Savages Recruit (11 page)

BANG! BANG! BANG! Savage's palm slammed against the door. “Five minutes and out, Ms Matthews,” he called.

“Oh FUCK you!” She shrieked the words almost reflexively, then squealed when the door opened. “Don't come in here!”

His tall, broad figure was shadowy behind the frosted shower door. “If you want to keep your modesty, you'll apologize now,” he growled.

“I'm sorry,” Zora whimpered. He did not reply, but he did leave the room. She finished up quickly, dried off and wrapped herself up in a towel as tight as it was possible. She had no clothes to change into in the bathroom, so she was forced to step out into the cabin wearing nothing more than a towel. Savage was waiting for her and he did not look happy.

“Get changed and get to bed,” he snapped. “If you're not in bed by the time I get back, you'll be feeling my palm across your ass.” He strode off into the bathroom, presumably to take a shower himself, leaving Zora to get dressed quickly. Instinct told her she'd pushed him enough for one evening, so she wasted no time in rolling out her bedroll and climbing inside her sleeping bag. Once inside, she wriggled around until she was at the very edge of the sleeping platform. The fact that they had to sleep together in the same room was bad enough, she wanted to be as far away from  him as possible.

A few minutes later, Savage emerged from the shower. He was a stickler for his own five minute rule apparently. Zora pretended to be asleep, but she couldn't help but peek through the blonde strands of her hair as he walked across the cabin. He was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and she couldn't keep her eyes off his torso. Every muscle was defined and toned in a way that made her stifle a small sound of lust. He didn't walk, he stalked like a jungle cat, each one of his glorious muscles working visibly with each stride. It wasn't right to spy on him, it was completely wrong, but she was a woman with needs, needs that had long gone unsated and the sight of a mature male at the peak of physical fitness was like a beacon to her primitive brain.

He turned to face the fire, leaving his back to her and she bit her lower lip as he dropped the towel, revealing chiseled buttocks and long muscular legs. She was treated to the sight of his powerful body naked for just a moment, but it was a moment that would stay with her for a long time. His skin was still slightly damp and in her lust fevered brain he seemed to gleam in the reflected light of the fire like a mythical god.

All too quickly he pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and turned towards the sleeping platform. Zora squeezed her eyes shut quickly before he could see her looking at him. In the darkness she heard him shuffling about for a bit, then the swiffling sound of a sleeping bag told her that he was getting into bed. The platform sank a little as it took his weight when he lay down.

“Goodnight, Ms Matthews,” his deep timbre caressed her.

“Goodnight Captain,” she replied softly.  She barely dared breathe. She was lying not three feet away from his imposing figure, close enough that she could almost reach out and touch him. She turned and faced the cabin wall as a torrent of conflicting emotions crashed through her. He was infuriating and overbearing, but at the same time he was really really incredibly good looking. In the darkness of the night, Zora finally allowed herself to consciously acknowledge what had been creeping around the edges of her thoughts for days. She was attracted to him, and the worst thing about that attraction was the fact that it actually made her behave even more badly than usual. She'd managed to take a terrible situation and make it worse by becoming besotted with the man who was her captor. What a fool she was, what a stupid, silly fool.

***

As sunlight began to gently filter through the curtain, Savage woke up with a start. Years of training had taught him to rise out of sleep instantly alert at the slightest hint of danger. On this occasion he'd been woken by something touching him, pushing against him. Reflexively he reached for his weapon, but before his fingers could curl around the grip he saw the source of the pressure pushing him off his bed roll and left the gun where it was.

His gentle assailant was none other than Zora, fast asleep and snuggled up to his side as close as she could be. She'd insisted on going to sleep as far away from him as possible on the other side of the platform so the fact that she'd abandoned her own bedroll and wriggled several feet in the night to be pressed up against him made him smile as he relaxed.

In the faint light of the morning, Savage watched her sleep. When she was unconscious her frown faded and her expression became sweet. He let her lay on him, smiling to himself when she growled in her sleep, nuzzled under his arm and started drooling on his chest. Even unconscious she was a demanding little witch. It would have been easy to get comfortable, even fall back to sleep with her weight there a pleasant reminder that it wasn't all shouting and misbehavior, but he couldn't allow himself that luxury. “Don't start playing happy families, Brett,” he muttered to himself.

