Touching Rune (10 page)

Sergei watched as the man he considered to be his brother kissed Rune. The sight turned him on until he thought he would explode. He ran his hands down along her sides until he could cup her ass.

Soon,
he thought.
Soon, this will be mine.

Dimitri reluctantly broke the kiss, breathing heavily before he pulled back. He gazed down into Rune’s upturned face. He was amazed when he saw his fingers were actually trembling as he traced the curve of her cheek.

“I was afraid you had disappeared,” he admitted in a husky voice. “We looked for you. Where did you go?”

Rune’s lips curved upward in a rueful smile. “You have a very big home. It is easy to get lost in,” she replied before looking away. “Micha explained that you weren’t… he explained some things I didn’t understand. I’m sorry I accused you and Sergei of trying to make me…”

Dimitri laid his fingers against her lips. “We never thought of you as such,” he responded firmly. He glanced over her head at Sergei. “Isn’t that right, Sergei?”

“Never,
маленький огонь
,” Sergei said.

Rune glanced over her shoulder with a frown. “You two keep calling me things I don’t understand,” she complained. “What does,
малень… малень
… what does that word mean?” She demanded.

“
маленький огонь
means ‘little fire’,” Sergei replied with a smile.

“Then what does ‘
малышка’
mean,” Rune asked, stumbling over the unusual word.

“
малышка
means ‘little one’,” Dimitri said.

Rune shook her head in confusion. “I’m not that little, you
know. My father…,” her voice faded. “I need to ask you something very important.”

Rune pulled away from the two men who were confusing her more and more. They kissed her and said she was theirs but she knew that could never happen. In all the previous lives since her death the first time, she had never been tempted. Of course, the only men she ever encountered before were either not interested in her in that way or trying to kill her.

And usually very successful at it,
she thought ruefully as she brushed her hand over her stomach as she thought of Randolph.

She walked toward the beautiful Christmas rose, stopping to touch the soft petals. She sighed heavily. She had never told anyone about who or what she was before. She had never had a need to but something told her she didn’t have the time to waste trying to figure out what was going on.

What did it matter anyway?
She thought as the petal fell off into her hand. She wrapped her fingers around it and held it to her heart.
Why does it hurt so much to think of leaving them? I have never cared before. Is it because I know that this will be the last time?
She wondered, puzzled.

“What do you want to ask us?” Dimitri said, coming to stand next to her.

Rune looked up at Dimitri before glancing at Sergei whose expression had suddenly closed up, as if he knew he wasn’t going to like what she had to say. She turned away from the rose bush and walked toward the center platform where she had originally appeared.

Sergei’s muttered expletive filled the air as he saw the empty area where the statue had been set. He and Dimitri hadn’t come this far when they had come to the atrium earlier. They had checked the small office and called out before turning to search the rest of the rooms.

“Where did it go?” He muttered, climbing the steps and turning in a circle in the empty area. “Where is the statue?”

Rune started to climb the steps but found herself suddenly trapped in Dimitri’s arms. His eyes flashed in warning as he scanned the empty space. His arms tightened as a shiver of apprehension coursed through him.

“Don’t,” he hissed quietly in her ear. “I don’t want you to go up there. You must promise me that you will not.”

Rune leaned her head back with a puzzled frown. “Nothing will happen if I go up there. It isn’t time for me to go,” she stated looking back at the platform.

“What do you mean ‘It is not time for you to go’?” Dimitri demanded turning her around in his arms and gripping her forearms tightly in his huge hands. “When do you think it will be time for you to go?”

Sergei stepped down the steps, stopping on the last one as he frowned down at her. “Where will you go?”

Rune bit her lip as she turned her gaze back and forth between the two men. She felt like a child’s ball being tossed back and forth. She finally jerked backwards and stepped away so she could think clearly. Her eyes went to the empty platform then the two men before settling on the crushed petal in her hand.

“I’ve never told anyone about me,” she began softly, not looking at them. “It was never necessary, or wise,” she added with a rueful curve to her lips. “I had already been accused of being a witch once and that was because I fought against the wrong man.” She looked up at both men and grinned. “The bishop died a much more brutal death than I did that time. Lord Rathbone struck an arrow through my heart so that I would not feel the flames.”

“What?” Dimitri whispered in shock.

“I had saved his beloved daughter from the bishop who had designs on not only her but the wealth and power of her father. He considered himself above the law,” Rune murmured as she looked at the petal again. “He accused me of being a witch and ordered that I be burned at the stake when I confronted him. The villagers were afraid to stand up to him. He used brute force and his small group of cutthroats to control the area. Lord Rathbone had been away and returned in time to regain control with his army. He had the support of the King. I was thankful I did not live long enough to feel the flames,” she murmured distractedly.

