Navy SEAL’s Virgin Lover (13 page)

And now Erin was by his side, and everything had changed. It was as if his parents had reached out beyond the grave, and planted a delicate flower in his hand to take the place of the gun that had been there before.

As if they wanted a different future for him than one fraught with violence and the raw heartache of despair and vengeance.

Burke had seen it in him, and now so had he. He wasn’t that same man anymore, and he couldn’t deny that his future, once so bleak and almost non-existent, had suddenly opened up again—unexpectedly and gloriously.

He grasped Erin’s hand a little tighter, as if reassuring himself of her presence.

Too stunned to think beyond the simple recognition of her by his side, he knew he should start planning for the future—at least offer her a glimpse of it. But how does a man who gave up all hope of a future suddenly start planning for one?

He didn’t even know where to begin. All he knew was that he wanted to spend another night with her, and see the dawning of a new day through her eyes.

One day at a time, it was the way he’d lived for so long, it would have to carry him through just a little bit longer.

In the vast expanse of sky crowning their world, he thought he detected a little twinkle. No doubt it was the twinkle in his dad’s eye, announcing to his son that life wasn’t so bad after all if you made room for new beginnings…

And they’d just reached the cabin, when the sound of a cuckoo alerted him of approaching danger. It was Burke’s signature call.

Ushering Erin into the cabin, he quickly made his way to the source of the sound. He wasn’t surprised to find his friend lurking in the shrubbery.

“Trouble,” said the mountainous man in his low sonorous voice. “We better get out of here, buddy. They’re on to us.”

“Who? How!”

“Someone talked.”

“The German?”

Burke cast down his gaze. “Not him. Trust me. That little creep will never talk again. No. Someone else.”

Ram felt a wave of panic rise in his chest. His eyes ripped to the cabin, a few yards away. “Erin,” he muttered.

“You have to tell her. Tell her everything.”

“I was planning to,” grunted Ram in clipped tones. Without waiting for Burke, he raced to the small structure that had been his home for the past year, and belted out Erin’s name.

He just hoped it wasn’t too late.

The moment Erin set foot inside the cabin, someone sprang up and grabbed her from behind. Before she could utter a cry of anguish, a damp hand clamped over her mouth and jerked her head back against a coarse chest.

“And who’s this little filly?” a silky voice sounded from somewhere nearby. In the darkness, she could only guess at its source, though the accent told her the man was Indian.

Outside, Ram cried out her name, and she struggled to warn him not to come in, but strong arms held her like iron bands and she realized it was to no avail.

Still she struggled and fought, and when she bit the hand clamped over her mouth, a yelp of pain was followed by a slap to her face that had her reeling, the taste of blood flooding her mouth.

She dropped to her knees, and then the door swung open and it was all over. Loud voices crashed all around her, and when the lights went up, she found herself staring at the unconscious figure of Ram, lying on the floor right next to her, and four men standing around looking down at them.

She now saw to her horror they were holding guns, aimed at Ram’s head.

“Get her out of here,” the man with the silky voice said softly. He looked distinguished and well advanced in years. With his shock of white hair and his wrinkled face, he might well have been older than her father, she thought, but his eyes were hard and unyielding when she sought them.

Someone grabbed her again, and this time she struggled even harder, for she knew that if she didn’t, she might never see Ram’s lovely face again.

“No!” she cried, but then a rag was shoved into her face, and all she could do was kick and soon even that became impossible when they slapped her across the face again, and she suddenly was on the verge of passing out.

The cool night air brought her back, and when they took her inside the other cabin, she was surprised to find a friendly face staring back at her.

Securely tied to a chair was Sophie, and she’d obviously suffered a similar fate at the hands of these men, for there was a bruise on her cheek and a look of despair in her eyes.

“Erin,” Sophie muttered, and then she was tied up next to her friend, and the rag finally removed from her lips.

The brute who’d carried her here, slammed the door behind him, then turned the key in the lock, and finally they were alone.

“What happened?” she gasped.

Sophie gave her a look of such misery that she almost lost all hope. “I’m so sorry, Erin. I… fucked up.”

