by Leigh Morgan
“-this will be happenin’ when I am good and ready and not before. So do na’ be telling me wha’ will and wha’na be happenin’ with tha’ doon there. It’ll be stayin’ in ye trousers ‘til further notice.”
Shay looked momentarily nonplussed. He even shook his head as if to clear it before the grin she recognized graced a much older face. “I forgot how entertaining you are when you’ve got steam coming out of your ears and brogue rolling off your tongue.” He laughed again, a wicked twinkle in his eye. “But call a cock a cock, Mari-girl. You’re way too old to be saying ‘doon there’ like you’re the vestal virgin. And, you’ll be seeing and touching and tasting it soon enough.”
He grabbed her hand, showed her to her room and shut the door in her face in less time than she needed to formulate a suitable response, that stupid smirk on his face the whole time. It was almost as if he was enjoying himself.
She grabbed the closest thing she could find and threw it at the rapidly closing door. His amused laughter had her pulverizing her own tooth enamel and cursing the fact that she could still smell him on her skin.
“I’ll be taste’n the dirt of the long nap before I’ll be taste’n yu, Shannon O’Shay. Devil spawn that yu’ve turned oot to be.”
“You’ll be paying for that vase, love. It was a gift from the lady of the house.”
Mari’s heart sank as nausea threatened. Why had Sham kissed her if there was a lady of the house? Why hadn’t she thought to ask? It was only natural that Shay would have married after all this time, but why did the thought of a Mrs. O’Shay leave her cold and clammy in the summer heat?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The days bled into one another for Taryn and she had more than one bone to pick with Jesse. He’d said they’d never spend a night apart for their four months of their contract. She fell into bed every night alone and woke up every morning alone. She wasn’t sure if she dreamed being pulled into his arms every night or if she imagined his scent on her pillow. She didn’t have the time to ponder why when he’d been with her he held her like she was someone to cherish and hold tight.
Now wasn’t the time for tender feelings or for figuring out what to do with them. That didn’t stop her from wanting to be awake while Jesse held her.
Jesse’s dojo wasn’t quite home, but she had grown, if not comfortable here, more confident. The last nine days with Sensei Schwartz assured that. She didn’t truly know karate. That understanding would take a lifetime of training. She did however learn effective, efficient and elemental ways to kill, maim, disarm and restrain. And she learned them well. Sensei also taught her how to channel her energy, making her more powerful than her six foot frame may otherwise suggest. She looked formidable before. She was formidable now. She wasn’t a ninja, but she had enough rudimentary skills to take care of herself if it came to that.
Taryn was looking forward to day ten. Finally her intense training would end and she could get on with filming for Magical Britain. She could also start deciphering her father’s gift, and what it may mean for furthering his work on goddess archetypes. She was looking forward to seeing Jesse in the light of day. Day ten should have been easy. It should have been a rehash of days one through nine.
It wasn’t.
Day ten ended in blood.
And one well satisfied neophyte student.
…
Jesse changed Taryn’s itinerary to one that would allow her to finish her filming, but in a different, more random order. He also changed every place MacBain arranged for her to stay. It wasn’t as easy as it should have been since the film crew was large and unable to move quickly or quietly.
He’d spent the last five days screening potential crew replacements for Taryn, who could protect her quietly and efficiently. Henry cleared three already. Jesse cancelled all her hotel stays and rented cottages or houses instead, and in one case a partial train. He’d even called a reclusive rock-star he knew so they could spend some time in a Scottish castle.
Jesse smiled wickedly. They didn’t have any reason to detour to Scotland this trip except for a contract-honeymoon. Of course he’d tell her it was solely for her safety and to throw any potential bad-guys off their trail. Except for filming, they’d hang as tourists and do tourist things while the team he, Henry and Shay assembled tracked down the men who tried to take Taryn. When they were found, Jesse would be there to ensure they never got the chance to hurt anyone again.
