As I opened the door to my bedroom I caught his scent.
He was standing behind the door, hiding in case it was someone else but me.
I closed the door quickly and turned to face him. ‘What the hell are you doing here Alex? Are you nuts?’ I whispered.
What was he thinking, coming here? He was endangering the mission, not to mention himself. I smelt a faint gasoline odour on his clothes and deduced he was posing as the chauffeur.
‘Great to see you too.’ He smiled back, hugging me close. His eyes lighting up with amusement at my anger. ‘Come on Tonal, give me some credit. No one knows I’m here. Your cover is intact.’ He added seriously. ‘There’s no way that I would endanger you or Dulce any more than absolutely necessary.’
‘So why are you here?’ I was glad to see him, but there was no way I would tell him that.
I had missed him.
‘I had to see you.’ The tenderness and need in his voice soothed my anger.
We sat down on the sofa. He sat as close as possible, his arm around my shoulders, his other hand engulfing mine.
‘Why? What’s wrong?’ Had something happened at the compound? Was there news? ‘Should I get Dulce in here?’
‘No.’ he laughed softly. ‘Nothing’s wrong.’ He stroked my hair. ‘It’s best if Dulce doesn’t know I’m here. Having you bite my head off is more than enough.’
‘So, once again, why are you here?’
‘For you.’ He was deadly serious. ‘I had to see you. Don’t be mad with me. I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t get anything done. No concentration at all.’ His voice was so soft I almost had to strain to hear him, I gave up and rested my head on his shoulder. There was no stopping this man, when he had an idea in that thick head, he was driven.
‘You fill my every waking moment, and my dreams at night if I finally manage to sleep. I needed to see that you were ok.’
‘Alex, nothing can happen to me, you know that. I am invincible.’
‘Ok nothing physical.’ He conceded. He had a point.
‘But still, I needed to know how you are. And see for myself.’ He was quiet for a few seconds. ‘I needed to hold you, feel you near.’ To add value to his words, he held me tighter. ‘I need you.’
Cupping my chin in his hand he turned my face to him. ‘I love you Tonal, You know that don’t you?’ The emotion in his eyes and in his voice was touching.
‘Yes, Alex, I know.’ I sighed.
‘But?’
‘But, I don’t feel the same as you do. I love you Alex, but not like that, not as you want me to, and it’s not right.’ Ok, so that was out. Now he would hate me.
‘I know Tonal.’ He surprised me. This was not what I had envisioned.
‘I know that you don’t feel as strongly as I do, and it’s ok.’ He smiled his deep and soothing smile. ‘Of course, I would rather that you did share my adoration. But I realise that it’s different for you. I have loved you from the moment I saw you. From that day in the clearing that you brought my father back to me.’
I wanted to speak, he softly paced his fingers on my lips.
‘No let me finish. It’s taken enough courage that I don’t usually have, to broach the subject.’
I sighed and let him talk. His closeness was comforting. Warm, loving, comfortable. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Maybe I should just let myself enjoy the situation for the moment. All the tension had been building and building, I need some release, some time for me. Maybe this was it.
‘I love you Tonal, with all my heart and soul. If you love me less, that’s ok—for now. In time you will learn to love me as I do you.’ He silenced my arguments again before I had spoken them out loud. ‘Trust me, my love, I know. I have other talents than you, I can see into the future.’
‘Yeah right’ I managed to get in.
He just laughed softly and moved his face closer. His lips came dangerously close to mine.
Oh, what the hell. I thought.
He kissed me, softly, cautiously and hesitantly. When I returned the kiss he tightened his embrace, his passion clear.
My indulgence would haunt me later, but now it was all about physical and emotional gratification.
I was wound up like a loaded spring. Every fibre of my body cried out for release. If not in a change, then another way.
My fingers clawed at his shirt, trying to pull it off over his head, but I wouldn’t let go of his lips at the same time.
