Hunter Hunted Ch. 09

Harsh cries came from his mouth as the terrible agony flooded his body. It was growing worse by the minute, and he rolled, fighting the straps that held him to the bed. Blood ran thick in his veins, too thick. He needed to feed, he needed the release but every movement he made seemed to trap him worse.

"Braxton!" he screamed, throwing his head back. His voice was guttural, almost as thick sounding as his blood that flowed heavily through his veins. Then he calmed, his eyes resting upon the clear plastic bag that was feeding a dark orange liquid into him. It seemed to be the cause of his agony and he tried to reach the needle that was pushed into his arm.

"Arghhh!" he screamed, shaking his bonds. "Braxton, I will kill you!"

A chuckle tore his thoughts from the orange liquid and his problem. His head turned and he stared at the man before him. "Braxton," he whispered.

"Yes. Calm down Nicholas. You'll be thanking me when I'm done."

"Thanking you for killing me, I don't think so. Let me go."

"Not yet, Nicholas." Braxton moved across the tile floor, moving to the other side of the bed. He checked on the small plastic bag and then reached into a small refrigerator, pulling out a bag of blood. He hooked it up to the pole, unrolling a length of the thin tubing. He pushed it onto the plastic stopper of the bag and then sent the needle end into the IV in his arm. "This will help."

Nicholas shook his head, smelling the difference in the blood than that of what he usually ingested. "No, what is that?"

"It's blood...and a special additive. Trust me Nicky, you'll enjoy it." He started the drip, the blood flowing into his veins. He began to feel stronger, but something new, something that almost felt foul dripped into his blood as well.

"No!" He shouted the word.

Braxton smiled, resting his hand on Nicky's for just a moment. He squeezed it, and then turned toward the door, staring at the face that was peering into the window. He nodded once and watched as the face disappeared. Then he stepped toward the door and walked out.

* * * *

Mirage stared at the small man hanging in Tinman's arms. "So which is it, Dude?"

When he didn't say anything, Mira moved toward him again, lifting her hand as if to touch him, smiling as he screamed and moved futilely in Drake's arms. "No! No, he'll kill me!"

"I'll kill you, dude, I'll just enjoy it a hell of a lot more." Mira stepped closer, her fingers reaching out to grab a lock of Myler's hair. "You want me even closer, Myler?" She took another step closer, her fingers a hair's breath away.

He screamed, falling backward against Drake. "I'll tell you, I will. Just don't let her touch me."

Drake cocked his head to the side, winking at Mirage. "You know, Dude, I just don't understand your aversion to the pretty ladies. I'd let this one touch me anytime and anywhere."

"You're steel, she'd make me crazy."

"Did you want to try that, Drake?" Mira asked, laughing as his eyes narrowed as if he were considering it.

"I'd say yes, but Lee has a problem with me flirting with the pretty ladies, Mira. She'd turn me into a lump of molten metal scrap." He jumped when an arm came around his shoulders, soft fingers moving over his chin.

"You're so, so right, gorgeous. You'd be scrap metal in a second if I thought you were doing any flirting with Mira here." Lee rose up on tip toe and kissed his cheek.

"Whoa, Lee. Wanna loose the line before you fry me?"

Mira turned seeing the gold flecks that seemed to snap like sparks in Leila's unusual cat-like eyes. She grinned at the black witch, watching as Lee blinked a couple of times and her eyes changed, the gold leaving them just amber.

Kit walked up as well, a pair of handcuffs on a man who was wearing a black suit, a distinguished gray and black striped tie knotted neatly. There was a tiny smudge of dirt on his collar, but beside that, he was perfect, not a hair out of place. "Mira, this is Geeves, the butler."

"Miss, my name is Jarvis," the man interrupted, heaving a sigh.

"Geeves here claims that he has no knowledge of what his 'master' is doing here." Kit smiled as she mauled the man's name again.

"Who is this master?"

"Mr. Taylor Braxton, Miss. The owner of this house."

"So your "master" is kidnapping women and then selling them on the black market whether they're supernatural or not and you have no idea of what he's doing?" Mira turned, staring at the fussy little man. "You really can't expect me to believe a pile of hooey like that."

"Hooey, Miss?"

"Bunkum, bullshit, balderdash, crap, drivel, nonsense, twaddle, claptrap, baloney, garbage, hogwash. . Okay, let's try...Lies."

