Page 27 of Lose Me In The Shadows

And then both of them were wrapped around her, holding her tight. They’d surrounded her naked, trembling body like this when they’d taken her from her apartment, too. But things were so different now. Her captors, yes. Her tormentors, unquestionably. But now they were her rescuers.

“We’ve got you. We’ve got you. You’re safe, baby.” Micah hushed her.

Conor growled something and kissed her forehead.

“You came for me,” she sobbed.

He lifted her chin. “Sweet girl, we’ll always come for you. I promised to keep you safe, and I keep my promises.”

“But I…”

“You’re ours. No matter what you do, no matter who you hurt, you belong to us.”

“Luke…”

“We’ll talk about that later, baby girl. We need to get out of here,” Micah said, stripping off his Kevlar and shirt. Usually, Kara would be distracted by the display, but her adrenaline was beginning to crash, and she was still in shock by the close call, and their rescue. “I doubt we have much time before they show up with reinforcements,” he added. To Kara he said, “Can you lift your arms, baby?”

Eagerly, she complied, even though every part of her body shrieked in pain. She was so ready to not be naked. The men, for their part, swept her body with glances filled only with concern. There was no lust in their eyes, just the need to make sure she was fully intact. With gentle hands, Micah tugged his shirt over Kara’s head and arms, pulling it so it covered her upper thighs. Kara remembered the satisfaction she’d seen in his eyes whenever she wore his clothes, the way she’d done it to fuck with them. Now, there was no manipulation, just relief and gratitude—and the safety from the trace of his warm scent.

Conor tilted her chin with his hand. “Kara, was Chris Johnathan here?”

She nodded. “Earlier.”

Micah and Conor traded glances. Then, Micah briefly, gently, took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. “Do everything Conor tells you to do, okay, baby? This isn’t the time for resistance—we need to get you out of here safe.”

He turned to leave.

Kara caught his hand in hers. “Where are you going?”

Micah was usually calm amidst the chaos. But his eyes went dark for a moment before they cleared. “To find that asshole before he escapes. He’ll pay for what he did to you.Allof it.”

With that, he silently left the cell.

“Can you walk?” Conor asked.

She nodded. He located her shoes and knelt in front of her, lifting one foot into a sneaker, and then the other, tying her shoes like she was a little girl.

“I remember when we bought these for you,” Conor said, his voice wistful. “Luke wanted you to go running with him.”

“Luke…”

Conor rose to his feet, shaking his head.

“Later,” he said, echoing Micah. “For now, you need to follow my directions, brave girl. Follow me, one step behind. Don’t look behind you, don’t stop for anything. If I tell you to hide, you hide. If I tell you to run, you run. You’re going to see some stuff you may not want to see. It can’t be helped. Got it?”

Kara nodded. “Got it.”

His eyes warmed as he withdrew a gun. “Good girl.”

The first thing she saw outside of the cell were the Tweedles on the floor. She jerked, before realizing that two of them weren’t moving. Tweedle Dumber and Dumbest had bullet holes in their heads, their eyes open and blank.

Next to them, Tweedle Dumb groaned from the floor—alive, but barely. Her hands trembled. Conor looked down at them, then at her. “Was he the one who hurt you?”

She nodded. Conor went still. “Did he beat you?”

Kara swallowed. “Yes.”

“Did he take your clothes?”

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