Unleashed (Unmemorable Series Book 2) Read online

  Cain looked up from his laptop and tossed it aside. “What happened?”

  Cain rushed over and though his face didn’t change, his hand shook as it touched her neck wound. She opened her mouth to talk, but now that she was looking at Cain, tears burned the back of her eyes and she couldn’t speak. She shook her head and fisted a hand in his shirt. He drew her close and Jackie said something, but she couldn’t hear the words over her own heartbeat.

  Cain’s arms tightened around her and his voice rose. He picked her up in his arms and carried her upstairs to the bathroom. He stripped off her bloody uniform while she stared straight ahead. Angel’s gun clattered to the floor and Cain stared at it a moment before he carried her into the shower stall. She trembled so hard, she could barely stand. Cain inspected every inch of her before he began to wash her. His eyes were continually drawn to the bite on her neck and his eyes were filled with such rage, she would’ve been worried if she wasn’t numb. Despite the fury that pulsed in the air around Cain, his hands were gentle.

  Cain bundled her into a robe, placed her on the bed and piled her clothes into a suitcase. She watched him with detached interest. When he finished packing, Cain knelt in front of her and cupped her face.

  “Raven?”

  He said her name twice before she met his eyes.

  “You’re safe,” he said.

  She shook her head. “I’ll never be safe.”

  He leaned forward and his voice was gruff with rage. “You’re safe with me. I’m not going anywhere. You got that?”

  “What do we do?” Her voice was hoarse with strain. The Battalion wouldn’t leave her alone and they didn’t care who stood in their way. No matter how much protection she had, it would never be enough. She gave them an opening by continuing her stupid job, and because of her, a woman was dead.

  “We’re leaving,” Cain said.

  He helped her get dressed and didn’t comment when she collected Angel’s gun from the bathroom. Cain kept his arm around her as they left the penthouse that had been a home to her for the past two weeks. The Unmemorables followed them to the parking garage where Cain settled her into the passenger seat of her 1990 Saturn. Raven fingered the bite on her neck, which was rapidly fading. Angel would regret the day he found out about a female Unmemorable. If it was the last thing she did, she’d find a way to kill that bastard.

  ***

  It was dark by the time Cain drove up the driveway of a two-story house on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The house was part of a large community with a backdrop of red mountains covered in snow. The garage door opened and Cain parked her old Saturn beside a black SUV.

  When Cain drove away from the Strip, she didn’t ask questions. She kept expecting him to pull over at another hotel, but he kept driving and now here they were in the suburbs. She wasn’t sure what they were doing here, but when he pulled their suitcases from the car, she deduced this is where they were spending the night. She walked through a door that led into a bright kitchen and faced a furnished living room with a Christmas tree.

  “Does someone live here?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Us.”

  “What?”

  “I bought the house.”

  “You bought a house?” she asked slowly, trying to wrap her mind around this. “When?”

  “When we came back from California.”

  Something about that bothered her, but she couldn’t figure it out right now, not when her mind kept replaying the battle with Angel. Cain closed the door that led into the garage, set the alarm and took their suitcases upstairs. Through the haze of lingering shock, she found herself charmed by the simple floor plan. The house was open and airy. She lived in dumpy apartments with bars on the window her whole life and this . . . this was more than she dared to dream of. There was comfy furniture and beautiful hardwood floors. The house had a lived in feel and the smell that wafted from the undecorated Christmas tree sliced through her depression and coaxed her to believe that the world wasn’t such a dark place.

  She went upstairs and found Cain in a massive walk-in closet in the master bedroom. He unpacked her suitcase and hung her clothes by color. She refused to be charmed by his OCD.

  “Why did you buy this house?” she asked.

  “We needed a place to go when you quit.”

  She ground her teeth. “What if I didn’t quit?”

  “It was only a matter of time before you did.”

  She didn’t like that he was always a step ahead of her. This morning she had no intention of quitting her job, yet Cain not only knew she would, he bought a house for them to go to when she quit.

  “So you knew I’d be attacked by the Battalion?”

  The look in his eyes would have scared her if she didn’t trust him completely.

  “If I knew you would be attacked, do you really think I would have let you out of my sight?” When she shook her head, he continued, “Work is your coping mechanism. When you were ready to step into our world, I wanted to bring you here to start off fresh.”

  “Cain, you can’t just go around buying houses and shit. It’s not normal.”

  “It’s just a house,” he said and draped a sweater on a hanger.

  “It’s not just a house, it’s a lot more than that!”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Her eyes bugged when she saw that the closet was filled with more clothes than what they brought in the suitcases. His clothes hung on one side, a tasteful array of colorful long sleeves, jackets, suits, and slacks. The other side of the closet had feminine attire. She stomped over to a slinky dress, yanked it off the rack and looked at the size. Her hands shook as she hung it back in place. She peeked at a coat label and backed away.

  “Armani and Burberry?” she asked in a strangled voice.

  “You don’t like those brands?”

  “I don’t wear brands unless you count White Stag from Walmart!”

