Merrick's Maiden (17 page)

Addie glanced in the rearview mirror again. So far, it didn’t appear that anyone was following them. Neither she, nor Merrick, had spoken to each other since they got in her car. Glancing again, she turned on her blinker and turned another corner.

She had no idea where they were going, she just knew she needed to get away. It wasn’t until she had been driving for fifteen minutes that she suddenly realized she had subconsciously headed in the direction of her parent’s cottage house. Turning on her blinker again, she sped up and merged with the highway traffic heading northwest on Highway 26.

“Where are you taking us?” Merrick asked, happy that Addie had listened to him and not closed him off.

“My parents have a place outside of Seaside. We call it the Cottage,” she responded in a husky voice. “No one will be there right now.”

“We need to contact the number you called before,” Merrick said, using both his voice and his thoughts. Something told him that while Addie couldn’t ‘hear’ him, she could somehow sense that he was speaking aloud and it gave her comfort. “Core will open the Gateway between our two worlds.”

“I don’t have my cell phone,” Addie replied in a tense voice. “I left it charging in my bedroom. I wasn’t expecting to be attacked again.”

Merrick felt her pulling away from him. Reaching out, he touched the faint outline of bruising beginning to form on her throat. He pulled back when she pulled away from him. Clenching his fingers into a fist, he let his hand drop.

Addie knew she had shut him out again. Right now, she couldn’t deal with anything else. Focusing on the traffic, she switched lanes and accelerated.

Her mind churned with questions, doubts, and confusion. Who were those men and what did they want with her? Merrick had said the tall man had mentioned Weston. Did Weston think she might know where Merrick was? Or was he just following through with his threat to rape her? She wouldn’t put it past the guy. The man had some serious mental issues and needed to be locked up himself.

Then, there were the questions about why Merrick came back. She was thankful he had or she would probably be dead, or worse, by now. Could wherever he came from, see the future and he just wanted to save her because she had saved him? Did he need more help from her? That seemed unlikely considering there had been another of his kind among the rescuers back in Reno.

Did he… Does he think he owes me some kind of explanation before he disappears again? This time forever,
she wondered, glancing at his stiff face.

Pulling her eyes back to the road in front of her, she refused to think he came back because he felt sorry for her, or because of their one, brief sexual encounter. Perhaps, he wanted to tell her that he was sorry.

God, I hope he doesn’t try to apologize and tell me it was a mistake, done just to save our lives,
she thought with a sinking feeling.

Addie rubbed her left palm against her left leg as it tingled. Her eyes flickered to Merrick when she saw him jerk and glance briefly at her before he turned his head to look out the window. Raising her hand to her lips, she pressed the center of her palm to her lips and licked the center of the pattern with her tongue.

A frown creased her brow and her eyes flickered to Merrick again when he shifted in his seat, as if he was uncomfortable. Addie figured he might be, considering that his long legs were jammed into a narrow area. Pulling her hand away from her mouth, she tightened her lips to keep from making his life any easier. As petty as it was, she was still pissed that he made her cry.

With a groan of exasperation at herself, the pettiness lasted thirty seconds before her conscience kicked in. He had just saved her life. The least she could do was give him more leg room for the last hour of the drive.

“There’s a bar under the seat in the front,” she said, breaking the silence. “If you pull it up, the seat will slide back and give you more leg room.”

Addie’s lips curved upward when the seat moved backward and a look of relief swept over Merrick’s face. There was just something about the guy that totally got under her skin. He was big, he was tough, he was an alien! But, he was also thoughtful, protective, possessive, tender, gentle,…

That is because you are mine, Addie,
Merrick inserted, making her realize that she had opened herself up to him again.

Addie groaned and rolled her eyes.
Tenacious, hard-headed, has a one track mind,
she added.

I like your first descriptions better,
Merrick chuckled.
Especially the tender and gentle ones. I will always be tender and gentle with you.

“You left without any word,” she replied in a husky voice. “For six days. The silence…”

Her throat tightened as she remembered the overwhelming silence. It was unlike what she had experienced when she lost her hearing. This was as if a part of her soul had been carved out and was missing.

“Core returned me to my world. I was close to death,” Merrick explained. “The drugs Rockman used the last time… I had a reaction to it. Even with the technology on Baade, I came close to not returning for you.”

“Oh, Merrick!” Addie exclaimed, feeling horrible for her selfish thoughts. “I’m so sorry. I thought… I didn’t think you wanted to come back. I couldn’t blame you, not after everything that was done to you.”

“What happened to you? After they took you from me?” Merrick asked in a husky voice. “Did Rockman hurt you?”

“No, she was going to… She wanted your….” Addie’s face flamed as she remembered just what the horrible woman wanted. “No, the people I called came and rescued me. They left someone to guard me and he was killed. I didn’t even know. He had shut me in one of the offices and I fell asleep.”

*.*.*

Merrick could hear the horror, sorrow, and the pain in her voice. Reaching his left hand over, he brushed the silky strands of her hair back behind her ear. Addie reached up and grabbed his hand, pulling it around to her lips. A shudder ran through them both when she pressed a kiss to the center of his palm, right over the mating mark.

“What?” She asked in surprise, releasing his hand and glancing at him.

“The mark is another connection between us,” Merrick chuckled again. “Watch.”

He raised his left palm to his mouth. Gently blowing warm air across it first, he touched the tip of his tongue to the center and ran the moist tip across it. Addie’s loud gasp and startled cry echoed through his mind. It took a moment for him to realize that the transport was slowing down and she was pulling off the side of the road.

