Savages Recruit (13 page)

Zora wasn't usually a jealous person, but then again, she didn't usually get attached to anyone either. Last night she and Savage had really connected on some level and today it was like it had never happened. Now he was surrounded by his people and just like that he seemed almost like a stranger again. It was painfully obvious to Zora that she didn't belong amongst these people, she was an intruder, someone with useful skills, but not someone who understood their world.

She watched as Anja laughed and touched Savage on the arm. It was only a light touch, a touch that could have been considered casual, but there was something in the way she did it that made it seem more possessive than that. As her fingers trailed over Savage's forearm, Anja turned her head and shot a triumphant look at Zora.

Zora looked back at her blankly. It was strange to see this woman treating her like she was some kind of threat. Anja was probably in her mid twenties, tall, Nordic without an ounce of extra fat on her body. In sharp contrast, Zora knew damn well she looked chubby and old by comparison. Sure, she wasn't completely hideous, but Anja was treating her like a rival. It made no sense whatsoever. Scraping together what was left of her dignity, Zora retired to the corner of the cabin and pretended to read a book.

She would perhaps have lurked in a corner forever if somebody had not broken out cards and proposed a game of blackjack. Zora found herself interested, and she didn't turn down the invitation to have a round against Tank as the dealer. This was something she was good at. Something she could excel at. Anja was sneering at her back the whole time, but Zora ignored her and won hand after hand, impressing Tank, Archie and Steve considerably.

“Man, we have to take you to Vegas,” Tank said, his dark eyes lighting up at the prospect of easy money.

Zora grinned and shook her head. “Not allowed in Vegas anymore. Not without a pretty good disguise.”

“Why not?” Archie was unable to contain his curiosity.

She smiled at his impulsive question. “Took a million off a casino in a few hours one evening. They ask you not to come back once you do that.” She paused for effect, remembering the rather rough handling she'd received. “They ask you not to come back quite forcibly.”

Tank laughed uproariously. “That's classic. What did you do with the money?”

Zora glanced over at Savage. He was not taking part in the game, but seemed to have no objection to the rest of them playing it. He was listening now though and he was probably not going to like what he heard. “Blew the lot in the desert and on court fees,”  she shrugged. “Plus there's taxes. They never tell you about those.”

“So you're banned because you're a cheat. She's cheating now too,” Anja accused hotly. She seemed pleased to have found a character flaw she could exploit. It seemed petty to Zora, but hey, if blondie wanted to start something over cards, she wouldn't back down. Zora had too much experience with bullies to let Anja keep picking on her. You had to take them on early and take them down hard, or they'd pick on you forever.

“If by cheating you mean using my brain, then yeah, I'm cheating,” Zora said in bored tones. “You must think you're surrounded by cheats constantly.”

The big baby blue eyes grew dark with anger as Anja tried to pin down the insult. “What are you trying to say?”

“My bad,” Zora smirked. “I'll put it in little words. You're dumb.”It was a cheap shot, and Zora knew it. She was deliberately picking at what she knew would be a sore point. Anja was a good looking woman, and a blonde to boot. There wasn't a blonde on the planet who hadn't been made to feel like they were stupid at one point or another. She was willing to bet that Anja was often treated like she was a halfwit and that it annoyed her.

“Be nice, Zora,” Savage warned.

“I am being nice,” Zora said. “Dumb is a compliment when it comes to G.I. Barbie.” She turned and looked straight at Anja as she spoke, savoring every bitchy word.

The table went silent as everyone waited for Anja to respond. The tension that had been brewing since the women met was at boiling point and something was going to give. Zora was curious as to what was going to happen next, but what happened next surprised her greatly. Anja didn't fire off a snarky remark or appeal to Savage's authority to rein Zora in. She pressed her lips together and stood up from the table. For one brief, brilliant moment, Zora thought she'd won. Then Anja turned and took a swing, twisting her hips to put all the power of her toned body behind the punch.

It was a straight punch, easily deflected or avoided if you knew how to deflect or avoid such things. Zora had no idea how to do either. The blow landed square on her jaw. There was a flash of pain, then nothing but darkness.

