Lover Mine (Blood Brothers 1) Read online

  Lover Mine (Blood Brothers)

  BJ Brandon

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2013 Diane Rhodes

  License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to all those who believed in the impossible and went after it anyway. And especially to the men and women of the U. S. Armed Forces who give their very lives and breath for the freedom to allow all of us express ourselves.

  May you always dream and may your fears always be laid to rest by a loved one's hand.

  A special thanks to Trish, Kathee, and RD. You made this series possible by believing it actually could come life from the dreams that floated around inside of me for so long. I love you guys.

  Chapter One

  Shadows wavered, quivering through the air before evaporating like smoke. Long fingers of ghostly mist slipped along the ground among the centuries old forest as it reached out to filter moonlight through the thick canopy above. Dawn was still hours away but the night was alive, nature's breathe soft as a lover's kiss and gentle against the skin.

  The mist found its way hampered by the thick growth of oak, pines and maple as their branches whispered of secrets best forgotten like ghostly specters watching over those who invaded their realm. Evil stalked here, he could sense it, taste it. The oily, slippery feel of it moved over his skin as he silently felt his way to the edge of a clearing, halting as he listened to night sounds that were the essence of the forest.

  Nothing moved that shouldn't be there. Kayne MacIntyre was sure of it. It was second nature for him to reach out to his surroundings with senses most humans had yet to develop much less recognize, soaking sensations into the tiny pores of his skin like a second nature to know who or what walked in the dark with them.

  An owl sat patiently, perched high in the canopy as it waited for a snack to scuttle out of hiding. To the right some ten feet away he spotted a small rustle in the brush, then movement and watched as the owl silently swooped down to pick off the late night snack.

  Dew on the undergrowth kept the earth still and quiet for a moment as the owl munched but the night sounds quickly resumed their chorus. Just a small tussle and death contributed to life once more.

  Tucked into the dense ground cover the hills around him lay gloomy and silent as Kayne searched for the hidden compound. Nothing so far it seemed their Intel was flawed. However, there was no doubt in his mind that evil was here. His gift - his curse, to sense the taint that was too strong, too clear.

  The small comm link at his ear-clicked decimals lower than most people could detect, alerting Kayne his companions were close. He didn't need the device to sense them but since he couldn't directly communicate with all of them telepathically, it was a necessary evil.

  "Do you feel it?" the rumbled growl filtered through Kayne's senses, his twin's unease punching though on their unique telepathic link, pushing his already hyper senses into overdrive as a warning filtered through their unique bond, a sucker punch to his gut.

  "Yeah," he sent back, letting Rafe "taste it." There . . . just to the left.

  Something was pushing at the back of his uniquely heightened senses, just out of touch but there nonetheless. Almost touching, but not quiet, like a quivering mass of nerves afraid to reach out.

  He mentally reached for it but it slipped away, causing Kayne to pause in mid-step. The touch wasn't one of his crew, he was certain of it. That could only mean one thing.

  Moving like the predator he was, Kayne left no hint of his passing as his large body moved in the silvery mist. Black pants hugged his torso like a second skin while the T-shirt stretched and moved over darkly tanned muscle and hard abs. He moved like the predator he was, no scent or sound until the enemy stared death in the face. Then it was too late because death gave no mercy, granted no quarter. Easing into place next to a massive tree trunk taken down by Mother Nature and in the process of being consumed by his surroundings, he scanned a steep ravine below.

  Eyes the color of a dark blue sea closed. Kayne lowered his shields, reaching out with senses few human beings would understand or comprehend, feeling his way into the shadows below. The mountainous regions here in this remote section of the Rockies could be hazardous at the best of times, but death hung low over this particular ravine. Nature hadn't brought this abomination to the forest, only monsters could taint the air around them like this.

  Again, that sense of evil mixed with something so different, so unique it raised the hackles of his neck as he strained to sort it from whatever stalked the forest. Then he felt it again, there!

  Following his mind's eyes in an unwavering path further along the edge of the ravine, Kayne finally managed to get a clear sense of what hid below them. Just to the left of a deep stand of trees, almost invisible to naked eyes stood a rustic cabin set deep against a hillside.

  "Damn it, I can taste it!" irritation laced Rafe's curse over the communications link at Kayne's ear. "Where the hell is that fucker?" He didn't bother answering since he was looking at it when another click sounded on the comm. link. Two clinks - Shit, they were in for it now.

  "Are the two of you going to play hide and seek all night, or get with the program?" came a growl so deep it rumbled across their stretched nerves, causing the hair on the back of Kayne's neck to rise even higher. He turned his head toward the north in the direction of his team, knowing they felt it, too.

  "Found it, Merc!" he whispered, wondering if he could do a sneak and peak any closer to what he was sensing.

