by HP Mallory
“Git yer filthy hands off ’er,” Tallis growled, taking a step toward us. It was obvious, though, that he didn’t intend to use his sword. He couldn’t—not when Alaire was standing behind me, and, basically, making me serve as his shield.
“My filthy hands?” Alaire repeated with an acerbic laugh as he glanced down at his pristine hands, flexing his fingers, the nails of which appeared to be manicured. The laugh died and when he spoke again, his voice sounded almost surly. “What of your filthy hands?”
“Alaire, stop,” I said in a loud voice as I tried to free myself again. Still gripping my waist, and none too gently, Alaire pulled me against him, pinning me in place.
“Tell me, Black, what part of her uncorrupted body have your filthy hands touched?” Alaire fumed. “And I don’t, for one second, believe that you don’t feel exactly the same unrelenting attraction to her as I do.” Then he laughed again as he shrugged. “After all, you and I are cut from the same cloth, are we not, Tallis Black?”
“Ah am naethin’ like ye,” Tallis replied, his eyes smoldering. He continued to remain rooted in place though, as if unable to make a move.
“Nothing like me?” Alaire responded with a mirthless chuckle, his eyebrows lifting as if to parody his words. “Am I to understand that you believe we have nothing in common?”
“Naethin’,” Tallis responded more fervently, his eyes begging Alaire to argue with him.
“Then you don’t smell the purity on her skin whenever she happens to stand too close to you?” Alaire inquired, the former flippancy now absent in his tone of voice. “Nor the scent of her youthful loveliness that makes you want to bury yourself as deeply as possible inside her?”
I could see sweat beading along Tallis’s hairline, and I watched him swallowing hard for the third or fourth time as he fastened his gaze on Alaire. His shoulders became rigid and his hand was clenched around the handle of his blade so tightly, his knuckles turned white. His jaw clamped down and it looked as if his cheeks might cave in. Judging by Tallis’s body language, it was suddenly apparent to me that whatever Alaire was saying must’ve been closer to the truth than Tallis preferred.
“You don’t have to answer, bladesmith,” Alaire continued as he buffed his nails against the collar of his shirt. He feigned interest in his fingernails for another few seconds before abandoning his artful show and returning his gaze to Tallis. “I already know the truth,” he ground out. “I know there are times when you have to forcibly resist the urge to ravish her, to starve the whims of the demon that lives inside you. And I know there are times when you wish that demon could overwhelm you, and do the things that you, in good conscience, cannot do.”
“Nae,” Tallis replied, shaking his head. But the way in which he denied Alaire’s words only pointed to the fact that he was having difficulty.
“Deep down, you often wonder if the desires of the creature are not the same as your own,” Alaire continued, his tone condemning, accusing. “Unlike you, however, I already know the answer to that question.” Alaire paused to take a breath and it suddenly dawned on me why he was so inexplicably drawn to the Royo paintings. Alaire was comprised of nothing but demonic ugliness. It cohabited inside a beautiful, yet very deceiving, shell. “Perhaps the only difference between the two of us is that I have accepted the truth,” Alaire persisted. “I understand that the demon and the man are one and the same, and neither can ever be divorced from the other.”
“Nae,” Tallis repeated, shaking his head, but I could see the inner battle playing out in his eyes.
Alaire interrupted him. “I know your struggles, Black. I understand how hard it is to realize you are the beast because, as you well know, we both share the same demons.”
“What?” I asked incredulously. My stomach dropped all the way down to the floor. But Alaire ignored me, and Tallis wouldn’t even look at me.
“So when you say we share nothing in common, you and I both know that is a blatant lie,” Alaire finished, his voice wavering in what I presumed was unbridled anger. “It is almost as much of a falsehood as your pretending to be Ms. Harper’s guardian and protector.” He laughed mockingly then, as if the very idea of Tallis as my protector was a complete farce. “You and I both know you’re simply moments away from forcing yourself on the very maiden you claim to protect.”
