“We have two people in the chamber who believe in our cause who will help facilitate the attack,” said another.
Helena felt a sudden brush of cold air at her back. She barely had enough time to see the dark shadow of Michael Rann from the present.
“Snooping in places you shouldn’t be, Helena?” He shook his head at her as the dark shadow dissipated and revealed him. She tried to run, end the vision but he was holding her fast, trapping her there with him. The scene from the past continued around them.
“It’s time I put an end to your interference. This time you won’t survive to spill our secrets.” He slapped the back of his hand across her face knocking her to the ground. He walked towards her as she tried to recover and put his hands around her throat bringing her back to her feet.
Chapter 7
Mark jumped up from his chair upon seeing Helena’s face forced violently to one side as though she had been slapped hard. She fell from her chair distressing the witness who kept screaming, unsure of what was going on. Helena was suddenly on her feet, an invisible force propelling her against the wall. He could see her choking, her hands scratching at invisible hands. Mark was in the room and standing in front of her in seconds. He called out to her.
“Helena, where are you? Show me where you are?” he commanded in a firm, calm voice. The room began to change and shape into something else all around him. She was letting him in. It morphed into some underground cave. There was a bed in the room. Helena was being propelled into the room. A man, he took to be Rann from the photos was trying to strangle her. He pushed her down on the bed as he throttled her. Mark was on his back trying to pull him away from her, lifting his arms underneath Rann’s to loosen his grip. It worked and Mark fell backwards onto the floor with him. Helena coughed and spluttered holding her neck trying to get her breath back, while Mark wrestled with Rann on the floor turning him over onto his front and pulling him up. Rann wriggled free and ran back towards Helena, but Mark stopped him with a perfectly aimed punch and kick that sent the man reeling. His body shimmered into a shadow and he ran from the room. Helena was suddenly by Mark’s side, taking his hand. The room spun, the cavern’s image dissolving before his eyes until he found himself standing back in the room in the MI5 building back in London. He held Helena’s shoulders feeling her shake. Bruising and redness appeared on her throat and she was panting. It was instinct to draw her into his arms to comfort her.
“Breathe slowly, and evenly,” he instructed, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “It’s over, you are safe, ma’am,” he reassured placing a cooling hand on her throat to soothe it.
Mark wanted to get Helena to a safe place and rested. He sat next to her watching her shake as she gave the detailed information she had gleaned from her vision directly to Brett Taylor, Lennox and the others. Thanks to her, they now knew where the first bomb was going to be set off tomorrow and they could stop it. They also had a place to start to find Rann and Mrs. Abbasi’s son and the other abused women and men. The woman was bloody good at her job there was no denying it. But she constantly put herself in danger as though she didn’t care very much about her own life, as if she didn’t believe she was worth it. He’d read a file on her while traveling down to London, about her past with a cruel, narcissistic mother and family who shunned her and how she didn’t know who her father was. A violent, controlling, ex-husband completed the set. The woman was emotionally damaged but strong, courageous, talented, intelligent, independent and stubborn through it all. She was going to be a handful to protect but then he loved a challenge and she was certainly that.
He insisted that his charge was taken to a hotel and not to her London flat. It wasn’t safe enough. Mark sat in the front seat of the Range Rover with the driver as it made its way through the London streets to the hotel in Soho carrying Helena in the back. She was quiet and it worried him. He wanted to talk, chat with her and make her feel comfortable but he thought it best to leave her in peace to recover. A security car in front and behind accompanied them on the journey. Once inside the hotel he led her to her room. His own was next to hers with an adjoining door so he could get to her quickly if he needed to. The rest of his team he posted outside the door, in the corridor and the lobby.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked. The woman was acting tough around the men like nothing had happened, yet he could feel her breaking down inside. Ever since he’d stepped into her vision, he’d felt some kind of extra psychic link with her. He could feel her fear, frustration and the distress she had been hiding. Yet on the surface no one could see any evidence of it. She was a master at disguising her feelings, only she couldn’t hide them from him anymore.
