Gage (Contract Killers Book 1) (6 page)

Chapter Seven

Gage had since moved down several hallways, all having been used as storage, and the dust was thick. But he’d found a door that led further below, as if it took him to the bowels of this piece of shit place.

He rounded the corner and stopped when he saw light coming through the small frosted glass windows on the steel doors. But despite the light no sound came through. Light in this part of the building was hard, florescent, and wasn’t able to hide anything.

Still he hadn’t come across anyone, or seen any security cameras.

He walked up to the doors and pushed it open. Instantly, the harsh lighting washed over him, and another sterile looking hallway greeted him. White tile covered the floor and ceiling, the smell of bleach and antiseptic strong. He moved down the hallway, but stopped when the hallway forked, and decided to continue left. He held his gun at shoulder level, ears picking up the slightest sound of movements, eyes noting any minuscule changes. Steel doors lined either side of him, and the further he went, the more frequent they became. He could hear deep male voices close by and followed the sound. He came across an open door at the end of the hallway, pressed his body against it, and listened to the sounds of male laughter and lewd comments on the other side.

“You sure are pretty.”

“You sick fucking bastard! Don’t touch me. Just stay away.”

Gage knew that voice, had listened to it countless times from the videos McCarthy had given him. He looked around the corner and into the room that had its door ajar, keeping his gun tight to his body as he watched two armed men grope a tied up Neeka. Her legs and arms were secured to the corners of the stainless steel table. Rage unlike anything he’d ever felt slammed into him. She looked worn, with dark circles under her eyes, and fear coming from her.

“She’s an uppity little bitch,” one of the men said.

“Just leave her alone or Rye will have our ass,” the other man said.

“I don’t give a fuck. We don’t get paid enough to deal with this cunt’s mouth.”

The asshole hit her across the face so hard her head slammed against the table and blood sprayed from her mouth. Gage didn’t waste any more time as he trained the gun on the first man, shooting him between the eyes and aiming it at the next. The second man looked up, startled, reaching for the gun at his side, but falling to the floor as soon as the bullet pierced his skull. Gage didn’t waste any time as he rushed in the room, untied bleeding Neeka, and carried her out of there. Now he just had to make sure she was out safe, and kill any motherfuckers that got in his way.

****

Neeka’s head was spinning, and she squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to vomit. Blood filled her mouth, a sickly iron flavor covering her taste buds. She was very aware of her body moving, bouncing slightly as blood rushed to her head. She groaned and placed her hand on her face, moving her fingers down to her mouth and wincing when she came across a sensitive spot. She opened her eyes, everything around her blurry and disconcerting. She stared down at white tile and drew her gaze up to two huge, muscular thighs and a firm ass. She tried to twist around, hearing a deep male grunt from the man carrying her.

“Stay still, Neeka. I’m getting you out of here, but you have to quit moving.” The man’s voice was deep, gruff, and urgent.

She instantly wanted to obey it. It wasn’t like her, but for some unknown reason she felt in her heart that he truly was taking her away from this hellhole. Neeka looked down at her arm, blood making a slow, red trail down her skin from the puncture site the needle had created. She crooked her arm to stop the blood, and closed her eyes again, breathing through the nausea. Her face hurt from when she’d been slapped, but if she was getting out of here she could suck up the pain.

He kept moving swiftly, taking lefts and rights, and moving further away from the labs and prison cell she’d been in when she first arrived.

“Who are you?” Her words were low.

“Gage Mack. I was sent by your father to bring you home.”

In the next instant, gunshots rang out all around her, and she placed her hands over her head, knowing it wouldn’t stop a bullet but doing it on instinct. Guards swarmed in, their guns trained at them.

“Don’t hurt the girl,” Rye shouted. “I need her alive.”

She spotted Rye standing behind them, the guards acting as a wall of protection for the deranged doctor. The man carrying her ran toward a closed door. Once inside, he set her down and closed it.

“Stay here, and hide.”

He barked out the order, and she stared at him for a second, taking note that he was in full military-type gear—black fatigues, combat boots, sniper weapons, and an array of other deadly devices she didn’t even have names for. She looked at the window, seeing a rope attached to an outcropping right on the side of it.

“There are men trapped in here, men Rye is using for his experiments.” Maybe trying to be a hero wasn’t the smart thing to do right now, but the words tumbled out of her mouth as she thought of Adaym chained up.

