Red Satin Lips (2 page)

She had never been so pissed. She knew she was going to break her promise to Lars and Gage and she wished she was in her little cabin in Ohio with Lydia. Opening her eyes, Tamara took a deep breath when she heard Lydia’s hiss.

“You know they’re going to be furious?” Lydia said, plopping down on one of her recliners.

She looked at the fireplace and it roared to life. “I don’t give a shit. I’ve done everything they’ve asked, but they didn’t keep their promise. They lied,” she said the last word, plopping down on her sofa and tried to rub the ache out of her arm.

Her friend noticed and came over, sitting next to her. “Let me see.”

With a deep breath, Tamara removed her sweater and they both gasped at the dark mark on her arm. “No wonder it still hurts. Think it’s broken?” Tamara frowned and moved her arm around. “If it was, it’s not anymore. It’s slowly healing, but boy he has a grip.”

“I’m sorry about this Tamara. I never guessed he’d hurt you. I’m still trying to figure out why all the hostility. I mean everything was fine when we were in Florida, but when I showed up last week, I could feel the anger and it was all centered around you.” She laid her head back and looked at the ceiling. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Trevor Cooper has always been a fair man, his father can be a righteous prick sometimes, but he is still a good man.”

They both sat there listening to the fire crackle for a few minutes. “I have no problem with Angeline. As a matter fact, she is amazing. She and my mom get along great. You know, even my father has been acting like a jerk. Hell, for that matter, all the men are being jerks.”

“I’m surprised Lars and Gage aren’t here yet.” Lydia frowned.

“They think I’m still in the castle. Why should I tell them where I’m at, anyway? We’ll go back there in a couple of hours. I just want to rest without having to worry about anyone coming at me. I won’t stand his mom up. I promised to help her with the Valentine’s Eve party and I won’t let her down. We do need to find out who these guys are and since it looks like I’m not going to have any help, I’m counting on you.” She glanced over at Lydia, who nodded.

“You know I’ll help. Later on you can show me where you heard them in the tunnels, but you’re right. It does feel feels good to rest here without all the pompous going on at the house. I hate when all the ancients are around, everyone starts acting like dick heads. Oh…I’m-more- powerful-than-you kind of crap.” She laughed. “Last year, Lars' uncle was such a jerk that one of the women got tired of it and dumped a whole punch bowl on top of his head. Needless to say, the men shut up and stopped all their posturing for the rest of their stay there.”

She sighed, knowing Lars and Gage were on their way. “We have company.” Tamara nodded to her men as they appeared in the room.

****

They knew where Tamara had gone the minute she disappeared and Lars had allowed it. He was so furious at his father and her’s, that he didn’t want her around for the next few minutes. Next to him, Gage simmered with anger, his beast close to the front.

He turned to his father first. “I have respected you all my life, but today you have stepped over that boundary.” Lars took a deep breath and a quick glance at his mother, but he would not back down this time. “After the party, we are leaving. If you ever lay a finger on our woman and hurt her again…you will never see us again.””

He shifted his attention to Michael. “Do you know how badly your words hurt her? The fact that that you missed so much of her life would make us think that you would help her with the transition, but you haven’t. We will not be staying here in this house. If you need us, you know how to contact me, but I won’t have her life in danger, because all of you are more concerned about this stupid power play. I never could stomach it and I won’t anymore.” Lars stepped into his father’s personal space.

“If Tamara or my grandfather are hurt because you refuse to see this threat as real…”

“Lars…” His mother stepped forward, placing her hand on his arm. “Where is Tamara?

“She’s safe, no one needs to know where she is, but I know Tamara will be here for you when it’s time. She loves you. I wanted to thank you for going out of your way.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek as did Gage.

“I don’t say much, but Lars is right,” Gage said. “You have done much to help her and she loves you very much. We should go, she was really upset. Plus, I think we need to see where she was earlier.”

“Wait,” Michael, her father, stepped forward. “I would like to go with you. I need to apologize and I want to help with this threat. I didn’t see the room.” He shook his head. “I just assumed it was someone playing their power trip games like they do every year. You remember when they’d placed all those snakes in my room?”

