Wolfe jumped to his feet, gripping the gun as he pointed it at her, watching her carefully. It was then he saw the blood oozing slowly from beneath her body. Hope must have seen it as well. He heard her breath catch, glimpsed her pale, horrified face.
He went to the scientist, once the terror of the labs he had been confined to. He turned her over carefully, grimacing at the sight of the dagger lodged between her breasts.
“Bastard. ” Blood bubbled from her mouth as she stared at him in hatred. “Ruined it. You ruined it all. ”
Wolfe glanced up at Hope. Shock lined her expression, wiping all color from her face. The woman’s gaze followed his. She sneered at the child she had bore.
“Animal. No better than a dog—” she gasped. Her eyes widened, then dimmed.
“Wolfe. ” The others were rushing through the cabin now, voices raised in fear. “Wolfe dammit, she got by us—”
They came to a sudden halt inside the bedroom. The three women and three other men, all out of breath, were smeared with blood, but triumphant.
“Did you get the soldiers?” he asked them quietly as he moved to Hope, drawing the blanket around her silent body as he picked her up from the bed.
“All of them,” Jacob reported. “We didn’t kill them though. ” He nodded to the still form of the scientist.
“Get her out of here,” he ordered them. “Find a deep, dark hole and bury the bitch in it. She won’t get a chance to hurt anyone else. ”
He carried Hope into the living room, sheltering her body with his as he felt her low sobs against his chest.
“I won’t grieve for her,” she whispered tearfully. “I did that when I was a child. ”
“It’s okay to grieve, Hope,” he assured her sadly. “Grieve for what never was if you need to. But let it go. ”
He sat down on the couch, cradling her to him.
“She would have killed you,” she whispered. “She would have killed me as well, eventually. ”
He smoothed her hair back from her face, grieving for her.
“Can you forgive me for her death? Forgive me for what I put you through? For not trusting you?” He touched her with adoration, with pain, with thanksgiving.
For a moment her expression went blank, then a most curious light of female knowledge lit her eyes.
Wolfe narrowed his eyes on her.
“What?” He asked her.
“I climaxed,” she whispered.
He grinned. “Yes, you did. Quite well, too. ”
“No. ” She shook her head. “While you thought you were torturing me, those screams of agony were actually orgasms. Not big ones, but enough. ”
He frowned. “That’s not possible. Do not try to salve my conscience, Hope. ”
She laughed. She dared to laugh in his face.
“Want to try it again in a few days, so I can prove it?” she offered.
Heat flared in his body. His cock hardened.
“Do I get to tie you up again?” he asked her, definitely interested.
She shrugged. “If you want to. ” But he could see the excitement in her eyes.
Wolfe sighed deeply. “Why do I get the feeling, Hope, that you have effectively turned the tables on me without my knowledge?”