She wouldn't let me. I felt her fingers under my chin, lifting my head so she could pierce a stare into me once more. She was so close, my head level with the tiny strip of flesh that separated her black top from the short red skirt.
Just the slightest of forward movement, and my lips could kiss her skin. My heart pounded in my ears, drowning out all rational thought, leaving nothing but instinct. I couldn't resist her, not anymore. Why the hell should I?
It had to be.
It wasn't to be.
My head was yanked roughly backwards, and I had no choice but to look into Zana's angry green eyes.
‘You know your problem, Maddie?’
I found two words, no idea how. ‘Which one?’
‘The one that matters.’ She walked away again, back to the bar, lifted the lid on a tiny pot, and slipped a glace cherry into her mouth.
‘The one that says you're a lousy bitch.’
‘Ah, that one.’
‘A lousy bitch with a heart.’ She moved seductively back, knelt on the floor in front of me and slid her hands along my thighs. ‘You're in the wrong job, Madeline deWinter.’
‘The department doesn't think so.’
‘Fuck them. I take it they've finally told you the truth about me?’
I nodded. ‘I know everything now.’
‘And yet still you want to be close to me.’
Her face was next to mine again, blurring my vision as I fought to keep my cool. Her hands drifted to the inside of my thighs, pressing a little harder. She smiled, parting her lips for a second so I could see the cherry between her teeth. Then it was gone, her lips puckered into a perfect heart shape and her eyes narrowed.
She whispered huskily, their faces almost touching.
‘You want the cherry, Maddie?’
I was losing control again, knew I couldn't resist. But harsh reality was screaming at me, battling with the intense desire doing its best to win the fight. I had to resist, it wasn't right.
Not anymore.
The room around me faded into a blur. Zana's lips opened again, and the cherry came towards me, cupped in the curve of her tongue.
Nothing mattered now, nothing except the taste of the cherry. The tip of her tongue touched my lips, she pulled back a fraction. I followed.
My lips parted; her hands teased my crotch through the jeans. My head pounded, I couldn't see… there was nothing but her touch now. Our lips met, her tongue deep inside me. Slowly she pulled away, her tongue sliding millimetre by millimetre out of my mouth, until it was gone and I was left with only the cherry.
Her face caressed mine, not breaking contact as her lips worked their way around the side of my head so she could whisper into my ear.
‘So have you got the balls, pretty girl? All the guts it will take if you decide to kill me tonight?’
I pushed her away, roughly. She fell back onto her elbows, I stood up angrily and walked across the room.
‘Fuck you, Zana.’
She laughed, a mirthless sound that taunted me. ‘Have I hit a nerve, Maddie?’
I stood against the bar, facing away from her. That wasn't what she wanted. She followed me, grasped my arm and turned me around.
‘So have you got the balls?’
I couldn't hold her stare. ‘Yeah, I have,’ I said quietly.
‘Liar.’
She took me by surprise, thrust her body against mine. Our lips met, blending together in a passionate kiss I couldn't stop. Her arms looped around my neck, my hands cupped her butt, pressing us even closer together. She wrapped her legs around me, powerful thighs squeezing me, making me cry out.
Her lips wouldn't leave mine, taking away my resolve and filling my senses like no one else ever could. Right then there was nothing in my world, just Zana, wrapped so tightly around me our bodies felt like one. She was sucking me dry, and I didn't want her to stop.
Then suddenly our lips were apart, her eyes boring into me as she gasped for breath. The tantalizing smile was back.
‘You are going to fuck me first, I take it?’
I froze, emotions lurching from ecstasy to agony. Reality hit home in a millisecond, and my shattered nerves couldn't handle it. Again I turned, away from the woman who drove me from the gates of heaven to the depths of hell.
‘Just… just stop.’
‘Hey!’ Her tone was sharp. ‘Don't walk away from me, miss big-shot assassin. The least you can do is take me out with a smile on my face!’
I flipped, turned to her, rage and desolation taking over. I grabbed her arms, my whole body shaking. My sudden actions startled her, she pulled back anxiously but she knew I would never hurt her… not with my fists anyway.
‘How can you make jokes about this?’ I screamed. The sound of my own shouted words flicked a switch. My hands dropped away from her, my head lowered in remorse.
‘I'm sorry.’
She took my hands, felt their sweat and the shaking that wouldn't stop. ‘No I'm sorry, Madeline. I'm pushing you. You’ve had a shit day and I'm not helping.’ She guided my hands, pressed them against her breasts. Her tone softened. ‘But I wasn't joking.’
‘You should hate me.’ My voice was hoarse, trembling.
For a moment she looked sad again. ‘It's your job. Unfortunately for me. I could never hate you for that.’
I lifted my head, looked desolately at her, the pain in her eyes all too clear. She pulled me into her, suddenly aware of the torment I was suffering.
‘Have you still not made your decision?’ she said, her voice quivering.
I shook my head, looked at her with sad eyes. ‘I wanted to see you first.’
She nodded slowly, knew exactly what I meant. ‘However this ends Madeline, please just one more night… for old time's sake as they say?’
‘I don't…’
‘Please?’
