S.A. Price (17 page)

She stomped, knowing she looked like an errant child who had been denied ice cream but she had spoken the truth, she really couldn’t hurt him. "I’m not young anymore Merrick, neither are you. Our best years have been spent alone...how could you do this to us?" She kicked him again, this time in the shin.

He winced this time making a grab for her holding her still. "Time slipped away from us, from me...I didn't mean for it to be this way."

She frowned, and then her face softened. "I know you didn’t... I just didn’t expect to spend my youth without you." Fresh tears fell down her face as she looked at him. She couldn’t keep being this horrid bitch to him, not when he was here and he was sorry. All she needed was for him to make the move towards her... just one move...

He squeezed her tightly pulling back from her his lips inches from hers. "I can’t have you go on hating me anymore..."

"I don’t hate you John... I never hated you... I hate how things play out. Hate the fact that I have been without you so long."

"And now you don’t have to be." His arms trembled around her.

~68~

"You can’t promise me that,” she whispered "But I don’t care.... I need you."

He rested his forehead against hers. "I need you too."

"Prove it." she breathed, her resolve failing. "Don’t make me break for you..."

He moved the few inches pressing his lips against hers.

Elise lost it, her body softened and she sobbed, molding into his arms. His kiss was the memory of a better time, and his taste sank straight to her core. He put everything behind the kiss, she felt it, and her arms went from her sides to his back, her fingers digging into his flesh through his light cotton t-shirt.

He groaned into her mouth slipping his own hands to cup her ass pulling her crushingly against him.

She moaned and shuddered leaning into him and pushing him backwards onto the bed, still in his embrace. She rolled with him till she was under him and sobbed.

His strong hands parted her legs positioning himself in between them. He ground himself into her, she could feel him hard underneath their clothes. "It's been so long ‘Lise..." He growled.

"Fifteen years..." she whispered into his ear and then nipped his neck.

"Fifteen damn long years..."

"Tell that to my vibrator..." she giggled and kissed him wrapping her legs around his waist.

"I don’t want to be conversing with your vibrator love." He kissed her again his hands traveling up under her shirt to her breasts.

She gasped and purred. This was what she had been missing. Her love, the man that still knew her body better then she knew it. The man who was everything she ever wanted, the only one she could love. She arched for him and closed her eyes. When they opened she looked at him with shifted eyes, looked at his shifted eyes with her own. Gods he was beautiful. The mossy green and silver that patterned his eyes always had a calming effect on her. She remembered him in his shifted state, the night before he left her, his scales glinting in the moonlight, his coloring a play of light and shadows on the brightest of days. She loved him then, and she loved him now, and her Mate had truly come back to her. "Merrick... I missed those eyes..."

"And they missed you too my love... Every part of me has." he grinned pinching her nipples rolling them with his thumbs just like she loved. "It’s been so long but my body remembers like it was yesterday."

She squeezed him with her thighs. "So does mine... gods I missed you Druis," she purred, using their old name for each other. In his mother’s tongue of Scottish Gaelic, which Elise spoke almost fluently, she had called him her beloved, and had been doing so since she learned the word. It was because of that word she learned the language at all, and she knew it turned him on.

Smiling he reached down kissing her deeply holding her body to him. "I love you." he kissed her again. "With all my heart." He sat back pulling her onto his lap showering her with kisses, down her neck onto her chest.

She giggled, his kisses tickling the entire way. Her fingers found the hem of his shirt and stole under it, pressing her pads to his scorching flesh. She felt the tremors rolling through his body, fine that they were, and she knew just how much she affected him. She nibbled on his neck and earlobe, breathing words into his ear. "You’re my only love, I will have no other ever."

"I should hope not..." He grinned. "Because I've only ever been yours." Somewhere in the room a phone began to ring causing him to tense. "It's mine just ignore it." He whispered in her ear kissing her temple.

"Umm I would love to..."

Chuckling he kissed round to her lips nuzzling her and the phone rang out. "If it’s important they'll call back."

"If it’s important... baby.... we are in the middle of a crisis...."

~69~

"You bet your ass we are," his hand slipped down to squeeze said ass. "It's been fifteen god damn years..." He growled as the phone started ringing again. He squeezed his eyes shut with a growl. "I'll be right back."

She giggled and watched him, pulling her hair out of her ponytail and shaking it out. Merrick walked with a fluid grace that screamed of power. She was salivating thinking about how amazing he would look nude... it really had been too long.

He picked the phone up grumbling unhappily into it. It took only a few seconds for his frown to deepen and his expression to change from annoyance to alarm. He signaled to Elise that he’d be back in a second before dashing off into the next room.

~70~

SIXTEEN

It had taken Evelyn just over ten minutes to get to the car he’d left for her. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Homer she was a fast runner. Her snake genes had not only graced her with her lithe body but with the stamina to keep up with almost any pace she set. The car was just where he’d promised it would be and she had the keys in her pocket as she slid into the driver’s side. She’d have to drive somewhere safe enough to make the call she reasoned, starting the engine and tearing off without the lights.

She’d left Homer on the floor of the room, smashing the bottle over the back of his head. There had been a little blood but she remembered seeing once that head wounds bled profusely so she tried to chalk it up as that. She didn’t want to leave him there. The urge to tuck him into a comfortable position before leaving was strong but they were going for realism so he had to stay where he was.

The car was filled with his scent, something to remember him by as she drove following his directions to get to the second nearest town. Apparently she wasn’t all that far from where she’d been taken although she had no idea what they’d done with her stuff. Her car and clothes and handbag were all missing including all of her id and credit cards.

