Project: Rogue (Project Series Book 2) (5 page)

M
aggie

“
W
e need
two doses of L1 and a sedative.” A deep voice rang out. Twisting my head to the side I tried to see who it was that was talking. My body ached all over and my mind was moving at a snail’s pace as I tried to blink my eyes open. Darkness flooded my thoughts. It was as if I was immobile, maybe even paralyzed.

“Here, sir.” Another voice responded. I could hear their heavy footsteps as they walked across the wood planks of the floor. What was going on? The last thing I remember was…? I couldn’t even get the thought to form. Everything inside my mind was mushed together.

“When she comes back she might remember more than she needs too.” The same voice spoke again. My throat burned as saliva refused to move down it. I wanted to speak, to ask questions and get answers but I couldn’t. There was no way to communicate with them.

“That’s fine. We can always go back and take away what we don’t want her to know later.” He sounded so sure of what it was he was doing as if it was something he did day in and day out.

“Are you listening to anything that is coming out of my mouth or would you like to be killed at the first chance of someone getting access to the fact that you’re a project member?” Killer asked, his hands on his hips. I couldn’t remember what it was that we were talking about, a new memory hitting me with far more intensity than expected.

“I don’t go around announcing it.” I blurted out. I’ve had just about enough of his antics. The days of training with Killer had taken a turn for the worst. If there was a way for him to not touch me he would take that route. He said everything was okay between us, but his actions spoke way louder than any words he could ever say to me. When would he realize I wasn’t the same person I used to be before the change? I was stronger, faster, and mentally I could handle anything. Still Killer continued to treat me as if I was a fragile being.

“Again Maggie…” Killer picked up one of the sparring bars that looked like a large cotton swab and hit me in the side with it. The impact caused my attention to return back to the present. It also caused me to take my own bar and nail him in the head.

“Again Killer…” I mocked. I was frustrated and maybe acting a bit childish, but what could I do without spelling it out plain and simple. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the rage in his eyes turn towards me. Every look that passed between us, brought us closer together. Killer was afraid of being who he really was around me. The man I had met months prior was not the same man that I knew now. He was holding out on me, and he knew it as much as I did.

“Do you take a damn thing that comes out of my mouth serious?” He growled in frustration, throwing his bar to the ground. He looked up at me and I could see the color of his eyes changing from the steely blue I love so much to black.

“Give me a break Killer. You act like I haven’t been in here busting my ass for the last week. Like I don’t realize anything, in fact, you treat me like the human I no longer am.” I seethed, walking over to him to make sure he heard every word I had to say. I couldn’t allow this behavior to go on with him for much longer.

“Don’t…” Killer’s voice was different, deeper, and darker. I craved it. Lived for it. My heartbeat sped up as I pushed him towards the edge just a little bit more. I had to know the old him was still in there, still capable of coming out.

“Don’t what?” I tiptoed around him as if I was eyeing him up. Tension filled his muscles, his chest filling with a breath that he refused to release. I casted my eyes to his, taking note of the veins bulging around his clenched fists. He was going to blow up soon. I leaned into his body, my breasts pressing against his mid-section. I had to do something to break him, to bring him out of this emotionless state that he was in.

I didn’t need to be protected anymore. I needed to be loved and by this man standing before me.

“Maggie…” Killer’s voice was no longer his, the tone of this voice changing to an animalistic growl. My stomach flipped and my pussy clenched, wetness growing between my thighs.

“You don’t want to admit it, Killer. You don’t want to know that I don’t really need you anymore…” I whispered the words knowing it would set him off. In the blink of an eye, one of his hands reached out. I felt the moment his fingers sank into the warm flesh of my throat. Air rushed into my lungs and my body tingled all over. Maybe this is what we were really meant for.

“You don’t want to provoke me, Mags…” His growl did something to my soul. It awakened pieces of me that I didn’t even know existed. “Or maybe you do…” He narrowed his eyes. Even though his hand was wrapped around my throat−and if I was a smart woman I would’ve been fearing for my life−I still smiled in his face. God had given me a beast of a man to tame, and I would do just that.

“Admit it.” I challenged. I could feel his cool breath on my cheeks as his eyes scanned my face, dropping down to my lips as I spoke. The man I loved more than life was standing right in from me, the mask he had firmly in place no longer covered his face. Why couldn’t he see that the person I wanted him to be was the person he was right now?

