“They are still dead.” He sneered. “And they would have died for touching you alone.”
* * * * *
Callan watched Merinus blink at his statement. He hadn’t meant to reveal that, but the words had come out anyway. He had no intentions of leaving those bastards alive, as he would have normally done. He had been in a killing rage after rescuing Merinus from their hands, intent on destruction. The soldiers had just made it easier for his conscience to bear the weight.
They had touched what was his. He recognized the emotion, the origin of the fury now. They had laid their hands on his woman, put their scent on her. They had crossed a line Callan had never known existed. One that assured their deaths.
It worried him, this attachment he had for her, the violent emotions that swirled in his brain and in his body. He wanted to deny them, not just to her, but to himself. How could he walk away from her if he couldn’t go more than a few hours without touching her?
He watched, fighting to keep his face expressionless as Sherra gave Merinus the injection. He knew Doc wasn’t giving her a normal contraceptive. The injection wasn’t as powerful as the Depo-Provera shots given in a gynecologist’s office. They lasted only days and didn’t affect the system as severely.
“I hate these shots, Sherra.” He could still hear the throb of anger in Merinus’ voice.
“I know,” Sherra soothed her as she pulled the needle free. “We have all the samples we should need for a while. Until there’s a change.”
“There better be a change soon,” Merinus said firmly. “I’m getting sick of this. There are things I need to do.”
She needed to leave. Callan tamped down the instinctive fury he felt at that thought. She wanted to leave here, to put distance between them if he continued to refuse to give in to her demands to return with her, to reveal himself. His teeth clenched. She was so innocent, too damned innocent. There was no way he could be free of the Council as easily as she believed. If it could have been done, then Maria and Doc would have found a way to do so before her death.
“Callan, Doc still needs samples from you,” Sherra informed him, disrupting his thoughts. “Daily. When will you be in the lab?”
Callan shrugged. “Whenever you are ready. Send Dawn up to stay with Merinus.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Merinus retorted, her earlier anger still evident in her voice.
“Too bad,” he told her, unconcerned. “I am not comfortable leaving you alone, so I will ensure you are not alone. Your wishes in this don’t matter.”
He ignored Sherra’s look of surprise, Merinus’ narrowed eyes and flash of stubbornness.
“Geez, Callan, I think all this excess testosterone flooding your system is putting you in overload.” Sherra frowned.
“Testosterone overload?” Merinus gave an unladylike grunt. “More like ass**le overload if you ask me.”
Callan growled low and deep at the defiance in her voice.
“And don’t you go doing that growling thing at me.” She pointed her finger at him commandingly. “I’ve had it with you this morning, Callan. Don’t bother leaving that lair in the basement if you can’t act decent.”
His c**k was throbbing. He could smell her arousal already and he could feel his blood pumping hard and demandingly into his cock. He should throw her across the table and f**k her into a screaming orgasm before leaving her. That would teach her to defy him in such a way. The thought of her, stretched out across the dark wood of the table as he drove inside her was nearly an irresistible vision of lust. She would throw her head back, beg him to ride her harder, deeper. He breathed in deeply.
“Let’s go.” He stalked across the room as he ordered Sherra to follow him. “Another minute in this woman’s company and I will become violent.”
“Or I will,” Merinus muttered, though her voice sounded weaker, more petulant than furious as it had before.
Strange, she had not pouted since he had first set eyes on her, he didn’t expect to hear it coming from
her now. Let her pout, when he returned to her, he would show her who the dominant one was between them. He would make her scream for her release, beg him to throw her into orgasm. And he knew how to do it. The Council had been amazingly thorough in his lessons. Sex could be a weapon as well as a pleasure. A tool to kill, or to cajole, whichever the situation warranted. He would show her that foreplay could be a torture, a lesson in pleasure so incredible it bordered on pain. His c**k jerked at the thought. Damn it, tests first, then he would show his woman who was boss.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
She wasn’t about to wait on him. She was fed up with tests and orders, and the throbbing, heated need that pulsed through her body. All she had to do was get away from him. That was all. The enforced confinement only bred the dependency her body was harboring for him. If she could just get away from him, then she could control it.
Merinus hurriedly dressed in jersey shorts, a light tank top and her running shoes. She tucked some cash in the zippered pocket of the shorts, then slipped from the house. She knew the other three males were patrolling the hills around the cabin for mercenaries, but she hoped they were overlooking the main road in. A vehicle could be heard easily coming in, she knew. That area wouldn’t be a weak point. Taking a deep breath, she sprinted across the yard and worked her way into the forest that bordered the road. Staying close to the graveled track, she kept just inside the tree line, jogging quickly toward the main road.
It wouldn’t take Callan long to find out she was missing, and tracking her sure as hell wouldn’t be a problem for him. She had to get to camp. Callan may have stolen the cell phone she carried with her, but there was a spare hidden in the jeep. And the jeep was still there. She had heard him discussing it with the others that morning. He wanted them to get the jeep and begin taking her camp down, removing all traces of her from the area.
Despite Sherra’s attempts to ease her fears, Merinus feared Callan’s intentions. He spoke so easily of killing those soldiers. What was to keep him from killing her when their passion had ended? When his body no longer craved her, when his lusts dimmed for her. She would become an inconvenience, one that knew his secrets.
Fear rushed through her veins, giving her the added adrenaline needed to push herself, almost at a run,