Appassionato (26 page)

Emma stared down the hall through the open door. “Can you shield us if we go down there?”

Duncan nodded. “Yeah, but I can’t shield the prisoners. This is a hostage situation right now. They know someone is here and they’ve got nothing to lose.”

She turned to Jake. “You’re sure you can’t work through the walls?”

He grimaced. “I tried. I can’t do it. I think I need a direct visual.”

“What about if we link again? My aura sensing and your telepathy?”

“I’m not sure,” Jake began, his face serious. “Can you separate the auras of the prisoners from their kidnappers?”

Emma thought about it. “No. Not if they have a true bonding aura. Maybe if they’re on the drug. The auras of the people who take it are wrong, ugly.” She shuddered. “It’s sick. Ms. Brown was so horrified about the thought of bonding and here she is, creating a drug that’s made from bonding blood.”

Jake touched her arm comfortingly, and she closed her eyes while Duncan rubbed his face, disappointed. “We have to do something.” He thought about it for a moment. “I could light the door on fire. If I put enough energy into it, I could probably burn it to dust in a few seconds.”

Emma stared at him. Duncan could feel her surprise. He shrugged. He didn’t realize he could do that until the man in the stairwell started shooting at them. “I’ll have to do both doors at once. Will you and Jake be able to knock out the kidnappers in each room?”

Jake sighed, pushing his hands through his hair. “I don’t know, but we don’t have much choice.”

“What if they’ve used the drug?” Emma asked.

Duncan turned to her. Her hair was a mess and she was pale, probably from exhaustion. He moved closer and pulled her into a hug. “If they’ve used the drug, I’ll knock them out.” He didn’t mention that his version of knocking someone out usually involved death, but neither Emma nor Jake said anything. They already knew.

“We’ve got to get moving. I’m sure they’re waiting for us,” Dave said.

Jake nodded and inched down the hall against the wall. The two doors weren’t far, maybe twenty feet from the stairwell. Beyond the doors was another window. Duncan could see the light from the city winking through the dirty glass. When they were about halfway to the doors, he held out his arms and everyone stopped. Emma looked at him inquisitively.

“I can work from here.” Duncan took a deep breath, trying not to think about why they couldn’t hear anything from where they were.
Eighteen people
, he thought.
Why aren’t they making any noise?

Focus
, Jake sent.
It’s not important.

Duncan nodded and closed his eyes as Jake and Emma clasped hands. He pulled on the energy as though he were drawing electricity up from some unfathomable well. He gathered it until it felt like his skin was crackling, then he opened his eyes and sent the power sparking through the air. The two doors exploded into flame, then vaporized. It took about a second. Duncan sagged against the wall as screams erupted in the rooms.

“Shit! They’ve got shields on their auras,” Emma muttered. Duncan tried to muster the energy again, but couldn’t find it. He felt the beginnings of panic when Jake suddenly cursed, and Duncan realized that his two lovers were trying to push past the guards’ resistance.

“It’s all twisted inside their brains,” Jake panted, hanging onto Emma’s hand. Duncan tried to hold them back, lifting a hand weakly, but they inched forward. Emma’s face was twisted, her concentration so tight Duncan couldn’t tell what she was thinking anymore.

“Hang on,” she gasped, then Jake moaned and Duncan watched his lover’s face blanch. Suddenly, the bond flared and he could hear them again.

Ms. Brown
, Jake thought.
Where did she go?

I don’t know.
Emma’s mind-voice was tinged with despair.
I think she got away, dammit! How? I didn’t see a thing!

I think she dropped out the window. She must have had a rope or something. She knew we were coming. I can’t sense her anymore, either. She must have some way to shield herself,
Jake sent, anger coloring his thoughts. He strode down the hall to the open window and looked out.

“I can’t see anything.” He rubbed his eyes.
I thought I saw a woman lurking outside your house with Eric the other night. Could that have been her too
? Jake thought, his mind voice tinged with frustration.

Probably. Nothing we can do about it now
, Emma responded
.

Duncan pushed away from the wall. He was feeling a little better. Not enough to draw on the energy but enough to go see what happened. Dimly, he realized it had only been about a minute since he’d demolished the doors.

“Are the guards down?” Dave asked. Duncan nodded and started down the hall, Dave close behind. When he got to the doorways, he looked in and the first person he saw was Samantha, Emma’s student. She looked up at him, tear tracks running down her cheeks, carving pale lines in the ash on her skin.

Duncan felt like he’d been punched. “Are you okay?” he asked, then she was up and flinging herself at him. He closed his arms around her slim shoulders just as Emma stepped in the room.

“Samantha, it’s okay. You’re safe now,” she murmured, running her hand down the girl’s hair. Duncan looked around. Seven women looked back, a few no older than Samantha, the rest in their early twenties. Two hadn’t got up from the floor, hadn’t even looked towards the door. They sat slumped against the far wall, holding hands as they stared blankly at the door, barely breathing.
The door that was no longer there
, Duncan thought. Everyone looked ill.

I guess that’s what happens when you’re forcibly separated from your bond-mate
, Jake thought. Duncan nodded, his heart shying away from the thought. He hugged Samantha tightly for a moment, then set her away from him.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” he said, smiling at her.

She frowned up at him, then her face lit up in the most incredible smile Duncan had ever seen as a teen boy came barreling into the room and hurled himself at her.

