Charming Charly (English Edition) (Lords of Arr'Carthian 3) (2 page)

‘Oh no, they don’t look friendly!‘

“There are two huge guys outside the door. Both built like brick shit-houses and one of them has the icy-cold stare of a killer. I don’t think these are good guys. What shall we do?” whispered Charly.

Lory went over and looked through the view hole.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

“We need to speak with you,” replied the one with the ice-cold stare. “We’ve come to fetch you.”

“To fetch us?” asked Lory. “But we’re not flying till tomorrow morning. Are you part of the crew?”

“Yes. We’re part of the crew,” the same man confirmed.

“And I’m meant to believe you,
sucker
!” murmured Lory, glancing anxiously at Charly. “These men aren’t with Ellyod, I’d bet my return ticket on that.
 
Go and hide somewhere. If I’m not able to deal with them, stay in your hiding place until morning. At least one of us has to make it back to earth.”

“But I can’t abandon you,” Charly disagreed. She did not want to appear cowardly, even though fear was almost suffocating her.
 

“Babe, these two are probably dangerous,” said Lory insistently. “You’ve told me your story and you don’t want something as bad as that to happen to you again. I’m tough. Either I’ll kill these men or I’ll die. That’s my job. But you won’t handle this. Believe me. No one wants you to play the heroine here, so go and hide well. GO!”

Charly had only told her friend a slimmed-down version of her story. If she knew what she had really experienced … She shivered. What should she do now? She hesitated then hugged her friend briefly and firmly. With a sick feeling in her stomach, she ran from the lounge to hide.
 

“But I don’t want to speak with you,” Charly heard Lory shout to the men. “Go away!”

“We’ll been sent to fetch you,” the other man called out. “We want to help you.”

Charly was standing in the bedroom, looking around frantically. Where could she possibly hide?
 

“
Yes – and my uncle’s the emperor of China,” she heard Lory’s mocking tone. “Get lost or you’ll regret it. I’ll kill you if you come in here.”

‘Oh, damn it, damn it! What should I do?’

“Open the door. We only want to talk. Open up!” the man’s voice could be heard again.

Charly ran into the adjoining bathroom. Should she lock herself in here? But then she would be sitting in a trap. This was not good. This was not good at all.

“Shit,” she murmured. “Why did this have to happen now? Damn it!”

Suddenly she heard a loud crash, as if someone had kicked down the door. The noises made it very clear to her that the two men had forced their way into the suite.
 

“Hey! Easy, little one,” she heard a man’s voice say.
“Let’s talk like rational people, OK?”

“Kiss my ass, jerk-off! Take that!” her friend responded icily.
 

Charly could only admire Lory’s courage. Of course she was used to such scenes as an FBI Agent, but two huge guys against one woman … that was awful. She immediately felt bad. She could not simply abandon Lory. Only, what should she do? She did not even have a weapon in her hand.
 

‘Think! Damn it, Charly, think!’

She went back into the bedroom, to look for a suitable weapon, when she heard someone say:

“Go and look for the other one!”

A shiver ran down Charly’s spine and she looked around frantically.

“Don’t come too close to me,” she heard Lory again.

Charly grabbed an empty bottle and opened the big walk-in wardrobe. She closed the door carefully and listened out, her heart pounding. Someone was walking into the bedroom. Charly was holding the bottle as tightly as possible, but her hands were still beginning to tremble. All of a sudden she could not help thinking about the ordeal that lay behind her: the beatings, the raping, the humiliation and the endless hours of solitude. Cold sweat covered her body.

The footsteps in the bedroom were grating on her nerves. She tried to work out where he was and what he was doing. He seemed to be looking in the bathroom now. Soon he would inspect this cupboard, too, she was sure of that.
 
Should she try to run out of the cupboard quickly, whilst he was in the bathroom? And go where? Lory was fighting with the other bastard in the lounge. Lory! She felt bad again. She should help her. But how? With a ridiculous bottle in her hand? Hardly!

