The Recruit: Book One (4 page)

Hannah willed her hands to stop shaking and
carefully spooned rice into her mouth.  She shook nearly all the time from the
lack of sleep and the intense physical exercise, and it made it difficult to do
normal activities like eating.

Her stomach growled loudly as the spoon
fell from her fingers and clattered to the table.  She was considering just
picking her plate up and tipping the food into her mouth, when she realized Will
was staring at her with a weird combination of pity and disgust.  She blushed,
stared fiercely at her hands until they went from a palsy-like shake to a mild
tremble, and continued to eat her dinner.

“Five minutes, babies!”  Will shouted from across the
cafeteria.  Hannah flinched and ate faster.  She hated Will - loathed him from
the depths of her soul.  She could barely remember the Will from the hallway;
the Will that had told her she smelled like strawberries and had made desire
course through her body.  That Will was long gone, replaced by a shouting,
caustic hard-ass who seemed to enjoy breaking their spirits.

She was convinced he was hardest on her.  Once, after a
particularly brutal morning run, he had yelled at her for five minutes while
she vomited helplessly.  She had felt only slightly vindicated when later that
evening, Selena had asked her in a quiet little whisper what she had done to
piss Will off.

“He hates you, Hannah.”  Selena had said.  “I’m not sure why,
but he definitely hates you.”

“Fuck Will.”  She had responded grumpily.  “I don’t give a
rat’s ass whether he likes me or not.”

Now, as she stood with the other recruits and limped out of
the cafeteria, she could feel Will’s eyes burning holes into her back.  She
straightened and forced herself to limp faster, breathing a sigh of relief when
she was in the hallway and away from his hot stare.

* * *

Hannah peered into the hallway.  It was empty, and she crept
silently through the maze of hallways until she arrived at one of the four
training rooms.  She eased the door open, moving confidently across the room in
the dark.  She reached up and grabbed the metal bar above her head, and with a
grunt of effort began to pull herself up.  Her already tired and strained arm
muscles screamed at her, but she fixed Sara’s sweet face in the front of her
mind and continued to haul her body up and down. 

After a few minutes she let her body drop to the floor.  She
was panting harshly and her arms were shaking and burning, but she had done
nearly fifteen pull-ups – her best effort yet.  She gave herself five minutes
to rest, lying on her back on the soft mat and staring blindly up at the
ceiling.

She forced herself to stand and move to the far side of the
gym.  She knew from past experience that if she waited much longer, her body
would seize up and the rest of her exercises would be brutally painful.  There
was a heavy bag hanging from the ceiling, and using touch only she located a
pair of gloves and fumbled into them. 

She had been in the program for five weeks now and for the
last two weeks when the rest of the recruits had tumbled exhausted into their
beds, she would sneak out of the dormitories and return to the gym.  She forced
herself to run laps, lift weights, and practice her pull-ups and push-ups. 
Afraid of being caught, she did all of it in the total darkness.  The first few
nights she had tripped over exercise machines, stubbed nearly every toe on rows
of weights, and once even ran face first into a wall, but now it seemed her
night vision was improving and she could easily navigate in the blackness.

She began to punch the heavy bag, the vibrations running
back through her arms and into her aching shoulders and back.  She ignored the
pain; even with her extra work at night she was barely keeping up with the
other recruits, and she knew that Will was dangerously close to kicking her out
of the program.  She could see it every time he looked at her.

It wasn’t just physical exhaustion either.  When the
recruits weren’t training they were in classes with Isabelle.  Isabelle was in
her thirties with long blonde hair and a slender body.  She was gorgeous; her
eyes were an impossible shade of blue and she had the softest-looking skin
Hannah had ever seen.  Over the last few weeks she had taught them the history
of the vampire as well as, to a limited degree, other supernatural creatures. 

Hannah could still remember the day that Will had joined
them for one of their classes, sitting quietly in the back as they had
discussed the various weapons that had been used against vampires over the
years.  Alison and Frank were in the middle of a heated debate over whether
make-shift weapons from household items would be useful in a pinch, when Will
had snorted loudly and stood.

