As the Harvester moved around, Nicoli tried to judge his position from the sound of his footsteps. There was an exclamation when the overturned gurneys and fallen donor bodies were found. This was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps hurrying up and down aisles. Nicoli assumed the Harvester was checking the room for additional signs of disturbance. What would happen when he found the unconscious Harvester who was lying much too close to the room in which Nicoli and the woman currently hid?
Nicoli looked around hoping for a better hiding place only to realize there was none. This was a work area, with countertops and small cabinets lining the walls and an open workbench down the center. Various pieces of equipment lay scattered or broken on the floor, which explained the sounds he'd heard when the woman had run into the room earlier. He made a mental note to ask her if she was hurt, but just then, the sound of the footsteps grew louder.
Nicoli pushed the woman behind him, ready to face the danger head on and shield her as best he could. Not that he relished the idea of another fight. He was still feeling the aches and pains of the last one.
There was, of course, a slim chance they wouldn't be noticed. Hoping to avoid a fight completely, Nicoli reached back and, placing his hand on the woman’s hip, applied gentle pressure. Together, they stepped to the side until they were neatly wedged behind the open door. Even with his full attention on the Harvester's movements in the outer room, it was impossible not to notice the smooth feel of the woman's skin or the quick hitch of her breath at his touch.
Realistically, their position was scant protection should they be discovered, but it was the best he could come up with. At least he would have the element of surprise on his side should it be needed.
The seconds dragged by as they waited. Of its own traitorous accord, his mind drifted to thoughts of long shapely legs topped by curvaceous hips. The woman was tall and pressed together as they were, he couldn’t help but think how perfectly she fit against him. Her breasts rubbing against his back with each breath she took had become a tortuous test of his control.
The sudden scuff of a shoe on the other side of the door caught his attention. He couldn’t see the Harvester, but imagined him standing in the open doorway, looking in. The door inched toward them and Nicoli pressed back further against the woman, sucking in his breath to allow the door more room to move freely.
When the Harvester took that next step into the room, Nicoli shoved the door as hard as he could into the man. The impact wasn't enough to knock him out, but it was enough to startle him, giving Nicoli the few seconds he needed to step out from behind the door and punch the man in the stomach.
Doubled-over with pain, the Harvester stumbled to the side and fell against the countertop where his hand fell across a slender pipe.
Damn it. Why hadn't he noticed a pipe when he was searching the room for weapons?
Nicoli suspected the answer had something to do with the naked woman in the room, but the Harvester gave him no time for further self-recrimination.
Swinging the pipe before him and moving surprisingly fast, the Harvester advanced, forcing Nicoli back with each step. On the third swipe, Nicoli didn’t move fast enough and the pipe smashed against his lower arm. Reacting to the pain, Nicoli bent over, pulling his injured arm close to his stomach. The Harvester, thinking Nicoli seriously injured, changed tactics. He raised the pipe to bring it crashing down on Nicoli’s head and that was his mistake.
While the man’s arms were raised, Nicoli punched him - as hard as he could - in the stomach. The sound of the Harvester's breath rushing out as he doubled over was almost as gratifying as watching the man drop the pipe. Nicoli didn't give him a chance to recover before moving in to grab the man's head and giving it a harsh twist.
There was a sickening snap and when Nicoli released the man, he fell limply to the floor where he remained motionless.
“Is he dead?” The woman’s quiet question echoed in the sudden silence of the room.
“I sure as hell hope so.” Then it occurred to Nicoli that she might be upset, so he forgot about the corpse at his feet and went to her.
It was a mistake. As soon as he stood before her, his mind remembered the feel of her pressed against him. His gaze wandered hungrily over her until he reached her eyes, opened wide like trapped prey beneath a predator's stare. His fault, he knew. He'd been out-of-body so long he could no longer control his baser reactions.
Nervously, it seemed, she wet her lips and it was his undoing. He couldn't pull his gaze from the rose-red invitation of those lips and felt as if he were falling. Before he knew what he intended to do, his hands came up to gently cup her face as he slowly lowered his head.
“Please,” she whispered.
Confused, he paused.
Please continue or please stop?
Belatedly, he remembered how bruised she was and felt guilty. He was proving to be no better than the animals who had attacked her before.
Cursing, he stepped back, running his hand through his hair to keep from touching her again. “You're right. Bad idea. You should probably get dressed.”
“In what?”
He returned to the corpse and with efficient movements, removed the robe, revealing the body beneath.
The image was shocking.
The man’s face was horribly scarred and made up of a patchwork of skin grafts in various skin tones and textures. If all the robed Harvesters looked like this, it was little wonder why they covered themselves.
Trying to shake off the image, Nicoli stood and handed the woman the robe.
"You don't expect me to wear that, do you?” She looked horrified at the idea and he couldn't blame her.
“Well," he said thoughtfully. "There is another option. You could lay down on one of those gurneys and let me push you through the halls. No one would suspect a thing. It's the perfect cover for my mission - which, by the way, is extremely important.”
"You can't be serious!” Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "What mission?"
"It's classified. I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.” He winked at her and then couldn't believe he'd done it. When was the last time he'd teased a woman? This was certainly not the place or time.
