Pursued(18)

“All right.” Merrick wiped his bloody knuckles on his black leather flight pants and stared hard at the other bikers. “Any other takers?”

The sight of their fallen giant seemed to shake the bikers to the core. They sat frozen in their booth, none of them saying a word.

“Get him!” James urged shrilly. “I’ll pay a handsome reward to the man who puts him down.”

The bikers shifted uneasily, but there were no takers. Like the Philistines after Goliath was dead, they seemed to lack direction and courage.

“Looks like your money isn’t worth as much as you thought.” Merrick gave him a hard stare and then turned to Elise and held out his arms.” Come on, baby.” She came to him at once and he lifted her and held her close to his chest. “This female is sick,” he announced. “I’m taking her to the Mother Ship for treatment. Anybody else got a problem with that?”

“I have a problem with it,” James declared angrily. “Elise is my fiancé! You can’t just waltz in here and take her.”

“Watch me.” Merrick shifted Elise so that she was cradled more securely in his arms. “Gonna get you out of here, baby.”

Elise buried her face in his neck again and breathed in his scent. “Yes,” she whispered. “All right.”

She opened her eyes just long enough to see the outraged look on James’ face and then closed them to block out everything but the feel of Merrick’s big body close to hers and his strong arms surrounding her. Safe. I’m safe now, she thought.

But was she? Inside her, the strange, wrong feeling was still there. The heat between her legs, the all consuming hunger she couldn’t deny or explain, was still growing and she didn’t know how to stop or even contain it.

All she could do was cling to Merrick and trust him to make her well, as he had promised.





Chapter Five




By the time he got Elise back to his star-duster, which was parked behind the HKR building, she was jittering in his arms like a broken toy. Uncontrollable tremors ran through her, wracking her delicate body until Merrick was afraid she would shake herself apart.

“Elise? Baby?” Despite his mixed feelings about her, he couldn’t help the rush of fear and concern for her that washed over him as he held her shaking body.

“S-s-sorry,” she gasped, her teeth chattering so hard she could barely speak. “D-don’t known wh-what’s wrong w-with me.”

I do, Merrick thought grimly. Sylvan’s words came back to him—If she’s gone past the stages of physical hunger and erratic emotions…she may be too far gone for you to save.

Merrick refused to accept that. He didn’t know what the hell was going on but he wasn’t going to let her go without a fight. Touch her, Sylvan had said. Give her skin-to-skin contact. And that was what Merrick intended to do.

The minute they got into the ship, he settled on the couch in the small living area with Elise still in his lap. Working with one hand at a time, as he tried to keep her close to him, he stripped off his shirt, ripping it to shreds impatiently when it wouldn’t come off fast enough. Finally, his chest and entire upper body was bare. Then he started on the top of Elise’s dress.

“H-hey!” she protested weakly. “Stop it. Wh-what are you d-doing?”

“Trust me.” Merrick tried to maneuver one of the sleeves of the red dress off her shoulder but Elise fought him.

“No! No, you c-can’t! I won’t l-let you!” There was real fear in her big brown eyes, a nameless horror she seemed helpless to express.

“Elise…” he began but she was nearly hysterical now.

“No! No!” She batted at his hands, twisting in his grip to try and get away. The stark terror on her face brought a sudden lump to Merrick’s throat

What happened to her? Who was the fucking bastard who put that fear in her eyes?

He stopped what he was doing and turned her to face him. Holding her gently but firmly, he made her meet his eyes. “Look at me. Elise—look at me,” he demanded.

The minute he stopped trying to undress her, she stopped fighting. But still she clutched the front of her dress, both hands fisted tight in the silky red material. Her chest heaved with her ragged breathing, the breath tearing in her lungs. “What?” she whispered, still shaking. “W-what?”

“I would never hurt you.” Merrick held her eyes with his. “Never. But I need to hold you, need to give you skin-to-skin contact to help you get better.”

“H-how will that help me?” she protested. “I d-don’t understand.”

“I don’t either,” he admitted. “But this may be a matter of life or death. Will you let me help you?”