“I’m fine, really. Thank you.”
She was lying.
“What about a drink?”
“I don’t need one.”
“Food.”
“You are my Protection Officer, not my nursemaid.” She hadn’t mentioned the spanking. She couldn’t even allow herself to think about it. It made a smile twitch at his mouth. Those sexy emerald eyes narrowed at him again.
“Can you please, leave? I want to take a shower and go to bed. I have to be up early in the morning.”
“Okay. I am just next door if you need me.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh.
To emphasise, just how close he was when he sensed she felt unsafe on her own despite the attitude she was giving him, he decided to enter his own room through the adjoining door.
Insufferable man but boy does he look good in that tux.
His hand on the door, he turned to grin at her just to let her know he had heard her thought loud and clear. Her tight disapproving features turned ashen when she realised. She looked mortified.
He opened the door and closed it behind him. He rested his head back against it. Helena Wright didn’t trust men or anyone for that matter. That was going to have to change if she was going to make it out of this alive. And he wasn’t about to lose her like he did his sister.
MARK FLOPPED down on the bed and put his hands behind his head. This wasn’t how he’d expected his night to turn out. He’d thought he’d be in his bed mounting that hot CEO his mother had invited to her long weekend but then he hadn’t counted on meeting sexy formidable Helena Wright. What a woman. She didn’t know it yet, but she was his perfect submissive.
He lay thinking about everything for a while when he heard a noise coming from Helena’s room. It was the shower. He sighed and turned on the TV. Shortly after he heard her moving around her room. He listened carefully, wondering if he could pick up any of her thoughts again. The idea that he could, made him stand up and approach the adjoining door. He put his hand on it. The need to make a connection with her was strong.
Helena was staring at the adjoining door knowing he was behind it. He could see it in his mind as clear as day.
He is probably prowling around barking his orders and expecting everyone to jump to them. Well, you have picked the wrong woman to do that with.
It made him laugh. There was a sudden drop in her mood. She was thinking about her family and the rejection she’d felt from them. Her thoughts led to the boy and girl she’d seen in her vision and then he heard her crying.
Damn it, let me in. I can help you. You need me.
He tried the handle and then stopped. There were muffled voices. Who the hell was in the room with her?
He tried the handle and opened it wide. One of his team was in the room aiming a gun at her. He was wrestling with her. It was Tom. What the hell was he doing? He’d ripped the towel away from her and she was desperately grabbing a sheet form the bed to cover her modesty.
“I am doing this for Pura. You are not going to stop us,” Tom shouted at her making her whimper and lower her head with the force of his speech blasted in her face.
Mark didn’t think anymore. He charged at Tom before he realised Tom was coming at him. Mark knocked him to the floor, and they were struggling. Mark punched at his face and di
d not stop. Tom gained the upper ground aiming his own punch at Mark’s side. It winded Mark and he fell away from Tom. Tom lunged for Helena, but Mark was on him dragging him to the ground again. They tussled and then both rose to their feet to fight.
Mark pushed Tom hard against the window and executed a perfect roundhouse kick knocking him through it. The glass shattered everywhere prompting Mark to shield himself. He heard the thud of Tom’s body below and turned to see Helena jump at the same time. He didn’t need to see her ashen face to realise she had felt the man’s terror as he’d hit the ground. Mark stared at her feeling the bond between them grow and tie them together tighter. It was like a noose around his neck. He hadn’t wanted to get this close, but his adrenaline was still pumping from the fight to the death and she was firing his need to be close. He wanted her at that moment like he had never wanted a woman before in his entire life. He had to be inside her.
