Page 51

It wasn’t what I expected. I guess I’d not had a lot of experience with underground bunker or prisons, so I didn’t have much to compare it with.

While I knew the guys were aching, it was all business when we pulled up.

The guy in the front got out first, checking out the area.

Not sure why. It was flat and dusty and empty here, a large fence running around the compound.

There was only one other car there, and a hole in the ground.

That wasn’t totally accurate. When we piled out, I could see concrete steps leading down into the bunker, and a large, reinforced steel door blocking the entrance. Kelly stood leaning against the other car, waving a hand when we walked over to the compound.

The men Aaron brought with him went first, guns held with a casual competence. One walked up to a scanner in the side of the stairwell, and upon inspection, the door clicked open. Finn took my hand as we walked inside.

It was all grey cinder blocks and steel reinforcement down here.

There was a small waiting area with bench seats bolted to the wall and a reception desk, cordoned off by metal screens.

One of the men walked up and pressed a button.

Another man arrived, stopping when he saw us, nostrils working, before schooling his face into a neutral expression. “So, we’re going through with this?”

“She says she needs it, to get over what happened,” Aaron said.

“Well, you’ve got the clearance. Steer away from the mess room. We couldn’t find enough married guys to cover everything, and some of those that are...well, they’re questioning their vows right now. She’s a bomb waiting to go off, and so’s he. Get her in, and get her out.”

“Got it.”

The metal door swung open and we walked in, moving down a long hallway until we reached another set of gates, and another.

We continued through, the only thing that changed was the man standing at the doors.

One took an involuntary step towards me, something that had the men’s guns whipping up and a growl coming from Aaron, but he seemed to master himself, moving back to his position.

Then we came to the final door, a huge portal that looked much like an old bank vault door.

The men nodded, and then keyed in the numbers to open it.

“May as well take the fucker’s food in for him while you’re in there,” a big burly guy said, shoving a tray at Finn. “Don’t you worry, love. We’ll keep you safe. Take a look, get your fill, and then you turn around and pretend like this fuck never existed, yeah?”

I found myself agreeing just from the heavy weight of his gaze. Seemingly happy with that, he gestured for us to precede him.

The cells looked a lot like the ones in human prisons that you see on TV, though the bars were much, much thicker. It took me a little while to register him, curled up in a corner as he was. There was no bed, no blankets, just a tap and a small reinforced hole in the ground.

“Well, well, what do we have here?”

The voice sounded rusty, corroded from disuse.

He uncoiled himself, forcing me to look up and up as he stood.

He grinned through the smears of dried blood across his face, through the matted fall of his long black hair.

Those ice blue eyes burned into mine as he slowly inspected every inch of me.

“I knew you’d come. Closer, little queen, closer. ”

I took a step towards the cage before I’d even thought about it, only the hands of Finn and Aaron stopping me from fulfilling his order.

I blinked and frowned, looking down at where their fingers dug into my skin.

When I glanced at Finn, he gritted his teeth, putting everything into keeping me where I was.

I brushed them aside, something that made the black wolf laugh, but stayed put. What was that?

You wear my mark, little queen.

My gaze jerked up, and I met those blue eyes head on, my hand straying automatically to the place where he had bitten me.

“What did you do?”

His teeth were bright against the grime of his skin. He smiled with all the light-heartedness of a child, tossing his snarled mane over his shoulder.

“That’s the question, isn’t it? All I know is,” his hands went to the bars, something that had the soldiers stepping forward, “biting is an intimate thing, y’know. The feel of their flesh in your mouth, swallowing down their blood. I’ll be seeing you, little queen, a whole lot more now.”

The guys started to growl, but I held up a hand.

“How? You’re locked up in a cage. You piss and shit in a hole. You won’t be seeing anyone but these fellas for the rest of your life.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, pushing away from the bars before shivering and turning into his Tirian form, the wolf looking like it was only just contained by the room.

Those red eyes stared into mine for a moment, before bolts of electricity arced out from the roof, walls and floor, forcing the wolf back into his human form.

He lay on the ground, laughing between rasps of breath before rolling to his feet, standing short of the bars again, but now he was in a much better condition.

His skin was now clear, pale as the moon, his hair a long fall of black feathers.

He crossed his arms, smiled down at me with a cruel twist, as my eyes compared the well-muscled form in front of me with the black wolf of my fevered visions.

The men started to curse when his hand went to his dick, but the shouted threats didn’t stop him, and neither did the pulled out tasers.

“Sweet dreams,” he said as the electrical bolts zapped out again, and he fell to the floor.