Assassin Territory [Assassins Book 1] (10 page)

Lando was already running even before her screams of terror reached his ears. His heart pumped wildly in his chest. He was jumping logs and rocks, ducking branches in order to reach her.

Approaching the stream, Lando could see Christy floundering in the fast-flowing icy water, though she hadn’t fallen in. No doubt she jumped in to escape the massive Kodiak trailing after her helplessly flailing body.

“Hey, over here,” Lando yelled, waving his arms, hoping to gain the bear’s attention. The bear ignored him, intent on smaller, easier prey. His huge brown body moved unhurriedly into the freezing stream as though he sensed his victim was helpless to evade him.

“
Lando,
” Christy screamed.

The bear was only a few feet from her. The pounding water had no effect on the massively muscled creature. Christy couldn’t gain leverage as he watched her feet slip repeatedly out from under her. She went under and came up spluttering. Lando’s thoughts went into overdrive. The gun was in the cave. Lando put it in the duffel bag when he tuned into Christy’s fear of it—the sight of the weapon made her quiver. He pulled the flare gun from behind his belt. This, he was able to reason with her, was something useful to carry at all times. Christy offered up no argument.

Taking aim he fired. The blast of red light ignited and flew. The huge bear howled an ominous roar in outrage as his back burst into brilliant flames. The Kodiak stopped to claw at his back, his body twisting and writhing in pain and confusion.

Lando was on the move, realizing he’d enraged over fifteen hundred pounds of powerfully muscled, deadly animal. Lando leaped into the icy water, noting the harsh pull, and grabbed Christy as she battled a merciless current. Throwing her sodden form over his shoulder, Lando struggled up onto the ice-covered rocks, slipping and sliding, and raced for their shelter.

Entering the cave, Lando placed Christy down on his coat. She clutched at him, sobbing uncontrollably, shaking with violent spasms from the cold and her fear. Lando held her pressed to his chest for only a brief moment before rifling through the duffel bag and retrieving the gun. He again exited the cave to Christy’s terrified screams. She was begging him not to go, not to leave her all alone. But he knew he had to kill the bear. Wounded it would be deadlier and unpredictable. It would undoubtedly hunt them if he didn’t stop it.

* * * *

Christy rocked back and forth. Her legs felt numb from the icy cold water, her mind was gripped in terror at what transpired. She screamed Lando’s name over and over when the bear appeared, even though it was useless. The stream was too far away, the flow of the running water too noisy. There would be no way he could hear her from inside the cave.

Christy stumbled on the Kodiak, which was apparently intent on doing some fishing of his own. In desperation, she threw the bowl at him; it bounced off a massive shoulder. The Kodiak was the largest of the brown bears. She and Sam had studied them through intense research: their massive claws, thick neck, and unpredictability. She ran in a panic, slipping in her haste from one of the large rocks by the stream, losing her footing, and entering the water. The freezing water was a slap in the face; the bear would undoubtedly add injury to insult. She was overwhelmed when Lando appeared as if a dream; now, he was gone.

The waiting was unbearable. If Lando never returned there was no doubt it would be the angry, injured bear that came looking for her. Its powerful body would rip her to shreds as it would have Lando’s. Her body remained paralyzed in fear. After a few agonizing moments, Christy sobbed as the blast of a gun sounded; Lando was confronting the Kodiak. What seemed like hours passed, the hard thumps of her heart beating, resounding in her ears. A few moments later Lando entered the cave, his exhaustion apparent. Christy flung herself into his arms, burying her face against his chest in overwhelming relief.

“It’s all right, honey. It’s dead. He won’t be bothering us anymore,” Lando soothed. His heart was hammering inside his chest. He gripped her against his body.

“Thank you, Lando, thank you for coming when I called. I don’t know how you heard me, but I’m so grateful.”

Lando wondered at her words. How
had
he known she was in danger? It was an eerie feeling, being so in tune with someone else. How could he possibly have known she was in desperate need of his help? He hadn’t heard her cries for help before he was already running. Before the voice had sounded…

He listened again for the voice in his head that had been compelling him to take care of her. Did it know something he didn’t? Yet nothing came to mind. What was he waiting for anyway? An ‘I told you so.’ But all Lando felt was relief and a feeling of pleasure. He saved Christy’s life. Maybe it was an inflated ego suggesting it was meant to be.

