Nuworld: Claiming Tara (27 page)

Tara parked behind the house. Tara gave Syra a quick tour
of the home and showed her where her bedroom would be.
She gave her old room to the girl, knowing Hilda wouldn’t
mind. After
Syra seemed
somewhat familiar
with her
surroundings, Tara decided to put her to the test and
announced she was going to take a short ride and would be
back in a few hours.
“Reach me on the comm for any reason.” She made Syra
promise then left her playing on the nursery floor with the
twins.
Her bike felt so good underneath her. She revved up the
motor then took off toward town. Darius wasn’t answering
his comm so she decided she would go look for him. It had
entered her mind, while she was showing Syra around, that
she would now be able to spend more time with him. She
wasn’t sure where he was at the moment and hadn’t taken
time before leaving the house to track him on her landlink.
After driving through Bryton, she wondered if he was out
joyriding, too.
Tara rode around town, taking her time and enjoying the
aroma of blooming flowers. It was fun riding through the
trees, weaving in and out of the brush. Once she hit the
open meadow, she pushed her bike and flew at speeds
she’d only dreamed about over the past winter.
Instinctively she headed for the back hills, to the cliff
where Darius had taken her on their first motorcycle ride,
where the twins had been conceived. Now it was her
favorite spot, as well. She imagined Darius standing at the
edge of the cliff overlooking his reign, lost in thought. She
would sneak up on him, giving her Runner skills a muchneeded workout.
Tara smiled, deciding she would take him right there
and make
love
to
him.
Their
lovemaking
was often
interrupted or hurried since their children had been born.
They were way past due for some incredible foreplay and
heated sex. She drove faster, skillfully dodging the ruts in
the earth, enjoying her thoughts.
She bypassed the rugged rocky road leading up the hill,
knowing the motorcycle would make too much noise going
over the rocks. It was a slow climb riding around the jagged
rocks and through tall grass but she enjoyed it. Her heart
leapt when she spotted Darius’ bike close to where she’d
imagined it would be. Tara parked a fair distance before the
trees ended and climbed off her bike. The excited pounding
of her heart soon changed when she heard voices.
“Why did you bring me here, my lord?” a female voice
said. “It would be nice if you would have me in a bed.”
Tara almost tripped over a loose branch before she
dropped to the ground and crawled through the grass. She
couldn’t believe what she just heard. Images of Darius’
face, so full of love and concern throughout her labor,
appeared in her mind. He had repeatedly told her she was
beautiful even though she was pregnant with twins.
After the twins were born, he’d not once complained that
he had to wait to make love while her body mended. She
had hated rushing through their love making when the
babies started to fuss. Not a day went by, though, when he
hadn’t told her that he loved her.
The pain that burned up her insides as she watched her
claim through the trees was unlike any pain she had ever
experienced in her life.
“Shouldn’t a lord’s mistress enjoy better comforts than
this?””
Tara saw the woman now. She was facing Darius. He
wasn’t looking at the woman, or in Tara’s direction, but
staring toward the cliff.
Her heart seemed to stop beating. She couldn’t breathe.
The air had turned to poison.
He was with another woman.
How could this be? He’d given no indication he was
having an affair. Her blood boiled inside her as she listened
to the conversation. The pain she’d initially felt hardened
inside her and turned to raging fury.
“Don’t presume you’re anything that merits a title,”
Darius said.
Tara saw the woman’s face, or better yet, the girl’s face,
no – the
whore’s
face! She was young - too young - more
than likely not even twenty winters. Her long reddishblonde hair fell in a mass of curls down her back. Tara was
sure she would vomit. The little tramp was beautiful and
looked nothing like Tara.
She
watched
in violated
shock
as the
girl began
undressing in front of Darius. She was experienced; Tara
guessed she’d undressed in front of men before, seducing
them with a toss of her long hair. And the way she played
with each button before releasing it! It was disgusting,
revolting. She let her dress fall to the ground. Then she
reached for Darius’ shirt.
Tara was horrified. Every inch of her began to tremble.
She couldn’t make herself stop shaking as her fury became
too much.
