Taken (7 page)

“How did you find me in the blizzard, and how did you get me out of the ice?” She still hadn’t figured that one out.

He stared at her and took another drink of his beer before he pushed his food away.

“Look, it’s not important is it? I found you and you’re still alive, right?” He asked almost as if it were a top-secret thing.

“Can I ask why you won’t just let me help you?” She tried again. If she could get him to let her help then maybe he’d let her go.

“Look, Kitty, if I don’t do this my way then I’m not going to be able to protect you, and I have to see this through or my brother is going to rot in jail.”

“Caleb—”

The sound of a vehicle approaching made him quickly stand and pull his ski mask on over his face.

“Damn it, they’re early.” He growled.

“Please, Caleb—”

“Don’t use my name in front of them. Just sit there and don’t say a damn word, okay?” he ordered. She heard a hint of fear in his voice.

“But…” She fell silent with the glare he gave her. She heard the door open and her heart raced.

“She’s in the kitchen. You might want your masks on,” Caleb said.

“It’s too late for those.” Gregory said from behind her in the doorway, and she whipped her head around to see him and Anthony Henderson.

Gregory looked at her. The deep purple bite mark on his bottom lip was very noticeable. Kitty’s heart raced as his gaze trailed over her.

“What a waste,” he mumbled, tossing a set of keys on the table before walking over to the fridge and taking out a beer.

“You bastard.” She seethed, and Caleb shot her a hard look.

“Katarina, you need to calm down,” Anthony said as he stepped over and put a hand on her shoulder.

Caleb’s gray eyes shone eerily for a moment, and his jaw clenched as soon as the man touched her.

“Get your hand off me,” she snapped, unsure of what was going on with Caleb.

“Your phone should be ringing any moment,” Gregory said.

“Why?”

“He’s on his way to the bar now.”

“Good,” Caleb said and moved back to the table and grabbed his cell phone.

“You just need to hold up your end of the bargain,” Gregory said as he looked at her.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Are you sure you can do it?” Her heart leapt into her throat.

Caleb glared at him and was about to say something, but his phone rang. His face became a little less tense as he talked to whoever was on the other end and then he looked at Kitty as he hung up.

“All right, let’s do this.”

“I want to be alone with her for a bit first,” Gregory said and moved toward her.

“Please no!” She looked right at Caleb, but his eyes told her nothing.

“Why?” Henderson asked.

“That’s none of your concern. Give me a half hour, then we can do this,” Gregory said as his finger traced over her trembling bottom lip.

“Trites, that’s the stupidest idea you’ve had so far,” Caleb said with a grunt.

“Look, I’m the one in charge of this, and I want to be alone with her first. So why don’t you go watch TV or something,” he said. Anthony walked toward the living room, looking a bit shocked.

Kitty was going to have a panic attack. Caleb said he wouldn’t let Gregory hurt her, that he’d protect her. Now as Gregory stood a few steps away from her, Caleb said nothing, did nothing, and her tears rolled down her cheeks.

“We don’t have time for you to get your dick wet, Trites.” Caleb snarled.

“Look if I want to fu—”

“They would find your DNA on her body, idiot,” Caleb said.

“They have to find her body first, and I’d think you’d make sure there isn’t much to find after you kill her.” Gregory grinned as he said it.

She stared wild-eyed at Caleb. He’d kill her, not Gregory, and by the way they talked, it was already all planned out. He wasn’t going to protect her, save her or make sure they didn’t hurt her, because he was the one who would be pulling the trigger.

“If you really want to risk getting caught and losing all that money, be my guest and take her for a ride. But if you ask me, that kind of money would buy a lot of women,” Caleb said. She felt sick.

Gregory didn’t move, didn’t say anything. He just stared at Caleb long and hard, seeming to be absorbing the other man’s words.

“Well, what’s it going to be? I need to do this soon?” Caleb demanded.

“All right, just do it and hurry up,” Gregory said as he ran his finger through her hair.

“Let’s go.” Caleb pulled her from the chair and led her to the basement door.

“Please don’t do this. I’ll give you whatever you want. I won’t tell anyone, I swear, please.” She pleaded between sobs.

