The Recruit: Book Two (18 page)

“Just the four of you have been killing all
of those vampires?”  Constance suddenly frowned.

“That’s right, baby.”  Luther winked at
her.  “We got mad leech-killing skills.  We’re real good with our hands, if you
know what I mean.”

Tyrone punched him in the shoulder.  “Give
it a rest, man. You ain’t got a chance with a stone-cold fox like her.”

Chen stood up and pulled out his cell
phone.  “I need to call Richard.  We should have called in by now.”

“Chen,” Hannah gave him a pleading look, “you
can’t say a word about me being alive.  Promise me.  Obviously there’s someone
at the facility feeding the vampires information.  If they find out about
me...”  She trailed off miserably.

Chen nodded.  “I know.”

“Maybe you should tell him we failed on the
mission.”  Will folded his arms across his chest.

“What do you mean failed?”  Hannah frowned
at him.

“We were supposed to capture one of the
vampires for questioning.”  Reid answered.

“What?  Why?”

“The Board believes we can torture them for
information about this Samuel.”  Reid shrugged.

“That’s not going to work.”  Hannah said
heatedly, “Only a select few even know where Samuel is.  You’d have to find
someone who was close to the inner circle, someone – “

“Someone like that female vampire tonight?”
 Will asked, raising one eyebrow at her.  “Sounds like she was pretty close to
the inner circle.  Maybe we should ask her –“

He paused.  “Oh that’s right - we can’t
because you and your kid geniuses over there evaporated the whole goddamn lot
of them.”

“Fuck you, wolf boy!”  Luther snapped.  “If
it wasn’t for us, your furry ass would be grass right now!”

Will rolled his eyes and followed Chen from
the room. 

Hannah put a restraining hand on Luther’s
arm and gave the others a small smile.  “C’mon, let’s get everyone settled into
a room for the night.”

Hannah wiped her palms on her shorts.  Her
hands were sweating and her stomach was a ball of nerves.  She raised her hand
to knock and then hesitated.  She had no idea if she was doing the right thing
or not.  She turned and started to walk away, and then suddenly whipped back
around and knocked on the door before she could lose her nerve.

At his gruff “come in”, she took a deep
breath and opened the door. 

“Hey.”  Her mouth dried up and she
swallowed with difficulty. 

Will was standing by one of the large floor-to-ceiling
bookcases in the library examining a book in his large hands.  He was dressed
in just his jeans and at the sight of his bare, tanned chest, she could feel
her knees growing weak.  For the last five months she had dreamed about seeing
him again, about touching him and kissing him, and now that he was standing
right in front of her, she could barely control the urge to throw herself at
him.

She gave him a shaky smile as he put the
book back and stared sullenly at her.

“How are you?”  She asked.

He shrugged and folded his arms across his
chest.  “How do you think I am?”

“Angry.”  She whispered.

He just looked at her and she wiped her
hands on her shorts again, looking around nervously.

Will clenched his hands into tight fists
and forced himself not to cross the room and yank Hannah into his arms.  He
could still hardly believe she was standing in front of him.  He had spent the
last few hours vacillating between anger over her deception and overwhelming
relief that she was alive.  He felt like he had been run over by a truck, and
he had to continually stop from trying to touch her just to confirm it wasn’t a
dream.

She moved a few steps closer.  She was
wearing a white t-shirt and pink shorts, and she had obviously just finished
having a shower.  He took a deep breath, almost groaning out loud when her
scent drifted to him.  His hands were rolled into such tight fists that he
could feel his nails digging into the palms, and he forced himself to relax.

“I thought you might like to stay in the
library.”  She said tentatively.  “There aren’t enough bedrooms but I thought
you would prefer to sleep on the couch, rather than share a bed with Mannie.”

When he didn’t smile, she hurried on.  “Plus,
I thought you would like all the books.”

The silence stretched out between them and
she sighed.  “Will, please say something.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Anything.”  She begged.  “Tell me you’re
angry.  Tell me you never want to see me again – just say something.”

“Are you going to tell your parents you’re
alive?”

She blinked in surprise before whispering
miserably, “I – I don’t even know where they are.  They never went back to the
house.”

“They’re staying at the farmhouse with Barb
and Richard.”

A look of relief crossed her face.  “They’re
safe.”

He nodded.  “Yeah.  Your mother wanted to
be close to you, and it’s not like they could go back home.  You saw to that.”

