Dangerous Lovers (156 page)

“Do you want me to ask around there for you?”

“No! I would prefer you not say anything to any of them,” she adamantly said.

“But I may know someone relatively high up who can help.”

“No! Absolutely not! I mean it. I have my own connections and if they failed, so will yours and you could cause me more trouble that I can even begin to tell you.”

“There is the possibility that he is no longer alive.”

“I’ve thought of that too, but then his tracer would have shown that.”

“Your brother was a Guardian?” he asked incredulously.

Shitfuck! I wasn’t supposed to let that one slip.

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean ‘sort of?’ Either he was or he wasn’t! What aren’t you telling me?” he demanded.

Before she knew what was happening, he had pulled her onto a deserted street and forced her up against a wall, pressing her against it with his body, his hips grinding into hers.

Double-decker shit! Here we go again! That power and heat.

He bent his head to her ear and whispered, “You don’t want to fuck with me Davidson, because I can make your life every bit as painful and horrific as the Xanthians can. What aren’t you telling me?”

His warm breath and electrifying touch left her breathless, and every nerve ending was crying out for more. She inhaled his essence, and he smelled of exotic spices, and far-away things she had never experienced before. Heady, fragrant and very sexy.

“I’m waiting Liasare Davidson,” he purred.

Her throat convulsed as she swallowed, her mouth having gone bone dry as his heat consumed her.

“I...I,” she began, when he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. What had been a mixture of lavender and silver before, were now complete swirling orbs of silver, reflected in the moonlight. Liasare gasped at their beauty, for never before had she seen such magnificence.

He dipped his head toward her neck and inhaled deeply and ran his tongue along the length of it. “Tell me Liasare or I shall have to invade your mind and find it for myself,” he said hoarsely.

“Yes. Yes, my brother was a Guardian. He worked here on Earth for six months before his disappearance. I didn’t want to say anything because the Guardians have been less than forthcoming about his disappearance and I’m not sure whom I can trust here.”

“How did you come here Liasare?” The way he said her name made it sound like a lovely song, like the wind when it softly rustled through the trees.

“A friend assisted me.”

“I see. Why is it so important to find your brother, other than the obvious reason?”

“He means everything to me. He is my only family. He took care of me my whole life and he would do no less for me.”

Jurek lifted his head again and looked at Liasare before stepping away from her. She felt cold and empty when he moved away.

“You can trust me. I will not betray you, but you must follow my orders,” he instructed, brusquely.

“What do you mean, ‘follow my orders?’”

Jurek cocked his head at that odd angle again and looked at her as if she had suddenly grown a third eye.

“I mean exactly as it sounds. If you are to work with me, you must follow my orders.”

“I work with no one.”

“Oh yes you do.”

“Oh no I don’t”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Enough already. You work with me and you will do as I say!”

“Good-bye.” Liasare stomped off.

Jurek threw his hands up in the air and followed her at a distance. She was certainly a handful.

Chapter Six

Liasare sat at the bar and finished off her third beer, hoping it would calm her down. So far, no such luck. By the time she had arrived, she’d been seething. She’d felt him the whole way behind her and she knew he was still around here somewhere. She was going to need something stronger. Signaling the bartender, she placed her order for a bourbon, straight up. He brought her drink and she emptied the contents of the glass in several gulps. Making her way to the restroom, she stopped a brunette along the way to see if she recognized Tommy. No luck on that one.

She left the restroom and rounded the corner to see two Xanthians cornering a tiny female. She was wide-eyed with fear and whimpering.

“Don’t worry, little girl, we’ll take you some place where you’ll be well cared for.” The one who spoke laughed, as if he’d made a silly joke. The girl was trembling and shaking her head back and forth. The Xanthian’s girth made it almost impossible to see her, but you could still hear her terrified whines.

It was most likely the alcohol that made Liasare bold, or perhaps it was the fear radiating off the girl. Whichever the case, Liasare moved behind the disgusting cretins and tapped one of them on the shoulder, “Hey, are you an idiot or something? Can you not read body language? This girl isn’t interested.”

The Xanthians turned their attention to Liasare and when they did, she motioned to the girl with her head to get the hell out of there. The girl wasted no time in scurrying away.

“This is not your business, bitch.”

“Yeah, well too bad I made it my business.”

“Then perhaps you’d like to come with us instead?”

“Perhaps I wouldn’t.”

Liasare started backing away toward the busy part of the bar. She needed to get out of there because she knew she was in a danger zone.

“She thinks she’s going to get away from us Zarg.” The thug on the left spat out as he laughed.

Zarg started to laugh along with him as he clamped a wide pudgy paw on Liasare’s shoulder and squeezed.

“Ugh,” she groaned as she tried to pull away from him. His friend got behind her and threw a meaty arm around her waist, biting into her rib cage, bruising her. He clenched her against his body and the smell of him made her gag. He glued his nasty face next to hers, stuck his tongue out and began to lick her cheek. His slobber ran down her face, but when she tried to scream, she gagged and threw up. That put a halt to any sound from emerging, other than the noise of her heaving. Zarg laughed at her as he came up in front of her and slid his beefy hand down her pants.

Liasare began to squirm and fight in earnest. The thought of one of these animals trying to rape her made her want to kill herself. She tried to free an elbow, but meaty arm had a vise grip on her. She raised her knee in a last ditch effort to jab Zarg in the groin, but when she did, he just chuckled at her. He seemed to be enjoying her fight. A different tactic was in order, her frantic mind decided. She suddenly went limp in their arms. Zarg was attempting to unzip her pants, but her dead weight threw him off balance and he pitched forward onto Liasare who ended up sandwiched between the two putrid Xanthians.

