Shadow Alpha

by Carole Mortimer

  She also felt extremely sick and totally miserable, and her throat ached from holding back the tears she refused to cry. She was through crying. She certainly wouldn’t give that bastard Sergei the satisfaction of allowing him to take anything else away from her.

  Dair was obviously furious with her right now, but last night, with him, had given Kat back her pride and self-confidence as an attractive and desirable woman. Especially after he had made a point of telling her she hadn’t been just a job to him almost from the beginning.

  Dair may have changed his mind about that now, of course, and he may even wish he hadn’t accepted this job at all, let alone met her again, but no one—no one could ever take those hours with Dair away from her.

  Now if she could just survive the rest of this flight without puking everywhere!

  “How much longer before we land?” she spoke loudly so that he could hear her; her jaw was clenched so tightly it felt as it if were in danger of breaking under the pressure.

  “Five, ten minutes, at most,” he answered distractedly, his face appearing eerily pale in the lights of the control panel.

  It was pitch black outside, and Kat had completely lost track of her bearings within minutes of them taking off, so she had no idea where they were going to land. Didn’t particularly care either, as long as they landed on terra firma soon.

  Even if it did bring her closer to the time Dair was going to start ‘demanding answers to his questions’.

  The expression on his face when he had made that statement warned her he wasn’t about to be fobbed off with any attempt at half-truths from her this time.

  Kat’s attention was drawn to the window as she finally thought she could see some lights flickering on and off on the ground beneath them. “Is that where we’re going to land?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Either we are or we aren’t!”

  “Then I guess we are, yes.” Dair couldn’t remember the last time he had been as angry as he was right now. If he ever had been.

  And his anger was directed at himself, no one else.

  He had totally fucked up, it was as simple as that. When he was in the army and he’d gone on a mission he had always remained focused and detached; it was the way he had kept his men and himself alive. He had taken that focus and detachment with him when he left the army and entered private security.

  Not this time.

  The minute he had seen Kat sitting in that chair at the clinic, so pale and withdrawn, when she had once been so vivacious and outgoing, all detachment had left him. Once he had seen those restraints at her wrists and ankles— Jesus, what sort of man ordered that sort of treatment of his own wife?

  Whatever Sergei’s reasons, Dair had lost his cool detachment in that moment, and it had only gotten worse since then. To the point that he had put both Kat and himself at risk.

  If he hadn’t seen the message light flashing on his cell phone—

  He had seen it, and that was the important thing.

  But still, he’d let Kat down. Had put her in danger because he’d been too busy fucking her to think about protecting her—

  No, that was unfair to Kat. He’d fucked plenty of women in his life, and being with Kat, the sexual chemistry between them, had been nothing like being with any of those other women.

  It had been something more than just sex.

  Meaning what?

  Meaning that in future he needed to concentrate on protecting Kat and keep his dick in his pants.

  He wouldn’t—couldn’t fail Kat like that again, just because he couldn’t keep his hands and other body parts to himself.

  As for Sergei…

  Dair had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on there. Why the other man had locked Kat up in that clinic in the first place, and why he was now so determined to get her back again. There was male pride—a lot of men would baulk at the idea of having their wife walk out on them, and Sergei Orlov was such an arrogant prick he wouldn’t have taken it well—and then there was obsession. Dair hadn’t believed a man as shallow as Sergei was capable of the latter. He still didn’t.

  Back to pride then.

  That still didn’t sit too comfortably as an explanation for the extreme measures Sergei had used to isolate Kat, and was now using to track her down.

  No matter how reluctant she might be, Kat would give him answers once they were somewhere safe.

  In the meantime, Dair sincerely hoped that Sergei did nothing to trash the island when he arrived there and found the two of them had already gone, otherwise the other man would have to answer to Lucien, and Lucien could play as dirty as Sergei if he needed to. Dair had a feeling that any damage done to Lucien’s ‘honeymoon island’ would be cause for him to ‘need to’.

  “We’re going down,” Dair warned as he was given the correct signal from the ground, banking the chopper sharply to the right, eyes narrowed as he kept his gaze and attention on the landing lights below.

  Kat barely had time to tighten her fingers on the grab-hold before the helicopter dipped, feeling as if the contents of her stomach had stayed feet above them. Not that there was much content in her stomach; she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten—

  No, do not think about food—

  Too late!

  She barely had time to grab the sick bag from the leather side pocket before hurling those ‘contents’ into it.

  By the time she finished being ill, Dair had landed the chopper on the ground, and Kat didn’t waste any time waiting for him to turn off the engine before throwing off the headphones, unbuckling her seatbelt and thrusting open the door. She almost fell out of the helicopter, onto a soft landing of grass, luckily. She kept in a crouched position as she quickly got back up onto her feet and stumbled across the grass a short distance, before falling back down onto her knees and throwing up all over again.

  “Virgin, huh?”

  Kat was feeling far too ill to care what a mess she must look as she looked up at the man looming over her.

  The two of them hadn’t spoken the last time they met, but the heavy boots, black clothing, shoulder-length black hair, and the dark Stetson above dark, navy blue eyes told her this was Lijah, the pilot from the plane yesterday.

