Task Force Three and the Irish Jewel [The Men of Five-O #3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (10 page)

“You’re doing great. Keep it up,”
Sean encouraged.

“I can’t be empathetic and mushy when my wolf is revved up like this. Her taste is incredible,”
Willy added. Mick made a sound then joined Ava by the couch. He sat on the opposite arm of the couch as Sean and took her hand into his own.

“I’m Mick. That’s Willy, Pat, and you met Kyle and Sean already.” Willy ran his fingers through his hair then sat down on the love seat opposite the couch.

Ava looked at each of the men then swallowed hard.

“I’m certain this is difficult after everything that you’ve been through,” Mick stated, trying to hold her gaze, but Ava tried to pull her hand away. He held it firmly.

“What do you know about what I’ve gone through? You don’t know me and I don’t know you.”

“We’re going to work on that immediately, Ava. Right now, I want you to understand what’s happening here between the six of us and how important it is that you trust us to protect you.”

Ava pulled her hand away and stood up.

She ran her hand through her hair then pushed it behind her shoulder.

She looked at each of them then took an unsteady breath. Mick could hear her rapid heartbeat.

“We understand that this is all new to you. We weren’t expecting to find our mate while conducting an investigation.”

“I told you before that I don’t know anything about your investigation. As far as this mate stuff is concerned, I’m not interested,” she stated as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Sean grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him.

“We know about Fenly.”

Her eyes widened in shock as she tried to push Sean away. He wouldn’t budge though, and finally she stopped struggling.

“We’re the good guys, Ava.”

She took a few steps back as she shook her head. “Leave. I do not need any of you. Just go.” She swallowed hard as they stared at her. She wasn’t stupid. She had to see the hunger in their eyes and sense their power. It didn’t take a wolf to know she was outnumbered. Mick wanted to convince her to trust them, but he was getting the feeling that trust didn’t come easy for Ava. She wasn’t intimidated by them, not that they wanted to intimidate her, but if it got her to cooperate and comply sooner, then so be it.

“We’re not leaving here without you,” Kyle stated, looking directly at Ava.

She placed her hands on her hips.

“Suit yourself. I’m going to go change. Don’t even think of barging in and trying to slobber all over me or claim me, whatever it is you do to a mate,” she stated, sounding bitchy and appearing embarrassed about it. Quickly she hid her flushed cheeks and headed away from them. They watched her walk toward the bedroom with her perfect round ass swaying seductively.

“Whoowee, that woman is sassy,” Mick stated as he stood up and looked at his brothers.

“This is bullshit! She’s our mate. One of us should be in that bedroom with her right now,” Sean stated, sounding furious.

“She’s not a wolf, Sean. We have to understand her reservations and her fear. Let’s be grateful that at least she knows that wolves exist. We can work on the protocol of our relationship with time,” Willy told him.

“Protocol of our relationship? This is not a mission, Willy. You sound like an elder,” Kyle stated firmly as he showed his disgust before walking closer toward Ava’s door.

Just then they heard a noise coming from the bedroom.

Pat ran by Kyle and opened the door.

“Fuck!” he yelled, and as Willy appeared in the doorway, he noticed the black dress lying on the floor and the window to the fire escape open.

Pat was climbing through the window, already in pursuit. They looked down just as Ava neared the bottom.

They heard the sound of screeching tires and could see the men emptying out of a black SUV.

“Move it now!” Willy yelled, his wolf getting the best of him as concern for their mate fired him into action.

* * * *

Just as Ava made it to the bottom of the fire escape she felt the arm go around her waist and smelled the stinky breath of some goon.

A jab to his solar plexus, and a loud grunt filled the air as he released his grip. She began to run as a second then third man attempted to grab her. A shot to her left side had her gasping for air as the pain filtered through her body. She fought hard, a jab to the right, a kick to the left, and suddenly she wasn’t fighting on her own. As she looked above her, Sean dropped down onto one of the guys as she continued to fight off her attackers. A growl filled the air, and Kyle landed on two men, knocking them to the ground. These other guys obviously weren’t wolves or they would have shifted. As she caught sight of Willy, momentarily distracted by his angry expression, she was struck to the cheek pretty hard by one of the goons, causing her to fall to the ground. Before she could recover, someone picked her up and threw her over their shoulder.