“Admit what? That you’re making a grave mistake provoking me like this?” Each finger on his hand that was wrapped around my throat sunk deeper into my skin, the flesh aching with the pressure and strength of his grip. Still, the smile lingered. Call me masochistic, but I longed for this side of him. The darker, uglier side. Raising my own hand, I cupped the side of his face. The skin was rough against my palm.

“If provoking you brings out the best side of you, the side that I love most, then I suppose I am making a mistake.” I kept my voice soft, but firm. I had missed out on years of life with him, only to discover him as a new man. Yes, there were secrets that surrounded our entire life and they were threatening to shake the very ground we both stood on, still life was too short to not let him know that I had swum the unbearable waters to find him.

The man I fell in love with was a memory of the man I now loved, still they mirrored one another creating the best person they could be. He needed to come to that realization.

“Don’t pretend… Don’t act like this, like this is what you need in your life. I have the power to destroy you with a snap of my fingers…” He leaned into me, the smell of soap and danger encompassing me. “I crave the blood that runs through your veins, Mags. I crave this…” He pushed me up the nearby wall we’d found ourselves on days ago, taking his other hand and shoving it between my thighs as if to show what exactly it was that he craved.

“Killer!” A male voice pulled us both from the euphoric cloud we were on just as I felt his hardness on my leg. Killer placed me back on the floor as if I was a flame of fire in his hands, burning him alive. Rejection hit me right in the heart, but it mingled with the urge to force him to take me back to our room.

“Did you just have your hands wrapped around her throat?” I blinked my eyes trying to bring myself back to the present, the overhead light of the arena blinding me for a moment. What was going on? Why was Ty yelling at Killer and why wasn’t Killer saying anything? Shoving in front of Killer, I pushed him behind me, well as far as you could push a grown man the size of Hulk. Glancing up I realized just how close to Ty I really was.

My body reacted the same way my emotions did. I took a step back, my back hitting Killer’s hard chest.

“It’s called training, Ty.” I could practically feel Killer’s annoyance vibrate through me and into my skull. “Not something that concerns you really, but I’m sure you’ll find a way to weasel your way into yet another thing in my life.” Killer continued. Anger was etched in Ty’s features as he stared, his eyes darting between Killer and I. I knew he could see the marks that were on my neck, and I didn’t give one fuck about it.

“Don’t you have something better to do?” I countered before he could speak again. Like I said before, Ty rubbed me the wrong way. His actions and the things he said didn’t line up with the person he acted as if he was. Leaders made decisions for the whole team, not just themselves which he seemed to do a lot.

“Have you learned words, or are you just trying to protect your boyfriend?” Ty’s venomous words hung between us. I wanted to lash out, slap the stupid right out of him but even I knew that couldn’t fix him. A growl erupted from Killer’s chest, vibrating through me once more. He pushed forward as if he was going to show him a lesson of his own. I stood my ground, though, placing all my weight against him.

“What Killer and I do is none of your business. Leader or not, you don’t own us.” I spat at him, wanting my words to bruise him somehow.

“Wasting my time is my business. I mean this actually helps my case. I planned on changing your trainer anyway, but this just proved that it needs to happen immediately.” Ty’s eyes met mine and I swear I could see the flicker of a memory in the back of my mind, but the second I blinked it wiped any trace of it away.

“Over my dead fucking body!” Killer’s voice was deathly cold, sending a chill down my spine. The shock had hit me hard, as anxiety filled my belly, and a pain had started to form in my chest at the very thought of them separating Killer and I. Could they even do that? The better question was, would Killer let them do that?

“Then I guess you’re going to be dead here soon because it’s happening and there isn’t a fucking thing you can do about it.” Ty smiled, genuine happiness showing in his features.

“Try me fucker, try me… I dare you!” Killer’s fingers dug into my back as he tried to make me move so he could rip Ty’s throat out. I understood the anger he was feeling but knew there was nothing either of us could do about it. If Ty said we had to do something, we did. They had the right to throw us out on the streets if we caused any problems and as much as I hated it, I knew that we had a better chance of surviving here than out there where people looked at you like a dog that needed to be put down. People were afraid of the things they didn’t understand, and they refused to see the inhumane things that were inflicted upon all of us Project members.

