Author's note:
All characters and companies mentioned in this story have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone or anything bearing the same name or names. Events portrayed in this story are pure invention and have not been based on any events that have happen in real life. All the characters involved in any sexual acts if their ages are not mentioned before hand; are over 18 years of age. Enjoy.
Hi everyone;
Here it is, chapter 3. I got a LOT of angry comments for ending the chapter where I did, but I do love a good cliff-hanger. Some of you pointed out an inconsistency in the previous chapter... well... technically there is no inconsistency but I don't want to give anything away.
So... here it is, I hope you enjoy. As always a big thanks goes out to my editor, she rocks. All feedback is welcome.
Have fun
Chapter 3
Maria felt a body slam into her as she braced herself for the impact of bullets. The air was slammed from her lungs as she struck the ground, rocks and dirt dug into her skin and grazed against her left cheek. She heard a curse as she tried desperately to draw air back into her lungs. She felt herself being rolled beneath the car she had been standing next to and the ping of bullets thudding into the side of the car where she had been only moments before.
She opened her eyes and blinked in surprise, Eric was above her, his arms wrapped protectively around her. His long black hair had fallen from its tie and brushed against her skin as he turned. They were close together, his body protecting hers in the cramped gap between his truck and the ground as return shots were fired.
He didn't move, he held her and waited for the fire fight to stop. She quivered beneath him in fear and confusion, fear because she was being shot at and confusion because Eric had risked his life to save hers. He leant closer to her to try to glance out from under the car; her warm breath brushed his cheek. He could see nothing but as the guns kept firing, he stayed close to Maria to keep her safe.
She took a deep breath and frowned as something tickled her nose, something delicious, woodsy and definitely male. She leant forward her nose almost touching the skin of his cheek. She took a deep breath letting his scent dance around her nose. She felt her wolf tilt her head as she studied his scent for all of a nano second before urging her human side to grab him and not let go.
They heard a car roar off and the gunfire stopped almost instantly. Electra dropped to her belly, "Maria?" She reached in and helped to get the two out from under the car. "Are you okay?" Electra asked as she pried a stunned Maria from Eric's arms.
Electra brushed dirt from Maria's face carefully and saw blood from gravel grazes.
"I'm okay..." She brushed off Electra's caring hands and turned to Eric. "Thankyou Eric." She said, her wolf growled in approval, as she looked her mate over, he would be everything they needed.
He brushed his hair out of his face and smiled with a shrug. "Just doing my job." He told her but that was far from the truth, the moment he saw the barrel of the gun his only thought was to keep her safe, he had ignored everything he had been trained to do in such a situation, his men, his own safety, to get her safe.
Electra had her phone out and was talking quickly into the mouthpiece. She was warning Nathanael, one of Eric's men was getting back up to Katie's.
Eric was scratching his head, wondering at the motive behind the attack. No one was hurt although the shooters did their best to try. But what was the motive?
"What the fuck?" Electra said as she dusted herself firmly.
"Think that was a warning to back off?" One of the other officers asked.
"Warning or not I'm going to get the fuckers taking pot shots at me, those things sting." Electra said as she glanced down at the bullet hole in her arm. "Man it struck bone, Nathanael's going to have to dig it out... arsehole won't even use sedatives when he does."
Maria chuckled. "Of course not, he needs all the sedatives he's got to keep Ghost under." Her beast was growling in her mind, wanting her to get closer to Eric, needing her to. Maria forced her wolf back and locked it up; she would look at this later when she was away from him and could think coherently.
Electra rolled her eyes. "Will your car run?" She asked Eric.
He shrugged and went to turn the engine over; he hopped into the front seat and turned the key. The engine purred into life. Electra and Maria jumped into the car ignoring the fact that it was riddled with holes and technically a crime scene. They just had an overwhelming need to get to Nathanael, Katie and Ghost.
He turned on the sirens and gunned the motor; they took off down the road like a bat out of hell, Eric took turns as safely as he could and in no more than ten minutes they were screeching to a halt outside Katie's small ranch. Maria hopped out once the car had stopped moving, Electra copied as did Eric, they were met with Nathanael was holding a rifle, in sure hands, that he had borrowed from Katie.