About the time she felt she had drawn her last breath, a streak of light flashed directly toward her, leaving two dead Xanthians in its path. Suddenly she found herself swirling through a vortex for the second time that night.

When the world stopped spinning, she pitched forward and threw up again just before blackness enveloped her.

***

Jurek looked at the heap of female lying at his feet. He was still trying to figure out what the hell happened. He was standing in the bar one minute and the next he could feel and smell Liasare’s terror. He flashed to her location and he saw her sandwiched between those two fuckers. He hoped no one saw her with them, or she would be blamed for their deaths. She was such a mess that he didn’t have time to properly dispose of their bodies.

He gently placed his hand on her forehead and waited the few seconds it would take for his technique to revive her.

Liasare’s eyelids fluttered open and she saw Jurek kneeling next to her with his hand on her forehead.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Gross and nasty. Ugh, they’re so disgusting. Oh God, I think I’m gonna be sick.” She rolled to her side just in time to vomit again.

Jurek handed her a cloth to wipe her face.

“I’m so sorry. This is really embarrassing. I don’t usually get sick like this,” she said, her eyes looking down at her hands.

“What happened back there?”

Liasare shook her head. “They had this itty-bitty girl cornered by the restroom. She was freaking out. I felt so sorry for her.” She paused and swallowed the lump in her throat. No way was she going to cry in front of him. She rubbed her face and continued, “She didn’t know what to do. You should have seen her eyes Jurek. They looked like a trapped animal’s. It pissed me off the way they were picking on her and laughing about it. I thought I’d distract them so she could get away. It worked, but when I tried to back my way towards the bar, they pinned me between them and they...” her throat convulsed, in a valiant effort to stave off her tears. She dropped her head into her hands and silently cried.

“Emotions are a waste of time and will be the death of you if you can’t either hide them or control them,” Jurek said curtly. “If you must cry, do so alone, where no one can see your weakness.”

Liasare lifted her tear-streaked face and stared at him with narrowed eyes. “Go to hell. Excuse me for being human. I was nearly raped by two of the most vile creatures and you have a hell of a lot of nerve telling me that crying makes me look weak.”

“You should have thought about all of this before you volunteered to travel to Earth to rescue your brother. This was a harebrained scheme and you know it. Your life is in danger and while rape is not a desirable thing to endure, at least it’s better than death. Now go to the back of the warehouse where you’ll find a shower. You reek of Xanthians ... and other nasty things. While you’re back there, find a change of clothing and get rid of what you are wearing. You’ll need to destroy your clothes otherwise people will recognize you. Now go.”

Jurek walked away, leaving her gaping at him.
What an asshole!

Clenching her fists and pushing herself to her feet, she slowly made her way on shaking legs to the rear of the building, in search of a shower. In truth, she couldn’t wait to get the stink washed off of her.

Locating a locker room of sorts, she found stacks of neatly folded clothing. Everything was black and nondescript. There were form fitting pants, shirts and jackets. She searched through the piles and found what she thought would fit and headed for the shower stall. Stripping down, she ripped everything off until she got to the elastic layer that covered her right leg from thigh to ankle. Carefully rolling it down, she stepped out of it and limped to the shower.

Turning the water on hot, she let it cascade over her head and down her body. Fumbling around for the body wash, she squeezed a generous amount into the palm of her hand and made a sudsy lather, vigorously rubbing herself with the bubbles. She repeated the process. When she was satisfied that the offensive odor had been rinsed away, she began to unbraid her thick hair. As the water fell over her, she massaged shampoo into her hair and washed the grime of the last few days away. As she was finishing, the tears she had pushed away forced their way through. What a mess her life had become!

Tommy, where the fuck are you? You better not have pulled anything stupid because if you have, I’ll kill you myself when I find you, I swear to God!

Liasare dried herself with a fluffy towel she had found and then wrapped her hair in it. She then began the painstaking process of putting the wrap back on her leg. As she did it, she reminded herself why she was here, of what Tommy had done for her after the accident.

Grabbing her pack, she found her toothbrush and scrubbed her teeth twice. Now she felt like a human again. It took her a few long minutes to brush the tangled mass hanging down her back. She wanted to braid it, but would have to wait until it was dry.

As Liasare made her way back toward the front of the building, she heard voices. One, she knew, belonged to Jurek. She’d recognize that deep, rich voice anywhere. Not wanting to be the center of attention, she stood on the outskirts of the group.

Her wish held no ground where Jurek was concerned.

“Come here Davidson,” he commanded.

She raised her brow at him but before she could comment, another man standing next to Jurek said, “Welcome Brownie. Nice of you to join us.”

“I have a name and it’s
not
Brownie,” Liasare sputtered.

“Davidson!” Jurek flicked his fingers at her, indicating she go to him.

She huffed and headed his way. “What?”

Jurek leaned in to her and
sniffed
!

“Much better,” he declared, his lips turning up.

“Uh! You are so rude!”

“You have no idea,” he smirked.

“Jurek, does Brownie smell bad?”

“Stop calling me that. My name is Liasare Davidson and I expect you to call me by my name dammit.” She crossed her arms and tapped her toe on the floor.

“Well, I like the name Brownie and I shall continue to call you that.”