Blood Oaths

by Stein Willard

  “You…you’re very sexy when you get like this.” Logan blinked wondering what had caused her to say it out loud. A soft throaty chuckle sounded that made her skin break out in goose bumps.

  “And to think that I am yours and yours alone to do with as you please.”

  Heat exploded in Logan’s stomach at hearing that. Manu gave her a hot look. “You will be so bad for my therapy.”

  “I know, but we will get through it.” Manu gave her hand a light squeeze. “Now I want you to hold on. I want to shake our tail so we can go and celebrate our engagement.”

  Logan’s grin was huge as she held on. This version of Manu was extremely appealing. She even liked the way she talked. She glanced at the side mirror, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She prayed that they could get rid of whoever was following them. She was incredibly turned on. Since their short break, Logan had not once been out to find relief. It struck her as funny that even though she was ‘single’ she had not once been tempted to go out and look for someone. That was when she realized that she did not want anyone else. She only wanted Manu.

  She felt the powerful car pick up speed and clung to her seat as Manu deftly steered the car across the three lanes. She closed her eyes when Manu began to weave the car between the slower moving vehicles.

  “I will have to revert to Plan B.” Manu gave her a quick glance. “I need to draw them out. Hold on.”

  The car suddenly swerved to the right, barely missing another car, and sped down an alley, hitting trashcans and spilling their contents. Manu looked up into the mirror and Logan saw a cold smile appear on her face. She suddenly swerved right and brought the car to a quick stop.

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  Before Logan could say anything, Manu’s long frame shot out of the car and moved behind it. In the back mirror she could see Manu drawing her gun and disappearing into the dark. For a brief second, she thought of following until she remembered that Manu had asked her to do as she said. She told her to stay in the car. The sudden ringing of a cell phone made her jump in her seat. Looking around, she saw the greenish screen of Manu’s phone through the pocket of her light jacket. She took it out and looked at the caller ID. It registered as UNKNOWN. Maybe she should not answer it, lest it was someone who was tracing the call. The persistent ringing did not stop and she decided to answer.

  “Uh…Hello.” There was silence on the other side. “Hello?”

  “Mystique?”

  Logan almost dropped the phone at the word and the voice. Oh my…oh my…oh my… It was that scary Japanese woman who threw a knife at her.

  “I need to talk to you urgently.”

  Why would the woman want to speak to Manu? From what she had seen, the two of them were not friends in the least.

  “Mystique, I know who set us up and why.”

  Curios, Logan cleared her throat. “She’s not here at the moment.”

  There was another silence and Logan knew now that it was caused by a time delay. “Ms Keppler, could you ask Mystique to call me back on the following number.”

  “Wait let me get a pen.” She looked around the dashboard but saw nothing. She took out her own phone from her pocket. “Give it to me.” Logan took the number.

  “It is important that she calls me tonight. I will have my phone with me.”

  “I will make sure she gets the message, Ms…uh…”

  “It’s Lulu. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Logan rang off and was still staring at the phone when it sounded again. She pressed the answer button.

  “Mist, it’s me. You need to clock in as soon as you can.”

  “Excuse me, who’s this,” Logan asked, but the line went dead. She stared at the phone. What was that all about? She shook her head slowly. This was like being in one of those action thrillers she watched as a teenager. If she had not been sitting in her car in a back alley with those weird conversations she just had with even weirder people, she would have thought she was dreaming. She was still staring at the phone when the driver’s door opened. With a shriek she dropped the phone.

  “Sorry about that, hon.” Manu said slightly out of breath.

  “Holy crap, Manu, you scared me. I thought—ˮ She did not get to finish the sentence, because Manu leaned over and took her mouth in a deep, hungry kiss. When the kiss ended, Logan blinked in surprise. Manu looked a little rumpled and flustered, but appeared to be okay.

  “Let’s go to the hotel,” Manu said in a husky voice. “I need you.”

