Stoned (Unlikely Heroes Book 4) (9 page)

He paused, releasing her arm. That was exactly what Monica would have offered.

Fuck.

Why did this woman remind him of a girl he’d buried over thirty years ago? A girl he hadn’t allowed himself to think about after he turned away from her grave for the first—and last—time.

The boy had been in the cell for about two weeks now. Viper imagined he’d suffered enough. But the kid was a dimwit. A retard. He didn’t understand what he was being punished for. Born three months premature, the infant had barely survived. He’d suffered numerous developmental delays. That was what happened when a stupid whore forgot to use contraceptives. Viper had wanted to get rid of the kid right after he was born, but Tonya wouldn’t let him. His sister was not a meek woman. Most the time she was a pain in the ass, but she was his sister, his only family, so he tolerated her.

Though the boy was now twelve, he only looked half that age with his diminutive stature and frail limbs. As far as Viper was concerned, the boy was as useless as his whore mother had been. But if Ms. Williams wanted to take care of him, Viper wouldn’t have to worry about the boy rotting away down here and stinking up the cell once he died.

“Fine.” He stalked to a hook on the wall. He removed a ring of keys. “He’s your responsibility now. See that he stays out of my way. Because I won’t hesitate to eliminate him if you can’t keep him in line.”

Viper unlocked the cell and swung open the door. “You can come out now, Runt. This lady will be your momma now.”

Runt hesitated, his gaze darting to Ms. Williams, then back to Viper.

“Come on! I don’t have all day!” Viper lifted a hand. “I’m going to count to three.” He held up his index finger. “One…” His middle finger. “Two…”

The boy rolled to his feet and shuffled forward, making a wide berth around Viper and heading straight toward Ms. Williams. Ms. Williams eyed Viper with disapproval, then held her hand out to the boy.

“Come along, Runt,” she whispered, her mouth pinching in obvious distaste at the child’s name. “Let’s get you cleaned up and something to eat. I’ll take care of you now.”

The boy placed his scrawny, dirty hand trustingly in hers and followed her up the stairs. Viper stared after Runt’s emaciated frame. If he blew on the boy too hard, he might knock Runt over. Viper had made sure the kid had just enough to survive and nothing more. He’d been attempting to toughen the kid up, but all the dimwit did was mewl and moan. Hopefully the kid had learned his lesson.

Viper followed after them, scowling at the way the woman gently urged the kid up the stairs. That was why he had no use for women. They were emotionally weak, and they made men weak.

He’d once been made weak by love for a woman.

But all his weakness had died with her.

Shit.

Instead of teaching Ms. Williams a lesson like he’d planned, he’d somehow let her convince him to release the retard.

That woman was fucking with his mind.

He needed to get rid of her.

As soon as possible.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Stoner didn’t return to his room that night. He didn’t trust himself to be alone with Karen. She was making him lose sight of the goal. He needed to keep his head on straight. But that didn’t stop him from wanting her.

So instead, he found himself in the game room playing Assassin’s Creed Unity with Spike and Weasel. Rebel had left with two of the compound’s whores a few hours ago. That kid got more action than any man Stoner knew. It made Stoner wish Karen would come find him. He figured if she wanted to talk to him after reading his note, she would seek him out. He hoped she would, imagined her walking into the room and sliding into his lap, locking her lips on his.

But she didn’t. He’d humiliated her. What did he expect?

When dawn arrived, the first signs of light peering through the drawn blinds, he stretched and rose from the couch. Spike was asleep on the far end of the couch. Weasel was wrapping up the game.

Stoner was done. A man his age wasn’t made for all-nighters and he was starting to feel it now. Next time he’d just go to bed and not think about Karen, not worry about her.

Yeah, right.

As if he could ever
not
think about her. And how could he not worry about her in a place like this? She wasn’t safe here. He should have at least gone and checked on her during the night. What if something had happened to her while he was down here playing videogames? What if one of the bikers encountered her out in the hallway and got too friendly with her? No one would stop it. No one would come to Karen’s rescue. She was a captive here, not the wife or girlfriend of one of the bikers. She would be treated worse than one of the whores.

She was fair game. 

Shit!

Stoner raced for the stairs. Careening around the corner, he collided with another person. Strong arms shoved him. He stumbled back on his heels.

Viper glared at him. “Watch where the hell you’re going.”

“Sorry.” Stoner tried to appear contrite.

Viper narrowed his gaze. “You ever go back to your room last night?”

“No, I spent the night in the game room with Spike and Weasel.”

Viper cocked a brow. “You had a willing woman in your bed and you played videogames instead? What’s wrong with you? You gay or something?” He smacked Stoner on the side of the head. “Fuck, if you don’t want her, I’ll give her to someone else.”