  “You wore the other clothes I bought for you. Why are you so upset?”

  “Because...” She waved her hands. “Because!”

  “Because what?”

  “I don’t mind that you bought me a bunch of clothes when I couldn’t go back to my apartment, but this is different! You’re buying a whole shitload and some of this,” she fingered the material of a jersey dress that caught on her callused fingers, “when would I ever wear this? You’re going overboard!”

  “It’s just clothes.”

  “And a house!” she snapped. “You didn’t think to tell me you bought a house in the damn suburbs?”

  He was in front of her with such speed that her words caught in her throat. Cain morphed from placid butler to one of the Council’s most lethal weapons.

  “And you didn’t think to tell me about the Traveler yesterday?”

  She looked away. “He didn’t touch me.”

  “He didn’t, but Angel did. If I knew what happened yesterday, I wouldn’t have left you today. I could have stopped Angel. Now he has your blood again and he’ll be able to remember you. Why’d you give him that opening? What are you thinking, Raven?”

  She took a step back and shook her head. “I don’t know. I think we both need to cool off.”

  Raven walked out of the closet and tried to exit the bedroom, but he beat her there by walking through the closet wall. She tried to go around him, but he forced her back and shut the door.

  “Now that you’re talking again, we need to settle some things,” he said.

  She tried to punch him, but he anticipated that. Cain ducked and put his shoulder into her stomach. He walked over to the bed and dropped her onto the mattress. She swung with her right and almost caught him on the nose until he pinned her wrist. She used every dirty trick she knew, but he was wise to her moves and countered each one. Ten minutes later, she was red in the face and breathing hard.

  “Get off me, you big ass brute!” she bellowed.

  She was weak from fighting, but when she saw his mouth curve, she managed to put some effort into a decen
t head butt. He swore and opened the nightstand drawer. She heard a familiar click and cold metal encircled her wrist. She tried to yank away, but he moved fast. Before she could escape, he had both of her wrists cuffed to the metal posts that made up the headboard. He straddled her hips and examined his handiwork.

  “I knew this bed frame was right for us,” he said.

  She bucked, but with him on her abdomen and her hands stretched over her head, she was helpless.

  “I didn’t think we’d do this on the first night, but you’re rushing me, as usual,” he said with a frown.

  “I’m rushing you?” she shouted.

  “You challenge me and I react.”

  “I’m not challenging you!”

  “You’re keeping things from me. You think you can handle this on your own, but you’re wrong.”

  He crouched over her and placed his hands on either side of her head. She was flat on her back and he was so close, all she could see were his eyes.

  “What if he managed to take you from me? What if he killed one of the Unmemorables? What if they didn’t get to you in time?”

  Her eyes filled with furious tears. “You think I don’t know today was my fault?”

  He cupped her face with his hand. “I told you, I won’t take chances with you. You risked your life for a fucking job. I won’t stand for it, Raven.”

  “I quit.”

  “You did it a day too late,” he said ruthlessly. “You’re mine. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I’ve always done what the Council tells me to do. I went from assignment to assignment without feeling, without interest in what was happening around me, and then I met you. You’re stubborn, sarcastic, hardworking, street smart and unafraid. You’re so independent, you make me insane. You do what you have to, regardless of what you feel, and even while I admire that, it scares the shit out of me because that’s why you left me. I could see it in your eyes that you didn’t want to leave and you did it anyway.”

  He dropped his forehead to hers and breathed deep.

  “I’ve been in life or death situations before, but I’ve never felt panic like what you make me feel. I’m so fucking angry that he touched you.” He lifted his head and brushed his hand over the place where the bite mark had been. “I’m going to kill him.”

  Raven lurched up and kissed him. He kissed her slow and deep and settled his body on hers. It wasn’t long before she shifted restlessly beneath him, but he didn’t remove his clothes or hers. He pulled away and his thumb moved over her swollen lips. He retracted his finger quickly when she tried to bite him.

  “Are you gonna finish this?” she asked breathlessly.

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ve had a hard day.”

  “And I want to finish it with this,” she said through clenched teeth. What a time for him to start acting noble.

  He kissed both of her breasts and rested his face between them for a second. She arched beneath him and let out a low moan. He raised his head, eyes riveted on her face. She lifted heavy lids and made sure he was watching as she licked her bottom lip.

  “Shit,” he hissed.

  Cain got up, shucked his clothes and yanked her jeans off. He spread her jacket wide and tore her shirt right down the middle. He slipped one hand between her legs at the same time that his mouth latched onto one nipple. She let out a muffled groan, yanked on the handcuffs and felt his mouth curve.

  “You can’t keep cuffing me,” she gasped and clamped her thighs together when he slipped two fingers into her.

  “Yeah, I can,” he mumbled around her nipple.

  “One day I’m going to do this to you.”

  “We’ll see.”

  The iron headboard clanged as she tugged on her restraints. Cain took his time torturing her. When she was close to climax, he watched her face.

  “Tell me you want me,” he said as his fingers pumped in and out of her.

  She grit her teeth. “Finish me or I’ll do it myself.”

