Vacillating between anguish and rage, he was a roller coaster of emotions. He kept flexing his fists, but the urge to punch something finally overruled and that’s how he ended up in the training facility. He didn’t even bother to put on the gloves, but went after the punching bag with everything he had. When there was nothing left to the bag but the rope from which it had hung, he still felt the need to let off more steam. He couldn’t understand why she made him feel this way. Or could he? Was he hiding from the truth? Did he not want to face it, because he was afraid of opening himself up to her, or was it because he was afraid of rejection? The confrontation wasn’t going to be pretty, but he knew he needed to get it over with. He headed to the locker room, showered and changed before making his way to his quarters. His belly churned and his muscles tensed at the thought of what was to come.
Jurek entered his quarters and saw her sleeping at the platform. He was angry with her, very angry, but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her as she slumbered. She had such a softness about her when she slept...he loved to gaze at her then. There was no worry or anger or sadness about her. He released a sigh, contemplating how he would handle this. Talk about complications. What he learned today just threw another damn monkey wrench into the fucking cogwheel.
Feeling his anger surge again, Jurek slammed his fist into his palm. The noise awakened Liasare.
“What’s happened?” she asked, startled.
Rubbing his jaw, he gave her a hard look before responding.
“I almost don’t know where to begin, Sarah Liana St. Davis.”
She sucked in her breath and her face drained of color upon hearing her birth name roll off his tongue.
“I’ll ask you this one time and I’ll know if you lie. Why did you use an alias with me?” His eyes drilled into hers.
She knew she had to be completely honest here or she was toast. Her voice quaked as she answered, “When I decided to come and search for my brother, I did it without my family’s knowledge. My sister is married to someone very high up on Vesturon. They wouldn’t tell me anything. The Guardians wouldn’t tell me anything. I finally found someone who discovered that all of my brother’s records had been wiped out. Someone is hiding something and my sister and her husband’s family has to know. So I had to assume an alias. I also did it for protection and so they couldn’t find me. And I know this is kind of trite, but I always hated my birth name, I really like my new name.” She bowed her head before she continued, “After I met you, I knew I could never go back to being Sarah. When you say, ‘Liasare,’ it sounds so sexy and does something magical to me.”
“Dammit Liasare, don’t you dare change the subject!”
“I’m not! You asked for the truth and I’m giving it to you,” her voice cracking. He looked into her eyes for any untruths, but could find none. His mind searched hers, but could only find honesty.
He let out his breath before he asked, “How high up on Vesturon is your family? And don’t lie.”
“Not my family. My sister’s...”
“Answer the question, dammit!”
“The top banana! The Yarristers! I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Everyone has.”
“Give me your hand,” he said through gritted teeth. She placed her hand in his and they popped into another room on Lare-Stell. It was a huge suite containing several rooms. One was filled with a baby crib, and two other beds. Pictures were scattered everywhere and Jurek pulled Liasare closer so she could see them. She gasped when she recognized her sister, brother-in-law, Jurek and her nieces and nephews.
“What is this?” she turned to him asking.
“These are January’s quarters. Rykerian comes sometimes too. That’s where I’ve been today. Vesturon. She called to me. She’s been worried about you because you left without telling anyone. Then she showed me your picture, so I could assist in your search. And what do you know? Little sister is Liasare! Fuck it all! How do you think I felt when I found out you’ve been lying to me from the start?”
He grabbed her arm and they flashed back to his quarters.
“Don’t worry little girl. Your secret is safe. I told her you were with me. You can imagine her shock. I’ve smoothed things over, but I was shocked as hell, when I found out I had been deceived...by you.”
“You know January? And Rykerian? How?” Liasare was shocked too, and confused as hell.
“That’s a long story and I’m asking the questions here. Remember on Earth when I told you I wanted the truth? Why didn’t you give it to me?”
“Because I was protecting myself. If they had found out I was here, the person that helped me get here would also be in deep shit. I was protecting him too. They also would have stormed Earth to find me and take me home.”
“Is he your lover?” His eyes were deadly now and his mouth was nothing but a thin line.
“What? No! Not that it’s any of your business,” she fumed.
“Oh, that’s where you’re so very wrong Liasare. Everything about you is my business,” Jurek taunted, his voice edged in steel. “You would be wise to remember that.”
“Yes Master.”
Moving quicker than lightening, he unleashed part of his power as he latched onto her arm, causing a jolt of pain to explode up her arm.
“Aww,” she screamed, “Let me go! You’re hurting me!”
“Not until you agree, no more lies or omissions of truth between us.”
“O-Okay! Please stop,” she whimpered, agreeing to anything to get rid of the pain. He released her and she dropped to her hands and knees, moaning. The pain resonated up her arm and she rubbed it, trying to ease the sensation. Instead of abating, it worsened, moving from her arm to the rest of her body. She fell to her side with a wail and pulled her legs to her chest, trying to breathe. Then the seizures began. Soon she was writhing in agony. Jurek looked on and was immediately sickened by his actions.