Jarvis flinched at the word before he shook off Kit's hand and started walking toward her. "Miss, I've been a member of this household for many years. I'm seen Master Taylor do many things. I've never seen him lie."

"Well, keep your eyes open, Geeves. We'll see if we can fix that for you." Mira moved towards Myler again, seeing the relief in his eyes when he was no longer center of her attention. "Oh, no, Myler. I haven't forgotten about you."

Myler screamed, a hollow sound that had the hair standing up on Mira's neck. "He sounds like a four year old girl," Drake said with a laugh. "I wonder if Myler here is actually a man?"

Mira reached down, managing to unbutton the man's pants without touching his skin. Running the zipper down had him dancing in place, as if he'd do anything to get away from Mirage. "I said I'd tell you," he screamed even as the weight of change and keys in his pockets had his pants falling to his knees, exposing Sponge Bob Squarepants boxers."

"Hey, Drake, don't you have a pair of those?" Lee asked, laughing.

"They're classic," Tinman growled. "Don't make fun of the Sponge."

Mira snorted. "Okay, Myler, this is your chance. Where will we find Master Taylor?"

Jarvis seemed to bristle even as Myler squirmed backwards, trying to evade Mira's hands. "There are passages that run under the house! He took one of those!"

"Took one where?" Kit demanded.

The shot that splattered Myler's head all over Drake's face seemed to come from nowhere. Drake jerked back, letting the man drop from his hands. "What the...?"

Then Hunter was there, knocking Mira to the ground and holding her there as another shot sounded, Drake grunting as the slug struck him in the shoulder, dropping harmlessly to the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed. "That's going to bruise." He reached out, grabbing Lee and pulling her in front of him, protecting her with his metal body. Even as he held her, he felt her beginning the ritual that would allow her to tap into the power of the ley lines. There was the sound of a roar and Kit's furred body brushed by him, heading toward the direction the shot had come from.

"Let me up!" Mira growled, pushing at Hunter when he refused to let her go.

"That bullet was meant for you." He grabbed her hands, holding her down under him. "Kit's gone to see if she can track the man who fired it so just shut up and stay put."

Mira shook under him, her hands clenching as she pushed against him. Nothing went through her mind but how close he was, how she could feel him, all of him, against her. His hands touched her hair and he stared down at her, into her eyes, watching as the confusion took her.

"Hunter?" she groaned softly, feeling the hardness of him between her thighs. He made her feel things, realize things, that she hadn't since her husband's death all those many years ago. Heat suffused her, making the flesh between her thighs grow wet and throb. It was need, a desperate need that finally forced her to realize what was happening.

"Let me up," she whispered, unable to look at him.

Hunter looked around them, then lifted, grabbing her hand and pulling her up with him. "Stay here," he said softly, but there was the tone of an order to his voice.

Mira glanced down at what was left of Myler and cursed succinctly. There was no doubt that the man was dead. There wasn't much left a top his shoulders for him to be anything but. "Dammit! We'd been so close!"

Kit yowled loudly as she came back toward them. She grabbed for her uniform and then returned, a human once more. "He's gone. He left the rifle on the ground out there and disappeared. I could smell him on the gun but that was it. It's as if he'd never been there."

"That was a hell of a shot," Drake said, staring down at the mass of blood and gore that was all that was left of Myler. "I don't know of too many who could have made it. Someone doesn't like you much Mirage."

"That's if they were actually shooting at Myler," Hunter said.

"Who else would he be shooting at?"

Mirage scoffed. "No fucking way he was shooting at me, Hunter. I think you might have bumped your head when you dived on me."

"Maybe on that brick you call a head." Hunter grabbed her arm, feeling her stiffen against him. "Come on, we're getting you out of here before they can try again. Kit, you got this?"

"Yeah, just get her out of here, Hunter. I'll report back to Shadow and take Geeves here down to the tombs. He'll be waiting there for you."

Hunter smiled. "Thanks Kit."

Then he kept his hand wrapped around her upper arm, almost dragging her away and back to where they'd parked the SUVs.

"Dammit Hunter," she snarled as he pushed her in from the driver's side. He forced her over easily enough, pushing the keys into the ignition and starting the truck.

"Two fucking inches, Mira. That's it. Two fucking inches to the right and you'd be the one lying out there with no head."

