Forsaken (The Found Book 2) Read online

  “Just look at her Carson, she’s gorgeous.” Between the man’s foul breath and the presentation, Seth was going to throw up all over the mahogany tabletop. Finally the lights went up and everyone clapped. Seth forced himself to do the same. He schooled his features to mimic those of the other men in the room. Lust and avarice. It’s what he did, it’s what he had always done. He could blend in, people always thought he was on their side, their friend, their buddy.

  ****

  He remembered asking his parents about his ability to blend in when he was nine years old. He had grown up in Shiprock, New Mexico the adopted son of Navajo parents. He went to a normal public school. There were jocks, geeks, kids who did drugs, Hispanic kids, white kids, and Native American kids. Somehow, no matter the clique, Seth Natani was welcomed with open arms. He blended.

  “It has something to do with you being found,” his grandmother finally told him. They were out in the desert having a picnic, sitting on the hood of her old station wagon, watching the sun set. This is where they always came, and was where they first met.

  “Grandmother, does it ever bother you I’m not your real grandson?” Seth remembered watching his grandmother and liking the way she really stopped to consider his question.

  “Seth, in some ways I like it even better, and it makes me feel bad. But it’s the truth. I feel like you chose us. I feel blessed that you found us.” Seth had giggled at her cleverness at the use of the word found. The found children were a group of children who had appeared the same day in different parts of the world, naked, with no knowledge of their past. Seth was lucky, his arrival didn’t garner any publicity.

  Other found children were not nearly as lucky, and they were targets of different fanatical hate groups. Seth knew because of his connections in the DEA. Only his adopted mother, father, grandmother and Annie knew he was found.

  “I thought being found meant I could learn languages,” young Seth had said to his grandmother.

  “It’s true, it is an ability you and the others share. You hear a language and you immediately learn it. It is an amazing skill, a gift. Like the boy Michael Lonehawk who can ride any horse. Perhaps you have another gift Seth, perhaps you have the gift to blend in. Perhaps you are like a chameleon, huh?

  “But it makes me false, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it mean I’m a liar?”

  “Have you lied?”

  “No! I’ve done nothing, the other kids just think I’m like them.”

  “Then you are a chameleon. This is not a bad thing. It is your nature. It is another skill to be used, like your skill with languages.”

  ****

  Use it he did. Now deep undercover, doing what he thought was the right thing, he realized he had as much chance as stemming the flow of a river as stopping these men. They might stop one of their revenue streams but they would just find another, more sickening one.

  “Carson, are you listening to me?”

  “Sorry Thiago, I was off in my own little world.”

  “I bet you were,” the other man leered. “I was asking you which one appealed to you, since everyone knows your lovely bride doesn’t.”

  “I hear you Thiago,” Tomas Benitez roared from across the table. “You offer Carson no one. He has my Portia and she is woman enough for any man. I demand a grandson. You no good motherfucker, you better do your duty by my daughter or I will...I will…have you killed.” The old man was now the color of eggplant. Seth relaxed, he was much more comfortable having this argument than he was being offered a sex slave.

  “How can I be a motherfucker, if I am supposed to be fucking your daughter?” Seth asked in a reasonable tone of voice.

  “Don’t be smart with me you asshole. I saw how you treated my baby the other night. She was so vulnerable, and you treated her like a whore. I should have you taken care of.”

  “Then how are you going to have a grandchild old man? You know I’m the only man she is willing to spread her legs for.” At least he had been. Portia Benitez became fixated on him a year and a half ago. In the beginning he’d used it, thinking it was a perfect way into the inner circle. He hadn’t realized what a psychotic bitch she was. Now he wasn’t quite sure what she was capable of, and it worried him.

  “Shut your mouth, don’t say such disgusting things about my daughter. She is a princess and should be treated with respect.” Seth wanted to say more, he wanted to see if he could push the old man into having a stroke. But even with his ability to always remain friends with people he might end up pushing his father-in-law to his limits.