“Fuck.” He looked around the room, his whole body standing rock solid. “You’re my priority. I’ll send my crew out here to try to get them out. But you are my concern right now. I’ll try, Neeka. I can’t make any guarantees. My mission was to rescue you, not an unidentified male. Go. Hide now. And if things get fucked up, you leave out that window with the room, understand?”

She nodded and searched for a place to bunker down, and when she turned around he was already out the door. She heard gunshots being fired, shouts ringing out, and she glanced at the rope. Could she really climb down a building?

She moved over to the window, knowing she should listen to him, but afraid to stay in this building, afraid they’d catch her again. Her heart was thundering, her palms sweating, and her body shook.

That’s like, twenty feet down.

More shots rang out.

Jump or die.

How could she just leave him after he just saved her life? And before she could react the door splintered open, wood spraying everywhere. Neeka was thrown against the wall. She
threw the shards of wood off of her, feeling the warm stickiness of her blood start to slip down her arm. She brought her fingers to the wound, adding pressure.

She stood, looking at her rescuer as he fought with several guards. She wanted to help him, but he was holding his own, and the look he shot at her spoke volumes.

Get the fuck out.

“Neeka, stop.”

She turned to see Rye in the hallway, guards surrounding him as they trained their guns on her. She gave one last look at Gage, his face set hard as he slammed his fist into a guard’s face before shooting him in the head. She didn’t think, just grabbed the rope and swung out of the window, hoping the nylon held. Her hands burned as she slid down the rope, gravity taking her all the down. Finally reaching the ground, she took a look up at the window, and then ran toward the fence.

Her eyes grew wide, and panic started to set in as she noticed how high the fence was, and the barbed wire that was coiled atop it. Dirt wafted around her, the wind blowing slightly and brushing it against her legs. She turned around and looked at the front of the building. There were several bodies of dead guards, and she held back her cry of shock.

She wore a hospital gown, Rye having taken away her clothing until she “learned how to behave”. Her feet were bare, and the pebbles in the ground embedded themselves in the soles. She didn’t care, though, because the thought of being captured again was a horror she didn’t want to relive. Neeka couldn’t help thinking about the man who had rescued her. She wondered if he was still alive, fighting Rye’s goons, or if they had killed him, or even worse, kept him for experimenting on.

That thought alone was enough to make her stumble, but then she remembered the fierce look in his eyes when he’d told her to leave. She ran harder, faster, looking for an opening that would allow her to escape. The front of the gate was made of chain link, the same as the rest of the fence, but it didn’t have the barbwire lining the top of it. It also didn’t look like there were any openings in the dilapidated fencing, not that she could see anyway.

Neeka made a beeline for it, deciding she would climb it, even though it wasn’t in the best location since it was out in the open and obviously visible. She didn’t stop to see if guards were following her, but the sound of gunshots rang out, loud and distinct. Tripping, Neeka caught the fence before she face-planted in the dirt.

She started to climb, looking over her shoulder when she heard a man shout for her to stop. A guard ran toward her, gun trained high. Her heart beat fast, her palms starting to get sweaty at the thought of getting caught again. He grabbed her ankle, pulling down so she stumbled, her leg scraping against the lock on the fence and tearing her skin open. She cried out and gripped the fence harder, kicking at him with her other leg and slamming her foot into his jaw. He cursed and tightened his hold on her ankle.

Her hands gave out, and she fell backward, flailing her arms as she hit the ground hard. The breath left her in a
whoosh
, stars dancing in her vision as she groaned. The guard stared at her before slapping her across the face, not very hard, but hard enough that it snapped her out of her haze.

“You cause a lot of trouble, bitch.”

He brought his gun up and laid it on her knee, not a killing shot, but one meant to incapacitate her. She kicked her legs out, swinging her arms and running her nails down his face. He growled down at her, blood forming in deep lines across his cheeks as he pressed the gun down harder into her knee, stilling her movements. She had a feeling he was toying with her. Neeka pushed at his chest, able to lift him slightly up and praying for a miracle.

In the next instant, a gunshot rang close by. The heavy weight of the guard was suddenly lifted from her and air rushed into her lungs. She opened her eyes, turning her head and seeing two combat boots take up her vision. She looked up and saw Gage’s hand outstretched, his face covered in blood so dark it looked black. She slipped her hand in his and let him haul her up. The guard that had attacked lay supine in the dirt, a single bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. His eyes stared vacantly up into the night sky, unblinking, as dark blood spread out behind his head.

