Death Waltz

by A. M. Hargrove

  “Whose is it?”

  “No idea. But as soon as I break it, the alarms will ring. Stay in your energy form. I want to take no chances with you and an annihilator beam hitting you.”

  “But what about you?”

  “I’ll be in my energy form too. January’s the one who will be in danger.”

  “Be quick.”

  “Liasare, I’m always quick,” he said drily.

  “Um, I beg to differ.”

  He chuckled at her comment. “You ready?”

  She nodded. True to his word, as soon as he busted down the power barrier, all hell broke loose. Xanthians swarmed the cell, but Jurek and Liasare were already halfway back to Praestan by that time.

  Liasare worried about whether or not January would be okay. Jurek assured her she would be fine. When they arrived, Naroo was waiting for them and it wasn’t long before January was awake and talking. She didn’t remember anything other than being on Vesturon and filling out the forms for her son. Rykerian wouldn’t leave her alone for a second, but she kept asking about the two youngest children, of which they had no information.

  Jurek informed her that they were headed for Earth the next day to try and seek out Abaddon and perhaps then they could uncover the location of the kids.

  But now the bigger question that loomed before Jurek and the other Praestani was who was the traitor that had kept January locked within the cell on Xanthus? Jurek called his team together to confer over this. He couldn’t abide having a traitor in his midst and he would flush this person out someway, somehow.

  ***

  The next morning Liasare awoke to an empty bed. She and Jurek had stayed in the sanctuary the night before. He had lured her there and then proceeded to make good on his promise of spanking her. She rubbed her still tender bottom and a smile played across her mouth as she remembered how it had all gone down.

  “You defy me at every turn, so now I’m going to punish you, Liasare.”

  “You can’t punish me. I’m a grown woman.”

  She looked at him and saw the heat in his eyes. The passion nearly spilled from them. Her body responded, like it always did.

  “You’re already wet for me, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was breathless. She couldn’t help it. He did that to her every time. She hoped it would be like this a hundred years from now.

  “Take your pants off, Liasare. Now.”

  It didn’t occur to her to say no. Why should it? She wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her. She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her pants and tugged on them. Pushing them down to her ankles, she stepped out of the bundle that lay at her feat.

  “Don’t stop. I want you naked. Now.” His voice was raw with passion. And it caused her to shiver. She removed her panties next, and her shirt and bra followed.

  “Now play with your nipples for me.”

  She sucked in her breath. He usually didn’t ask this of her so it surprised her.

  “Now, Liasare.”

  She complied. She didn’t like doing this because it wasn’t nearly as pleasurable for her as when he did it.

  “Now walk to the bend and bend over it.”

  She liked it when he touched her from behind. It was exciting to her because she couldn’t see him and it added a bit of mystery.

  Smack!

  “Ow!” It came from nowhere and shocked the hell out of her.

  “I told you I was going to spank you. You need to be punished for that smart comment you made. You didn’t believe me did you?” he asked as he massaged the cheeks of her ass.

  Smack.

  He palmed her again and followed it with some more soothing massage. It stung like fire, but for some reason her nipples grew even harder.

  “Liasare, don’t stop playing with your nipples. I heard your thoughts.”

  Liasare shocked herself even further by raising her ass higher in the air. She could feel herself becoming even wetter.

  “Hmm. I think you need punishing more often. What do you think?” His hand rubbed her bottom, easing the sting.

  “Yes,” she hissed.

  Then he placed his hands on her ass and using his thumbs, he spread her cheeks. His voice grew husky as he said, “Liasare, you’re glistening.”

  He spanked her a few more times, and followed them with gentle rubbing.

  “Climb up on the bed. On all fours. Now.”

  She obeyed.

  Then his mouth and tongue went to work on her. And Liasare turned into an animal. Or at least she was pretty sure she might have. He treated her to two amazing orgasms before he would give her what she kept begging him for.

  Finally, he flipped her over, and grinning, he asked, “Are you going to behave from now on?”

  “Hell no. Not if it gets me this every time.”

  He plunged into her, every bit of him and she gasped, moaned, and then sighed. He gave her everything she had begged for, and then some. In the end, they both chased and caught their climaxes together.

  “I have a confession to make,” he said.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “I loved seeing your ass all pink.”

  “Hmm. I guess that means you’ll be doing that again then, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “Good, because my ass liked being all pink.”

  She giggled again. What an interlude. Looking around the room, there was no sign of Jurek. She rose and padded to the bathroom to take care of things. When she came out, a tray of food had been delivered, and a note was sitting on it. She immediately recognized Jurek’s handwriting.

  My lovely Liasare,

  I left early because I didn’t want to wake you. You’re much too beautiful when you sleep. (She smiled when she read this)

  I know you’ll be angry over this, but I can’t risk your life, or that of Smidgen’s. So I went to Earth without you. Please know that I love you more than my own life.

  Yours forever,

  Alaric

  Liasare smiled. She wasn’t worried. She would just shower and meet them down at their headquarters. It mattered not to her. And if they were trying to lure Abaddon out, she’d wait on them to return.

