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We landed at the small airport at three a.m., and quickly deplaned. Jerry was ordered to stay put. An unmarked shuttle van awaited us, and after we all piled in, the driver asked us where to.
I looked down at the text I’d gotten from Devon right before we landed. It had been too easy to track her exact location from my tablet using the IP address. “Twenty-three Crown Mountain Road. But... you can drop us nearby and we’ll walk the rest of the way. It’s a, uh, surprise visit.”
He eyed our tactical clothing and said in broken English, “Uh, sure. That not too far from here, be about ten minutes.”
We rode in silence. My stomach was a ball of nerves. Every lieutenant but Andy had come, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude. They didn’t have to risk their lives for me—for Devon. But they were. We had no idea how many men or vampires were in the house.
After a few minutes, the driver stopped the van on the side of the road and said, “It’s up the hill, about three houses. Can’t miss it.”
“Thanks,” Viper said, handing the man cash. “Stay here and wait, we’ll be out in less than an hour. Kill the lights, please.”
“You got it, boss man,” he replied, turning the engine off.
The five of us huddled up in front of the van. “Did she say where in the house she was?” Viper asked me.
“She just said a back bedroom.”
“I say the two of you go in, the three of us will surround the house, front and back,” Shadow said.
“I agree,” Phoenix said. “You guys locked and loaded?”
Rolling my eyes, I held up my pistol. “Yes, Rambo.”
Viper pulled his balaclava up over his face. We did the same as we ran up the street. Hiding behind a large palm bush at the front of the property, we ducked down.
“I forgot there was a gate. Craig, go break the lock,” Viper instructed.
“No,” I said, putting a hand on Shadow’s arm. “They probably have an alarm inside that triggers when the gate is opened. Probably have cameras, too. I say we go around the back, jump over the fence.”
“Okay,” Viper said. “Let’s go.”
We used vampire speed to get to the back of the house. The same black wrought-iron fencing surrounded the whole property. The one at the back had pointed tips on each bar. In the backyard was a large swimming pool with string lights up on the back porch littered with patio furniture.
“Hey, look,” Venom said. “There’s a gate.” He asked me, “Think it’ll set off any alarms?”
I went over to it and shook my head. “No, there’s nothing electrical here. So unless they have an invisible fence, we should be able to break it and sneak in undetected.”
Shadow twisted the padlock off and dropped it to the ground.
As silent as ghosts, we crept into the backyard and spread out. “Look in the windows, discreetly,” Viper said into our earpieces.
All the lights were on in the house. The curtains were open, and we could see three individuals in the living room watching television. There was one other in the kitchen using the microwave. All males.
I went around to the side of the house and saw three sets of windows. Unfortunately, they all had blackout shutters on them. I tapped lightly on the first one and then put my back up against the wall, out of sight. Nobody responded. Onto the next, I did the same with no response. If she wasn’t in this third room, I would have to assume they had moved her, or she was elsewhere in the house. I tapped on the window lightly with my pistol and hid. With my sensitive hearing, I heard somebody stir. My heart raced. The shutters moved and I saw Devon’s face peer out. I jumped in front of the window, and she looked like she was about to scream until I lowered my face covering.
“It’s me,” I said quietly. “Open the window!”
She shook her head. “I already tried. It doesn’t open.”
“Hang tight,” I said, putting a finger up. I pressed the com button on my earpiece. “Face to Nighthawks, I found her. Back bedroom. I’m gonna have to break the window. Be prepared for chaos.”
“Copy,” they replied.
“Shadow, go find Face and help. Venom, Phoenix, get out of the yard but wait behind the fence. Just watch for anything.”
“Roger,” they replied.
Shadow materialized next to me, and I jumped. He hadn’t done that in a while. In fact, we should have just sent him in there to begin with. This was less risky, I supposed.
“Grab whatever you need and get back. I’m breaking the window.”
Devon yanked the plastic shutters off the window and then pulled something out from under the mattress.
“Ready?” I asked Craig.
He nodded.
I used my gun to break the window. “Come on!” I said to Devon, looking around. She jumped out the window and into my arms.
“Thank you,” she sobbed into my shoulder.
I had so many feelings going at once. Relief but still fear. We weren’t close to being out of the woods yet.
“Let’s get you out of here, beautiful.” We ducked low and ran toward the gate. We froze when we heard a gunshot.
“Shit,” Shadow said. “Stay here.” He disappeared but we didn’t stay put. We rounded the corner into the main part of the yard and saw Viper on the ground, bleeding from his shoulder. He was conscious and looked murderous.
“Breaking the window must have tripped a silent alarm,” Devon whispered.
“You’re probably right,” I said, grabbing her hand and yanking her to the side of the house, where I told her to stay. I went around slowly and watched Shadow appear in front of one of the guys and break his neck, then shoot him in the head. He popped off two more shots and hit the other two in the head. They crumbled to ash, their clothing the only thing left.
