Dangerous Lovers (169 page)

“I’ll hold you to that Mister,” she smiled, leaning in to kiss him.

“Sleep with me tonight. In my quarters, wearing nothing.”

“Can you stand it?” she asked, rolling on top of him.

“Probably not. Call it self-torture, but I want you naked, in my bed.”

“Okay...” before she could finish the sentence, Jurek flashed them to his quarters, to his bed. “Oh, you think you’re really cool, don’t you?”

He gave her that look and said, “Nope, I
know
I’m cool!”

Chapter Fifteen

Four days later, Liasare made her way to the training facility, but was intercepted by Naroo, who gave her a message from Jurek. He had been called away and wouldn’t be there, but he would return as soon as he could. That was all the message said.

Naroo told Liasare she had access to anything she wanted, including Jurek’s quarters. Liasare figured she would work on strength training as usual and then perhaps read a book later on.

Pushing herself to the limits, she forgot what it was like not to have Jurek’s special mojo around. Her muscles screamed obscenities at her and as she hobbled back to her quarters. Grabbing a few items, she tapped the window and asked to speak to Naroo. Naroo’s face popped on the screen and Liasare asked her for some assistance in finding Jurek’s quarters.

Once there, Liasare hopped in the shower. It was odd how she missed him. When she stepped in his bathroom, just seeing his belongings brought her comfort. She liked the technology on Lare-Stell, which included the awesome showers. They had built in dryers that dried the body as well as the hair. It saved so much time that she wondered if Jurek could bring one of these to Earth when they went back.

She quickly pulled on a pair of comfy pants and shirt and headed for the seat by the viewing platform. On her way there, she picked up her reading device, as she planned to relax and finish the book she’d been working on for a while. Her eyes kept wandering to the stars in the distance, distracting her with their sparkling beauty. Tommy always told her she would love space travel if she ever had the opportunity to try it. He was right. She could barely pull her eyes off the view and back to her book. Soon, she relaxed and felt her eyes closing.

***

Jurek’s emotions were out of control. He’d been called away to Vesturon to assist a close friend, but instead he’d been dealt the worst kind of blow he’d ever received, one so fierce he felt his heart had been wrenched from his chest. He never thought Liasare could have deceived him, and as effectively as she had. He’d been forced to pretend it all was fine, for he didn’t want to give his feelings away to his friend, but all the while he was dying inside. Then the pain of realizing what she’d done, turned to anger. He seethed inside, feeling the heat build to a blaze within his core. He needed to get back to Lare-Stell before he had a meltdown, so he’d made some flimsy excuse about his behavior after making a promise to his friend and quickly got the hell out of there.

Vacillating between anguish and rage, he was a roller coaster of emotions. He kept flexing his fists, but the urge to punch something finally overruled and that’s how he ended up in the training facility. He didn’t even bother to put on the gloves, but went after the punching bag with everything he had. When there was nothing left to the bag but the rope from which it had hung, he still felt the need to let off more steam. He couldn’t understand why she made him feel this way. Or could he? Was he hiding from the truth? Did he not want to face it, because he was afraid of opening himself up to her, or was it because he was afraid of rejection? The confrontation wasn’t going to be pretty, but he knew he needed to get it over with. He headed to the locker room, showered and changed before making his way to his quarters. His belly churned and his muscles tensed at the thought of what was to come.

Jurek entered his quarters and saw her sleeping at the platform. He was angry with her, very angry, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her as she slumbered. She had such a softness about her when she slept...he loved to gaze at her then. There was no worry or anger or sadness about her. He released a sigh, contemplating how he would handle this. Talk about complications. What he learned today just threw another damn monkey wrench into the fucking cogwheel.

Feeling his anger surge again, Jurek slammed his fist into his palm. The noise awakened Liasare.

“What’s happened?” she asked, startled.

Rubbing his jaw, he gave her a hard look before responding.

“I almost don’t know where to begin, Sarah Liana St. Davis.”

She sucked in her breath and her face drained of color upon hearing her birth name roll off his tongue.

“I’ll ask you this one time and I’ll know if you lie. Why did you use an alias with me?” His eyes drilled into hers.

She knew she had to be completely honest here or she was toast. Her voice quaked as she answered, “When I decided to come and search for my brother, I did it without my family’s knowledge. My sister is married to someone very high up on Vesturon. They wouldn’t tell me anything. The Guardians wouldn’t tell me anything. I finally found someone who discovered that all of my brother’s records had been wiped out. Someone is hiding something and my sister and her husband’s family has to know. So I had to assume an alias. I also did it for protection and so they couldn’t find me. And I know this is kind of trite, but I always hated my birth name, I really like my new name.” She bowed her head before she continued, “After I met you, I knew I could never go back to being Sarah. When you say, ‘Liasare,’ it sounds so sexy and does something magical to me.”

“Dammit Liasare, don’t you dare change the subject!”

“I’m not! You asked for the truth and I’m giving it to you,” her voice cracking. He looked into her eyes for any untruths, but could find none. His mind searched hers, but could only find honesty.

He let out his breath before he asked, “How high up on Vesturon is your family? And don’t lie.”

“Not my family. My sister’s...”

“Answer the question, dammit!”

“The top banana! The Yarristers! I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Everyone has.”

“Give me your hand,” he said through gritted teeth. She placed her hand in his and they popped into another room on Lare-Stell. It was a huge suite containing several rooms. One was filled with a baby crib, and two other beds. Pictures were scattered everywhere and Jurek pulled Liasare closer so she could see them. She gasped when she recognized her sister, brother-in-law, Jurek and her nieces and nephews.

“What is this?” she turned to him asking.