  "Don't even try it!" Rafe's blistering whisper was barely heard over the communications link, but Kayne knew by that tone that the rest of the team was included in the threat, warning them of other dangers he felt. His brother was running too hot as it was and any additional push could make it worse.

  Normally the calmer of the two, this mission had somehow been darker, more deadly than both of them had expected. Not that they weren't use to it, but without down time over the last three months the team was running low on reserves and desperately needed to recharge. This mission had come at a bad time, one that didn't allow any serious down time before a risky mission against known and unknown threats that risk their identities.

  Suddenly, images rushed at him, nightmares, and demons emerging from the cold depths where he usually had them locked down where the demons couldn't eat his soul. Where the screams and blood wouldn't coat his skin and leave him shaking with cold and death. His gut almost cramped until a soothing wave filtered over his mind.

  "Stop it!" The command came softly, Rafe's growl almost gentle and opposite from the surly outburst. "There is nothing we can do about the past, Kayne. We're free . . . do not give it back or it will eat away your soul!"

  Thankfully, he wa
s saved a reply. "I see one small shed, looks like a one or two room cabin, with what could be a kitchenette and small living room. Two hostiles on the front porch." Merc's observations continued to pour over the communications link to the team as he reviewed their options. Mercury Slater was as strong as Rafe and Kayne at sensing what was out there, and once he linked with the rest of team they were almost unstoppable. Almost!

  A unit built for military use that had backfired when alien DNA was used to enhance their genetics, they weren't the killing machines their government had expected them to be. Their service to their country had been beyond reproach, so the group of men had left but their superiors felt they couldn't be turned loose on the general population once it was revealed what had been created.

  An entire colony of soldiers, men and women who were enhanced to some degree or another by genetic manipulation using alien technology were considered outcasts by their own governments and a completely different species. Now they formed an alliance of sorts, banning together to find a means to survive, use the skills they had honed and enhanced along with other natural ingrained abilities to ensure the survival of mankind the only way they knew how . . . by protecting the innocent.

  Kayne sensed rather than felt his brother ease into position nearby, waiting for further Intel from Merc on the targets down below. They were in the best position for the snatch and grab, get the precious cargo out of the hands of the hostiles and get the hell out of these mountains pronto before more bloodshed and havoc rained down on these backwoods, before other innocents died.

  "I count four, Merc. There are two more hostiles out back," Davey, the youngest of the group reported in a whisper across the communications link. Suddenly a deep sound of agony of which Kayne had not heard in a lifetime came across the link.

  "Oh my God!"

  "Davey, what is it?" Kayne growled, the order was brisk, short and hard but necessary since he recognized that sound. They couldn't afford for the kid's nightmares to haunt him now. When no answer came he hissed, "Davey - report!"

  "The cargo is inside, I can see it through a small window. But there are kennels in the back, Kayne. They have a young one locked down back there. I can smell her, Kayne, it's a kid!" The silence on the link pulsed as the information silenced the other three men.

  Death fell cold and dark across Kayne's dark blue eyes, turning them arctic. Anyone who knew him would know there would be only corpses left in the grove when the team disappeared.

  "Davey - you have the little one!" Merc stated with steel in his voice as he gave the order. "Slow and easy, my friend! You cannot terrify any more than has already happened so try to keep the damage to a minimum." There was no answer, only two clicks and silence.

  "Team one - move. Take them out." Kayne didn't need any more push and neither did Rafe.

  On the breath of the night they moved, silence was their ally, surprise their shield. Not a footstep was heard as large bodies moved like the dark specters they were, the only sound being the hush of night creatures as the men moved into position.

  The two hostiles reclining on the front porch never felt the poison darts that struck their necks, instantly taking them down. The bodies never made a sound as they were caught and gently slipped off the side of the wooden porch to avoid making any sound, laid on the damp ground. The two brothers easily slipping into place with no one the wiser.

  It took only seconds for the others to take out their targets, not a breath of sound or hint of unease made it past the front door. They slipped inside like silent death.

  Kayne slid left into the room, his first thought being they had the wrong place. Rafe followed to the right canting both directions and using hand signals to indicate the all clear, but both men sensed the strangeness of the situation. There was a feeling of emptiness about the room, no vibrations or living pulse anywhere except in the back room through the door to the left, and it set Kayne's nerves on end.

  There should have been more activity, others than just those guarding the outside. Yet he could sense no one was in the front of the structure.

  "Clear!" he whispered into the communications link for the team, Rafe's nod to his right.

  The nape of his neck tingled and he could still feel a tentative, almost hesitant vibration pushing at his psyche as though trying to reach out but it made no sense. He could feel where each member of his team was located, knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was no one else within miles of the area other than the team who had their enhanced abilities, so it as impossible for someone close enough for him to feel them. There was no movement, nothing to indicate hostiles in the cabin. Otherwise, he would sense them, their intent, the evil. All he could pick up was silence, no movement and no one coming at them . . . what was going on?

