Dual Release (16 page)

Donnell’s eyebrow hitched and a devious look appeared. “Ye are a tease, milady. It no be fair ye get to touch the very part of ye I hunger to play with and suckle.”

Cait shook her head. “You really are incorrigible.” He frowned so she leaned, pressing her forehead to his as she whispered, “But I like it. If we were anywhere else, your cock wouldn’t be lacking a riding partner right about now.”

He cupped her chin and held her face in place, gaze-to-gaze. “Then let us find a way out of here.
Mi
shaft wishes nothing more than to feel the heat of your sheath wrapped around it.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, then released her.

“Ye have any notions on how we are to escape?” he asked quietly.

His hands rested casually on her hips as if that were the most natural place for them to be. Cait had to admit, she liked his hands upon her but it made it difficult to think straight. She took a breath, determined to focus on the issue of most importance. Escape. Then she’d fuck him ’til his eyes crossed.

Keeping her voice low, she responded, “No. I find it odd no one has come to take us for questioning. You’d think they’d want to know what we know.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged as she remained standing between his thighs with her back to the camera. It tore at her concentration knowing his cock was wanting and ready for her, but being an exhibitionist wasn’t her style. “I’m not even sure why they took us.”

“They took us because of me.”

“You? Why?” For a second, Cait was more confused than ever, until she thought it through. What did this have to do with Donnell? True, they’d tried to steal him from the warehouse when he was in statue form, so this really could be about him.

“I am not sure as to the why,” Donnell replied. “The reason behind being cursed eludes me. One minute
mi
brathair
and I were asleep, the next it’s hundreds of years later. I have no answers for ye but we are locked in here because of me. And I don’t plan to be locked in here much longer. Does that little pouch of yours contain any sort of weapon?”

“There’s a small pocketknife.” When she started to slip her hand inside her shirt, he caught her wrist.

“If’n anyone be searching your luscious bounty for treasure, it be me.” He released her, then gently slid his hand under her shirt and went straight for her bra. Every brush of his fingers to her flesh sent chills down her body to stir trouble in her pussy. As if she needed to be primed for action. She’d wanted to fuck him since the moment he woke, and now with his hand inside her bra, caressing her nipple, the need intensified and almost fried her brain. She grabbed his arm.

“That’s not the kit.” She gave him as stern a look as she could muster with her thought pattern stuck on sex.

He grinned. “
Mi
mistake.” He released her nipple. He managed to cup her breast, caressing it as he carefully removed the kit, keeping it hidden from the camera.

Cait cleared her throat as she undid the zipper and laid it open in his large hand. Whispering, she explained the items. Like a typical man, mischievous excitement shone in his eyes when she touched the firecracker and told him what it did.

“Here’s the pocketknife.” She pulled it out and showed him how it worked. It had a slender blade a couple inches long, a corkscrew, a screwdriver and a spoon. He palmed it, keeping it out of sight, then tucked it into his kilt.

She realized the flashlight was missing, then checked her front pants pocket. It was there. A quick touch of the switch let her know the battery still had some life, so she replaced it in its spot in the kit. For some reason, she removed the firecracker and matches, then tucked them in her pocket for easier access. She wasn’t sure what she planned to do with them but had a feeling they might come in handy. As an afterthought she grabbed the hand sanitizer out of the kit as well and put it in her other pocket. Once done, she replaced the kit in her bra and had to swallow the laugh at the look of disappointment on Donnell’s face.

“I promise,” she leaned close and reassured him, “as soon as we are out of here and safe, my breasts become your playground.”

His face brightened. “I hope that means what I think it means.”

“It does.”

He cleared his throat. “Then let us take our leave. Ye say they have not been in since they brought us here.”

“No.”

Donnell held her waist, guiding her backward as he stood. “Then it be time that they do.”

He walked to the door and pounded on it. When there was no response, he pounded again and yelled, “Anyone out there?”

This time he got an answer in the form of a male voice shouting, “Hold it down in there.”

He pounded harder then replied, “We no be holding it down, as ye say, until ye feed the lass. She be faint.”