He watched as she put the vehicle into park and rested her forehead against the steering wheel. It was several minutes before she sat back, still staring out the front window. She finally looked down at her left palm.

A sense of apprehension filled him when he saw her slowly lift it to her mouth. His hand reached out, wrapping around her wrist to stop her. He waited until she turned to stare into his eyes.

“Addie,” he murmured in a voice filled with husky warning.

“I want to see,” she whispered.

Merrick drew in a deep breath, steeling himself for what was to come. Nodding, he released her wrist. He should have known better when he saw the glint of amusement and her raised eyebrow as she raised her palm to her lips.

A low moan escaped him when the tip of her tongue teased the symbol, running in a slow circle. He felt the tension growing and stiffened his shoulders when she gently blew a breath of cool air across it. He swore it felt like she was touching his cock.

Sweat beaded on his brow when she scraped her teeth against the mark. He opened his mouth to warn her again at the same time as she stuck out her tongue, pausing to give him a look that suggested he better not say a word. Her eyes lit up when he snapped his lips together in a tight line.

This could get very interesting,
she teased.

Or very dangerous,
he muttered.
Addie, Gods breath, you are going to make me come in my pants like a lad!

Addie’s silent chuckle echoed in his mind as she continued to scrape, lick, rub, and blow on the mating mark. When she appeared satisfied, he breathed a sigh of relief, fighting the urge to adjust himself. Unable to leave it at her teasing, he reached over and wrapped his hand around the back of her head.

Pulling her toward him, he captured her lips with his, thrusting his tongue through her parted lips and kissing her deeply. His other hand came up to tangle in her hair. He would never get enough of her.

Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers for a moment as they both tried to catch their breath. He stroked his thumb against her temple. Wishing they were anywhere but here at the moment. He hurt!

Addie’s giggle showed that she’d caught his discomfort. A wry grin curved his lips as he released her and sat back in his seat. It was good to hear her laughter.

“We’d better get moving,” she said in a husky voice. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can take care of the ache we are both feeling.”

“Goddess’ blood, Addie, you are going to kill me,” Merrick whispered hoarsely as an image of the two of them tangled around each other filled his mind. “How much further?”

Addie laughed, checking the mirror before pulling back onto the highway. “Thirty minutes, give or take,” she replied. “We will need to get some food. This little adventure is killing my savings,” she added with a disgruntled sigh.

“I will care for you from now on,” Merrick said with a shrug. “You will have no need for your savings.”

Addie frowned, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she asked him questions about his home and family. All too soon, they were entering the city limits of Seaside, Oregon. It was a small tourist town, but it had retained the family atmosphere of those who had homes along the coast.

Addie pulled into the local grocery store parking lot and pulled into a space. Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she breathed a sigh of relief that she still had her wallet on her. She touched Merrick’s arm when he started to reach for the door handle.

“You need to stay here,” she said. “It is too dangerous for you to go with me. From a distance, you look almost human, but from close up, it is easy to see that you are different. I won’t be long.”

Merrick frowned before giving her a brief nod. “Be careful.”

“I will. I’ll leave the keys in the ignition in case you need to roll the windows down,” she said, opening the driver’s door and stepping out. “Is there anything you would like?”

Merrick shrugged. “I will eat most things,” he replied.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few,” Addie said, shutting the door.

Merrick watched Addie as she grabbed a metal cart from between some yellow metal poles. His eyes roamed her figure as she hurried across the parking lot. Turning his attention back to his surroundings when she disappeared inside the store, he studied the humans coming and going from the store, trying to sense if any of them could be a threat.

Settling back to wait, he ran through what happened earlier. It was clearly evident that Weston hadn’t given up. The question was, had Markham? From the briefing RITA2 and Core had given him, neither man had been caught. The attack on Addie earlier just proved that the men were not only out there, they were close.

Something told him this would not be the last time they would meet up with them. What he didn’t know was if Markham was a part of the earlier attack or only Weston. Personally, he didn’t care. He planned on hunting both humans down and killing them.

There was also the concern about how Weston, Markham, and Rockman had known that Cosmos’ teams were getting close. According to Core, he was moved, sometimes just hours, before a raid. RITA2 stated that all her analyses came back with the same answer: there was a traitor somewhere within the links, either from a member of Cosmos’ team or from the government.

“RITA has run a detailed security scan on all of Cosmos’ teams, and it came back negative,” RITA2 had stated. “My bet is the leak is on the government side. I am still gathering data on all personnel that are involved.”

Merrick was more inclined to agree with RITA2. Something wasn’t right. This was more than just a chance encounter with Markham that led to his being captured.

He sat up when he saw Addie pushing the cart out of the store. The sunlight caught in her hair and turned it to a shimmering yellow-gold. The bruising on her face had faded, but even with it, he still thought she was the most beautiful female he had ever seen.

Addie’s laughter echoed through his mind and he could see the grin on her face as she pushed the cart between the yellow poles before grabbing several bags out of it. He waited as she opened the back of the transport and placed the bags in the back.

“You are so cute,” she murmured before pressing the button to close the hatch.

“Cute?” Merrick repeated with a scowl. “Prime warriors are not cute.”

More laughter filled the vehicle as Addie slid into the driver’s seat. Bending toward him, she wrapped her hand around his nape and pulled him close enough to press a hard kiss to his lips. When she pulled back, her eyes were dazed and her lips swollen and pink.

“Yes, they can be,” she said, turning on the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.