Pure Desire [Pure 3] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Barbour, Carolina

  Chapter Thirty-five

  This early in the morning only a few servants were milling about when Noor entered the main house. He walked down the expansive hallway toward Mortimer’s office where he knew he’d already be awake at dawn. Sleepy-eyed and yawning, he would have preferred to remain cuddled against Allura’s luscious warmth, but the visit to her father was a requirement he had already delayed beyond what was respectful.

  Standing in front of the door, he ran his fingers through his hair, straightened his shirt, and ensured it was neatly tucked inside his waistband before he knocked, entered, and faced Mortimer, who sat composed behind the oak desk. As a precaution, he didn’t bound into the room. He checked the position of the gun he knew the man kept. The Colt lay on the desk, a finger away from Mortimer’s hand. Within reaching distance, should he choose to use it. Noor wasn’t sure he wouldn’t, given his deeply furrowed brows and intolerant disposition.

  “If I put a bullet in you, my daughter would be displeased,” Mortimer said brusquely. Leaning back, but still within distance of his weapon, he folded his hands on his lap.

  “I would hope so.” Mortimer narrowed his eyes. “Sir,” he added to imply he didn’t intend to be flippant in the least. It was purely dreaming on his part.

  “Allura has taken a liking to you, obviously, because she has married you without my consent and is carrying your child,” Mortimer said.

  “The circumstances of our hasty marriage couldn’t be avoided.”

  “That is obvious too, son. In Texas, you marry first, and then take the prize,” Mortimer said, eyeing Noor with a flinty glare.

  It wasn’t in his plans to marry Allura, but admitting to that didn’t appear to be ideal now. Instead, he said, “I thought it was the sensible thing to do, given the, ah, our predicament.”

  “Allura said you were sensible, and up until now, I had my doubts. That doesn’t mean I’m not still considering putting you out of your misery.” Mortimer glanced at his gun and then back at Noor. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”

  “I will give you two. I will keep her safe, and I love Allura.”

  Mortimer motioned with a wave of his hand for Noor to sit. “Frankly, I think you need to sober up, but Allura is convinced you haven’t taken to the bottle. I trust my daughter’s instincts, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt.

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

  “That doesn’t mean I believe this cockamamie nonsense you have put in her head about the future…mad emperors…flying machines and all that stuff I believe is a figment of your imagination. You might not be drunk, but perhaps delusional. No insult intended, son.”

  “I can respectfully understand your position. However, if you care for me to explain in more detail where I’m from—”

  “You can speak after I’m finished. This conversation has weighed on my mind a long time. I need to get it off my chest.” Noor nodded. Reared to respect his elders, especially one with a gun aimed at him, he pursed his lips tight. “Allura is headstrong, if you haven’t noticed. Even if I insisted she divest herself of you, I doubt she would give up without a fight.” He sighed. “She is her own person and of age to make her own decisions. The child of mine is bright as they come, but, unfortunately, has occasional lapses in judgment. Otherwise, Allura has a sound mind. That means I can’t do anything with her.” Mortimer smiled slightly. “It’s her mother’s stubborn streak. That is unimportant. My concern is for her well-being first and her heart second. She told me what happened in town yesterday, and it doesn’t sit well with me.” He leaned forward and rested folded hands on the desk. “You married her, and she belongs to you, and even though I don’t like it, it’s up to you to handle whatever this craziness is you’ve gotten her involved in to my satisfaction. That doesn’t mean I won’t step in, if need be. What do you intend to do?” He pushed back and relaxed in the chair.

  Even in his calm state, Mortimer was a force to be reckoned with. He was dressed in official attire, a white shirt, dark twill pants, a black vest, and soft-skin boots. He was refined and graceful in appearance now that he had settled down. His manner of dress indicated he would go to town and conduct business later. And nothing more, and certainly didn’t hint at the lethal calm beneath the refined attire. There was authority in his tone, which he kept intentionally level, as well as the underlining hint of the danger he might exude if pushed. Allura got a quick temper and violent streak from somewhere.

