A Changed Man (Altered Book 1) Read online

  "It's okay, those are happy tears. I guess I've just been alone and unsure for so long, what you said was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way."

  "I meant it you know." Remington kissed her again.

  "I know."

  Sunshine pushed against the closed bedroom curtains letting in enough light to bathe the room in a soft golden glow. Remington was first to wake up, squinting to let his eyes adjust. Jackie was still asleep on his chest in the same position as the night before. They had talked each other to sleep. Making plans for what was to come. Jordan was coming back today and they needed to figure out exactly how they were going to get back in to the den.

  Remington slowly slid his big body out from under Jackie’s and went to the bathroom. After taking care of business he plugged the tub and ran a hot bath. He went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee then headed back to Jackie’s room. Remington leaned over the bed and brushed the hair from Jackie’s face. He laid a light kiss on her mouth. "Wake up beautiful." He whispered.

  Jackie felt Remington’s tender kiss and slowly opened her eyes. "Good Morning." She said with a smile remembering the night before.

  "Good Morning to you." Remington was standing over her in nothing but a towel. "Come with me." He held out his hand.

  Jackie smiled even bigger; she sat up and took his offered hand. She forgot she was completely naked until she was standing in front of him next to the bed. She started to put her arm across her breast embarrassed by Remington seeing her bare in full light.

  "Don't." He said in a stern voice. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Please don't hide from me."

  Jackie feeling her face flush lowered her arm but wouldn't look him in the face. Remington lifted her chin and looked straight into her bright blue eyes. "I mean it, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. After what we did last night?" He chuckled. "I want to wake up to you like this every morning." He kissed her hard grabbing her bottom with both hands and squeezing. Jackie yelped into Remington’s mouth when he squeezed her ass. She busted out laughing, breaking the kiss.

  "That’s more like it." He said. "C’mon." Remington led Jackie to the bathroom. When he opened the door steam bellowed out and Jackie could see that he had run a bath. He walked her over to the tub; she stepped in and he followed. He sat down and pulled her with him. The hot water felt great, soothing their muscles still pleasantly aching from the night before. Jackie sat with her back against Remington’s chest. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the shelf inside the tub and poured a glob into his hand. He rubbed his hands together before running his fingers through Jackie’s hair. He started to massage her scalp.

  Jackie moaned at having her scalp rubbed; this was another thing no man had ever done for her. Hell, the last time someone washed her hair was when she was five. When he must have thought he had done a thorough job, Jackie was told to lean her head back and Remington poured water from the tub over her head, rinsing out the suds. Next, he put in conditioner, she could smell the floral scent. He rubbed it in as well combing it through to the ends with his fingers. God it felt good. She had never been so pampered. Again he asked her to lean her head back so he could rinse the conditioner out.

  Remington grabbed a rag, soaped it up and began to wash Jackie’s shoulders and back. When finished with that, he ran the soapy rag down her arms and across her chest, stopping to toy with her full breasts bouncing on top of the water. He then headed south and ran the rag between her legs. Jackie let out a moan and reached behind her to grab what throbbed against her back.

  It was Remington’s turn to moan. He had been in complete control last night; having her hold him in her hand now was almost more than he could take. He let go of the washcloth and drove two fingers inside her. Her head lolled back against his shoulder as he continued pumping in and out of her while teasing her nub with his other hand.

  Jackie gripped his wrist, guiding him exactly where she needed his touch. She rocked hard against him, crying out in pleasure at the intense climax that bolted through her. Her entire body grew warm with the rush he had just given her and she wanted to return the favor. She let go of Remington and sat up, she turned to face him straddling his muscular legs, poising her self over him she gripped him again and guided him inside of her.

  "Holy shit." Remington said breathless. He put his hands on her hips as she started to move. Looking at her soapy and wet on top of him, her face flushed from the pleasure he had just given her, was making him hard as stone, he wouldn’t be able to hold on for long.

