Aran: Love me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance (17 page)

She glanced at Niko. He was struggling as the three males tried to hold him. She had hopes for Dee.

“Did you say kill her?”

“No!” She was sure her scream could be heard all the way to town. “Where do you want to make the exchange?”

“The bank in Oakland on Fifth. You know which one. You will walk through the front door. When you get to me I will send her out the side door. If any of your friends follow you in, then she’s dead and so are you. I have nothing to lose now. Your life means nothing to me.”

The silence from the phone was deafening. The room went wild. Niko seemed to be winning his fight.

Aran looked around the room. Any humanity he may have learned on earth dropped away. He was alien and it shined brightly in the chaos of the room. His voice changed, deepening, roughening.

“Niko, control yourself.” It hurt Rena’s ears to hear his voice, but she stood under the onslaught.

“Every minute we spend trying to control you is a minute that both Dee’s and Rena’s lives continue to be in jeopardy. You will either help or you will remove yourself to the basement. The choice is yours.”

Niko snapped and snarled, straining against the males who held him. His eyes flashed from beast to male and his form wavered. She waited for the beat down, but it never came.

He lowered his head in the response to Aran’s dominance. They may all be brothers, but there was no doubt who was the older one, the one in charge.

Niko allowed his body to sag and Dante let go of his neck. They spoke to him in a low deep rumble in a language she couldn’t understand. They took him to a couch and let him sit.

Aran led her to the love seat she thought of as theirs when they were in this room with all of the brothers. He lowered her and then knelt in front of her.

“Look at me doll.” She raised her eyes, praying her tears held. She wanted to hold him one more time before it was over.

“Your life is not expendable. Neither of your lives are expendable. You’re killing me doll. I can feel your emotions through our bond. You will not die. You will not lose me.”

She nodded as her tears broke. She allowed herself to slip from the couch and fall into his arms. She needed to hold him. She needed his strength to surround her. He picked her up and headed for the door.

“Start preparing.” He left the room with that order hanging in the air. He took the stairs two at time. He walked into the room and laid her down. Stripping her was easy work. Then she rolled into his arms.

He ran a gentle hand down her back.

“Harder, Aran. I need to feel your touch.”

“No, open yourself up doll. Feel through me.”

He ran a hand down her back again and her nerve endings tickled.

“Aran?”

“You were never damaged doll. All you needed was for someone to touch your heart first. Now your body will respond. It will take the hard, sometimes brutal, love I give and give it back, but it will also take the tender love.”

She lost herself in the sweetest kiss she had ever known as he took over her mouth. Every harsh thing she had felt about herself washed away. He helped to rewrite who she was and she returned the favor.

His hand swept over her, making her hot and she hummed. The joy she felt in this moment was absolute. She felt loved, cherished and adored. She understood that contented smile she had caught from time to times on women’s faces. It wasn’t that they didn’t have issues, but they had someone to go through them with.

She felt him when he slipped into her, filling her full of goodness. He was home. Her body felt like this was where he was meant to be.

Her humming became a keening as he took her higher, making her fly. His touches were still soft, but she was so sensitive that they felt heavy on her skin. She burned. She had better be like the phoenix or they would be handing over her dead body.

Right in front of her was a door. She met him thrust for thrust as she reached for it. It promised pleasure beyond her wildest dreams and she wanted it. She reached out and touched the door as her body began to convulse. She opened the door and fell in head first.

Her world was nothing but color, as pleasure swamped her. She keened her pleasure not caring who was downstairs. She pursed her lips and moaned as she felt Aran come deeply within her.

The feel of his seed warming her made her belly clench. The thought of a boy or girl made her smile in anticipation. She wanted it all with him.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “That was amazing.”

“Just amazing?” He grinned at her. “Next time I will go for earth shattering.”

“I am sure you will achieve it.” She ran her fingers over his chest, drawing little designs there.

Her eyes caught the clock and she began to mentally prepare herself. “I need a shower.”

