Dead Force Rising (4 page)

The General must have seen the image John
kept close. The past three weeks had been tough ones. John nearly tore his cock
off he jacked-off so often. It was beginning to affect his concentration and
give him an idea of what drove the breeds to perpetrate such terrible acts.
Hell, those things were all ready set on killing. Add a female and a hard-on into
the mix and things were bound to get bad.

All of which brought John back to the
female who’d barricaded herself in the car. John did his best to get her to
open the door without his tension becoming apparent but
he
 
wasn't
as successful as he’d have
liked. The situation was about to get worse as a group of six men began making
their way down the narrow, one-way street. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed
the picture of him and Thomas and held it against the glass, thankful she’d not
thought to just drive away.

Though he would've thought it
impossible, her pale eyes got larger. Thorn looked at the images then looked
back up at him before slowly lifting the door lock. John could already hear the
whispers of the street gang as they continued toward them. Their intent was
robbery, car theft and perhaps rape, all things John would've to kill them for
even considering, which meant six bodies to explain. It was just one more
complication he didn't need. Throwing the door wide as soon as the lock slipped
out of place, he looked down at the woman in the driver seat.

“Slide over.”

“No. This is my car. How did you know
my brother?” she asked with more determination in her tone than her face
revealed.

“We don’t have the time for this
Thorn, get the hell over,” John growled as he began to push her across to the
passenger seat so he could climb behind the wheel.

“What the hell are you doing?” she
screamed at him as he pulled the door shut behind him and threw the car into
gear.

Glancing over at Thorn, he realized
she’d unlocked the passenger door and was looking to hop out of the vehicle. With
no time for reasoning, John reached out and grabbed her by the hair as he
stomped on the gas pedal. Speeding toward the group of men, he noted the
glimmer of several handguns and pushed Thorn's head into his lap. He had not
expected all this trouble tonight or the erotic images her face being so close
to his cock delivered.

“What the fuck,” she screamed at him before
being silenced by the sound of gunfire and the shattering of the passenger side
window.

A burning sensation ran through John's
shoulder as one of the bullets
glanced
his rough skin.
It wasn’t anything a few hours wouldn’t cure but he would need a whole lot more
time than that to ease the ache Thorn was causing him. However, he would've to
use a great bit of tact to find his relief there.

“It’s safe now,” he said, releasing
her hair and allowing her to sit back upright in the seat.

He watched her from the corner of his
eye as she surveyed the damage to her vehicle while brushing glass shards from
her lap. He wondered which questions would come out of that sexy mouth first.

“How did you know my brother?” she
finally asked, turning around to face him.

“He was my best friend,” John told
her. “I was with him in Afghanistan when he was killed. Sorry I didn’t make it
back for the funeral.”

“If you were with him then you know
we couldn’t have a funeral, only a memorial,” she accused with a tone John had
become familiar with from families of fallen Thorndiers.

He started to ask why they could only
have a memorial when he personally helped load Thomas’ body onto a plane for
the states, but thought it was probably not the best time for such a
conversation.
 
Instead, he opted for a
different route.

“He told me a lot about you and his
wife Caroline and his little girl, Becka. What is she, three now?”

He knew that caught her attention as
she let out a low sigh and settled back into the seat for a moment.

“So where exactly are we going?” She
finally asked, looking out into the dark city streets.

John hadn’t really thought about it
but he guessed from their current direction he was taking her to the base. They
had some things to discuss anyhow and that would be the safest place for her
until he decided what to do. If he’d noticed her following him about, others could've
just as easily and the last thing he needed to be worrying about was her
safety when he was suppose
to be out hunting monsters.

“The base.
That way
I
can make certain you stay out of trouble.”

“What business is it of yours what I
do?” I….” her voice trailed off.

John jumped as he felt her hand touch
his arm, shocked not only at the touch but how cold her fingers felt.

“You’ve been shot,” Thorn told him as
she gently rolled up the sleeve of his blood soaked shirt.

“It’s nothing. Just a flesh wound. I'll
clean it up when we stop,” he told her in a breathless voice he knew she
mistook for pain. In reality, her touch caused this affect.

Grabbing the cell phone from his pocket,
he punched in the direct line to the Nest control room and asked to speak with General
Striate. Giving the man a brief synopsis of what
happened,
he couldn't help but grin when Striate suggested he bring Thorn in with him.

CHAPTER FOUR

Thorn tore the bottom of her tee
shirt and used the cloth to tie around John’s arm as she worried her lower lip.
This was her fault. If she would've been watching for him to exit the club
rather than stuffing a donut into her face, then they would've avoided this
whole mess.
 
Now she was off to the base
most likely to take an ass chewing from some person wearing a bunch of stripes
for messing around and causing one of their soldiers to get hurt. Hell, they
might throw her in a hole somewhere and forget about her for a few weeks.

As they continued as fast as her car
could travel, Thorn took her first real look at the man behind the wheel. He
was ruggedly handsome, strong and muscular with the most unique colored eyes
she’d ever seen. They were almost amber. John Rose also had the most amazing
smell, a sensual addictive scent of cinnamon and sandalwood. She hated to admit
it but Thorn actually enjoyed his demanding, take-charge attitude and from the
size of the package pressing against the front of his jeans, he liked giving
orders. She’d bet her entire shoe fund that the man liked to play rough, an
idea that left a tingle in her thighs. Too bad the heat his commanding tone
caused deep inside her wasn't enough to warm the rest of her.