Cait pressed her ear to the door but heard only muffled voices. She couldn’t make out what they were saying until the same guy yelled back. “I’ll see what I can do. Just keep it down in there.”

She looked at Donnell and whispered, “Now what?”

He grinned and got close to her ear as he answered, “We wait, then ye shall follow
mi
lead.”

*

Waking had been a relief to his soul. Doubt and fear had clouded his mind on and off throughout his imprisonment. If it had not been for him concentrating on the beautiful Jenny, he might have given up hope on the possibility his entombment was temporary. That sliver of insecurity, of not knowing, nearly sent him mentally over the edge but Jenny was the rope that bound him. She’d been his salvation and he’d left her behind.

Dour hated leaving Jenny but had no choice. Where they were headed was not safer than where she was hidden. Gavin gave her specific instructions to make the car ready to leave at a moment’s notice and she’d agreed. He’d given her an odd-looking item she’d placed in her ear. Apparently it kept her in contact with them. She was to keep watch with the binoculars and warn of any changes as they tried to enter the compound unnoticed. She was their lookout. Knowing she had his back gave Dour a sort of inner peace. She wouldn’t let anything happen if she could help it.

He forced his focus on following his
brathairs
. They were heading into battle to free his twin. In his heart, he knew Donnell was alive, thus Jenny’s friend Cait had to be as well. It impressed him how Gavin handled the oddities of this time. A thing that glowed and gave Gavin a map of the area made no sense to Dour. Something in Gavin’s ear kept him in contact with Jenny and someone named Charles, who apparently was standing by to fly in and pick them up. Fly in? He really didn’t want to try to think about that one. Since when did a man fly and how was he going to pick them up?

Gavin showed no confusion over it. Nor did any of his
brathairs
. How long had they been released that they accepted and understood these strange things? In the past Gavin led and they followed his orders without question. He was the head of their clan. But now in this new era things were different. Were families still considered to be clans?

Questions he’d not thought to ask speared his brain. Did his
brathairs
suffer the same as he? When the sun rose would they turn to stone, become a family of solid-rock statues? Did they too suffer this temporary relief, man by night and stone by day? Was this a repetitive sequence? He didn’t know. Would he shift again in the light of day? If so, how many years were the MacKinnon
brathairs
deemed to live this harsh cycle?

Most importantly, was there a way to defeat this curse? To be completely free?
Och
, he wished there had been time for such a talk. Dour breathed in deeply, trying to squelch the tumble of thoughts, ideas and questions. Now was not the time for talk. Now was the time for action and he had better remain focused on the battle. Donnell needed him and he would not fail. He logged those questions away until later and fell into step, bringing up the rear.

Silently they crept through the underbrush and trees until they reached the area where the animal had dug under the fence. Gavin crawled toward it while the others hung back in hiding. It took him a matter of seconds to cut an opening large enough in the fence for them to clear. Once he was on the other side and had taken a post to protect them, he gave them the signal to advance.

Not a moment was wasted as they scurried through the fence and took their positions. Dour tripped over a body, caught himself from falling, then looked to Ian, who whispered, “Had no choice. He came around the barn.”

“Is he dead?” Gavin asked.

“No,” Ian replied. “Unconscious.”

Without a word, Struan whipped a piece of twine out of the pouch on his hip and hog-tied the unconscious man and then stuffed a wad of cloth in his mouth. He and Ian dragged him into the shadows of the barn and left him where he wouldn’t be easily found. Struan stated softly, “He won’t be causing a problem when he wakes.”

Gavin took point. Carefully, they maneuvered their way across the compound to the bunker where Jenny had seen the prisoners taken. It took a few moments to find the door, since it blended well with the camouflaged exterior of the bunker. While the others remained vigilantly on watch, Ian worked to open it with tools unfamiliar to Dour. He inserted the tip of a tubular item filled with a clear liquid into the lock. After emptying the contents in it, a puff of smoke appeared as it sizzled and the lock popped, releasing the door.

