Dark Desire (9 page)

Her friend
stiffed her spine and leveled her with a solemn stare. “You don’t have to
believe for these things to happen. Being forewarned is to be forearmed, and
from what I can sense you are going to need a whole hell of a lot of arming for
what’s to come.”

Lori gave a
small sigh. She knew her friend meant well, but her nerves were already
stretched taut. With a deep breath she controlled her impatience grabbing for a
calm that eluded her.

“You know how I
believe we make our own destiny,
Cici
. For me, having
my choices mapped out already just doesn’t work.” She drew the older woman into
a hug. The contact felt so nice, as if she didn’t get much affection in her
life. Which made her think not remembering could be a good thing. For her, life
began when she woke up in the alley behind Golden Gulch.

Lori worked her
shift with no mishap, just business as usual, yet she didn’t relax her guard
until she finished at two. In the dressing room crammed with girls finishing
their night or just beginning she let their chatter wash over her. The normalcy
in the atmosphere relaxed her, a much needed balm to her frayed nerves.

Heading for the
showers, she washed away the reek of cigarettes, stale booze, and sweat.
Brushing her wet hair back from her face, she pulled on her favorite jeans and
peasant style light blue blouse. She just put her sneakers on when
Cici
made her appearance.

“Would you like
to go to breakfast?”

Lori shook her
head. “No, I’m just going to the store down the street and make me something at
home. I’m beat,
Cici
, but thanks anyway.”

“Just be
careful, all right?”

She gave
Cici
a comforting pat on the arm. “I’m always careful.
Nothing is going to happen, I promise.”

She headed for
the door, her skin itching from
Cici’s
intense gaze
boring into her.

Chapter Nine

Zeke struggled
with conflicting emotions as he watched the woman he married. Hatred held the
upper hand, but as he watched her dance from a safe distance, undetected,
another emotion sank its claws deep in him. One he needed to purge from his
system.

Mine.

Possessive
instincts raged against the deadly betrayal. Thank the gods Tegan was there to
keep him restrained, because it would have been a bloodbath if another man even
so much as brushed up against all of that burnished golden skin she put so
blatantly on display.

He wanted
nothing more than to leap to the stage and wrap her in his coat. No one but him
had the right to look at what she so brazenly displayed. The need to take her
away from the stage nearly overwhelmed him. He could only think of burying his
cock deep inside her and fucking her until nothing existed but the two of them,
reaching for climax.

And then what, asshole?
His logical
side demanded.

He knew he could
never trust her. Not after she plunged that knife to the hilt in his chest and
not when his last memory of her burned in his brain of her face twisted with
hate, eyes stone cold. Yeah, it kind of made the whole trust issue a moot
point. With that single act, she’d sealed her fate, and he couldn’t change it
even if he wanted to.

Before he took
off with Tegan in tow, he’d contacted his father only to find out kill orders
were out on her. No judge, jury, or appeals would be heard. The order stood.
Kill on sight with extreme prejudice. His father had sent in a team of elite
Atlantean
trackers, since it seemed the same tip was given
to him on her location, and they were on their way here now to fulfill the
assignment.

Better him than
the
Atlantean
assassins. At least he would make it
quick and painless. The idea of being the one to kill the traitor to the crown
left a bad taste in his mouth, yet what other choice could there be? High
treason, no matter what country you came from, held the same sentence.

Execution.

He joined Tegan
in the alley across the street from the Golden Gulch when her shift ended. Zeke
prepared for what he needed to do, fighting the rising nausea. His friend
tapped him on the shoulder, pointing toward the lone female leaving the strip
club. He would know her anywhere by the way she walked so straight and proud.

“I would rather
do this alone. Can you run interference when the assassins get here? I’ll call
when it’s done, all right?” Zeke met the understanding in his friend’s gaze.

“You don’t have
to do this at all, you know. I’ll give her the killing blow, and I promise she
won’t suffer,” Tegan offered.

“No, this is
something I need to do. I’ll talk to you later.”

With a slight
nod, Tegan turned the opposite direction, stepping into the waiting shadows.
Zeke turned in the direction
Laris
took and began
following. The familiar weight of his
sais
, for the
first time in his life, felt heavier.
A burden.
Within
the hour, it would be done, and he would spend the rest of his life living in
regret.

A whole shitload
of what ifs held no place in the here and now, and yet he couldn’t stop
wondering what it would have been like to have her in his life.

As he shadowed
her steps he turned his mind away from things that could never be and focused
on what needed done. Before she died he would know why and if her brother was
involved. The tensions between
Atlanteans
and
Mers
were at the boiling point, ready to spill out at any
moment. The death of
Ja’mel’s
sister would be the
tipping point, a no brainer there.

 
Zeke would never put Atlantis in jeopardy if
he could help it, but his gut told him what he wanted and what would be were
totally two different things.

Whatever way he
looked at it, it was certain they were heading into a full on war.

****

The back of
Lori’s neck tingled with a warning of danger. She didn’t have a clue how she
could know, but it was there in the tingling awareness crawling over her flesh,
the rapid beat of her heart and the tightening of her gut. She was being
stalked, and the air thickened as expectation hummed around her, setting off a
twinge of foreboding. The urge to run overwhelmed her, but she shoved it down
and kept her strides smooth and even.

Whoever followed
her would not find her easy prey.

Slowly she
reached into her handbag she carried over her shoulder, her fingers tightening
on the Mace she kept there. No, not easy at all.

Pulling it out
she held it in a tight grip as she crossed the street and headed toward the
beacon of shining lights of the mini mart. She just needed to go past one dark
alley and she would be home free.