Jesse left Taryn’s side just before dawn after kissing the top of her head. He knew she was exhausted every evening before the sun went down. He was going to have to buy her some nose strips if she kept snoring like she had over the last week and a half. The thought made him smile. She was going to hate that he knew something so intimate and so embarrassing about her.
Jesse passed Reed and Shay at the breakfast table on his way to the shower. They each had on old t-shirts and gi pants, laughing like naughty siblings bent on seeing who can best the other the most. Not for the first time since he’d come to Potter’s Woods, Jesse thanked the universe for the serendipity that landed him here, among people he loved, who loved and supported him. Life was short. Way too short not to live every moment fully. He wanted to live fully with Taryn, and he intended to so, if only for the next four months she’d allotted. In four months he hoped to build the beginnings of a lifetime that would make Taryn want to stay. Just like he wanted to stay once Reed had shown him a glimpse of what belonging to a family could mean.
Jesse bent on his way past Reed and kissed the top of her head as he swiped a strawberry from her plate. When Shay laughed, he tossed the green end at his friend’s head.
…
Fight the Good Fight came over the speakers in the dojo as Taryn finished the last of the eighteen katas Sensei Schwartz taught her. She started every training session with these katas and she’d finished them before he took the floor this morning. Taryn thought Sensei would have been here to ride her ass since it was her last day, but the wily old man was nowhere in sight, and that worried her. Sensei was as tricky as Merlin. He was everywhere and he seemed to read her every evil thought with alacrity and had a mocking insight into her psyche that was frightening to behold.
Reed Mohr bounced onto the dojo floor wearing what had once been a black Triumph concert t-shirt. It was now gray from age and too much oxy-clean. She had sparring gloves on her fists and thread-bare gi pants that made her look like a tiny fairyland 80’s rock goddess with fat hair and biceps larger than someone twice her size would be proud of. There was more to Reed than first, second, and third impressions gave her credit for. There was less to her too, and that made Taryn smile and feel uncomfortable at the same time. If she didn’t know better she’d believe Reed to be exactly what she appeared to be now, approachable, loveable and ready to dance with her would-be-pseudo nemesis as he took the floor behind her, bouncing on feet light as air.
Shannon O’Shay was similarly dressed, old gi pants, haphazardly cut off sleeveless t-shirt and pads on his fists. His fists were twice the size of Reed’s and his torso was so chiseled he’d make a ninety-nine year old salivate. Shay danced on his toes around Reed, grinning like a man who loved to tease and had done so many times.
Her very proper birth mother stuck her tongue out at him and flicked a back-fist so fast at his head Shay barely moved out of the way in time. He danced back on his toes making a tisking sound before giving her a belly laugh that made even Taryn’s cynical heart open a bit. They were enjoying each other. Taryn was having a hard time defining the relationship those two had, but it was obvious it was based in love and deep respect. An only child with no cousins, she had no frame of reference for their neo-sibling rivalry.
Shay moved to the taped off sparring section of the dojo floor, stretching his neck, throwing air punches, muscles rippling with perspiration. He had to outweigh Reed by a hundred or more pounds. Taryn swallowed hard, a wave of trepidation hitting her like a baseball bat to the mid-section. The fact that she was out-muscled and out-
matched didn’t seem to phase Reed. Her biological mother simply observed Shay’s antics with the patience of a much put upon older sister. She raised an empirical eyebrow with effortless condescension, saying more with her smirk than she did with her one word question.
“Ready?”
Shay bowed to Reed. Regal and with such flare you had to admire the man’s control of his body. “Always ready for you, darling.”
Taryn blinked and Sensei materialized. “If you two are done screwing around, bow in. You’ve got work to do.”
In that instant everything changed. Faces lost their smiles. The air lost some of its heat as tensions solidified with Reed and Shay’s formal bows, first to Sensei then to each other. Now they were different people. Scary people with scary intent. Her nine days of training had led to this and no matter how hard she tried, Taryn couldn’t hit the rewind button.
Taryn’s world shifted on its axis and she knew she would never be the same again. Her identity was about to shift inexorably into uncharted territory.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Day Ten. Lesson Number Three: We are All animals under our smiles.