The whore placed her hand on Darius, and he didn’t
stop her. The man showed no apparent emotion, but he let
the whore touch him and didn’t make a move to prevent
her. His gaze appeared to rest somewhere other than the
whore’s face.
Tara squeezed her eyes closed, momentarily refusing to
accept the fact that Darius, her man, her claim, allowed
the whore to playfully pull at his shirt until it released from
his pants.
He placed his hands on her breasts.
Tara grew livid.
“You’ll have me, my Lord, won’t you?” The whore ran her
hands up Darius’ chest underneath his loosened shirt.
Tara flew off the ground and ran into the open. “No, he
will not!”
Every muscle in her body spasmed; she feared she might
collapse in front of Darius while the disgusting whore still
had her hand on his chest. Tara’s legs felt mechanical, but
they didn’t fail her. She pulled her laser free from where it
had rested at her hip and aimed it at the woman. The
woman screamed and tried to cover her naked body with
her arms.
Completely taken off guard, Darius dropped his hands
from the woman’s breasts and stepped back.
“Get dressed and get out of here,” Tara ordered, her
laser still aimed at the girl.
Darius put his hands out in front of him, his palms
facing Tara. “Tara, don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
“Why not? You have.”
The blood boiling in her veins showed right through her
eyes. Tara saw red dots popping in her vision. She was on
anger overload. The fury was too powerful to control. She
shot a venomous look at the whore who was frantically
trying to
get
her
dress back
on.
Tara felt
a warped
satisfaction that the bitch’s body shook so violently she
could hardly dress.
“Don’t bother with the dress, bitch.” The snarl coming
out of Tara was absolutely evil. “Just run. Run naked! Let
the whole world see you for the fucking whore you are.”
The woman froze and stared at Tara in absolute horror.
Darius started moving slowly to Tara.
“Run!” Tara screamed and raised her gun to the
woman’s head.
Now the woman screamed and with dress in hand took
off toward the trees.
Tara’s body didn’t move when she fired the laser,
sending the whore’s naked body flying into the trees.
Darius lunged at Tara.
She dodged his attack and turned her laser on him,
forcing him to a dead stop.
“Tara! Put it down.”
“Don’t speak to me. I don’t need words to add to the
scene I just witnessed.” She pointed the gun at his head.
“Put down your weapon. It’s done.”
“You won’t get out of this that easily.” Tara breathed in
gulps of air, as if she’d just run up the side of the hill.
He looked at her, not saying a word.
She stood there thinking for a minute. Her hand was too
steady. The laser didn’t budge from its target.
“Please then, my lady, put down the laser.”
Tara noticed something she hadn’t seen in Darius
before: fear. The recognition of the emotion seemed to also
allow her to witness every other fault the man possessed.
She cocked her head and studied Darius, as if truly seeing
him for the first time. She lowered her arm.
Darius exhaled noticeably.
Tara watched him. She saw Darius with unyielding
clarity at that moment—as if every trait, character defect,
every emotion that made the man who he was, had been
labeled clearly on him for her appraisal. Tara didn’t see
good looks, she didn’t see sex appeal, and there was no
hint of the magnificent warrior. What she saw was a man,
impure and tainted, and she wasn’t impressed.
Intentionally and with premeditation, Tara raised her
laser again and felt a calming satisfaction as his eyes
widened, and his lips parted. Then without hesitating, she
shot him in the foot.
He went down on one knee and grabbed the bleeding
foot with both hands.
“I am no longer your lady.” She turned and walked away.
Bile churned within her, and sudden spasms made her
muscles quiver,
but
she
managed
composure.
Darius
wouldn’t see her break from his deed. She wouldn’t give
him the satisfaction of seeing how he had affected her.
“Tara, where are you going? Come back here.”
She heard the pain in his voice, but wasn’t sure if it was
from being shot, having been caught, or having heard her
last words. So much anger and pain racked her entire body
that she could no longer speak. She passed his bike and
headed to the forest. On impulse, she turned and shot the
motor out of his bike.
“Tara, you can’t leave.”
