Vivian Arend - Black Gold

The blessed relief of the cessation of the prop noise was exchanged for increased pain as Norm shoved him in the back hard enough Shaun fell out of the chopper, face first to the ground, unable to break his fall with his hands pinned behind him.

Gem tugged him upward, brushing a hand over him gently even as she aimed the evil eye at their kidnappers. “Leave him be. There’s no benefit in hurting him anymore.”

“Ahh, see that one was for my brother down in Chicken. Your mate should stay out of fights that don’t concern him.” Norm flashed a crooked smile before shoving them toward the building.

Shaun forced himself to stay vertical and take in everything he could. If they were going to get out of this, and he had every intention of damn well making it out with both of them alive and unhurt, he needed to figure out what the hell to do.

Gem’s warm hands slipped around him, helping more than he wanted to admit. Not just the physical strength, but the fact it was her, his mate. Great time to figure out that he was hopelessly in love and would do anything to make sure they stayed together.

Sections of the derelict building’s siding had worked their way loose, hanging in tattered ribbons of silver and grey, the steel building posts exposed to the harsh elements. The Defense Early Warning Line buildings not actively maintained by the US and Canadian governments had been abandoned after the Cold War ended. Some had been adapted to become weather stations, some stripped by nomadic natives and shifters scavenging for building materials. This mid-sized one was in better shape than most, as they discovered after being shoved inside, the door slamming closed behind them with an ominous metallic clink. A bolt slipped into place, a lock attached.

Shaun swore. “There goes the idea of jumping them in their sleep.”

A loud banging rang out—a fist pounding the door?

“You got enough supplies for a person to survive a week.” Bruce’s rasping laugh echoed weirdly from outside. “’Course, since there’s two of you, I suggest you go on a diet or pray for mice. Once we get our money, we’ll let your Daddy know where you are, sugar. And don’t bother trying to figure out who we are. We’ll be going bush for the next while and not even your wolves can track us. Not when we’re in bear and you have no idea of our starting point.”

The ear-splitting rattle resounded from the door again followed by a short silence, then the helicopter props sounded, fading slowly into the distance.

There was a ringing in Shaun’s ears after the volume overload of earlier. A tomb-like hush surrounded them.

Gem clutched his shirtsleeves, her eyes wide as she stared at him. “Are they really gone?”

“It looks that way. Here, untie me.”

She’d already moved to his side, and he twisted to allow her to reach his wrists. The lighting was shitty. There wasn’t that much light in the sky, not even up here where the sun never set. Add to that, most of the windows seemed to be sealed with storm shutters. Only minute cracks in the siding allowed in slivers of orangish light, painting them with freaky stripes.

“This sucks. Sorry, Gem, I fucked up royally back there. I hadn’t considered the idea that anyone would try to kidnap you.”

She tapped his arm again. “Stop that, you’re certainly not to blame. I’d forgotten about the danger myself, not realizing anyone knew who I was. It’s my fault I got you into this mess.”

What a ridiculous conversation. Shaun grinned, his jaw aching. “Well, now that we both got that bit of whining out of our systems… No more blame, except where it belongs—on the shits responsible.”

The pressure restricting his hands vanished, and he brought his arms forward with a groan as the blood hit his fingers and flowed into the fatigued muscles.

“Are you okay?” Gem dropped the ropes to the floor and rubbed his arms gently, avoiding the rising bruises from where he’d been beaten. He’d never been so humiliated. Of course, three on one weren’t good odds, but still.

“I’ll be better once I shift—but first, let’s take a look around. It doesn’t sound as if we’re in a huge rush.” He stopped her before she stepped away. “I meant after I kiss you. Insane woman.”

He caught her cheeks in his hands, cradling her face tenderly before lowering his lips over hers. Gem wrapped her arms around him and pressed closer. Their contact wasn’t sexually frantic, but needy. Wanting. An affirmation of being together and being alive.

It was a heady kiss, and they were both breathing rather hard when they finished.

Gem slipped her fingers into his as they explored their prison. Near black surrounded them, making it tough to see where they were going. They shuffled forward, toes bumping into debris on the ground.

“At least it doesn’t smell too bad.”

Shaun chuckled. “That’s not always a good thing. Means there isn’t enough in here to attract animals, maybe not enough space to get in and out.”

Gem sighed. “Call me a princess if you want, but I’m glad there’s nothing dead and rotting. That would be a more than I could handle right now.”

Shaun gave her shoulder a tight squeeze. “You are more than a princess, darling, but I’m with you on that one. I’m tired enough that not even my wolf is interested in a snack.”

“Ewww, yuck.”

Her disgusted laughter was better than the frustrated one-step-away-from-tears he’d heard in her voice the moment before. Shaun tugged her deeper into the station. “Let’s find somewhere to crash. It’s been a long, long day, and we might have better luck seeing what we’re doing in the morning.”

“You sure we shouldn’t keep going tonight? Because I can, if we have to.”

He peeked around the corner of a doorframe, the second one they’d come to. This time the door was intact and not hanging half off its hinges. A single cot and chair were tucked into the room.

“Ah, the penthouse suite. Here we go.” He walked her forward and checked the bed for strength. “At least the asshats got that part right. It’s built for shifter weight.”

Gem tugged him to the bed beside her. “Are you implying I’m a heavyweight or something, Mr. Stevens?”

He leaned back without protest. He should go look around a little more, but the mattress was calling his name. “Hell no. Only this could even put up with us doing the mambo. Not that I’m saying I want to. In fact, I think for the first time in my life I will honestly say ‘Not tonight, dear, I have a headache.’”

She smoothed a hand over his head, tenderly outlining one of his cuts. “Shift to your wolf. That will let us share the bed better. If you’re sure about waiting until the morning.”

He closed his eyes in relief. “Waiting is fine. We’ve been up twenty hours already. It’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it.”

There was no response.

Shaun peeled one eye open. “What? You never seen The Blues Brothers ? I thought that was like a classic southern movie and all.”

Gem shook her head, but she smiled, shifting into her wolf as she crawled beside him. He changed as well, wrapping himself around her smaller body. The steady pulse of her heartbeat slowed almost immediately, her breathing settling. He forced himself to stay awake a little longer, using his nose, his ears to examine the building as sleep rolled closer.

There was food nearby. Water. Then nothing but dust and the fading scent of bears.

Even as sleep overtook him, he realized the idiots had no idea that they were going to get the butt-whomping of their lives once he and Gem were free. One of their kidnappers was related to a bear he’d fought in Chicken? He had the contacts to take that information to the cleaners. Mess with the Takhini wolves? Mess with a Jacobs?