“You think you have died before?” Sergei asked hoarsely.

“I have died many times before,” Rune said looking up into Sergei’s dark brown eyes.

“You said it was not time for you to go yet,” Dimitri said. “Do you know when the next time will be? You never said where you will go?”

Rune closed her fists and wrapped her arms around her stomach. She suddenly felt cold, alone. She walked over to the bench and sat down on it. She bowed her head for several minutes before she lifted it.

“I only have a short time,” she replied in a low voice. “A few weeks at most. I don’t know where I will go,” she whispered in a strained voice. “I don’t think… I don’t think I will be coming back again. I think this time will be my last time.”

“What do you mean, your last time?” Sergei ground out, running his hand over the back of his neck in aggravation. “None of this is making sense? You expect us to believe you have lived and died many times? How many? Where? How can you expect us to believe this nonsense?”

Rune felt a rush of anger sweep through her. She was opening her soul to him and he didn’t believe her! She turned her gaze to Dimitri’s face and saw the doubt mixed with reserve on his face, as if he wanted to believe her but couldn’t.

“Fine,” she snapped, standing up. “Forget it! I made it all up. I came here on my own for my own nefarious plans. Obviously it won’t work so if you will excuse me, I think it is time I left.”

Sergei’s eyes narrowed on her flushed cheeks and defiant eyes. “And what were your plans?” He asked in an icy voice.

“To… to steal the statue from you,” she declared waving her hand toward the platform. “Which I have done!” She said in bitter triumph.

Dimitri’s mouth tightened as he glanced back at the platform before turning his gaze to Sergei’s closed expression. His heart felt heavy as he realized that made more sense than what Rune had said at first. They had paid two million dollars for the statue. Had something else been hidden inside it? Something far more valuable than a statue created by an unknown artist?

“What was inside the statue?” Dimitri bit out as he turned to look at Rune with dark suspicious eyes. “Where is it?”

“Gone,” Rune said, suddenly deflated. “The statue is gone.”

“Where, damn it?” Sergei said, striding over to where she was standing. “What was in it and who are you working for?”

Rune winced when hard hands gripped her forearms in a bruising hold. She clenched her teeth when he shook her when she didn’t respond right away. She looked up into his angry eyes in resignation.

“It is gone where you will never find it,” she whispered. “Nothing was inside that would matter to either of you.”

“Who sent you, Rune?” Dimitri asked quietly in an emotionless voice. “Who do you work for?”

“Loki,” she whispered, remembering her father’s teasing so long ago. “He calls himself Loki.”

*.*.*

Sergei stood looking out the window of his office. He had finished reviewing the tapes for the fifth time. The video had been fine until the time between when the statue disappeared and Rune appeared on the platform. There was a section of empty video feed, as if someone had paused it before restarting it. It lasted only a few seconds but it must have been longer. There was no way someone could have taken the statue in the few seconds shown on the time.

Dimitri had left after they had run through the video for the third time. He had received another call from his man in Los Angeles. Sergei took a sip of the brandy he had poured. He normally didn’t drink during the middle of the day but he had made an exception as disappointment and disillusionment battled for first place inside him. He had been right to be cynical of the beautiful young woman.

They had escorted her back to the room next to Dimitri’s apartment downstairs and posted two guards with the instructions that she was not to be allowed out for any reason. She had not said a word after they made it plain she would not be leaving any time soon. She had walked quietly beside them.

“Just tell us who sent you and what was in the statue that was so important?” Dimitri had asked as he opened the door to the room.

Rune had looked at them both with such sad eyes that they would have forgiven her anything if she would have just responded to Dimitri’s question. Instead, she had turned in silence and walked over to the window where she stood silhouetted against the dim light filtering in. They had stood at the door for a moment longer, willing her to be honest with them. When she refused to say anything, they had quietly instructed one guard to remain in the room with her while the other remained outside.

Sergei opened his left hand and looked at the crushed red petal that he had picked up off the floor outside the door. He took another sip of his brandy. His mind churned with possible explanations for the gap in the video feed they had reviewed.

He turned when the door opened and Dimitri came in. His face was grim. Sergei stepped over to his desk and touched his computer to minimize the image of Rune on it. It was of her standing in the center of the platform looking up. She was saying something but there was no audio to go with the feed. From the furious expression on her face, she didn’t look very happy about being there.