  And, if she wasn’t mistaken, those dark eyes were glittering with unwelcome humor, despite the lack of a smile on those chiseled lips.

  “I meant flying in a chopper, of course,” he added mockingly as he held out a hand to help Kat back up onto her feet.

  Kat didn’t know which surprised her more, the obviously educated English accent—what was with the Stetson?—or the fact that Lijah was here at all. She had assumed when he left them, only hours ago in real time even if it seemed much longer, that Lijah would be flying back to England. She had obviously assumed wrong.

  “Best not,” she refused the offer of help up as she instead wiped her soiled hands on her jeans before wobbling back up onto her feet unaided.

  She straightened just in time to see Dair striding towards her with a face as dark as thunder.

  Chapter 11

  “What the fuck did you think you were doing?” Dair took a painful grip of Kat’s arms as he began to shake her. “Don’t you know better than to get out of a chopper before the pilot tells you it’s safe to do so?”

  Kat’s head ached, the ground was tilting beneath her, and even though there couldn’t possibly be anything left in her stomach, she felt as if she might be sick again, this time over Dair if he didn’t stop shaking her.

  “I didn’t think—”

  “You didn’t think,” he repeated harshly, eyes blazing with his anger. “You-didn’t-the-fuck-think—”

  “Hey, lay off her, Dair,” Lijah cajoled ruefully. “Remember the first time you went up—or rather, down—in a chopper, and have a little mercy, man.”

  If looks really could kill, then the other man would have been struck instantly dead by the ice in Dair’s glare. “We aren’t talking about me, we’re talking about her.
And she—”

  “She’s sick, okay,” the other man reasoned impatiently. “Besides which, I’m pretty sure Lucien appreciates the fact that she didn’t hurl in his chopper.”

  “She did that too, but luckily into a sick bag.” Dair continued to glare at the other man for several tense moments before releasing Kat so suddenly she stumbled and almost fell again.

  She would have fallen if Lijah hadn’t reached out to steady her. “For Christ’s—! Lighten up, Dair,” his tone had hardened perceptibly.

  “Take-your-fucking-hands-off-her!” Dair growled in warning.

  Kat was totally startled by that growl. She was also starting to feel a little like a bone being fought over by two snapping and snarling predators.

  Lijah’s brows rose under the brim of his Stetson. “Like that, is it,” he mused as he slowly released Kat’s arm.

  Dair knew he was behaving like a complete asshole. Worse, like a jealous complete asshole. And Lijah knew it too.

  It wasn’t a feeling Dair was familiar with.

  Or one that he wanted to be familiar with either.

  It was just that it was too soon to see another man’s hands on Kat, after the hours the two of them had just spent together.

  That’s all it was.

  He turned to look at the small jet parked on the tarmac a short distance away. “All fueled and ready to go?” It wasn’t the same jet as yesterday; if Sergei wanted to continue to chase them then Dair had no intentions of making it easy for him.

  “As instructed.” Lijah was back to being his usual businesslike self, although the speculation remained in those dark eyes as he looked from Dair to Kat, and then back again.

  A speculation, curiosity, Dair had absolutely no intentions of satisfying. Not only did he not kiss-and-tell, but he had also drummed into his men the importance of remaining emotionally detached from a ‘client’. Not a great example for Dair to reveal he’d broken his own rules.

  “There’s a couple of bags in the chopper, if you could get those while I go and check out the jet? And I suggest you dispose of the sick bag in the chopper before you leave.” He nodded tersely to Lijah before striding off towards the plane.

  Without giving Kat so much as a second glance—or thought—she noted impatiently. How much longer was Dair going to keep this up? Indefinitely? Or just until he considered he’d made her suffer enough for her stupidity?

  “His bark is much worse than his bite,” Lijah assured her dryly as he took the cases down from the chopper.

  Kat raised her brows. “Is it?”

  “Not really, no.” Lijah grinned down at her from his several inches over six feet in height.

  About the same age as Dair, his face was even harder—if that was possible—and all sharp angles, with those piercing indigo eyes giving away none of his thoughts.

  He shrugged. “But if I had to choose anyone to watch my back then Dair’s the one, every time. He’s just pissed right now because he screwed up. Big time.”

  “He screwed up?”

  “Oh yeah.” Lijah nodded as he put the suitcases down at his booted feet. “He knows it too. Given a choice he would also rather sit and wait for that bastard Orlov and put the guy out of his misery—sorry,” he winced. “I forgot for a moment that he’s your husband.”

  “Ex-husband,” or no husband, Kat acknowledged inwardly, as the two of them had never been married in the first place. “And please don’t apologize, I try to forget it all the time too,” she added with a shudder.

  “That so?” Lijah mused.

  “Yes.” Kat hadn’t taken her eyes off Dair as he walked around the jet checking that everything was ready and working for their flight. Not the same jet as yesterday, she recognized, but smaller, sleeker. Faster? “And Dair didn’t screw up, I did. It was the GPS on the cell phone I stole that told Sergei where we were.”