He gave Maria a quick glance then skipped over to Electra, he shook his head, "Can't you go a day without needing my attention?" He complained.
"I think I did that last week." Electra said laying the sarcasm on thick.
Maria rolled her eyes and walked into the house. Nathanael handed her a small kit to clean her grazes at the sink. Eric snatched the kit out of her hands and pushed her to the bench. She cast him a puzzled look as he put the case down and lifted her easily onto the bench making her more equal to his height. He put on a kettle to boil then he looked through the case.
"I can do that." She told him reaching for the case.
He pulled it away from her grab. "You can't even see where you're hurt." He argued back.
Nathanael watched them in amusement for a moment before he pointed to a chair for Electra to sit in. He cut her sleeve open.
"Not fair I liked this shirt." Electra complained.
Nathanael chuckled. "That'll teach you."
"I was
not
expecting to be shot at." She argued back.
So... how's Maria?
He asked silently as he flushed the wound.
She hasn't freaked yet if that's what you mean. Eric was just getting her to warm to him and wham... we're being shot at, he saved her from being riddled with bullets, knocked her to the ground and under the car out of the way.
She answered giving him a little run down of what had happened.
He pulled out a pair of forceps and started to dig around in the wound. She gritted her teeth and glared at him but he ignored her. "I thought you weren't meant to hurt people that it was against some oath you made?" Electra asked angrily as he accidentally pinched a nerve.
"You spend too much time with humans. Human doctors take an oath... and since I am not a human doctor sorry... no oath." He smiled when he finally located the bullet. He carefully removed it and put it in a bowl; he then flushed the wound to see if there were any fragments. When he was happy the wound was clean, he stitched it together.
Eric by this stage had finished cleaning and tending Maria's wounds, she hopped off the bench and noticed his torn shirt. "You're bleeding." She said as she grabbed his arm and turned it over.
"It's nothing." He told her. She glared at him for a moment, before she tore his sleeve open with her free hand, keeping a firm grip on his wrist. He watched the graze on her face heal over leaving nothing but a red mark. "Wow." He reached up with his free hand to stroke the now unmarred skin. She pulled away from his fingers. "Sorry." He said and let his hand drop.
She quickly cleaned and dressed his wound, and then she backed away from him. "I'm going to shower and change." She told the room before she quickly left.
"Wow... she likes you." Nathanael told him.
"Could have fooled me." Eric said as he packed up the case.
Nathanael smiled as he finished bandaging Electra's arm. "She let you tend her cuts without chucking a mental, she then tended your cuts without being ordered to... ergo she likes you." He finished with a smile.
"What happened to her?" Eric asked.
Nathanael and Electra glanced to each other then back to Eric. Electra stood, "Sadly that is her story to tell and no one else's." She told him.
"I asked her... she wouldn't tell me." He told them.
"And more than likely she won't." Nathanael said, "I think there are only two people who know exactly what happened to her, well two alive that is." He finished aside to Electra who chuckled.
"I don't understand." Eric said.
Electra sighed, "Think about everything you've seen and compare it to cases you've already seen in your day to day work. That's all I'll give you."
Eric thought for long minutes, trying to remember where he had seen the characteristics he had seen Maria show. Defensiveness, she didn't like to be touched or have people behind her, her eyes were always darting the room making note of who was where at all times. She trusted almost no one and those few she did trust she trusted barely. "She was abused." He concluded. "and raped... by more than one man?"
Electra and Nathanael nodded once then went about cleaning up. "I'm going to change my shirt." Electra said and left. Katie just stood still; she was mortified by what Eric had said.
Nathanael approached her and rested his hands on her shoulders. "Don't treat her any differently, she hasn't changed, just your knowledge of her past has." He gripped her shoulders, "Just pretend that I didn't tell you, she just wants to get on with her life."
Katie nodded thinking that she could at least try. Nathanael went to return his bag back to the order it normally was. He ducked out of the room just as Electra returned and went to the fridge.
"You ate barely an hour ago," Katie exclaimed.
"Hello... Were... we eat a lot." Electra answered as she grabbed an apple and shut the fridge.
Nathanael walked back into the room flustered.
"What's wrong with you?" Electra asked.