  Thiago Labado must have thought the same thing, because he stepped in. “Tomas,” he soothed, “of course I would not think to provide Carson with a woman when he has your lovely daughter waiting for him at home.” Seth watched as his father-in-law calmed down and relaxed into his leather executive chair. All of the others in the room also relaxed. Nobody liked it when the three most powerful men in the organization were arguing, ultimately it could eventually trickle down and be bad for their health.

  Ms. Gordon stepped in. “I have arranged for refreshments in the connecting room, as well as a surprise, gentleman. I think you will be pleased.” Seth repressed a shudder. Leslie Gordon was five foot eight, and some would say beautiful. She had been plucked, tucked and enhanced to the nth degree, making the most of what little God had given her. Even her voice was a well-modulated fake. Seth’s ear, picked up the twang of Kentucky erased to sound like a well to do East Coast person. Everything about her grated on him.

  “I see you staring at Leslie. Perhaps that’s where you heart lies,” Thiago whispered as they moved to the adjoining reception room. “She’s beautiful and smart. After dealing with Portia, I could understand her appeal. Did you know this whole new venture was her idea? She was the one who came up with the idea of luring girls with the overseas modeling contracts. It’s brilliant. Nobody raises a red flag when the girls are gone for months. By then it’s far too late.”

  Seth prayed for an escape to this galling conversation, but he hadn’t anticipated something worse.

  “Gentlemen, I have provided many hors d'oeuvres and champagne for your enjoyment. But the finest treat is the caviar I had flown in today, and such a delicacy needed to be displayed in a special manner.”

  A white-coated waiter wheeled in a table with a young naked woman smeared with the caviar. Beside her were wooden knives and crackers. Leslie went first, and scraped some of the spread from the girl’s areola, causing her to wince and whimper.

  “Beautiful Darcy. No more than that. If you scream tonight, if I hear more than a moan or a whimper, you will be whipped again. Do you want that?” The girl shook her head, the blonde hair catching the light. Leslie caressed her cheek, and bent down and kissed her lips.

  “If you’re very good, you will spend the night with me.” Leslie turned to the men in the room. “Gentlemen, help yourselves.” Seth watched as tears leaked out of the sides of Darcy’s eyes. He wanted to cry as well.

  Chapter Three

  The idea someone might want to kidnap, or worse, hurt or kill her daughter was unbelievable to Annie. But that was her new reality. They had been in hiding for over five months now because Nell was Seth’s daughter, and Seth was one of the found. At first, when Seth had explained it to her, Annie hadn’t understood what it meant, so she had investigated on the internet.

  There were only five known children who had been discovered naked, with no memory, in Atlanta, Chicago, Taiwan, Russia and England. They had been discovered the same day at roughly the same time. As they grew, they were able to assimilate languages with startling speed. They could learn within minutes of hearing it. All five of these children graduated early and at the top of their classes. Two of them were considered prodigies.

  Somehow, someone at a large corporation called Rixitron had ascertained Seth was also one of these found children, even though his parents and grandmother never told anyone. Since he was deep undercover with the DEA, and couldn’t be located, those bastards
had changed their focus to his daughter, Nell.

  Shilah Natani had somehow known Nell was a target. Grandmother always knew things. Annie smiled. She was surrounded by the unexplainable, so the older woman’s second sight no longer surprised her. When Shilah said they needed to hide at the Natani’s ancestral home in the desert mountains of New Mexico, Annie took Nell and followed Shilah. They stayed there for almost a month, and many times men came looking for them, but they were never discovered. It took a man with the special ability to find things, he and his partner were on the side of the angels.

  Annie, Nell and their grandmother had been approached by another found who was a member of an elite naval task force. Noah Kukailimoku offered them sanctuary, while also doing what they could to find and stop Rixitron. Annie was happier in the well-appointed apartment in California than in hiding in New Mexico, since if there should ever be the need, Nell was close to medical care. However, she resented living her life in hiding, but giving up some freedoms was worth anything in order to keep her daughter safe.

