Assassin Territory [Assassins Book 1] Read online

  “I was going to stop you, but hey, I thought, why should I bother? You’d just struggle, and we both would’ve gotten all tired out. This way only you’re tired. All I need to do now is retie your hands to the head of the bed.”

  Rick strolled lazily toward her, a predatory walk. She began to tremble. Her eyes flashed to the posts on either side of the large bed, then the matching posts at the bottom, and shuddered with her thoughts. She made soft whimpering sounds in the back of her throat.

  Rick’s movements slowed and he spread his arms, hands splayed. “You’re a real skittish little thing, aren’t you? Well, I’ve waited long enough. You don’t need to go fainting on me again, honey; we can go real slow. I got lots of time set aside for you and me. We can get to know each other intimately.”

  Christy could feel the blood drain from her face, and her jaw quivered. His meaning was all too clear and by his tone she could tell how intimately he was about to get to know her. She crept off the bed and stopped only when her back pressed against a cold wooden wall. When realizing she was trapped and cornered, she splayed her hands before her face.

  “Please, don’t kill me. Please don’t beat me.” This man was almost as large as Lando. One blow would kill her.

  “Don’t give me a reason to,” Rick replied with a smile, obviously enjoying her pleading tone. His voice was deep and rough. When he reached her, he gripped her wrists in one of his large hands, placing them up over her head. His powerful body pressed against her, pinning her to the wall.

  “Don’t hurt me,” Christy cried out. Rick’s hand pulled up on her shirt, exposing her breasts.

  Rick ran his hard, calloused hand across one of Christy’s bruised ribs. She cringed. “Did this happen in the crash or did the guy you were with do this?” he asked.

  “The crash,” she whispered. Rick’s hand rose higher. Christy watched his large hand rise with fearful apprehension; she cowered back, terrified he meant to strike her. He didn’t; instead, he massaged one of her high breasts.

  “You’ve been hit by a man before, haven’t you?” Rick inquired.

  “Yes.”

  In a lazy gesture Rick moved his hand to fondle her other breast. He seemed to be thinking. “There are four of us. All of us want a turn with you, or maybe some won’t want to wait until another’s done. Do you understand my meaning? Can you even begin to imagine what we can do to you, the pain we could cause you?” he asked her. He was gazing into her eyes, his one hand alternating at squeezing and kneading her exposed flesh.

  Christy’s tears flowed uninhibited, terror stricken at the thought. Yes, she could imagine. Her eyes squeezed shut. Rick’s large hands weren’t painful. He was caressing her, rubbing his thumb against her nipple.

  “I can keep them off you. I can keep them from beating you and then killing you. But you would owe me,” he declared.

  Christy knew what he was going to say. The thought sickened her, causing her stomach to lurch. One man as opposed to four…. He was the biggest of them. He could make them leave her alone if his offer was serious. But what if he wasn’t? What if he only wanted her cooperation? Did it matter? He was so powerful; she was too helpless to stop him or the others.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  “Maybe if you’re nice to me, treat me right, maybe we could come to an understanding,” he suggested.

  His mouth lowered to capture her lips in a possessive kiss. His hands tightened, becoming more demanding. Christy struggled beneath him. He squeezed one exposed nipple with menace. Christy sobbed and held still. She couldn’t fight him. He was too big, too strong. She went limp in his arms, becoming submissive. The painful grip mercifully eased and Rick chuckled at her acceptance. She leaned heavily against him, whimpering.

  “Do you beg me?” Rick asked, his whispered words were harsh in her ear.

  “Yes.”

  “Say it.” His fingers squeezed her again.

  “I beg you,” Christy muttered into his shoulder.

  “Now that’s better,” he said throatily as he picked her up and headed for the bed. He lay her down and positioned his body over hers. She cried out in pain, shifting beneath him to avoid the pressure. He was crushing her ribs.

  “Relax. You don’t want to be all tied and helpless when the others come in. If I have to leave you all alone for a minute, they might pounce at the opportunity with you lying here so vulnerable.”