  “I have to take Allura back home to ensure her safety and settle some unfortunate matters.”

  “She is in agreement?”

  “I haven’t informed her yet, but I’m sure when I do, she will resist,” he said, weary, aware Allura would throw a fit.

  Mortimer’s lips curved. “She will fight you tooth and nail.”

  “Yes, I know, but she has no choice.”

  “Son, you are new to marriage, so let me enlighten you on a few things to make it easier for you. Women always have choices, and it’s called giving them their way to keep the peace in the household and your bed warm at night. Man to man, I know you understand my point.” He chuckled softly, and then turned serious. “If you love your wife, you allow her to have her way more than seventy percent of the time, and the other thirty I reserve for when I need to put my foot down. You pick and choose your battles based on severity, son.”

  “This is life and death,” he said flatly. There was no sense in pretending otherwise with Mortimer. He deserved honesty.

  Mortimer nodded. “Then you do what you have to do. And I will do what I must,” he uttered.

  “Sir?”

  “My wife cried herself to sleep every day when Allura and Channing came up missing until you got word to us. Now, she is as happy as a lark her children have returned and Allura is carrying our grandchild. You know what I’m up against when I tell her you are leaving and she may never see her grandbaby or children again?”

  “I can make arrangements for you two to visit Magnus.”

  “Son, I don’t like traveling to the closest border.” He eyed Noor. “But to see my wife happy, I would take a trip to the moon. When do you plan to leave?”

  Noor grimaced. “In a day or two, after I inform Allura we are departing.”

  “I’m not happy about this, but things being as they are, there are greater concerns for me to focus on besides your marriage to Allura. More importantly, I want her happy, and you seem to do that for her. Understand, though, if I learn she is not content, come hell or high water, you and I won’t have just a conversation next time.” His position was clear. Noor nodded. “I might as well warn you, she got hold of a gun again.”

  Noor sighed and wiped his hand down his face, agitated. “Just how many guns does your daughter have? The more I take away from her, the more she seems to acquire.”

  “I taught Allura to shoot a pistol and rifle from the time she could hold a gun. Her uncle instructed her on how to use a bow and arrow and fight like a warrior. Channing showed her how to fight dirty.” Mortimer grinned. “She is a collector of weapons, if that helps you any.”

  Noor noticed the thought seemed to amuse Mortimer while it astounded him.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  “I assume you told Allura you are going home because she is pacing her room and calling you everything but the son of god,” Channing said. He walked out on the porch and handed out the beers he had balanced in two hands.

  Noor took a swig and grimaced at the bitter taste. “I promised her she could stay until the baby was born. I can’t afford to risk it, though. Not after what happened the other day in town.”

  “I tried to explain that to her. My sis isn’t in the listening mood.”

  “She will get over it.”

  Channing rested his butt on the wood railing and sipped his drink. “Is there any way you can allow her to stay, Noor?” His compassion for Allura’s plight showed in his expression.

  “Not without bringing an army here to protect her. Some
thing your father would have to explain to the townspeople. Besides, Magnus has better technology and medical facilities than Legend, and I will feel better if she has the child at home, in case there are complications.”

  Vale interjected, “If Emperor Agaci won’t leave his compound, Noor has no choice but to go and get him. We have more resources to ferret the bastard out on Magnus. If it comes down to it, we just blow his dwelling to smithereens.”

  “No, there are innocent people involved,” Noor said.

  “When did you become so benevolent?” Angel said.

  “I made a promise and intend to keep it. I will bring the emperor down with as few innocent casualties as possible.” He took another swallow, still not convinced he liked the liquid. “I received notification today that Sterns is dead. Supposedly his wife Denny shot him, self defense, of course,” he said sarcastically, not believing it one bit. “The agency is letting the story fly, even though it stinks to me.”

  Vale said, “So much for thinking Sterns was involved somehow.”