  Jackie leaned in and sucked Remington’s full bottom lip into her mouth. Tracing his lips with her tongue she felt powerful. This man made her feel powerful. She could feel what she did to him; she could see his lust for her in his eyes. She rode him slowly until she heard his breaths come faster, his grip on her hips tightening. Jackie sped up her movements.

  Remington pulled Jackie down close taking one dripping wet breast into his mouth; it was his undoing. He held her tight as he burst inside of her. His release was so intense he felt lightheaded, every muscle in his body going slack.

  "Wow." Jackie said lying down on top of him. "That was, I never, I mean...wow." She said again with a giggle.

  "I know exactly what you mean." Remington said equally sated.

  Jackie lifted her head and placed her lips on his, opening the seam of his lips with her gifted tongue. He grasped the back of her head, holding her to him, prolonging the sensual kiss. Jackie started to giggle, smiling against Remington’s lips. "We need to get dressed, it's getting late. Jordan will be here anytime." She said sounding saddened.

  "Ah, I know. Okay. You're right." Remington said in an equally disappointed tone.

  Jackie got up and moved over so Remington could also stand. She pulled the plug and turned on the shower to rinse her hair. Then she stepped out so Remington could take his turn cleaning up.

  "I’m not going to lie, I'm kind of nervous." She said when Remington stepped out of the shower. She handed him a towel thinking what a shame it was covering up that glorious body. "What if he doesn't know as much as he says he does, what if you guys go in there and it's a trap?"

  Remington put his arms around her waist and leaned down to her ear. "Then I'll kill him."

  Chapter 15

  Tess Morgan arrived at work promptly at nine A.M; just like every day, other than the weekends, for the last six months. She checked in at the guard’s station, the third check point since entering the gate. It was always the same when she walked up to the desk and flashed her badge to Freddy. She would try to ignore his ogling by avoiding eye contact with him, but that was easier said than done. His comment about her looks, and his constant pursuit of her was tiring. He asked her out at least twice a week and she would always come up with a different excuse. The best one she could think of was that she didn't date co-workers. Though really it was because he was short, fat, and disgusting. He was always licking his lips when he talked to her like he was imagining her as an all you could eat buffet. She had never seen him wear a clean shirt, and he smelled of stale coffee mixed with body odor. He treated the patients here like shit, calling them foul names and holding back their meals if they said something to him he didn't like, or rejected his advances. Although she wanted to scream at him to just leave her the fuck alone and to keep his nasty sewer breath out of her face, she didn't want to piss him off because she had to see him every day. Tess had learned long ago if you want to keep a great job that paid well you had to play nice with others, even if made you sick to your stomach.

  "Good morning Dr. Beautiful." Freddy said blatantly staring at her breasts. "Mr. Smith wanted me to tell you there’s a new recruit in corridor D, room twelve."

  Tess dreaded having to look him in his smug face. "I thought that room was occupied. What happened to Dillon Porter?" Tess took the clipboard Freddy handed her and saw the name Rick Davis; they had put a man in there with her.

  "Oh she's still there. She just has a roommate now." Freddy
wiggled his eyebrows and displayed a yellow stained smile at her.

  Tess was livid. The girl in that cell, Dillon, was only nineteen years old. Why in the hell would they throw a man in there with her? "Why isn't he in his own room?" She asked.

  "We're filled up. Besides, that stuck up bitch needs to learn how to share." Freddy said looking pissed.

  Tess figured Dillon was another patient to reject Freddy’s advances. Poor kid, having to be locked up in here was bad enough but having to deal with this piece of shit was too much.

  "Anyway," Freddy said still staring at the dip in Tess's v-neck shirt. "The boss wants you to do a full work up on him. Blood tests, physicality, everything."

  "It will take a few days to monitor everything." Tess said raising the clipboard to cover her chest.

  Freddy snapped his eyes up to hers. "Just do it. I'll let him know. Hey, there’s a new Italian place that just opened up in my neighborhood, maybe I could take you tonight."