  He bit her breast and her body jerked.

  “No one gets you off, but me. Got that, babe?”

  “I was fine before you came along!” she shouted.

  His hand tried to move away. She clenched her thighs to keep his fingers inside of her, but they wriggled away and she swore until he moved between her thighs. He placed her legs over his shoulders, but didn’t enter her. She could feel him pulsing against her and she shifted for a better position, but he wasn’t cooperating.

  “I hate you!”

  Cain slid his dick over her slit, making her scoot forward, but he still didn’t enter. “You love me.”

  “Not when you do this!”

  Cain slid inside of her and she closed her eyes in relief. He moved slowly, rocking sensuously, but she didn’t want it slow. He’d been playing with her too long and for the most part, she didn’t like the slow shit anyway. She liked it hard and rough. She clenched inner muscles to urge him on. He bucked before he caught himself. He spread her thighs on the bed and braced himself on his elbows over her.

  “You want it hard?”

  “Don’t I always?” She wrapped her arms around the iron posts in preparation and undulated beneath him.

  His head kicked back and he groaned. “You were a virgin when I met you. How the fuck do you know half the shit you do?”

  “I’ve had years to fantasize.”

  He groaned and slammed into her so hard, she bounced. She saw him strive for control, and since he was so damn irresistible, kissed him again. His tongue slipped into her mouth and once he had a taste of her, he was gone. He pounded into her so hard, she screamed. He didn’t stop when she climaxed. Sweat trickled from his brow as he looked down at her with wild eyes.

  “You’re it for me,” he growled.

  He gripped her ass and kept her in place as he raced to orgasm. When he slumped over her, she was limp as a noodle. They lay there for several minutes before one of his hands wrapped in her hair and gripped.

  “Angel’s a dead man walking,” he murmured.

  “Do you know how to kill him?”

  “Not yet.”

  She buried her face against his neck as tears slipped from her eyes. “He just killed her. Just like that.”

  “He won’t get near you again.”

  She let out a shaky breath and breathed in his scent. “Can you uncuff me?”

  “No.”

  Chapter Five

  The next morning, she woke wrapped in Cain’s arms. She yawned and let her eyes trail lazily over his face. He had rugged features that made him look more like a battered hockey player than a wealthy businessman with superpowers. She wasn’t sure what he was doing on his laptop all the time, but she assumed he had his own money since he wasn’t worried about Rich cutting him off. Plus, she couldn’t imagine Cain depending on someone else for his income. He wasn’t that type of guy.

  She ran her hand along his jaw and scraped the bristles of stubble beneath her fingernails. The hand on her hip tightened, but he didn’t open his eyes. She learned that Cain liked to be stroked. It amused her because he didn’t ask for it, but he would stay still for half an hour or more, allowing her hands to move over him without saying a thing. She’d never been around a man, much less had one to explore, and Cain was more than willing to let her do what she wished. It amazed her, his openness and generosity.

  Cain became her first everything—friend, companion, and lover. She’d been invisible to everyone and then along came Cain, an alpha male that liked Armani and could bake the best French toast in the world. She couldn’t connect the Unmemorables’ tales of him with the man she fell in love with.

  “The Unmemorables warned me away from you,” she said quietly.

  The hand on her hip flexed and then instantly relaxed. His hand curved around to her butt and patted twice.

  “What did you tell them?” he asked.

  “That I trust you.”

  “You know me better than anyone else,” he said and massa
ged her nape with his eyes still closed.

  “They’re afraid of you.”

  “You don’t need to be.”

  “I know.” She paused and blurted, “Are you an assassin?”

  His piercing blue eyes opened and the hand on her nape stopped its ministrations. “Does it matter what I was?”

  She knew what she was supposed to say, but . . . “I want to know why Rich isn’t able to force you to come back to headquarters. He’s the leader of the Council and I know you’re his grandson, but I’m missing something, right? You’re valuable for another reason. What is it?”

  He looked at her for a long minute and brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “For a housekeeper, you’re very smart.”

  “Don’t underestimate housekeepers,” she retorted. “What else do you do for Rich?”

  His mouth curved. “I’m the money.”

  She blinked. “You’re what?”

  “I’m responsible for making the Council money and I’m damn good at it. I do odd jobs for the Council, but normally I’m at headquarters or traveling for business. When they gave you to me as an assignment, it was out of the ordinary. I’ve never had a bodyguard job before.”

  “So, you’re a slick investor/assassin.”

  He didn’t answer, he just ran his hand up and down her side. He didn’t want her prying, that was obvious. Fine. If he didn’t want to talk about that, then, “How many relationships have you been in?”

  “Several,” he said easily.

  “How much is that?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “What we have, I can’t compare it to anything. I’m wondering how many relationships you’re comparing ours to.”

  “I’ve been in several relationships. Only one was serious.”

  “Just one?”

  A nod.

  She glared at him. “Then you’re just as bad as me.”

  “How’s that?”

  “You know, people that haven’t been in a lot of relationships rush things and stuff.”