Virgin Dancer (12 page)

Terrified, Jade watched Ascobar pointing the gun at her brother, who was pressing himself against her calves, paralyzed with fear. She sincerely hoped he didn't realize what was happening.

"No!" she screamed angrily and threw herself in front of her brother, protecting him with her body. "He hasn't done anything! If you want to kill someone, shoot me. I've been … with him," she said to Ascobar, nodding towards Alrik. "I told him that you sent me to spy on him."

Ascobar chuckled. "I don't care as long as the result is the same. He's here now, and so is the money. Then he smiled at Alrik. "Maybe you suspected it, but you'd never have believed that she was working for me, would you? You trusted her enough to keep her with you, and leave her alone in your apartment. Well, which man wouldn't if he looked into that beautiful, innocent face? She fucked your brains out, and you fell for her pretty face."

For the first time since he’d arrived, Alrik's expression changed for a second before he regained control of himself, but she had seen the shock on his features as the realization of her betrayal hit him. He had tried to blow Ascobar's human trafficking ring, and she had ruined everything he'd worked for. For that alone he would hate her forever. How could she ever have believed that he was a criminal?

"I'm so sorry, Alrik," she said, looking at him with pleading eyes. "He didn't send me in the first place … I mean, when we met and I pretended to apply for a job. I …"

"Save your breath," Ascobar said. "He knows you’re a liar, sweetheart."

It took just one look into Alrik' eyes to see that he was right. No matter what she did or said now, he'd never trust her again. Ignoring the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes, she swallowed and turned to Ascobar, who stood right beside her now pressing the gun to her temple. She closed her eyes, glad that he wasn’t aiming at Caleb anymore.

"But the question is, Mr Larsson, do you still care if she lives or dies? Tell me, how quickly will the FBI be here if you say the secret word? I guess you are monitored with some high-tech stuff. I knew you'd come all alone, to avoid raising any suspicion. Now who will be faster, your fellow agents or my gun if I choose to shoot her right now?"

"Stop it," Alrik said, raising a hand to calm Ascobar down. "I'll unchain the suitcase from my wrist now. The key is in my left pocket."

Ascobar nodded to one of his guards, who had been quietly drawing closer to Alrik. The man searched Alrik's pocket, then handed him the key. Alrik put the suitcase down for him to take.

"The money is yours," he said, taking a step towards Jade and Ascobar while the guard opened the suitcase and started to count the bills. "You are free to leave wherever you choose to go. Just leave the girl and her brother here. I assume the Ukrainian girls aren't in there if you knew who I was?"

"Of course not," Ascobar replied. "I wouldn't risk handing over my precious wares." He pressed the gun tighter against Jade's head. She closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for the pain, the deafening noise of the shot.

"Let her go," Alrik said, and this time his voice was actually shaking.

She heard the faint sound of Ascobar starting to pull the trigger, and she knew she was already dead.

"Just a moment, Mr Ascobar," she whispered. "I want to do something for you before you shoot me."

She seemed to have piqued Ascobar's interest because he reduced the pressure of the gun against her temple and stopped pulling the trigger.

"You want to do something, for me?" he asked sarcastically. "I'm intrigued."

"I want to dance for you," she said, and while he was still staring at her as if she'd gone completely crazy, she crossed her arms before her chest in a mock bow, as if Ascobar was her audience. Then she moved her right foot outwards to the second position, turned to the side in a quick pirouette before quickly changing direction and turning inward again, towards Ascobar. It all happened so quickly that he didn't even have time to react.

*****

Suddenly a shot fell, and Alrik leaped at Ascobar to take the gun from him, horrified. All color drained from his face as he stared down at Jade, who was on the ground, covered with blood and shaking. But as he raised his eyes, he saw that it wasn't her blood. It was Ascobar's.

A gush of crimson fountained out of his neck where a small kitchen knife had sliced the carotid artery and was still sticking in his neck. Ascobar's face had grown white, and he looked as if he still didn't know what had happened. His hands jerked up to his neck, to pull the knife out, but then his eyes rolled up in his head and he broke down, landing in a bloody heap over Jade. Only when she pushed him away with a shriek of disgust and crawled away from him, her dress drenched in blood, did Alrik realize that she had killed Ascobar.

In the same moment, a special unit of the FBI stormed the room, shooting the guards stupid enough not to drop their guns immediately. However, the majority of them were arrested and quickly taken away for questioning about the location of the Ukrainian girls. He surmised that they still were on board the ship his informant had told him about in the e-mail. He had no doubt that they'd find them during the night. One of Ascobar's men would talk for sure, now that they were without leadership for the time being. They always talked in the end.

*****

Afterwards, everything that happened seemed like a distant dream to Jade. Thankfully, she took the hand he stretched out to her, and allowed him to help her up. All she wanted was his strong arms around her, enclosing her in his protective embrace. Later, she'd explain how Ascobar had blackmailed her into spying on him by threatening Caleb's life. But when she finally looked up into Alrik's face, his expression was cold, distant, and he turned away from her to offer a hand to her brother, too. She was astonished when Caleb glanced up at Alrik and took his hand, standing up and even answering him when he asked if Caleb was all right.

"You are Jade's Viking friend, aren’t you?" Caleb said.

Alrik just nodded, not even looking at Jade, but he gave her brother a reassuring smile. "You will be home soon, Caleb," he said. "Everything will be all right." Another agent hurried by to take care of the boy, but he kept close to Alrik. Usually, her brother never allowed strangers to touch him, nor would he speak to anybody he didn't know.

Her brother was safe, at last. Wordlessly, she averted her eyes from the man she loved and went with the female FBI agent who approached her, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders.

For her, nothing was 'all right'. Nothing mattered anymore. She had lost Alrik forever.