“If you find yourself weaponless around vampires, your
greatest chance for survival is to run.”  He had looked at each of them, his
gaze landing on Hannah’s face last.  “You run and you hide.”

She shook her head, wiping his face from her mind, and
concentrated on hitting the bag with firm, hard punches like Mannie had taught
her.  She snatched gulps of air into her burning lungs.  She wanted to quit and
go back to her bed in the dormitory.  She wanted to soak her pillow with the
tears that were always so close to the surface, but she thought of Sara.  She
thought about Sara’s tenth birthday, and how excited she had been when her
parents had rented out the movie theatre for her and her friends.  She thought
about the first night that Sara had come home drunk.  Hannah had squirreled her
away to the bathroom before their parents could see her.  She had held Sara’s
hair back as she had thrown up wretchedly, vowing breathlessly between each
bout of vomiting that she would never drink again. 

Memory after memory of Sara flooded her mind, and she
punched the bag in front of her harder and harder.  Her breath was coming in
short, shallow gasps and tears mixed freely with the sweat dripping down her
face.  So engrossed was she in her memories and the rhythmic thumping noise of
her gloved hands that when a hard hand fell on to her shoulder she screamed and
turned, punching wildly at the huge shadow behind her.

Will cursed as one of Hannah’s gloves caught him on the
chin.  She had screamed only once before falling silent.  As he wrapped one
strong arm around her waist, she writhed and squirmed like a wild cat, panting
harshly and pounding his back with her gloved fists. 

“Hannah, stop!”  He whispered just as her foot connected
solidly with his knee.  He yelped like a wounded puppy, stepped backwards and
tripped over his own feet.  He fell onto his back, dragging Hannah down with
him.

She head butted him in the chin, and he just managed to
protect his balls from her knee before she landed a blow to his stomach. 

“Enough!”  He roared and flipped her onto her back, covering
her struggling body with his own and pinning her arms above her head.

“It’s Will!”  He spoke into her ear as she panted and
wiggled under him.

Her body froze and then she sagged against the floor.  

“Will?”  She whispered.

“Yes.”

“You scared the hell out of me!”  She hissed furiously at
him.

“What are you doing in here?”  He asked.

“Nothing.”  She muttered.

“Don’t lie to me.”  He warned.

“I’m just – just practicing okay?  I’m not breaking any
rules.”

“Actually,” he said mildly, “there is a rule about leaving
the dormitory after lights out.  You know that.”

“I highly doubt that going to the gym after lights out is
what they meant by breaking the rules.”  She scoffed and tried to heave him off
of her, but he settled his weight more firmly against her.

“I would think you get enough physical activity during the
day.  If you’re looking for night activities, I can think of something entirely
more pleasant for you to participate in.”  He said the last sentence in a low whisper,
and something about the tone in his voice made her shudder with involuntary
pleasure against him.

She made herself remember the day he had humiliated her
while she had vomited helplessly.  “Could you get off me, Will?  You’re too
heavy.”  She said firmly.

Will had excellent night vision and he studied her face. 
Her dark eyes were huge and, despite her steady tone, he could see her lips
trembling and her entire body was shaking under his.  He took a deep breath; he
could smell the sharp tang of her sweat, and under that the scent of
strawberries.  She must eat a lot of strawberries he thought hazily, the scent
almost always lingered on her.

“Will?”  She prompted and pulled against his hands holding
her arms captive.

“Why are you practicing at night?”  He tugged the gloves
from her hands, tossing them to the side before propping himself up on his
elbows above her, but keeping her pinned to the floor with his lower body.

She flexed her fingers experimentally and then pushed at his
chest.  He refused to move and she sighed in frustration.  “Because I need to
get better.  Because I’m not stupid and I know you’re this close to kicking me
out of the program.  Because every time I close my eyes at night all I see is
Sara’s face.”