  Taking her time, she ate, showered, and dressed. Then she decided to go back to the main house to check on January, but when she tried to flash there, nothing happened. How strange, she thought. She tried again. And again. Then she decided to try flashing to Earth. No can do. So she thought she’d go out back on the terrace and she couldn’t even walk outside! What. The. Fuck.

  “Naroo!”

  Naroo popped in.

  “What the fuck is going on here? I can’t flash anywhere!”

  “Yes, my lady. I am aware.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My lord has sealed you inside.”

  “Sealed me inside?”

  “Yes, my lady.” Naroo, looked mighty uncomfortable relaying this information to Liasare.

  “How can this be?”

  “My lady, it’s a simple thing really. He used his powers to do it.”

  “Mother fucker! He tricked me. How can this be undone?”

  “It cannot. Well it can, but only by him.”

  Liasare tapped her foot and snapped her jaws together.

  “No other way, then?”

  “None that I am aware of.”

  “So I, the Queen, am a prisoner in her own home? That’s how it’s to be?”

  “Yes, my lady. By the King’s orders. He said you would be angry.”

  “Angry? Oh, Naroo, angry doesn’t come close to what I’m feeling right now. No, not in the least.”

  Suddenly, Liasare felt like she’d been punched from the inside out. “Whoa!” Her hands reached for her abdomen. “It’s okay little Smidgen. I’m mad at Daddy, not you. You’re too sweet for Mommy to be angry at.” She rubbed her belly back and forth, trying to calm the baby. As she watched it, she could’ve sworn it grew before her eyes.

  “Uh, Naroo, did you see that?”
r />   “Oh, yes. I would appear that your baby has had another growth spurt.”

  “Is that normal?”

  “With the Praestani babies, yes. They grow in spurts, such as this. Maybe tomorrow, you’ll be much larger even.”

  “Um, when do you think he’ll be born?”

  Naroo, placed her hands upon Liasare’s belly and then put her ear against it. Then she announced smiling, “Another week or two.”

  “What? Another week or two? I thought I had another couple of months?”

  “My lady it would appear you had your timing off. It seems as though you are nearing your fifth month.”

  “But why am I not showing that much?”

  “Oh, you will. Just give it another day or so. That’s how it is with our species. The final growth spurts take you to the end stages and that’s when you’re the largest. You must’ve gotten pregnant shortly after, well, you know.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Yes, Praestani pregnancies are much different than human ones. The symptoms don’t show up until well into the third or fourth month.”

  “Jesus, help me now. It would’ve been nice if Jurek had shared that with me. What am I gonna do, Naroo?”

  “Whatever do you mean, my lady?”

  “Jurek is gone. What if I have this baby while he’s not here?”

  “You’ll just call out to him to return,” Naroo said.

  “Yes, I suppose so.” Right then, Liasare felt another punch and looked down to see her belly pop out again. “Holy shit! This is crazy!”

  Naroo only laughed at her.

  They both laughed when Liasare’s pants split right up the middle.

  “Well, now what am I supposed to do? This was my last pair of stretchy pants.”

  “Let me go and retrieve some gowns for you, my lady.” Naroo left and Liasare sagged into the closest chair. She was completely fatigued all of a sudden. Like she hadn’t just slept for eight hours. And hungry again. Like she hadn’t eaten a full course breakfast.

  Naroo returned with several gowns. “These are birthing gowns, my lady. You can wear these up until the day of your birthing.”

  “Naroo, where do I actually give birth?”

  “Right here.”

  “I don’t go to a hospital or anything?”

  “No, my lady. We don’t have hospitals here on Praestan.”

  “Right.”

  “All you have to do is call me and Brinna and we’ll take care of everything.”

  “Okay.”

  Liasare crawled back into bed and slept. And slept.

  ***

  The team convened in the warehouse. The Vesturions were present, along with the Praestani. When Jurek was asked about Liasare, he explained how he had left her.

  All the men gaped at him.

  “You’re either crazy or brave. But either way, Brownie is going to kick your ass from here to the next millennia,” Tak commented.

  “I don’t care to discuss Brownie right now.”

  “Duly noted.”

  “Any other comments?” Jurek asked.

  He was met with dead silence.

  “Perfect. Shall we continue?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Good. First things first. We need to pay a visit to Club Down. Maybe three of us should go and it needs to be Praestani in case something happens. Any volunteers?”

  Faxon, the one who volunteered to fight with Jurek that day, raised his hand.

  “Good, Faxon. Marik? Why don’t you take him, along with Tak, and go tonight. Report back on the latest. I’m going to visit Jaylen and see if she’s picked up on anything. The rest of you hit some of the other clubs and then we’ll get together either tonight or in the morning. Just a word of caution to the Vesturions. This place is teeming with Xanthians. Don’t wear your Guardian attire. Try to be as inconspicuous as possible. They’re mean as hell these days and think they own Earth. Make sure you have your teleporters at the ready and don’t teleport directly here. We don’t want them following any vapor trails back to us. Lead them on a wild chase before you return here. Any questions?”