Not a chance in hell, motherfucker.

Stoner’s ear stung from the slap. It took all his willpower not to hit back. He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t give in to his impulses in a place like this. He would need fierce control if he was going to survive.

“No, I want her. Really. I do.”

“You sure don’t act like it. You know she tried to escape last night, don’t you? Cougar and Grizzly found her trying to scale the fence. I dragged her down and showed her what happens to those who disobey me. I think she took the hint. But I’m warning you, if
I
find her alone anywhere again, I’m going to assume you don’t want her and I’ll let someone else take her. Got that?”

The hell you are.

Stoner seethed inside, barely managed to keep from slamming his fist into Viper’s ugly face. But worry quickly replaced the anger. What had Viper done to her?  

Viper smirked, as if he’d read Stoner’s mind. “By the way, I checked her out last night. Apparently she lives alone. She has a little cottage not far from where we found her. She’s got a daughter and granddaughter who live a little farther north. Her daughter is some famous horse trainer. The daughter’s married to an FBI agent. Name’s Nick Miller. That worries me a bit. But they’re all in Arizona right now, so hopefully we can use her for what we need, then get rid of her before they return. No one will be the wiser. And she is a botanist. She didn’t lie about that. I don’t think she’ll give us any trouble. No trouble at all.”

Stoner disagreed. The woman was trouble. Big trouble. What if Viper had hurt her last night while Stoner had been playing videogames?

“If we aren’t done with her by the time her family returns from Arizona and the son-in-law ends up being a problem, we’ll have to take him out. I’ll expect you to handle it.” Viper eyed him with that cold pink gaze.

Stoner wasn’t too keen on that idea. But a man didn’t tell Viper no. Unless he wanted to die.  

Viper clapped him on the shoulder. He urged Stoner toward the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s talk over coffee. I thought about what you said about letting her work from her lab at home. I’m not opposed to that. I think it might be a good idea. If she’s already got a lab set up, you can get started today. I’ll be sending Rage, Scorpion and Rebel with you.

“By the time the family returns, we should have our own lab set up here and won’t need to use hers anymore. I don’t want any of you still at her house when the family gets back from Arizona. Too risky. I expect you to know how to clone pot by then so we can get rid of her. Got it?”

Stoner jerked his head in a nod. He’d known that if by some miracle Viper let Karen leave the compound, he wouldn’t allow her to go alone. With Rage and Scorpion close by, watching her every move, there was no way she could escape. He wasn’t too concerned about Rebel, though. The kid was a vet. He saved animals. Rebel wasn’t like some of the others around here. Stoner could handle Rebel. The kid would not get in his way.

Stoner’s heart clenched at the thought of killing Karen. He couldn’t do it.

So at the first opportunity that came along, he would try to set her free.

It was about to get ugly around here.

Real fucking ugly.

* * *

Karen woke to the sound of water running. Someone was in the shower. Yawning wide, she rolled over. She lay there a moment, trying to get her bearings. Where was she?

The compound.

Stoner’s bed.

The events of the night before slammed into her brain.

After Viper had set Runt free, Karen had taken the kid to the kitchen and fed him. He’d wolfed down the food as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks. By the looks of him, she imagined he hadn’t. Then she’d taken him up to Stoner’s room. She’d turned on the shower and told him to get in. The boy had stripped and climbed under the hot spray. She’d left him alone to get clean. When he’d emerged several minutes later, he looked like a different kid.

His hair was blond, not brown, and his eyes a pretty light green.

“Wow,” she whispered. “You’re a good-looking kid. How old are you?”

The boy didn’t answer, just stared down at the floor. He didn’t look any older than seven or eight. Could he even speak? She suspected he suffered from some type of disability, but wasn’t sure what. Autism, maybe. She understood why they called him Runt, because he was so frail looking, but she still didn’t like the name. It was rude and demeaning. When she’d asked the child what his real name was, he hadn’t responded. Karen wanted to call him something else, something filled with praise that would make him feel good about himself. But what if “Runt” was the only name the poor child had been given?

She’d tucked the clean boy into Stoner’s bed and had climbed in beside him. She’d fallen asleep soon after the child had, then suffered nightmares about being attacked and raped by the bikers.

Stoner had never returned to the room. At least not that she remembered.

She didn’t want to dwell on that. Maybe he really
didn’t
want her. Maybe he
had
been repulsed by what he’d seen.

But he’d left her that note. That had to mean something.

Right?

He was apparently here now. In the shower. 

The water shut off in the bathroom.

She bolted upright, her gaze glued to the bathroom door.

A drawer slammed. Something clattered on the countertop. A brush? Comb? Razor?

