Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) (32 page)

Uh-oh. Niko wasn’t supposed to find her so quickly. He must have driven like a bat out of hell to catch up to her. Without looking back, she broke into a run again.

Only to be pulled to a stop by a hand on her arm. She tried to twist free, but instead found herself in an arm lock. She shot a murderous glare over her shoulder and her jaw dropped.

Rafe was her captor. Not Niko.

He turned her around and propelled her down the street. Up ahead the driver of the car was in shadow, but she could feel Niko’s rage roiling out of the vehicle.

She dragged her feet, making Rafe work to move her. She scanned the rest of the street. A few people were shooting curious glances their way, but no one seemed alarmed. If she screamed and fought, would people help her?

“Don’t do it, Jenna,” Rafe warned. “Niko’s on the edge as it is.”

“Ten seconds, Jenna,” Niko growled. “Get in the fucking car or Rafe is going to knock you out.”

Rafe met her eyes and nodded. Gone was the light-hearted, teasing man she’d spent yesterday afternoon with. His expression now only reflected anger and a hint of disapproval.

What did Rafe have to be angry about? She hadn’t betrayed him when she’d left. Only Niko.

She told herself to call Niko’s bluff and fight. She didn’t believe Rafe would really hurt her and that would give her an advantage in getting away. But before she could convince herself to act, she found herself shoved into the backseat. Rafe climbed in beside her and the instant the door closed, Niko slammed his foot on the accelerator.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the cold touch of plastic around her right wrist snagged her attention.

Dammit! Rafe had joined his wrist to hers with flexicuffs. Her gaze flew to the rearview mirror. “Hey!”

Niko stared back at her, his dark eyes frigid. “Sorry,
querida
. I’ve learned my lesson. You can’t be trusted to look after your own safety. So I will damn well keep you a prisoner until this is all over.”

Once again she opened her mouth to speak.

“Not. One. Word.” Niko warned.

Rafe’s hand squeezed hers. She raised her eyebrow at him and he shook his head slightly.

Fine. She’d wait until they were alone to ream Niko. He wasn’t the only one in a temper.

Chapter 25

Later that evening, Niko stormed into their rented bungalow, startling both Rafe and Jenna to their feet. He stalked past them without a second glance, heading toward his bedroom.

He’d been so mad at Jenna earlier, he’d dropped her and Rafe off and driven away. Might as well have saved his time. He was so fucking frustrated he wanted to hit something. The only thing that had gone right today was that he’d put word out he’d lost Jenna. People would be looking for her, but not with Niko.

He’d also sent a message to Alvarez. Offering to trade himself for Aunt Madalena. Which was what Alvarez had been after all along. Jenna was just icing.

Everything else had gone to shit. His contact inside Alvarez’s was gone. The cook’s assistant had grabbed his family and fled after today’s shift was over. Which was just fucking great. He’d been counting on the old man letting him into the fortress. It would take time he didn’t have to find another person willing to turn on Alvarez.

So Niko had driven out to the jungle surrounding the fortress for a bit of surveillance. The place had been well guarded before, but now…

Niko shook his head as he pushed open the door to his room. He had a plan for getting them inside. But unless Rafe’s Ranger buddies showed up, nothing short of a miracle was getting him, Aunt Madalena, and Paterson out of the fortress alive.

Niko tore off his shirt and fired it at the chair in the corner. He needed to burn off some energy. A long run on the beach, followed by a swim, sounded about right. He didn’t care how damn dark it was outside.

His fingers were at the button to his pants when someone cleared their throat.

He spun around and met Jenna’s worried eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

As if she didn’t know? “I’ve got nothing to say to you tonight. Get out.” He undid his pants and let them fall, leaving him standing there in only his shorts.

Jenna didn’t move, but her eyes flicked down his body before she jerked them back up to his face. A dark, vicious anticipation swirled through him. “I’m warning you, Jenna. You do
not
want to mess with me tonight. Turn around and walk out that door. Because if you’re still here when I lose my shorts, I’m going to assume you don’t want to talk, either. And I’m going to be all over you.”

Her eyes flared. She took a tiny step back. But then she stopped.

Niko dropped his boxers.

