Chapter Thirty
Fierce Hope
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I breathed deeply, calming myself by repeating that I didn't need him. Anger rushed up so suddenly I nearly fell over. He'd said that he'd be here at seven. That was twelve hours ago and I hadn't received a call, a message, anything. If this was his idea of payback he could go shove a pike up his ass. He wasn't here. If he really had any feelings for me, other than physical attraction, than he would have at least let me know he wasn't coming back.
I picked up the television remote and threw it across the room. It hit a picture hanging on the wall, the glass cracking. I glared at the webbed lines of the cracked glass. I had the urge to turn the entire suite upside down, leaving the mess for Liam to pay for and clean up. It would serve him right.
Thanks to my motionless state, I could just hear the rattle of the front door knob being turned, gently, and the door pushed slightly forward before the security chain reached its limit and the door could no longer be opened. The intruder made no sound of protest, none that I could hear anyway. I crept across the carpet so I could get the door in sight. There was a gloved hand reaching in the opening, using some kind of box-shaped mechanism to loosen the screw that held the chain in place.
Panic bubbled up my throat. Did I confront the person breaking in? What if it was Jacob? NO! I shouted in my mind. I was NOT afraid of him! I rushed forward, hands outstretched so that I could slam the door, the hand crushed as I did so. I hit the door with my forward momentum, a great force.
It didn't budge, even as my body followed my hands and hit the door with a thump. I crumpled to the floor, everything aching dully. Whoever was on the other side must have anticipated my charge and used his strength to hold the door in place. His hand continued to unscrew until the chain dropped, hanging loosely. I stared at the gold links, dreading the moment when the door opened and the intruder stepped through, bearing the face of my nightmare. It opened slowly, as if expecting me to be standing behind it with a big knife. I wish.
My heart skipped a beat when Liam's head poked around the corner.
"Kayli?" he said, his voice hoarse and dark rings around his eyes.
I turned my head away and pushed myself off the floor. Why had he forced his way in here? Why couldn't he have just knocked?
"Kayli, just listen..."
I spun around, putting all my anger into my eyes so that he could fully understand how mad I was at him.
"I know I messed up. I know! But I needed you. And you weren't there."
I turned back around and ran in the direction of the bathroom, intending to lock myself in there until... well I wasn't sure. Maybe I'd never come out. I just wanted to shut everything out. I hardly made it two steps before strong, warm arms wrapped around me from behind, holding me immobile. Liam's head came down onto my shoulder, his body was shivering but he wasn't cold. I closed my eyes, savouring the closeness, soaking it in like an addict who'd gotten one last fix.
I let out a breath. "Liam..."
He squeezed me tighter. "Not yet. Let me just hold you."
"What happened, Liam?" I asked, a little frightened. He was acting like he had just had a traumatic experience. And if something had scared him then it must've been horrible.
"I - I can't..." He turned me around, his eyes on my mouth. "I need... Kayli, I just need."
His lips caught mine, kissing hungrily. The feeling that overwhelmed me was one I'd never felt. He'd told me he'd needed me before, but not with such yearning and veracity. His kiss was hot and urgent, as if he'd been deprived. His hands travelled down to my legs and with one powerful tug he lifted me off the ground. I wrapped my legs around him, using them to pull myself up further, closer to him, because while this was the hottest kiss we'd shared, I still felt that I wasn't having enough. He took one hand away from my leg and lifted the bottom of my top, pulling it up over my head. His lips trailed down my face, neck to my collarbone where he paused for breath. In that instant I recovered a clear mind and slowly unwrapped my legs from around him, lowering to the floor. His hands caught my waist, preventing me from taking a step back.
"We should talk, before anything... If we don't do it now I'll never forgive myself..."
He looked down at me, desire overflowing in his eyes. Breathing hard, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to the top of my forehead.
"Okay, I -"
He stopped at the sound of clapping coming from behind him. The clapping was slow, seeming to somehow give the air of sarcasm. He turned his head as I peeked over his shoulder.
"Oh, fantastic reunion," Jacob said snidely. "I'm almost sorry for interrupting it. And I had thought that you'd just been an angry guardian, not actually her jealous lover. Did she tell you how much she enjoyed our kiss? Did she tell you how she moaned in ecstasy? Did this cause you to see red? IS THAT WHY YOU PLANTED THOSE DRUGS IN MY HOUSE? IS THAT WHY I'M NOW ON THE RUN FROM ELITE LASER AGENTS?"
"Would you rather that I killed you?" said Liam. His voice was cool, seemingly unaffected to someone who didn't know him. But I could hear the darkness in his tone. He turned slowly to face my stalker and, from within his jacket, he pulled out a small pistol. He didn't aim it but it didn't matter, Jacob went white as a sheet.