"You don't know that the shot was aimed at me, Hunter. They could have been just trying to shut Myler up before he gave us Taylor's whereabouts."

"And you believe that about as much as I do." He spun the wheel, pulling onto the main road, his hands almost shaking on the steering wheel. "This whole fucking thing was you, Mira. You were the one who started it last night. It was you that got the cleaners and you that brought them into my house. This was your idea and you were the one who found out that Braxton is running slaves. You were the one that was fired at. You can't doubt that now."

She stared at him as if he were speaking some strange language, her eyes narrowing. "This is my fault?"

Hunter didn't even smirk. "Yes, it is."

"Pull over," she growled.

She stared at him, her eyes flaming when he didn't do as she ordered.

"Pull the fuck over," she hissed. "I don't want to even be in the car with you."

"Well ain't it grand that I don't care what you do or don't want?" His foot slammed down on the accelerator and he sped around cars, hitting the siren when they wouldn't get over quick enough for him. "We're going to talk about this."

"You go to hell," she sneered.

"I've been there since the first time I touched you."

Mira heard the tone of his voice and felt a deep tearing pain that seemed to come from the region of her heart. She refused to even think about it, about what he could mean by what he'd said. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the passenger side window.

Hunter drove like a madman, veering around vehicles, coming up behind them so quickly that it would look as if he weren't going to slow down to miss them. He took his anger out on the SUV, ignoring Mirage for the moment as his anger seemed to double.

"Stupid woman," he growled and watched as her head snapped around.

"You'd better not be talking about me."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. You'd be a stupid little girl!"

"What the hell do you mean by that?" she snarled.

Hunter turned onto a back road, barely slowing as the SUV kicked up a cloud of dust behind them. "That you wouldn't know how to act like a woman. You have the mental range of a selfish little girl."

Mira hit the button on her seatbelt and then threw herself at him, her hands coming up like claws. She screamed curses at him, even as he fought her off with one hand, finally slamming on the brakes and putting the SUV into park.

Then he brought both hands into the fight, grabbing her wrists. Mira fought him, using her feet to push her body into the back seat, to try to get away from his grasping hands.

Instead, he followed her, his body coming down on top of hers on the long back seat. He was hard and hot against her and she gasped at the way he felt. But she didn't stop fighting. Her legs scissored, trying to kick out at him. Instead, Hunter found himself intimately pressed against her, her legs wrapping around his waist.

"Let me go," she hissed when she finally grew tired of struggling. "Get the fuck off of me."

Hunter stared down at her. She was flushed from fighting, her hair a spiky mess around her head. Her duster was open; the vest zipper had come down during their fight, leaving her breasts bared to his eyes. Her nipples were hard and pink, almost as if they were begging for his mouth.

She heard his groan and stared up at him, knowing what he was seeing. Her breasts rose and fell agitatedly and she saw his eyes dip, staring at her. "No," she moaned, knowing what was going to happen next.

When his mouth touched hers, she expected to be ravished, to feel his hands hot and hard against her skin. Instead, he was almost tender, his lips gentle against hers. He parted them, sliding his tongue between, tasting her heat. A muffled moan was torn from her and she fought his hold again, this time wanting nothing more than to touch him.

But Hunter didn't know that. He held onto her, his chest crushed her breasts, her hands held next to her head. His mouth moved determinedly over hers, his tongue dipping inside, anxious to taste and tease, to tempt her into giving in to his heat. When she arched, her breasts pressing into him, he groaned again, knowing he'd be unable to stop this time if he didn't do it soon.

Slowly, one at a time, he let go of her hands. He flinched as she dug them into his hair, tugging at it to pull him even harder against her. Her eyes shone like pale blue ice and she held on to him tightly, unable to think as his lips grew softer, teasing her.

"God Mira," he gasped. "I can't stop." He tugged at her duster, stripping her of the heavy white leather as well as her vest, leaving her naked from the waist up. His hand shook as he touched her breast, curving around the generous mound, his thumb stroking over her nipple. She arched, pushing more of herself against him, her fingers tugging at his hair to take his mouth to her breasts.

The sound of her pleasure shook him; the taste of her, the way she felt on his tongue was almost more than he could take. He groaned, feeling her hands move over his head, her fingers gentle on his scalp. "I...I want you, Hunter," she whispered almost too softly for him to hear. But he did.