“Come on. We don’t have much time before they are out here.” He positioned her behind his body as he aimed his gun at the lock on the fence and shot. Sparks flew and the lock fell off, the gates opening like arms waiting for an embrace.

They took off, Gage pulling her forward, her legs and feet screaming in agony as she continued to feel her warm blood slip down from the cut on her leg and cover her foot. Her eyes started to water, her emotions and the pain finally catching up with her.

She could hear shouts, but they moved faster, and soon the sounds grew more distant. Neeka never glanced back, just kept her eyes trained on the terrain. The moon was bright enough that they could see where they were going, but her feet were killing her and she started to stumble. He didn’t ask what was wrong, just stopped and scooped her up, running forward again as if he weren’t carrying a substantial weight.

She felt as if they’d been moving forever. Never once did they speak to each other, and never once did he stop running. She saw a dark shape up ahead, and her heart pounded wildly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he turned to look at her. Their gazes held for a second before he turned his attention forward again. She breathed out a sigh when she realized it was a vehicle, and that it was his. He was gentle with her as he helped her into the backseat, mindful of her wounds, before getting in the front and starting the car.

“You better buckle up.”

She swallowed and nodded as she strapped the seatbelt across her body and stared at the high tech equipment that furnished the inside of the vehicle. He pushed several buttons, and the front of the windshield became a moss green color.
Night-vision?
She didn’t bother questioning him, knowing some things were better left unsaid.

“Is my father doing okay?” It had seemed like years since she had seen him. “I mean, he wasn’t well when I was taken, and that seems like ages ago.”

“You’ve been missing for longer than is acceptable. Your father didn’t look good when I spoke with him, but he’s still alive and eagerly awaiting your return.”

She breathed out, fatigue now starting to set in. “What about Rye? Is he dead?” There was a heavy silence, and before he spoke, she knew the answer. “He got away, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but I’ll find him. I’ll fucking find him,” he seemed to whisper the last part to himself.

She let her head fall back against the seat, closing her eyes and wishing that when she woke up, this would all be a bad dream.

Chapter Eight

Neeka opened her eyes, looking around and blinking a few times as the room came into focus. She realized that she was now lying across the leather seat of the SUV. A large coat was draped across her legs, smelling of evergreen and something darker, something … comforting. She slowly sat up, keeping the coat across her legs and shivering slightly. She looked out her window, seeing a small gas station on her left, the lights in the parking lot bright and offensive. To her right was a wide stretch of open road, the moon still high in the sky, illuminating the sandy hills that covered the vast expanse of open land. She knew she was far from Shyloh, the mountains she had grown to love distant from this desolated place.

She shifted to the center of the seat, looking out the windshield and seeing if she could spot Gage. She didn’t dare get out of the car. Neeka breathed out when she saw him emerge from the postage-stamp-sized convenience store, several bags in hand, his face and clothes no longer covered in blood and dirt. Pressing herself against the seat as the driver’s side door opened, all she could do was watch him. The woodsy smell intensified as he entered.

“I thought you’d sleep longer.” He turned in his seat and looked at her, handing her a full brown paper bag.

“I haven’t been sleeping well, for obvious reasons.”

Gage was silent for several moments, his profile shadowed by the lights from the parking lot. He breathed out deeply. “Yeah, they’re fuckers, but you don’t have to worry about them anymore.”

She opened the bag, seeing chips, candy, plastic-wrapped sandwiches, and an assortment of unhealthy food, but God, did they look good. “Thank you.” She’d lost weight since being Rye’s prisoner, not because he wasn’t feeding her, but because she hadn’t had much of an appetite. And what she did eat, what she’d been forced to consume, she’d thrown up after the guards had left her alone, her stomach in knots. Neeka looked down at the unflattering hospital gown she still wore, and saw the dirt and wounds that covered her arms and legs, and the nasty cut on her calf.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a little of everything. It’s shit food, but right now it’s all there is.”

She looked up at him, seeing his gaze land first on her dirty bare feet and then flickering to the wound on her leg. It would heal by tomorrow, but right now it looked pretty bad. “It’s perfectly fine, thank you.”

“Although I want to drive straight through until you’re with your father, I’m taking back roads and it’s doubling our time. You also need rest, so I’ve let the people I work for know I’m getting a motel for the night so you can rest. I also want to keep a low profile as I know the men that took you will be searching for us.”

She was silent after he spoke.