COLOUR WAS RETURNING to Helena’s face as they continued staring at each other across the glass-strewn room. His men ran into the room. He could feel her own aching need communicating with his own. He barked orders at them and strode across the room towards her, never taking his eyes from hers. She took a step back from him clutching the sheet around her naked body, but he was faster. He caught hold of her wrist and brought her to him in one sharp movement to drag her from the room into his own, slamming the adjoining door behind him.
She whimpered as he tore the sheet away from her clutches. He watched her shiver as he swept his eyes over her sexy naked body, and those large breasts he admired so much, perched on her slim, small, curved body. He moved his hands behind her onto her bottom and then thighs to forcibly lift her up into his arms. Still she did not speak a word of protest or condemnation as he carried her to the wall and pulled down his zip. She clung to him, her arms around his neck as he took her mouth, easily dominating the kiss. He couldn’t get enough of her. If anyone tried to tear him away from her now, he would kill them. He needed to take her, help him come down from the adrenaline. If he’d lost her…
She was wet when he touched her, prepared and ready for him. He worked her with his fingers, just a little more juice was needed before he could ram his cock inside her. He felt her legs cling tightly around him. He used the wall to support her and pressed his cock to her entrance. With one stabbing motion, he embedded his long broad length inside her and moved in hard, slow, stabbing movements. She lifted and lowered with each thrust, greeting each one with her own need. His mind merged with hers for a moment. He could feel everything. She wanted him like she had no other. Wanted him to banish the fear of nearly losing her life, her loneliness and for him to take control before she fell apart. She didn’t want to think, just feel. He slammed her back against the wall, once, twice, still devouring her mouth, wanting to be inside her to the hilt. He felt the brush of her nipples against his tux jacket and reached to cup and painfully knead one.
“Climax for me,” he issued the order in a harsh demanding voice wanting to feel her muscles clench his cock tight.
With a strangled cry she came hot, hard and strong, welcoming every hard thrust he made, scraping her bare back against the wall.
He took her twice that night. Once just wasn’t enough. He and the team secured Helena in another hotel and the moment his men were posted he entered her room and took hold of her firmly, devouring her mouth. He craved her and the feeling appeared mutual. No words were spoken again. He stripped her quickly, caring little for the way he ripped the clothes from her body or the late hour. He threw her on to her front on top of the bed, his hand thrusting straight between her legs to work her to more wetness making her kneel so that her bottom was in the air and breasts, shoulders and face were resting on top of the bed. She moaned her pleasure, her voice muffled by her turned head squashing her face down on the bed. Mark entered her with one hard thrust driving up inside her to the hilt in one fluid movement. He took hold of the back of her neck and after slapping her backside twice between thrusts. He held her down and in place with his hand on her back grunting with the effort. The sex was primal, and he was marking her as his. There was no hesitation in his mind that she now belonged to him and he was triumphant when she screamed out her orgasm, riding her pleasure as he growled his own.
The next day Lennox arrived at the hotel to check on her. He would come in the car with them to MI5 headquarters. Mark was professional again, both he and Helena keeping their lovemaking and blossoming relationship a secret as the situation demanded. Mark led her to the car and got in the front with the driver. They just started the journey when shots rang out. The car careered to a stop when the driver was shot dead in the head.
“Get down on the floor,” Mark ordered Helena and Lennox, taking out his Glock 17. The security team in the front and back car were getting out and returning fire. Two of them went down injured.
“Are you all right, ma’am? Are you hurt?” Mark shouted above the noise.
“No, I’m fine. Bernard. He’s injured.”
He could hear her scrabbling across the seat to get to Lennox.
“Stay where you are, ma’am. We will get him help.
He heard her give a small cry when another shot rang out and pumped in to Lennox’s body narrowly missing her own.
“He’s dying. He needs help,” she sounded desperate.
Mark kept his head down and looked behind. She was leaning over Bernard as he whispered something to her.
“No. No. Why did you never tell me?”
Mark knew exactly what the dying man was telling her. Mark took hold of her arm and pulled her back away from Lennox and down in the corner onto the floor.