***

She came back to consciousness to the loud and angry sound of Savage's voice. “What the hell do you think you're doing, soldier?” He was bellowing at the top of his lungs like a drill sergeant, shouting things that would have sounded hysterical and ridiculous if they weren't coming out of a very angry, very aggressive man. Anja was backed up against the far wall looking scared as hell. Savage was much larger than her and he was as up in her face as he could get without actually pressing his face against hers. His hands were balled into fists at his sides and as Zora watched woozily she wondered if he was going to hit her.

“Hey, you're back,” Brian smiled, acting as if nothing untoward was happening at all. He reached out gently, assessing her for injuries. She let him. Brian had never been anything but courteous to her, but even his light touch made her gasp with fresh pain. It hurt. It hurt bad. She'd never been hit before, not really. Not sober anyway. The pounding ache in her face made Savage's spankings feel like love taps in comparison. She was grateful for the soft sleeping bag under her head, they'd obviously carried her to the sleeping platform after she was knocked out. Tank, Archie and Steve were all gone, why Zora didn't know. Perhaps they didn't like hearing their commanding officer yell. Zora certainly didn't like hearing it. The bellowing continued, making her head hurt all the more. The man had some lungs on him, that was for sure. She wished he'd shut up, there wasn't much point coming over all alpha now. The damage had already been done.

“Get the hell out of my sight,” Savage finally shouted. Anja took to her heels, fleeing the cabin with a quick scurrying motion. She no longer looked scary, she looked like a dog that had been chastised by its owner. If she'd had a tail it would have been between her legs.

“Zora's awake, Sir,” Brian informed Savage.

Savage came striding across the room, his expression a mixture of anger and concern. “Is she okay?”

“She's fine. Nothing broken. I'll get an ice pack for the jaw.”

Momentarily left alone with Savage, Zora looked up at him with dopey eyes. He was mad, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care. She felt sick. “Damn Matthews,” he shook his head at her. “You know exactly what to say, don't you?”

“So it's my fault?” Maybe she did care. Anger flashed through her battered body. He was really going to stand there and tell her that it was her fault his psycho soldier hit her?

“No, it's not your fault,” he shook his head. “But you had a role to play.”

“I'm supposed to tip toe around psychotic bitches so they don't hit me? Is that it?” Zora wasn't sure where her bravery was coming from, but it could very well have been from the fact that the 'psychotic bitch' in question was no longer in the room.

Brian returned with the ice and together the two men helped her sit up. Savage knelt down in front of Zora and held the cold pack against her jaw. His eyes were dark with displeasure as he looked at her. She was more than a little miffed about that. Shouldn't he be glad she was alright?

“Do you have any sense of self preservation at all, Matthews?” He asked the question roughly.

She shrugged, wincing as the cold momentarily made the pain worse before it made it better. “I says it like I sees it.”

Savage groaned, using his free hand to cradle his forehead, as if he was the one who'd been punched in the face. “You're not going to make this easy, are you?”

“I'm not making anything hard,” Zora pointed out. “She hit me. I never laid a finger on her.”

“What is forty five thousand eight hundred and eighty nine multiplied by four thousand nine hundred and twenty?” The question came fast, out of left field from Brian.

“Two billion, two hundred fifty-seven million, seven hundred thirty-eight thousand and eight hundred,” Zora replied without batting an eyelid.

“Well her brain still works,” Brian noted. She wondered how he knew, then she realized he was looking down at a calculator watch on his wrist. Zora hadn't seen one of those in decades. It was cool, she decided as the waves of nausea that accompanied the onset of concussion rolled over her. Really cool. Maybe they didn't need her after all. Maybe Brian and his calculator watch could save the world instead. Eighties technology for the win.

Chapter Nine

Zora found the after effects of having been knocked out very unpleasant indeed. In addition to the pain in her jaw and the pounding in her head, her sense of balance seemed to have been affected quite significantly. She wavered where she sat, almost tipping over before Savage steadied her. “Easy there girl,” he said, his voice a low growl.