As soon as she judged herself to be out of danger she opened the glove box fumbling for the phone she trusted Homer to have left. Once it was in her hand she had a dilemma. Who to call was a big problem; she didn’t have a nest as such. She was born and grew up alone and away from the nest mentality. None of them would take her or even talk to her. In fact it should have been a rather hard death sentence should any of them ever come across her. The other snakes never looked on her that harshly though, mostly because she was hot. She got away with a lot of things because of her looks but that wasn’t going to help her now.

The truth was that she’d never mastered anything about her shifting abilities, she couldn’t even spot another were out in a crowd if her life depended on it which it very may well do.

There was only one person she could call, a man who thankfully had made her memorize his number. John Merrick had come to her not long after she’d had her first change. He’d offered her guidance and even a place to live. She’d accepted the first but turned down that last. She’d always been far too independent for a live in situation, She’d learned how to control her basic shift then bounced. She still met up with him now and again; he was a good man and right now the only person she could turn to.

She dialed the number with one hand holding the receiver to her ear as she navigated through the roads. The phone rang out for the first time since she’d started calling him. Swearing she tried again praying to whatever gods watched over her that he’d pick up.

“Mmm… what is it?” His voice came over as a sleepy growl.

“Merrick?” She asked relieved to hear his voice though getting the distinct impression that she’d been interrupting something. “Oh Merrick!” She gushed, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She hadn’t allowed herself to cry since that first day in the cage but now it seemed that everything was over, she might actually make it through the next few hours

“That’s my name…” He grumbled clearly not as happy to hear her voice, as she was his.

~71~

“It’s Evelyn… Evelyn Rose. Merrick I need your help.”

He was silent for a few seconds. “Evelyn?” he asked his voice sounding clearer. “Evelyn, are you ok? Where are you?”

“I’m not hurt if that’s what you mean but I’m far from ok. I’m close to a town, driving.”

“Good,” She could tell by the sound of his voice he was nodding. “I’ll send someone to meet you there. Can you tell me what happened to you?” He asked carefully.

“I was taken. One of them helped me escape.” She relayed everything to him leaving out the base’s coordinates and most of what had happened between Homer and her. “He said that we had about forty eight hours before shit turned nasty.”

“Do you remember where they are?”

Of course she remembered. She’d memorized the position then destroyed the paper that they were written on. This was her bargaining chip, if Merrick was already looking for the girls and she told him where to find them they’d storm in there without her and they’d kill everyone who wasn’t one of the girls. She couldn’t have that; she needed to go with them to keep Homer safe. He may have thought that he could take care of himself but the shifters were stronger than him especially if they were on a kill frenzy. “I think I might be able to point it out on a map or take you there.”

“Ok.” he sighed disappointment in his voice. “Have you seen any road signs? Can you tell me the last one you saw?”

“No, sorry, just the one that pointed to the town.” She lied into the phone

“Ok I’ll send someone to meet you there, Evelyn. They’ll keep you safe until I can get you here with us. I want you to stay in contact; do you think you’re still in danger? Can they track you?”

She checked the rear view mirror. “I don’t think so, but I’m not an expert. I got out with time to spare before they sounded the alarm. At worst they’re ten minutes behind me and they shouldn’t know I’ve found transport.”

“Ok I’m going to call you back in a few with somewhere to meet our guy. Watch your back ok?”

“Trust me Mer I’m not doing anything else. I’ve decided that I don’t really like being kidnapped and locked in a cage.”

She heard him laugh. “Well that’s something at least. I’ll speak to you soon…take care.”

Hanging up she switched the car lights on slowing her speed to a barely legal pace, it wouldn’t do to get pulled over by the cops now. Not when she had Homer counting on her, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to keep the girls’ location to herself but there wasn’t much she could do about that now. She just had to sit tight and wait for Merrick’s call.

~72~

SEVENTEEN

Merrick was stunned as he sat the phone down. They had their break; this was what they were looking for. Of course the news that Evelyn was safe was a great relief, even better, that she could lead them back to the rest of the girls. They needed to move though and they needed to move now if they were to take action. There were a few of his people that he had to call in but they weren’t very far away.

He left the bathroom making his way back to Elise who was still on the bed. His sexy Elise. It pained him that he wouldn’t get to finish what they’d started but saving the girls would just have to take priority. They were on a time limit and when he took her he wanted to have no time constraints placed on them. Maybe he’d take her away for a week, someplace hot with a beach for them to lie on.

“Well,” he started with a pained smile. “Looks like we’ll have to take a rain check love. That was Evelyn on the phone, she’s managed to escape… apparently one of the human guards had an attack of conscience.”

****

Things were not working out as planned. Cristof stood in front of her, back in her temple, his head held high, but eyes downcast. His body language was proud, and dominant, as always, but there was a tremor of fear in his countenance. Cristof was unhappy.

“What is it, my priest?”

“We have had a breach.” He said and looked up at her. “Your favorite, Evelyn.”

Delphyne weighed the news carefully, and seethed. How dare she destroy my plans! On outward appearance she merely looked upset, but a storm raged in her emotions. Destroy everything I have worked so hard for! Little bitch!

“How?” she asked and frowned.

“She overpowered her consort; hit him on the head with a full wine bottle.”

She knew it was a bad idea to allow those grunts access to anything that could be used as a weapon!

“A wine bottle you say? Not a good thing, not at all. And is he dead?” Bastard better be.

“No my goddess. He’s alive. I’ll be questioning him as soon as I return to my body.”

Still alive? After getting hit in the head with a bottle? Interesting. “And he has all his faculties?”

“As far as we know, yes. Just some stitches, but I have been told he’s alert and there’s no concussion. She couldn’t have hit him that hard.”