Without Regret (Pyte/Sentinel #2)(36)

Chris stopped his fast pace through the woods so suddenly that she lost her grip on the waist of his pants and slammed face first into the small of his back.

“Cult?” he demanded, sounding disgusted. “What the hell are you talking about, Munchkin?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Ephraim said, sounding as though he was walking towards them, but with her face still plastered against Chris’ back it was kind of hard to tell.

“Well?” Chris demanded, hefting her off his shoulder and dropping her to her feet before she realized what he was doing, making her stumble before she caught herself. She was really getting sick of being manhandled, but now was not the time to complain.

Now was the time to talk her way to freedom.

“Would you prefer religious group?” she asked, not really caring what they called themselves as long as they let her go.

“Religious group?” Ephraim repeated in disgust as he joined Chris to glare down at her. “Exactly what do you think is going on here?” he demanded in a hard tone of authority that clearly stated he expected to be answered and if she wasn’t scared out of her mind she’d probably be able to come up with a smart ass remark that would irritate the hell out of him the way she had with that FBI agent the other night.

Unfortunately for her she was scared, really scared and she had no idea what the hell she should do. If she gave up her program they’d have no reason to keep her alive and if she didn’t there was a very good chance that they’d probably just kill her, thinking that they’d find her work, but they wouldn’t. Maybe if she let them know they needed her without any real plans to give up her work they wouldn’t kill her.

“If you kill me you’ll never find my programs,” she blurted out, wincing when she realized what she’d done.

She planned on working her way up to it, explaining it with finesse even though she wasn’t exactly known for her ability to talk her way out of really big problems like this one, not that she’d ever been a life threatening situation before, but”Why in the hell do you think we’re going to kill you?”

Chris barked, looking decidedly more pissed off. “You’re my goddamn mate, Munchkin. It’s my job to protect you.”

you.”

“Now, when you say mate….,” she prompted, not really trusting that they wouldn’t kill her and be done with it once they realized how stubborn she could be.

“He means you’re his wife,” Ephraim said dryly.

Chris gave her a firm nod of agreement. He didn’t look happy about it, which was insulting and really confusing the hell out of her since he was the one that picked her and not the other way around. Not that this was a marriage in any way, but still……

She took a step back, a subtle one, but a much needed one to put some space between her and the huge men glaring down at her. “Umm, so exactly how many wives do you have?”

“Why in the hell would you think I had more than one wife?” Chris demanded, frowning.

“Because she thinks we’re a cult,” Ephraim supplied dryly.

“Religious group,” she corrected quietly, earning an eye roll and a few choice words that had her shrugging sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m not up on the cult lingo. You’ll have to cut me some slack here,” she snapped, wishing she hadn’t raised her voice to the two heavily armed big men the instant the words left her mouth.

Maybe the psychologist they made her see when she was fifteen was right and she really did have a problem with keeping her mouth shut. That kind of made her feel bad for that little virus that she uploaded onto his computer when he suggested taking away her computer for a few months.

“You’re my only mate,” Chris bit out, not sounding pleased about it at all.

“No, I’m not and I don’t want to be,” she snapped. Then took a calming breath and continued at what she hoped was a friendlier tone. “You really don’t need to kidnap woman. You’re a decent looking man,” hotter than hell, she corrected mentally, “and I’m sure you have some very nice qualities-“

“Please stop. You’re making me blush,” Chris drawled flatly.

“-that would make some woman very happy. Just not me,” she finished, ignoring the interruption and hoping she gave him something to think about.

“I’m sorry, Munchkin, but I’m afraid there will never be anyone for me but you,” he admitted with a careless shrug before adding, “and no else for you but me.”

“Are you crazy?” she demanded, regretting her slip immediately. Of course he was crazy. He lived in a commune where everyone’s relatives and spouses were picked at random.

“No, but now’s not the time to discuss how badly you want me. We have a job to do after all,” he said, not giving her a chance to respond as he physically turned her around and gave her a swat on her ass to get her to move.

“Real smooth,” Ephraim drawled.

“Thanks,” Chris said brightly, earning an over the shoulder glare from her that only managed to earn her another swat on the ass. Gasping, she turned around and increased her pace, hoping to get the hell away from Chris and his roaming hand, because heaven help her, she was really starting to like it and right now she needed to focus.

Maybe if she made a run for it again she might luck out this time and”There they are,” Chris suddenly said, startling her.