Gage snarled next to him. “This has to stop. What if some innocent had stumbled into your room last year? You’re protected, but there are many servants around us who aren’t. I’m glad we won’t be in this house. I’ve hated staying here during this week,” Gage snapped. “It’s a bunch of old shits acting like children.” Gage turned to Lars. “I’m going to gather our things and send them to the house. I’m also calling in the team. If there is a kill order out on Tamara I want it taken care of now so we don’t’ have to worry about it when we move.”

“Go, let me know when you’re finished. I want to see what I can gather that isn’t ruined in there,” Lars stepped back into the room and took a deep breath, but he couldn’t smell anything.

“Whoever was here has the gift of hiding their scent or any other scents. It’s like everything has been wiped clean.” Her father walked over to the mirror. “Even in the handwriting, you can’t tell if it is female or male who is threating. The Black Widow could be a female, but then there was the one male in…Libya.” He turned to see Alton come into the room.

“No, it was in Iran that we finally caught him. He murdered over three hundred of our kind before we found him.: His grandfather came into the room and looked around. “Your father is taking care of the meetings from now on. I’ve also informed the others the games will stop. I’m sorry Lars, your father knows they made a mistake. I’ve also suggested maybe next year we need to move this party to a hotel or something. To have this threat in one’s own home is too much and your mother has dealt with it long enough.”

Lars gathered a suitcase and started putting her clothes in it. “So you believe that there is a threat to Tamara and that this wasn’t a joke?”

“No, our men might be crazy and stupid, but they would never touch another’s personal property and threaten a woman. I was there for your wife's test, Lars. She would not lie about this. I’d like to go with you when you speak with her?”

Lars shook his head. “No, we’ll bring Tamara back here, she can show us where she heard this conversation in the tunnels and we can go from there, but I’d rather no one knows where she is right now, just in case. I’m sorry, but for right now we’ll keep our location from everyone.” Lars looked up, seeing Gage. “If you’ll excuse us, we’ll meet you back here in an hour.”

Appearing in the small cabin, Lars looked around and nodded. “I like it. It’s simple and quaint. Lydia, why don’t you go pack your belongings? You can take the bedroom upstairs on the right. Gage is also calling in the team. We’ll be staying here, but making trips back to my parents’ house when we need to.” He looked over at Lydia as Gage appeared in the room. “Oh, and Lydia, no one is to know where this place is located.”

She nodded and disappeared from the room.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” Lars asked Tamara. “I know you like the snow and I see you have a few acres here.” Lars held out his hand as he and Gage waited.

“You’re not going to yell at me?” Tamara asked as she stepped up between the both of them.

He leaned down and kissed her lips, softly. “No. We knew about this place and it’s secure enough. Plus, you needed to get away. I’m just sorry this had to happen. I won’t make excuses for my father, but I want to apologize for not stopping him. I was just so shocked he did that…” Lars looked over at Gage.

“Lars is right, his father has never hurt anyone. This is so unlike him.” He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck. “I would like to apologize too. No matter what, I should have stopped him and I didn’t. I won’t let you down again, I promise.”

Looking down at the ground, Tamara sighed. “Have I been a total bitch at your folks’ house? I mean, do you think I’ve been rude to people there?: She looked at him and then at Gage.

“Why would you even say that? Of course you haven’t.” Lars lifted her hand up and kissed the top of it, sensing her insecurity.

“I’ve just heard a few people saying things. I’m really trying, Lars. It’s just hard to be around so many people when it’s only been mom and me.” She covered herself in a winter coat, boots, gloves and hat.

“Sweetheart, believe me, you’ve done nothing wrong. You have to understand that these men are old, very old and set in their ways, I’m afraid.” He took her hand as Gage took the other one, stepping out into the frosty air.

“I haven’t done this in a while. I’ve forgotten how cold it can get.” He shook and changed his clothes to jeans, boots, and a winter coat as did Gage.

“Wow, you are actually wearing jeans?” She teased and bumped his shoulder and he laughed.

“Yes, I wear jeans and you know it.” He squeezed her hand as they stepped into the woods following a path. Behind them three of their team were following them while the rest of the team scoped out their surroundings and the house.