“I need to go to Los Angeles,” Dimitri said with a dark frown. “The leak is bigger than we first suspected. My man has a person of interest. It is best I speak with him myself.”

Sergei nodded. “We will go with you,” he said, pressing the button on his desk. “Make arrangements to have a helicopter pick us up in one hour and have the jet prepared to leave for Los Angeles, California,” he ordered.

“What about Rune?” Dimitri asked stiffly. “We cannot both go and leave her here.”

“She will go with us?” Sergei said with a shrug.

“She will need a passport,” Dimitri replied.

Sergei smiled darkly. “Since when has that ever stopped you or me? Have an emergency one drawn up here,” he said with a shrug. “Perhaps there is a connection between the person stealing from us and Rune. I think an introduction between the two of them might be in order.”

“Sergei,” Dimitri said. “What if she was telling us the truth?”

Sergei’s eyes hardened. “She was. She said the statue was gone and that she worked for someone by the name of Loki. Obviously not his real name. We will find out who he is when she and her partner discover we do not tolerate anyone who steals from us,” he replied coldly.

“Let us hope for her sake, one of them talks,” Dimitri said with a sigh of resignation. “I’ll have one of the maids pack her a bag.”

“Dimitri,” Sergei said as Dimitri turned. “Make sure the nightgowns I told Cheri to bring are part of the items packed.”

“Do you think this is wise?” Dimitri asked stiffly.

“Let us see how far our little thief will go to get herself out of trouble,” Sergei suggested grimly.

“I hope you know what you are getting us into, my friend,” Dimitri replied. “I know I will not be able to resist her if she decides to seduce us.”

“Neither will I,” Sergei murmured as Dimitri walked out of the office. “Neither will I.” 

Rune looked out the small window of the jet. She had slept for most of the trip back to the United States. They had landed briefly several times but they never departed the jet. She stretched and rose to freshen up in the elegant lavatory. A sigh escaped her as she saw the dark circles under her eyes. Even though she had slept, dreams from her previous lives refused to let her rest.

“Good, you are awake,” Sergei said from the doorway. “We will be landing within the next half hour.”

Rune stared at his reflection in the mirror for a moment before looking down. A low curse was the only warning she received as she was turned and pinned between his hard body and the vanity. She raised her hands to push him away but found both of her wrists captured in his hard grip.

“Let me go,” she gritted out.

“I think not,
маленький огонь
,” Sergei said huskily. “Things could go much better for you if you cooperate with us,” he said. “Tell us what we want to know, Rune. I will double whatever you are being paid.”

Rune angrily jerked on the grip holding her. “I don’t want or need y
our money,” she bit out. “Now let me go.”

Sergei studied her defiant expression. She was beautiful. She had washed the makeup off her face and changed into a pair of black jeans and an oversized red sweater that fell off one of her slender shoulders. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the smooth skin. A shuddering hiss escaped her and she tried to pull away from him again.

Sergei pulled her arms down, trapping them behind her. The move brought her up against his hard body. He pressed his hips against her.

“Do you see what you do to me,
маленький огонь
?” He muttered as he nipped at the curve of her neck. “I want you.”

“You… you…,” Rune tried to argue but her body was doing things on the inside that she had never experienced before and she couldn’t seem
to think straight. “Ah!”

Sergei pressed a hard biting kiss to her neck as he rotated his hips. A sense of triumph flooded him when her hips moved against his. He released her hands and gripped her around the waist.

“Open your legs and put them around my waist,” he demanded huskily right before he captured her lips.

*.*.*

Rune didn’t think, she opened her legs as demanded and wrapped them around his waist. He pressed her against the vanity. The angle pressed his throbbing cock against the vee of her jeans. His hands roamed over her as he rocked against her. Heat built inside him as her hands moved over his shoulders and curled in his hair, pulling him closer.

“Sergei,” she whimpered as she pulled back and rolled her hips faster. “I… I…”

“Come for me,
маленький огонь
,” he demanded as he pumped his hips faster. “Come for me.”

Her loud cry echoed in the small room as she splintered in his arms. She leaned forward to bury her face in his shoulder but he would have nothing to do with that. He wanted to see her face
as she came for him. He gritted his teeth as he continued to press up against her, prolonging her orgasm. Her legs squeezed him as she came. She melted against him as small breathless whimpers escaped her as he stilled his hips.

“She is beautiful when she comes,” Dimitri said from the doorway where he had watched them.
“We will be landing in fifteen minutes. The pilots have asked that we take our seats,” Dimitri said tightly.

