Under Sean’s Protection by Lisa Oliver

Chapter Eighteen

The pig pen was an older structure which had clearly been built a lot sooner than the main building. Getting his bearings, Sean recognized it immediately as a storage shed from years ago, converted to a holding stable. He had been in it before, not that any of that was helpful now. Neither he nor Kyle could pick up the scent of Janelle, and the pen was pretty basic, just as the doctor said.

“Nothing much here,” Kyle said, glancing around. “It’s not like she has many places to hide in here.”

But Sean was seeing something altogether different. “Look at the pigs,” he said, “what do you notice?”

“Lots of mud. And shit. Am I missing something?”

“See how they’re all standing in that one spot in the middle of the pen?”

“So?”

Sean rubbed his chin. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd? When their food and water is all over here on this side?”

“I have no ideas how natural pigs behave,” Kyle shrugged and tilted his head up. “What am I missing?”

“I haven’t been around pigs much either,” he said with a grin, “but I know a thing or two about how someone behaves when they don’t want to be found or have their throat slit,” he said. “Create a diversion, will you? Grab some of that food from that bin over there and put it in their troughs. That should make them come running.”

Sean grabbed the end of the water hose and dragged it out to the spot where the pigs were standing, while Kyle grabbed the food as directed and then rattled on their feeding troughs. The pigs came running and as soon as they moved, a trap door with a latch could be seen in the middle of the floor. Sean whistled to Kyle and silently instructed him to turn the water on. As soon as the water was flowing, Sean cracked the hatch open just enough to feed the hose into the hole.

He took a few steps back, as Kyle came up beside him.

“Now what?” Kyle whispered.

Sean put his finger on Kyle’s lips, and pointed to the door.

/~/~/~/~/

It was a very wet and angry Janelle who threw open the hatch and climbed out, swearing loud enough to wake the dead. But Kyle wasn’t interested in her cursing, although he learned a few new terms he hadn’t heard before, he was more worried about the gun she had pointing right at them.

He opened his mouth, determined to warn his mate, but before he could say a word, Sean tugged on the water hose which caught her feet and threw her to the ground as the gun went off.

Fuck, it was loud, and Kyle wanted to cover his ears, but Janelle was still opening her mouth, although she wasn’t yelling this time.

“Sean,” he heard Janelle say. “Oh, gods, Sean. I can’t believe it’s you. You came. It’s really you. Please. I love you. I’ve always loved you. It’s been a nightmare without you.”

Her tone was pleading as Sean walked slowly towards her. Kyle almost felt sorry for her. Almost. That was his mate she was professing her love to.

“I knew you’d find me here.” Janelle reached out her hand as if to touch him.

“I just followed the stink,” Sean said.

“Yes, well, they are pigs,” Janelle said, Kyle detecting a tinge of relief in her voice now that Sean was speaking.

“I wasn’t talking about them.”

Kyle stifled a chuckle although he frowned as Sean put his hands on either side of her face. Surely, he wouldn’t… after all this…

“I was never going to hurt you,” Kyle heard her say to Sean.

He’s holding her! It was such a tender scene - almost.

“I mean how could I?” Janelle laid her fingers over Sean’s. “My life was nothing without you. I only wanted to see you again, and talk to you, and tell you how…”

There was a sudden crack and Janelle stopped talking. Fuck me dead, Kyle’s eyes widened. He snapped her neck with a single twist.

“I thought she’d never shut up,” Sean said as Janelle dropped, lifeless, to the ground.

Kyle approached cautiously and nudged her leg slightly with his foot.

“I know I hated her,” Kyle was more curious than upset, “but did she really have to die?”

“Well,” Sean said, wrapping his arms around Kyle’s shoulders, “I wasn’t going to kill her, despite the fact she had you kidnapped and drugged the hell out of me. I mean, she could’ve gone to jail for that sort of thing, and I could’ve lived with that, but then you said she made fun of your dick.”

Kyle raised his eyebrows.

“Nobody makes fun of my mate’s dick, or any part of his gorgeous body,” Sean said with a smile.

“Really, you killed her for something like that? You snapped her neck because of something she said?” Kyle ducked away, although his wolf wouldn’t let him go far.

“I’m sorry, hon.” Sean pulled him close, and Kyle felt the brush of his lips in his hair as he stood stiffly. “I truly am sorry. You haven’t been with me long enough to understand my brand of humor. I killed that woman because she kidnapped you, used you as bait to trap me, put my brother assassins at risk, drugged you, drugged me, she threatened bodily harm to you in the form of cutting off your dick and she was going to use your beautiful wolf’s fur as a stole. She didn’t deserve to live.”

Put that way, Kyle had to agree. “So, what do we do with her now?”

“Leave her.” Sean wasn’t even looking at her anymore. “Those pigs still look hungry, and they were promised a feast. They’ll either eat her or cover her in shit. I don’t care.”

Kyle found he could be distracted from just about anything as Sean ran his hands up and down his body, although he was still painfully aware of the dead body just by his feet.

“You should know that I’d like nothing more than to throw you down in the mud and shit and have the dirtiest sex imaginable with you, reclaim you all over again, and again, and again until you’re sure of my feelings for you, and you smell like me and not fucking perfume and pigs. But I’m worried about Ranger, Levi, and Marcus. Can you understand? They don’t deserve to lose their mates because I was too late rescuing you.”

“I can wait,” Kyle said, hesitating for a moment. Then he added, “I think I’d prefer waiting until we were somewhere else. Can I make a suggestion though, seeing as our relationship is so new, and this situation has just cropped up? Can we not think about having sex if we’re within ten feet of a dead body? You’ll always be a walking aphrodisiac for me, but I’m just not…” he waved a hand in Janelle’s direction. “Proximity to dead bodies is a cock block for me, is that a problem with you?”

“Ten feet?” Sean quirked a brow.

“Make it twenty.” Kyle had a feeling Sean would pull out a tape measure and hold him to his word if he were horny enough.

“I’m sorry, hon. It’s so easy forget you haven’t lived life like I have especially when you’ve been so strong through everything today. Assassins are taught from day one to immune to a lot of things, so if I say or do something, anything, that makes you uncomfortable tell me, pull me up on it and I’ll try and do better.” At least Sean seemed to understand. “I went crazy when I found out you’d been taken. It’s like half my soul was missing when we’re apart.”

“I know it seems weird,” Kyle agreed. “We’ve barely spent more than a few days together. But from the moment I woke up in this place, all I could do was think of you – of how much I needed your arms around me, wondering all the time what you might do in my situation. I was so scared, but thinking about you gave me strength, does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense to me.” The look in Sean’s eyes was so warm. “You’ll be pleased to know I’ve been taking tips from the others on how to woo you properly as a mate. Picnics, dinner at that small Italian restaurant in town, and vacations – I got told they’ll all be great ways to win your heart.”

“Or, you could help me run my construction company, and climb up a ladder once in a while with a hammer?” Kyle suggested with a grin. “But as you said, for now, we have friends to save, I’m not sure I’ll ever get the smell of shit out of my nose, and those pigs do look hungry. Can we get out of here?”

“Best idea I’ve heard all day.” And when Sean kept hold of his hand as they left the pig pen, Kyle knew they were going to be okay.