  Logan felt her heart rate pick up at the words and promise in Manu’s dark voice. She leaned over to kiss Manu again, accepting her invitation when the phone call popped in her mind.

  “Oh no…we can’t,” she said whined softly.

  Manu cocked her head to the side. “Why not? Please don’t tell me your psychologist forbade us to—ˮ

  “No, it’s not that,” Logan interrupted quickly. “You’ve had two calls. Lulu called from Japan—ˮ

  Manu’s head cocked to the side. “Excuse me? Did you just say Lulu? As in Lulu Chen?”

  “Yes, she said to call her back on this number. She said that she knew who set you both up and why.” Logan held out her phone. “She said it was really urgent.”

  Manu took the phone and pushed her hand through her hair, causing it to stick up a little. Logan reached out and tried to flatten the short strands.

  “Then there was this other guy who called. He said you needed to clock in as soon as you can.”

  This time Manu reached for her phone and began to rapidly type on the keypad. Logan was eager to know what she was doing, but Manu had a look of intense concentration on her face. She scrolled up and down on her phone before looking up at her.

  “We need to keep moving. Can you take out my sim card and break it?” She started the car and pulled away with squealing tires.

  Logan broke the sim card and tossed it out of the window. She sat quietly waiting for Manu to speak. The brunette looked deep in thought.

  “Are you okay? What did that guy mean with clocking in? You’re not going to the agency, are you?”

  Manu looked at her and Logan swallowed at the cold look in the amber eyes. “My contact at the agency just sent me a message. We use a Clockmakers website to send encrypted messages.” Manu sighed. “He warned me to get out of town. The Director is trying to get rid of me. He sent two teams after me.” Manu gave her a sad look. “It seems we’re not going to get the chance to celebrate tonight.”

  Logan smiled and rubbed Manu’s knee. “Don’t worry about that. We’ll get to it soon enough.” The smile that came over Manu’s face warmed Logan’s heart. “You should call Lulu. It sounded urgent.”

  Manu nodded and immediately pulled over at a gas station.

  +++

  Tokyo, Japan

  Lulu hung up and turned to find Choko looking at her, nervously biting a nail. She put her phone into her shirt pocket and went to hug her wife.

  “Do you think she’ll come?” Choko’s voice sounded small and a little scared. Lulu hugged her closer.

  “We’ll know when she calls back. I spoke to her girlfriend and left a message.”

  Choko groaned softly. “Do you think she’ll forward the message? You tried to kill her, remember?”

  Lulu grimaced. She had forgotten about that. Thinking back, she realized from the silence at the beginning of their conversation that the woman had recognized her voice. She hoped the woman also cared about her partner the way Choko did about her and would want to help Mist out of this mess.

  “She sounded trustworthy enough.” Lulu knew her explanation sounded lame and so did Choko, because she pulled her head back to look up at her. “I think she will.”

  “I hope so too. Now all we need to do is wait and see if Mystique will call. Come on let’s go lie down for a while.”

  Lulu allowed her wife to pull her to the bedroom. She also did not complain when Choko began to undress her slowly. When they
were both naked, they crawled under the duvet and rolled into each other’s arms. They lay like that for a long time, the silence stretching. Choko was lying so still that Lulu thought she must have fallen asleep. She decided to let her wife rest for a while. All the stress Choko had been under lately was not good for her.

  After reading the file that Hitero brought her, Lulu had to admit that there was cause for concern. She was up against the third most powerful Yakuza clan. It was smaller than the others but quite competent. Their speciality was mostly extortion. For their niche they have groomed a large number of spies and assassins. The spies collected the dirt on their targets and the assassins make sure that the targets paid or they executed them

  It seemed that the director of some clandestine American black ops agency with strong government affiliations had been caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong crowd. The director had designs on a cushy government job. If the news leaked that he was using his team of assassins to moonlight for the brutal Nuevo drug cartel in Colombia, he would find himself trading in his expensive hand-made suits for prison orange. Another outcome was that he could end up under a thick dirt blanket somewhere in the Colombian jungle. He had to think hard and fast. He offered the Clan a foothold in the government, where more blackmail targets could be sourced, in exchange for all the material they had on him and his dealings. But first a pact had to be made as a sign of good faith. The Yakuza clan asked for the head of the best assassin in the American stable and the American asked the same from his soon-to-be Yakuza partner.