"You wouldn't. You'd become a murderer. No connections of yours could excuse you for such a thing." Jacob's eyed Liam carefully, looking for a bluff.
Liam stepped forward and grabbed Jacob's shirtfront, yanking him forward and pointing the barrel at his stomach. Their faces were inches apart. Fielding's was shocked, he obviously hadn't thought this through, entering the room weapon less.
"Just for touching her." Liam tugged the shirt higher, cutting off some of the sergeant's air. "I would kill you for simply looking at her the wrong way."
My eyes were stuck on the gun. The words Liam was speaking, they hardly hit me, no matter how generous they were. I couldn't tear my gaze away from the killing object, how his hand gripped it so comfortably, the same hand that had supported me barely minutes ago.
"Liam," I said softly, suddenly weak. "Don't shoot."
A memory surfaced; one of my mother on a large screen, dodging bullets... 'Expendable'... Dark, bottomless eyes. They loomed closer and closer until they were all I could see. My entire vision.
"No one is expendable," I whispered, dropping to floor. Unconscious.
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Part Two of Chapter Thirty
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I woke to find my heart racing and two tight arms around my stomach. I was lying between two legs on the main bed, my back leaning against a chest. I had no doubt as to who it was.
"Liam? What - What happened? Where's Fielding."
There was no reply. I tried to pull away, to turn to see what was wrong with him but the arms squeezed harder. I heard a vibrating sound deep in his throat, a grumble of discontent.
"No," he mumbled. My breath caught as lips met the naked skin of my neck...
"Liam?" I said tentatively. No answer but for a slight movement of the pressure of his kiss, brushing my skin back and forth. I shivered at the heat it brought from my head to my toes.
"Liam!"
I felt him jolt awake, his arms loosen then constrict.
"I fell asleep?" he wondered aloud, his voice still hoarse.
"Liam, where's Fielding?!" I squirmed in his arms, desperate to get out, to be ready if Jacob suddenly came in to attack.
"Hey, whoa! Calm down now. Calm down." He spun me in his arms changing my position so that I was cradled against him, his arm rubbing circles on my back. "You're safe, I've got you."
"Liam."
"He's unconscious. You knocked him out."
"Huh?"
"Before you fainted you sent out a pulse of magic, I believe you were trying to stop me from shooting. But, of course, I am immune to your magic, due to the spell, so it passed through me and hit Jacob fully, throwing him back onto the floor."
"Where is he now?"
"I locked him to the pipes in the bathroom, next to the toilet. He'll stay there until I can call someone in." He lifted his knees up, holding me between his quads and his chest. "Kayli, why didn't you want me to shoot so badly? I wasn't going to; I just needed to see him scared for a moment, to see that he wasn't in control. But I hadn't expected you to react like that."
He'd stopped rubbing my back, his hand now gripping my shirt in his clenched fist. I looked up at his face, to see if he was really worked up, but he was staring down at me with a clear, peaceful expression.
"I want to tell you everything, Liam, and I will. But first... why didn't you return last night? And why didn't you call so that I wouldn't have to worry about you?"
He grimaced. "Kayli... it's a classified mission. It's illegal for me to tell you the events that occurred last night."
"Ah! Do you have any idea what was going through my mind when you didn't return? And you give me this sorry excuse!" I shoved his chest and slid through his arm to stand up.
"Kayli..." He stood as well, backing me towards the door with his frustrated look. I turned, opening the door, but his hand shot out, slamming it shut. His other hand slapped the wall on my other side, successfully trapping me between them.
"It's Fletcher."
"What?! What's Fletcher?" I kept my confused, wide eyes trained on his narrowed ones.
"Do you know where he is? Do you have contact with him?"
I stayed silent, which was answer enough.
"Are you..." Liam squeezed his eyes closed, breathing through his nose. "Are you lovers?" He stiffened, as if ready for a blow.
"Liam! You and I are lovers. I don't do the two timing thing." I splayed my hand on his chest, feeling his fast beating heart. "What's going on? What does your mission have to do with him?"
He opened his eyes and looked at me with concern. "We had several reports of him in the country, in this city."
I frowned. "Why are you looking for him?" ...And in the totally wrong place? I added to myself silently. Fletch was in Ireland.
He took my hand off his chest and pressed a light kiss to the centre of my palm, causing electricity to run up my arm. "This is going to be hard for you. I don't think you know a lot about his past."
"He hasn't done anything, he's been framed, you've got the wrong guy," I blurted out. What if Liam had connected the thefts in Cornwall to Fletch? I couldn't allow that to happen.
His arms encircled me. "He was once a LASER agent, Kayli. He was blacklisted."