Tourmaline Truth

by Khloe Wren

  Again.

  Sharon gasped when she suddenly found herself on her feet. Barret cradled her face in his hands gently and tilted it up toward his. The anguish filling his gaze broke her heart. Cool thumbs swiped her tears away then he took her mouth in a desperate kiss. She clung to him, running her nails over his skin as she wound her fingers into his hair. She returned his kiss with all her love. She didn't mean to hurt him. She'd stupidly thought she could get her boys and come back before he realized she'd left. In this moment, she couldn't remember why she'd been so confident of getting her sons easily. Of course Toki was going to be there waiting, of course he'd want to entrap her again.

  With a jerk, Barret pulled away from her and began undressing her with almost frantic movements. Once she was naked, he pulled her in close and held her with his face in her neck. He inhaled deeply against her skin and sparks of awareness ran over her flesh. With each breath he seemed to relax and it had ribbons of arousal coursing through her body. If she wasn't so worried about his silence, her body would be getting even hotter.

  "Barret?"

  "Hush."

  More tears came. She was so confused. He was mad, she'd given him good reason to be. Had she pushed him too far and he no longer loved her? Was that the reason for his silence? The look in his eyes had held pain and anguish, indicating he still cared for her. So what was he doing?

  Wrapping an arm behind her knees, he picked her up and headed to the bathroom. Once in the shower entrance, he stood her back on her feet but kept an arm around her waist keeping her pressed against him. He reached in and flicked on the shower. As it heated, he stripped himself all the while keeping a hand on her. Did he think she'd run from him? How much damage had she done and when was he going to let her explain what happened?

  He maneuvered her into the stall and began scrubbing her skin. Like a camera flash had gone off in her mind, she realized what he was doing. She reached for him, taking his face between her palms.

  "Barret. Stop."

  He froze and his gaze locked on to hers. The pain, anger and frustration swirling in their depths ate at her soul.

  "Toki didn't hurt me."

  "I can smell him on you."

  "He had me pressed against a wall, but I distracted him before he did anything. Please, Barret. You're scaring me. Can we dry off and talk?"

  "Why did you run? Again."

  "Toki was pushing thoughts into my mind. I woke with my head tangled up and my stomach rolling with nausea. I'm an impulsive person, Barret, and I made a stupid mistake in going off alone. Again. C'mon, let's get comfortable and I'll explain everything that happened."

  She turned the water off and taking Barret's hand, she led him from the shower onto the bath-mat. She grabbed a towel and started drying him off. She laid kisses on his skin after she ran the towel over each limb. Once she was finished, he snatched the cloth with a little growl and had her dry in seconds. His gaze was now heated with passion, but Sharon knew they needed to talk first.

  Didn't they?

  She wrapped her arms around his neck as he once again lifted her into the cradle of his arms. She nuzzled her face into his neck and kissed his cool skin.

  "If you keep that up, love. We won't be talking for quite some time."

  Wow, two full sentences! Feeling better now he was acting a little more normal, Sharon rested her cheek against his shoulder as he made his way back to their bed. He climbed up on the mattress and settled himself against the headboard with her still in his lap. Sharon reached behind her and pulled the covers over them as she snuggled in against his cool skin. He began to breathe evenly as he rubbed one hand over her upper arm and shoulder, while the other caressed the length of her leg.

  Without any further prompting, she began telling a condensed version of her day out.

  "I left here and caught a taxi to the Glen Iris address. I paid the driver extra to wait for me then went to the house. I was careful when I entered the house. There was nobody around so I snuck down the hall looking for the twins. I found Jari and Vali playing in their room. They're so gorgeous, Barret. I hate that I had to leave them behind. But Toki showed up and he starting talking crazy about how he knew I wanted him and only went with you because of our bond-"

  "Well, you do keep running away from me."

  His words froze her mid-sentence. Damn, she'd been such an impulsive fool and in the process had made him doubt her feelings. She twisted so she could look into his eyes. "Barret, I love you. Only you. If I never see Toki again for the rest of my days, I'll be a happy woman."

  He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you too, Sharon. I just needed to make certain of your feelings. No doubt, Toki will find some way of using it against me down the line, and if I'm sure it's completely false, he won't be able to throw me off balance with it."

  Her heart ached that she'd put so much doubt in his mind but she had no words to say what she was feeling. With a sigh, she moved to the, hopefully safer, topic of her evening.

  "So, back to the story. Toki ended up having me pressed against the wall outside the boys' room after I denied I had any affection for him. He announced he would have to 'remind me.' Gah." She shuddered at the memory of his aroused body pressed against hers until Barret's arms tightened their hold on her. "I racked my brain for something he'd want more than me. That old diary was all I could think of. When I told him I had it, he froze and backed off. Long story short, he let me go because I promised I'd return with the book for him. He's so deluded, he has some stupid plan to capture you then run away with me and the twins to live out in the country somewhere."