  “Just because he is dead doesn’t mean he wasn’t the emperor’s snitch. He was.”

  “His wife killing him was just lucky on your part? Saved you the trouble?” Aris asked.

  “I wouldn’t put anything past Denny.”

  “Does Denny have an ax to grind with you, Noor?” Channing asked.

  “No,” Noor said.

  “Yes,” Angel said.

  Channing looked between Noor and Angel. “Which one is it?”

  “She’s a woman scorned.”

  Noor glared at Angel. “I would hardly call it that. It’s not as if we had a relationship or anything close. My involvement with Denny was an accident.”

  “What, you fell and your penis slipped in her?” Channing said.

  “More than once, if rumors are to be believed,” Aris said, amused.

  “Okay, this is the last time I’m going to explain this. For the record, I had sex with Denny six times on two occasions but that was before I found out she was Sterns’s wife. After that, I put a halt to things, even though she was livid. I didn’t care. You think I’m stupid enough to sleep with my superior’s wife? Now, I don’t want to have this conversation. My focus is on trying to figure out how to end this mess and keep my head intact and Allura and my child safe. End of story.”

  Vale said, “You never got around to telling us what happened between you and the Txtrca on the rooftop.”

  “His name was Dolunas, and he was the leader of the Txtrca clan that the emperor had forced into acting as assassins…” He recanted the discussion between him and Dolunas verbatim to fill everybody in on the details. He finished with, “I’m still not sure what Dolunas meant by telling me to examine the emperor’s eyes…his soul. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “My uncle always said the eyes of a man reveal his soul and true persona,” Channing said. “It was uncanny, but the first time he met Caroline, before she showed her true colors, he told me to keep my distance from here. That evening, we performed a ritual to ward off her ‘bad karma’ and block evil spirits, which he sensed in her aura, from taking control of me. You ever just look at a person and get the shivers? Caroline has that effect on me. I don’t run from women and have always been indiscriminate in my taste. As a young man, you don’t think past getting a female in the boudoir, or the consequences. Lord knows my many paternity suits attest to that, but Caroline never appealed to me, even though she is attractive. In fact, anytime I’m in her vicinity I get nauseated. My uncle wasn’t wrong. I don’t think Dolunas is mistaken.”

  “That day in the store, Caroline’s color was dark, shadowy,” Aris said.

  Channing raised his eyebrow. Aris explained. “Magnus males have a unique ability, a keen intuition that surpasses the five senses most people use. Angel has the strongest gift of insight like our father, and I see colors that describe people’s moods and emotions. There is something about the emperor-bastard you have overlooked, Noor.”

  “I agree. I just can’t put my finger on it. Other than the night of Allura’s rescue, there has been no contact with the man. Even then, our encounter seemed normal, if you will, except that he tried to kill us.” Noor paused, reflecting on that evening. He went over every detail and replayed the entire event in his mind. Being half Magnus, he didn’t have his father’s or Angel’s sixth sense. What uniqueness he did possess was graphic recall. It came naturally, and there was no need to have the module implant, as things were naturally memorized and categorized in his mind like a database, whether he wanted to remember them or not. He took a moment to scan the image of the emperor’s attack. There didn’t seem to be anything strange about the incident outside of Emperor’s Agaci unusual resistance to blasts. He hit him several times, but he kept coming, as if he shot blanks instead of live rounds. “Sonofabitch,” he whispered.

  “What?” Vale said.

  Noor shut off the last image of the eerie sight, leaving it frozen in his head. “I thought transport distorted the emperor’s features.” He looked around at everybody. “Oridus species don’t morph. They don’t have the capability.”

  “Are you serious?” Angel said.

  Noor looked at him. “I got a vivid picture of the bastard in my head. I don’t know why this just came to me in recalling that evening. Now it’s clear what Dolunas meant by saying the emperor feared me the most. That’s because in his rage, he couldn’t control transformation and knew I saw his authentic form.”

  “It would explain why the blasts were ineffective against him, bouncing off a hard-shell chest?”