The door jerked open.

Stoner strode out, naked except for the towel wrapped around his waist. He’d slicked his wet hair back away from his clean-shaven face. The sight of his smooth jaw had her pulse quickening. Her gaze traveled downward, noting his broad, powerful-looking chest that was lightly spattered with hair. She didn’t miss the long scar that ran down the center of his torso in between his ribs. At some point in his life, Stoner had been cut wide open. Heart surgery? Someday she might ask him about it.

For now, she just stared, unable to get any words past her lips with that gorgeous masculine body on display.

Her mouth went dry. She swallowed hard.

He had a tattoo on his left bicep. A bird of some type? Blue and black and yellow mixed and mingled, creating an artistic display of wings and feathers and a dragon-like head. A Phoenix? No, it was a dragon, she noticed as he drew nearer, with a forked tail and fire coming out of its mouth. Interesting. What did it symbolize?

She still wouldn’t call him good looking, but God was he sexy. A man his age had to work out to get a body like that.
Seriously
work out.

“Nice tat. Does it symbolize anything?”

He halted, his gaze sweeping over her, intense, searching. He continued forward, pausing at the end of the bed. “Not really. I got it when I was a dumb kid.”

His gaze darted to Runt, then back to her.

“Does Viper know you’ve got his son in here?”

Karen stared up at him. “Huh?”

He motioned to Runt still sleeping next to her in the bed. “How’d you find that kid, anyway? He disappeared a few weeks ago.”

Shock slammed through her. Runt was Viper’s son?

“That bastard! I didn’t
find
him. Viper dragged me down to the dungeon last night and showed me this poor child locked in a cell. He was being punished, Viper said, for disobeying him, whatever the hell that meant. I told him I wouldn’t make another attempt to escape if he set the boy free. I would be responsible for him. He agreed.”

How could the man be so cruel as to lock his own son in a dungeon? She hated Viper even more.

Something resembling fury flashed in Stoner’s eyes before he turned away. “So that’s where the boy went. I thought something had happened to him.”

“It did,” she retorted. “His own
vile father
happened to him.”

Stoner turned back to her. “Get up. Viper’s letting us go to the lab at your house. I hope to God you were telling the truth about having a lab there, or we’re both fucked.”

“Well good morning to you too,” Karen hurled back. Flinging the covers aside, she slid out of the bed. She’d taken off her jeans last night before climbing into the bed, but she’d left Stoner’s T-shirt on. He stared at the torn pieces of fabric where the dog’s fangs had sliced through the shirt.

“What happened to my shirt?”

“One of Viper’s Rottweilers tried to eat me.”

Stoner’s gaze traveled down her body, then swept back up to hers. “You might want to stay away from the dogs around here. Most of them aren’t friendly. You can wear my shirt until we get to your house, then you’ll probably want to change into your own clothes. I would suggest you bring some clothes back with you tonight, or you’ll be stuck wearing mine again.”

He turned away and headed for the dresser. He pulled out a clean pair of jeans and slipped them on, dropping the towel as he zipped them up.

No underwear?

He caught her staring. His lips twitched. “I know you’re dying to get your hands on me, but please try to control yourself.”

She let out a snort of laughter. “I see you have a sense of humor.”

He chuckled. Their gazes collided. Her face heated. She’d never been the type to blush, but holy hell, the man was too damn hot
not
to appreciate. And he had a nice smile. A really nice smile.

She cleared her throat. She bent to retrieve her dirty jeans from the floor.

Neither one of them mentioned the note he’d left last night, which Karen had stuffed into the front pocket of her jeans. The paper crackled as she dragged the pants up her legs, but she refused to pull it out right now. She was saving the note as a reminder that Stoner didn’t care about her mastectomy. It made her feel better, having the evidence in her pocket. Having proof that he still wanted her. She wanted to ask him about it, but didn’t think this was a good time to bring it up. But she planned to. Soon.

Stoner yanked a black T-shirt over his head. His chest muscles bunched, then disappeared beneath the shirt. Dear Lord, the man was hot.

He sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled on socks and dark brown Skechers. Yesterday he’d worn black leather cowboy boots, which now sat discarded near the bathroom door.

“We’re not taking the motorcycle?” They must not be, or he’d be wearing the leather boots. 

His gaze caught hers. “No. We have to transport a stock plant for you to get your cuttings from, so we’re taking a truck.”

“What about Runt? Is he coming with us?”

“No. I suggest you find someone to keep an eye on him until we get back. You might want to ask Tonya.”

Karen nodded. She pulled on her Keen Logan boots that she always wore out in the forest. She strode to the bathroom in her dirty jeans and Stoner’s T-shirt. “I’ll be just a minute.”