“You might not think so, but you’re in shock over everything.”

She didn’t deny that.

“Where are we?”

“We’re about fifty miles outside of West Holmes. I haven’t noticed anyone following us, but I don’t doubt they are trying to catch our trail. I’ll find an offbeat motel, and we’ll bunker down for the night.”

She wanted to see her father, but she also wanted to be safe. Sleeping in a bed that wasn’t surrounded by a locked prison door or cinderblock walls sounded pretty damn nice, too.

“Although I can take them if the fuckers want war, I also want to keep you safe. That’s my first priority.”

“Thank you, for everything.”

They stared at each other for a suspended moment, and she felt herself warming at the intense look he gave her. His short dark hair fell slightly over his forehead, and his light green eyes seemed almost unreal. Even though he was seated, she remembered all too well how his body looked, felt, all sinew, tendons, and bulging muscles. He had towered over her back at the facility, reminding her of how male he truly was.

What in the hell is with these thoughts? You should be focusing on getting home, not on Gage’s body.

She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, confused at how her body could light up after the ordeal she’d just been through. Something dark, intense, crossed over Gage’s face, and he turned back in his seat. After starting the SUV he pulled away from the gas station and got back on the road. She grabbed a cupcake and bottle of water out of the bag, not really hungry, but wanting something to do to help keep her mind off of everything.

Although she was away from Rye, she also didn’t want to think this was truly over.

It’s not, and you know it.

****

Thirty minutes later, Gage was pulling into a small, rundown motel off of the deserted road they’d been traveling on. He looked in the rearview mirror for the hundredth time, seeing Neeka sleeping. Something shifted in him, broke even. The feelings inside of him for her were foreign. All he could think about was holding her, running his hands through her hair, and promising her everything would be okay.

Push the thoughts back. They’re dangerous.

He stopped in front of the main entrance, keeping the car idling as he quickly got out and retrieved the key to their room. He got back in the vehicle and pulled the SUV around to the back of the building and behind the large dumpster that resided there. He turned off the car and just sat there for a moment, watching Neeka through the rearview mirror, transfixed by the way she was breathing easily, as if she had no worries. A part of him wished they’d met under different circumstances. The way it was, she was his assignment, his target that Edward McCarthy had paid his organization to find.

If things were different, maybe he wouldn’t have felt so guilty for looking at her the way he was. The hospital gown was unflattering, true, but while she slept, it molded to her petite form, her breasts small yet firm looking. Although she was tiny in comparison to him, her legs were long and slender, and the images that he conjured up of what he wanted to do to her should have made him feel shame, not unyielding lust. They were filthy images, dirty thoughts. They had his cock hard, his arousal pumping through his body.

He shifted in his seat, his dick so fucking hard it ached. She started to move, and everything in him froze. She moaned slightly in her sleep, the gown slipping up her creamy thighs as she twisted in the seat, maybe having a bad dream as her face was pinched in what looked like worry. He placed his hand on his crotch, pressing down on his shaft, the traitorous organ pulsing and aching.

You sick motherfucker.

After breathing out and trying to calm himself, Gage got out of the SUV, grabbed the bags, and made sure the doors were locked before leaving her sleeping in the back. At least he could give her a few more minutes of rest as he surveyed things. Gage unlocked the motel room door, walked over to the lamp, and after turning it on and checked out the place.

There was only one fucking bed in the room.

After checking out the front of the motel, and the highway that ran parallel to it, he closed the curtains. The truth was it was hard as hell keeping his arousal for Neeka in check. The moment he saw her on that table he’d felt something tighten in him, had this sense that she was his. It was a fucked way of looking at it, thinking of her in that way, but Gage couldn’t help himself.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on his mission. That was all this was.

It’s just a mission, an assignment.

Is it, though?

He went back to the SUV to get her, and opened the back door and stared down at Neeka. Gage didn’t mean to make a sound, but fucking hell, the groan came from him on its own as he looked at her. She was sprawled out on the back seat, his coat covering her upper body, her hospital gown high on her thighs. Although blood covered her shin from the cut on her leg, she was fucking gorgeous. He spied her white panties, so pure and feminine that his cock gave a mighty jerk.

Get a damn grip.

“Neeka?” His voice sounded gravelly even to him. “Neeka, come on, we’re here.”

“Here?” she whispered, her voice thick with sleep, her eyes still closed.

Damn.

He loved that sound on her.

