He smiled softly, approvingly, then disappeared from sight as a tear fell from her eye.

* * * * *

Callan could smell them despite the camouflaging scent they stupidly thought would mask their presence from him. There was no way to hide the stink of sweat and the desire to kill. They were good, he gave them that. Had it not been for the smell, he would have never known they were there before he heard the shuffle of feet. And that would have been masked by his own rush through the corridor. The men sent after him were well trained and determined. A hazard.

Taber and Tanner were still on the other side of the caves ensuring Sherra and Doc Martin’s escape. There would be no help there. Only God knew where Dayan was. As usual, he had disappeared when trouble came calling. There were three of the soldiers waiting for him in the small cave where the corridor emptied out. The good thing was that they seemed to think they would hear him in time to react. They weren’t hidden, rather in plain sight.

Callan slid a hunting knife from the sheath at his thigh, palmed it carefully, then stepped into view. The weapon went flying into the shoulder of the man whose weapon came up first. He dropped to the ground as Callan turned his gun on the other two, another knife whipping from sheath to hand and flying to the arm of another.

“I don’t want to kill you bastards, but I will,” he announced softly, his gun trained on the injured, more than surprised soldiers. He looked to the last one left standing, watching coldly as the man held his hands carefully at shoulder height.

“We’re not here to kill you, Lyons. We just want the girl.” The surprising statement had Callan growling low, dangerous.

“Why would you want the girl?” he asked him softly.

The soldier shrugged. “Council orders. They didn’t give a shit about you on this one.”

Could the Council know? How could they have known unless Kane had relayed the call to them?

“Throw me the restraints.” Callan indicated the plastic ties the soldier carried in his belt. He moved carefully. Callan saw the bunch of his muscles, the intent in his eyes. He pulled the last knife, aiming it as the soldier stilled.

“The next bastard who tries gets it in the heart,” he warned them. “Now do as I said, real damn careful.”

The restraints landed at his feet. He threw two back to the standing soldier.

“Take care of your buddies.” He watched impassively as the ties were placed over the soldiers’ wrists then jerked tight, but not tight enough to restrict blood flow. “Sit down. Hands behind your back.” Callan waved the gun at him, indicating the floor.

They sighed and did as he ordered.

“Why do they want the girl?” He repeated the question as he restrained the soldier, then placed the straps on the feet of all three men. “And answer me this time or you’ll shed blood, too.”

He could hear the gnash of teeth. They had been taken out efficiently, easily. It wouldn’t look good on their records.

“All I have are the orders.” The soldier shrugged, his weather beaten face resigned. “We don’t know why they want her. Just that she’s your woman, and they now consider her Council property.”

Rage burned in Callan’s stomach. Council property. Disposable merchandise. If they knew Merinus was his woman then her life was in more danger than his was at the moment. He moved around the men, pulling lethal knives from hidden sheaths and boot straps. Little daggers came from under shirt collars and shoved in sheaths beneath shirtsleeves. There were a million places to hide a weapon and he could only hope he found those the soldiers carried.

“When did the order go through?” Callan asked him, his voice hard.

“Late last night. We were rushed in on a Council jet and brought here.”

“Where were you rushed from?”

The soldiers grunted. “Now, Callan, you know better than that shit.”

They wouldn’t tell, they never did.

“You made a mistake.”

“Naw, you did when you killed the last team,” the soldier told him quietly. “They reported your rescue of the girl, when they showed up dead, you proved she was more than just a nosy journalist. You should have known better, man.”

Callan took a deep breath. He didn’t know this soldier, but he was like all those he had known. They knew what he was, who created him. They knew the main goal was capture, but the Council would accept his death if there was no other way. And now, they knew about Merinus.

“Tell the Council and your buddies, playtime is over,” Callan told him quietly as he moved back to the corridor entrance. “I won’t be playing anymore. I’ll be killing.”

He paused, listening carefully. He could smell Merinus’ fear, and the beginning lust in her body. Damn, he wasn’t moving fast enough. He had to get her to safety, fast.

“Merinus,” he called out to her softly.

She rushed to him, her hands reaching out to the broad palm he extended to her. He wrapped his arm around her, watching the soldier carefully. The man’s eyes went immediately to the mark on Merinus’

neck.

“Shit, you mated her.” The soldier shook his head as he watched Callan wrap his arm around her body, censure lining his voice. “You may as well kill her now, man. She’ll never survive the tests those bastards force on her when they catch her.”

Callan felt Merinus jerk in fear.

“Shh, say nothing,” he warned her, his breath at her ear. “Let’s get out of here.”

He moved her through the cavern, careful to skirt around the soldiers. They were well trained and still more than dangerous, even restrained. If they got their hands on Merinus, they could easily use her to force his compliance in any area and he knew it.

