Chapter 11
Mentally and physical exhausted, Guthrie practically belly-flopped onto the bed of blankets spread over the floor of his tent. He’d left Vortigern’s institute in southern Nevada more than twenty hours ago, and he’d been all over the damn Rocky Mountains collecting soldiers. Now he lay in a basin in Montana’s Glacier National Park, surrounded by freezing lakes and snow-covered mountains.
“It’s a far cry from last night’s quarters.”
Guthrie jolted and rolled over, finding Lynette standing over him. “Go to bed, Lyn.”
“That’s what I’m doing.” She knelt then crawled to the spot beside him. “Will you keep me warm?”
“I didn’t invite you to stay.”
She ignored the remark and laid her cheek on his bicep. “Why else would you keep me with you when you could have sent me to Yellowstone with Token?”
Staring at the ceiling of his tent, Guthrie took a deep breath, preparing himself to meet her gaze without falling victim to it. “I kept you so I can keep an eye on you. You speak too freely of dangerous things.”
“You’re worried I’d try to sway Token?”
“I think you’d do anything to reclaim the power Agro stole from you.”
“Then why am I still alive, lieutenant?”
Guthrie’s expression hardened. “Don’t tempt me, Lynette. My world would be easier without you in it.”
Brushing the jab aside, she slid her hand down his stomach and firmly curled her fingers around his manhood. “But I make you feel good.”
“You scare the hell out of me,” he corrected, yet his cock grew all the same.
Lynette laughed and moved closer, gliding her hand along his expanding shaft. “You know what I think?”
“What?” he mumbled, eyes drifting shut. He knew what she was doing. She was trying to manipulate him. But he was too exhausted to protest.
She kissed the tattoo on his neck as she murmured an answer. “I think you’re intrigued by my dangerous talk. You just refuse to admit you have a deep…” Her gripped tightened. “…down…” Her lips found his ear. “…desire...” Her tongue flicked as her palm rolled over the head of his erection. “…to reclaim your own power.”
He shuddered, and her lips curved into a smile, her breath steaming up his ear and neck. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Guthrie. What do you think I’d do? Tell the boss?”
“You’re going to get us both killed.”
“Or we could live like royalty, sleep in the finest beds and eat the freshest food, spread our wealth to those who will praise your name for replacing the man who starved them for so long.”
Guthrie took a measured breath, suppressing his pleasure to seek out answers. “And where do you think that wealth will come from?”
“Agro’s a rich man, Guthrie. He could put us all in mansions, but he’d rather keep his treasure locked in vaults.”
“Perhaps, but his plunders won’t last forever, not when we’re spreading the wealth to hundreds of subordinates. What happens when we run dry?”
“We get more.”
“By what means? Will we rob, rape and murder? Steal other’s power just as Agro has stolen ours? If you want to live like him, you have to act like him. Is that what you want?”
“We already act like him. We’re his right hand, there to rub him off every time he gets a hard-on over a new target.” She shifted, propping her upper body on his chest, and he opened his eyes to find her intently staring at him. “But if we take him out, the whole world will be better off, especially us.”
“Replace the old power with a new duo,” Guthrie replied. “That’s what you want?”
“Yes,” she whispered, like a lover in the throes of passion. “That’s what I want, and you’re the only man who can do it.”
“I wouldn’t live to see another minute. Those loyal to him would kill me.”
Lynette smiled and shook her head. “You don’t have to plunge the dagger in. He’s doing that to himself. You just have to let him… while we silently sway the soldiers’ loyalty. Then, when he falls, you’ll hold the power. You’ll be the savior everyone’s dying to please.”
Guthrie’s forehead furrowed. “The man’s crazy, Lyn, but he’s not suicidal.”
“He’s worse than suicidal, Guthrie. He’s obsessed with a witch. Women are always the death of the men who fixate wholly upon them.”
As Guthrie stared into Lynette’s conniving eyes, he couldn’t remember truer words being spoken. “Nothing’s going to stop Agro from getting his witch.”