“Stay down, ma’am.”
She was jumping with each shot fired and desperately trying to keep herself calm. Her shaking hands were soaked in blood from Lennox and her face was streaked with it.
“I will get you through this. Do exactly what I tell you, ma’am.”
She’d been shot in her arm. Blood was seeping through her jacket, but she hadn’t yet realised. The adrenaline was pumping too hard. Two men were approaching the cars with guns. Mark reached for her hand and squeezed it.
“I am going outside. Stay down. I will come back for you.”
“Be careful. There is another shooter coming from behind. I can feel him.”
“Okay.”
Mark opened the car door and keeping low came out. A group of men were shooting with Kalashnikovs. Two approached the car containing Helena. Mark stood quickly making his presence a surprise and returned fire. He shot them both in the head before they could take him out.
He suddenly heard Helena’s voice.
“Mark.”
He turned quickly and shot at the man aiming a weapon at his head. The bullet caught him in the middle of the forehead, and he fell dead at Mark’s feet.
“Clear,” one of his men shouted signalling the end of the assault. Mark acknowledged it and rushed back to Helena. He opened the car door and helped her onto the seat. She was shaking like a pneumatic drill and whimpering, clutching at her arm. He held her tightly and pulled her out of the car away from her dead father.
Later at the hospital, the MI5 doctor who presided over her chatted with Mark.
“We need to clear Helena’s mind and bring a sense of calm. Possibly distract her for a while before I am willing to allow her to remote view and engage in another vision from a witness. Lennox’s death isn’t helping the situation. Finding out he was her father after all these years has tipped her over the edge. She is a sitting duck at the moment,” the doctor told Mark leaning over Helena’s sleeping form to open her eyes and check them with a medical torch. “She is too exhausted and is on the verge of mental collapse. Helena needs to rest and centre herself before she will be fit enough to do her work again. And we need this to happen. We are all counting on her.”
Mark thought for a moment.
“When are you going to bring her out of sedation? I have an idea.”
Chapter 8
Helena sat quietly in the back of the car on her own. As usual, Mark was in the front passenger seat keeping guard next to the driver and two cars, one in front and behind escorted them along the M1 out of London. Although the gunshot wound had been largely superficial, it still ached, and she felt exhausted. Her mind could only dwell on one thing, Lennox’s confession before his death as he lay in her arms bleeding. All this time he had known he was her father and he never said a word. Grief mingled and warred with anger in her thoughts bringing tears to her eyes. One escaped and she frantically wiped it away hoping the men in the front of the car wouldn’t see any further signs of weakness from her. But it was too late.
She caught a glimpse of Mark looking at her through the car’s side mirror. He looked full of concern for her.
“Ma’am? Is anything wrong?” he asked. She noticed the driver shoot a look at him and then glanced back at her. She felt so exposed and vulnerable and it took effort to keep a calm and steady voice to answer him.
“I am fine, thank you.”
He didn’t question her anymore and kept his professional distance just as he did when they were out in public. But she knew the moment they arrived at his home and they were hidden from view their secret relationship would begin again. Damn it, for all her stubborn strength she just wanted to melt in his arms and cry like a baby and have him take care of her like one. But that was never going to happen. She wouldn’t allow it. For now, she had to get that damn stupid stiff upper lip act out and maintain it if they were going to find that terrorist before he killed once more.
Forty minutes later they entered the automatic wrought iron gates of Grace View Abbey in Hertfordshire. It was beautiful. It was just as Mark had described. It resembled a castle more than a stately home and its grounds appeared vast. Mark often boasted about the stables and how much he wanted to take her riding. She had only been riding a couple of times and on the last occasion a year ago, she had taken a fall. But for him she would try it again. She would never get over how he constantly put himself in harm’s way to protect her. Every time she was in trouble, even when remote viewing, he was there, ready to back her up and get out when the going got too tough and she was in awe of him.
Protecting Helena Page 5