The footsteps were coming closer. Too late! Now she could only do one thing: pray!

***

Amano went to the door, which, as he thought, must lead to a dressing room. The woman must be in here. Yes! She was there. Now, as he got closer, he could smell her fear. She would react hysterically, without a doubt, and he would need to calm her down. This woman was clearly not from the same mould as her combat-trained friend, who seemed to be fighting Kordan so bravely. If he was gauging the sounds coming from the lounge correctly, then his cousin had his hands full with this little warrior.
 

He was glad that the woman that he was to rescue did not appear to be such a wild cat. He did not like the thought of fighting a woman. Women were delicate creatures that should be protected and pampered.
 

He took the doorknob in his hand. As a precaution, he smiled pleasantly, so as not to frighten the poor thing. His size and his muscular build would definitely intimidate her, but he would make it very clear to her that she was in no threat of danger with him. He opened the door cautiously and his eyes fell upon a redhead. He did not take in very much, before a bottle hit his head. It smashed on Amano’s hard skull. Fortunately, it had been empty. He looked in surprise at the woman in front of him, who was now looking at him, shocked. She had clearly been expecting more impact from her attack. She could not have known that Carthians were thick-headed.
Literally and metaphorically!

“Hey, little one,” he said, cautiously raising his hands so that she could see that he had no weapon. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to rescue you.”

“Yeah, sure!” she hissed, and took a step backwards, holding the broken bottleneck in front of her. “I’ll cut your pretty face if you come any closer.”

Amano smiled.

“Well, you think I’m pretty, do you? Then we’re already on good terms. I think you’re sweet, too.”

“I – am – not – SWEET!” she said, emphasizing every word. “Come any closer and you’ll find that out.”

The corner of Amano’s mouth twitched with amusement. He would not, after all, get the little one out of here without any fight at all.

“Put that stupid thing down,” he said calmly. “You could hurt yourself with it.”

“There’s no way I’m falling into the hands of another son-of-a-bitch like you,” she said, suddenly putting the sharp edge of the broken bottle to her neck. “I’d rather die than let you lay even one finger on me.”

Amano’s pulse quickened when he saw a delicate drop of blood appear on her neck. That was all he needed – her harming herself, the silly thing.
 

“Hey,” he said, shaking his head gently. “There’s no need to be dramatic, little one. I’m not going to hurt you. I promise that you’re safe with me. I’m only here to rescue you.”

“You can say what you like, but that doesn’t mean you’re telling the truth. You break into our suite and seriously think I’m going to trust you?”

Amano had to admit that she had a point. Seen from her perspective, he probably did not come across as a friend or rescuer.
 

“We only broke the door down because you wouldn’t open it,” he tried to explain away the conduct of himself and his cousin.
 

She raised a shapely eyebrow and her green eyes gleamed derisively.
 

“Did it occur to you that we didn’t want to open the door for you? We don’t know you, after all. If you always kick people’s doors down, just because they don’t open them for you, then don’t be surprised if people don’t throw themselves gleefully round your neck.”

“The bit about throwing-yourself-around-my-neck can wait a little, until we know one another better,“ said Amano, smiling. “It would be enough for me right now if you were to take that thing away from
your
delicate neck and come with me.”

“Dream on!” hissed the redhead, pressing the bottleneck more firmly against her white flesh. Another drop of blood appeared
.

Amano swore inwardly. This was not going the way he had imagined it would. If she cut her throat, he would not be able to rescue her. She would bleed to death by the time he got her to the medical unit
.
He had to distract her somehow. But how?

“OK,” he said finally. “A suggestion. Hold on a minute. Don’t panic.”

He took a step backwards, so as to appear less intimidating, then slowly, so that she could see what he was doing, he pulled his long knife from its sheath. Then, just as slowly, he placed the point against his chest, where his heart was beating furiously, and looked at her challengingly.