Sensei lifted his hand high, looked from Reed to Shay, and threw his hand down quickly as he shouted, “Hajime.” Begin.
In the seconds it took for Sensei to perform this ritual of civility before the blood letting, Taryn watched her birth mother’s jaw go rigid. The veneer of gentle-woman evaporated as an air of dangerousness settled over Reed like a fighter’s silken cape. The lack of any discernable emotion in Reed’s countenance was frightening in the way stepping over an unknown threshold in the dark and getting hit in the face with a body-sized spider’s web is frightening.
Before Taryn could exhale the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, Sensei’s hand dropped in what appeared to be slow-motion to her over stimulated brain. Shay hit Reed in the jaw with a punishing jab, snapped a front kick to her solar plexus and landed a brutal reverse punch before Reed fully squared off in her fighting stance. The ferocity of Shay’s attack stole Taryn’s next breath, crushing her chest.
Taryn didn’t realize she’d moved toward Reed until Sensei grabbed her arm, instantly stopping her with his grip and his command.
“Watch. Learn.” Sensei ordered, never taking his eyes from his sparring students. “Your mother is not an aggressive creature by nature. She had to learn to attack and still she waits. Attacking is not elemental for her. Reed has learned to respond with power and force, but even that’s taken decades of training. You don’t have that kind of time, Taryn.”
Sensei squeezed Taryn’s arm, not hurting her, but drawing her attention away from the ring. “It isn’t in your mother’s DNA to strike first. She’s not instinctively violent.” Sensei squeezed tighter when Taryn tried to look back at Reed, telling her he wasn’t just talking about her mother. “A violent response is exactly what Reed will need to walk out of that ring. She will walk out. Being carried out isn’t an option for that woman. Watch and learn. This is your final lesson-”
He smiled to himself and let her arm go, returning his attention to the ring.
“-for now.”
Sensei Schwartz wasn’t calling points or issuing warnings to watch your control as he would have for any normal sparring match. This wasn’t normal, this savagery was being done to teach her a lesson. She’d have shot the lot of them had she been armed. If any of them thought this was less painful than the twelve to fourteen hours a day of body battering she’d taken over the previous nine days, they could all go to hell and may Persephone have mercy on them, because she wasn’t going to anytime soon.
Hearing the sudden whoosh of air as Shay bridged the gap and hit Reed’s solar plexus again snapped something inside Taryn. He threw a rapid fire reverse punch at Reed’s delicate face, but she dodged left and that punch hit nothing but air. Then Reed was all over him. Left jab, right upper-cut, reverse punch combination, followed by a lead snap-kick to the groin and a roundhouse to the temple as soon as Shay moved back from her attack. He managed to block Reed’ groin kick but the roundhouse to his temple landed with a satisfyingly loud thud, momentarily stunning him.
“Yes.” Taryn said, making a fist.
Sensei grunted.
Shay staggered back. It was all the opening Reed needed. She was on him instantly, choking any response. His advantage was reach and Reed took that away when she moved into him.
Once Reed took the inside she was relentless. She moved in a flurry of movement, some of which Taryn could discern and some she couldn’t. Elbows and knees and palm heel strikes flowed in quick succession. Shay got a few punches in, but Reed was so close they didn’t have the force to push her away. Reed was like a wasp, repeatedly stinging her attacker, the cumulative effect taking its toll.
Reed pulled away just enough to hit Shay’s shoulder at the same time she swept his ankle. She got the angle just right and Shay dropped like two hundred pounds of lead at her feet, landing hard. Before he could roll away, Reed had a heel to his throat. If she stepped down, Shay would need an emergency tracheotomy to survive.
Taryn knew it. Shay knew it. The look of controlled menace on her face as Reed silently willed Shay to concede or die said she knew it too.
Sensei called, “Mate.” Stop.