"Screw you. I'll wear the robe.” She held out her hand to take it but the look on her face as she was about to lift the robe over her head was pathetic, making him wish he really could offer her another clothing option.
Suddenly he remembered the bundle of clothes stuffed into the pocket of his robe. "Wait a second.” Digging them out, he handed them to her. "See if these fit."
She glowered at him as she jerked them from his hands.
"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "I forgot I had them."
"Turn around."
It was his turn to stare at her in surprise. "Standing naked in front of me doesn't bother you but getting dressed does? Seriously?” Still she didn't move. “Fine, I’ll step into the outer room, but hurry.”
He left her to go check on the unconscious Harvester. The man hadn’t moved so Nicoli conducted a thorough search of the man's robe pockets, but came away with nothing.
“Is he dead?”
Nicoli hadn't heard her walk up. “No. Not yet.” He turned to look at her. She was wearing the robe and since he didn’t see her holding the clothes he’d offered her, he assumed she had those on beneath it.
“The clothes fit okay?” He tried to sound normal.
“Yes, thank you, um....”
"Nicoli,” he provided for her. “Nicoli Romanof. And you are...?"
She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead, a strange expression crossed her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, when it seemed she was on the verge of panic.
“I can’t remember my name!"
Chapter 9
Nicoli reached out, gently grasping her upper arms to give her a reassuring squeeze as frightened eyes stared up at him. This woman, who had awakened to find herself naked, surrounded by what would seem like hundreds of corpses and a strange man leaning over her, had not hesitated to smash him in the nose and fight for her life. Yet the challenge of memory loss seemed more than she could bear and Nicoli found himself feeling oddly protective of her.
“I’m sure it’s temporary. The effects of the collar, the whole experience. That kind of thing. Your memory will come back,” he assured her.
"Do you think so?"
"Of course," he answered with conviction, remembering his own initial experience upon first awakening, which had been unsettling, to say the least. "Until it does, though, you need a name.” He gave it only a moment’s consideration. “I’ll call you
Kiera
.”
She raised her eyebrows at him, looking distrustful.
“It means ‘heart of a warrior’,” he told her with a smile, rubbing his jaw where she’d hit him earlier. “It seems fitting under the circumstances.”
She offered a slight smile in return.
“Are you ready to get out of here, Kiera?"
After she nodded, he released her arms and walked back to the prone body of the Harvester. After a moment’s thought, he bent over and grabbed the man’s ankles.
“Wait here,” he ordered as he dragged the body into the back room. He knew he couldn’t leave the second man to report their presence, but he didn’t want to subject the woman to anymore ugliness than she’d already seen. With a small niggling doubt as to his own humanity, he dragged the Harvester to the far corner of the back room and broke his neck.
Then he dragged the first body over to join it. About to walk away, his gaze fell on their boots. He and the woman couldn't walk around barefooted without drawing attention, so helping himself to both pairs, he carried them into the front room and held out the smaller pair to the woman.
“Put these on.”
Though she wrinkled her nose in disgust, she took them and after the barest hint of hesitation, bent over to pull them on.
"They fit," she announced holding the hem of her robe up to show him.
Nicoli thought "fit" was being too generous. The boots swallowed her small feet. "Can you walk?” If they had to run for their lives, he wanted to know that she could do it.
As he watched, she took several shuffling steps. His expression must have projected his concern because when she came back to stand in front of him, she gracefully stepped to one side, raising her knees high with each step, and just like that, she was out of the boots and barefoot again.
"Okay," he agreed. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does--"
"I'll lose the boots and run like hell," she finished for him. "Got it. What now?"
By now, Michels and Yanur must be wondering where he was. The sooner he completed his mission, the sooner they could all leave the planet. As he tried on the larger of the two pairs of boots, he briefly considered sending Kiera out on her own to find his ship, but discarded the idea as too risky. He would keep her with him and hope he could protect her.
"Let's go.” He crossed the room to the door and after listening for sounds coming from the hallway and hearing none, he opened the door a crack and peeked out. The hallway was empty.
"Where are we going?" Kiera had come to stand behind him.
"To find their main computer."
"Are you crazy? We'll get caught. We need to find a way out of this place."
Nicoli eased the door closed before the sound of their voices could attract attention. "We
will
leave," he assured her. "Right after we find the main computer."
She crossed her arms and shook her head. "No. I'm not going with you."
"Look, I don't have time to argue about this."
"Maybe I have my own mission to complete," she challenged. "Had you thought of that?"
“Right," he said with exaggerated patience. "Must have been a covert operation then. I especially like the part where you laid naked and unconscious? A real double-threat. Very impressive. I don't think the Harvesters realized what danger they were in.” He didn't bother to hide his sarcasm. “You want to be someone's sex slave?” He let his hungry gaze travel over her. “I’m sure we can work out an arrangement to our mutual satisfaction. Until then," he grabbed her arm, jerking her close and speaking through gritted teeth, "you stay with me and do as I say. Understand? And if we get out of here alive, I'll not only help you figure out who you are - I'll take you home."
A healthy dose of fear under the circumstances wouldn't have been a bad thing but while her eyes had opened wider in surprise, he didn't think he'd frightened her nearly as much as he'd hoped. Still, he didn't release her until she'd nodded her agreement.