“Dammit,” he said reaching for her. Her eyes were nearly rolling back in her head by this time and he pulled her into his arms, placing his hand on her head. Initially, there was no response, but then the calm invaded her senses and took away the effects of his power. She was still panting when suddenly she rolled to the side and threw up violently, several times. He ran his hand along her face and neck, trying to continue to sooth her. Placing her on his bed, he went to the bathroom and came back with a damp cloth to clean her face.
He wiped her cheeks and mouth and kept running his hands from her face to her forehead, continuing to calm her. He knew he was going to face a fierce storm, but dammit, he was pissed. He felt great remorse, when her lovely hazel eyes looked at him accusingly, and she rolled away from him and lay on her side, unspeaking.
He stood next to the bed and began, “You may not want to hear this story right now, but I will tell it nonetheless. About nineteen years ago, my father and half-sister were taken prisoner by the Xanthians. The Xanthians wanted me to do something--something I’ve regretted and will regret for the rest of my life--in return for their lives. I agreed. I did what they asked but the Xanthians reneged. I came to the Guardians for help because they were the only ones who had been successful in breaking someone out of the Xanthian prison. I knew how airtight the prison was because I designed the security for it myself. At first they wouldn’t agree so I sort of kidnapped January in order to get them to do what I wanted. I knew it was underhanded and I was an asshole, but they finally agreed. My father was killed saving my sister. In retrospect, I should have backed away from the whole thing, but I was doing the family love and duty thing. Thing is, my father never gave a shit about me and my sister is the most selfish thing alive.” He laughed derisively. “Anyway, during this whole process, January and I made this connection. Not as in lovers, but as in brother-sister. We are still extremely close, but neither of us could figure out why. The answer has become abundantly clear to me now. It’s you Liasare. You are what binds us. Rykerian hates me. Well, not so much anymore, but he did at first. I’m close to Xarrid, but the
other Yarristers are luke-warm. I gave January away at her wedding and I love her more than I’ll ever love my own sister. I was there at the birth of all her children. So now you know the story.” He paused for a minute and looked at her back, waiting for her to speak. “I am so angry with you right now I don’t know what to do.”
She moved slightly and said, “I never knew all of that. Why does January never speak of you?” she sniffed.
“I’ve asked her to keep our existence a secret. None of the Yarristers speak of us. It is the Praestani way. I will ask the same of you.”
“Why did you unleash your power on me? I thought I was going to die. You hurt me Jurek. You know what your power does to me yet you still did it,” she said as she dissolved into tears once more. The truth was her heart hurt more than her body did, for when he purposely injured her, the knife that wounded her spirit hurt far worse than any physical pain she felt.
He placed his hand on her back and began to rub a pattern of circles on it. “I will never let you die. I will always be there to save you, do you hear me? But dammit, I was so angry with you. I wanted your commitment not to lie and I wanted to punish you for lying to me.”
“You can’t punish me Jurek. I’m not your child. And I only lied to protect my friend and myself. I didn’t want him to lose his position with the Guardians for helping me. I haven’t lied to you for any other reason.” She swiped the back of her hand across her face, trying to wipe the tears away.
“I promised January and Rykerian I would keep you safe. Now I am doubting my plans to allow you to go back to Earth.”
Liasare looked at Jurek and he knew there would be resistance here. “You don’t seriously think you can keep me here now, do you?”
“I suppose not. I’m sure you would make Naroo’s life a living hell.” Liasare mentally agreed with him.
She wondered if her sister suspected anything was going on between Jurek and her. She herself wondered if anything was going on between the two of them. After tonight, she wasn’t sure.
“You don’t honestly think that do you?”
“Please don’t do that. I hate it when you read my mind. It puts me at an unfair advantage. My life is so full of them right now where you’re concerned, can’t you just concede to me this one thing?” Liasare was so frustrated right now.
“Unfair? Do you think you’ve been fair with me? You don’t trust me and you lie to me? How fair does that sound to you?”
She knew he was holding back his anger; she could sense it right beneath the surface, trying to burst forth.
“You have all those powers and I have nothing. I can never win against you. Even a simple touch from you can destroy me.”
He nodded once to her, “You make a fair point Liasare. But why do you think it’s me versus you? Why can’t you look at it as a joint venture? As a team? If you go back to Earth with us, you must work as a team. If you don’t trust us, you better bloody damn well act like you do, or all bets are off. Do you understand? And so help me, if you ever lie to me again, you’d better run for your life!”
Liasare thought for a moment. What were her real options? She couldn’t stay here; she’d feel trapped like an animal. At least on Earth, though small, she’d feel she was making some contribution. Jurek’s behavior did freak her out. His power freaked her out. She wished he would spill it all and get it out in the open, but from the looks of things, her super powered revved up alien wasn’t in any kind of hurry to share his innermost thoughts or his background. Well, suck it up she would. She hated herself for caving into him, but as long as she could wheedle out one of those amazing orgasms from him, maybe she could be happy...a little. Who was she kidding? She wanted the real thing...and soon. She wondered if it were possible to get him drunk and seduce him.
