Stolen By Raze (Grabbed Book 4) Read online

  Torment nodded stiffly. “The secret police roundup was a need-to-know order, Raze. The other—the women—that was a last-minute condition from Orion for using his crews. He asked me to offer asylum and refuge to any woman willing to become a wife to one of his airmen. I knew you would refuse so I withheld that information.”

  Irritated by the way Torment didn’t offer an apology, Raze glanced back at the group of women huddling behind Ella who had naturally taken up a position as their protector and spokeswoman. Even in her obviously injured state, she stood in front of them like some warrior princess ready to punch the first man who tried to even touch one of them.

  Growling at the medics looking on, he shouted, “Get those women some medical attention!” He swept his gaze around the cargo area, making sure every man there caught his eye. “No one bothers these women. They’re under my protection until we land.”

  A round of affirmative nods circled the cargo area. The two medics onboard the flight hurried to follow his orders. Fierce and Harm, the SRU members with the most medical training, jumped in to help.

  “Just remember that you aren’t totally innocent in this,” Torment interjected. “You let those underage kids go first.”

  “Children should always be protected.”

  “Agreed.” Torment rolled his shoulders, almost as if trying to push away a bad memory. A keen negotiator, Raze easily read that faint twitch in Torment’s cheek. Apparently, the man wasn’t the block of ice everyone assumed him to be. Someone, somewhere, had hurt him as a child—badly, if Raze had to guess.

  Shaking his head, Torment blew out a breath. “It’s going to be fucking pandemonium when we hit the decks with all these women.”

  Raze issued a throaty noise in agreement. “Venom’s team is on the Arctis. I’ll have to call in the third shift for backup.”

  “That’s Mayhem’s crew, right?”

  “Yes.” Equipped with his bionic leg and a new purpose as an SRU member, Mayhem had regained his confidence and his innate talent for leadership. Raze had given Mayhem leadership of the swing-shift team on a probationary period for six months. There were men with more seniority on the other SRU teams who could have had the position but none of them had wanted it. So far Mayhem excelled in the role and everyone was pleased with his leadership.

  “I’ve seen them in action. They’re good.”

  “Of course, they are,” he muttered. “I won’t accept anything less.”

  He located Ella along one of the bench seats. A medic rinsed her eyes and wiped down her exposed skin. Here, in the bright light of the cargo area, she looked impossibly beautiful in that crimson dress. He had seen enough of Dizzy’s work to know the design was one of hers, and it fit Ella to perfection. The medic draped a blanket around her shoulders and she wrapped it tightly to her body.

  Tearing his needful gaze away from the only woman who had ever tempted him like this, Raze tapped his throat mic. “SRU One to Skyhawk, we’re clear for liftoff.”

  “Received.” Swift’s answer was followed by the humming vibration of the aircraft as it started to rise vertically.

  Following in Torment’s footsteps, he came to stand in front of Ella who seemed to be handling the fright of her night quite well. Not caring that his action would spur wagging tongues, he crouched down in front of her and used one of the wipes from the medic’s kit to clean away the makeup running down her face. She seemed surprised but didn’t stop him.

  Voice raw, probably from inhaling the gas, she said, “We need to contact Danny. Someone has to get out here and help the rest of them escape.”

  “I’ve never had need to contact him directly,” Torment admitted. “I wouldn’t know where to begin, not on such immediate terms.”

  “I do. We need to contact Fee—the Mouth,” she hastily corrected herself.

  Torment seized on her near slip. “You know the Mouth from the South?”

  She didn’t lie. “I do, but I’m not going to tell you her identity.”

  Raze cleaned away the last smudge under her eyes. He tapped her cheek and gazed into her gorgeous hazel eyes. “Tell me what to do and we’ll get a message to her.”

  “We need a radio.”

  He balled up the wipe and tossed it into the medic’s refuse bag. “Ci?”

  “Yep?”

  “Bring Ella a radio.” He snatched a bottle of water from the medical kit, twisted off the cap and pressed it into her hand. “Drink this.”

