Calm Before the Storm (12 page)

An hour later, having discovered they were
now in the southwest of England a few miles from Exeter, they managed to swap the
Audi for a nondescript Ford. Irina tried to reconcile their theft of the car
with the fact that their lives were in danger, and sank back into the passenger
seat exhausted. It was now late evening and Tyr, having decided to keep off the
main roads, was sticking to the winding country lanes that crisscrossed the
area.

They had also contacted Cassi after
reversing charges at an old-fashioned payphone they had come across at one
small village. The relief in Cassi’s voice had been palpable, although her response
to Tyr’s presence was puzzling. She had sounded both glad and wary, warning
Irina to be careful. However, rather than encouraging Irina to try and escape
his clutches or give him up to the police, she had been insistent that Irina
bring Tyr to her. His request to speak to Merak had also appeared to please her
and Cassi had finished by directing them to a small motel near Stonehenge,
which was only a couple of hours away.

Irina found herself gazing blankly into the
darkness, her thoughts in disarray, as she tried to make sense of recent
events. “So what were those creatures?” she finally asked. “My brain is telling
me I imagined the whole thing. Please tell me I’m actually asleep and when I
wake up this whole thing will turn out to be a dream.”

Tyr glanced her way shaking his head.
“Unfortunately I can’t do that, little dove,” he began, and she could see he
was weighing his words carefully. “According to Abrasax, and believe me I know
this is going to sound mad, but he told me that life exists on other planets
and I guess we have the evidence of it after seeing those creatures.
Apparently, humans are not alone in the universe. He also waffled on about some
ongoing battle for domination that’s being waged in the universe and insisted
your friends Merak Espenson and Cassiopeia Shedir are involved in it.”

Irina raised her eyebrows at him open
mouthed in disbelief. Cassi and Merak! Life on other planets! What the hell was
he talking about? Irina shut her eyes for a moment and as she did, long
forgotten memories of Merak and Cassi crashed over her. His constant concern
and watchfulness along with Cassi’s almost too penetrating ability to sense her
thoughts had always seemed strange and unnatural. Her experience as a child had
taught her that monsters did exist. Why not aliens? Breathing out she gave a
deep sigh. “So this isn’t just about Sal’s murder? And those creatures, they’re
like extraterrestrials—no don’t answer that. At this point I’m so tired I could
believe anything.” Her life since meeting this man had turned from calm to a
storm of crazy, so much so that she didn’t know what to expect from one moment
to the next.

She sat beside him silent for a moment, her
thoughts entangled in the man at her side. They had been thrown together for
whatever reason so maybe it was time for answers. “How well do you know
Abrasax, Tyr? He owns the gym you train in. If he killed Sal, why did he want
you out of jail? What’s all this got to do with their eternal battle?”

Tyr hesitated seemingly unwilling to
confide. Moments passed in silence until he finally he spoke in lowered tones.
“Abrasax is the one who got me off the streets and into boxing. I felt like he
saved my life, but now I know that all the things I once believed about him,
about Sal, they were false. Nothing was as it seemed.”

Irina took the plunge. She wanted to
understand who he was. “Why were you on the streets? What happened to your
parents?”

His broad shoulders shrugged. “My mother
and father died when I was four, in a car accident. I went to live with my aunt
and an uncle, who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic. He resented having to
take care of me and made sure I knew it, in lots of…interesting ways. Finally
he kicked me out when I was eight. Took me to a cinema, left me inside with
some popcorn and suggested I didn’t bother coming home. So I took his advice.”

“Eight!” Irina was shocked. “You were just
a child!” she exclaimed, trying not to imagine the “interesting ways” his uncle
had taken care of him.

“Believe me, I was glad to go. If I had
stayed, either he would have killed me or I might well have killed him.”

Her heart clenched in a vise grip of
sympathy for the small black-haired boy, sitting alone in a dark cinema,
nowhere to go. She imagined him alone on the streets, defenseless. How had he
survived? Why stay on the streets? Why hadn’t his aunt helped? “What did your
uncle do to you, Tyr?” she asked softly and then bit her lip as she realized
the intrusiveness of her question. Irina felt him bristle, his body going
tense.

Tyr cursed and suddenly swerved the car off
the road. Jerking on the handbrake he pivoted round to face her, his broad
shoulders invading the space. He raked a hand through ebony-black hair fixing
the darkness of his eyes onto hers. “You really don’t want to know, Irina, but
between him and the street gangs I learned how to defend myself. My fighting
skills aren’t just the result of Sal’s training. I did what I needed to do to
survive.”