“Nae,” Tallis repeated, shaking his head more vehemently this time. But even though Tallis attempted to repudiate Alaire’s words, I glimpsed the cold truth of what Alaire was saying in Tallis’s haunted expression. It stung me all the way to my core.
It can’t be true, I thought. You know that Tallis isn’t Donnchadh. You’ve seen him fight and subdue Donnchadh. Remember: Alaire is a self-proclaimed master of magic so all of this could be nothing more than Alaire’s attempt to make Tallis doubt himself. None of this is actually true.
“Tallis is not, and never will be, anything like you,” I ground out in an angry voice as I pulled against Alaire’s hold but he continued to pin me in place. “I refuse to believe any of this for one minute.” I glanced at Tallis then. “And neither should you.”
“No?” Alaire asked, shaking his head like the joke was on me. I could feel his right hand, which was wrapped around my upper arm, moving across my collarbone. He pushed my head back until it rested against his chest and ran his index finger down the length of my neck. “Then you believe he is a good man, my dear? Is that it?”
“I know he’s a good man,” I answered honestly, my neck craned in an uncomfortable position. I didn’t try to fight Alaire though, and I wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he could’ve simply snapped me in two if he chose to. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t assault him with words … “And whatever parallels you insist on drawing between him and yourself …” I lost my train of thought when Alaire’s fingers traced the floral pattern of the lace just above my breasts.
“Whatever parallels I insist on drawing between him and myself?” Alaire repeated, his fingers coming dangerously close to my nipples.
“Don’t touch me!” I seethed.
“This is atween ye an’ meh, Alaire,” Tallis stated angrily, his eyes plastered on Alaire’s fingers as they danced above and around my breasts.
“I do apologize, bladesmith, if the lure to spar with you is less enticing than this pair of large and lovely breasts.” He brought his head down again so it was parallel with mine. Then he dropped his gaze to my breasts just as he brushed the fingers of his left hand across my nipple and it hardened instantly. He cupped his hand then and allowed my breast to fill the cavity in his palm before he began palpating it.
“Get the hell away from me,” I seethed and struggled against him but he kept me pinned in place.
“Come now, my dear,” he started with another acerbic laugh. “You know you love every second of my touch.”
“No,” I demanded and shook my head, my gaze settling on Tallis who stood completely still, his eyes narrowed on Alaire’s fingers where they continued to massage my breast.
“It is pointless denying it because both of your nipples are erect,” Alaire continued. I could tell he was watching Tallis. “Perhaps I should touch you between your legs to get a final verdict?”
“Dinnae touch her!” Tallis boomed. “Leave Lily oot o’ this! ‘Tis ‘atween ye an’ meh.”
Alaire lifted his head to face Tallis. “Very well, I shall leave the lovely Ms. Harper out of our discussion; even though doing so is rather ironic, considering she lies at the very crux of the matter.” As soon as he finished his statement, he ran his fingers across my nipples again as I bucked beneath him. “There, there, my dear,” he cooed into my ear.
“Ah’m warnin’ ye, Alaire,” Tallis answered as he hefted his sword high into the air.
“Very well, then,” Alaire said with a counterfeit smile as he dropped his fingers from my breasts and allowed his hands to rest on my hips. “Where were we in our discussion?” he asked Tallis eagerly. “Ah, yes, we were comparing notes over the times when you mu
st banish the images inside your head, images such as penetrating the very lady you claim to protect.”
“That’s enough!” I yelled.
Alaire shook his head and chuckled. “My apologies, my dear, but evidently, any discussion with your mountain man invariably involves you.” He faced Tallis again with a frown, but when he spoke, he addressed me. “Perhaps you should seek another protector, my dear. I believe it is only a very short time before you will find yourself demanding protection from this one.”
I finally found the usefulness in my hooker shoes and lifted one foot, bringing the stiletto heel down as hard as I could on Alaire’s toes. With a squeal of pain, he immediately released me to tend to his wounded foot. Tallis burst forward then, and pushed me out of his way. Tripping over my shoes, I fell against the wall. A stabbing pain in my left ankle made my heel collapse beneath me and I tumbled to the floor. Even though my ankle was throbbing like an SOB, I was more worried about what was going on between Tallis and Alaire. I flipped over and watched Tallis hoisting his sword high above his head, ready to bring it down over Alaire, who lay at his mercy on the ground in front of him.