  Their fingers brushed together as she accepted the bottle. A sizzling arc of desire zapped through his arm and into his chest. She surprised him by rubbing his fingers and smiling. “Thank you.”

  Trying to get his wildly vacillating emotions under control, Raze stepped aside so Cipher and Ella could make their radio call. He left Torment to supervise and made his way to the cockpit to contact the Valiant with an early report.

  Finished with his transmission, Raze started to return to the cargo area but Swift stopped him. “How is she?”

  “Which one?”

  “The pretty one who has her face all over the advertisements on her planet,” he clarified.

  Raze narrowed his eyes at the pilot. “Ella is fine.”

  “Man, you’ve got that right.” Swift zeroed in on the live feed of the cargo area displayed on one of his monitors. “That dress! Damn, red is a hot color for her.”

  He started to tell the man to stow it but bit his tongue. She’s not yours. He’s just an asshole. Let it go. “What’s the flight time to the Valiant like tonight?”

  Swift glanced at his radar screen. “Just under two hours. The ship is optimally located and swinging toward us on its orbit. The traffic is light tonight.” Swiveling to face him, Swift asked, “Is she the type of woman you can entice with an offer or am I going to have to take her?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “The admiral promised those of us flying the mission first dibs on any of the women who came with us.” Swift’s gaze seemed fixed on Ella on the screen. “I’m the highest-ranking airman out here tonight—and I’m claiming that one.”

  Raze curled his fingers into tight fists at his side rather than wrap them around the pilot’s neck. “She’s not going to let anyone claim her.”

  Of that, Raze was absolutely sure. Ella hadn’t struck him as the sort of woman who would be easily persuaded to do anything. Knowing Swift’s history from the officers’ club, he feared the man would trample all over her boundaries—or worse, if she didn’t submit to him immediately.

  “Then I guess it will go the hard way,” Swift replied with a shrug. “That’s okay. I’ve always liked the challenge of molding a stubborn girl into the proper form.”

  Stomach lurching, Raze gritted his teeth together and pivoted on his heel. “Give us a thirty-minute heads-up before we dock.”

  “Will do,” Swift said, seemingly oblivious to Raze’s anger.

  Back in the cargo area, he heard raised voices—Ella and Torment—and hastened his pace. He nearly slammed into Threat who stood watching the scene before him with amusement. Ella had her finger in Torment’s face and looked ready to kick him in the shins for whatever offense he had caused.

  “What the hell is wrong now?”

  Threat smiled at him. “Seems like Torment just informed Ella that she’s not going back to The City.”

  “Shit.” He ate up the floor with long strides and reached the arguing pair just as Ella stepped forward to really lay into the Shadow Force operative. “Hey! What’s going on here?”

  Ella cast furious eyes on him. “This asshole is kidnapping me!”

  “This asshole just put his neck on the line to save your life!” Torment rarely lost his cool but it seemed Ella had pushed all of his buttons.

  “Oh, gee, thanks for saving me just so you could pimp me out to one of your soldiers.”

  “No one is going to pimp you out, Ella.” Raze tried to wrest control of the situation. “We’ll take you to the Valiant and sort this mess out there.” He glanced at the
other women who looked on with interest. “These women chose to come with us and to be taken as wives. You weren’t given that choice.”

  “Just land this fucking ship now and let me off!”

  “That’s not happening.” Torment slashed his hand through the air. “You’re a marked woman now that we’ve rescued you, and you’re much too important to Dizzy. If you were taken, she could be emotionally blackmailed into helping you. That puts Venom and General Thorn at an increased risk of being targeted.”

  “Oh please!” Ella rolled her beautiful eyes. “Who in the hell would extort Dizzy using me?”

  “Maybe that secret policeman who used to keep you as his mistress?” Torment rudely cut in. “Or maybe the ex-boyfriend of yours who abandoned you and left you to face an arson charge?” With a careless shrug, he added, “With your history, I’m sure there’s no end to the long line of men—”

  A sharp crack interrupted Torment’s tirade. With lightning fast speed that impressed even Raze, Ella had smacked the covert operative right across the face. “You’re a pig.”