  Jurek showed up at Jaylen’s place and surprised her. Her first question was about Liasare and when she found out about the pregnancy, she wouldn’t stop asking Jurek about it. He couldn’t blame her though, since Jaylen and Liasare were friends. Then he totally shocked her when he said the baby would arrive in a month or so.

  But he was disappointed in her lack of information. He was hoping she could tell him of more activity in the area.

  “The only thing I do know is that there have been more disappearances. I’ve told all my girls not to go out alone and not to go out at night. It seems it’s not the Xanthians.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Gut feeling. Call it intuition. Listen, I hate those fuckers and would like to pinpoint everything I can on them. But this is different. People disappear and they never resurface. With the Xanthians, they usually resurface as minions. So what I think is there’s a mass murderer out there.” She shivered and rubbed her arms.

  “Jaylen, follow that intuition of yours. Stay inside and don’t go out after dark.”

  Jaylen bounced around the room, and then settled back down. “What do you know that you’re not telling me?”

  He shook his head slightly. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with, other than following your own advice. Promise me you will. And that if you need me, you’ll get word to my men. You remember how to do that, right?”

  “Yeah, I send the message to that abandoned warehouse on Fifth Street.”

  “Right. Now be safe and try not to worry.”

  The two of them hugged and Jurek left. He headed to Cosmos to check things out there. Jaylen was right. Things were different than the last time he’d been here. The atmosphere had changed. It was a darker more sinister environment. He could feel it churning against his power. His energy rebelled against it, forcing him to leave. There was something within the walls of that building. He needed to return there, in his energy form to try to uncover it, but he wasn’t stupid enough to do it alone.

  He decided his best option was to go back to headquarters and wait for the rest of the team to return. Though it would be a long wait, it was better that way than to risk making foolish errors. He was glad he’d made the decision to lock Liasare within the sanctuary. Yes, she was going to be a pissed off woman for a while. But that was much better than having her or the baby harmed.

  ***

  Week two of Liasare’s confinement and already she was psycho. Added to the way her hormones were making her crazy and she wanted to tear the place down. Jurek’s visits were tense, to say the least, but he wouldn’t relent. What should’ve been joyous reunions had become less than desirable shouting matches.

  Liasare awakened and knew something was wrong. She rolled to her back and everything around her was wet. Her gown was wet. The sheets were wet. Then the pain hit. Blinding vicious pain.

  Shit. Smidgen’s coming!

  She tried to call out for Naroo, but every time she did, the pains rendered her speechless and senseless. Not only that, they robbed her of all of her strength, leaving her weak and incapacitated.

  They came upon her without mercy, one right after the other, without so much as a minute in between. She could barely catch her breath between each one.

  “Alaric.” It came out as a whisper. Her visions led her to believe she survived this birth so she had to figure out a way to do it. She was a part of Jurek, through his power. He had to know something was happening to her. She had to reach him through her thoughts. There was no other way.

  “Alaric, please. I need you.”

  Her hands gripped the sheets, or so she thought. In fact they hardly held them at all because she was so weakened. If only she could shift into her energy form, but that wasn’t an option.

  “Alaric. Alaric. Alaric. Alaric.” The thought of him went through her mind over and over, as the pain continued to tear into her. />
  “Oh, Smidge, we need to get you out of here and I don’t know how.” She rubbed her belly, as another pain gripped her. She lifted her gown and put her hand between her legs as she felt warmth flowing from her. When she looked at her hand, all she saw was blood.

  “Oh, no!” she panted. With one final burst of strength, she screamed, “Alaric!”

  ***

  Jurek waited for the team to return. He was in his private quarters, drinking coffee, thinking about how he was going to handle Liasare. He thought he would be prepared for her ire, but this had gone far beyond anything he had expected. When he was sitting there, a pain clawed into his gut, throwing him onto the floor. He grabbed himself, expecting to see blood, but nothing was there. Then he heard her voice in his head. Faint, but persistent.

  He was on his feet and flashed to the sanctuary before he could even collect his thoughts. When he arrived, he cursed, not once, but a dozen times.

  “Liasare!”

  “Naroo!”

  Naroo arrived and they both went to work.

  “Get Smidgen out. He’s stuck,” Liasare whimpered.

  “Naroo, what do we do?”

  “Get Brinna, my lord.”

  “Brinna!”

  Brinna appeared and the women started to help Liasare. Jurek brushed her hair off her forehead and placed his palm there. She relaxed as she felt his power wash over her. Then she put her hand on top on his.

  “I woke up like this. Smidgen popped out on me. And then I started bleeding.”

  “Shh. It’s okay, love. We’ll get you fixed right up.”

  “I know. But don’t leave me anymore. Every time you do, something bad happens.”

  He was beginning to think she was right.

  Brinna grabbed Liasare’s hand and explained how Smidgen was breech and would have to be turned.

  “Oh, fuck. This isn’t going to be fun, is it?”

  “I’m here, and will take care of your pain,” Jurek reminded her.

  “Then let’s get this over with.”

  Liasare didn’t watch Brinna, because she didn’t want to faint. She stared into Jurek’s eyes, for they calmed her and his hands took away all her pain, as promised.