He pushed her through the doors, and she really tumbled down the stairs. He opened a door and forced her to walk inside. At gunpoint he made her cuff herself to a pipe. Her screams were quickly silenced as he stuffed a rag into her mouth and gently caressed her hair. Caleb gave her a soft kiss to her forehead, then stepped back from her and raised the gun.

 “Oh, Kitty, I’m so sorry about all of this,” he said.

* * * *

The loud bang of the gun had reverberated through the house and still rang in his ears as Caleb walked up the stairs. His jaw was set tight and his mind numb. Both men looked at him, and Henderson vomited. Caleb cocked his head at the man.

“I had to do the hard part, you two can dispose of her,” he said and calmly as he walked to the fridge and then cracked open a beer.

“That wasn’t part of the plan,” Gregory said

“It is now. I’m not doing all the dirty work on this job, boys.”

“I…I don’t think I can… I mean…oh, my god.” Henderson looked sick again.

“Here, you’ll need these,” Caleb said and tossed a box of garbage bags at them.

“Come on, Anthony. We need to get this over with,” Trites said. He pushed the visibly shocked man toward the stairs.

Caleb followed them down, and when Gregory opened the door and looked inside his face looked shocked. Caleb pulled his gun out of the holster.

“All right, boys, get in.” He growled as both men turned to look at him in surprised shock as he pointed the .45 at them.

“You double crossing son of a bitch!” Gregory snarled.

“Don’t worry, some friends of mine are on the way here and they’re bringing some boys in blue to have a word with you. Now tie your wrist to one another using the zip ties.”

 After the two men stepped into the homemade chain-link cage, Caleb clicked the padlock into place and shut the wooden door behind him. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the small laundry room and opened the door.

“Time to go,” he said. He uncuffed Kitty from the pipe on the wall and led her upstairs at gunpoint.

He guided her outside to the pickup truck and made Kitty open the door. He got her inside and cuffed her wrist to the door handle before rushing around to the other side and thrusting the keys into the ignition.

“Kitty, I’m really not going to hurt you. Please trust me,” he said as they sped off down the driveway and out onto the road. As they hit the main drag, he tore his cell phone apart and discarded it along the road as they drove off.

“Caleb, please let me go,” she said, still sounding upset.

“That I can’t do,” he said as she looked at him. He could tell she was still afraid.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“No, I’m going to take you someplace safe and far away from those two.”

“But they can’t do anything. Please let me go.” Her tears fell again.

Caleb didn’t know how he was supposed to tell her he had no intention of ever letting her go. That all he wanted to do was treasure her, protect her and love her. He didn’t care about the money, just his brother’s freedom and her being their mate.

“Get some rest, Kitty, it’s a very long drive to where we’re going.” He sped toward Costa Rica. They would have to make several stopovers for him to sleep before they finished their journey to his father’s home.

* * * *

They pulled into a junkyard before they left New York City, and Caleb passed the man he met there a small wad of cash. The man then handed him a set of keys, and as he made her get into the car the other man looked her over almost approvingly and smiled at Caleb. His gray eyes looked a lot like her kidnapper’s. As they pull out of the area, she wished she knew what Caleb’s intentions with her were, but he’d refused to tell her anything.

Kitty barely talked to him over the next six hours as they drove toward the south. Caleb hadn’t told her where he was taking her or why. Just before dawn he slowed and pulled to stop in a darkened area by a sleazy-looking motel. He cuffed both her hands to the door handle. He was careful to make sure they weren’t too tight on her bandaged wrists before he got out and headed to the run-down establishment.

Kitty tried to tug on her restrains, but it hurt way too much on her already injured wrists. While watching for Caleb’s return, she attempted to kick at the horn, hoping to alert someone to her plight in this desolate-looking place. As her foot beat on the center of the steering wheel nothing happened. She saw Caleb returning at a hurried pace. She managed to get her feet down before he got back into the car.

He eyed her for a moment after he started it and then drove to the very far end of the nearly deserted motel.

“Come on, I need some sleep and so do you,” he said. After he undid her cuffs, he led her into the room in front of where he’d parked the car.