Jenna licked her lips.

That was all it took. He lunged at her, yanking her roughly against him as he dove into her mouth. Her hands fisted in his hair, pulling him closer.

Oh yeah, that was what he wanted. More parts of him touching her. He backed her up until she was pressed against the wall. Now he could move deeper into her mouth, drown in the honeyed taste of her. His hands pinned hers beside her head, just so he could feel himself along the length of her from finger to ankle.

It wasn’t enough.

Jenna bit his tongue, and only then did he realize she was struggling to get free.

Shit.

He jumped back and opened his mouth to apologize.

But Jenna’s fingers tore at her clothes. “I’m overdressed,” she muttered. She ripped free her shirt and tossed it over his shoulder, leaving her in a lacy yellow bra.

His mouth was too dry to talk. His brain shorted out, ideas shooting out of it like sparks, flaring and dying before achieving anything of substance. He wanted to press his mouth against every inch of her satiny skin. No. He wanted to run his fingers under the edge of her bra. No. He…

Jenna pushed both pants and panties to the floor, then unhooked the clasp of her bra.

Wait. He’d wanted to do that. But before he could voice a complaint, Jenna was reaching for him, drawing him up against her naked body and raising her leg to trap him around the thigh.

He was lost. Driven by an urgency undercut with fear. He never wanted to let her go, yet in order to keep her safe he needed to send her away.

There was a fissure splitting his heart. The only way to avoid the pain was to overload his senses with Jenna. With her fast whimpers of need that matched the rhythm of her nails clawing into his back and releasing, clawing and releasing.

He filled himself with the hot, sweet smell of her. Let his mouth explore her skin, searching out all the sensitive places that made her gasp, and all the tasty places that made him want to take a bite out of her.

At some point he picked her up and carried her to the bed, never losing contact with her mouth. Because if he lost contact with her…

God. He’d be lost without her.

His kisses turned desperate. He batted aside Jenna’s hands as she tried to wrest control from him. He pushed her to her peak and over. Once. Twice. Making her scream his name. Making her beg for relief. Making her beg for more.

“Niko, please! Inside me. Now.” Jenna squirmed underneath him, trying to position herself so he’d have to enter her.

Hell, no. He intended to keep up this sweet torture until he was burned so deeply into her soul, she’d never be free of him. But then her teeth closed over his earlobe, and he snapped.

His vision went hazy. He thrust into her, trying to meld them into one. Jenna’s arms pulled him down and her mouth attacked him.

As the finish line sprinted toward him, his soul took up a chant, matching the tempo of his body.
Mine. Don’t leave me. Mine. Don’t leave me!

And suddenly he was there. A supernova exploding. He hollered Jenna’s name. Heard it mingle with her cry of “Niko!” and echo off the walls.

He collapsed like a puppet with all its strings cut.

Jenna pushed slightly at him, and he realized he was crushing her. Even as he rolled onto his side and cuddled her against him, as he slipped into sleep, he was afraid what they’d just done wasn’t enough to bind her to him.

And he wanted to howl.

#

Jenna roused to the sound of a knock at the bedroom door. The bed shifted next to her as Niko got up to answer it. “Tell Rafe to go away,” she mumbled sleepily. Niko had made love to her twice more tonight, the final time with such gentleness she’d teared up. Now all she wanted to do was lie in bed snuggled next to Niko. Pretend the world didn’t exist.

Niko pulled on his pants.

“Where are you going?” Oh geesh, she sounded way too shrewish. Like she was angry he hadn’t asked her permission to go, instead of being afraid that something bad had happened.

“Just into the other room to talk to Rafe. Go back to sleep,
querida
.”

Not without him. She wanted more time to get to know him. More time to explore the passion between them. If he wouldn’t stay in bed, then she wanted to be near him. Their time together was slipping away and she needed to grab as many memories as she could.

Jenna rolled off the bed. She didn’t even bother looking for her discarded clothes. Instead, she grabbed Niko’s shirt. She was still buttoning it as she followed Niko into the sitting room.

He turned, scowling at her when he realized she wasn’t fully dressed. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Please. Put some clothes on.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. It felt good to act childishly. And she liked seeing amusement light Niko’s face. Still, she turned around and walked back into the bedroom.