In a matter of seconds she was tossed into a vehicle as doors slammed closed and the driver took off.

* * * *

Ava struggled to get out from under the massive body on top of her. She wiggled and shoved against what felt like heavy, solid steel as she attempted to reach the syringe and stick the bastard. It all happened so quickly, and she was fighting for her life. When she felt the thick, hard erection against her groin, she panicked and freaked out, stabbing the individual with the pointed edge and pressing the top of the syringe, releasing a large amount of sedative into her attacker.

“What the hell, Ava!” her attacker yelled as he pushed up from on top of her, straddling her waist as he held her arms above her head. As he gripped her wrists tightly, the syringe fell from her fingers. As the vehicle passed a series of bright lights her attacker’s face was illuminated at the same time she heard the familiar voice.

Willy?

She was shocked, and before she could reply he fell against her, his face landing between the cleavage of her breasts.

* * * *

“Oh shit, Willy is going to be pissed when he wakes up,” Sean stated as Ava looked toward him, and he snapped a picture with his cell phone. He was smiling from ear to ear as Kyle drove the SUV.

Ava struggled for release under William, but Sean’s brother was a huge guy. He wondered how the fuck he and Kyle would carry Willy from the car. Oh well, first things first.

“What did you do to him?” Sean asked Ava. He shook his head as he watched her try to get out from underneath Willy.

“I didn’t know it was him. I was fighting for my life and he could have said something sooner,” she replied, losing her breath with every centimeter she pushed.

“He was saving your ass and that’s the type of gratitude you give him? We’re trying to protect you not hurt you.” Kyle added to the conversation as he maneuvered a right turn too quickly. Ava pushed exactly at that moment and sent Willy tumbling to the floor, causing a huge thump.

“Oh, that’s real nice, Ava,” Sean said as he tried to hide a chuckle. It was funny right now, but Willy would be one pissed-off Alpha wolf when he finally awoke. He sure as hell didn’t want to be around for that. He focused on the parts of Ava he could see in the darkness since her shirt was lifted nearly to her chest, showing off her tight abs.

“I didn’t mean it. Well, he shouldn’t have grabbed me like that and I couldn’t breathe,” she explained.

“We said we were here to protect you. Why did you run?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t need your protection.”

“Oh really? Like you could have handled those five guys back there on your own?” Sean challenged.

“I was doing fine until I had to hit two guys simultaneously so that you and your brother wouldn’t get hurt.”

“What? You’re crazy. Just sit back and relax. We have a long ride ahead of us,” Sean added.

“Just drop me off at the next corner. I don’t need you and I don’t want to be here.”

She grabbed for the door handle, but Kyle made sure she was locked in. They heard her grunt as she tried to pull the handle over and over again in an attempt to exit the vehicle.

“It’s no use, Ava, you’re coming with us now,” Sean yelled then folded his arms in front of his chest.

It appeared that their mate had a temper and a bit of a wild side to her. Did she really think that she could escape from her mates? How were they going to make her see that they were her destiny and she was theirs? He released a sigh as a numerous thoughts went through his head, including how it would feel when Ava finally accepted them and his cock was buried deep in her pussy.

“Thanks a lot, Sean. Like I need a fucking boner right now while driving for the next hour,”
Kyle stated through their link, and Sean cringed, not realizing that he was projecting so much to his brothers. It appeared that their mate already had his head screwed up.