  Oh shit, here he goes again. Tess thought. "Sorry, I can't. My brother is coming in tonight and I have to pick him up at the airport."

  Freddy’s smile disappeared. "Oh, well maybe another time then."

  "Maybe." Tess turned quickly, still holding tight to her clipboard and made her way to corridor D.

  After dressing, Jackie and Remington were in the kitchen pouring their coffee when there was a knock at the door. "It must be him." Remington said setting his cup on the counter. He walked over and opened the door.

  "Good morning." Jordan said standing on the porch holding two large logbooks.

  "Morning." Remington said puling open the door so Jordan could enter. "Come on in."

  Jordan walked in and headed to the dining room table and set down his books. Jackie saw him from the kitchen. "Good morning. Would you like some coffee?"

  "Coffee would be great, thanks." Jordan sat down at the table followed by Remington.

  "Okay." Remington said. "What have you got?"

  Jordan opened up the first book. "This is a list of all the people I've seen coming and going. Most of them I have names for, the rest I'm still working on." He turned the page. "These are the deliveries that are made on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. They have everything from food and laundry services to uniforms and medical supplies." Jordan flipped through the pages. "Here is a map of the inside, the best that I can remember. It's not the whole place, like I said before. I didn't have time to explore. I wasn't sure when I would solidify again, so I got out as fast as I could."

  Remington looked at the map; it was a corridor of about eighteen cells, nine down each side. It looked just like the ones he saw when he escaped. "How do we get in?"

  Jordan looked up to see Jackie handing him his coffee. He took a sip and set it on the table. "Thank you." he said to her, then looked back to Remington. "Well, the best way in would be the way you got out. I would think it would be the least guarded, but I don't know how you would get back up that cliff. We'll have to use another entrance." He flipped through a couple more pages. "These are the times when the guards change shifts, it's pretty clock work. Every station switches at the same time, which is stupid on their part but great for us."

  Remington looked at the page, studying the stations and times. "You're right, this could be very possible if everything happens at the same time AND on time."

  "Oh! I forgot to tell you last night; I watched them bring someone else in two nights ago. A man. I watched him pull something out of the back of his pants and when the guards were distracted he kicked them under the SUV. When they took him in I ghosted over to the vehicle and it was a pair of dog tags." Jordan smiled at Remington, while he leaned back in his chair and reached into his front pocket and pulled them out. He slid them across the table to Remington.

  Jackie watched the blood drain from Remington’s face when he picked up the dog tags and read the name. "Rem, what is it?" she asked.

  "It's Rick." He whispered.

  "You know him?" Jordan asked surprised.

  "He's my best friend." Remington said facing Jordan. "This is my fault, they must have known I would contact him and when I did they found him." Remington had guilt written all over his face.

  "It's not your fault." Jackie said covering his hand with hers. "You couldn't have known how big this thing was when you contacted him."

  "There is a chance he hasn't been fucked with yet." Jordan said. "I was in there almost a week before they took me in to be operated on. They did a ton of blood tests and heart monitoring and shit like that."

  "Not me." Remington said. "I woke up not knowing where I was and had already been operated on. They didn't keep me a day let alone a week before they changed me."

  "I wonder why that is." Jackie said. "Why would they wait for some and not for others?"

  "I don't know." Jordan said. "Maybe it depends on what they are trying to turn you in to. Although they don't seem to give a shit whether you live or die. When someone doesn't make it they dump them and bring someone else in. It's a fucking revolving door."

  "We go tonight." Remington blurted out. "I have to get Rick out. If there is the slightest chance they haven’t hurt him yet, we need to go tonight."

  Jordan and Jackie stared at him like he was crazy.

  "I don't think that’s such a good idea." Jackie said.

  "She's right." Jordan agreed. "He's only been in there for two nights. So he has either already been changed, or they are waiting for a reason, which means they are running physical and mental tests on him like they did me. We need to go over everything I brought and make a plan. If we go off unprepared we could all get killed."