She turned onto her back, her legs opening slightly and giving him a prime shot of her panty-covered pussy. His pulse throbbed in his shaft as her gown twisted on her body. His jacket fell off of her and to the floor, and he could see the material of the gown mold to her chest, her nipples poking through the fabric. His mouth went dry, his heart hammered against his ribs, and he cleared his throat, trying to distract himself.

“Neeka, come on,” he said a little more forcefully, angry with himself for how he felt.

“We’re here?”

“Yeah.”

She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes, and clearly oblivious to the way her gown was practically around her waist.

“You need to fix your gown,” he said with a thick as fuck voice.

She looked at him with a confused expression, and then glanced down at herself. “Oh, God,” she whispered and reached for his jacket on the floor of the SUV to cover herself up.

“Come on.” He held his hand out, looking down and noticing her battered legs and feet. His chest clenched with a feeling he wasn’t used to, or comfortable with. He scooped her up, kicked the car door shut with his foot, and made his way back toward the room. Gage slipped inside and shut the door. He stood there for a moment, holding her as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“You smell so good, all woodsy and fresh.”

She spoke, her eyes still closed, her voice soft. She was so tiny, her body easily fitting in his arms and weighing nothing. Gage made sure she’d get more to eat, because no doubt she’d been in hell during these last couple of weeks. He set her on the bed, her eyes still closed even though she stayed upright.

“I’m so tired,” she murmured. “I need a bath, though.” Neeka slowly opened her eyes and stared up at him.

He nodded, going into the bathroom and running the water in the tub. He checked the temperature several times, turning it off when it was a little over half full, and then walked back into the room. A part of him wanted to be the one to bathe her, not for some sexual factor, or because he was a sick fuck, but because he wanted to give her that security, that comfort.

“It’s filling up.”

She slowly stood, standing and then wincing as she made her way toward him. He was by her in the next instant, and picked her up, remembering her battered feet. Once in the bathroom he set her on the edge of the tub and turned to leave.

“Thank you, Gage.”

Her words had him stopping and turning to face her. “You’re welcome.”

And with that he left and shut the door slightly behind him, feeling his cock throb even harder.

She’s traumatized. Stop with the fucking thoughts.

If he ever came across those bastards again, he would make sure to kill each and every one of them slowly and without mercy. He went over and sat on the bed, resting his elbows on his thighs and hanging his head. The sound of clothing ruffling in the other room had his pulse picking up. Against his better judgment, he turned and looked toward the bathroom. The door was only partially closed. He hadn’t shut it all the way because a part of him didn’t want her closed off, didn’t want her too far away or him, like he was fucking afraid she’d be taken once more.

He could see her bare shoulder as she slipped the gown off. This was wrong, watching her like a pervert, but fucking hell, he couldn’t stop. Forcing himself to look away, he scrubbed a hand over his face, felt the day’s worth of stubble and didn’t know how in the hell he was going to make it through the rest of the time with her. As it was he wanted her under him, wanted his cock deep inside of her, and that made him feel like the sickest fucking bastard in the world

****

Neeka let herself sink into the bathtub, the water the perfect temperature. Her whole body ached, the cuts and scrapes on her legs, feet, and hands stinging, but in a good way that made her feel clean, like she was washing this nightmare away. She looked to her side, seeing Gage through the crack in the door. The light from the lamp above the table shone on him. He was lying on the bed, his big body making the mattress seem tiny in comparison.

He’d saved her life, and for that she would be eternally grateful.

But there is something else you see in him … want.

She soaked for another fifteen minutes, letting her skin become like a prune, but still not feeling nearly clean enough to wash away the remnants of her time in Rye’s possession. After getting out of the water she grabbed the towel, realizing she didn’t have any clean clothes.

How could she go out there in nothing but a towel? Gage was an attractive man, and she didn’t know if it was because of the situation, or because she was someone damaged, but looking at him had this desire coursing through her.

It’s misplaced. It has to be.

Standing and telling herself they were both adults, she left the bathroom, turning off the light on her way out. Keeping the towel securely around her body as she stepped out, the chill immediately consumed her. He turned then, not rising, but locking gazes with her regardless. Even after her ordeal, she felt herself warming, her pussy becoming wet with arousal, and she knew this was wrong. He was here to help her get back home, and she had no right to feel anything like this. Had her time with Rye made her someone defective all of a sudden? Never had she felt an attraction so intense it rivaled everything else, but right now, with Gage, she felt that lust.