Sergei bowed his head in acknowledgment. He rested his chin on the top of Rune’s head where she lay pressed against his chest. His eyes met Dimitri’s in the mirror. He could see the flush of desire darkening his friend’s face. He knew his own was a mirrored copy.

“Take her,” Sergei said. “I will be along in a moment.”

Dimitri nodded, stepping into the narrow space and lifting Rune easily into his arms. She whimpered as she released Sergei. Her dark eyes opened to stare back into his in bewilderment as Dimitri stepped out of the small lavatory.

“Sergei?” She whispered in confusion.

“Take her, I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Sergei said, closing the door on them.

“It will be my turn next, Rune,” Dimitri warned her quietly as he turned and carried her out into the main compartment of the jet.

*.*.*

Rune didn’t say anything as he lowered her into her seat and strapped the belt around her waist. She looked out the window at the thick clouds. She had been terrified when they had first lifted off in the helicopter from the landing pad at their home.

She hadn’t known what the huge metal machine was or that it could fly. When it had started to lift off, she had freaked out. It had taken both Dimitri and Sergei to hold her down in her seat as she fumbled to remove the strap they had put around her. They had frowned when she had pleaded for them to put the odd shaped bird back down on the ground.

She had breathed a sigh of relief after the huge beast had landed. That is until they led her to another one. This one was different. It was bigger, longer, sleeker and even more plush and had only two wings on the sides instead of the top. She had tried to run but Dimitri had his thick arm around her.

“Let me go,” she begged. “Please, tisn’t natural for a body to fly through the air,” she choked out. “I thought we would travel by ship. Ships are good. Man was meant to take the seas to other lands. My father said that the Gods favored those who knew the waters. Surely there is a ship we can take back to America. I saw huge ones anchored in the harbor!”

“Rune!” Sergei had snapped out in irritation. “A ship would take weeks to travel to America. We can be there in a day by flying.”

She had frozen and looked at him in disbelief. That pause gave Dimitri time to pick her up in his arms and climb the stairs into the belly of the beast. She had turned dark, frightened eyes up to Dimitri’s dark blue one.

“And they accused me of witchcraft?” She whispered.

She turned her head and looked at Sergei when he came into the cabin and sat across from her and Dimitri. She flushed when he looked at her with a dark hunger and turned back to the window.

She didn’t understand any of this. Her body tingled with awareness and a strange restlessness. Faint memories of hearing moans coming from her parent’s small alcove rushed back. She flushed when she thought of what it must have meant. She had seen the animals on the farm breed but she had never really thought of a man and a woman doing it. She had been interested in other things when she had lived so long ago. After that, she had been too busy trying to figure out what was going on and learning the changes of her new life to be concerned with it.

Rune bit her lip and turned to look at Dimitri when he reached over and threaded his fingers through her clenched ones. He continued talking to Sergei in Russian and she soon lost interest as they made their approach.

Her breathing sped up as they tilted and all she saw was water at first before land appeared under them. Dimitri’s thumb stroked her trembling hand as they dipped and bounced. She didn’t breathe normally again until the jet slowed and moved toward a distant hanger.

*.*.*

“I could kill you,” Dimitri said as calmly as he could. “Do you have any fucking idea how beautiful she looked coming apart in your arms? I am so hard I could take her here and now.”

Sergei grimaced as he thought of why he had been delayed. He had been so hard and horny he had to relieve some of the pressure or he would have taken her right there and then in the lavatory. Instead, he had closed his eyes and imagined he was pumping into her instead of using his own hand. While he had relieved the pressure, his desire still remained.

“Trust me, it almost killed me to tell you to take her,” Sergei admitted. “Tonight, Dimitri. She will become ours tonight. I don’t care what we find out tomorrow.”

“I won’t force her,” Dimitri said, stroking Rune’s hand soothingly with his thumb when she trembled again. “She acts like she has never seen a helicopter or been on an airplane before.”

“I assure you, there was no force applied in the lavatory,” Sergei said, glancing at Rune’s pale face. “And the keyword is act. She hopes to make us still believe in her ridiculous tale. Think, Dimitri! It is something out of a fictional book or movie.”

“She is scared, Sergei,” Dimitri insisted as another tremor shook Rune’s body. “This is not an act. I know the difference between what is real and what is not.”

“She is probably terrified because she knows we are on to her little game,” Sergei said stubbornly.

“I hope you are mistaken,” Dimitri replied in a low voice.

“It won’t matter, Dimitri,” Sergei said quietly. “I could not let her go now even if I wanted to,” he admitted.