The vise around her chest wound tighter but
there were some questions she needed answered.

“What kinds of things did you do?” She had
to ask.

Tyr sighed and then took a deep breath,
needing to be honest. “Today wasn’t the first time I’ve had to kill someone.”

He felt her body still, the tension between
them stretched taut, the threads of their connection straining under the weight
of his confession. Tyr knew she abhorred violence and as much as he couldn’t
bear to see a look of contempt in her eyes, he needed to be truthful with her
even if she hated him for it.

“I’ve never killed anyone who didn’t attack
me first.” He turned toward her but she avoided his gaze, her arms wrapped
around her chest, creating a barrier between them. “It was always self-defense.
I…I know that’s not an excuse.” He kept his eyes on hers, searching her face
with forlorn hope as she turned back to look at him. “But it is the truth.”

Her eyes held his steadily, giving nothing
away. “How many?” she asked her voice impassive.

“Before today—three.”

“And you would have died if you hadn’t…”
She left the words unsaid.

“Without a doubt.”

He held his breath, watching as she closed
her eyes. “Then you did what you had to do.”

He finally breathed again, her quiet
acceptance warming him as nothing ever had before. Tyr watched in silence,
waiting on the edge of a precipice until her eyes finally reopened and the
golden liquid poured into him. Penetrating. Healing. Soothing.

“How did you manage to survive?” It was a
question laced with incredulity. “We had to steal to eat. The older lads used
the younger ones as lookouts and distractions. It was all very
Oliver Twist
.”
He stared past her trying to block unwanted images from his past. Taking a deep
breath again he shook his head slowly. “Truthfully Irina,” he said quietly,
“I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, been places I don’t ever want to
go again.”

“Did you…did you ever break into houses?”
The question was loaded with tension, her small frame rigid as she awaited his
reply.

“Only once,” he confirmed. “It was just
before Abrasax took me to Sal. That was…let’s just say it was one of the worst
experiences of my life.” He couldn’t control the bitterness in his voice not
wanting to dwell on that particular night.

“I swore never to get involved in that kind
of thing again. They didn’t just rob the family. They…” He broke off, locking
eyes with her, hoping she would see nothing but regret. “I tried to protect one
of the children…” He shook his head shrugging away the dark memory. “Let’s just
say that Sal was the best thing that ever happened to me and Abrasax is
responsible for his death. I’m not going to let that slide.”

He was shocked when she leaned into him.
Whatever tension there had been between them dissipated, leaving only that
strange static buzz sizzling in the air. Her arms slid around his body and she
hugged him tightly. The comfort she gave diffused into a vortex of compulsion,
her body a magnet for his. Tyr could not believe he had told her so much and
she had remained with him. Why had she not run screaming from the car? No one
had ever made him feel the way she did. He loved the way her body reacted to
his, how she melted into his touch. She was liquid fire. Just one touch and he
was turned to ash. She was sexy as hell and he needed to be inside her. But not
here. She deserved more. So much more.

Irina’s heart ached for the man in her
arms. He had been so young, so defenseless. She believed him when he said it
was kill or be killed on the streets, and she knew that what he had done
recently, he had done for her protection. But he had only answered part of her
question. She needed to know the whole, even if the truth of it hurt.

The vise twisted again and her heart almost
burst with the agony of knowing. She
should
hate him. The family he
mentioned, she knew deep down it was hers. She was finding it hard to reconcile
the swirl of emotions that spiraled inside her head as she remembered them. The
devastation. The loss. The anger. And him. Tyr. Her thoughts centered on her
memories of that night. He
had
been there, as she’d long suspected. Tyr
the boy had kept her hidden, his actions protecting her from detection. Tyr the
man had cradled her from harm at the police station, had fought against their
captors at the mansion…for her. Everything he had done had been a battle for
survival. If he hadn’t fought the way he had all his life, then she probably
would not be here now. Instead, she would be buried in a grave beside her
parents and her sister.

The vise loosened its grip, allowing her
heart to burst forth, a hammering rhythm drumming her ribs into submission. She
raised her face to his and discovered his eyes intent, hungrily scanning her
face. Thoughts of resistance fled as she imagined the desolate isolation of the
feral child he’d once been. The threads of their connection tying knots around
her heart and soul, her mouth fell against his as the magnet of attraction
yanked them into collision. The resulting kiss drove Irina nearly senseless
with desire, their lips melding in a heated fusion of molten passion. Her brain
ceased to function as sensation overwhelmed, engulfing every atom in her now
hypersensitive flesh. His hands were in her hair, sliding up her waist,
grasping her hips and stroking her neck. She felt the graze of his lips against
her skin leave tingling warmth with each new caress.