  Noor nodded at Vale. “And it provides clarification for why he wants me dead. If this gets out, it will shock the nation of Oridus and put a bounty on his head for treason. He would be executed on the spot for the perfidy he’s enacted—the mother of all schemes. He’s made damned fools out of the guardians, and for that alone, they will make an example out of him. They were responsible for vetting Theopolis before he could wed into the Agaci legacy. So they are rightfully responsible for putting the man in power.”

  “He’s made a mockery out of the entire Oridus government system, and if that gets out, it will be an embarrassment. Not to mention the guardians’ lives could potentially be in jeopardy,” Angel said.

  Channing said, “I’m kind of lost here. Would somebody explain to me what you all are talking about? I understand Noor just had a pertinent revelation about the emperor, but I’m not following what that might be, other than I think you are saying he is some species...similar to the cretin.”

  “Not just comparable, Channing, I would bet my ass he is one them,” Noor said. “Angel, can you go home and start gathering some information on the emperor’s past? I think if we dig deep enough, we’re going to find what we are looking for. Kitt and Hanes already know you’re coming, and they have instructions to assist you with anything you need…surveillance, access, whatever, it’s your call.”

  “I’m already there.”

  Channing caught up to Angel before he reached the door to the main house. “I decided to come along and return to Magnus with you, Angel.”

  Angel lifted a blonde eyebrow and looked Channing up and down. “I don’t believe that is such a good idea.”

  Channing met Angel’s unwavering stare without blinking. “I wasn’t asking your permission.”

  “I gave it freely. No charge.”

  Channing inhaled and exhaled slowly. “Thank you. Next time I need advice I will consider coming to you and ask, but, as I said, I wasn’t asking this time.”

  Noor, Vale, and Aris stood up. Angel grinned which was more of an insolent smirk. “You’re young but not stupid. So, if you think you are going to treat my aunt as a fleeting fancy until you tire of her, you are sadly mistaken.”

  “Contrary to your belief, that is not my intention at all, albeit, that is none of your business. What is between me and Pulura is none of your concern either.”

  Noor stood up and lounged against a pole, pushed his hands into
pockets, and studied the ground for a minute before looking candidly at Channing. “My aunt’s first husband mistreated her in every way possible. He suffered a horrible death at the hands of another, unfortunately. Mind you, because our father didn’t get to the bastard first.”

  “Are you warning me not to hurt Pulura?” He eyed all the men.

  “Like I said, the only reason he didn’t die by a Rynoir hand is because the bastard was killed by somebody else.” Noor didn’t blink. Dead serious, he continued. “Regardless, since the entire fiasco, each one of us makes it a personal mission to ensure our aunt is not harmed again.”

  “Pulura is stronger than any of you give her credit for. You all have mistakenly treated her with fragility to keep her protected, and what you have managed to do is make her scared to live. She’s in this cocoon, a neat little world you have created for her, and it’s only magnified her fear of stepping outside the box and breathing. You’ve stifled her, something I don’t intend to do. Pulura is too vivacious and full of fire and the only way she can breathe again is if you allow her to quit hiding and take control of her life.”

  “And you think you can help her?” Vale said.

  “She’s laughing, smiling, and not jumping at her own shadow. When was the last time you witnessed Pulura do that? I understand your concern, but stop suffocating her.” He insisted.

  Angel moved into Channing’s face. “Your speech is eloquent, but I swear if you hurt her you will have hell to pay.”

  Channing shoved past Angel. “I don’t take threats.”

  Calmly, Noor said, “Rynoirs don’t make threats, but promises.”

  A collective affirmation came from all the brothers.

  Channing sighed heavily. A revelation dawned. “This is interesting. Allura’s constantly nagging me about staying out of her affairs between the two of you. She accuses me of being overbearing and interfering in your relationship, but, until now, her objections didn’t make any sense.” He smiled.

  Noor said, “I assume that means you intend to stay out of our marriage going forward.”