I gazed at her beauty. She was the little girl again now, pleading for the treat she so desperately wanted. I couldn't deny her that.
She knew.
I felt myself led him back to the bar like a blind woman, watched silently as another brandy was poured for me. ‘Sip it,’ she said firmly. ‘Don't want you going to sleep on me. Give me ten minutes.’
I sipped it as ordered, my eyes following her as she walked sexily across the room and through the door into the master bedroom, closing it behind her. Alone, I leaned my elbows on the bar top, and covered my face in despair.
It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.
It was just a job.
Easy, if you didn't have a heart.
Unfortunately, thanks to Zana, now I did.
Act 2
I was facing away from her, still slumped over the bar top, when I heard her speak. Softly, nervously.
‘Madeline, look at me please.’
I turned to face her, cried out in shock.
I couldn't move, couldn't speak.
I knew in an instant what she was doing. She'd placed her last card on the table, and finally revealed her true colours.
She smiled, uncertainly. ‘No more disguises, Madeline. No more hiding the truth.’
She stood two metres from me, naked. She was still Zana, but not the Zana I knew. I took two slow hesitant steps towards her, my eyes transfixed on the incredible figure before me, my brain reeling as it tried to accept the images spearing into it.
‘Do you find me repulsive?’ she asked me, her voice trembling with apprehension.
Still I couldn't speak, couldn't find the words to tell her how I felt. I was hypnotized, the room around her fading into nothingness.
All I could see was the real Zana.
The green eyes I knew so well were full of uncertainty, but now they were no longer human eyes. The shape of a slender, beautiful leaf, they slanted upwards as they curved to a perfect point.
The same full lips smiled hesitantly to me, except now they were a deep iridescent red, so dark they were almost black.
There wasn't a single hair, anywhere on her body.
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Two small, pointed ears only just broke the smoothness of her skull; a tiny, delicate ridge began in the centre of her forehead and ran over her head, blending back into her body as it reached the nape of her long neck.
The same perfect body stood before me. The only difference was her fingers; a little longer than those of a human, yet somehow still elegant and feminine.
But her skin was not human. The centre of her face and torso, and a strip along her arms and legs, were a deep dusky pink that seemed to shimmer in the low lights of the room. The rest of her, like a leopard, was dappled, tiny patches of red darkening the closer they came to the outside of her body.
I dropped to my knees in front of her, awestruck.
She was totally, utterly, mind-numbingly beautiful.
Trembling hands caressed the side of her hips, drifted upwards to her waist. The dapples of red were raised just the tiniest bit, flecks of texture silky and warm to my touch.
I kissed her delicately, just below her navel, looked into her eyes as I felt her body relax. She let out a little cry of relief, tears filling her eyes because she knew then I still loved her. Her fingers combed lovingly through my hair as her hands pressed me closer. I pulled her tight to me, my face melting into her skin.
‘Thank you,’ I heard her say quietly.
Still on my knees, I felt my own eyes mist up as pure emotion took over. Her tears fell onto my face, felt so wonderful. Still unable to believe she could become any more beautiful than she already was, I couldn't tear myself away from the feel of her.
She'd stunned me, yet again.
She spoke through the tears, little more than a whisper. ‘Make love to me, Madeline… I need you to show me how much you love me.’
Finally I stood, my hands never leaving her body. Softly I wiped away her tears with my fingers; gently I kissed her, the touch of her lips flooding me with an intensity more powerful than ever. And finally I accepted what deep down I'd always known.
I could never kill her, regardless of the consequences. That was a physical and emotional impossibility. But now I also knew I would never leave her side, not for a single minute.
Not until I was forced to.
Not until the end.
I took her hand and led her to the sofa, ripped off my jacket and dropped it onto the floor. Between us I lost the rest of my clothes, lay naked on the huge sofa. Zana sat on my knees, her long fingers caressing me slowly and delicately. Somehow her touch felt different, I wasn't sure if it was purely psychological or something else.
I didn't care. It was more wonderful than ever.
I was high already, just from her exquisite touch, needing her to make me come. Her lips drifted up my body, a million kisses teasing and tantalising me. My hands caressed her head, the soft ridge across the top of her skull so incredibly erotic. Then she was kissing me, laying flat over me, her dark lips blending perfectly with mine, our crotches bonded together like one.
For the first time I could feel all of her, the faint texture of her skin taking my breath away. My hands drifted slowly down her body to her butt, my fingers alive with sensations I'd never thought it possible to feel.
I could feel her flex as she kissed me; tiny movements getting me higher still, long fingers slicing through my hair as she moaned in her pleasure.
I was breathing heavily now, my fingers boring into her butt as the passion grew. She was high too, I knew. Her movements grew more intense, yet still she lay on top of me, resisting the urge to touch me where I desperately needed her to.
I knew what she wanted. It had to be the perfect moment.
I felt her body tense up, on the edge of coming. And then she broke away, spun around, her crotch sinking onto my face. As she sank her tongue deep into me, and she tightened around me more than she'd ever done, I cried out in pure ecstasy, and she screamed uncontrollably as we came together in seconds.
It was the perfect moment.
