He jerked back on the fabric. Hard. She choked, falling backwards, hitting the ground with such force that she couldn’t breathe. He rolled onto her, roughly covering her mouth with his hand.
“You aren’t getting away just yet, little girl,” he said, his voice low and menacing. “I’ve worked too hard for this to let you f**k it up. Edgar will keep his mouth shut, he’ll be too scared not to. You’re another story.”
Oh, she was scared all right. She choked back a sob, wishing desperately that she hadn’t taken the appointment. What had she been thinking?
He lay on top of her for several tense seconds as her pulse pounded in her ears. Her chest heaved against his, the hard points of her ni**les flattened against his muscles. Nothing about him gave even an inch of space. She opened her mouth, gasping against his hand for air. She couldn’t get a deep breath.
One small part of her mind registered he wasn’t breathing hard at all. Bastard.
“I’m going to let you up slowly,” he said, whispered in her ear. His breath seemed hot, menacing. “You need to keep your mouth shut. If you don’t, I’ll kill you. If you do exactly what I say, you may have a chance to live. Do you understand?”
She nodded her head, her gaze darting toward the diner. Why didn’t anyone see her? Sure, it was dark and wet, but they were right in the middle of the street. Didn’t they realize she needed help?
“Look at me,” he said. “Convince me that you understand.”
She turned her eyes toward him, getting a good look at the man for the first time. Pale blue eyes met her gaze, so pale they seemed unnatural.
Witch eyes, she thought, shuddering. They bore through her without a trace of warmth, two orbs of ice penetrating her soul.
“Are you going to make any noise?” he asked slowly.
She shook her head as well as she could, meaning it. She had no doubt that he’d kill her if she didn’t obey. Not that he’d enjoy it, she thought. Killing her would be no more than swatting a fly to him. He wouldn’t think twice about it.
“You keep quiet and stay next to me,” he said. “If we run into anyone, you agree with everything I say.”
She nodded, and then he leaned up on one arm. The movement pushed his hips down into her, and to her horror she felt something press against her. That same bulge she’d seen before, only much bigger. He wanted her.
Her startled gaze flew to his face again.
“If you’re good, I’ll keep you around for a while,” he said slowly. “You might have all kinds of uses.”
With that he let her go, pushing himself to his feet and then pulling her up roughly beside him.
He grabbed her upper arm and marched her down the street toward Edgar’s office. As they walked, a van pulled up next to them, and for one shining moment hope filled her heart. Then the door slid open, and a black man with eyes as dead as her captor’s looked at them.
“Who the hell is she?” he asked.
“She’s my new toy,” the man said. “She f**ked up my little visit with Eddie-boy, and now she’s seen too much.”
“Why is she still alive?” the man asked as casually as if they were discussing a sick plant. “Valzar isn’t going to like this.”
“Why do you think she’s still alive? Look at her,” Sean replied, jerking his head in the general direction of her br**sts. “I could use the services of a pro right now, and she’s feeling motivated to stay alive. We’ll work something out.”
The man shrugged, apparently indifferent to her fate.
“So long as she can’t ID us when this is all over,” he said. “Oh, we got Edgar for you. He’s in a dumpster about a block the other direction.”
“Thanks.”
Sean pushed her into the van and hopped up after her. She lurched against the other man, and he pushed her back into a seat. His touch held no kindness.
“Let’s go,” Sean said, thumping the back of the seat before him. The van swerved out into the street, tires squealing across the wet pavement. Sandra sank back into to the seat, wishing with all her might that
Sean and his friends had gotten to Edgar long before she’d ever heard of the ass**le.
Chapter Two
Sean collapsed on the seat next to the hooker. He was exhausted, soaked and had missed out on getting personal revenge against the man he hated more than anyone on earth. He’d waited years for that revenge. It was revenge for his fallen men, too, although they would never know about it. They had died to feed Williams’ greed, along with the hostage they were trying to rescue.
Now he wanted to howl, to punch out with his fists and kill. He forced the feelings back, maintaining his frozen exterior. He had to stay calm, had to escape. Because of her, he’d lost the chance to kill Williams.
He wanted to hate her, but she smelled too good, even wet and muddy. It had been five years, two months, and ten days since he’d touched a woman.
He wanted desperately to touch this one.
His old friend Del sat in the seat next to them, carefully ignoring their guest. His silence spoke volumes.
She was a liability; she could link all of them to Williams. He should have killed her.
Del was right, of course. She was a liability. He really couldn’t afford to let her live, but he’d be damned if he wanted to kill her just yet. Or at all, really. A pro like her would understand, they would come to an arrangement, he told himself. Hell, she might like South America. He sure did.
He reached between his legs, adjusting his pants to a more comfortable position. His c**k throbbed. He could almost feel her squirming beneath him on the ground, feel her soft br**sts pushing against his chest as she gasped for air. Her belly had given way to him so easily, and he knew instinctively that her legs would have cradled him to perfection. She was a whore—she knew how to touch a man in all the right places. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her.
She shivered beside him. Probably cold, he thought, and scared. Sean wrapped one arm around her shoulder, pulling her stiff body against his. She didn’t want to be touched—he could feel the fear radiating from her. But she was so soft and small next to him, like a little rabbit. He wanted to squeeze her. Sean lifted her onto his lap, pulling her head to his chest.
“We’ll work something out,” he repeated softly, trying to calm her fears.
Beside him Del gave a snort of disgust.
“You can sit up front if you like,” Sean said, giving Del a pointed look. Del shook his head slowly, but leveraged his large frame up. He stood, bracing himself against the seatbacks as he moved forward and dropped down into the broad passenger-side chair.