Gently shifting over, he extracted himself from his sleeping bag and left Zora clutching his pillow fiercely. She barely stirred as he moved away and stoked the fire that had burned low in the grate all night long. He managed to put a pot of water on top of the wood burner and have it get close to boiling point before the activity woke her. As she emerged into consciousness she stirred and rolled over, groaning in protest.

“Morning,” he said pleasantly. “Want coffee?”

Zora sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Yes please,” she said in a surprisingly well mannered tone.

“Sugar? Milk?”

“Milk, no sugar thanks,” she said tiredly, pulling the bag up around herself as she sat cross legged on the platform. He was glad to see her sitting normally, her backside had taken considerable punishment of late. Though he was a believer in discipline, he didn't like to leave a woman unable to sit unless it was really necessary. When the coffee was ready he handed her a cup of the brew and they sat together in the silence of the early morning, each lost in their own thoughts.

He was aware that she was watching him warily. Wondering, no doubt, what lay in store for her that day. Savage pondered that question himself. In spite of what he'd told her, the point of taking her up to the mountains wasn't for physical training. The running they'd done the previous day had been designed largely to tire her out. No, the real reason he wanted this time with her was to establish some kind of bond that would mean she'd listen to him in the field. He could thrash her all he wanted, but if she ran off in the middle of a mission, it could get them all killed.

“Toast?”

“Sure,” Zora said, her tone laced with suspicion. Savage smiled and began preparing the toast by sticking bread on a skewer and holding it near the flames.

“I think its time you and I had a talk, Ms Matthews,” he said as he kept the bread balanced neatly on the knife edge between gently toasting and bursting into flames.

“About what?”

“About whatever you want to talk about,” he said. “You have questions, I'm sure.”

“You've already answered all my questions by beating me,” Zora bit out sarcastically. “Everything I needed to know, I learned from getting hit.”

“Zora,” his voice was patient and low. “I'm not going to fight with you. If you don't want to talk, we can just go on another run.” He expertly slid the toast off the skewer and handed it to her on a tin plate. She took it with muttered thanks, the sulky expression stuck on her face.

“I thought you were going to hit me again today,” she said, picking at the toast.

“That depends on you actually,” he said, skewering another slice of bread.

“How's that?”

“I'm hoping we can come to an understanding,” Savage glanced over at her. “We don't know each other very well, but what we're going to be doing in a few days, that requires the sort of trust that takes months or longer to build.”

“Well then we're pretty fucked,” Zora muttered, pinching the toast together and stuffing it into her mouth. “Unless you can hit someone into trusting you,” she blurted messily around the half chewed wad of bread.

“Is the foul language really necessary?” He tried to keep the sharp tone out of his voice, but she was already testing his patience to its limits with her prickly attitude.

“No, but it makes me feel better.”

He gazed into the flames, trying to think of a way to defuse the situation and win her over. She was so damned contrary, in fact she was hell on wheels, but he couldn't exactly blame her. If he'd been in her position he wouldn't exactly be cooperative either. He'd been an idiot, he realized. Spanking her wasn't getting the desired results, at least not the way he'd been going about it anyway. He could whip her backside until the cows came home and she'd remain truculent. Getting into a battles of wills with Zora Matthews was like getting into a battle of wills with a tank.

“How bad is it going to be?” Zora asked, breaking the silence and his train of thought.

He glanced at her. “Depends what you're asking about.”

“This mission we're going on,” she clarified, mumbling into her coffee cup.

Surprise swept through Savage. Maybe he was getting through to her after all. “Well, the way its planned at the moment it won't be bad. This isn't a matter of brute force, this is a matter of deactivating a system. Once we've done that, our job is over.”

Zora nodded. “So I just have to go into a room and do a few calculations? That's it?”

Savage nodded. “That's it.”

“You'll be there, right?” The slight tremor in her voice belied the rough delivery. Underneath the bravado and the casual cussing he could see she was afraid.