“Here,” he challenged her. “Take the blade, then you have the cards in your hand. I really do not want to harm you.”

He looked directly at her. Her eyes wandered to the blade, then back to his face. To his relief she loosened her grip on the bottleneck, whilst she appeared to be thinking it over. Cautiously, she reached out to him with her free hand.
 

“You don’t have enough control over your left hand,” he said, calmly, and her hand stopped half way. “You should use your right hand.”

“But … I need my right hand to …”

“Throw the stupid bottle down. This blade is better,” he said, waiting tensely. At last she lowered her right hand and the rest of the broken bottle fell to the ground. Before she could grasp the knife, he leapt forward and grabbed her.
 

She screamed out loud and tried to bite his arm.

“I knew I can’t trust you,” she protested.

***

Charly cursed herself for falling for his trick. She screamed and struggled furiously in his arms. Going by his quiet swearing, she knew that she was not making it easy for him. Good! She did not intend to give in without a fight.

“Keep still,” murmured the man, uttering a cry of pain as she kicked his shin hard.

But to her disappointment his grasp only became firmer, not looser. He simply lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder as if she were a sack of grain. She thumped his back with her fists but the bastard did not even flinch and carried her out of the bedroom.
 

“No, let me go!” she screamed.

She yelled and swore until she suddenly fell silent when she saw Lory lying on the couch. A massive shard of glass was sticking out of her friend’s stomach and there was loads of blood everywhere. The blond giant
,
that her companion had been fighting
,
was bent over Lory. He looked panic-stricken, but Charly did not register that. Her horror turned into sheer rage and she began to go wild again.
 

“You bastard!” she screamed, beside herself. “What have you done to her?
Pig! Son-of-a-bitch! You fucking ass-hole! I’m going to kill you if I get hold of you. You’ll regret this!”
 

She finally fell silent when Amano dealt her a well-aimed blow to the head and everything went black.

Chapter 2

Kanavirius System

On board the Cordelia

31
^st
Day of the Month of Jakus in the Year 7067

Federation Time

Charly opened her eyes, blinking. It was dimly lit but a greenish light was casting shadows on the ceiling above her.
 

‘Green? But we haven’t got a green light in our suite.’

She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain immediately shot through her head and she groaned. What was that? Why was her head hurting? Where was she? She turned her head to the side and was so shocked that she sat bolt upright, screaming and taking no notice of the pain. A man was lying next to her – a giant of a man, with muscles everywhere and long black hair. He opened his eyes and stared at her. Everything immediately came back to her: the attack by the two men, Lory pierced by a shard of glass – and then everything had gone dark around her. What had the guy done with her whilst she was unconscious?
 

Screaming, she leapt off the bed that she was lying on and ran the few steps to the door of the little room. But there she stopped, helpless and panic-stricken. The door had no handle.

‘Of course not, you silly cow!’
she reprimanded herself.
‘You’re probably on a damn spaceship!’

She heard footsteps behind her and turned round. Her heart beat as if it was about to burst, as she pushed back against the door. This man really was massive, she registered, with a mixture of fear and fascination – she probably only came up to his chest. It was amazing that she had managed to reach his head with the bottle at all. How ridiculous she had made herself look. How had she even thought that she could attack a giant like this?

“Be calm,” said the man in a quiet tone. “Nothing is going to happen to you. You’re safe.”

“Please allow me to doubt that,” said Charly, looking at him distrustfully. He had stopped about two steps in front of her and appeared to be easy-going and relaxed. But just his size, along with those damn muscles, made him seem threatening. It was so obvious that she had no hope against him – not without her having a pistol and there being more distance between them. Of course he would also have to keep still and she would need to get her trembling fingers under control – and there was no chance of her doing that. In other words: she had NO hope!

‘Damn it!’

“I could have violated you by now if I had wanted to,” he said with a calm logic that only confirmed her thoughts. Yes, he was right. She was at his mercy. And she had been unconscious.