*****

Epilogue

A few weeks later

"Until next week, Ms Cameron!" the girl shouted, waving enthusiastically as she left the newly opened dance school. It was a new charity project in Brooklyn, to support children of underprivileged families by giving them the chance to develop their talents and creativity. Jade had volunteered as a dance instructor when she'd read the notice on her school's pin board.

Smiling, she waved the last of her young pupils good-bye and went into a corner of the small studio to turn off the CD player. She'd been feeling so much better since she had started helping out here, having been given the chance to see hope glowing in the children's eyes when they entered the studio, as well as a newfound sense of pride and self-confidence.

After the incident at the warehouse, she hadn't been able to leave her apartment for days, doing not much more than sleeping or staring out of the window. She had been foolish enough to hope for Alrik’s appearance on her doorstep one day, telling her that he'd forgiven her and declaring his love. But he never showed up. She expected to have major problems with the circumstances of Ascobar's death, too - after all, she'd killed a man. Surprisingly, she didn't. Nor could she bring herself to regret what she had done. There was no question that Ascobar would have not only shot her, but also her brother and Alrik.

At least her former lover had made sure that there would be no charges against her, so she didn't have to appear in front of a court. An FBI agent had questioned her for two hours, that had been all. Caleb had processed everything surprisingly well, he didn't even talk anymore about it but kept on working on his new search engine project. For now, he was happy to be back at his school.

Caleb had mentioned on the phone that Alrik had paid him a visit. He genuinely seemed to like him. Probably Alrik had asked him a few questions about what he had witnessed at the crime scene. However, it wasn't surprising that Jade hadn't seen him again, considering what she'd done to him. By now, he must have heard that Ascobar had blackmailed her into doing it by threatening Caleb, but Alrik wasn't a man who gave his trust to someone easily, and once someone betrayed him, he'd never give them a second chance.

She stood with her back to the door, just taking a sip of water, when she heard someone entering the building. After setting down the empty bottle on the table, she looked up to the mirrored wall and gasped in shock.

Alrik stepped inside, silently closing the door behind him. He was wearing jeans that hugged his infinitely long legs, a tight shirt that was unbuttoned at the neck, and a well-worn motorbike jacket. He looked so handsome it felt almost painful to look at him, knowing that he wasn't hers, would never be. She simply stared at him for a moment before she slowly turned around to face him.

"Hello, Jade," he said, his expression fathomless.

"What are you doing here?" she said. She heard the blood rushing through her ears as her heart pounded hard inside her chest.

Why have you come back if you hate me? How can you be so cruel?

 She longed to shout those words at him, but suddenly her voice seemed to be as paralyzed as the rest of her. Breathlessly, she watched him come towards her, feeling as if time itself had slowed down. Then he was standing right before her, looking down into her face with his irresistible eyes, pinning her down to the spot. His hair had grown a bit, and a golden strand fell into his eyes, giving him a boyish look. All she wanted was to raise her hand and stroke it back, but she couldn't do anything but stare. She had missed him so much it hurt like a deep, bleeding wound in her heart.

Then, like a miracle, his arms were around her, capturing her in a crushing embrace, and his mouth was on hers, ravishing her. His kiss was hungry, desperate, and it took all the rest of her breath away. Unable to react at first, she began to respond to his kiss gradually, not believing that it was real. Unwept tears pricked her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on to him as if she were drowning, melting against his strong, warm body. When their tongues mated for the first time, she heard his deep sigh of pleasure, and the sensation raced through her body, setting her aflame.

There was no time for words while their bodies communicated in their own language, crashing together like waves upon the shore. She didn't even flinch when he pressed her against the cool mirror on the wall, lifting her to sit on the barré. It was so natural to place her legs around his waist as her hands wandered over his shoulders, shoving down his jacket. Then his mouth was on her neck, her collarbone and her breasts, which he'd freed from the tightness of the ballet leotard. He groaned against her skin when she unzipped his jeans, her fingers wrapping around his hard, throbbing shaft, stroking him.

He raised his eyes to her questioningly, and she nodded slightly, moistening her lips with her tongue. It was all the invitation he needed. His fingers slid under the thin, elastic fabric that covered the apex of her legs and found her wetness, sliding easily in. His thumb found her little nub of flesh and rubbed it gently, hearing her small cries of pleasure. She was hot and slick already, and she nearly came on his hand when he suddenly retrieved it. His mouth was on hers again as he parted her legs wider and entered her in one swift motion, burying himself to the hilt. Panting, she clung to him, staring at the expression of utter, uninhibited rapture on his face. Then he began to move, taking her with hard, deep thrusts while the heat of his breath fogged the polished surface of the mirror. He slowed down, gyrating his hips in low, insistent circles. Moaning, Jade parted the smooth fabric of his shirt and tasted the moisture on his neck with her tongue, then bit down into his shoulder as shudders of delight ran through her body. Answering with a raw, possessive sound, he increased the pace, pounding into her until he felt her silken walls clench around him, giving himself up to hot, pulsating waves of pleasure as he came inside her.

A sudden rush of emotion flooded through Jade, so intense it brought all the unshed tears to her eyes. Her wall of self-protection finally broke down, and she cried, holding on to him and sobbing into his shirt. Shaken, he took her into his arms and lay down on the floor at her side, wiping the tears from her face, then claimed her mouth with a gentle kiss that left no doubt about how much she meant to him.

"Don't cry, Jade," he murmured when his lips finally left her and he leaned his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. "Forgive me. I know I should have come earlier, or given you some sign of life, but I couldn't. After you killed Ascobar, I wanted nothing more than to hold you in my arms, to feel that you were still alive. But I couldn't; your safety had to come first. You don't know what it did to me when I heard the shot and thought you were dead. I thought I’d lost you forever." His voice nearly broke with emotion.