“So tell us what happened this morning?” Gage asked as he pushed a branch out of the way so she could walk through.

“I wanted to explore the tunnels I found the other day, so I finished my breakfast and I didn’t have anything else to do, so I grabbed the flashlight and took off. It’s amazing in there. I didn’t even get through half of the tunnels. The one I was going though was going down though, so I have no idea where it was, but I did mark my way so I could get back.”

With each step they took, Lars and Gage touched her, keeping her focus on what she had been doing that morning. “Remember you have both Gage and me inside you now. Stop, take a look around you. What do you see, smell, and hear?” Lars halted their movement. “Close your eyes and visualize yourself there. We want you to remember everything. Nothing is too small.:

She took a deep breath, nodded and closed her eyes. “I’m in the closet.” Tamara smiled. “I was thinking of what a good place to hide my dress from you two as I grabbed the flashlight I put there yesterday. After making sure it worked, I reached up and turned the latch to open the door.”

“What does it smell like when you first open the door?” Gage encouraged her.

Flicking her wrist, Tamara frowned. “I see spider webs all on the walls, but none are across the path where you walk. There is a musty scent, but not like you would smell if the tunnels hadn’t been opened.” She sucked in her breath and looked up at him. “I don’t know why I didn’t notice this, but on the floor there should have been dust on the black tar paper, but there was nothing, as if it had been cleaned away.”

“That’s good, but keep going,” Lars encouraged her to continue. The thought of someone watching her dress and undress had his inner demon pressing to get out. He knew for a fact that Gage was having the same thought as Lars watched his hands turn to weapons and back.

“I have a glow –in-the-dark marker in my pocket to mark the walls so I know my way back. So before I start off, I close my door and mark it.” She frowns and looks down at her hand. “There is no dust on the switch out there, but that could have been from me finding it the day before, but I didn’t close it from outside…Anyway, I traveled for about five minutes until I came to an intersection. I could go straight, right or left.” Tamara frowned and cocked her head to the side.

“On the left path, there is a fine sheet of dust, but if I was to go straight there was no dust, to the right no dust. Others have been in the tunnels. I turn to the right, wanting to start there first. I mark the wall in both sections and proceed. I can feel I’m going down slowly, I smell food. Chili I think and I hear the whispers of the staff talking.” Tamara looked up at Gage.

“It seems you have an admirer among the cooking team. The girl is going on and on about how hot you looked this morning when you and Lars left.” She peaked at him and he grinned.

“I have only one woman and I love her dearly.” Gage kissed the top of her head and she snorted. “I think I need to talk to the kitchen staff and my feet are getting cold. Maybe we should go back to the house and finish this.” She stuffed her hands into her pockets and he nodded.

He lifted her into his arms. “We’ll be there in a minute.” Lars put on the speed, knowing Gage was right beside them.

“You know I could have walked.” She snuggled closer to him and kissed his chest.

“Then I wouldn’t get to feel your body against mine. Where would the fun be in that?” Lars laughed almost slipping on the ice when Gage caught him from behind.

She laughed and screamed, holding on tighter. “Watch what you’re doing, crazy man. You’re lucky Gage was here with us or you’d be on your ass right now.” She teased and he loved every minute of it, but stopped before entering the cabin.

Lowering her to the ground, Lars placed her behind him. “
Gage, do you smell that?”

“Run!” Gage yelled, grabbing onto Tamara and tearing back towards the woods when seconds later her little house blew up sending all three of them to the ground with the force of the explosion.

Her small cry had him lifting his head. A piece of wood stuck out of the back of Tamara’s shoulder and her leg was torn open from what looked like glass. The demon inside him burst forward and released a scream that he knew could be heard for miles.

Chapter Two

Once more pain radiated through her body. She was so tired of being attacked, but that was all forgotten when she heard the horrifying snarl behind her.

Her ears hurt as whatever it was screamed so loud it shook some snow off the trees around them. Turning her head to glance over her shoulder, Tamara couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was Lars, but it wasn’t. “Umm, someone care to tell me what’s going on? Other than the fact my house is gone and I have a piece of wood sticking out of my back?”