Ava felt really bad about drugging Willy. She had no idea it was him who threw her over his shoulder then shoved her into the backseat of the vehicle. She was scared and desperate to escape. As she looked down toward the floor, she saw even in sleep that the man looked feral and dangerous. His high cheekbones stood out as if he clenched his teeth. She absorbed his features, including his military-type haircut, tan complexion, and handsome face. To know that he was a wolf was crazy. Yet, for some odd reason she didn’t fear that about Willy like she feared Fenly and his other wolves. There were mixed emotions brewing in her mind. She had been taught to trust no one and although these men claimed to want to protect her, she was finding it too difficult to take a step and trust them. It was like standing on the edge of a very high cliff overlooking a body of water surrounded by jagged boulders. The uncertainty made her stomach clench.

She took a deep breath, leaned back, and watched out the window as Kyle continued to drive. Neither he nor Sean said a word. Sean glanced back at her as if confirming she was still there, and Kyle did the same through the rearview mirror above the dashboard. She couldn’t see where they were headed but knew it was north because of the one parkway sign above the exit they took. At least they were headed out of the city and hopefully away from Fenly.

Her body shivered at the thought of him finding her. Sean took notice as he turned to face her.

“Are you cold?”

“I’m fine,” she snapped, and he turned away from her, obviously not wanting to engage in a fight. She exhaled in annoyance until she began to calm down and take in her surroundings. The scent of the men was overwhelming. It was a clean, outdoorsy type of scent, and it was appealing to her. Glancing up toward Sean, she absorbed his features. Sean was attractive and had a bit of a wild look about him. Maybe it was his shoulder-length hair or the light dusting of whiskers along his jawline. Something about him screamed “sinful.” Well, at least Sean and Kyle looked that way. Mick and William intimidated her the most. She supposed that it wasn’t the brightest idea to knock him out with a tranquilizer.

The further they drove the more tired she became. She was hungry, too, and hadn’t eaten in quite some time, but she wouldn’t say a word. These guys would probably use food as leverage to get into her pants. That thought even bothered her. Deep down she wondered if they would do such a thing. Fenly would. Why did she keep comparing them to Fenly? She exhaled in annoyance. She needed to get away from these men. They confused her and brought about emotions and feelings she didn’t know how to handle. She should get back to her apartment, grab some things, including her computer, and get the heck out of New York. She began to formulate a plan in her mind as she started to close her eyes, and then forced them to remain open. She couldn’t let her guard down.

“You should close your eyes and rest. It may take a while and you look tired,” Sean stated, causing her to jump at his sudden voice even though he spoke softly.

“I’m fine,” she whispered back.

“You’ve been on the run for a while,” he added and sounded sympathetic. She sure had been. That was the story of the last two years of her life.

“Isn’t that the truth,” she whispered then turned away from him to look out the window.

A while later, just as it seemed her exhaustion had won the fight to remain awake, she felt the SUV begin to slow down as they exited the highway then drove along some back roads. The lights from cars on the highway could still be seen from a distance, but receded the further into darkness they took her. They were traveling through heavily wooded areas, and her confidence about getting to her apartment lessened. She wasn’t sure she could handle an escape through wilderness, but she had to give it a shot. She couldn’t stick around these men and wait for them to claim her or do whatever it was wolves did. She instantly thought about the others and where they might be. Hopefully they got away from her attackers back in the city. She wanted to kick herself for even giving a shit. She wasn’t going to just trust them because they were “special,” as Walt had described. How could she, when it seemed that the only people she could trust were herself, Brennan, and Walt. She had been on her own and had survived on her own. It was time to take back control of her life.

* * * *

Kyle parked the SUV in the garage all the while keeping an eye on Ava. She was jumpy and kept looking around as if planning an escape. He conveyed his suspicions to his brother Sean, who just shook his head.

The moment they got out of the truck, they thought Ava would book, but instead she began to try and wake up Willy.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Just leave him asleep and we’ll carry him in,” Sean told her. Then he leaned into the backseat and hoisted Willy up and over his shoulder.

The second Ava emerged from the backseat, Kyle noticed her bruised and swollen cheekbone. He felt his wolf stir in anger that his mate was hurt.

“What’s wrong? What?” Ava asked, stepping back, causing her rear to hit the side of the SUV.

“You’re hurt. They hit you,” Kyle stated.