  Rafe cleared the small kitchen and the front of small structure while Kayne took the last room to the back, pushing the door open slowly. What caught his attention had his breath freezing in his lungs, his heart nearly stopping and his gut clinched at the sight.

  Suspended from the ceiling was the "package" and she was in no shape to travel. Chained to the ceiling, she was stripped bare and hanging by her wrists, her toes barely touching the floor. Glancing at her hands, he could see that she must have fought, the skin bruised and torn by the chains holding her in place.

  Her face was hardly touched, but the rest of her body looked like someone had used it for a punching bag. Every inch from her perfect nipples to her waxed feminine mound was almost one massive color and in places there was blood from several scratches and sliced cuts. It took everything he had not to go back and kill the bastards all over again.

  The instruments lying next to her were abominations meant for torture, some so-called sex toys streaked with blood and gore. His stomach almost rebelled at the thought of what those monsters must have done to this small slip of a woman and his hands fisted in an effort to control the rage quickly spiraling out of control.

  "Rafe, I need your shirt!" he hissed, reaching behind him for it. "Now!"

  Kayne didn't even flinch when the shirt was slapped into his hand. "Help me get her down."

  With gentle hands, growls and curses for the death of her captures, the brothers managed to cut her down without further injury and gently wrapped in the huge shirt that hung below her knees. She managed a few moans as Kayne brushed back tangled strands of long tawny hair from a beautiful face that was too pale, normally lush lips that were cracked and dry. He was just as shocked as she was when chocolate and honey colored eyes fluttered open to lock with his, her scream locked deep in her bruised chest. The instant their eyes locked Kayne realized who he had sensed all this time.

  Kayne secured a massive hand over her lips, leaning close to her ear.

  "Hush, little one, you're safe now!" he crooned, inserting a mental push to calm her as much as possible He felt her inner turmoil, and instantly recognized how strong she was even now. Here was the terror he had felt up on the ridge, the strength.

  "Sleep," he whispered, forcing his strong willpower deep into her confused semi-consciousness, careful of the fragile hold she had on reality. He watched her long dark lashes flutter then close back over those luscious rich eyes filled with pain and loss, eyes Kayne knew he would be lost in if he continued to look at for too long.

  He could feel Rafe's emotions as he continued to bundle the female up in his twin's huge shirt. Careful of her injuries, he allowed himself a slow caress along her side before handing her off to the only man he trusted at his back. It made no sense, this sudden need to guard a female he had just rescued, one of many over the years as their team worked to break up the human trafficking rings that were as popular as crack or heroin and just as profitable. Without realizing it his hand smoothed over a taunt stomach that was covered in massive contusions, marveling and wondering how this little bit of feminine flesh had lived through whatever these killers had managed to do to her.

  "We need to go . . . Now!" Rafe growled silently.

  "You
carry her, I'll cover the rear." He gently lifted the female and handed her to his brother, taking another quick look at the room.

  For the first time he noticed there were other items scattered about. Pictures of additional females hung above a metal desk in the corner. A camera with what looked like an internet connection sat propped against the other corner but no laptop or other device was anywhere in the room.

  Looking closer, he could tell the women were of different ages, different backgrounds but all appeared to be of gentle breeding. This operation was about more than trafficking, much more.

  "I have a bad feeling about this," he whispered into the communications link as he quickly gathered everything he could quickly grab for evidence.

  "Explain!" Merc's command came over the link.

  "Later, we need to move!" he whispered, looking toward his twin. Rafe's nod assured him the female was secure. "Davey - report!"

  Silence - damn it, where was that boy!

  "Merc, do you have a location on Davey?"

  "He's got the other package and is headed toward extraction. So far so good." Kayne could tell there was more to it than what his teammate was saying but for now they had to evacuate. Too much time here and his neck itched. Not a good thing.

  His gut crawling, the spirits of the forest screaming at him to get a move on it, Kayne's senses were telling him something was wrong but he couldn't see, taste, or smell it. Yet it was there!

  "Move out!" Signaling his twin, Kayne pulled up the rear, allowing Rafe to carry the fragile burden in a fireman's carry that couldn't be helped. Taunt flesh peaked out from under the bottom of the shirt, crisscrossed with shallow slices from either a well-placed blade or some kind of whip. He found his hands wanting to smooth them, take the pain away.

  "Do you have her?" The twin-speak the two of them had used for so long came natural and swift, easier on the mind and body, automatic.

  "She's coming around again, Bro. I can feel her body temp and heartbeat changing. When she does there's going to be panic. She won't understand who has her now." Rafe didn't so much as miss a step, he just ensured nothing hit the female as they hung low and made for the extraction point.