Dragonfury 02 - Fury of Ice

eyelashes flicked up, and she met his gaze. “I’m stronger than I look, you know. I got out of that place…no help. No rescue on the horizon. One hundred percent alone. So don’t tell me I can’t manage in your world. I already have.”
    He wanted to say something—anything—to refute her, but…hell. His brain was on hiatus, giving him nothing but a load of blankety-blank-blank.
    The sheets rustled as she moved closer. “Look, I know what you’re trying to do, and I appreciate it. I really do, but it’s a load of crap. I have skills. I have information. If I’m part of the team I can—”
    He growled. Part of the team ? No chance in hell.
    “—learn anything you need me to,” she said, talking so fast she tripped over each word. “Teach me how to fight in your world. I can help. If you let me, I can help…please.”
    She paused a beat, hope in her eyes.
    Rikar sighed. Fuck. He might as well admit it. The battle wasn’t just uphill, it was already lost. So, yup. New strategy, here he came.
    Withdrawing his hand, he untangled from her touch—from the witchy, mind-altering contact…call it whatever you like because…yeah, her soft caresses were fucking him up. “Come here, female.”
    She hesitated, leery of him as she leaned away a little.
    Rikar slid forward on the sheet. He heard her quick intake of breath, felt her pulse skyrocket, but didn’t stop. As he settled alongside her, she shied, jumping like a scared rabbit, body language screaming don’t touch me . He ignored the message. Trust wasn’t something a male took. It was earned, and here—right now, in this moment—he needed to show her fear had no place between them…that she was safe with him.
    “Easy, angel.” Cupping her wrist gently, he stopped her retreat. “I will never hurt you. All right?”
    She shivered, still apprehensive, but no longer moving away. “O-okay.”
    “Relax.” Rikar kept his touch light as he rotated her hand and picked at the tape holding the IV in place. Peeling the strip all the way off, he held the needle still with the pad of his thumb and grabbed a cotton pad from the table beside the bed. “Take a deep breath.”
    She did.
    He nodded his approval.
    With a care born of patience, he slid the needle out and pressed the gauze over the small wound. As he applied pressure to stop the bleeding, silence gathered, sounding loud, echoing against nothing. She tugged her hand. He held firm, keeping her in place as he palmed a roll of tape.
    He glanced at her sideways. “What information?”
    Her brows collided.
    “You said you have—”
    “Oh, right,” she said, following the change in topic like a pro. “The Razorbacks, ah…the place they took me to…I’m not sure where it is exactly. Somewhere north of where you found me, but I know there are other women being held there. The bastard talked about cellblock A and that I’d have company and…” Her face grew pale as she paused.
    Her agitation lit him up, and he fought to keep his cool as she rubbed the bandage on her thigh. Even knowing the gash had healed didn’t help. He hated that she’d been hurt at all. Detested her uncertainty and the strain in her voice. Christ, he didn’t want her reliving the pain but needed every scrap of information she could give him. So he waited, giving her time as she struggled to tell him.
    “They did tests on me…medical stuff. Needles in the stomach. Forced drugs down my throat,” she said, the words so quiet he leaned in to catch each one. “I heard them talk about a…a…serum for a breeding program or something. I didn’t catch it all, but…God, Rikar. Those bastards have other hostages. We have to get them the hell out of there.”
    He sighed. Shit. The situation was beyond FUBARed. Ivar, the mad scientist, had finally lost it. Now he was unleashed and headed in bad directions. The fact that females were involved only made it worse. So, yeah. No question. They needed to get the imprisoned females out alive. And do it fast before the Razorbacks fucked them up permanently.
    Which gave him an idea.
    “Are you good with computers?” He ripped off a sticky strip from the roll.
    Angela blinked, then nodded. “I can hold my own.”
    “Good with police databases?”
    “Yeah.”
    Rikar couldn’t believe what he was thinking. Or about to do. Talk about an idiot. He was a big one. Should be sticking with the “no” strategy, but he couldn’t blame Angela for wanting to play a part. She deserved