‘Slow down, slow down’ he laughed. ‘We have all night.’
Regaining control over my passion, I followed his lead. Slowly and tenderly he undressed me, taking his time to discover every part of my body. He had seen me naked before as a prelude to the change. I wondered now how that had affected him.
Trying to be tender I pulled the shirt up over his head and let my hands roam over shoulders and upper back. I couldn’t reach the rest yet. His hands moved up my sides and brushed against the side of my breasts, sending tingles of electricity through my whole body.
Involuntarily I moaned, soliciting a subdued laugh and added fervour from him. His hands and lips roamed my whole upper body, leaving heated trails wherever they went. He was driving me mad. My resolve at restraint was losing the battle over my physical need.
Alex was lost in his administrations and didn’t notice my struggle. He moved back up my body and kissed my lips, trying to push his tongue through to mine. But I stubbornly locked my lips, scared that he would feel the lowering canines I was so desperately trying to hide, or taste the accompanying blood in my mouth. I could feel the fur rippling up and down my spine, sprouting up on my arms and receding immediately as I became aware.
‘Please Alex,’ I murmured through locked jaws. ‘Now.’
He felt the trembles in me. Linked them to the impending change if the tension was not released. Hurriedly, no longer holding his own lust in check, he pulled my jeans and string down and off my legs. In one quick motion he removed his own clothes. We fell to the ground and I could feel his erection pushing against my leg. Turning to accommodate him I pushed my pelvis up to meet his need.
He entered me with a strong thrust, pushing my pleasure over the brink.
I came with the first contact, and again, and again.
I could feel the hairs bursting through the skin and disappearing again when he touched them. Now that would have been a mood killer. One minute he was making love to the woman of his dreams and the next the killer of his nightmares. Slowly I regained total control of my body. I joined the lovemaking in a totally human manner, returning the passion and lust that he emanated.
Thrusting a final time, I felt him shudder and let his own restraint loose. He moaned loudly, and I could feel the bursts of semen in my body. Holding my hand over his mouth I tried to stop most of the noise. It wouldn’t do to alert any of the servants or guards to his presence in my room. Spent, he lowered himself down onto me, his head on my breast.
‘Oh my God’ was all he could manage.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
The depth of his comment, the absolute fatigue and bliss that was clear made me laugh. He was like a child in a candy store. But I suppose he had been dreaming about this for a long time. We talked most of the night, well those parts that we weren’t otherwise occupied.
I felt the tension that had almost overflowed recede more and more.
It felt good.
I felt at peace.
Near daybreak, Alex finally fell asleep while I contemplated what had happened here.
I had let myself go.
Against all my resolutions, I had let myself get caught up in a relationship. I hadn’t stopped Alex, worse; I had encouraged him. His love was whole, pure and I had contaminated it. I had selfishly taken the release that I needed and given him some unfounded hope. His dream had been realised and now I would have to break it apart again. He would be devastated. But I had to do it. I couldn’t let this continue, let it bloom.
It was dangerous.
For him.
<
br /> And for me.
I would have to tell him ‘No.’
He must have noticed something. His eyes opened, and he lifted his head to look at me. ‘Ok spill the beans’ he said, ‘what’s up.’
Where to start?
He beat me to the chase. ‘Let me guess.’ He was actually smiling. ‘You’ve thought it through and now realise that this wasn’t such a good idea.’ I nodded mutely. ‘And you’re sorry for leading me on, we should never have done this, blah de blah de blah.’ The smile never left his eyes. ‘That close?’
I had to laugh ‘About spot on’ I remarked.
He became serious again. ‘Tonal, I knew yesterday, and I know today, that you do not have the same feelings for me that I have for you. Nothing has changed with that. You haven’t miraculously fallen head over heels in love with me. But I don’t mind. This wasn’t a mistake. It was great, fantastic.’ I couldn’t argue with the last part.
