"Fuck that!” shouted Kingston, "Where are my accounts, you bastard? Where are Fassell's?" Her second in command's expression didn't change, but inside, James was laughing uproariously.
That little minx,he thought fondly.
"Why, what's the problem, Morgan?"
"Holbrook recovered the bid funds, but as soon as he re-activated the account, it set off another program that's taking our personal accounts!" Kingston was nearly screaming by now. "What have you done?"
***
Maura was using every ounce of self-control to keep her body slack while being wrestled into the pink lingerie Fassell had selected for her.Wait for it,she gritted her teeth as he greedily squeezed her breasts while dressing her. Wait for the moment. Don't lose it. Reverently sliding the pink panties up her legs, he was rapturous.
"You're beautiful, my little doll," he crowed. Taking out his phone, he took a picture of her in all of her motionless glory and sent it to Pine’s phone. "Just sending a photo to the hubs,” he said. "I want him to see how perfect you are, right before I tear you up-"
Maura's left leg shot out and nailed him in the side of his knee, bending it sideways and pulling a scream from the bottom of Fassell's lungs.
Rolling off the bed, she punched an elbow into his ribs, getting in a glancing blow as he rolled away. Pulling the lamp off the side table, he swung it at her, barely missing as Maura angled to the left. Pouring every ounce of strength she had into the blow, she sent the heel of her hand into the bridge of his nose, breaking it with a wet-sounding crunch. Fassell slammed his fist into her clavicle, gritting her teeth against the explosive bloom of agony, she circled quickly, trying to get under his flailing fists.
"I'm going to beat you bloody, you fucking bitch!" he hissed, "Break every fucking bone in your- ah!" He yelped as Maura's leg swept his, knocking him off balance as she sent a shot to his ribs with her knee. She smiled grimly at the audible 'crack!' and his answering howl. One huge hand shot to her throat, groping for the silk noose he'd wrapped around her neck. Frantically reaching down, she seized a handful of his dick and one of his testicles, squeezing and twisting the fistful of flesh as hard she could.
Dimly, under his responding scream, she could hear the pounding on the door and the shouts from his security team. It would only be moments before they broke down the door, and her strength was fading rapidly, her chest felt half torn open and she was having trouble drawing in a full breath. Fassell managed to get under her guard and smash one brutish fist into her abdomen, knocking the breath out of her. Hearing her own groan of agony, Maura rolled on her back in a scissor twist, and crushed his head between her thighs, clenching them as she savagely boxed his ears. He bashed a vicious elbow into her shoulder and she could feel the bones grind against each other, splintered, and the pain made her thighs loosen. Both dragged to their feet, circling each other.
"Mr. Fassell! Sir! We're shooting the door lock if you don't answer us!"
The shout from his bodyguard sent a bolt of terror through Maura. If they made it into the cabin, she was dead. Charging him, she slammed into his ribcage using her undamaged shoulder, driving her strong legs into the carpet and shoving him out to the balcony and over the railing. Wrapping her legs around his waist, her last thought before hitting the water was,Thank God we weren't on the top deck.
After the initial shock of hitting the surf, Maura felt back in her element. Water was safe, it was silent and dark. She ruled here. The cool water swept away some of the heat and agony of her shoulder and ribs.
A savage bite on her arm sent out a huge gasp of precious oxygen from her lips, but she pulled the last of her strength into her legs, tightening her grip around his torso. Fassell was squirming wildly, like an eel, trying to slip from her lock on him and swim for the surface.
As they sank lower, Maura felt her left leg loosen as his fist slammed into it. She jammed a thumb into his eye socket, shoving in as hard as she could as bubbles flew to the surface as he screamed soundlessly. Her left leg was shaking and almost useless, but she grimly hooked her right foot over her left, desperately trying to keep her grip as her other arm wrapped around his throat. Closing her eyes in agony against another fist slamming into her thigh, Maura started counting down in the back of her mind. They'd been under for around two minutes. Left leg finally dangling helplessly, she lost part of her grip on him as Fassell twisted and thrashed against her.
Digging her thumb into his eye socket harder, Maura overcame her nausea from the pain and tightened her arm against his throat.Almost there...she reminded herself,almost there, girl. Ye don’t give up.The cool soundless dark around her was soothing, even as the pressure in her ears was rising to painful levels.
Dimly, Maura felt Fassell's thrashing slow, a trail of blood drifting from his eye and nose....Three minutes...But she couldn't let go, even as his body stilled. Not until she was sure. With a final, painful twist, she snapped his neck. One violent convulsion and he was gone. She smiled, picturing the crabs feasting on his flesh soon.
Legs falling slack, Maura felt the darkness creeping into her vision, her body stilled from the descent into the Mediterranean.I've felt this before...she thought slowly.Oxygen deprivation...The vivid images of thrashing in the cushions in their tent came back to her, along with the frantic voice of James, begging her to breathe again.He called me Maura-girl...
Her eyes shot open.
James! Oh, god she had to get back to the ship! With one final glance at Fassell’s slack and useless body sinking under her, Maura painfully forced her beaten arms to move, pulling her up again to the surface.
Chapter 29: Smooth Bastard
In which Maura and James truly understand the phrase, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire."
The stateroom was in chaos. Kingston was screaming into James’s face and the angry Saudis were shouting questions at Holbrook, still hunched over his monitor as if it would force the numbers to make sense again. The volume level only increased when Fassell's security detail raced in to report there was no sign of Maura or their boss in the cabin.
"That makes no sense, you idiots!" First in Command ceased ranting at James to direct her rage at the guards.
"Ma’am, the balcony door was open- it was the only way they could have-"
"You're telling me that Fassell took his whore and decided to take a THIRTY-FOOT JUMP INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN FOR A MOONLIGHT SWIM?" Kingston was beet red, nearly apoplectic in her rage.
"We're not saying that, Ma’am! But it's the only other option- the door was locked from the inside!" Fassell's security team were all visibly shaking, knowing their lives were close to a brutal and abrupt end.
Remembering her swimming scholarship, James grinned.That's my Maura-girl.
***