She winced and he felt a moment of pure
hatred for himself.  It wasn’t her fault but he knew she blamed herself, and
like an asshole he had used that against her to purposely hurt her.

“You should tell them you’re alive.”  He
muttered.  “They deserve to know the truth.”

She nodded and took a deep breath.  “I’m so
sorry, Will.  I know that I’ve hurt you deeply.”

He laughed bitterly.  “You let me believe
that you were dead, but you’re sorry for it so I should just be fine with it
right?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I know you hate
me right now and I understand that.  It’s just – I didn’t have a choice, Will.  I
– “

“You did have a choice!”  He suddenly shouted.
 “You could have waited for me.  You could have asked me to go with you. 
Instead, you faked your death and left me behind!”

“I’m sorry!”  She cried.  “It all happened
so fast and I didn’t have time to think.  Marcus threatened you, Will!  I was
afraid that you would be killed and I wanted to protect you!  Don’t you
understand that?  I didn’t mean to hurt you, I swear.”

He shook his head.  “I would never have
done that to you.  I would never have let you think I was dead.  Do you have
any idea what that did to me?  You’ve been running around with your new
friends, killing vampires and playing house, while I’ve been barely surviving. 
I went into every hunt hoping that I would die.  Do you understand that?”

She started to cry as he glared at her.  “I
wanted to die, Hannah.  I wanted to be with you so badly that I hoped I would
die.  I took crazy risks and I risked the lives of my team.”

“I’m so sorry.”  She sobbed softly. 

He scrubbed his hand across the thick
scruff on his jaw, breathing heavily as she wiped at her face.

When she had pulled herself together, she
glanced up at him.  “I know you can’t forgive me for this and I understand
that.  But I need you to know that I love you.  Nothing will ever change that.”

He stared down at the thick carpet, and she
made a strangled noise of sorrow before wiping angrily at the fresh tears
coursing down her cheeks.  She turned and hurried to the door.  It had been a
mistake to come here; she had known he was angry with her but she had foolishly
hoped he could forgive her.

She reached for the door knob, gasping when
a hard hand grabbed her shoulder and whipped her around.  He pushed her roughly
against the door and she gave a soft cry when her head bounced painfully off
the thick wood. 

He slid his hands into her hair, gripping
it tightly as he took her mouth in a hard punishing kiss.  She tried to put her
arms around him and he grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head as he
kissed her repeatedly.  She opened her mouth, letting him thrust his tongue
between her lips as he pushed at her legs with one jean-clad thigh.  She spread
her legs wide, moaning when he pushed his erection against her. 

He shoved his hand under her shirt, grunting
with frustration at the feel of her bra.  He yanked on the flimsy material and
gave a loud growl of satisfaction when it ripped easily under his large hand. 
He pulled the material away from her breasts, cupping and kneading them as she
cried out with pleasure.  He nipped her bottom lip, and then sucked roughly on
it as he pulled on her nipple.  It tightened and she cried out again when he
switched to the other breast, pulling and pinching the nipple until it was hard
and throbbing. 

Still holding her hands above her head, he
reached down with his other hand and pushed her shorts down.  She kicked them
off her feet eagerly and he released her hands so that he could pull her shirt
over her head and the remnants of her bra from her arms.  She kissed his neck,
licking and sucking eagerly at his firm flesh as he quickly unbuttoned his
jeans and freed his cock.

He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs
around his hips and her arms around his shoulders.  He hesitated.  “Hannah – “

“Don’t stop.”  She whispered. 

With a low groan he thrust into her.  She
cried out as he sunk deeply into her warm wet core.  He shuddered and his hands
dug painfully into her thighs.

“I love you.”  She said quietly.

He stared at her and she reached up with a
trembling hand and wiped the tears from his face. 

“I love you too.”  He buried his face in
the warm curve of her neck and drove into her repeatedly.  After only a few
thrusts she was tightening around him, her body trembling as her orgasm rushed
through her.  He groaned and gave in to the pleasure that was coursing through
his body. 

“I love you.” She whispered repeatedly as
he shivered and moaned against her, his wetness flooding into her.

* * *

“Will, I don’t understand why we’re here. 
Whose place is this?”  Natalie, shading her eyes against the sun, stared up at
the large house.