“These are January’s quarters. Rykerian comes sometimes too. That’s where I’ve been today. Vesturon. She called to me. She’s been worried about you because you left without telling anyone. Then she showed me your picture, so I could assist in your search. And what do you know? Little sister is Liasare! Fuck it all! How do you think I felt when I found out you’ve been lying to me from the start?”

He grabbed her arm and they flashed back to his quarters.

“Don’t worry little girl. Your secret is safe. I told her you were with me. You can imagine her shock. I’ve smoothed things over, but I was shocked as hell, when I found out I had been deceived...by you.”

“You know January? And Rykerian? How?” Liasare was shocked too, and confused as hell.

“That’s a long story and I’m asking the questions here. Remember on Earth when I told you I wanted the truth? Why didn’t you give it to me?”

“Because I was
protecting
myself. If they had found out I was here, the person that helped me get here would also be in deep shit. I was protecting him too. They also would have stormed Earth to find me and take me home.”

“Is he your lover?” His eyes were deadly now and his mouth was nothing but a thin line.

“What? No! Not that it’s any of your business,” she fumed.

“Oh, that’s where you’re so very wrong Liasare. Everything about you is my business,” Jurek taunted, his voice edged in steel. “You would be wise to remember that.”

“Yes
Master
.”

Moving quicker than lightening, he unleashed part of his power as he latched onto her arm, causing a jolt of pain to explode up her arm.

“Aww,” she screamed, “Let me go! You’re hurting me!”

“Not until you agree, no more lies or omissions of truth between us.”

“O-Okay! Please stop,” she whimpered, agreeing to anything to get rid of the pain. He released her and she dropped to her hands and knees, moaning. The pain resonated up her arm and she rubbed it, trying to ease the sensation. Instead of abating, it worsened, moving from her arm to the rest of her body. She fell to her side with a wail and pulled her legs to her chest, trying to breathe. Then the seizures began. Soon she was writhing in agony. Jurek looked on and was immediately sickened by his actions.

“Dammit,” he said reaching for her. Her eyes were nearly rolling back in her head by this time and he pulled her into his arms, placing his hand on her head. Initially, there was no response, but then the calm invaded her senses and took away the effects of his power. She was still panting when suddenly she rolled to the side and threw up violently, several times. He ran his hand along her face and neck, trying to continue to sooth her. Placing her on his bed, he went to the bathroom and came back with a damp cloth to clean her face.

He wiped her cheeks and mouth and kept running his hands from her face to her forehead, continuing to calm her. He knew he was going to face a fierce storm, but dammit, he was pissed. He felt great remorse, when her lovely hazel eyes looked at him accusingly, and she rolled away from him and lay on her side, unspeaking.

He stood next to the bed and began, “You may not want to hear this story right now, but I will tell it nonetheless. About nineteen years ago, my father and half-sister were taken prisoner by the Xanthians. The Xanthians wanted me to do something--something I’ve regretted and will regret for the rest of my life--in return for their lives. I agreed. I did what they asked but the Xanthians reneged. I came to the Guardians for help because they were the only ones who had been successful in breaking someone out of the Xanthian prison. I knew how airtight the prison was because I designed the security for it myself. At first they wouldn’t agree so I sort of kidnapped January in order to get them to do what I wanted. I knew it was underhanded and I was an asshole, but they finally agreed. My father was killed saving my sister. In retrospect, I should have backed away from the whole thing, but I was doing the family love and duty thing. Thing is, my father never gave a shit about me and my sister is the most selfish thing alive.” He laughed derisively. “Anyway, during this whole process, January and I made this connection. Not as in lovers, but as in brother-sister. We are still extremely close, but neither of us could figure out why. The answer has become abundantly clear to me now. It’s you Liasare. You are what binds us. Rykerian hates me. Well, not so much anymore, but he did at first. I’m close to Xarrid, but the other Yarristers are luke-warm. I gave January away at her wedding and I love her more than I’ll ever love my own sister. I was there at the birth of all her children. So now you know the story.” He paused for a minute and looked at her back, waiting for her to speak. “I am so angry with you right now I don’t know what to do.”

She moved slightly and said, “I never knew all of that. Why does January never speak of you?” she sniffed.

“I’ve asked her to keep our existence a secret. None of the Yarristers speak of us. It is the Praestani way. I will ask the same of you.”

“Why did you unleash your power on me? I thought I was going to die. You hurt me Jurek. You know what your power does to me yet you still did it,” she said as she dissolved into tears once more. The truth was her heart hurt more than her body did, for when he purposely injured her, the knife that wounded her spirit hurt far worse than any physical pain she felt.

He placed his hand on her back and began to rub a pattern of circles on it. “I will never let you die. I will always be there to save you, do you hear me? But dammit, I was so angry with you. I wanted your commitment not to lie and I wanted to punish you for lying to me.”

“You can’t punish me Jurek. I’m not your child. And I only lied to protect my friend and myself. I didn’t want him to lose his position with the Guardians for helping me. I haven’t lied to you for any other reason.” She swiped the back of her hand across her face, trying to wipe the tears away.

“I promised January and Rykerian I would keep you safe. Now I am doubting my plans to allow you to go back to Earth.”

Liasare looked at Jurek and he knew there would be resistance here. “You don’t seriously think you can keep me here now, do you?”

“I suppose not. I’m sure you would make Naroo’s life a living hell.” Liasare mentally agreed with him.

She wondered if her sister suspected anything was going on between Jurek and her. She herself wondered if anything was going on between the two of them. After tonight, she wasn’t sure.

“You don’t honestly think that do you?”

“Please don’t do that. I hate it when you read my mind. It puts me at an unfair advantage. My life is so full of them right now where you’re concerned, can’t you just concede to me this one thing?” Liasare was so frustrated right now.