Dour had no chance to ask questions. A noise came from one of the other bunkers. Gavin, Struan, Padon and Dour drew their swords. With his back against the door, Ian readied his crossbow, aimed in the direction of the sound.

Two men stepped out of the door from the closest bunker to them. The group melded into the shadows, watching and waiting to be discovered. Dour held his breath, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. If it came to it, he and his
brathairs
would not hesitate to kill in self-defense. His family were not cowards. They were known to defend what was rightfully theirs.

From the direction the men were headed, he guessed it must have been changing of the guards at the front gate. He didn’t take a full breath until the men were across the compound. That meant they had a matter of about thirty minutes before the patrol made another pass through the area where they’d entered the fence. Even though Padon had pushed the fence together to conceal the damage, it would fail any close inspection and quite possibly give them away.

Dour didn’t like this strict time constraint. It added tension to the situation. Ian succeeded in unlocking the door. One by one they slipped in. Once inside, Gavin made a motion and Dour knew Jenny must have spoken to him through the ear thingy. He confirmed Jenny informed him about activity at the gate. The tunnel was dimly lit and descended into the ground. The farther they walked, the cooler the temperature. At the end, they came to another locked door.

Gavin whispered, “Follow
mi
lead.”

He boldly tapped on the door, which surprised Dour. But it made more sense than wasting time with Ian and his tools. Gavin leaned into the door with the intent of adding enough force to knock whoever was on the other side to the ground. Everyone made ready for whatever stood waiting for them.

The lock clicked.

The door swung open rapidly, throwing their plan off balance. Gavin lunged forward, was grabbed and thrown several feet. He tucked and rolled, then sprang upright into a fighting stance. Ian ran in, ready for the fight, but was quickly stopped short by someone snatching him by the arm and spinning him into a headlock. A sharp but rather tiny knife pressed to his neck. Struan followed, caught a full face of something sprayed by a hand sticking out from behind the door and stumbled about blindly. Padon hit the door, crushing whoever was attached to the spray. The hand dropped the bottle.

Dour entered with his sword drawn, ready to fight, but swallowed his laughter at the sight that met his eyes. Relief washed over him.

“It shall take more than that to pierce
mi
thick skin,” Ian pronounced loudly. The man suddenly released him, helping him to regain his balance.

“Ian.” Donnell grabbed him in a hug. “Am I ever so glad to see ye.”

“As am I,” Ian claimed, returning the hug to the man who moments ago tried to skewer him with nothing more than a child’s toy. The other brothers followed suit, each expressed their happiness to see him, especially Dour.

“Did ye suffer the curse again?” Dour asked clasping his
brathair
tight in a brotherly bear hug.

“Aye,” Donnell replied as he leaned back looking Dour in the eye. “Did ye?”

Dour nodded. His brows pursed as he looked around. “Where be the lass named Cait?”

She stepped from behind the door. Apparently she’d been the reason the door opened so quickly and was the hand behind the hand sanitizing spray that temporarily blinded Struan.

“We’ve got a problem,” Gavin interrupted as he dropped his hand from his ear. “Our eyes on top states the compound sprang to life.”

“Jenny,” Cait asked, touching his arm. “Is she all right?”

“She be well, milady,” he answered. He moved to stand in the circle of brothers. “The lights be on throughout the compound and about fifty people spilled from several bunkers. A group of them have surrounded the door we entered. Seems they expected our arrival. We be trapped. This could get bloody.”

Each brother wielded his sword. Ian readied his crossbow. Padon removed the second sheath he carried and handed Donnell his claymore. “Ye be needing this.”

With a nod, Donnell replied, “Aye.”

Jenny’s heart raced. Her mouth dried. This was bad. This was really, really bad. She forced her hands to steady as she remained focused on the activities of the men at the bunker’s door. Their actions had been stalled temporarily by a skirmish that ended with an elderly man being shot. He desperately tried to stop whatever they were doing at the door. On reflex, she’d ducked down beside the car even though they couldn’t see her. Her stomach churned and for a few seconds she thought she was going to heave. She’d never seen anyone get shot before, not in real life, only in the movies.