She turned back around, and for an age we lay there, our arms around each other, coming down from incredible highs. I could have stayed there forever.
Then she lifted her head from my chest. ‘Thank you,’ she said again.
‘What for?’ I asked, the first words I'd managed to speak since she revealed her true colours.
‘For showing me you love me.’
‘Was it ever in doubt?’
‘Yes, because you didn’t know the real me.’
I smiled for her, realising how much she’d been scared to show me her true self. ‘I already knew the real you Zana, just not how you looked. Now you're even more perfect.’
She kissed me once more, laid her head back to my breast. ‘I am glad I still please you.’
‘One of the guys said you might be a shape-shifter.’
She laughed softly. ‘A shape-shifter. Not so much; unlike your science-fiction I can't become anything I want. My metabolism allows me to take on a form close to my own, but I couldn't become this sofa!’
‘Quite pleased about that.’
She didn't speak for a minute, but when she did her tone was more serious. ‘Tomorrow night my people will arrive, and I must be at Dawson's Hill. Please will you be there with me?’
‘I'm not letting you out of my sight for another minute. But I need to know what's happening.’
She nodded, knew it was time for the truth. ‘I'm going to stop them Madeline. Because of you. Because…’
She didn't get any further. The peace and tranquillity of our world was shattered.
Literally.
As Zana looked up in horror, the big glass sliding doors leading to the balcony shattered into a million toughened-glass shards, ripping the drapes to shreds as they blew across the room.
Instinctively I pulled her back down, the back of the sofa between us and what were the doors to the balcony. The lights in the sitting room were down low, I didn’t think she’d been seen.
I could hear people in the room, the crunch of broken glass beneath their feet. I motioned Zana to roll off onto the floor. I followed her, reaching desperately for my clothes. We were both still naked.
Muffled voices, seemed to be coming from the bedroom. I remembered the weapon I'd acquired, grabbed it from the jacket pocket. Whoever it was would be back in the room any moment, find us in seconds. I whispered to Zana, ‘When I say, get behind the bar… that glass is thick enough to withstand a mortar bomb!’
She looked scared to death but nodded. I peered around the edge of the sofa, just as the intruders came into view.
Four of them.
‘Now!’ I shouted, firing the gun at one of the men, who exploded into a mess of body parts. The other three looked stunned for a moment, not expecting retaliation. They ran for cover, one of them firing a wild shot that seared across the hallway and straight through the front door.
Zana made the shelter of the bar, I fired again as I grabbed my jacket and jeans and ran to join her. I hit a second man but didn't floor him. His arm was a bit shorter than before though. He disappeared around the corner into the kitchen area; the other two ran into the doorway of the second bedroom.
All went quiet, except for Zana who looked angrily at me. ‘What's going on, Madeline? I thought you believed me. And where the hell did you get that from?’
‘This?’ I held up the weapon. ’It was a gift from Arik. And I do trust you. This is nothing to do with me.’ I fumbled awkwardly to pull the jeans around my legs, and then remembered the DIAL phone was in my pocket. ‘I thought I trusted Coop though,’ I growled, pressing the call button.
Act 3
Ryland Cooper didn't go home after he left Madeline. The hell the poor girl was going through wasn't sitting easy with him, and it just didn't feel right him being at home in comfort while a woman he respected was living through a nightmare.
He knew she would never be able to kill Zana, exactly why he gave her a get out of jail free card. Although in truth it was more of an out of the frying pan into the fire card.
And someh
ow he was getting the feeling his phone would ring before he saw the first light of dawn.
So he headed for DIAL HQ, knowing he would be all but alone. Duncan Scott had sent Miles to check out a reported sighting in Warwickshire, the man himself was locked down somewhere with military top-brass and a stack of government ministers, attempting for formulate a defence strategy against an unknown threat they didn't have a hope in hell of averting. Most of the technical staff would be tucked up in bed.
He went straight to Scott's office, fired up the coffee machine and sat at the little man's big desk. After a while, staring at the walls began to seem pointless, so he took a long slow walk around the almost-silent operation's floor, had a conversation with the two techies there on night duty.
Back in Scott's office he tried to make a start on the report detailing the evening’s gruesome activities. That wasn't too successful either, because almost every sentence turned his thoughts back to Madeline and what might be going down at that moment. After two fruitless hours he gave up, and was just about to take another walk around the floor when his phone rang.
His friend didn't sound too happy, and more than a little frightened. ‘What the fuck, Coop? Thought you were on my side. Call your goons off for Christ’s sake!’
‘What? What you saying, girl?’
‘In Zana's pad… the four monkeys. Well, two and a half now… not just popped in for a nightcap, have they?’
‘Fuck. Fuck! This ain't my doing, Maddie. You know I'm with you on this.’
‘Then who the hell… oh shit.’
‘You thinking what I'm thinking?’
‘Arik.’
‘Then you is.’
‘Sure could use a hand right now, Coop.’
‘On my way,’ he said as he headed for the door.
‘Just another little problem though...’
‘Go ahead, make my day.’
‘It sounds like Far Cry Four here… any minute now this place is gonna be crawling with SWAT teams and half the cops in the met.’
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