“Tallis, no!” I screamed, but it was too late. In one fluid motion, Tallis buried the blade deeply into Alaire’s stomach. The sound of the blade severing several of Alaire’s ribs before penetrating the wood floor beneath him made me sick to my stomach. Alaire’s eyes went wide with shock, but strangely enough, only seconds later, a smile danced across his lips.
Tallis didn’t say anything as he wrapped his hands around the handle of his sword and stepped on Alaire’s chest with his left foot in order to gain purchase before yanking his sword free. Crimson blood dripped off the end of Tallis’s sword and spurted from the gaping wound in Alaire’s stomach.
“Nicely … done,” Alaire managed with a sardonic grin. His mouth instantly filled up with blood, which overflowed from his lips. When he started to cough and sputter, I had to look away.
“Ye will hae naethin’ more tae do with Lily from thes point oan,” Tallis instructed in a steely voice as he faced Alaire with unmasked hatred. Removing the animal pelt from his shoulders, he wiped off Alaire’s blood from the tip of his sword before re-sheathing the sword on his chest. When he turned to face me, some of the anger dissipated from his features. “Are ye okay, lass?” he asked before fastening the pelt around his shoulders again.
I was so flabbergasted by what I’d just witnessed that I couldn’t answer. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Tallis approached me and leaned down to collect me in his arms. Standing up, he carried me to the doorway, pausing only to pick up his axe. I didn’t say anything as I glanced back at Alaire. He was sitting up, even though he appeared half-dead with blood still spewing from his mouth.
“We will … speak soon, Ms. Harper,” he called out, mid-gurgle.
I didn’t reply because I had no words. Instead, I wrapped my arms around Tallis’s neck and enjoyed the comfort of his strong arms as he carried me out of the dining room. Taking deep breaths to calm my frantic heartbeat, I wondered what would happen once Afterlife Enterprises learned that Tallis had murdered the Keeper of the Underground City … while on my watch.
“I don’t understand what happened back there,” I said as we started down the hall.
“Ah ran him frough wif mah blade,” Tallis answered with a shrug, like killing Alaire was an everyday occurrence and one not worth discussing.
“I got that much,” I replied with a frown. We approached the doorway to the bedroom I’d been occupying, and I said, “Stop here.” Tallis slowed and bent down so I could reach the doorknob to open the door. Tallis then walked into the room and carefully deposited me on the bed before leaning his axe against the wall. He didn’t say anything as he knelt down in front of me and removed the shoe from the foot that wasn’t hurting.
“I saw you run him through with your blade,” I persisted. “What I can’t understand is how he managed to sit up and talk to me with blood pouring out of his mouth. Usually when you stab someone with a five-foot sword, they die.”
“Alaire cannae die,” Tallis answered matter-of-factly.
“He’s immortal then?” I asked and Tallis nodded. “Just like you.” Tallis nodded again before he started to remove my other shoe. “So why run him through with your sword in the first place?”
Tallis frowned. “Tae drive mah point home.”
“No pun intended?” I asked with a slight smile.
Tallis didn’t respond but attempted to pull my other shoe off, just as a sharp pain ricocheted up my leg. I gasped and pulled away from him as he released my foot. “I think I might have broken my ankle when you pushed me away from Alaire.”
“Ah’m sorry, Besom,” he started, shaking his head as if he were angry with himself.
“Don’t be,” I replied. He gingerly toyed with the clasp on my shoe before freeing the strap and delicately pulling it off my foot. “You were just trying to get him away from me. You had no other choice.”
“Ah dinnae like tae cause ye pain, lass.”
“I know, Tallis,” I said with a big smile, genuinely happy to see him again.
Tallis flung both shoes into the corner of the room and lifted my wounded ankle, studying it from top to bottom. “Why are ye dressed like this?” he asked in a quiet voice, without bothering to lift his gaze to mine. Instead, he examined my foot more carefully.