‘I won’t get all love struck now, it was the fulfilment of my dream—well part of it. The rest will just have to wait until a better time.’ His finger on my lips stopped my protests. ‘This is not the time for a romantic relationship, we have too much on our plate as it is, and we can’t use the distraction.’ His fingers followed the line of my eye down to my chin. ‘As much as I would like to continue this, I can’t. And I won’t. It’s a bit selfish as well. I know that you are not as committed to this as I am. And to be absolutely honest I don’t want to know, not yet. So please let me have tonight. No strings attached. Just the memories.’
‘Just the memories?’ I asked to be sure.
‘For now.’ The smile and twinkle in his eyes were back again.
Oh well. It would have to do for now. Coward as I am, I refrained from argument, just let it go, stifling the small voice in the back of my mind crying out that I would live to regret the easy way out.
Kissing me one last time, Alex got up out of the bed and groped for his clothes. They were strewn over the floor and mixed up with mine. ‘Time for me to leave, before anyone notices anything.’ He dressed quickly.
‘Shall I tell Dulce that you were here?’ I asked.
‘Better not, or we’ll have to explain more than I want.’ With a last smile he silently opened the door and disappeared to wherever he should have spent the night.
Lying back in the pillows, I tried to objectively rethink what had happened. It didn’t help. I would just have to wait and see what happened.
But it had helped. I felt better.
I slept like a baby. Missing Alex and the lawyer’s departure.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Seated in the back of the big black limo, Tonal and Dulce prepared themselves for their meeting with Ortiz. He had sent for Tonal, and naturally Dulce came along. He had a treat for her, he said, something that she, as a cat lover, would no doubt appreciate. They had no idea what was about to happen. The limo was probably wired, so they didn’t speak to each other, fully in their role. To fall out of character now would mean instant death for Dulce and the failure of the mission.
Ortiz had sounded tense on the phone, there was a strange echo to his voice, as if you could hear his madness pushing through the carefully orchestrated façade. Certain that something had happened to enrage him, Tonal had felt the heat and fury through the line. She had cautioned Dulce to expect anything, and to make sure that she did not flinch or act any way out of character.
The driver steered the big black car through the town streets to the accompaniment of even darker looks from the passers-by. No one would dare to openly contest Ortiz, and because of the shaded windows, it was not visible who was in the car.
Soon they were out on the open road. There was only one road through the small town. In southerly direction it led to the town of San Miguel. North offered only one destination—Ortiz’s fortress.
They passed through the first of the roadblocks and checkpoints, still three miles from the buildings. Past the stakes and the remnants of the bodies that hung from them, the stench was overpowering and sickening. On either side of the road, one-hundred foot of jungle had been cleared so that no one could ambush any convoys or cars that used the roads. There were high fences, so the chance that anyone would be able to attack from the jungle was small anyway. This was a seriously paranoid person, and with reason. You would need heavy vehicles to navigate the moat between the fence and the sides of the road. Heavy machinery was not something the resistance had. And guerrilla warfare was not easy on open ground.
They passed the checkpoint without incident. After all, this was Ortiz’s car and his driver. Making good time they passed the following two guard posts, each a mile apart. Soon enough, maybe even too soon for Dulce, they arrived at the drawbridge that straddled the deep moat. The bridge was a hundred-foot-long, the last twenty feet was the actual drawbridge, like in the ancient castles of the knights. The moat however, was not filled with water. It was full of high grass and had lions in its depths. It continued into the jungle on the opposite side of the fortress, ending in a high fence, two or three miles away. The guards at the checkpoints were in small high-fenced contained areas—small islands—well within the range of the lions that roamed the defence zone. Not the best place to be for anyone, safety was debatable at best. On the fortress’s side, the moat ended up against a high sloping wall. There were spikes in the wall, at about ten feet above the moat. The spikes were angled downwards, to deter the lions from attempting to gain entrance to the fortress. There was no need to have spikes facing up. No one in their right mind would choose to jump over the fortress wall into the moat. And if they did, it wouldn’t matter for long.