His breathing was rough, ragged, and he moved his hands down to her waist, tugging at the wide leather belt. Then he was pulling at the button, his fingers sliding down the tab on her zipper before reaching into the vee and sliding his palm against the soft cotton thong she was wearing. He could feel the thin strip of hair under the cotton and he followed the material between her legs, wanting to bury his hand in her wetness.

The first touch of his fingers between her thighs sent a stuttered hum of pleasure through her. She was wet, the cotton of her thong soaked and she pushed up against his hand, wanting more. He pulled his hand away for just an instant, grabbing her hands and putting them at the zipper of his uniform. "If you want me, show me."

The words were spoken in a raspy husk of a voice. She could hear the sound of his need; feel the thumping beat of his heart under her hands. Flipping up the tiny tab on the zipper, she pulled it down, baring his chest and then his stomach to her eager eyes. Then her hands were flat against his chest, running up and underneath the shoulders of his uniform, pushing it off and down his arms. The heat of his skin under her hands was its own kind of pleasure and she slid them down his back and over his hips, his hands coming off of her body to pull free of the uniform.

"Tell me," he ordered. His voice brooked no argument and she felt the flush heat her cheeks.

"I...I ahh..."

"Mira," he growled. "Tell me, now."

"I...I do, Hunter." The words were spoken softly and he cocked his head to the side, staring down at her.

"I don't think I heard that, Mira." He moved his hips, the hard ridge of his cock still caught inside his uniform rubbed against her and she moaned again.

"I want you, Hunter. Dammit! Fuck me!"

"Well you don't have to yell," he teased, grinning down at her. He grabbed her hand before she could strike him, bringing it to his lips. He kissed it softly then trailed his tongue down her wrist, hearing her gasp as what he was doing affected her.

"Hunter," she growled, her free hand moving down to where his uniform rested and she pushed at it, wanting to feel him naked against her. "Help me."

He moved, but not to help her. Instead, he sat up, grabbing her boots and dragging them off of her feet. Her switchblade fell from the top of one boot and he picked it up, letting the blade flash out. Rubbing the small dimple in his chin, he looked from the blade to her leather pants.

"Don't you even think about it." The words were growled and he grinned even wider.

"Oh, why not?"

"Do you have any clue how expensive leather is?" She wiggled her hips, slowly moving the tight leather off of her hips and down her legs, finally kicking free of them. "You're running behind here," she said, glancing down at the uniform that still covered most of his lap.

He grinned, holding his foot out so that she could tug on his boots before he tossed the switchblade into the front seat. By the time she had his uniform off, Hunter had flipped the lever in the back seat that sent the seat flat, making it as wide and as long as a double bed, almost. "I always wondered why they did that."

"And here I thought you'd had sex in every conceivable place in Central."

"How often do I get the keys to the car when Dianna is with us?" He reached out, dragging her over so that she lay atop of him. He groaned as the softness of her breasts pressed so intimately against his wide chest, his hands trailing down her back to cup her hips. "Tell me you won't regret this."

The words were growled and hurried, the silence afterward was expectant, waiting while she tried to form her thoughts around an answer that he would accept. She couldn't tell him she wouldn't regret this. She was regretting it all ready. But her body was impatient and needy and she couldn't, wouldn't stop what seemed to be so necessary to her.

But to lie to him, to tell him that she wouldn't regret the act after it was done, that she couldn't do. She shrugged, her eyes wide as she looked up at him. "I make no promises."

Hunter's hands stroked over her skin, his fingers digging into her hip as he heard her words. "Mira," he growled, her name sounding dangerous in his brooding voice.

"Take what you can get, Hunter. I need you now. But I can't tell you how I'll feel when this is done, and I won't lie to you. I want you. I want to use your body. I want to feel the things that I haven't felt in three thousand years."

"What if I said I wanted more than that?" Hunter's hand was on her chin, lifting her face so that he could see her. "What if I wanted to love you, to move in with you, to become a couple?"

Panic struck, hard and fast, and she felt her stomach twist. "Y-you can't. We can't."

"What if this isn't enough for me, Mira?"

"This is all I have to give you, Hunter." The words were spoken softly but he heard them and rolled away from her to sit up. She reached out to him, her fingers skimming over the skin on his back. "You started this, you got me naked, and now you're just planning to stop?"