I never did it without a condom. Even though we were Scars, we could still get a woman pregnant, human or not.
She flipped over onto her back and I could tell by her expression that she knew exactly what I was thinking. She reached out her hand, smiling.
I curled my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Fuck, if she got pregnant and I wasn’t here . . . that was so not a cool thing to do.
“It would be a gift, Balen.” Danni snuggled her ass back into me and I heard her sigh as I slowly stroked her abdomen.
Fuck, my girl had just read my mind.
I HAD TO TAKE a piss and I suspected so did the chick, so we crawled down the tunnel where both of us could relieve ourselves. That was a fuckin’ joy considering the chick wouldn’t piss unless I moved further down the tunnel. She had the fuckin’ nerve to tell me to turn my back. I told her to piss or get her ass back down the tunnel. I won.
We’d spent sixteen hours hiding in the bloody air duct, and still, men searched for her. I guessed the little toothpick was more important than I thought. The funny thing was, if a worker went AWOL it was thought she went home or quit her job. These guys were racing around like she was the goddamn Queen of England.
“They’ll never stop looking for me,” she said.
“They will if you’re dead,” I shot back. Two men went running past the vent and down the corridor. I heard the outside door open and close. It wouldn’t be the last of them, but sundown was crawling up my ass and we had to get a move on.
“We’re leaving,” I said. “Out. Now.”
I slid to the end of the duct and put my feet up against the grill. I gave one kick with both feet and the cover gave, flying across the hall and crashing into the adjacent wall. I’d wasted enough time and refused to wait another night to get Ryker out. I was getting this shit done now.
She crawled out after me and I quickly put my knife to her throat and pushed her across the hall where the camera would miss us.
I never hesitated to kill before. I did whatever was necessary, period. And she was a liability. She had to die. But questions had to be answered first.
“Where are they keeping Ryker?”
“Who is Ryker?”
“Don’t play stupid, girl. The Scar, he’s in this building. Where is he?” I yanked backward on her hair. “Answer me.” I yanked harder on her hair and she winced.
“I’ll take you to him, but promise you’ll take me with you.”
I was rarely surprised, but I was shocked as hell. There were no chains or devices on her. Why would she want to leave? Was she going to try to infiltrate the Scars? Lead her friends to them? Fuck that.
“No.” I didn’t do deals. It was my way or nothing.
“Then kill me,” she said.
I tensed. “Why?”
“Because I’m a coward and I can’t do it myself,” she said matter-of-factly.
I turned her around so her chest was up against mine. She met my eyes and I saw the one tear slide down her cheek. “Jesus Christ. Why the hell are you crying?”
“Kilter, I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Thirty minutes until sundown, and then those sensors will be turned on. Have you found Ryker?”
Fuck, Danni.
The woman in my arms remained unresponsive, almost as if she was dead already. A corpse with tears. Shit, if I didn’t need her, I’d gut her and forget about her haunted deep-brown eyes.
“Working on it,” I replied.
“I suggest you get a move on then. We’re in position.”
“I suggest you get the fuck off my case,” I shot back. “Why?” I had no time for this shit, yet here I was asking about her life story.
“I hate him,” she said. She raised her hand to the knife and I let her, knowing I could react a hell of a lot faster than she could. One move and I’d slit her throat or snap it; either way would get the job done.
“Who?” I asked. Why the fuck I cared, I had no clue, but the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“My husband.”
Shit, she wanted to die because of a crappy marriage? Suck it up; you did it. Live with it, princess.
She put her fingers on the blade and pushed it into her neck. A red trickle of blood slid down her skin. She pressed harder and I reacted, grabbing her arm and wrenching it behind her back. Okay, so she had a death wish.
“Take me to Ryker.” Threatening to end her life had no effect, so I used another tactic—lying. “I’ll take you with us. But don’t come crying to me when you suddenly miss your husband.”
The relief that emanated from her body was overwhelming. Her eyes closed, muscles relaxed, and she sagged in my arms. I had no use for crying, pathetic females. I pushed her away from me.
“Where the fuck is he?”
She nodded to the door next to them. “In there.”
I cursed under my breath. Across the hall from the vent, all goddamn night, and I never even felt him. Walls had to be a foot thick in steel. “Open the door.”
She approached, putting her hand on the code box. “As soon as I open this door, they’ll know. The door is linked with a main security station, and they’ll—”
“Open the fuckin’ door, woman.”
She hesitated again, and if I didn’t need the goddamn code to get through the steel, I’d make her wish come true. “What now?”
“If we’re caught, kill me.”
“Fuck, woman, you sure have a death wish. Yeah, I’ll rip out your jugular, okay?”