He struck so
fast that by the time she reacted it was too late. A muscled arm wrapped around
her throat, tugging her up against a hard body, dragging her into the shadowy
alley. The pressure against her throat tightened making it impossible for her
to breathe let alone scream.

She fought with
everything she had. Lifting her arm she sprayed her mace into her assailant’s
face, knowing she didn’t have long before the lack of oxygen would make her
pass out. Already she felt dizzy as dark spots dimmed her vision.

She heard him
curse, the weight abruptly gone from her throat, allowing her to take in a
shuddering gasp of air. It was the only reprieve she got as she found herself
spun around and slammed into the bricks of the alley wall. Pain blossomed down
her spine at the impact, and his fingers pressed ruthlessly into her hand
holding the Mace, until it dropped with a clang to the ground from her numb
hand.

His face pressed
close to her. His breath fanned over her cheek, and she shuddered. Not with
fear but with awareness. She tilted her head up to see him better and found the
most handsome face she’d ever seen. Even the silver piercings he sported on one
eyebrow and ear added to his appeal. An exotic tribal tattoo adorned the side
of his neck, traveling down beneath his black t-shirt. She felt an odd
compulsion to pull his shirt off and study the intricate lines, which looked
like some sort of hieroglyphics. His spiked, pale blond hair only added to the
allure of him. Only a pair of shades marred the perfection of his strong,
masculine features.

“I don’t have
much money but it’s yours if you just let me go,” she rasped out, her voice
hoarse from the choke-hold he’d had on her throat.

“I don’t want
anything from you, bitch, except revenge.” His soft tone held more menace than
if he shouted the words.

“What … why? Do
I know you?” she sputtered.

He released one
shoulder to rip the shades from his face and glare at her. She gasped in shock
as the strange otherworldly eyes bored into hers. The entire surface of his
eyes was a glittering green shot with gold, the pupil a slit much like a snake
… or
dragon
.

“What are you?”
she managed to get out, shocked by the sight.

“Don’t play me,
Laris
. It won’t stop the inevitable,” he growled out.

Confusion and
fear clamored through her as she stared at the strange, angry man. Was he a
man? “My name is Lori,” she argued, amazed to find her voice calm and steady,
so far removed from the terror filling her, making her heart beat erratically.
Worse, her words seemed to enrage him further.

“Well,
Lori,
is it? I know …
intimately
. Your real name is
Laris
. What, surprised to find me still breathing?” He let
out a harsh bark of laughter, which chilled her. “You have lousy aim,
wife.
You only
nicked
my heart.” He spat the word at her. “When you attempt to
kill someone, you really need to be sure the body isn’t breathing.”

She shook her
head in confusion. The man had her mixed up with another. No way could she ever
take another life, could she? “Please let me go. I’m not who you think, I would
never do anything like that. I’m just a stripper.”

His fingers bit
into her upper arms causing her to wince in pain, his voice harsh in her ears.
“You’re quite the little actress. Sorry, but you’re still going to pay, and I
promise you I will enjoy every moment of your pain.”

She struggled
against his hold in a futile bid for freedom, but he proved too strong for her
to overpower physically. She needed to rely on her mind if she held any hope
for escape. The sour taste of fear filled the back of her throat as her heart
battered against her ribcage like a wild beast fighting to break out of chest.

She looked at
the handsome, insane stranger wondering what weakness he may have to exploit.
Something deep within her stirred, an instinct she never before experienced
that told her she could fight this man. She reached for it with a desperate
determination, letting it fill her with the confidence and surety of a warrior
long used to battle.

Images flashed
in her head of training and combat, her hand strong and sure as it gripped the
handle of a sword in one hand and a small three pronged weapon in her other.
She envisioned her body flowing in motion with the sword and jabbing out with
the deadly object in her other hand, cutting through her adversaries with quick
efficient strokes.

Suddenly, she
knew what to do and let her body meld with the memories flashing through her
mind. With a sharp twist of her hips, she brought her right arm up, and her
fist connected with his jaw. His head snapped back on impact, loosening his
grip on her arms. Swiveling her body the other direction she swung again, this
time with her other arm. Her fist contacted with a solid punch to his temple,
and the blow forced him to stumble back giving her room to move into a crouch.

“Fucking son of
a bitch!” he snarled, shoving his shades back onto his face.

“Just walk away.
I have no idea who this
Laris
is, but I assure you
it’s not me. I’ve never seen you before now, so I can’t be your wife and I certainly
never hurt anyone.” An uneasy feeling crawled up from the pit of her stomach.
She had no memory of her life before she came to in the alley by Golden Gulch.
Could she have really done what he claimed and tried to murder him? If so, then
she could very well be looking at her husband. “I don’t remember anything up
until seven months ago,” she admitted reluctantly.

The man just
stood there, so still and quiet that she wondered if he heard anything she just
said. Then his head tilted slightly to the side, lips thinning. She wished he
had kept those blasted shades off. She found it impossible to gauge his
emotions with his eyes covered by the dark glass.

“So, let me see
if I got this right. You’re claiming amnesia? Not very original and it changes
nothing. You are still going to die.
Just not today.”

She shifted her
stance, rolling onto the balls of her feet preparing to run. His words echoed
in her head bringing the frigid touch of fear and a whole shitload of panic. He
seemed to sense her next move, lunging unexpectedly for her, gripping her tight
around the waist. Electricity jangled her nerves, the hair on her arms rising
as her world went dark, and a scream tore from her lips only to be swallowed up
by the black void surrounding her.