Out of all the trouble she'd given him, this seemed to be the worst as far as his reaction went. He was pissed and it showed in every line of his usually handsome face. With his forehead crumpled and his brows drawn together, his usually sensual lips pressed into a thin line, he looked like the devil himself.

“I feel sick,” Zora blurted. Savage could glare at her all he wanted, but if he kept sitting in front of her like that, there was a decent chance the contents of her stomach would end up all over him.

“We should get someone medical to look at her. She could be concussed.” Brian was a bright young man, a very bright young man, Zora thought to herself as she fought the waves of nausea.

Savage gave Zora a long look, apparently more concerned with lecturing her than getting her medical attention. “Be careful with that mouth of yours in future,” he cautioned her. “We can't afford to have you taken out of the game.”

“Be careful with those armed dingbats of yours,” Zora snapped back. “No offense, Brian.”

“None taken,” Brian replied with a nod and just a flicker of a wink. Zora smiled. She was starting to really warm to Brian, he had a way of getting things done without being pushy, unlike Captain Savage.

“Are you two quite finished?” Savage looked between them, frowning.

“Sorry sir,” Brian apologized quickly.

“Yes, sorry sir,” Zora parroted. She made to grin, but the motion made her face ache. “Ow,” she muttered. “At least tell me she's going to get a spanking,” she added as an afterthought.

A bursting bark of laughter erupted out of Brian. He bent forward, slapping his hand on his thigh as merriment rolled out of his body. Brian was usually very contained, very business like, but the idea of Anja getting a spanking was enough to crack the shell of propriety the young aide surrounded himself with. Zora giggled a little bit, finding his amusement contagious. When he laughed he was cute, maybe not sexy cute, but definitely friend cute.

“No Zora, I'm not going to spank her,” Savage shook his head. “But she will be punished.” He paused for a moment, giving her a dark look. “As will you.”

“Me!” Zora squealed. “I already got punched in the face. Isn't that punishment enough?”

“That wasn't a punishment. That was an overreaction.”

“No way,” Zora complained, her eyes wide. “No way, that's not even fair.”

He ignored her protestations and turned to address Brian, who had by that stage composed himself. “Get the van, would you Brian?” Brian saluted and made a quick exit, looking all too pleased to avoid the further displeasure of his commanding officer.

Zora perked up at the mention of the van. “Ooh, are we going somewhere?”

“You're going to see a doctor,” Savage reminded her, picking up her hand and lifting it to the ice pack so that she could hold it for herself.

She frowned. Something about that didn't make sense. “Wait, we don't have anyone who can perform doctor services here? We're going to go into shooty shooty land with nobody to patch us up?”

Savage didn't even crack a hint of a smile. “We have a medic, it's not quite the same thing as a hospital.”

“Who's the medic?”

“Guess.”

Zora almost giggled, though it could have been the concussion making her so light headed. “Anja?”

“Bingo,” he said grimly.

“Brilliant, can't wait to go get shot at with her by my side.” Sarcasm dripped from every word. Anja would probably leave her for dead if she got the chance.

Savage gritted his teeth. “You make everything so difficult.” He was blaming her, he really was. As if it was her fault that Anja had antagonized her from the beginning. As if it was her fault that Anja had the hots for him.

“Hey, I'm not the one she wants to fuck,” Zora said crudely.

He stiffened, the muscles in his neck and shoulder going hard as if he was preparing for a physical blow. “I don't know what you're talking about,” he muttered. It might have been a convincing lie if he were able to keep eye contact, or if he remembered to tell her off for swearing.

“She was practically licking you,” Zora said smugly. “She was jealous.”

“She was not.” Savage was almost convincing. Almost. There was a shadow of doubt in his voice that rather made Zora think he knew damn well Anja was jealous. Now that she had Savage on the hook, she didn't intend to let him off it easily. He was sitting there blaming everything on her, but she wasn't the one running the show, he was, and the team he'd put together was no less volatile than an atom bomb.

“Why did you put her on the team knowing she likes you?”

“Same reason I have a misbehaved drunkard on the team,” Savage said roughly. “She's damn good at what she does.”