  The agreement was made and here she was fighting for her life with only three days left to a very important appointment her wife could not miss. How could one man’s greed throw the lives of so many people in disarray? She shuddered to think what would have happened had she been successful in killing Mystique’s partner. What would Mystique have planned for Choko? The mere thought of someone hurting her gentle wife, made her tighten her hold on her woman. She was so caught up her morose thoughts that she forgot to consider her strength.

  “Lulu…?” Choko grunted out and Lulu quickly gentled her hold, kissing Choko’s crown.

  “Forgive me, my darling. I was lost in thought.”

  The dark head lifted and warm brown eyes met hers. “It’s okay. I know you are calling Mystique here only to ease my fears. I also know that you do not particularly like or trust her. I want you to know however that I appreciate what you are doing and I love you very much.”

  Lulu smiled and kissed Choko. “I will do anything for you.”

  “I know and I promise not to abuse that gift.” Choko leaned over Lulu and pressed her lips against Lulu’s.

  The kiss was warm and soft, intended to sooth. But the moment Lulu felt Choko’s naked breast brush over her nipple, the kiss caught fire. Lulu rolled Choko over onto her back and used her knee to push her wife’s legs apart and pressed her hips down into the warm cradle of Choko’s thighs. She groaned into Choko’s mouth as she bumped into the warmth of her wife’s slit. It had always been this way with them. They got hot for each other at a moment’s notice.

  Lulu rolled her hips and sucked in her breath when Choko tore her lips away from hers and let out a long moan. She hooked her arms under Choko’s shoulders for leverage and began to roll and pump her hips, at the same time pulling her wife closer for better contact. She grunted when Choko pulled up her legs, opening herself up further for her thrusts. They were both so wet, the fiction causing their swollen clits to hit and miss, adding to their movements becoming more frenzied.

  “Oh, aiko, I love what you do to me,” Lulu groaned as she planted open mouth kisses in Choko’s sweaty neck. “Come for me, baby.” Lulu knew that Choko loved to hear her talk when they made love. A few suggestive words whispered in a low voice, very close to her ear always set Choko off. She was not disappointed when Choko began to pant as she bucked wildly. Her clit was growing harder against hers and then Choko erupted.

  Eager to join her wife, Lulu grabbed Choko’s small hips and began to thrust harder into her. A shrill sound pierced through the sex mad haze and they both groaned at the interruption. Choko was the first to realize who their caller could be. She pushed away from Lulu as she dove for the phone where she had left it on the nightstand when she had undressed Lulu. She held it out to Lulu. Still reeling from their lovemaking and aching badly for release, Lulu cleared her throat and answered the phone.

  “Yes”

  “I’m returning your call.”

  “Mystique.” Lulu saw Choko punch her fists in the air. “If you give me a secure e-mail address, I will scan and send you some documents that you might find very interesting.”

  There was a short silence. “You’re not yanking my chain, are you? Because if you do, you know it will not end well.”

  Lulu rolled her eyes. “You are thousands of kilometres away, American. What makes you think your threats hold any weight?” Lulu risked a glance at Choko and met with a deadly stare from her wife. “But that is not why I called you.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “We were both sacrificed by our bosses for a deal to keep your leader’s underhanded dealings quiet. The Yakuza clan he is hoping to go into partnership with has offered to sacrifice me in return as an act of good faith to secure their end of the bargain.” Lulu cleared her throat. “I need your help to get to the Yakuza clan boss.”

  This time the silence was longer. “I’m surprised you should think I would help you.”