While she dressed, she told herself she should be thankful Niko trusted her to be alone. He hadn’t spoken a word after he’d found her and told her to shut up. He’d just driven grimly to this bungalow, held a quick conversation with Rafe in that language she now knew was Greek, then driven off without so much as glancing her way.

All afternoon Rafe had never been more than a few feet away from her, although he’d released her from the flexicuffs shortly after their arrival. He’d even insisted she keep the door open while using the toilet. At the time she’d been furious, but now she smiled. Rafe had turned an interesting shade of red during her two bathroom breaks, and she’d taken petty pleasure in his discomfort.

When she reentered the sitting room wearing a sweatshirt and loose pants, Niko’s eyes warmed with appreciation. Her pulse skittered.

Feeling self-conscious, she looked pointedly at Rafe. Niko’s expression shuttered, turning him into the grim man from yesterday and Jenna bit back a sigh of regret.

“So, Bro. We finally gonna get down to business?” Rafe asked. “Night’s not getting any younger.”

Just like that, Jenna’s heart slammed back to earth. “What’s going on?”

Rafe raised his eyebrows and looked at Niko.

Niko gestured to the sofa and Jenna sat. But even though she wanted Niko to sit beside her, he took the adjoining armchair.

Ouch. Guess they were back to all business.

“Before we talk about Rafe’s news, tell me why you ran,” Niko said.

She froze, trapped by the demand in Niko’s eyes.
Because Kai ordered my family killed and vengeance must be served,
her heart screamed.
Because I hate him.

Because I’m going to kill him and I don’t want you to see me do this. I want your memories of me to be positive. And because I don’t plan on living past that moment.

Niko’s eyes narrowed. For a single panicked moment she thought she’d spoken aloud.

She glanced away. Forced her muscles to stop betraying her with their tension and relax. Then slammed her eyelids shut when she realized Rafe was looking at her like he suddenly found her puzzling.

“Jenna?” Niko prompted.

She sighed, and gave him the only part of the truth she could. “I ran because I saw the photos of your aunt and freaked out. I…know that kind of pain and degradation…” She shrugged like she was just being silly, but the tremor in her voice gave her away. The thought of Alvarez inflicting such pain on Niko’s aunt still made the room spin and Jenna’s stomach curdle. “How could I not surrender, if it would give your aunt freedom?”

“Do you really think Alvarez is just going to let my aunt go?” Niko asked.

She shrugged again. Yeah, it had occurred to her that Alvarez wasn’t the type to honor promises.
After
she’d been on the bus. “I had to try. Because I couldn’t live with the what-if.”

Niko crossed his arms over his chest. “Why didn’t you trust us to come up with a solution to free both my aunt and your brother from Alvarez, without sacrificing you?”

She swallowed nervously.
Because I want to be sacrificed. Once I’ve killed Kai, I have nothing left to live for.
But after her time in Niko’s arms, that didn’t seem quite so true.

Remember the mission,
she reminded herself.

“How many times do I need to tell you? I have to be the one to find Kai,’’ Jenna snapped as she pushed to her feet.

Niko’s eyes probed hers as he rose out of his chair. “I know you can handle yourself in a fight. But…” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “Jenna,” he started. He reached for her hands and traced the scrapes on her palms. Then he raised her fingers to his mouth and placed kisses along her knuckles.

“I don’t want to see you hurt,
querida
.” He raised his injured arm with its bandage stark white against his bronze skin. “I don’t want you stitched up. More importantly, I don’t want you to have to kill.”

“I’m prepared to kill to protect myself,” she said.

Niko shook his head. “It’s not simply a matter of training. It’s a matter of nature. Even if you kill someone in self-defense, it stains you. I want better for you than that. Please, go back to Ryker. Let me bring in your brother for you.”

“No! Kai’s mine.” She forced herself to take a deep breath, even though she wanted to scream at Niko to stop protecting her. She wasn’t worth it. But how could she make him understand without giving herself away?

“Kai’s my brother,” she pleaded. “It’s my responsibility to see he gets the treatment he deserves. Would you give up on Rafe?”