  The air around them crackled with tension as everyone waited to see what would happen next. Torment’s jaw tightened but he barely seemed to have registered the impact of Ella’s blow. Though she wore a stony expression, Raze could see the genuine and very deep hurt Torment’s words had caused Ella. She spun on her heel and walked away from them.

  Raze’s heart ached at the sight of her forlorn and rounded shoulders. Narrowing his eyes, he gave Torment a rough shove. “That was so far out of line—”

  “It’s the truth,” Torment hissed. “Dizzy came to Venom as pure as that white snow he fetched her out of but her friend cannot say the same.”

  “So? How many poppies have you run through over the years?”

  “That’s different.”

  “Why? Because you have a dick?”

  “Because I wasn’t the one pocketing money.”

  Pushing the other man against the wall, Raze used his substantial height and bulk to his advantage. His blood pressure skyrocketed as Torment all but called Ella a whore. “You need to watch your mouth.”

  Torment’s eyes widened fractionally. “Really, Raze? That one? Out of every other woman on this hellhole of a planet, you want that one?”

  He refused to answer the question. “I won’t allow a man to speak to any woman in that disrespectful way in my presence. Now—you apologize to her or I’m opening that cargo door and you’re going to practice a night drop without a parachute.”

  Torment shook out of Raze’s hold and held his gaze. “I realize she’s gorgeous—but that’s all she is. What you see is what you get with her. Sleep with her if you must. Get her out of your system—and then get rid of her. She will be nothing but trouble.”

  Irritated by Torment’s advice, he followed the man over to the bench where Ella was kneeling in front of one of the women. She held the other woman’s foot still while a medic wrapped it with clean gauze. Torment cleared his throat to get her attention but Ella didn’t even look up at him. “Did you remember another insult you’d like to sling my way?”

  Torment scowled. “I shouldn’t have spoken that way to you. It was unbecoming of a Harcos officer.”

  “Is that all?”

  He hesitated a full two seconds. Raze was ready to deck Torment if he said one more cruel word. “Yes.”

  Ella continued to focus on the foot she was holding. “Apology not accepted.”

  The Shadow Force operative stared at Ella’s back for an uncomfortably long moment before backing away and disappearing into the cockpit. It wasn’t until Torment was far, far from her that Ella finally lifted her head. Those pretty eyes of hers now shimmered with unshed tears. Their gazes locked, and the raw emotion etched into her lovely face him like a punch to the gut.

  On instinct, he took a step toward her. His hands moved the smallest bit before he reeled in the need to haul her into his arms. Then what? The question raced through his mind, stopping him from making his move. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

  He didn’t have a plan.

  He needed one.

  Fast.

  Feeling off-center, Raze dragged a long, silent breath into his lungs and forced his feet to move. Turning away from Ella, he spotted his SRU men standing in a far corner of the cargo area. Their heads together, they talked in low voices. When he joined them, Cipher glanced at him. “Well, boss? What’s the plan?”

  For me or us? He cast aside his personal thoughts and concentrated on the mission. “When we hit the arrivals deck, I want these women surrounded and protected. No one touches them until I’ve spoken to the admiral and the general.”

  “Non-lethal force?” Threat held up one of the green-striped ammo cartridges.

  Raze nodded. “Put down anyone who tries to breech the perimeter we establish. I’ll take the heat.”

  Just as he would no doubt take the heat for what had happened to the secret police and for taking the women. His jaw tightened as he considered the shit storm that Torment had just provoked with his unilateral decision-making. The permission may have been given by Orion but it would be Raze who would be called before the disciplinary board if the Calyx ambassador lodged a complaint.

  Not wanting to dwell on the review that awaited him, he issued his orders. “Cipher, map out a route to get the women from the arrivals deck to the SRU headquarters. We can secure them there. Put together two backup routes and take control of all the access points—elevators, doors, stairs. I want to be able to shut it down at a moment’s notice.”

  “Done.”