He smiled at her reassuringly. “You won't be out of my sight for a second. There's an entire team backing you up.”

Her surprise was clear. “Really?”

“Oh yes,” he nodded. “I've got five of my best picked for this, Ms Matthews. You're going to be very well protected.”

“This must be important,” she said softly, her brow furrowing as she cradled her cup in her hands.

“It is,” Savage confirmed. “Very. This is no small job we're talking about here. This is a game changer. A great deal hinges on this success of the mission.”

“Like what?”

“Like the stability of Eastern Europe and potentially the world,” he said plainly. “We're talking about a nuclear threat.”

“Nuclear?” She barked with the sudden laughter of surprise, not humor. “What the fuck? Nuclear threat? What the hell are you getting me into Savage? That shit is serious.”

“It is,” Savage agreed, doing his best to dismiss the torrent of foul language spilling between  her lips.

“And you need someone like me to help you?” She shook her head. “You must really be desperate. Damn. I've been a pain, haven't I?” The last part of her statement came as something of an afterthought and it caught Savage off guard, making him chuckle.

“You could say that,” he agreed honestly.

She sat there, shaking her head and muttering the word 'nuclear' in between a series of swear words. Savage watched her quickly, half expecting her to make a dash for the door. “Damn,” she repeated herself, looking at him with a new, open gaze. “Nuclear.”

“Yes,” he confirmed. “Nuclear.”

“Nuclear,” Zora shook her head again. “And I'm... you need me?”

“We do.” He kept his answers short, letting her come to terms with the news in her own epithet filled way.

“Wow. I'm sorry, sort of,” Zora said. “I mean, I'm not sorry for most of it, but I'm sorry for... I don't know.” She blushed and stumbled over her words. “I don't know,” she repeated herself. “Nothing I'm worried about seems to matter compared to some nuclear shit. That hurts people.”

Savage was impressed and almost shocked. For the first time, Zora was openly acknowledging that something mattered besides her own fairly insular concerns. He'd taken her for an entirely self centered brat, but perhaps she was just a brat.

“None of this has been easy for you.” he said, abandoning his toast on his plate. “It doesn't have to be so hard though. You just need to do as you're told.”

“I don't know,” she frowned. “I don't like the way you boss me around, or the way you treat me like a child, but I do want to help.” Zora looked up at him, a frown on her face. “Do you know this is the first time you've bothered to have a proper conversation with me?”

She had a point, Savage had to concede inwardly. He'd been spending so much time trying to dominate her into submission he hadn't bothered to actually converse with her. “I mean usually you just hit me and walk away,” she said reproachfully.

“That's true,” he agreed. “Because I am treating you like I would treat one of my soldiers.”

Zora looked incredulous. “You spank your soldiers?”

“No,” he smiled wryly.

“I'm not a soldier,” Zora said. “I'm just a woman who can add a bit quicker than most. I don't like being treated like I'm an awful person because I want to have a drink or speak my mind.”

“I've never thought you were an awful person,” he said quickly, frowning at the idea that was what she had taken away from their interaction.

“But that's how you treat me. You gag me and shove soap in my mouth and hit me.” Her lower lip began to tremble slightly as she recounted the punishments which had clearly upset her more than she'd been letting on. “And you want to hit me with a switch today, whatever that is.”

“I'm sorry,” he said earnestly. “I'm used to dealing with people in a certain way. They do what I say, period. There's no discussion, no room for consideration of feelings. You might not be a soldier, but I need to train you like one so that you can do what we need you to do.”

“But you're not training me like a soldier. You just said that you don't spank your soldiers,” Zora said, her face reflecting her confusion. “You're treating me like I'm something you own, something that should never dare to disobey you.”

She was right. From the moment he'd carried her semi conscious body into the compound, Savage had been deeply possessive of her. He'd told himself it was because of the mission, because it was important that she learn to obey, but it had been more than that. Zora had challenged him from the moment she'd met him, she hadn't been afraid of him even when he showed her that he was prepared to use force to make her do as she was told. He was quite taken with her, and though he'd told himself that he was enforcing some kind of discipline, he was enforcing more than discipline, he was enforcing his dominion over her.