Her eyes must have betrayed her because next thing she knew, his face was next to hers and that damn sexy voice of his was whispering to her that she needed to clear her head of such naughty thoughts. Busted!
“You naughty girl. Get your head out of the gutter, sweetheart. You have one week to hone your skills. It’ll be with me because Tak’s already left for Earth. Be prepared, love for a tough daily workout. Now, you can sleep with me, if you’d still like, or you can return to your room. I want you here with me, but after everything you’ve been through, I understand if you want some privacy.”
She cocked her head at him and said, “Privacy my ass! I want a full on body massage with your super duper mojo and then right before lights out, you’re going to make me come once more. After that, I’m going to sleep and you’re going to lie awake a very frustrated man!”
He looked at her intently for a minute, and then in a flash, he was gone.
***
She’s going to be the death of me yet!
He had to get away from her...the sooner the better. He was ready to drop to his knees and profess his love for her. What the hell was he thinking? He couldn’t afford to do that now. That could put her in serious danger. He was no fool. He could tell how she felt about him and the last thing he wanted was to exploit those feelings. His emotions were so tangled up in her right now he was losing his steely control he always prided himself in.
How can one woman be capable of bringing me to my knees like Liasare does? Christ, I look at her and I fall apart at the seams. And then I’m such a shit; I go and zap her with my fucking power. The look in her eyes made me want to die. The only person in the universe that means something to me and there I go acting like a dick and actually hurt her...physically hurt her. I should be strung up by my balls for that. I should be worshipping her and what do I do instead? I cause her pain.
He was so disgusted with himself he found himself in a bathroom, becoming violently ill over what he had done to her.
Chapter Sixteen
Liasare was surprised to find herself alone in Jurek’s bed in the morning. She fully expected him to be there. He must still be totally pissed at her.
“Oh hell no! Shandro!” she suddenly screamed.
If January and Rykerian knew she was on Earth, it wouldn’t take them long to put two and two together and figure out how she got there.
She flew out of bed and headed out the door when she realized she was butt ass naked.
“Crap! Jurek, get in here!” she shouted.
No response.
“Jurek! I need you now. Please! Help me! Jurek!”
Still nothing. On to plan B. She needed to get dressed. She quickly pulled on what she was wearing last night and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Since there was only one toothbrush, she grabbed it and went to town on her pearly whites. Dashing to the transmuter, she ordered up a ginormous cup of coffee and headed out the door. She was clueless to where she was headed, but she had to find someone that could help her communicate with Shandro. She had to warn him.
“Jurek,” she called out periodically. Finally, someone told her he was not on Lare-Stell.
“Is Tak around?”
“No, my lady. He is gone as well.”
“Shit,” she muttered to herself. “What about Naroo. Is she here?”
“Yes, my lady. May I tell her why you’re seeking her?”
“Yes.” Before he could even move, Liasare shouted, “Naroo! Help me!”
Naroo flashed before her.
“My lady, Liasare. Is there something wrong?”
“Yes. I need your help. I must contact someone on Vesturon. How can I do that?”
“That’s not possible. We only contact others through our use of telepathy from Lare-Stell Base. It’s for security reasons.”
“Damn! Holy moly mother of all! Triple crap!” Liasare shouted as she slammed her fist into the wall. “Bloody hell,” she yelped as she grabbed her hand, bending forward. “Ah, fucking A. I think I broke my damn hand.”
She fell to her knees at about the same time she heard a pop and felt the hairs raise on the back of her neck. She was in too much pain to care, so when she was flashed to his room, she was still w
rithing, cradling her hand to her chest.
“Un-fucking-believable! I’m gone for less than twenty-four hours and you bring the bloody space station down. Give me your damn hand,” he seethed.
Liasare looked at him, feeling the anger pouring out of him. She feared him now, much the same as when he destroyed his quarters after discovering she had touched Tommy. She shook her head. She’d rather suffer a broken hand than his wrath.
He narrowed his eyes and snarled, “I’m not playing games Liasare. Give me your fucking hand, NOW!” Everything in his room began pulsating. Glass cracked, plastic split, chairs moved.
She stretched her arm out and watched it quiver. He snatched it and she cried out in pain, as he looked at her in annoyance. Moments later the pain had disappeared and her hand felt as good as new. The rest of her, unfortunately, felt like she had been cracked in half.
“Now what, pray tell, is so fucking important that you’ve felt it necessary to cause a major disruption in the universe?”
Suddenly it became unbearably difficult for Liasare to swallow and the back of her throat began to ache. Her eyes filled with water, making it next to impossible to focus. Crossing her arms over her stomach and willing herself not to cry, she dropped her head and stared at her feet. Why did he always have this effect on her, making her feel like a misbehaving child?
“I’m waiting Liasare,” he snarled, “and this better be fucking worth the interruption.”
“I ... I ...”
“Goddammit speak,” he thundered. Unexpectedly, she found herself up against the wall, his arm beneath her throat, cutting off her air. Her face turned ashen and she repeatedly blinked her eyes, in a feeble attempt to stem the flow of tears.
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