Jim took her hand and squeezed it lightly
as Will gave them a solemn look.  “There’s something I need to tell you, and it
couldn’t be at the farmhouse.”

“What?”  Jim asked curiously.

Will took a deep breath. “Hannah’s alive.”

Natalie paled and Jim glared at him. 
“That’s not funny, Will.”

“I’m not joking, Jim.  Hannah’s alive.  She’s
in the house.”

The door to the house opened and Hannah
stepped out.  “Hi, mom.  Hi, dad.”

Natalie burst into tears as Hannah ran to
her and pulled her into a fierce hug.  “Why do you keep doing this to us?  I’m
so mad at you!”

“I’m sorry, mom.”  Hannah hugged her again
before reaching out and squeezing her dad’s hand.  “I can explain everything. 
I’m just so glad you’re okay.”

“We’re okay?”  Jim, his face pale and his
eyes huge, pulled his hand away.  “For Christ’s sake, Hannah!  We buried your
body.  Your mother visits your grave every day!”

“I’m sorry, dad.”  Hannah whispered.  She
reached for his hand again.  “Please, come in the house and I’ll explain.”

“Did you know?”  Jim turned on Will.

Will shook his head.  “I just found out
yesterday.”

Her father cursed loudly and Hannah winced
before putting her arm around him.  “Please, dad.  Let me explain why I did it,
okay?”

She put her other arm around her mom and
with a small smile at Will, led them into the house.

Will was about to follow when a car pulled
into the driveway and Chen stepped out from behind the driver’s seat.

“Hello, Will.”

“Hi, Chen.”  The Lycan and the man stood in
the sunshine for a moment before Will sighed loudly.  “I don’t think Richard
believed our story this morning.”

Chen shrugged.  “Why would he not?  All of
us told the same story.  We waited until dawn but no vampires showed up. 
Simple as that.”

“We can’t keep her hidden forever.  Sooner
or later someone from the group will slip up and Richard will find out she’s
alive.”  Will rubbed his forehead.

Chen stared at him thoughtfully.  “Why are
you so worried about Richard?”

“You know why.”

Chen sighed.  “I have a hard time believing
that Richard, a man who has dedicated nearly half his life to killing vampires,
is feeding them information.”

“Who else can it be, Chen?  The vampires
know personal information about us, information that only Richard has access
to.”  Will replied.

“It doesn’t feel right to me, Will.”  Chen
frowned.

“Nothing about this does.  But I think we
need to be prepared that it may be Richard and, if it is, sooner or later he’s
going to give up the location of the facility.”

Chen nodded and started towards the house.

“Chen?”  Will said softly.

Chen stopped and waited patiently.

“You knew she was alive, didn’t you.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Chen turned and faced Will.  Guilt flooded
through him at the look of hurt on his friend’s face.

“I am sorry, Will.  I want you to know that
I struggled with telling you, especially when it became apparent that you were
– “

He hesitated and Will gave him a wry look. 
“Suicidal?”

Chen nodded.  “I had my suspicions when
Hannah’s swords were missing from the gravel pit, and I bullied Selena into
telling me the truth.  She begged me not to say anything and I promised her I
wouldn’t.”

“You should have told me.”  Will said
quietly.

“If I had, you would have gone looking for
her and that would have been dangerous for both of you.  She wanted you to
think she was dead, remember?”

Will winced.  “Yeah, I remember.”

“Are you – have the two of you...” Chen
trailed off and Will stared down at the ground.

“We’ve worked things out.”

“Good.”  Will didn’t think he was imagining
the relief in the man’s voice.  “We don’t need either of you distracted by hurt
or anger, or feelings of betrayal right now.”

Will shoved his hands into his pockets. 
“Honestly, it’s going to take a lot more than a ‘sorry’ for me to get over the
betrayal.  That goes for both you and Hannah.”

“I know.”  Chen replied.

“I want to trust both of you but right now,
I just can’t.  And there’s a part of me that’s still angry.”  Will said simply,
staring at the ground. 

“Would it help if I told you I loved you?” 
Chen asked.

Will’s head snapped up and he stared
wide-eyed at Chen.  The Asian man’s solemn face broke into a wide grin.

“Sorry.”  He said.  “I figured if it worked
for Hannah...”

Will could feel a grin breaking out on his
face.  “You’re such an asshole, Chen.”

“I really am.”  Chen agreed. 

Will laughed and followed him into the
house.