“Irina,” he murmured, fevered lips against
her hair, breath ragged with need. “Let’s get to the motel. We need to go now
or I’m going to have to strip you naked right here, right now and I won’t be
able to stop myself. Your body is doing crazy things to mine.” He brought her
hand to rest on the fly of his jeans. “Feel what you do to me, Irina. I’m
rock-hard for you, little dove.” She heard him whisper a curse, felt his
reluctant withdrawal and immediately lamented the loss of his heat when he
pulled back.

Speechless, Irina froze, shocked not just
by the hard evidence of his erection in her hand but also by his words and the
reaction of her body to his. Her brain was in surrender mode, unwilling to
fight. She was a walking bowl of jelly where he was concerned. She knew she
ought to resist, but she so didn’t want to.
Go with the flow. Resistance is
futile
. A dozen clichés rattled through her head. Finally she managed a
nod, her cheeks heated with the rush of blood, and withdrawing her hand,
reluctantly slid back into her seat. Tyr maneuvered the car back onto the road
at breakneck speed. Irina didn’t care, the promise of the motel a lighted
beacon in the distance.

A short time later, Tyr pulled into the
motel parking lot and drew to a stop. Irina had dozed off a little, exhausted
by the intensity of recent events, not least of all those passionate moments in
the car. Tyr checked in and then returned to carry her small body gently from
the car to their room. She stirred in his arms, nuzzling into his neck, the
passion flower scent of her hair invading his senses again and he found himself
imagining what it would be like to have a woman like her always by his side.

There were so many question marks hanging
over them at the moment but he had surprised himself by trusting her enough to
share memories of his childhood. He’d had little cause to put his faith in
others since his uncle’s betrayal, and his experience of the backstabbing
street gangs had only reinforced his wariness of others. Abrasax’s persona was
a façade and even Sal had lied about what he really was. He wanted to trust
that Irina was as she appeared to be, a beautiful haven of tranquility, a
soothing balm to the storms that battled inside him. His attraction toward
Irina was also still tempered with the barrier of his dealings with Abrasax.
Sal’s daughters’ lives were hanging in the balance and until he had answers, he
needed to keep a clear head where Irina was concerned. He still wasn’t one
hundred percent sure whose side she was on. At this moment he didn’t care. He
wanted her.

Waking as he laid her on the bed, Irina sat
up looking dazed and adorably disheveled. “Where are we?” she asked, an
expression of confusion crossing her face. “In the motel,” said Tyr. “You
nodded off.”

Irina gazed up at Tyr. He walked towards
the bed, his intentions clear, desire and lust shining in his eyes. Blushing,
the memory of those passionate kisses in the car suddenly fresh in her mind,
she took a deep breath, hugging her knees close. She had never wanted anyone
this much, but the need to tell him of their deeper connection was an
imperative.

“Tyr, I need to tell you something.” She
hesitated, not sure how to proceed. “You know before,” she began slowly, “you
said you saw me at the fight.” Tyr nodded, smiling at the memory.

“Believe me, you were hard to miss.”

His smile cut straight through her heart as
she remembered the aching intensity of that moment. But she had to continue. “I
think…I think we met before that.” His dark brows creased in confusion. “I would
have remembered if we had,” he said, shaking his head. “There’s no way I would
ever have forgotten meeting you.”

“It was years ago,” Irina continued, “the
night my…my family died. I was a child. Ten years old.” Tyr’s eyes flared,
blackness spreading, and she thought there was a flicker of comprehension, a
spark of realization of the truth of their connection. Coils of electrical
energy sprung into place amplifying the magnetic compulsion. He went utterly
still.

“How did they die?” he finally asked.

“There was a break-in by a gang and they
were murdered.”

“Where were you?” As he spoke, Tyr’s dark
eyes locked on to hers.

“I was upstairs… I hid.”

A face scanning the room for hiding
places.

“Bellor!” A shout. A name.

“Look for the girl!”

The boy’s response. “She’s not in here!”

His face intent on the box. Intent on
her as if he could see through the wooden barrier.

Into her soul.

Black eyes, dark as night.

Fingers to his lips.

Ssshh!

A silent plea.

A light switched off.

Irina scanned his face watching him struggle
to make sense of her words. Tyr muttered a curse under his breath and seemed to
think twice before he spoke. “It was you! Fuck! You were the one hiding in the
toy box.” He cursed again running a trembling hand through black hair, eyes
filled with dark confusion.