  ~ * ~

  Toki paced the front room of the house. His sons' adopted father had been told to not return until daybreak. He had however called in three older Lower Level Nobles who were strong fighters. They'd lost their best guards in the raid but there were others who hadn't been working security and a few were still in the city. Not many, he'd much prefer to have called in an army of Nobles to back him up, but that wasn't possible at the moment. The strongest Nobles were with the Head Noble as he settled things at the new compound. Toki glanced out the window. Once again, he was waiting for his back up to arrive, hoping Sharon didn't return before they did.

  His precious diary and his bride. He couldn't believe his good fortune. Surely it was a sign that he and Sharon were meant to be? Why else would she have the tome? She would return, and her Vampire would follow. The three Nobles he'd called in would subdue him while he took Sharon and their sons and left Melbourne. After escaping the raids, the Head Noble had promptly found a property hidden by dense scrub in the far east of Victoria, near a small town called Maryknoll, that was near perfect. A grand house of old, complete with cellar. All the Elders were keen to recapture their women and the Head Elder was desperate to be able to guarantee further generations of Nobles. They'd had every spare Noble working around the clock to convert the below ground space in to cells suitable to hold Vampires and now, less than a fortnight later, it was almost ready. Even though it was not finished, there were a number of cells completed so he could bring Sharon's Vampire there to be held while he took her to a nearby Bed and Breakfast where he would spend the next few days reminding her who she truly belonged to.

  While he reaffirmed his position with her, their sons would have to remain here with their adoptive father but as soon as he could, he would buy them their own place in the lush mountains near the new compound and they would raise their boys together. And have more. Without the stresses she'd been under at the previous stronghold, she would conceive every leap year. He grinned as his blood heated with arousal.

  A car door closing caught his attention and he watched as three large men disembarked a dark sedan parked across the street. Finally, his back up had arrived.

  Chapter Nine

  Later that evening, Barret returned to the penthouse apartment with his Bride's hand firmly gripped in his. His emotions were still in turmoil. She vowed to him that she loved him and was
n't going to flee again, but could he believe her? Twice now she'd run from him, when she should have turned to him for help. He knew their bond was still fresh. He may have claimed her twenty-seven years ago, but in reality they'd only had a handful of days together. He prayed once Toki was dealt with they would have centuries of peace together, where they could learn each other well and form a bond so concrete neither of them would ever doubt the other.

  They entered Angelo and Darcy's home to find a room filled with Vampires and Brides. With Sharon taking off, they'd moved up the schedule of the next round of raids. He vaguely remembered them discussing it before Sharon's return. His mind had been elsewhere so he didn't know any details.

  "Welcome back."

  He nodded to the Vampire who spoke to them. Jashan was it? Yes, that was his name. "Thank you Jashan. Care to catch us up with where we're at?"

  "We are nearly finished planning the next round of raids. We have the locations of all the 2012 births. Fifteen stolen sons found. We'd hoped to find all the ones born in 2004 before we raided but the time frame has changed now."

  Barret tugged Sharon in close to his side as she lowered her head. A blush had crept over her cheeks. He knew she felt bad for causing trouble, but he was beginning to understand a mother's love was impossibly strong and would not be denied.

  "What is the plan?"

  "We've organized teams for each location. Each team has two that will focus on gaining custody of the children and two that will focus on detaining any Nobles at the house. We've conducted some surveillance on a few of the homes and it looks like each son lives with one or two Nobles. They are not heavily guarded so I believe our teams of four will be adequate. One of the apartments here is being stripped to be used as a holding cell. We'll work on a long-term solution later. Another suite has been set up for the children. The Brides will all wait there for the teams to return with their sons."

  Sharon's body grew rigid against his and her face rose to meet Jashan's gaze. "I will not be staying behind. I have to go."

  Barret glanced around the room, males with clenched jaws, women with tight smiles. Like they wished they had grounds to make the same demand.

  Tye, the other male who'd spoken with them earlier sighed loudly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We figured you would say as much. Orlando, Andre and Angelo will be going in with you both. Take your leave with them and get organized. We'll all head out at midnight."

  Sharon pulled him down and she whispered in his ear, "We need to get the diary. I can't go back without it."

  He was pretty sure it wouldn't matter whether they had the book or not, but it certainly wouldn't do any harm. "Orlando is on our team. He'll have Fiona get it before we head out."

  With his heart frozen in fear, he gripped her hand tightly and followed the small team out of the room. If only she'd stay behind with the other Brides, where he knew she'd be safe…

  ~ * ~

  Sharon flexed her fingers and took a deep breath before taking the large leather bound book from Orlando's hands.

  "Now Sharon, it would be nice to keep the original book in our possession but don't stress over it. The entire thing has been scanned into a computer so no matter what happens, we won't lose the data it contains."

  Sharon still didn't fully understand the new technology he was talking about, but the fact the information was safe regardless of the state of the book, made her feel better. With a squeeze of her shoulder, he slipped away into the darkness of the night with Andre and she scanned the area. They were parked down the street from the Glen Iris house.

  "I don't like this."

  Barret's strained voice had her already high level of nervousness increasing. "I know, love. But it needs to happen this way. I'm the only one who has a chance to get this done peacefully. I won't risk my sons getting hurt."

  It was her job to coax Toki away from the front of the house where the boys' room was located. Once her sons were out of harm's way, Angelo and Barret would come in and take down Toki.