  It took Remington everything inside of him to not just jump up and run out the door to save his friend. He knew the pain that place brought and the idea that he was the one that led those bastards to Rick was almost more than he could bear. He also knew Jordan and Jackie were right though. They needed a plan if they were going to sneak in and rescue Rick and whomever else they could. Remington looked at Jordan and nodded his head.

  Jackie and Jordan both let out an audible sigh of relief at the same time. Remington was a go-getter, a big, strong, scary, I will fuck you up kind of man. The fact that he agreed to have a plan first was a shock. It also showed he was smart. He didn't go off half-cocked and could keep his head when he needed to. "Okay, two days. We make a plan and go in two days." Remington said.

  Jordan looked at Remington and Jackie. "Well then, we better get to work."

  Tess walked down corridor D with an armed guard stopping at room twelve; she put her arm through the bars and knocked on the solid wooden door. The guard leaned against the wall waiting for her cue. A man opened it, an extremely good-looking man. He looked to be about six foot. He had short dark brown hair and stone gray eyes that reminded Tess of the sky when a storm was rolling across the mountains. She didn't think she had ever met anyone with gray eyes before and was having a hell of a time looking away.

  "Can I help you?" He asked in a deep rich voice. Tess didn't answer right away. She was noticing the lean muscle of his chest and forearms.

  "Oh you must be the Dr.,” he said noticing her lab coat. "Come to take blood from the guinea pigs?"

  Tess snapped her attention back to Ricks face. "Why don't you have a shirt on?" She asked sounding peeved.

  "You woke us up." He answered pointing behind him to Dillon sitting up in the bed.

  Tess was instantly disgusted. This grown man didn't waste any time did he? Seducing a nineteen-year-old child, probably with promises of keeping her safe and getting her out, yada yada. "You make me sick!" She loudly whispered to him through the bars not wanting Dillon to hear. "She's just a child!"

  "What are you talking about lady?" Rick looked at her with his head cocked.

  "Oh don't play with me you sick bastard. That poor girl has been through enough!"

  It took Rick a minute to understand what she was insinuating. "You think," Rick was fuming and at a loss for words. He pulled the door open wide
r showing the pallet on the floor where he had made his bed. "I'll be waiting for your apology." Rick walked away from the door.

  Tess felt the heat rushing through her face. She had apparently jumped to conclusions before collecting the facts, not what a good doctor should be doing. She waved the guard over to unlock the cell and stepped in the room pulling the door closed. "You wait here." She told the guard and pulled the wooden door that was used for privacy closed also.

  Rick was standing at the foot of Dillon’s bed, like her own personal sentinel. He had put on a shirt and was staring at the Doctor as she came through the door. She was around five foot five; she had long, dark, chestnut brown hair. She wasn't stick thin. She had some meat on her, which he liked. She was wearing a cobalt blue dress covered mostly by her white lab coat and a pair of matching heels.

  "Mr. Davis? I'm Doctor Morgan, I need to take some blood and run some tests on you." She said to Rick.

  Rick walked quickly toward her. "What if I refuse and just snap your pretty little neck right now?" He said stopping right in front of her.

  Tess wasn't fazed by his threat; she'd heard it all before. She was a practiced self-defense expert and could give any one of her patients a run for their money. "I press the panic button in my pocket and the guard comes in and kills you both." She answered head held high.

  Rick stared in to her hazel eyes and realized she wasn't bluffing. If it was just him he had to worry about he would rush her and take his chances, but he had Dillon to think about. He had promised her he would get her out of here, and Rick kept his promises.

  Rick let a toothy grin spread across his face. "Well why didn't you say so doc?"

  Dillon sat in her bed watching the exchange between the two. Rick turned from the doctor and walked back toward the bed catching Dillon’s attention. He looked at her, then looked at the bathroom, then did it again.

  Taking the hint Dillon crawled out of bed. "I'm going to take a long shower." She said and closed herself in the bathroom.