl herself at that door as she said she’d do. To her surprise, he chuckled. “That would give the brothers and wife something to talk about.”

“You’re disgusting! How dare you have me under the same roof as your wife! Not to mention inviting me into your bed with her just in the other room. Don’t you have an ounce of respect for your wedding vows?”

“Oh, so that’s what’s eating you. We can invite her into bed too if you like?”

“You’re sick.”

“Am I? Why?”

“She’s pregnant for one thing.”

“So? Pregnant women like to sleep too.”

The tiniest tingle of a smile tilted his lips. The son of a bitch was toying with her.

“This isn’t a funny situation for me, Colter.”

“I’m sorry, Starry Eyes. But I just can’t help teasing you. You look so cute wearing nothing but my monkey suit jacket.”

Oh for heavens sakes! She’d forgotten about that.

“I must say it looks a hell of a lot better on you than it did on me.”

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She noticed the intimate way his eyes darkened. The way he leaned closer to her, the intense body heat splashing all around her.

She found herself moving away from him ever so slightly. Now was not the time to succumb to the delicious desires his hot looks created.

“I’m sure my brothers and Blade loved checking out your luscious long legs, maybe you even gave them a glimpse of your sweet ass or your pussy.”