Lando picked up Christy’s rhythm and they rocked together as one. He decided he would spend less time acknowledging the mean voice in his head and concentrate on the smarter, informed one that seemed to know what it was doing.

* * * *

“I’ve never eaten bear,” Christy commented, though she chewed with contentment on the large, moist, juicy piece Lando gave her.

After Lando held her, both taking comfort from the sheer pleasure of being alive, he removed the knife from his boot and told her was going to retrieve some of the bear. He brought a large amount back in their crude bowl, which he’d recovered. Christy grimaced at the chunk of bloody flesh. The knife wasn’t sharp and Lando declared the mess his worst hack job. The meat looked like a mess for sure, but like the rabbit, it smelled heavenly while it was cooking. The aroma teased her senses.

“Neither have I. I’m a city boy,” Lando commented. He stuffed himself as eagerly as she was.

They ate in silence for some time. Darkness was falling and Lando pulled the wooden structure to the cave closed, sealing them in. Christy stripped at the back of the cave earlier to don her now cleaned and dried underclothing. She hadn’t offered a protest as Lando’s gaze never strayed from her nude form. She decided she was used to his intense gaze. He’d saved her life again; without hesitation, he fought off one of the most fearsome creatures that walked the earth…for her.

A wide array of overwhelming emotions bombarded her senses. No one had ever done anything so incredibly dangerous for her in her entire life. Only her parents ever made her feel cherished and protected. The emotion was one she was happy to remember, not cringe from, and realized there was much more to what Lando gave her. She removed her pants earlier at the fire to dry them and didn’t balk when Lando did the same, needing to warm and dry them after their icy plunge into the ice cold stream. As he did with her, she assessed him boldly.

His powerful legs were sculpted by a goddess. He was all man, and the thought made her want to blush but she didn’t. When he removed his bloodied shirt she noticed the scars through the black hairs, battle wounds from his profession. Christy knew what a bullet wound looked like. A knife scar ran from his shoulder to the middle of his chest. There were bruises from the crash as well, but he never complained.

His dark eyes were captivating when he watched her watching him. Christy wondered if he was waiting for her to express fear, or contempt. He was beautiful. The rugged surroundings suited him, and she was wrong; he would look like James Bond in a suit.

“Thank you for saving me.” She’d told him a dozen times already and thought Lando was becoming uncomfortable with the praise.

This time instead of telling her it was nothing; Lando turned his intense gaze on her. “You are mine, Christy. You belong to me.”

Christy felt a shiver of fear pass through her body. He was claiming her. His look was possessive. Christy realized for whatever reason this meant a great deal to him. Why, she couldn’t fathom. He could take any woman he wanted. What was the difference? They were out in the middle of nowhere; he could do as he wished. No, she realized. He could do as he wished with anyone anywhere; his surroundings weren’t commanding him.

Christy realized again what he was—a killer. Yet, he saved her life, twice. Did he now reason her life was his? Was it? Christy grew pensive. She didn’t belong to him. She would never again feel she belonged to anyone; the hurt of betrayal was too much. The real question remained. Would she accept his closeness, his possessiveness?

“I’m not yours. I do
not
belong to you,” Christy corrected him. “But I need…I want…” She faltered, afraid, remembering he looked twice as big without clothes.

“What do you need, Christy, what do you want?”

His heated gaze spoke volumes; he did feel she belonged to him.

“I want you,” she admitted. Christy realized she needed more than his closeness. They were out here all alone together. They needed one another. She needed him. His presence engulfed her, overwhelmed her. She wasn’t rewarding him for saving her life. She was now demanding he supply her with what he had been providing all along: life, feeling, and acceptance.

He hadn’t just saved her physical self; he gave her an opening to her emotional needs. Lando explored her depth of despair, and demanded resolution. It was Christy’s turn. She approached him, her intent clear. Though she shook as she contemplated her emotions, unsure of her actions, she needed a release.

Lando looked at her with deep smoldering, interested eyes. She offered. She could tell he was going to accept her offer.