“Come on!” I pulled Devon around the corner and headed for the gate. The last one spotted us and aimed his pistol at us. “Where do you think you’re going, Frank? We’re gonna find you, you ugly-ass bitch!” He shot off a round right at us.
I pushed her to the ground, lifted my gun, and aimed it straight for center mass. The bullet hit him in the chest, and he went down with a thud. “Shut the fuck up, asshole.”
“Dude! You hit him from like thirty yards away!” Venom called from behind the gate.
“Nobody fucks with my woman,” I snapped. With my adrenaline flowing, I pulled her to stand, pushed her hood back, and grabbed her face. My lips crashed down onto hers, and she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back.
Phoenix whistled from behind the gate. “Later, lovebirds, let’s roll.”
Shadow picked up Viper and used vampire speed to rush him out of the yard. We all followed.
We ran down the street, and the driver started the van as soon as he saw us rushing toward him.
“Back to the airport,” Shadow said, setting Viper into the first bench seat.
“Is he bleeding?” the driver asked as he pealed off onto the road.
“It’ll heal,” Viper said through gritted teeth, rolling his shoulder. “It’s a through and through.”
Devon and I sat on the third-row bench. I squeezed her hand. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head and looked at me with big, shiny green eyes. “Thank you for saving me.” She looked around the van. “All of you. I didn’t deserve it, but I’m in your debt.”
“I’d call it a win for everyone. Four human-trafficking pieces of shit are dead, and that website is gone.”
“There are lots of others,” Devon said quietly.
“Then with your help, we’ll take those down, too,” Shadow said, turning around and looking at us.
She smiled. “Of course.”
The van went silent, and I looked at Devon. “Frank?”
She rolled her eyes. “Frankenstein.”
I set my jaw and growled, “I should have shot him twice.”
I asked Phoenix to drop us off at Devon’s apartment. She was going to get some things and then come stay at the clubhouse with me for a while.
“What the hell? Why is my door unlocked?” she asked as we reached her apartment.
“I don’t know. When I came here looking for you, it was already unlocked so I left it that way.”
We wandered inside, and she took off the hoodie and threw the burner phone onto the couch. “I wonder if they broke in here and were looking around before they found me on the street. Doesn’t look like anything’s missing.”
“That makes sense.” I looked at the lock. “Yeah, the lock’s broken. I should have noticed that before.”
“So, how did you know which apartment was mine?” she asked.
I grinned. “I broke into the office and found paperwork for an apartment leased to Devon Smith. I took a chance.”
“You criminal, you,” she replied, turning down the hallway toward the bedroom.
I grabbed her shoulder, spun her around, and pushed her up against the hallway wall. I bent down and sealed my lips over hers, kissing her in a way she’d know I wasn’t letting her out of my sight. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I reached under her shirt to unclasp her bra from the back one-handed. I broke the kiss and tore her shirt off over her head, then tossed her bra to the floor.
Panting, she unzipped my jacket and slid it off my arms where it landed with a thud. Then she urgently pulled my belt buckle loose, yanked it, and threw it to the floor like it was a snake about to attack her. Smiling, she unbuttoned my pants and ran the zipper down.
“I’m so fucking hard, I need to be inside you,” I murmured as she stared into my eyes while she shoved my pants down.
She licked her lips with a grin as she pulled her jeans down and shimmied out of them after toeing off her boots. I quickly got rid of my boots and kicked out of my pants.
“Fuck, that’s beautiful,” she said, grabbing my painfully hard cock and stroking it. I shuddered. It had been way too long, and I wasn’t going to last, I just knew it.
I got down on my knees, pushed her legs apart, and gripped her hips. I felt her hands go into my hair with a moan as I licked her slit and my tongue wiggled it inside, finding her swollen bud. I sucked on it and then pushed two fingers inside her. “Goddamn, you taste delicious,” I murmured while I ate her pussy like a starving man.
Her legs began to tremble, and she was mewling and mumbling incoherent words. When her grip on my hair tightened, I felt her walls squeeze around my fingers as my tongue continued to lavish her. “Parker,” she let out on a breathy moan. “Oh, God.”
I stood, wiped my face, and then picked her up, wrapping her legs around my waist. I shoved my cock into her dripping wet hole and started pumping. I could feel her pussy still spasming from the orgasm and moved my hips faster. She grabbed my face and kissed me while we fucked hard and fast. I felt her walls squeeze around me again, and her nipples pebbled against my chest. A rush of tingles raced through my groin, and my balls seized up a split second before I exploded inside of her. She screamed and shuddered against me. “Oh, my God!”
“Holy shit,” I grunted, still pumping into her slowly as I milked my climax.
She leaned her face into my shoulder as we stood there, not moving, her back against the wall, her breasts pressed to my chest. She lifted her head to look at me. “That was... I don’t think I’ve ever come that hard.”
I pressed my lips to hers once more. “Me neither.” I looked into her face and brushed her hair away from her cheek. “I love you, Devon.”
Her beautiful green eyes welled up. “I know. You risked your life to save me. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.” She stroked my cheek with her thumb. “I love you, too, Parker.”