  Lulu looked at Choko and saw the hopeful look on her face. The bile she felt rising at Mystique’s words, settled immediately. “I thought you would help, because the man who ordered the hit on your lover is here in Tokyo and will be hiding here until you are taken care of in America.” Lulu looked at her wife, who kneeling on the bed naked, looked utterly gorgeous. “I will need help to get through the Clan’s assassins.”

  “When do you want me there?”

  It was only due to the strict training she had undergone as an assassin that kept Lulu from expelling a relieved breath. “I want all this wrapped up before Wednesday.”

  There was a long silence again. “That’s in three days. What’s happening on Wednesday that can’t wait?”

  “My wife has a doctor’s appointment and I need to be there.”

  Lulu was startled when soft laughter floated over the speaker.

  “Well, it’s good to know who wears the pants in Japanese households. I will leave tonight. We’ll miss a whole day, but I hope you will do your homework in the meantime. You should…”

  Lulu heard a broken conversation on the other end. When she caught Choko’s questioning look, she simply shrugged.

  “Uhm…I’m bringing my fiancée. It’s her plane.”

  Lulu smirked at hearing that. “It seems Japanese households are not that much different from American ones.”

  “See you tomorrow night.”

  Lulu ended the call and walked over to the bed. She waited until Choko had crawled over her body. “She will be here tomorrow night.”

  Choko shrieked and covered Lulu’s face with kisses. “Thank you, Lulu, thank you so much.”

  Lulu grinned and slapped the shapely bottom. “I should thank you for looking out for me.”

  “That’s my job as your wife.” The good news seemed to have kick-started her wife’s sex drive again. Choko gave her a dark sexual look. “I believe, as your wife, I neglected to take care of you earlier.”

  Lulu inhaled deeply as the hunger pulsed back to life. “I was hoping you would see it that way.”

  +++

  Washington, DC

  “I will have to make a quick call. The Gulfstream is always on standby. You can drive us to the airport in the meantime.”

  “Sure thing, boss,” Manu said with a teasing smile and started the car. Her smile broadened when Logan looked up from her phone with a slow smile on her lips. “I love it when you’re in your CEO/Chairman mode.”

  Logan lowered the phone.
“Can’t you wait until we’re on the plane and locked away in the bedroom before you say things like that? At this rate you’ll ruin my expensive underwear.”

  Manu leaned over for a quick kiss. “Who says that’s not part of my strategy? That way you would have to go without any panties for the duration of the flight.” Manu pulled into traffic when she saw a gap.

  Logan had her phone to her ear, but was laughing softly. “For you, I’ll go naked for the eleven-hour flight. But I should let you know that I always have a few sets of clothes on the plane. I can’t afford to arrive at a meeting all rumpled, now can I.”

  Manu nodded. “No wonder you’re the business whiz kid of the last two decades. You’re frighteningly smart.”

  Logan held up her hand apologetically and had a brief conversation with her pilot. Ending the call, she briskly rubbed Manu’s knee. “Bagging you was my biggest accomplishment.”

  Manu swallowed as her throat was constricted by emotions. “You too, honey.”

  “Good to hear, babe. The pilot was still at the airport doing his routine check on the plane. We’re flying out as soon as we get there.”

  “Wow! You guys are efficient.”

  “That’s why we make the big bucks. We have contingency plans in place for almost everything.”

  Manu gave her a wink. “For everything?”

  Logan giggled and Manu thought that it was the sexiest giggle she had ever heard. “I said ‘almost’, silly.”

  “Ah, that’s true.”

  They rode in silence for a while until Logan spoke again. “What do you think might be wrong with Lulu’s wife? It must be something very serious if she wants to do this before her wife’s appointment.”

  Manu shrugged. She had been pleasantly surprised when the Japanese woman had admitted her commitment to her wife. That had taken the wind out of her sails. She knew what it felt like to live this morbid, lonely life. If there was a chance for happiness, they all grabbed at it with both hands. She was lucky to have found someone like Logan who was willing to take her as is. She reached out and took Logan’s hand.