Nothing on Earth (2 page)

Chapter Two

John needed to hurry back to the safe house. Damn, he’d really messed this up. He’d be lucky if
Tara
wasn’t absolutely terrified of him now. He shook his head, trying to oust the misgivings from his mind. He’d done the right thing. Intellectually, he knew that.
Tara
would’ve been captured if they’d heard her. He’d had no choice but to ensure her silence. He’d saved her from the unimaginable.

But he doubted she’d ever forgive him.

This had all gone so horribly wrong. He’d wanted nothing more than to let her live her life in peace, on her own terms. He’d watched over her, protecting her from them every single day since he’d found her. He’d tried to keep her life as normal as possible, but now that plan was blown to hell.

How had they known? How had they found her?

He grabbed the last of the supplies, stuffed them into the duffle bags, and piled them into the back of his car. He’d only set up the safe house a few months ago, and other than the soundproofed, hidden room, it was poorly furnished and badly equipped.

Halfheartedly, he threw his tools and some spare parts into the trunk of the car, but he knew he couldn’t risk using the equipment he’d used to hide her before. They surely had a way to identify it now. He’d have to design something new, but he had no idea where to start at the moment. He couldn’t seem to think past the knowledge that he’d frightened
Tara
.

He slammed the trunk closed, frustration at his own ineptness not helped at all by the attention-drawing sound. The last thing he needed was the neighbors noticing that he’d packed up
Tara
’s things as well as his and Alec’s.

He climbed into the driver’s seat, started the engine and, faking a calm he was far from feeling, waved to the elderly woman watching him from her chair on the veranda. By the time he reached the highway, he felt his fear escalating again.

They were closing in.

Tara
needed to be saved.

* * * *

Tara
’s heart leapt into her throat as the door burst open She tugged desperately at the bindings holding her wrists, fear and determination masking the pain.

John yelled at Alec in a language she couldn’t identify and then turned his attention to her. She pulled harder against her bonds.

“Stop,” he ordered as he came into the room. “
Tara
, stop. It’s just me. It’s John.”

That did absolutely nothing to make her feel better. John was the man she feared the most. She’d known it was him coming through the door, but he spoke as if she should expect someone else. God, how did she get a starring role in his delusions?

“
Tara
, stop,” he said more quietly. He moved closer, and despite the part of her that wanted to kick him in the balls, she cringed from him like a frightened child. Tears fell from her eyes as she continued to pull against her captured wrists.

John must’ve realized the closer he got the more terror she felt because he stopped his advance and took a step back.

“
Tara
, safe,” Alec said quietly. She shook her head wildly.

“No, Alec, I’m not safe. John is dangerous. I...I’m not safe.”

She saw John’s face as she said the words. Oh God, what had she done? She was supposed to go along with the scary man, be a good little hostage, not antagonize a disturbed mind.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, no longer consciously choosing her words. “I’m sorry. John, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean it.” She fell to the floor, her wrists lifting at an uncomfortable angle as the tether pulled tight. She dropped her head forward, her hair falling like a curtain over her vision. She could barely see through the tears anyway, but the hand that touched her head terrified the daylights out of her.

She forced herself to accept the caress without pulling away. She had to go along with his delusions. Her life depended on it.

* * * *

John stepped forward, unable to tolerate seeing her in agony, agony that he’d caused. He wanted to pull her into his arms, hold her tight, and never let her go, but he knew she wouldn’t welcome his embrace. Hell, the one and only time he’d held her, he’d sedated her, abducted her, and hidden her in this small room. That wasn’t something anyone forgot in a hurry. Oh, and to top things off, he’d tied her to the wall for her own safety.

He knew she was terrified, but he couldn’t
not
comfort her. He reached out a trembling hand and touched the top of her head lightly, a little surprised she didn’t pull away until he realized she was forcing herself to hold still.

“I’m sorry.” He barely managed to force the words past his dry throat, and his heart ached as she continued to sob. “I know I frightened you. I didn’t want to, but I had no choice. If they’d found you, they would’ve taken you, and I can’t let that happen.”

He caressed the top of her head gently, trying not to frighten her any more than she already was. “
Tara
, I’m going to take the cuffs off so that you can move around. I need you to promise me that you won’t try to run. They’ll find you if you leave this room.”

She nodded slightly against his hand.

“
Tara
, baby, I need you to promise you won’t run. It’s not safe. Not for any of us anymore. You have to trust me to keep you safe.”

“I p…promise,” she said falteringly as she lifted her hands higher. He saw the reddened skin where she’d chaffed it against her bonds, and he wanted to apologize all over again.

God, he’d fucked this up.

* * * *

She still had her head down when he undid the bonds so she didn’t see how he removed them. Inside her head she cursed a blue streak at her stupidity. If he put her in them again, it would’ve at least been helpful to see how the damn things worked.