  Since their arrival in California, Annie had intended to be of assistance to the others. There were plenty of things she could do to help find and stop the people after Nell, but it seemed every day Annie had less energy. All of her strength went towards taking care of Nell.

  One of the other women staying with them was Sarah Johnson. She was a physician, and didn’t miss a trick. Annie was thankful she was staying there in the apartment complex with them, and answered any questions she had when Nell acted fussy, but there was a downside to having Sarah around. She noticed Annie was lethargic and had lost weight, and wasn’t getting the sleep she needed. So far Annie was able to convince Sarah it was due to the stress of the situation, and she didn’t want any prescription medication. She didn’t know how much longer Sarah would be put off.

  Once again she awakened out of a sound sleep because of Seth. He haunted her. Ever since he left on assignment he would visit in her dreams. It seemed so real. At first it happened once every few weeks. As her pregnancy progressed, his visits increased. Each time it felt as though he was holding her, comforting, loving her. Then, the day she gave birth, he had been there the whole time, a soothing presence. He didn’t seem to know what was going on, he just knew she needed him, and was there. Annie knew she wouldn’t have survived those long hours without him.

  He continued to haunt her dreams, and the visits became more carnal. She would wake up sweaty and needy. As time progressed the dreams lasted longer, he loved her longer and she would wake up moaning her release, thankful she hadn’t awakened Grandmother or Nell. But tonight…tonight was the worst, or the best dream she had ever experienced. She could have sworn Seth was there. He had never taken her like he had in tonight’s dream, with such ferocious demand.

  “Annie, I need you. It’s gotten so bad. I can’t stand it anymore. I know you’re not real. I know you’re only in my dreams, but my dreams are all I have left.”

  “I’m here, Seth. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”

  “You’ve always been my rock—my soulmate. I think it’s why I cling to you when things seem so crushing.”

  “Oh Seth, I know you’re just a dream too, but I need you. You were my everything.”

  “Thank God you’re only a dream, I need so much more from you than I would ever ask in real life. I need to love you as I never have before.”

  Annie let out a sigh, relishing the touch of his hands as they slid along her body. She always slept naked in hopes he would come to her during the night. She wanted nothing to keep his hands on her flesh. She pushed back the covers, eager to for his touch. It always started the same, he would coast his hands from her hips to the indentation of her waist up the ladder of her rib cage to her breasts.

  “You’ve lost weight, you have to take better care of yourself.” Her subconscious was in full effect, she realized wryly. How else would he know her body had changed?

  “I will”

  “Promise me.”

  “If it means that much to you, I’ll do it. I’ll do what you say.”

  “Yes! Do what I say. It’s what I want. What I need. I need to be in control tonight. I need to know I control one God damn thing in my life, even if it’s only this make believe world.”

  Annie saw him, it usually took longer, until the final moment when they were joined, and then she’d see her dream lover. But tonight he didn’t waver above her, he was a fierce vision, his hands solid, his visage clear.

  “Do you understand me? Do you understand exactly what I need? What I am asking?”

  She did, and she would willingly give him anything to erase the agony she saw in his face. “I freely offer you my body.” The lines around his mouth eased a little, and then he frowned.

  “Baby, tonight I need more.”

  “Oh Seth,” Annie stroked his cheek, loving that she could finally touch him outside of those moments of release. “Whatever you want, whatever you need, it’s yours. I’m yours.”

  “Put your hands over your head and hold your wrist in one hand.” When she complied she understood why he would want the position, because it arched her back and raised her breasts.

  He pulled her legs apart and made a place for himself, his jutting cock resting against her slick folds. She pushed her knees against the mattress so her sex parted a little more bringing his hot flesh against her moist heat. It was sublime.

  “No. You don’t move until I say tell you.” She stopped, and looked into glittering black eyes. He must have read her intention to thrust upwards.