And just like that, the warrior’s spirit left her mother’s face and Reed was helping Shay to his feet. Reed and Shay, both obviously winded, bowed formally to Sensei and then to each other before pounding fists with the same brutal force they’d used during the match. Then Shay picked Reed up, kissed her cheek and spun her around like a ragdoll, shocking the hell out of Taryn.
Reed giggled, hugging Shay back. Apparently all was forgiven, even with the bruised ribs and swollen jaw Reed was already sporting. This was what Sensei referred to as ‘Do’, the way. Taryn didn’t understand this kind of friendship, and she certainly didn’t have the grace or the willingness to forgive that it took to travel the path of ‘Do’. At this moment she didn’t give a Do-filled-damn.
Taryn shook her head, feeling sick and angry and out of place. She also felt scared for the first time in ten days. She didn’t belong here. She wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see the world the way these people did. They were all slightly mad. They fought fiercely. They loved fiercely. And they lived fiercely, with a quiet bravery Taryn respected, but didn’t understand. Maybe one day she would, but not today.
Today she took comfort in anger.
Reed and Shay were still congratulating each other on a good match, smiling, joking, in some sort of after-glow that set Taryn’s teeth on edge. As lessons went, this one cut deeper than Sensei, Reed or Shay could have foreseen. Taryn wouldn’t be forgiving any of them for it anytime soon.
A kind of red-hot fog enveloped Taryn as she made her way to Shay and Reed. Shay had a great big grin on his devil-may-care face as he said something to Reed that made her light up with obvious affection.
Taryn stepped between them. She saw Jesse in the doorway and wondered how long he’d been standing there. Did he care that his friend had tried to take their mother’s head off? Judging by his nonchalant stance and indulgent smile, as he looked at them, Taryn didn’t think it bothered him at all. She had nothing in common with Jesse in that moment because as sure as death and taxes it bothered her.
Reed cocked her head at Taryn quizzically as Taryn moved to block their way to the only exit. Shay had his right arm around Reed’s shoulders, sporting a grin that should grace the dictionary definition of ‘shit-eating’.
Until Taryn hit him, bare-knuckled in the center of his Jason-Statham-handsome face. Shay’s nose broke with a resounding crack. Blood sprayed the front of his sweat drenched t-shirt, Reed’s Triumph shirt, Taryn’s gi and the dojo floor. The man sure could bleed.
Satisfaction, primal and pounding thudded through Taryn. She suddenly understood the word ‘bloodlust’, her mind bypassing the ramifications as righteousness flooded her system.
She’d learned
quite a lot in the last five minutes. She learned she had no problem attacking given the right provocation. She learned hitting flesh bare-handed hurt the hitter as well as the recipient. She learned sometimes shedding blood was worth the pain. The deeper lessons she kept to herself, locked away in a spot she hoped would never see the light of day.
Taryn didn’t smile as Shay staggered back and howled in pain. She followed him, her voice deadly calm and apart from the tumult rolling inside her. “Don’t ever hit my mother in front of me again. If you do, I’ll find a way to really hurt you, and I won’t be using my fist.”
Taryn held her head high as she left the dojo floor without acknowledging any of its occupants further. Her mood was too precarious to stay. If anyone tried to stop her or teach her another ‘lesson’, there would be more bloodshed. That moment, Taryn didn’t care how much of her own she would have to part with to make it happen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“You didn’t even try to block.” Reed admonished Shay.
Jesse grabbed a towel from the bathroom, two bags of petite peas from the freezer he kept for just this sort of thing, and headed back to where his mother was fussing over her best friend. Jesse handed the damp towel and a bag of peas to Shay. He held the other bag to his mother’s jaw, grabbing her hand, making her hold it there. Reed was notorious for letting her own injuries go unattended and Jesse had enough on his plate without dealing with Jordon’s ire when he saw the swelling on his wife’s jaw.
“I guess all that gushing over each other after nearly killing one another was too much for Taryn.” Jesse’s sardonic tone wasn’t lost on Reed or on Shay. They each flushed, perhaps seeing how this must have looked to Taryn. “Still, did you have to let her break your nose? You know how much that’s going to hurt on the plane tomorrow?”