“You could always appeal it, but then again I make the rules and since you aren’t all that high up on my list of people I like I’m fairly sure that nothing will change.” Ty’s smart mouth was going to get him killed, even I knew that. Killer raged like a trapped bull behind me. I wanted to react, to say something, but I knew it would do me no good.

We were both trapped, and now we were being separated.

“Watch your back Ty, someone might rip your fucking spine out one of these days.” Killer’s words were so forced that I wondered if he was on the verge of reverting back to his old self the man he was before I found him.. I never got the chance to say anything to him, though, because as soon as he spoke he walked away, leaving me alone with the monster that was hell bent on ripping us both apart.

K
iller

T
he smell
of blood permeated the air, so much so that I could practically taste it on my tongue. Vengeance. It was the only thing on my mind, the desire to rip away the air another person was breathing. I had an agenda and at the top of it was to kill.

“Please don’t…” A female voice begged off to my right. I rolled over onto my side more than ready to slit someone’s throat. Something stopped me from acting on that thought the moment I laid eyes on her. I was drawn to her dark hair, soft skin, and delicate features; she looked just like a porcelain doll.

The thirst for blood was there, but the need was far less than it had ever been before. I titled my head at the angelic being before me, wondering what it was about her that made me want to forgive and forget. I reached out pushing a piece of her hair from her face, admiring its softness between my two fingers.

My eyes lingered on that single strand, the fragileness of it and how in a second with a single pull of my fingers it could be ripped away. Then I noticed the blood. It was everywhere; across her forehead, in her hair, on her long slender fingers that were right next to her head. I took in a deep breath, bringing her scent in through my nostrils. Skimming my nose across her cheek I could smell my own scent against her skin and knew she was of some importance to me. Not just anyone got to stay around me long enough to wear my scent.

Then it hit me.

“Mags?”

I flew up out of bed, startled by the memory that had entered my dreamy mind as I slept. Sweat poured off of me with every heavy breath I took in, my heart racing as if I had just run twenty laps around the arena. Casting my eyes down, I noticed Maggie had rolled over to face me in her sleep, her night shirt riding up to show off her very toned legs, the roundness of her ass and lower back.

“Fucking Christ,” I mumbled under my breath unable to take my eyes off her body. I was basically salivating over her, going back and forth as to why I couldn’t have her. It was obvious to me for many reasons, one being the person I was now, and to the things that I knew and hadn’t told her yet.

Ty wasn’t just some random person to Maggie. Even thinking of the fact that I was withholding information from Maggie caused guilt to eat away at me. My insides burned with acid, my tongue had numerous bites on it from holding back my words when I was around Ty. I knew if anyone deserved the truth it would be Maggie. She had sacrificed so much in my honor; the least I could do was tell her the truth of who Ty really was. Still, my gut told me it wasn’t the right time to tell her, with everything going on I wasn’t sure she could handle the news.

Just being awakened and learning how to fight, and handle those at PGI was hard enough. Having Ty for a brother would be the straw that broke the camel’s back for sure.

“It isn’t true…” Maggie rolled over in her sleep, the words slipping from her lips so quietly it was as if she didn’t want anyone to hear them. As soon as I heard the words my attention and thoughts shifted right to her. Worry marred her face, her eyebrows scrunching together as wrinkles formed against her forehead.

“Shhh…” I spoke fluidly and as softly as I could, bending down and rubbing a hand over the top of her head, shoving loose strands of hair from her face. Taking my thumb, I ran it across the wrinkles on her forehead trying to erase them. She was too beautiful to have worry wrinkles like she did.

It’s your fault fucker. If you didn’t fall in love with her in your human life, then you never would’ve brought her into this.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The beat of my heart pounded loudly in my ears. Staring at my thumb against Maggie’s skin it hit me how much of a savage I truly was. How she deserved so much more than the monster I was.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

My blood pressure rose with each beat, my hearing catching the faint sound of her breathing and my nose catching the smell of fear in the air.