To her horror, she could feel tears beginning to drip down
her cheeks.  The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of Will.  He
already thought she was pathetic enough.

To her surprise he roughly wiped away her tears with his
thumbs.  “It gets better.”

“Does it?”  She muttered.  “I don’t think it does.”

He nodded solemnly.  “I promise it does.”

She stared at him; she could just make out
his features in the dark.  “Who did you lose?”

“My father, my mother –“ he paused, “my
brother and sister.  They attacked us in our beds while we slept.  I was still
young, just a small child and I had a nightmare.  My mother was in my room when
they broke in; she hid me in the closet before they drained her.”

“I’m so sorry, Will.”  She whispered.  Even
in the darkness she could see the pain in his eyes and it started a strange
twisting in her stomach.  Filled with a sudden desire to comfort him, she
lifted her head and pressed her lips against his. 

He froze and then pulled away from her,
sitting up and staring silently at her.  She blushed and pushed herself into a
sitting position, ignoring the way her muscles screamed at her. 

“Oh God, I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have done
that.”  She whispered.

He didn’t say anything.  With a small groan
of embarrassment she struggled to stand, praying he wasn’t about to kick her
out of the program.  Before she could gain her feet, he reached out and yanked
her into his lap.  He cupped the back of her head and kissed her hungrily,
forcing her mouth open so he could thrust his tongue into its warmth.

Hannah kissed him back, clutching his broad
shoulders in her hands as she moaned into his mouth.  He sucked on her tongue,
forcing another moan from her throat, before he pushed his tongue back into her
mouth and stroked hers with rough motions.

He tugged on her ponytail, pulling her head
back so that he could kiss his way down her throat, before nipping and sucking
at the delicate skin.  She gasped and clung to his back as he nibbled across
her collarbone, and then down to the tops of her breasts peeking out from the
sports bra she was wearing.

He shifted her in his lap until she was
straddling him and he could press his erection directly against her warm
center.  Instead of feeling nervous or embarrassed, excitement coursed through
her body and she groaned with desire and rubbed herself against him.

She hated Will.  He was arrogant and rude
and just plain mean, but she couldn’t deny how attracted she was to him.  He
obviously hated her as well, but it wasn’t stopping him from touching her
everywhere.

His questing fingers found the edge of her
sports bra and he tugged impatiently at it.  She raised her arms and he pulled
it roughly from her body, tossing it on the floor beside them.  It was cold in
the gym and her nipples tightened as the cool air hit them.  Despite the almost
total blackness she had the strangest feeling that Will could see her clearly,
and his sharp inhale of breath when her breasts were exposed only furthered that
certainty.

He cupped her breast in his hand and ran
his thumb over her hardened nipple.  She moaned and he dipped his head and
sucked her nipple into his mouth.  He sucked hard on it as she wriggled against
him, clutching his head in her hands.  He nibbled and sucked on both nipples
until she was panting and rubbing herself mindlessly against him.

“Please, Will.”  She moaned. 

Her stomach was twisting and turning with a
need she couldn’t identify, and her entire lower body was throbbing.  It had
never been like this with either Mark or Toby.  There had never been this
driving need.  She couldn’t get enough of Will’s body and mouth.  His lips
tugging on her breasts were sending spasms of pleasure through her. 

He pushed her on to her back, pulled his own
shirt off and hovered over her.  She ran her fingers through the hair on his
chest.  He shuddered at her touch and kissed her again, almost shoving his
tongue into her mouth. 

She arched her back, shivering with delight
when her sensitive nipples brushed against his hard chest.  The ache between
her thighs was almost unbearable now.  She was just wondering if it would be
too forward of her to push Will’s hand between her legs, when he slipped one
large hand into her yoga pants and underneath her panties. 

She cried out when his hand cupped her warm
center.  He stared down at her and rubbed his fingers against her easily.  She
could just make out the small, satisfied smile on his face and for the first
time she realized how wet she was.  Her face flushed with embarrassment and
again, despite the darkness, he seemed to see her clearly.