Dawn was barely peeking over the ridge as he moved her through the forest. The soft chirps of morning, the sounds of animals awakening, feeding, moving about freely assured him that the danger had yet to stalk them too close. He had to get her out of the area and to the jeep he kept carefully hidden. Even the others had no idea of some of the safeguards he had in place. That jeep, carefully hidden and packed for emergencies, would get them far enough away for him to ensure Merinus’ safety and to pay her brother back for his betrayal of her.

He had to get her to one of the safe houses though. Already her body was heating, needing his, just as he was beginning to need her. Even in the danger of the moment, he could feel his need for her pulsing in his blood.

“How did they know about the mating?” she questioned him as they moved through the thick growth of forest, following what appeared to be little more than an animal trail.

“My ignorance,” he bit out. His mistakes were going to end up costing him the life of the woman who was beginning to mean everything to him.

“You didn’t do anything,” she argued breathlessly, but she still kept up with his fast pace. He had to get her as far from the damned cavern as possible before those soldiers got free and managed to call their buddies.

“The mark on your neck, the fact that I touched you. Pulled you into my arms,” he bit out. “I rarely touch, and only during the actual fuck do I embrace a woman. They know this. The soldiers know everything about my DNA, my training, my habits. I gave us away.”

He was filled with self-disgust and impotent anger. He had made his first mistake in killing the soldiers. He had never gone searching for them, and only killed when given no other choice. He should have known the bastards had reported Merinus and her probing questions to the Council. He should have thought, dammit, rather than letting fury guide his actions. The animalistic urge to protect and shelter, to retaliate against any danger to his woman had rode him hard, even then. It was getting worse. It had been all he could do to keep from killing those men in the cave. Only his knowledge of Merinus’ reaction to it had swayed him from doing it. Her emotional connection to him wouldn’t have survived the bloodshed.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Sherra stood silently in the shadows of the motel, watching carefully, her eyes narrowed as the nine men parted company and went to their respective rooms. They were furious, but one was coldly dangerous. She had watched them at the airport after dropping Doc off at the safe house, then followed them to Sandy Hook and watched as they checked in.

Kane didn’t remind her of Merinus in any way. He was darker haired, the color nearly black, with intense, cold blue eyes. His strong jaw and high cheekbones gave a hint to Native American ancestry, his hard, graceful body hinted at extensive military training. She knew the look, the way a killer moved. She had grown up among them, been raped by them more than once. But this one, she knew personally. This man had brought her pleasure. Despite her pleas, despite her wishes to the contrary, he had taken her beneath the unfeeling eye of a camera, riding her from one climax to the next, his lust fueled by hers, and hers by his touch.

Had it only been seven years ago? Sweet heaven, that night tormented her, even now, as though it had happened only yesterday. The dark soldier who had sworn to help her, to rescue her. He had come to her, holding freedom in one hand, her heart in the other, and spent the night teaching her the pleasures of her woman’s body. When he left, he never returned. But the doctors had. With the video, snickering, jeering at the things Kane Tyler had done to her, that she had done to him, all in the name of science. Rape had not impregnated her. They had wondered if pleasure would. Her hands clenched into fists of rage as he lingered outside his room, lazily finishing a cigarette he had lit moments earlier. She wanted to kill him now. She had sworn she would kill him if she ever found him again. Sworn she would see to it that he paid for every moment of pain she suffered all those years ago. She had sworn he would pay for lying to her, and for doing it so easily without her knowledge. He had betrayed her, just as he had betrayed his sister.

His expression hardened when the last door finally closed and he was left alone with her.

“Where’s Merinus?” His voice was savage, pulsating with a fury that sent a fission of unease down her body. “And why the fuck weren’t we met at the airport as promised.”

“I have a better question,” she said from the safety of the shadows. “Why would a brother betray a sister he swears to love on the eve of promised help?”

He turned around slowly, casually, until he was facing her. She saw hard purpose in his face, and surprise.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“A full team of soldiers swept over Callan’s house. A dozen men. All I know for sure is that they didn’t get him or Merinus. But I know they want her. They know about her.”

“Know what, for God’s sake?” He raked his fingers through his hair, his voice quiet but rough with fury.

“Why the hell would they attack now?”

“They know your sister has mated with Callan,” she told him carefully. “Just as you knew.”

Or had he? She watched his face pale alarmingly, his blue eyes widening.

“That bastard touched her?” he bit out.

“No,” she drawled mockingly. “He mated with her. Surely you remember the concept? And now the Council no longer cares if they take him alive or dead. They want the woman and any child she carries. But you already knew that, didn’t you, Mr. Tyler? Why else would they attack mere hours after talking to you?”

He shook his head slowly.

“I never betrayed my sister. I wouldn’t.” His voice sent a chill over her spine. Sherra frowned.

“I came to kill you, Kane Tyler,” she said carefully.

He didn’t seem surprised now. His mouth edged with mockery.

“Perhaps you could delay that little attempt long enough for me to save my sister’s ass,” he bit out.

“What the hell is this mating shit?”

“Later,” she bit out. “Now is not the time for explanations. Now is the time for you to tell me how the Council learned of the mating, if Merinus didn’t tell you of it.”