“Lay down, Kitty. I’m sorry I have to do this, but if you run now there’s still a chance they can get to you.” He pulled both sets of handcuffs from his coat pocket. She did as he told her after she took her coat and boots off. He very carefully cuffed her to the bedposts.

“Caleb, I’m hungry,” she said as he pulled a long scarf from his other pocket.

“You can eat soon. I need a shower first, and so do you.” He slipped the gag into her mouth. “Be quiet. I’m just going to get our stuff out of the trunk,” he told her and then left, returning after only a few moments with three suitcases and a large duffle bag.

She intently watched him as he pulled what looked like a prepaid cell phone from a bag and dialed a number.

“Yeah, we’re here… Yeah, I know… Yeah, no problems yet.” He listened for a few long moments. Kitty caught only his side of the conversation. “Bring a pizza.” He turned and looked at her “The works, and cola okay with you, Kitty?”

She nodded and stared at him. Caleb was up to something and she had a feeling he wasn’t planning on letting her go anytime soon. For some reason, although she was afraid, she didn’t think it was Caleb who caused the feeling. Some part of her knew he wouldn’t harm her, that he was trying to protect her, and it made her feel oddly good inside.

She lay there watching him remove a pair of boxers, jeans, gray t-shirt and socks from one of the suitcases along with a toiletry bag. He’d had this all planned out. The phone and clothing were in the car he’d traded the truck for.

“I’m going to go take a shower, and when I’m done, I’ll let you have one,” he said as he checked to make sure she was securely fastened to the bed by her wrists and ankles.

He’d left the bathroom door ajar, and she happened to see him in the mirror, peeling his shirt off. She seemed compelled to watch him.
God, why does he have to be so utterly handsome
? Her eyes were heavy from not having slept in almost twenty-four hours, and as the steady drone of the shower echoed out of the bathroom, they closed for what felt like only a moment.

They shot open as someone touched her face, and she stared into Caleb’s gray eyes as he ran a finger over her cheek. Kitty blinked. There was a scar over his right eye. Strange, she thought, she hadn’t noticed it before. The sound of the shower running also confused her, but it was soon forgotten as Caleb pulled the gag from her mouth. His thumb tenderly ran over her bottom lip, and he slowly leaned down, his face getting closer.
Oh, my god, he’s going to kiss me
. She trembled in excitement. Her heart pounded in her ears. His lips were so close she felt his heated breath on her face.

“Kaiden!” she heard the deep bass voice growl from the bathroom doorway. She stared at Caleb and then back at his mirror image leaning over her.

Chapter Eight

Looking at her as Caleb untied her, he knew she was perfect. The small delicate woman had him yearning to kiss every inch of her body. There were no words that could explain his instant attraction, and there was no doubt Caleb had felt it too. The way he watched her, he could tell his little brother was falling fast and hard for this tiny woman. She was the one, and his heart did all kinds of strange things as he looked at her. It wasn’t something he was used to.

As Kitty walked into the bathroom to take a shower, Kaiden waited until he heard the water turn on before he turned his attention on his brother.

“So, does she know?” he asked.

“No. I don’t know how to tell her,” Caleb replied, looking a bit concerned.

“Straight out would be the best way.” Kaiden snorted. It was how he liked to do things, but Caleb wasn’t like him.

“Yeah, that will go over well. I can imagine she’ll jump all over the idea of not just being turned into a giant furry beast and being mated to not one but two even bigger furry beasts,” Caleb shot back.

Kaiden raised his gaze. He could tell Caleb was nervous about this. He had every right to be too. If Kitty didn’t succumb and die from the infection of the bite she’d be one of them, but that didn’t mean she’d accept them. When he first came in and saw her tied to the bed, he smelled her—rich, delicious and so very tantalizing. As he tried to kiss her, he’d also smelled her want and need. She’d already developed feelings for Caleb, whom she’d mistaken him for.

Feelings didn’t have to be there. Mating was a primal thing, but if Kitty was already developing a bond with his brother, it would make it a bit easier on all three of them. Kaiden wasn’t sure if she’d like the idea of him having a claim on her as well. But the need would become unbearable for them both until they mated after she was turned.