  Rick’s hands roamed greedily up and down her body as though trying to feel everywhere at once. His lips fastened on one dusty, rose-colored nipple. His tugging was painful and Christy thrashed beneath him. She cried out to him he was hurting her, pleading for him to stop, but her words and pleas were ignored. Her terror was beginning to overwhelm her again.

  She began to breathe raggedly, knowing whether or not she fainted he was still going to take her; he was becoming more brutal with each passing moment. She didn’t know what to do. It was Chad all over again. She wanted to shut down, she wanted to pretend she was somewhere else. Her fear was again overwhelming. Her brain once more began to slow down its thinking.

  “Stop being a doormat.” Lando’s words stormed into her mind.

  Without realizing what she was doing, one of Christy’s knees smashed up between Rick’s legs. He howled in pain and Christy bit at the hand holding her down, she squirmed out from under him. Fleeing the room, Christy raced, looking for somewhere to hide. But Rick was already after her. She could hear his ragged breathing between the hideous words he was screaming at her.

  Christy ran through a door into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. She climbed on the toilet seat to reach the small window above, struggling to open it, but the windowsill had been painted and was sealed shut. Rick was banging on the door with hard fists, yelling at what he would do to her when he got her.

  Christy looked frantically for something to smash the window with and, finding the plunger, she smashed at the window with the stick end. She cried out in relief as the glass shattered. She hit at the remaining glass, the wood of her weapon crashing onto small jagged edges. Rick threw his shoulder harder and harder at the door. Throwing a thin bath towel down on the windowsill, Christy struggled to climb through. The window was narrow and her slight body squirmed through while being cut with a tiny few remaining fragments of glass.

  She heard an ear shattering crash from behind her as Rick kicked a hard, booted foot at the door. Christy’s body was pulled back through the window with a vicious tug. She screamed, terrified, as Rick held her arms in a powerful grip, tangling around her shirt, and he smashed her against the tiled blue bathroom wall. He grabbed her throat in his hand, lifting her over a good foot up off the floor to his eye level. His face was contorted into a hideous mask of seething rage. His dangerous glare bore into hers.

  Christy’s gaze flew wildly around the room, looking for escape. Her arms helplessly battered at his rock solid chest, only inflicting more pain on herself.

  “Let me go. Leave me alone,” she screamed.

  “Maybe you like it rough,” Rick said with menace. “Honey, I can do rough. I can do it rougher than anyone you’ve ever known.” He dipped his head and his mouth angrily descended on hers, pressing so hurtfully against her teeth that her lip split and she tasted blood. Remembering the taste of her own blood and the fear it stemmed from made Christy slump forward against Rick’s body. Her terror consumed her. She had tried. She had failed. She would now face the consequences.

  Chapter 11

  After finding the overgrown road, Lando followed the vehicle’s tracks to a small cabin. He approached with caution. Though wet and cold, Lando didn’t notice his discomfort; he ignored his physical needs. He had a job to do, a big one. Lando was told he was the best in the business. Now he would find out. Not only did he have four hits to accomplish, he had one life to save. One very important life.

  Lando moved as one with the foliage, the weight of his boots making no sound as he crept closer. He abandoned Sam’s large,
warm jacket. It was a light blue. His own, lighter coat was dark brown, offering a better camouflage. He remained undetected as he pressed to a large tree.

  “What the hell is taking Rick so long?” Lando heard a man complain.

  “He’s inside screwing with a beautiful woman, moron. What the hell do you think is taking him so long? I don’t think he needs advice as to what goes where,” another man scoffed, giving him a scathing look.

  Lando controlled the sudden rage that flared in his chest. He quashed it. Anger, emotion, would only get him killed. Though his heart pounded a staccato in his chest and his hands fisted, Lando moved with silent stealth. A smallish looking, slight man was off to the side, gutting the body of a very young Kodiak cub. Lando realized this was the man who had knocked him out from behind.

  Payback time, he thought with gruesome happiness. Creeping closer, Lando’s hands shot out, grasping with brutality at the man’s torso while placing a large hand over his mouth. Lando dragged him back into the bush, with ease lifting him off the ground. Alone, this man was no match for Lando’s strength. Pushing him to the ground, he held the smaller man, pinning his wrists down cruelly with his knees while resting his weight on his chest. With a brutal hand on his mouth and one gripping a handful of hair Lando leaned closely.