Lando took her into his arms with as much tenderness as he possessed. He noted her slight body shook. For a moment he cupped her face and gazed into her eyes. She wasn’t doing this out of gratitude but he wanted to be certain. Her dark doe eyes were filled with indecision, and want. He smiled when he tugged a curl and she ducked her head. She was shy and sweet and too small for his large arms and too good for him, but he wanted her.

Easing her over him he settled her into his lap. This wasn’t a woman to manhandle. He wondered if Chad raped her and claimed she wanted it. Lando knew men like that—briefly. He killed them. With deliberation he ran his hands over her small, shuddering form. She felt warm and soft against his rough, callused palms.

Lando tugged on her outer angora sweater he’d returned to her the second day, removing it. He snuggled her head against his chest wanting to make certain she didn’t catch a chill. He was close enough to the frame door and he pushed it harder until a slight draft of cold air was nonexistent. She wore no bra. The cotton shirt beneath the sweater enhanced the soft curves of her breasts. Breasts full and round and high and firm that fit into his hands as he squeezed, kneading her tender flesh. The bud hardened when he ran his thumb over one. She was a woman who loved to be made love too, receptive, accepting.

Christy whimpered as Lando explored her body. Her clothing, piece by piece, was stripped away, exposing every desirable inch of her to him. Each bruise was revealed with her delicate pink skin. He helped her shimmy from her pants and pulled her socks off one by one. There was something heart pounding having a naked woman in his lap on his jeans. She was sexy as hell and Lando wondered if she knew it.

She will.

He clasped her bare bottom in his hand lifting her to his lips. His arm was so huge wrapped around her back and shoulders. Her face tilted when he claimed her mouth, drinking in her sweet taste. Their tongues intertwined in a lazy fashion. There would be no ramming his tongue down her throat. Inside, her cheeks were velvet meant to be explored and savored, not devoured. It wasn’t enough for a man like him when he took what he wanted. His hand left her bottom to squeeze a breast. He turned them to cover her with his body.

He hadn’t ripped her clothes off, but he did with his own needing some form of uncontrolled physical release. A few buttons flew in his haste. He was back over her in seconds trying to keep his cock from howling in need, trying to rein in his emotions. She was soon writhing, helpless and vulnerable beneath his large frame.

Lando captured her lips, claiming them, gently at first, then more demanding as he explored deeper, tasting her. Christy shied back as his grip tightened.

“Please,” she whimpered into his mouth, his teeth nipped her chin.

His hand captured and squeezed her breast, engrossed in the way his fingers molded against her satiny skin. The pad of his thumb teased one taut nipple, until he rolled his thumb and finger round with careful expertise.

“Easy, sweetheart, I won’t hurt you. You’re mine,” Lando rasped out, his breathing already ragged with passion. His exploration didn’t cease, but intensified.

Lando never felt such overwhelming possessiveness battle with gentleness. Every part of her beauty enchanted him. Every emotion of his taking of her engulfed him. He sensed her fear of him. It caused a deep, momentary frustration. He didn’t want to hurt her. Knowing if he moved too fast he would scare her made him slow his actions, painfully so, as his cock throbbed. Most women he took were all over him, and he was all over them. There could be nothing frantic with Christy until she knew him better.

He trailed his hands over her skittish body, caressing with the tips of his fingers, soothing, wanting only to calm her. No inch went unexplored, no crevice left untouched, un-tasted. He wanted to discover her entire being. His lips and tongue trailed their way leisurely; she was so sweet. His fingers slid down her silken, flat belly. He dipped lower, his palm spreading her thighs, searching for, then discovering her nub of desire. His thumb stroked back and forth while he spoke soothing, calming words, listening as her frightened, unsure whimpers changed to moans of desire. Her heat reached for him, drawing him to her whether she realized what she wanted or not. His own passion mounted.

Sitting back, he ran the back side of his hands down her thighs to her calves. Doe eyes blinked with rapid succession when he lifted a foot and licked her instep. Warm water was in the bowl off to the side where they washed. Lando had refilled it before dinner. Taking the warm wet cloth he wiped her ankles and feet. The cloth slid between her toes making her giggle, easing her tense expression. Each foot, each toe was washed with care until Lando dropped the cloth and sucked each toe, rolling his tongue as he had the cloth.