  “Threat, oversee the switch to non-lethal ammo. Harm, you’re on tactical. Fierce, let’s get a man assigned to each woman.” He glanced at his watch and calculated their earliest possible arrival time. “I’ll contact Mayhem and have team three waiting.”

  “What happens when we hit the decks?” Harm glanced at the women. “Are we really letting the Sky Corps take all of them?”

  Raze eyed the tactician. The man had enough valor points to join a Grab but hadn’t submitted the necessary forms. “You sweet on one of them?”

  He glanced at the women again. “That blonde one is pretty enough.”

  Raze thought that was a pretty flimsy start for a mate-bond but supported his man nonetheless. “If you want her, I’ll make sure you’re given a chance.”

  “I’ll talk to her and see what she’s like. If I think there’s something there, I’ll let you know before we arrive.”

  “All right. Let’s move.”

  Fierce waited until the team had dispersed to step closer. Voice lowered, he asked, “Boss, you want to handle Ella’s security?”

  Raze offered a terse nod. “She’s mine.”

  The other man’s eyebrows lifted. “For the mission?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t dare contemplate more.

  Turning his attention to contacting Mayhem, Raze made the necessary arrangements for an escort. While using the communication booth near the cockpit, he overheard Swift talking to his co-pilot about Ella.

  “I’ve got a list a dozen names long for swap night. I figured I would snatch a pretty enough bride tomorrow morning but this one? Man! Can you imagine how many favors I’ll be able to call in after our first visit to the O.C.?”

  Aggravated by the sound of Swift’s voice, Raze closed his communication with Mayhem and left the cockpit. He rolled his shoulders and tried to push from his mind the images of Ella on her knees servicing a long line of Swift’s buddies during one of the swap meets at the officers’ club. There were mates who relished the attention from multiple men, but he could tell Ella wasn’t one of them. From the nasty hints Torment had dropped, it was obvious that she had been forced to make some ugly choices as a younger woman. She would loathe Swift.

  Raze’s stomach ached at the thought of Ella being used in that way. Fully aware that she had been a street child, he would never judge her for making whatever devilish deals were necessary to fill her belly or put a roof
over her head. What about Swift? If he Grabbed her, what would he do when he realized Ella’s past was far from innocent?

  The thoughts of what Ella might suffer under the pilot’s hand tormented Raze. He tried to convince himself that she wasn’t his problem. He had gone down to the surface to rescue her from a lifetime in the work camps. He had done Dizzy and Venom a solid favor. Surely that was enough.

  Wasn’t it?

  Chapter Four

  Mouth dry and fingers trembling, Ella faked a smile for the sake of the women surrounding her. Mastering the art of acting had come in handy as a child, and now was no different. She pretended to be totally calm in the hopes of bolstering the courage of the women surrounding her. She wasn’t the oldest of them—four of the women were nearly thirty—but somehow, she had been silently voted the spokeswoman of their group.

  She figured it had to do with her familiarity with the sky warriors who had come to their rescue. A lot of effing good that familiarity was doing her now. Irritated, she thought of the way that haughty bastard Torment had spoken to her.

  Her heart did a funny little wobble when she remembered the way Raze had defended her. Raze treated her with respect and kindness—and it unsettled her. When other men looked at her, she had no trouble reading their expressions. Lust and desire were easy enough to decipher. Raze had the most complicated face she had ever seen. She wondered if it had something to do with his negotiating skills. He seemed able to mask his true feelings and project only what he wanted others to see.

  Was that cool, unemotional mask he wore every time she was near his real face or simply the one he wanted her to see? If it was a lie, what was he hiding from her?

  Glancing at Raze now, she saw the way the other soldiers deferred to him. It wasn’t simply because he wore the insignia of a high-ranking officer. No, Raze commanded attention and respect with his very presence. These men trusted him without reservation or question.

  As if sensing her gaze, the behemoth in question flicked his attention from the man he had been discussing tactics with to her. He cracked the tiniest smile, almost as if hoping to set her at ease. A flare of heat licked at her core, and she swallowed hard. Why in the world did this man’s simple glance excite her?