  “I can tie you and gag you and then give you a more torturous death than you could ever imagine even in your worst nightmares, or, I will show you some mercy if you answer my questions,” Lando said with furious intensity into the man’s terrified face. He felt great satisfaction as the man’s eyes began to tear. One slipped from the corner of his eye to drop to the forest floor. He nodded as best as he could with his mouth and head held so firmly.

  “Is the woman alive? Whimper once for yes, twice for no,” Lando demanded.

  The man whimpered once. Again, Lando’s emotions swarmed, this time with relief, yet he refused to acknowledge it.

  “Are there four of you?”

  Again, the man whimpered once. Lando held his head poised; ready to snap his neck, he hesitated. His gaze once again shuttered into the mask he wore when he became death, his gaze foreboding intensity settled onto his helpless victim. He could see his image reflected back in the man’s dark eyes. He could tell the man understood his intent; he began to whimper uncontrollably up at him, his body began to shake.

  “You said you used to kill.” Christy’s pained voice sounded in his ears, giving him pause.

  “Did you hurt her or rape her?” Lando menacingly asked of him.

  The man’s eyes widened, sensing a hint of leniency. He whimpered once and tried to shake his head, imploring Lando to believe him, sobbing uncontrollably. Lando did believe him. He found when gripped in the throes of terror, a great many were unable to or incapable of a lie. He would, he decided graciously, grant him mercy, though he wanted to return the favor. Lando was surprised the men hadn’t searched him before dumping him. Reaching behind his back, Lando removed his gun and smashed it into the man’s head, rendering him senseless.

  Ripping strips from the man’s shirt, Lando tied and gagged him. The sudden shattering of glass and a terrified scream from a window captured his attention. He heard Rick’s furious voice, as well as Christy’s terrified cries as Rick snarled threats at her.

  “What the hell?” one of the men declared, as Christy’s body was jerked back through the broken open window.

  Lando resisted the urge to call to her. There were two more men outside to deal with, though he sensed the urgency of his need to move faster. The man who had Christy was obviously enraged. Lando was dumbfounded at what the helpless, tiny little thing could have done to him. She was completely defenseless and vulnerable against the power of a man.

  “Damn. I bet he won’t leave any for us if he’s pissed,” one of the men complained.

  “Maybe we better go take a look. He sounds mad enough to kill,” his partner said.

  No longer opting for caution, Lando appeared before the two other men. Surprise was now on his side. After a flying kick to his rounded gut, one of the men took flight into the side of the cabin. He crashed heavily against the wall with a hard thunk as his head collided with wood; he slumped down to rest on his ass.

  The other man, seeing Lando’s murderous look, tried to retreat, Lando tackled him before he’d gone two feet, and once again using his gun, he smashed it down onto the man’s temple. The man remained quiet, a trickle of blood oozing from a cut.

  Rising, Lando grabbed the man’s arm and dragged him to his friend’s side. Using one of the standing cabin beams, Lando lashed their wrists, with one of the men’s belts. As one of the men began to stir Lando gave him a hard kick to his face. He couldn’t risk someone sneaking up on him.

  Besides, I’m still pissed.

  He then turned and ventured into the cabin. Urgency consumed him, though he needed to be cautious. The other man had Christy. He couldn’t place her into a position that this Rick character could use to his advantage. If he were to put a knife to Christy’s throat, they would both be doomed.

  * * * *

  Rick threw Christy’s limp form over his shoulder, knowing she had succumbed to her terror of him. Entering his room, he dumped her unceremoniously onto his bed. She was about to learn a very in-depth lesson on who was boss. She would learn what it was to be completely submissive. She was about to learn that lesson now.

  Taking one large, fisted hand, he grabbed the front of her shirt and ripped it off. He grabbed her wrists and tied them together so tight her hands began to turn red. He yanked her hands to one of the posts on the bed, stretching her arms up in a way he knew would be excruciating. Then climbing onto her slight form, he placed a great deal of weight on her tiny waist and slapped her across the face, hard. Christy moaned and woke. Rick made certain his face was as close to hers as he could get when she ventured to open her eyes.