  He gently palmed both of her breasts and thumbed her nipples, back and forth scraping his calloused thumbs over her delicate nubs, causing her to whimper. “It’s too much.”

  “You can take more, baby.” He rubbed harder and faster. Her nipples had always been sensitive, and he knew it. But it was as if he was taking her past the point of pain to a world of pure sensation. Rivers of heat were flowing from her nipples to her clit and back up again, her juices flowed, she tried to push her hips up, but he pressed her body down into the bed without giving her the friction she needed.

  “Seth,” she wailed quietly. Even in her dreams she knew to be quiet.

  He looked down at the hard red tips and stopped. “Look at how pretty and swollen you are.” He swooped down and sucked one pebbled nub into his mouth and she let out a low keen, grabbing the back of his head, pulling his long hair. She didn’t remember his hair being so long. When did he get long hair? Why was she dreaming of Seth with long hair?

  “Hands over your head.” He lifted his hips and looked down at her with a wild look in his eyes. Who was this man? Never had Seth been so commanding, and why was she even more on fire for him? She immediately obeyed him, and he rewarded her by grinding against her needy clit.

  “Please, I’m begging you.”

  “My way.” He dipped his head back down, and sucked her other distended nipple into his mouth, tonguing it towards the roof of his mouth. He kept the rocking motion of his hips against her core, until she was close to coming.

  “Yes, oh God, yes Seth.” And then he stopped. Once again she grabbed his hair and yanked him back. He reared back and roared. “Annie, do as I say!” She trembled at the power in his voice and immediately complied melting into the bed, her desire spiking even higher.

  His arms wrapped around her, pulling her up against his hot chest, molding them into one person and his lips pressed against hers, his taste something long denied but never forgotten. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, thrusting and stroking her ever upwards into a blazing need. Then he ripped his head away, and started a path of kisses and nips along her jaw. He licked at the pulse of her neck and bit down, and even more of her juices leaked onto his erection. He was sliding easier and easier against the parted folds of her labia.

  Continuing his path downwards, he lightly brushed her stinging nipples, but she still arched upwards into the beautifully painful caress. He nipped at her concave tummy, and then swirl
ed his tongue into her belly button. He licked over her smoothly shaved mound.

  “You’re still bare for me.”

  “You liked for me to do that. It makes me feel like one day we could be together.”

  “My deepest wish is to be together again, but this is only a dream.” Tears pricked her eyes. She didn’t want honesty from her dream lover. She wanted to revel in pleasure, in the need they had for one another.

  “Don’t talk about the future or the past, I want to concentrate on the here and now. I’ve needed you so much.” Then what little breath she had he took from her, as his thumbs parted the petals of her sex, and his tongue traced the valley from her opening to her bud and then swirled around until she couldn’t talk, couldn’t move, couldn’t think.

  How was it possible she felt every tiny detail of their lovemaking this time? Every nuance was magnified, and then he slid his thick fingers into her hot tight core and they groaned as one person. Ever so lightly he took her clit between his teeth and laved it with his tongue, pressing in and out with his fingers.

  “So close.”

  “No. I’m in charge,” he said, lifting his head and looking at her through hooded eyes. “You will hold on until I’m inside you.” He bent back down, and continued to raise her up. Her body shook with hunger, and she panted for air.

  “P-P-Pl-Please stop. I can’t hold on.”

  He lifted up again. “You can hold on. You will do as I say. You gave your word.” He continued for long minutes, adding a third finger and twisting, layering sensation on top of sensation.

  “Seth.” The shivering wouldn’t stop. So very close. He pulled back at the very second when she would have gone over. She watched as he licked every drop of her honey off his fingers, lingering and savoring.

  “Annie, you were, are and always will be the best thing in my life.” He seemed so real, she had to tell him about Nell, and then he was covering her. Surging inside, and every thought splintered. Her mind shattered with pleasure, she couldn’t hold back her cries of rapture, his name a benediction on her lips. Then he was gone.