Sweet as sin, her fear tasted like heaven against my tongue. I opened my mouth too, take in a deeper breath, just to get a better taste. My eyes lingered over her body. Everything inside of me was evolving I was losing my human feelings and the old me was resurfacing quickly. The man who killed without thought. The man who didn’t love. Everything I was feeling was a reaction to the fact that Maggie had provoked the beast inside of me, the killer that gave me my name.

Long smooth legs, that lead up to her thighs that were begging to have my head placed between them. I wanted this woman like I wanted my next breath like I needed my next breath.

“No,” I answered my inner ego’s needs loudly. I had to get out of bed. I had to leave this room and burn off the dark desires before I did something like give into them.

Slowly I pushed from the bed, forcing every muscle in my body to go against what my body truly wanted; which was to be right between her legs, holding her, and bringing her to a level of ecstasy like she had never felt before.

Deep breaths. I told myself as I forced myself to take in air.

I breathed in through my nose and out my mouth, grabbing a pair of sweats off the chair and throwing them on along with a white t-shirt. Then I slipped into my pair of gym shoes and headed towards the door. My fingers gripped the cold metal of the door handle and as I wrapped my hand firmly around it to open the door I heard her whimpers and pleas again.

“It wasn’t him; I promise…” She begged and pleaded with whomever, it was that she was dreaming about. Hearing her pleas only made things worse for me. All I wanted to do was love Maggie with every part of my soul, to protect her from all the evil in this world. What I failed to realize was that the worst type of evil had always been within grabbing distance; that evil was I.

Forcing myself out the door before I could stop myself, I opened the door and closed it softly behind me, not breathing a single ounce of oxygen until I was outside the bedroom and in the vacant hall.

Air filtered in through my lungs as I took small shallow breaths, allowing the clean air to clear my thoughts. I needed to blow off some steam and I also needed to find a way to tell Maggie the truth about Ty before he could. Him changing her trainer wasn’t just a coincidence. He had an agenda that he was seeking, and I wanted to know what it had to do with Maggie.

With a clear head, I headed towards the cafeteria knowing I needed to get something to eat. Lots of things set off my killing instincts the beast that always lurked under the surface of my skin waiting for his chance to come out and play. Things like sex, irritability, anger, and I could go on but I’m sure you’re getting the idea.

The walk to the cafeteria was short, and as I grabbed a granola bar and a milk from the open food bar I saw Ty and another male that I didn’t recognize in the far corner near the furthest exit of the room. Ty hadn’t noticed me yet, so I took my items and took a seat at the table nearest me, the food bar blocking part of my face and body.

“Maggie’s unique, every single person here knows that. Why do you think no one fucks with her?” Ty explained to the male. I could hear their quiet voices even from across the room. I was sure Ty could sense I was here, but by the time he realized it I would already be gone.

“Being unique does nothing for us if she isn’t on our side.” The unknown male added as if he was trying to break through Ty’s tough exterior walls.

Ty’s eyes swung around the room as he looked for anyone that may be evasive dropping. I leaned into the table, hoping the food bar covered me enough and focused my attention on listening to their words.

“Killer doesn’t want her to know yet, but I’m going to tell her that she’s my sister. She has to know the truth and the sacrifices that her mother made to save her. Our parents weren’t perfect, but her mother was one of the first to have sex with our kind.” Ty continued on. I knew all these things already. Hearing Ty say them out loud was a whole different thing, though. Tension filled my muscles and my belly burned with bent up aggression that came out of nowhere.

“He will kill you if he finds out.” The unknown male was actually smarter than I was giving him credit for. Maybe, just maybe when I left this fucking place I would spare him and leave his throat intact.

“That’s if the motherfucker finds out.” Ty sounded so sure of himself. I couldn’t force myself to linger around the cafeteria a moment longer with the emotions I was feeling. I needed to call Gauge and let him know there was a huge possibility that Maggie was going to find out about Ty being her brother and the things her mother had done in return for Maggie’s life.

After losing her father and being unsure of whether he was dead or alive I knew telling her about her mother would be the one thing to push her away from me and cause her to go running straight to Ty even if it wasn’t him she would want as a sibling. Keeping a secret as big as this would be a huge betrayal to her.

Maybe that’s why I hadn’t told her. I was selfish like that. Or maybe I was actually concerned about her well-being. All I knew was that it was my turn to save Maggie, even if it pushed her away from me for a while.