4
Good girl?Had he really just said that? He should have started pushing her up the ladder, her legs around his shoulders, like he’d promised—anything to get them out of this godforsaken place sooner.
But part of him wanted, no, needed, to soothe and comfort her. Running down the hallway after the shootout, he’d carried her in his arms. He should’ve thrown her over his shoulder again, but her fear and pain had become a living, breathing thing inside him. Plus, her skin was buttery soft and he hadn’t wanted to stop touching her.
Worse than that, he could smell her arousal and knew that for whatever reason she was attracted to him. And his body was rock hard and aching as he attended to her everything.
Her breaths were coming out in short pants, her heart skidding around inside her chest, still out of control. “Caroline, I’ve got you. Break it down. It’s just a ladder. You know how to climb a ladder, right?”
Her voice trembled when she answered, “Yes.” She moved up another rung. He moved with her, keeping his hand on her ankle, reassuring her of his presence.
“That’s it, keep going. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”
“Reaper?” She kept moving at a slow, yet steady, pace. It was better than no progress, but he felt a tremendous need for speed. There was no way the cameras in the hallway hadn’t tracked them back to that room. It was possible that Gen. Rainier hadn’t had time to locate the secret exit built into the lab—possible, but not likely.
If he’d seen them go into the room and knew about the escape tunnel, he’d be redirecting his men to the hatch in the woods. Maybe they were already standing there, ready to blow his brains out and take Caroline back for their experiments.
The thought turned his stomach sour, not because he was scared of dying, but because he didn’t want their hands on her.
But you’re going to use her for the same thing they will—
“Yes?” he ground out, ignoring the thought.
“Thank you.”
Reaper closed his eyes and leaned his head against the bar he clutched, something that might have been guilt nudging at the hole where his heart used to be. She really did think he’d come to save her. It was obvious from the way she kept looking at him with something like hero worship in her big, blue eyes.
Blue eyes he could get lost in.
Fuck. What the hell was he thinking? He didn’t care about her. He didn’t want her. He didn’t need her. Well, he did need her blood. She was the only way he would be able save his team. He couldn’t start going all soft just because she was grateful he’d gotten her out of that lab.
They kept moving upward at a snail’s pace. Maybe if he climbed faster she’d get the hint. There wasn’t any room for her irrational phobia in a place like this, not if they wanted to escape with their lives. He let go and quickly spanned the three bars between them, only stopping when his face was level with the back of her thighs. A sweet, heavenly scent filled his nostrils, and his cock hardened like a rock. He trembled. That had been a mistake. Caroline drew a sharp breath and heat poured from her body in waves that had his eyelids going heavy. Fuck, she smelled good.
She smelled so good he wanted to stay in this godforsaken tunnel just so he could be close to her. He wanted to part that gown and bury himself inside her. Every instinct inside of him called for him to do just that. Take her like an animal.
“Reaper?”
Reaper took in a deep breath and crushed the rung in his grip, trying to use pain to focus his mind on anything but Caroline. “What?”
“I am—never mind.” As if sensing the riot of urges rolling through him, Caroline moved swiftly upward, her soft calf muscle grazing his cheek. His mind flooded with images of those legs wrapped around his head.
The sound of crunching metal reached his ears and he opened his eyes and uncurled his hands to stare down at the nearly crushed rung of the ladder. That was not good. He could not afford to have any type of urgency when it came to her. Not when her blood was the only thing that would ensure the survival of his team.
He had to find a fucking way to squash these thoughts before they took over.
She darted up the ladder like a rabbit, and the small distance she’d put between them helped him clear his head enough to follow. They moved in silence, Reaper ignoring the range of emotions rolling off the girl above him. Because of his enhancements, he could hear, see, and smell much better than average, but he’d never felt another person’s emotions before. It was almost like they were connected somehow. Could it be because Caroline’s blood was part of the serum that had changed him in the first place? Was it just his DNA recognizing hers? That had to be it because he didn’t know anything about her other than she’d been raised as senator’s daughter. He had nothing in common with her. He would’ve never even looked twice at her had they met under different circumstances. She was too pure. He needed a woman rough around the edges who didn’t mind being used.
“I think we’re at the top,” she said.
Fuck, there was no way he could leave that ladder without rubbing up against her soft body and satiny skin. The mere thought had his already aching cock throbbing. She was naked beneath that gown; he’d had plenty of opportunities to see her perfectly round ass. And if she had any idea that he could see in the darkness, she’d probably run for her life as soon as they got out because, God help him, he had not been able to get the sight of her slick folds out of his mind.
His uncontrollable urges just pissed him off. He had to remember she was a tool. Maybe that was why his voice sounded harsher than he intended when he said, “Move down and to the side. I need to get above you.”
“But there’s not enough room.”
“Yes there is,” he said harshly. “Do what I said.”
Thank God she held silent and did as he commanded. Reaper sucked in a breath, determined not to inhale her scent, and reached his arms around her waist, climbing upward. He had to practically squeeze past her as he climbed up, putting his cock in contact with her legs and then her back. He’d have to practically crawl over her.