  “No, don’t,” she cried up at him, seeing his raised hand poised to strike. Her eyes tearing, she screamed when he sat back and slapped her face. With satisfaction he saw the red marks his fingers left on her cheeks.

  “You want it rough?” he raged into her face. He grabbed at her breasts, his hands squeezing. Christy cried out. She pulled at her tied wrists.

  “No, no, please,” she sobbed.

  Rick grabbed at her pants. Not bothering with the zipper, he pulled them off. Christy tried to shift beneath him, to clamp her legs together. Rick was too strong to allow it. Her panties were torn next and she lay before him, exposed and vulnerable. Christy sobbed uncontrollably, begging him not to hurt her, pleading desperately with him not to break her bones. Rick was enjoying her whimpered pleas for mercy. He showed her none.

  “Let’s see how rough we can make it.”

  “Stop. Don’t hurt me anymore.”

  Rick’s entire body covered hers, pressing her down into the mattress. One brutal hand gripped her bound wrists in a crushing grip. His tongue delved into her mouth, to the point of choking her.

  Pressing one knee high up between her legs, Rick soon had Christy’s thighs apart. A large finger thrust eagerly into her, repeatedly, while he voiced malicious, harsh words telling her of what was to come, what he was going to do to her, what he would let the others do to her until he felt satisfied she was submissive.

  Christy screamed in terror when he undid his zipper, and positioned himself, seeking entry. The sudden force of the blow smashing into his side and shoulder almost sent Christy off the bed with Rick, the rope ripping at her wrists and jerking her from his grasp.

  “Lando.”

  The man, Lando crashed into Rick. An enraged bellow came next and the force of the collision sent both men flying off the bed, crashing through the sliding glass doors and out onto the porch.

  * * * *

  Both men hit the wood porch amidst the glass, then each was up and swinging with a vengeance in a matter of seconds. Lando’s fist connected with Rick’s jaw. Rick countered with a blow to Lando’s belly. Hard-fisted, powerful punches we
re thrown with brutal intensity as each man strove for dominance.

  Lando leaped into the air spinning and, turning sharply, sent a hard-booted heel into Rick’s face, propelling him backwards off the porch and onto the forest floor, blood flying. Landing hard on his shoulders and back, Rick flipped over, then jumped to his feet, and running, slammed his body into Lando’s midriff, picking him up off the ground sending them once more through the broken glass, back into the bedroom. Both men hit the floor hard.

  They rose to their full height, facing each other. With an evil glance in Christy’s helpless direction, Rick pulled a long knife. Resolved, Lando pulled his gun. He couldn’t take the chance of Christy being hurt if he were to be killed. He was about to break his promise. This man would die.

  The gun flew from Lando’s hand as the door was slammed open from behind him, connecting with his back; he careened sideways, almost ending up atop the bed with Christy. Christy screamed in terror as a large, enraged Kodiak barreled into Rick’s surprised form. It seemed the poachers hadn’t left the mother for dead before killing and taking her cub. They planned on returning for her carcass, but ran into Christy and Lando.

  The mighty bear painfully followed their scent and had come seeking her young. Only to discover its slaughtered body. Rick screamed as the bear tore into his battered body. Her jaws clamped over his throat as he was knocked to the ground. His howls ceased abruptly to sickening gurgles. Lando pulled his knife out and cut Christy’s hands free. He threw her unclad body over his shoulder and raced frantically from the room, slamming the door closed behind him. Once outside, Lando tossed her into the jeep.

  “Fuck.” He slammed his balled fist onto the wheel. “I need the keys,” he said to Christy, and vaulted from the vehicle before she could scream out a protest.

  Lando approached the two men he rendered unconscious. From their bloody, ripped clothing he could see mama bear had been more pissed than he was. Neither man held the keys. Lando raced for the first man he took out. The guy hadn’t been spared from the vicious wrath of the huge bear. Lando riffled through his bloody pockets and found the keys.