Tyr stood frozen as Irina closed her eyes,
sagging forward, her head falling to her knees. Eventually she looked up at him
again, her eyes full, not just with tears but with abject horror. His chest
clenched with pain as he registered an understanding of the connection between
them. A connection he had nothing but regret for. That he had been there when
her family were butchered! He remembered his own revulsion at the sight of the
bloodstained room, the young mother lying protectively over the body of a young
girl, the father a beaten bloody mess, barely recognizable as human! Had Irina
seen that?

His heart, the cold numb stone in his chest
that had just begun to thaw, shattered into a thousand pieces, each broken
shard slicing into his flesh as he imagined those images through the eyes of a
young child…Irina…his Irina…but not his. No. She would hate him forever! How
could she even look at him knowing that he had been there when her family died?

“Irina…I…” He barely got the words out.
“I’m so sorry. I was there…but…I came after…after it was over. They made us
search the entire house.” His voice faltered, dark eyes full of sorrow locking
on to the wet droplets glistening as they gathered, filling the golden amber
pools beneath her lids. “They wanted the sister… They were looking for the
other child. They wanted you.”

Tyr could hardly bear to watch her tears
fall, so he turned away, clenching his fists as despair so enormous engulfed
him, battering their tenuous thread with an undeniable truth. Realization
crushed his hopes to pieces, as he finally understood the hopelessness of the
link that bound them together, a link that would now be broken by the
consequences of his past actions. He could never be with Irina. Not now. Not
ever.

“You must hate me,” he said, his voice a
broken, hoarse whisper. He felt her rise from the bed and stand behind him.
Small hands pulled him around to face her and he braced himself for a blow that
never came. Instead he felt the soft warmth of her palm flutter against his
cheek. Tyr opened his eyes to the heat of fire in hers and a determined
expression on her face.

“Tyr!” she breathed, her voice like a balm
to his shattered soul. “How could I hate you? You saved me.” Her voice shook
with unspoken emotion. He stood immobile, his jaw dropping as hope surged
within and he realized the utter miracle of this woman.
She
was
grateful.
She
forgave him!

She should have been angry, bitter,
repulsed. But no. Gorgeous, beautiful Irina, whose spirit was a soothing
embrace to the conflicts that warred inside him, stood gazing into his eyes as
if he were some kind of savior. He was so not worthy!

“You could have told them where I was. You
knew I was in the box. I could see you, but you pretended I wasn’t there and
you told me to stay quiet.” Irina continued, her voice soft and gentle as she
recalled watching the fingers he had pressed to his lips, that one motion,
soothing a young child’s fears. “There is a connection between us, Tyr. I felt
it even then and even though I’ve been trying to fight against it…I can’t
anymore.”

Her hands trembled as she pressed them flat
against his chest. “I want you, Tyr,” she breathed.

Amber eyes flickered upward and Tyr was
falling, drowning in the liquid gaze. A confusion of emotions spiraled in his
chest. Desire. Relief. Shock. Hesitantly he placed his hands over hers.
“Irina!” His voice broke, rough in his throat, choking as he struggled to find
words. She still wanted him.

“Sssh!” She placed a finger against his
lips, a wave of calm washing over him as she repeated, “I want you, Tyr…but
I…I’ve…never…” Irina was blushing now as she searched for the words to explain.
She didn’t need to. He understood.

“You’ve never?” he questioned gently, just
to be sure. When she shook her head, his heart somersaulted three hundred and
sixty degrees in his chest as the reality of her confession sank in. Tyr could
hardly speak. “Are you…sure…you want to?”

She nodded.

Tyr couldn’t believe the gift she was
giving him. He felt a surge of energy through the threads that connected them,
binding him to her in ways he could never explain. The trust she was placing in
his hands made him worship her even more. “We’ll take it slow,” he said gently,
his arms wrapping around her, drawing her close. “We don’t need to do anything
you don’t want.” He refused to take advantage of her innocence. God! He didn’t
deserve anything as sweet and as pure as Irina. “Just let me hold you.”

Sliding his hands behind her back to pull
her closer he let himself fall again into the twin pools of amber fire. The
fire burned into his soul, branding him as hers, melting his stone heart. She
raised her lips, drawn to his by the inexorable magnetic force that was a
constant tug between them. A caress as their lips meshed together with a heat
that surged through his veins, igniting his blood, exploding with a force close
to nuclear. The kiss went on. And on.