Squinting as she tried to see around the dark, little room,
Tara
tried her best to hide her agitation. John still stood in front of her, and she braced herself not to pull away from his touch. She’d antagonized this man more than enough for one day. She really needed to protect herself and stick to her resolution to be a good little prisoner.

“Tara, Alec is going to stay with you while I work. We have a lot to get through, but I don’t want you to be alone.”

She nodded again, strangely relieved that she wouldn’t be locked in this dark, claustrophobically small room alone.

Chapter Three

Alec watched the way his lover reacted to the woman. He acknowledged a large amount of attraction for the pretty brunette himself, but he could see that John felt far more deeply. Had John fallen for her while Alec had been busily trying to avoid the outside world? Hell, he’d been sulking ever since John had dragged him to this city. He hadn’t wanted to leave everything and everyone he’d known just to follow John as he followed his conscience, but Alec had done it because he loved the man.

He could see that John was suffering. Alec understood how much it had hurt John to frighten
Tara
the way he had, but he also understood the motivation and the necessity.

A sob drew his attention back to
Tara
. She sat with her head dropped forward, her hair covering her pretty face as John undid the tether. He didn’t need to understand the words his lover murmured to know what he’d said, but the last part caught him by surprise. John left the room, closing the door firmly behind him, before Alec could utter a protest.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to try to comfort
Tara
. It was just that he knew how much John needed his reassurance right now. The look on John’s face when
Tara
had begged for Alec’s help would likely haunt him for a very long time.

She couldn’t have hurt him more if she’d had a weapon. The soul-destroying words had hit John very hard, despite the fact that they’d both expected them. Alec carefully moved toward where
Tara
sat on the floor rubbing her reddened wrists. She looked up as he got closer, and he again cursed his reluctance to learn English. All those times he’d refused to practice the language with John now seemed petty and spiteful and, quite frankly, childish. He hadn’t gotten his way, so he’d sulked and made John miserable, and now here they were, trying to protect a terrified woman who had absolutely no understanding of the danger she was in.

And he, dumbass, selfish bastard that he was, held no ability to explain it to her.

“Tara, I sorry,” he said as he moved closer still. She kept her head down, and he could still hear her crying, so he wasn’t even sure she’d heard him. “Tara, I sorry,” he said again and reached a hand toward her. Even the threat of those straight, white teeth didn’t worry him at the moment. The man he loved needed him to comfort this woman while he worked to keep them all safe. He would do this no matter what.

She looked up at him, eyed his hand, then glanced back up to his face. “I sorry,” he said again, and this time she nodded in response.

“I know,” she said quietly. “Everybody is sorry, even me, but I don’t think it’s going to save us.”

He shook his head, a little annoyed at her lack of faith in John. John would protect them both, he knew that for certain, but then he realized what she meant. She thought John was the danger. He needed to make her understand, but his lousy language skills held him back. Hell, he could make this situation worse just by using the wrong word in the wrong context at the wrong time. He whispered a promise to John that he would learn English as fast as he could.

“What language is that?” she asked quietly.

“Not English,” he answered with a small smile. Hell, he didn’t even know what his language was called. He’d just always spoken it, and everyone around him had done the same. He didn’t even have enough skills in English to explain that he didn’t even know.

She frowned at his answer, but another sob escaped instead of words. Slowly, he moved to settle his arms around her. She held herself away from him, so he just sat still on the floor, waiting for her to move closer to him. He took a small amount of comfort that she hadn’t pulled away, but he’d watched her withstand John’s touch even though he terrified her, so he didn’t exactly congratulate himself on his tactic.

She shivered in his arms but eventually leaned against him and let him embrace her. Alec had no idea what to say. Even in his own language, he wasn’t sure what would be appropriate here, so he simply held her close, and eventually she began to relax against him.

It felt so different to be the one offering comfort. He’d grown so used to John taking care of him that he’d forgotten that he wasn’t the only one who needed support. He closed his eyes as memories of his selfishness of the past year surfaced. He’d really hurt John. John still loved him, despite the fact that he’d acted like a selfish brat. He really was a lucky man, and he needed to find a way to make it up to his lover and best friend.

Several hours later,
Tara
had finally fallen asleep. He’d carried her over the small cot in the corner and sat on the floor beside the bed holding her hand. She whimpered in her dreams, and he smoothed a large hand over her head. She really was a beautiful woman.

The door opened quietly, and he glanced up to see John standing at the doorway, his body language telegraphing his tense worry.

“Asleep?” John asked in their language.

“Yes,” he answered in English, determined to let his lover know he had his support and that he would learn as quickly as he could from now on. Alec carefully placed
Tara
’s hand back on the bed, moving slowly, silently, so that he wouldn’t wake her. He stood and walked to his lover.

He didn’t say a word, just wrapped his arms around John’s waist and held on tight. John exhaled heavily as he pulled Alec closer, and Alec felt even more wretched for having made his partner feel so alone. They were in this together, and Alec vowed silently that he would do everything he could to help his lover.