  They didn't want tonight's raids to catch the attention of any of the media outlets, so no one was to be killed. They still had a lot more stolen sons to find, and they couldn't risk so many on snatching so few. To that end, the Vampires were all armed with Taser guns, special ones that packed enough of a punch to take down an Elder Noble. Sharon had a smaller, less powerful one tucked into her boot. Unfortunately, to use hers, she'd need to touch it against Toki. That meant getting close to him. Way closer than she ever wanted to be. But the last thing she or the men wanted was for Toki to get a hold of her weapon and have enough juice to take out the Vampires. That said, her small version would still deliver enough of a stun to give him something to think about and allow her to run away.

  "Let's get this done."

  Angelo's deep Italian accent filled the night air.

  Barret crushed his lips against hers. "Be careful, love." He handed her the key fob for the car. "Remember, when you have Toki out of the front rooms, press the lock button. Even though the car is already locked, the lights will flash. Then Angelo and I will come for you as Andre and Orlando grab the boys."

  Sharon ran her finger over the fob, the lock button had a small bump on it, whereas the unlock had an indent. She'd be able to press it inside her pocket so Toki didn't see her. She swallowed down the fear that had crept through her soul. Toki had the ability to overpower her with his mind. To lock her limbs down with agony. Maybe she should hold the keys in her hand, so she could quickly press a button if he started that crap. She'd have only a second or two before the pain would overwhelm her.

  "I know what I need to do."

  Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she pushed down all her fear and anger and focused on her task. She'd need a clear head to pull this off. Before she could think about it any longer, she jogged up the street to her sons' home.

  She noticed her hand trembling as she tried the front door handle. Like earlier in the day, it was unlocked. She pushed it wide and stepped inside.

  "Ah, you have returned. And with a present I see."

  "As promised, the diary of the original Noble."

  "Be a dear and close the door, would you?"

  Her heart was beating fast and loud as a drum. She turned to close the door, shutting her eyes for a moment to draw on her courage. She needed to fake wanting him until they moved from the front room. Just pretend. No different than drama class at high school…

  The moment the door snicked shut Toki's warm hand snaked around her waist. She groaned as she did her best to suppress the shudder of revulsion.

  "Hmm, so I believe you need some reminding of who you belong to, blondie."

  Nope, I have no trouble at all remembering that I'm Barret's. But she couldn't say that out loud.

  Suddenly she found herself spun around and pressed against the wall. As she gasped at the impact against the hard surface, he lowered his mouth to hers for a kiss. Taking advantage of her shock, he thrust his tongue into her mouth and before she could hold back the response, she gagged as bile rose along with memories. Tears pricked her eyes and coursed down her cheeks as she recalled the first time he'd kissed her. He'd dug his thumbs painfully into her cheeks, forcing her lips to open as he pushed her flesh between her teeth so she couldn't bite him when he assaulted her mouth. She whimpered and he pulled back with a growl.

  In a daze of remembered horror, she vaguely saw him raise his palm. Moments later, she gasped as heat and pain flared in her cheek and lip. His harsh slap brought her mind back to the present.

  "Don't you dare space out on me. I will not allow you to pretend to be elsewhere. Your place is with me, nowhere else. Understand?"

  He roughly gripped her wrist and began to drag her down the hallway. She moved the key fob in her palm until she felt the raised bump. She pressed it and put them in her pocket just in time to stumble over the edge of the hallway runner. Damn, she'd been focused on the keys, not her feet. Toki continued to pull her until he reached the last door
way. He pushed her through and she found herself in a small bedroom with a large bed against the rear wall. Its head and foot were made of wrought iron.

  Perfect for him to tie me to.

  She shut her eyes. Forcing her mind to focus, she could not get lost in her memories again. She needed to focus, to fight. She was not tied up this time. She was not in some unknown underground facility she couldn't escape. All she needed to do was to keep Toki busy until the cavalry came.

  She felt his hand slide up her back and into her hair. He threaded his fingers high on her scalp before he tightened his grip on her, pulling her hair. Out of reflex to stop the pain, she reached back and gripped his hands. She dug her nails into his skin but his hold didn't loosen. All he did was chuckle.

  "Does my little kitty have claws after all? Show me your fire, Sharon. That too is mine to control."

  Rage descended over her like a cloak taking any chance of pretending to want this bastard.

  "I will never be yours. Nothing about me is under your control."

  She took hold of his pinky finger and pulled it back hard and fast. With a hiss, he released her and she spun around throwing her leg out. She landed her kick but her body wasn't prepared for the sudden stop of motion and she over balanced. She landed heavily on her butt, but thankfully managed to catch herself on her arms before her back and head met the floor.

  She looked for Toki and found him curled over, holding his groin. Oh yeah! She couldn't help but grin at her aim. Her relief was short-lived, however. Agony roared through her system. She fell to the ground as Toki rose to stand straight.

  "How dare you show such disrespect! I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. For now, you will be bound and kept immobile until you show signs of being worthy of freedom."

  Her body bowed off the floor from the onslaught as he increased his hold over her. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't fight him off while she was in this much pain, hell, she could barely breathe.