“Samantha!” They grabbed onto each other and Duncan stepped back, feeling Jake come up behind him. He tucked his arm around the other man’s waist and put his head on Jake’s shoulder, utterly exhausted but relieved they’d been able to help these people. He wished they’d been able to catch Ms. Brown and question her. Then Emma wormed her way under Duncan’s free arm, and he let himself relax and watch the reunions of the other bonded couples for a moment. Duncan felt the precise moment Emma realized that the two women against the wall weren’t moving.

“Maybe I can help them,” Emma said, pulling away. She walked over to them and kneeled down. Duncan watched as she ran her hands over theirs, then through the air between them. She murmured to the two women and they suddenly blinked. The one on the left looked at the smaller woman next to her, then they both nodded. Emma smiled, then closed her eyes, pressing her hands on both of theirs. Duncan felt her concentrating, could almost see the auras as she knit them together, making the two women bond with each other in place of the men they’d lost.

“Wow,” Jake whispered.

Duncan agreed. “Our Emma is amazing.” She’d just formed a bond between two people who lost their original bond-mates. Duncan hoped it worked.

It will
, Emma thought to him. Jake nodded and Duncan let himself believe it was possible. He hugged Jake close, burying his nose in the other man’s hair, not moving until he felt Emma slip her arms around him. He turned and kissed her, knowing that whatever happened, Emma and Jake loved him. With the two of them by his side, he could face anything, even the prospect of a world where criminals hunted bond-mates for their blood.

Chapter 13

Emma woke up, deliciously warm and tingling all over. Again. She opened her eyes, blinking down at Jake, who was half on top of her, his fingers slowly stroking between her legs. She shivered and opened her thighs wider. Duncan pressed against her other side, his morning erection already leaking at the tip. She felt the wetness against her hip and found herself arching her back, suddenly close to orgasm. Jake chuckled and moved his fingers away. “No, put them back you evil man,” she panted. He laughed and slipped his body in between her legs. She froze when she felt the head of his cock at her entrance.

“Mmm, delicious,” he said and slid inside.

Emma groaned. He felt so hot and hard and incredibly big. She couldn’t move her arms but it wasn’t until Jake slid back out to tease at her entrance that she realized Duncan was holding her hands tight above her head. “Hey!” she exclaimed, trying to tug them free.

“Uh, uh,” Duncan breathed against her neck. She gasped and he bit her, then tongued over the mark just as Jake thrust back in.

Oh, my God
, she thought, shuddering.

“Hold on tight,” Duncan instructed, letting her curl her fists around his left hand. His right wandered to her breasts, toying with one nipple than the other until both were throbbing. Then he leaned down and bit the one closest to him and Jake pulled out again, teasing her clit with his cock. She thrashed, unable to keep herself still. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move her arms, couldn’t do anything except lie there and take whatever they wanted to give her.

Duncan thrust against her hip and she could feel how close he was, too. She wiggled but couldn’t get free, and he sucked her nipple back into her mouth as Jake shoved his cock back in. He bumped against her womb and she whimpered, so close to orgasm it almost hurt.

“Emma, you can’t come yet,” Jake said, stilling his movements until he was making tiny circles with his cock still buried in her body. She panted, opening her eyes to see him straining above her, his arms near her hips, muscles tense. He was gorgeous. Then Duncan bit her again and she bucked, trying to get Jake to move.

I can take control of our auras, you know,
she thought when he teased again.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” he said, smiling. She looked at him, wordlessly begging. His eyes darkened and she felt his cock jump. She clenched down on him and he gasped, jerking his hips into her. Emma grinned and did it again, but she hadn’t counted on Duncan tightening his grip around her hands.

“Emma, behave,” Duncan rasped. She turned her head to see his face and nearly climaxed just from that. His pupils were blown. He rubbed his cock on her skin and she had the sudden urge to lick him. “Oh, yeah, you can have that,” he murmured as he caught her thought. Then he was shifting, straddling her until his cock was right up against her lips. “Open up, darling.”

Emma opened her mouth and he rocked in, the crown of his cock smooth and hot against her tongue. She swallowed and he shivered, then gently slid himself further inside. She breathed through her nose and clenched her hands around his so tightly her fingertips went numb. Then Duncan exhaled and pulled back at the same time Jake slid out of her pussy.
Oh, shit, they’re doing this on purpose,
she thought, then Jake slipped a finger down against the sensitive skin of her asshole. She writhed, trying to get more. Duncan moaned and thrust into her mouth just as Jake slid both his finger and his cock into her body. Emma felt all the nerves in her body prickle as she swallowed around Duncan’s erection. He groaned and she looked up at his face. Her eyes widened in shock. There were sparks around his head, dancing down his sleekly muscled torso and onto her.

He looked down at her and she flashed into Jake’s mind. There were sparks all over him as well and then all thought fled because the three of them were coming together, the pleasure so intense that she felt like she was burning up.

Several minutes later, she opened her eyes. Duncan had slid back down onto the bed and he eased her arms down, rubbing the muscles when she winced.

“You okay?” Jake asked, head tucked into her neck.

Emma tried to speak but nothing came out. She nodded and cleared her throat, then feebly whacked Duncan on the head tiredly for grinning. “I’m awesome.”

“Yeah,” Duncan said, voice thick and drowsy.

Hey, what time is it?
Jake thought. Emma sensed his brain coming back on line after the post-orgasm coma.

“Um, around ten? I’m not sure.” Emma stretched, enjoying the way their skin felt against hers.

“Ten? Shit!” Jake jerked away from her. She shivered as his softened cock slid from her body. “We’ve got an interview scheduled for noon!”

“An interview?” Duncan lifted his head, then dropped it back down on Emma’s shoulder. “Fuck.”