“I don’t understand. Who are these men? What do they want?”

Sophie hung her head despondently. “Isn’t it obvious? Ram, Erin. They wanted to lay their hands on Raminar.” With a desperate sob, she added, “And I led them to him!”

Stupefaction rendered Erin dumb as fear gripped her heart. Her mind shot back to Ram lying helpless on the floor of the other cabin. Finally words came. “T-they’re gonna kill him.” It wasn’t a question, just a cold statement of the facts. Her stomach lurched when Sophie nodded, tears now springing to her eyes.

“Oh, Erin, I’ve been so stupid! I was jealous of you and Ram, and-and-and I wanted to teach you a lesson. I thought what you had was too good to be true and I wanted to prove that to you.”

In a few quick words, Sophie told her about Ram’s self-declared ‘mission’. When Ram’s dad had retired from business, he’d decided to spend part of the year in the place he and his wife had met all those years ago. The beach they found was still as pristine as it had been, only to their horror they discovered a local consortium of shady businessmen and corrupt politicians had plans to turn it into an ‘entertainment zone’, complete with high-rises, fancy hotels, casinos and other dens of iniquity, including drugs and prostitution. Fearing for the future of this divine spot, Ram’s dad decided to buy the place and preserve it for future generations. Lord knows he had the means to do so.

One night, when he and his wife were sleeping, a couple of thugs working for the consortium invaded their little nook, took them outside and shot them dead, spilling their blood on the very dunes they’d come to cherish.

Upon hearing the news, Ram had vowed both to avenge his parents and carry out their plans. First through offering money, appealing to the group’s greed, and in case this failed by taking out of the ringleaders of his parents’ murder one by one.

Burke had joined his friend to assist with the gruesome plan, and the only thing now standing in Ram’s way was… Erin.

Erin, reduced to tears, was baffled. “Me? What does this have to do with me?”

Sophie looked at her imploringly. “You made him change his mind, honey. Before Ram met you, he was on a suicide mission, knowing full well this would probably end with him dead. Meeting you brought him back from the threshold of death with a new hope for his future.” She let her head sink on her chest. “And now I’ve destroyed all that. They’re going to kill us as surely as they did Ram’s parents.”

Erin felt torn between anger at her friend for betraying her, and despair for Ram’s fate in the next cabin. “But why, Sophie? Why did you tell them about Ram’s plans?”

Sophie didn’t have the courage to look into her eyes. She merely muttered, “It was jealousy. Stupid, ugly jealousy. You had it all, Erin, and I-I simply lost it.”

“But how? Who do you even know these people?”

“That German guy? The one back at the hotel? I met him in one of the clubs, and when he offered me a drink I-I told him. But he knew. He already knew. Said he sold Ram some information. He must have turned tail, figuring he could make a lot more money by double-crossing him.”

Disgusted, Erin looked away. Then a thought struck her and filled her with a glimmer of hope. “Burke,” she ejaculated.

“What about him? He’s not half the man Ram is. All he wants to do is fuck. He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t even care about me.”

Annoyed, Erin shook her head. “Did you mention Burke?”

“No. I only told him about Ram.”

Erin steeled herself. “Then there’s still hope. Burke is out there, and from what I know, he won’t let anyone harm his friend.”

Sophie broke down again. “He’s only one guy. What the hell can he do?”

Erin expelled a long steadying breath, willing her heart to slow. “You should have a little faith in people, Sophie. Burke won’t let us down. Contrary to what you may think of him, he’s a good man and a good friend.”

The implication didn’t escape Sophie, and she nodded. “I’ve been a horrible friend to you, Erin. I’m sorry.”

Compassion took the edge off Erin’s anger, and she murmured, “We’re getting out of this thing alive. Just you wait and see.”

“How-how do you know?”

Erin smiled through her tears. “Life didn’t bring me out here to India to meet my soulmate only to let me die.”

Sophie gave her a feeble smile. “Always the dreamer, huh?”

Erin shrugged and tilted up her chin defiantly. “It’s the only way to live.”

Burke knew he had to do something real quick, or else it was game over for his old friend. He desperately searched around for a weapon of sorts, his own gun safely tucked away inside the cabin… which was now overrun with these goons.