This lapse in the defence was something that Tonal was counting on. That way they would be able to leave the fortress when they had accomplished their mission.
The car turned onto the gravel and stopped parallel to the steps leading up to the courtyard. There were several carts and nervous horses stationed in the same clearing. The car door opened on Tonal’s side and the driver offered his hand to help her out of the dark and cool interior. She placed her hand on his arm, extended her right leg out of the door and eased herself out of the car. Dulce opened the door on the other side and ran quickly to her mistress’s side, where she bowed her head and stood diminutively behind the arrogant woman.
Tonal regarded the top of the stairs. Ortiz was there, his left arm bandaged and in a sling. That would explain the anger. Something had definitely happened. She strode up the stairs, brushing away the continued support of the driver. As she neared the top of the stairs Ortiz smiled at her.
‘My dear, how nice of you to come.’ He took her proffered hand and lightly pressed his lips to it in a kiss. Ortiz was a man of tradition. He prized himself in his good manners and chivalry. Even if they were tainted by his sadism and vicious nature. It was a strange marriage.
‘How could I not come’ she cooed, ‘after you promised me a good show.’ She had cultivated her image carefully as the strong arrogant independent woman. Vicious in her own way, but never-the-less very feminine. She was beautiful, her makeup not overpowering, just enough to enhance her enticing deep ochre eyes that little bit more. Her dresses were designer creations. Made to measure, to hug and complement her fantastic figure. She moved with the grace of a feline, even on heels like today. This was what had attracted Ortiz the most. That and her viciousness.
She purposely refrained from asking about his injured arm.
‘This way my dear.’ He indicated that she should accompany him to an area where a small pavilion stood to shade them from the sun.
To the right she saw a group of middle aged and older men, by the looks of them elders from a village. They were huddled together, feebly attempting to gain some strength from numbers. The ferocious looking mercenaries that were interspersed across the whole area didn’t help settle their nerves. And to make matters much worse, a man was tied to a frame set in the ground. He was wounded; badly battered. His gaze was locked on to a stake near the edge
of the terrace. Tonal followed his stare and saw that a human head was speared on the pole. Tears slid down the man’s face, every now and then he was unable to control his cries and this in turn resulted in a blow from the mercenary nearest to him.
Tonal walked over to the pavilion, careful not to stare or acknowledge the villagers and the prisoner in any way. She feigned curiosity and hoped that Dulce was able to control her feelings. No doubt things would get worse, this was only the beginning.
Ortiz was all chivalry and manners to her. ‘Here in the shade will suite you best, my dear.’ He indicated an intricately carved chair with deep pillows. She sat down and looked around. The chair and pavilion had been placed near the fortress wall overlooking the moat. There was no movement apparent down there, but her eyes picked up the tell-tale signs that indicated the presence of predators. A combination of animal and human bones littered the floor of the moat. She also smelled the cats.
Ortiz walked over to the elders, who unconsciously retreated a few feet. They encountered the mercenaries behind them and—caught between the two—huddled together. The effect was pleasing to Ortiz, he traversed the remaining two feet to the prisoner, and hit him across the face.
‘This piece of shit is the father of the maggot that did this to me.’ he indicated his bandaged arm. ‘He attempted to kill me.’ The silence was total. ‘As you see he failed.’ He smiled as he turned to look at the young man’s head on the stake. ‘This family comes from your village.’ Once again, he approached the elders. ‘You are responsible for what happens in your village. This, and what will happen as a result, is your fault. It is on your heads.’ he chose his words carefully, articulating them slowly and clearly. Each one was a blow to the huddled men.
‘There are repercussions. You have forced me to make an example of this family. I will not accept this betrayal.’ Lowering his voice, he became even more frightening. His piercing eyes locking on each man in turn. They paled under his gaze, even to the point of becoming physically ill.
Primal Nature Page 19