“Alaire picked this horrible thing out for me.”
“Ah could’ve guessed,” he answered. His dour expression suggested he wasn’t exactly happy with the news. “Boot why are ye wearin’ it?”
I cleared my throat and wondered how best to answer his question. I could imagine how bad it looked that not only had I agreed to have dinner with Alaire, but I’d also agreed to look like a strumpet while doing so. “Because I was afraid that it might upset him if I didn’t wear it.”
“Why would ye give ah bludy damn aboot upsettin’ Alaire?” he asked with an irritated glance before returning his attention to my foot.
“I was worried that he might not let me leave once he saw that I’d forgotten to bring my sword with me.” Then I pointed to my sword, which was still held in place across Tallis’s chest. “But you already knew that part.”
“Ye moost always keep yer sword oan ye at all times, lass,” he ground out. “Ah dinnae know whit would’ve happened tae ye had Ah not shown oop.”
“Neither do I,” I agreed, gulping at the thought of what would have happened had I been left to the mercy of Alaire. “I won’t forget my sword again though,” I added with a sigh, still relieved that Tallis had come for me, which meant I was and would be okay. But that very subject raised some questions of its own. “How in the world were you able to get here so fast?” I asked as soon as it dawned on me that our timelines didn’t agree.
“Fast?” Tallis asked and glanced up at me with an expression that said his trip hadn’t been fast at all. “It took meh three days tae reach ye, Besom.”
I frowned and shook my head, not understanding how that could possibly be true because I hadn’t been with Alaire for more than a few hours. “That’s impossible.”
“Ah,” Tallis said and then nodded as if he were making sense of the discrepancy. “Time doesnae pass as quickly in the Oonderground City as it does elsewhere.”
“So what was three days to you felt like three hours to me?” I asked but then cocked my head to the side as soon as I remembered it had taken the shade and me a day to reach the gates of the Underground. “Well, a day and three hours?” I corrected myself.
“Och aye,” Tallis responded as he began palpating my foot. He pressed from my toes up to my arch and then my heel. When he reached my ankle, he cupped it in his palm and carefully bent my foot one way, and then the other. “’Tis nae broken,” he announced.
“That’s a relief.”
Tallis nodded as he stood up. He spotted my yoga pants and sports bra where I’d left them in front of the fireplace. He reached for both and han
ded them to me. “Ye moost dress quickly, lass,” he started. “Once Alaire heals himself, he willnae be in ah very gud mood.”
“Okay,” I replied. Tallis walked across the room and closed the door, making no motion to leave or go into the hallway. Instead, he simply kept his back to me, tacitly letting me know he intended to stay in the room while I got dressed.
“You know I don’t believe any of what Alaire said,” I commented as I removed my fanny pack and placed it on the bed beside me. Pulling the lace bodysuit down to my waist, I yanked the makeshift tube top I’d created over my head. Then I slid my sports bra over my shoulders before repositioning my boobs comfortably, and fastened it in the back.
“Alaire said many things.”
“I know, but I was talking about you being like him,” I clarified. “I know what kind of man you are, Tallis, and you are nothing like Alaire.”
Tallis was quiet for a few seconds. “Mayhap we arenae soo different as ye hae bin led tae believe,” he said in a monotone.
“What do you mean?” I stood up on my good leg and pulled the lace bodysuit down before sitting on the bed to push the rest of it off. I left the panties on, figuring it was probably a good idea because who knew how good the mending job I’d done on my yoga pants was?
Tallis shrugged. “Some o’ whit he said was true.”
“What part was true?” I asked, pushing my legs through the pants. I carefully stood and tugged them up to my waist. “I’m decent,” I announced. Tallis turned around and lumbered over to the bed where he picked up my socks and carefully slipped them on my feet.
“Some o’ the things he said aboot the way Ah feel toward ye,” he answered, although evasively. I figured he was referring to the more sexual things Alaire had said about Tallis being my protector, but feeling attracted to me at the same time.