“So how long have you known I was
following you?” Thorn asked when they reached the north gate of the base.

“Since the first
night.
Then again
General Striate did tell me he’d hired someone to keep an eye on me,” he
responded as he flipped his ID at the guard who waved them on.

“General Striate?
He hired me?” she said as she began
to shiver.

He chuckled and Thorn shook her head.
Why had John’s commanding officer hired her of all people to watch him? And why
in the world would they have told John about it? It all seemed very peculiar.

“Why would he do that?” she asked as
she pulled her coat a little tighter around her. The winter air blowing through
the now windowless door was bitter cold.

“You can ask him yourself in a few
minutes. However, we’ll need to get you unthawed first,” John told her as he
swung his injured arm around her shoulder and hauled her effortlessly against
his side.

Instantly the heat of his body began
to radiate through her, decreasing the chatter of Thorn's teeth a decimal. Snuggling
in closer, Thorn leaned her head against his shoulder, the wariness of the day
weighing heavily on her. She most likely would've fallen asleep if John hadn’t
pulled the car to a stop.

Looking up, Thorn blinked rapidly,
attempting to focus. They’d stopped at colonial house complete with candle
lights burning in each window. This must be General Striate's home, she thought
to herself as John got out of the car and came around to open her door.

“Are you certain he’s awake?”

“He said he would leave the side door
open,” John assured her as he offered Thorn a hand.

Instead of taking his offering, Thorn
climbed out of the car and turned to assess the damage the rainfall of bullets
had caused. Not only did they shatter the passenger window, but there were also
several bullet holes in the body. How in the hell was she going to explain this
to her insurance company? She could say farewell to a decent premium.

“Come on,” John said, reaching out
and taking her by the arm.

She let him lead her toward the side
of the house passed a set of garden gnomes, which appeared to watch their
movement. As promised the door was open and she followed John into the dark
house.

“Sergeant, Miss Grant. Please follow
me to the study. I don’t wish to wake my wife,” a deep voice called through the
darkness.

Though she didn't particularly want
to, Thorn took John’s hand and moved through the house.
It
 
wasn't
that she didn't like the man. It
was the strange way he made butterflies flutter about in her stomach she was trying
to avoid. It was terribly confusing. Thorn had been avoiding any type of
emotional entanglement. She knew what the loss of her brother caused Caroline
and she never wanted to risk being swallowed by that darkness. Thomas’ death
had left a big hole in Thorn’s heart but it damn near killed his young wife. If
not for Becka, she was certain Caroline would've taken her own life.

When a light finally came on and they
all sat behind a closed door, Thorn looked at the General. He was indeed the
same man who hired her to follow Sergeant Rose.

“Why did you hire me?” Thorn asked, pulling
her hand from John's.

The General looked at her then
Sergeant Rose, smiling slightly as he leaned back in the leather desk chair. “I
wanted a set of eyes on him that were not tied to the military. I figured if
someone was on to him then your presence might just throw them off,” he
explained.

Thorn couldn't help but feel that
something was missing in his explanation, like the why her? Looking at John,
she could see that same suspicion reflected in his eyes.

“Now I guess I can simply pay you for
your time and ask that you never discuss any of this,” Striate told her as he
pulled open a desk drawer and withdrew a plain white envelope, which he handed
to her.

“That's it then? You won’t need to
have me followed any longer?” John asked, leaning forward a bit in his chair
and lowering his head as he spoke. The posture he displayed reminded Thorn of a
stalking animal.

“I think you're more than capable of
handling small exploits until the rest of your team is ready. I figure we will
have all of you out and ready to tackle bigger things by the end of next week.”

Thorn wondered what type of team he
was talking about. Who were they? The way John was lurking around clubs and
darkened
areas,
she thought perhaps it might be some
new domestic terrorism task force or something. From what she knew of military
operations, they always readied a complete unit. Thorn found it very strange he
was the only member of his team active at this time.

“With your permission then, Sir,”
John said, standing, “I'll see Miss Grant home and then return to base.”

****

John couldn't keep his eyes from
straying away from the road in front of him as they drove through the quiet
night. There was so much he wanted to say, but he had no idea how to begin. How
did you tell someone you just met that you’d loved them for over a year now?
That you spent every night staring at their picture?

“Sorry about your car,” he finally
said.
It
 
wasn't
his best opener but it was better than silence.

He heard her sigh and thought for a moment
she wouldn't reply.

“It’s alright, better the car then
me. Thank you for that by the way,” she told him before covering a wide yawn.

“Why don’t you slide back over here
against me? It's better than freezing,” he suggested, smiling when she didn't
hesitate to do so. “Where do you live?” With his arm wrapped back around her
shoulder, he fought the need to lean down and kiss her as they stopped at the
gate.

“Go down about six blocks and make
the left,” Thorn told him, leaning her head back against his shoulder once
again.

John had never driven so slow in his
life. He didn’t want to take her home, to walk away, to be left with only her
image in his pocket. There was also another thought streaming through his head.
Thorn lived close enough to the base that, with his abilities, he could be at
her door in minutes. She’d been watching him. It only seemed right he should do
the same.

“Up here on the right. The one with
the porch light,” she motioned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.