That was the last she heard him say. She ran. Reaching
her bike, she climbed on and destroyed the ground and
most of the foliage surrounding it as she spun around and
put distance between her and the life-destroying scene.
Her fury surpassed any pain she might otherwise have
felt. The horrific scene kept repeating itself in her head.
How he had betrayed her! Shit, the woman was no more
than a girl. How could he have done something like this to
her, to them, to the twins, their new family? He’d brought
that tramp to their magical spot. Did the man have no
heart, no soul?
As she rode toward the house, she began to wonder how
long he’d been unfaithful. She remembered the words Mikel
had spoken before Darius had killed him. They haunted
her.
Anger so intense she shook from it coursed through her.
She couldn’t go back to the house in this condition.
Tara rode to the Blood Circle Clan, intent upon talking
to Patha. She would leave with him. There was no reason to
stay here.
Darius had
been unfaithful,
and
he
had
destroyed their love.
Tears burned her eyes as she drove. No, he was no
longer a lord, not in her eyes. He didn’t deserve any title of
respect. He was Darius, a Gothman, and she’d been fooled
into believing he actually thought more of her than he did
anyone else.
Her bike slid to a stop in front of Patha’s trailer. She
jumped off and pulled open the trailer door with a force
fueled by the fury wreaking havoc inside her body. Patha
was sitting at the table talking to Reena and stood with a
start, reaching for his laser, as the door to his trailer flew
open.
Tara noticed his surprised expression and knew no one
entered his trailer without knocking. She stopped in front
of the two of them and yanked the door shut behind her.
She was shaking and knew her face was stained from
splattering dirt and tears.
“Child, what’s wrong?” Reena spoke first as she too
hurried to her feet and rushed around the table.
Tara’s body now shook uncontrollably, and tears fell so
rapidly she barely saw her parents standing in front of her.
She tried to speak, but instead savage sobs came out. She
gave up and fell into the nearest chair, holding her head in
her hands as she cried.
“Tara, control yourself.” Reena wrapped her arms
around Tara. “What has happened? How can we help if you
don’t talk to us?”
Patha sat in the chair next to them.
“Something has happened. It’s awful. Awful. I just…just
can’t believe it.”
“What? Has someone been hurt? The children? Lord
Darius?” Patha asked each question with increasing alarm
deepening his voice.
“I found,” Tara tried to say the words that would only
cause her more pain. “I mean I saw—” She stopped talking
and took a deep breath.
Now that she was here, with both her parents looking on
with incredible worry, she wasn’t sure she could voice the
words. She’d have to describe what she’d witnessed and
renew her shame, and the betrayal. Saying the words out
loud would make it all final, as if otherwise, if she remained
silent it might all go away.
“Say it quickly, child.” Reena saw the pain in her
daughter’s face and no matter how much she wiped the
tears, more followed.
Tara gave up on trying to focus. If her world remained
blurred so might the truth. If she told Patha and Reena
that she and Darius had a terrible fight they would believe
her. Darius would never enlighten either of them with the
truth. He would also see it as a license to do it again. If
Tara took care of covering up his unforgivable act, Darius
might think it a crime with no true consequences.
Suddenly she saw how women stayed with men who
were unfaithful. Some might think that no other man
would have them. Tara wasn’t a beaten, or defeated soul.
But her thoughts did stray toward trying to fix the matter.
If she didn’t tell anyone but instead dealt with Darius on
her own, the matter would go away.
That
would
simply be
lying to
herself. It wasn’t a
healthy, or honorable way to live. If not for herself, she
definitely wouldn’t exist that way for her children.
“I found Darius with another woman.” She quit crying as
an incredible numbing sensation crept over her. “I heard
them talking…and she was…she was naked. Darius has
taken a mistress.”
“Oh child, no.” Reena wrapped her arms around Tara.
“I’m so sorry.”
Patha leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms,
but didn’t speak.
Tara wanted more of a reaction, and decided to keep
talking since she’d been able to get out the ugliest of the
words.
“I went out looking for him.” Her eyes moved from one to
the other. “I found him all right. The dishonourable man