  “A cell phone Dair should have instantly spotted and destroyed,” the other man dismissed. “Cheer up, Kat,” he cajoled. “Whatever’s eating Dair, he’ll get over it. He always does. Never known him to bear a grudge. Well just the once, but she deserved it, from what I heard—”

  “She?” Kat echoed sharply.

  “Yeah—never mind.” Lijah picked up the two suitcases again as Dair strode towards them. “Remember,” he told her softly. “Bark’s worse than his bite.”

  Kat had no idea if that was true or not—it certainly wasn’t true in her experience so far. But the short respite had given her the chance to regain her balance, and control of her roiling stomach as well as her dignity, and the mention of the ‘she’ from Dair’s past was the final boost she needed to meet his steely gaze as he rejoined them.

  She lifted her chin in challenge. “I suppose it’s too much for me to ask where we are? Or where our ultimate destination might be?” It was too dark for her to see much at all, except they appeared to be on a small patch of flat open land rather than an actual airport; if asked Kat would guess that this exchange of air transport was being done under the radar.

  “You suppose correct,” Dair confirmed tersely as he took the bags from Lijah. “Fly the chopper to the usual place, then take a commercial flight back to the UK and stay put in the office. You know what to say if anyone comes looking for me.”

  The other man looked unconcerned by Dair’s list of instructions, which meant Dair’s show of authoritative superiority had been for Kat’s benefit, not Lijah’s. He needn’t have bothered; Kat knew only too well who was in charge. Well…out of the bedroom. In it they seemed to have been taking turns.

  Which was strange, when Dair was always such a controlling bastard out of bed.

  “Bye, Lijah,” she drawled ruefully, receiving a mocking nod of acknowledgement in return before he strode over to do his own check on the helicopter. “Do I take it you’re flying us this time?” Kat almost had to run to keep up with Dair’s much longer strides over to the jet. “What happens if for some reason you keel over onto the joystick—or whatever it’s called?”

  “We crash,” Dair didn’t even glance at her as he stowed their cases in the hold.

  “Dair!”

  He shrugged as he waited for her to ascend the plane’s steps ahead of him. “Would you rather I lie to you?” He closed and locked the door behind them.

  “A little sugarcoating might have been nice!”

  “I didn’t think you were a ‘sugarcoating’ sort of woman.”

  Kat wasn’t sure how she should take that. She hadn’t exactly shown herself in a good light with the cell phone, but Dair might at least give her some credit for following him out of the clinic and through those dark woods without complaint. She had remained pretty calm during that car chase too, and jumping on a moving plane.

  Dair’s attitude now implied that none of those things made up for the cell phone incident.

  “Is this another one of Lucien’s expensive toys?” she decided to opt for a safer subject as she moved to sit in one of the four leather seats; this jet was more compact than the previous one, but just as luxurious.

  “No.” Dair paused beside her seat. “This is one of my expensive toys.”

  Kat’s eyes widened in surprise. She had assumed, because Dair worked at the security company he also owned, that he did so because he needed to. Obviously she had been wrong.

  “Make yourself comfortable,” he added mockingly, as if he knew exactly what she’d been thinking.

  Which he probably did, she acknowledged wearily.

  “Get some sleep, if you can,” he continued hardly. “Because when we reach our destination you have some serious explaining to do.”

  “I don’t—”

  “I’ve warned you against lying to me, Kat.” His eyes glittered hardly. “And the way Sergei had you locked away, and is chasing after you now, isn’t normal behavior. What the hell did you do, Kat? Steal the family jewels or something?”

  “There are no family jewels,” she snorted. “And what jewelry Sergei gave me I left behind in the safe.” Includi
ng, she presumed, the engagement ring and wedding ring she had thrown at him during their final argument.

  “Then what the hell does he want from you?”

  Kat turned away. “Shouldn’t we get out of here as quickly as possible? Before someone realizes we’re here at all?”

  She had a point, Dair accepted as he moved forward to the cockpit. Just as he knew her desire for him to go had nothing to do with the two of them leaving here as soon as possible and everything to do with putting an end to their conversation.

  He hoped she realized it was a conversation that was only delayed, and not forgotten.

  Dair’s temper hadn’t improved in the slightest by the time the plane touched down at the private airfield long hours later. It was now forty-eight hours since he had last slept, apart from a few catnaps in bed with Kat, and his eyes felt as if they had grit in them, and his shoulders and back were aching from the tension of flying for so many hours.

  You’re getting too old for this shit, Grayson, he cautioned himself derisively as he stood up and went through into the cabin.

  Despite the fact that he had landed the jet just minutes ago, Kat was still fast asleep in her seat.

  He had put the controls on auto-pilot a couple of times, coming through to the cabin to get himself a coffee, but also to check on Kat. She had been asleep every time. Or pretending to be, no doubt in an effort not to resume their previous conversation.

  She was definitely asleep this time, he realized, his tension easing a little as he stood beside her seat looking down at her. She looked amazingly beautiful, considering what the two of them had been through the past thirty-six hours; even without the marathon sex it had been hell on the stamina.

  Dair, on the other hand, knew he looked a mess; his face felt drawn with fatigue, his eyes must be bloodshot from so many hours of concentration, he could do with a shower, and his clothes were creased to hell and back.