Searing.

Blinding.

Eternal.

Feeling the soft urgent push of her breasts
against his chest, the curve of her hips merging into his erection, Tyr gave in
to the sweetness of her touch. Lifting her up, his hands clasping her backside,
he guided her backward, pressing her warmth hard against the door, breaking the
kiss as Irina’s legs clamped around his waist, a perfect fit. He could feel her
hands fisting in his hair as he continued a trail of kisses from jaw to throat.
She groaned in appreciation.

Somehow the buttons of her shirt came apart
as they twisted away from the wall and over to the bed. Tyr’s hands were
shaking as he drew aside the soft cotton fabric to reveal the beauty that lay
beneath. Irina’s body jerked in trembling submission as he pushed aside her
lacy bra and was dazzled by the magnificent glory of two creamy mounds and rosy
peaks that quivered against his rough fingers. Tyr cupped one perfect breast in
his hand. It felt so right, so inevitable. Her nipples hard against his palm,
he squeezed, reveling in the velvety softness of her skin.

“Irina…” He almost choked again. “You are
so, so beautiful…so soft…so utterly perfect.” He bent his head to take a nipple
into his mouth, tonguing the succulent bead and sucking hard.

She gasped, arching her back to give him
better access, hands clasped to the back of his head and legs gripping around
his waist. He let his tongue dance over the pearled bud, the sweet taste sending
ripples of sensation causing an aching throb, blood racing to his groin. Tyr
fell back onto the bed with Irina straddling him, her core rubbing against the
erection in his jeans with delicious friction.
Too many barriers!

As Irina leaned forward planting kisses
against his neck, Tyr used his strength to flip her body so that he lay above,
her soft breasts pressing into his hard pecs. Her small hands tugged
insistently pulling off his sweater and Tyr caught her shy smile of
satisfaction as she skimmed her hands across his chest. “Finally!” she
breathed. “I’ve been waiting to do this forever.”

Tyr watched her in amazement. She was so
small, so fragile and delicate, but her slightest touch was a smoldering brand
against his skin. His hands wandered down to the place he’d been dying to go.
He hesitated, although desperate to go further. “I want to see all of you,” he
said, his eyes searching hers for permission. Tyr’s body relaxed, heart in his
throat as Irina nodded biting her lip. She was so unbelievably seductive at
that moment, his whole body groaned for mercy. What was she doing to him?
Chocolate brown curls splayed wildly across the pillows, inviting his fingers
to play. And her lips! Lush red cherries topping smooth, creamy satin cheeks
dusted with freckles. He intended to kiss every single one of them.

Unable to wait any longer, he gently opened
the fly of her jeans and slid them off, his body gliding down hers, keeping
contact with the warmth of her skin. Irina was gazing down at him, one arm
above her head and the other stroking through strands of his hair and he
reveled in each caress as she played in the dark waves, stoking the flames
burning in his chest.

Tyr’s eyes soaked in the glory of Irina,
her nearly naked body a feast of lush curves that made his heart sing, her
breasts two taut peaks of sensuous perfection. Pink nipples like tiny rosebuds
waiting to be plucked. His hand skimmed one perfect bud and something in his
soul shattered as Irina gasped in pleasure at his touch. He had never been so
attuned to a lover’s body, most of his conquests easy lays, merely eager in their
willingness to have sex with a celebrity. He had given them his body but never
the secret part of himself that he kept in reserve. But with Irina everything
was different. He was amazed that his touch could give her such rapture, that
he wanted to give her more than he had ever given to anyone.

Lowering his gaze toward the apex of her
thighs, Tyr thought he had never seen a more breathtaking sight, the lacy
triangle of her black panties an invitation impossible to resist. He pulled the
scrap of silk away and the view was simply sublime. Heart turning somersaults,
he could find no words as he began to adore the most feminine, mouthwatering
part of her. Hearing her cries of pleasure, Tyr continued to lave the ambrosia
and honey of her sweet flesh, encouraging her with words of praise.

Irina had been stunned by the revelations
she had always known. But hearing them from his lips at last! Her family’s
murder had not been a random act just as she had always suspected. The image of
Tyr as a boy had sustained her through the grief of that loss, the connection
that had been forged in those moments, her one lifeline. A lifeline she was
compelled to grab and hold on to for dear life. And that kiss! The branding,
scorching kiss that sent her spinning out of control. And then he’d told her
she was perfect! There was such reverence in his tone it caused her heart to
stutter in near surrender, her body waving a white flag.