Suddenly a growl sounded behind him, and when he whirled around to face this new danger, he found himself face to face with the mangy dog Bradley had decided to adopt.

“Hey, little buddy,” he cooed to the snarling animal. “I’m one of the good guys, remember?”

The dog seemed to sense the truth in this statement, for she immediately dropped her guard, and plunked down on all fours next to Burke. The big man patted her, relieved he wouldn’t have to fight a dog
and
a bunch of murderous brutes.

Never fight a war on two fronts was one of the lessons he still remembered from his days at boot camp.

Then he got a bright idea. He eyed the dog studiously. “You’d do anything for your master, wouldn’t you, mutt?”

The dog gave a short bark in response.

“Thought so. Why don’t we fight this campaign together, you and I? You go for the groin while I aim for the face? Something along those lines?”

Again, the dog’s features lit up with a certain animation, and she gave a short bark of agreement with the battle plan.

“Damn,” muttered Burke. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were human, buddy.”

Searching around, he saw nothing but shrubs, but then the light of the moon reflected on a broken bottle nearby and he picked it up, feeling its heft in the palm of his right hand. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

As he rose to his feet, he found the dog heeling at his feet and looking up as if awaiting further instructions.

“We’re going to surprise them by… Oh, hell. Let’s just go in there and kick some butt.”

And without further preamble, the man mountain walked up to the door of the cabin, and simply smashed in the door with his foot. Inside, he found three guys working Bradley over, doing a number on him, while a fourth, a gray-haired dude with a face ugly as fuck, watched on approvingly.

Probably the ring leader, he thought, and was at the old guy’s side in three strides, then took him out with a well-aimed punch to the throat.

The dog, meanwhile, had clearly taken his instructions to heart, for she went straight for one of the goons’ nuts, clamped down her teeth and didn’t let go. The guy yowled in extreme agony, and Burke took this opportunity to take out the biggest of Bradley’s assailants with a stab of the broken bottle into the gut. The guy went down and didn’t come up.

Two down with two more to go, he thought, and knocked out number three with a knock-out punch to the jaw. The fourth guy, doing the square dance with the dog dangling from his nuts, flew a good three yards through the air when Burke punched his lights out, to land on the floor with a dull thud, and even then the dog didn’t let go.

The canine would have made a great soldier, thought Burke as he quickly approached his friend and cut his ropes with the edges of the bottle, being careful not to cut into his wrists.

Bradley was unconscious, his face a bloody mess, and he saw that he’d need a medic ASAP if he wanted to preserve that pretty face for the sake of his girlfriend.

Thinking of Erin, he wondered where the hell she was.

Just then, the white-haired fucker started raising Cain. With a kick to the gut, Burke shut him up, and for good measure crushed what was left of the bottle on the man’s skull.

He then hoisted Bradley up from the chair, and walked his friend out of the place, in search of Erin.

Probably the other cabin, he thought, and when he kicked in the door, he was glad to find he’d been right.

“Present and accounted for,” he grumbled as he eased Bradley to the bed and started untying the women. “We better get out of here,” he intoned the moment he’d released them from their restraints. “Wherever those guys came from, I’m betting there’s plenty more.”

“Ram!” cried Erin the moment her hands were free, and slung herself on top of the man. She looked up, horrified. “His face! What have they done to him!”

“Rearranged it a bit, I reckon. Guys like that live for that kind of thing. Now better get your stuff and we’re on our way to the airport. I’ll gather up everything next door.”

He didn’t mention he might have to do some more damage to some more goons. No sense in getting the girls all worked up over nothing.

He now marveled at the sheer stupidity of Bradley’s plan of campaign. Take out the leader, he’d said, and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down. He hadn’t wanted to rain on his friend’s parade, but in his experience taking out the leader only results in ten more guys springing up to take his place. Chop off one head of these Mafia-type organizations and a dozen are straining at the leash to have a snap at you.

He felt sorry for Bradley’s parents, but he didn’t think they would have wanted for their son to be sacrificed on the altar of their dream as well.