“Stop it doll. There was no way to help Dee any sooner than the arranged meeting. I am sure she would not begrudge you time spent with me.”

She nodded her head and went to get cleaned up. When they walked into the game room, they had an hour to get to the rendezvous.

“What’s the plan?” She looked around the room looking for Niko who seemed to be calm.

“We will drop you off, park on the side and meet Dee when she comes out.”

“That’s it? What am I supposed to do?”

“Walk into the bank. He will not kill you in front of witnesses. Don’t worry. We will get you out.”

“You really need to change your approach. All I heard was walk in front of that speeding car and stand there, I will get to you before it hits you. Not very comforting.”

“Doll, do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“I will not let him hurt you.”

“Let’s do this.”

They got into a huge SUV with Dante at the wheel.

“Are all of you coming?” They nodded their heads and said nothing. “Aran, what happens if he sees all of you?”

“He will never see us doll. Believe me. We were trained for this our whole lives. You and Dee will be safe.”

She nodded her head and tried to look calm, even though she was sure they could hear her heart racing.

Her heart beat sounded like a herd of elephants as they came closer to the bank. Aran squeezed her hand tighter, getting her to look at him.

“Take a good look at me doll. We will be there, even if you don’t see us.”

Aran’s body began to blur at the edges, then seemed to shift and he was no longer there.

“He’s still there. You just can’t see him.” Dante’s voice calmed her down and helped her hold onto reality.

“He’s still here?”

“Yes, but he will stay invisible until this is over. These boys got some good things when they were created.”

Sergey looked at Dante. “I am sure we didn’t get the best toys.” Then he disappeared.

The brothers disappeared one after the other. Soon she felt like she was sitting in a car with just Dante, but some sixth sense she couldn’t identify knew they were still there.

Dante let her off at the corner before turning down the street and parking. She had felt several of the brothers get out with her. The exchange was going to happen at the end of the banking day.

Taking a deep breath, she walked in. Dee was standing by Mr. Harris.

Chapter Twenty-eight

How could it be him? She had trusted him. Heck, she had worked for him. She approached as he motioned her closer. She stopped with the banking workstation between them and gestured for Dee to leave.

He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, then sent her towards the side door. Rena may have tried to run, but she had caught the flash of a gun. There would be no running for her.

She walked over, looking at the people still in the bank. She couldn’t put their lives in danger.

“We are going to walk out of here and you’re not going to do anything to draw attention to yourself or I will kill you.”

“Please tell me why.”

The hard look in his eyes softened for a minute.

“Let’s broadcast it. Lars Colum found out about my youth and began to black mail me. Nothing I couldn’t come back from at first. Then what he wanted became more dangerous as he became dangerous. Then he fixated on killing you. I refused to do it and then he took my wife. A life for a life he said. She is all I have left. I can’t lose her.”

Rena nodded her head and walked out of the bank, not calling any attention to them.

“
Ask him where they took his wife. He may know.” She almost stumbled, hearing that voice in her head.

“Do you know where they took her?”

“Why?”

“Please, Mr. Harris tell me.”

“North side, 224 Winter Street. There’s an old abandoned house there. That’s where the exchange will be happening.”

They turned the corner. Dee and Dante were still standing there. Mr. Harris stood still.

“They won’t hurt you. He simply wanted me to see that she was free.”

“Get into the car.” He gestured to the black Audi.

“
Open the back door like you’re getting in.”

“Get in the front.”

“Are you sure?”

She closed the back door, hoping that had been long enough. She nodded her head at Dee before she got into the front.

“Why did you torch my place?”

“I wanted you to run. I thought if I threatened you and you lost your job, you would leave.”

“That’s why you missed the other day.”

“That’s why my wife’s life is in danger now.”

She just nodded. She could tell him that he should have turned over Lars the minute he tried to blackmail him, but that would do neither of them any good now.

She spent the rest of the ride trying to figure out who had gotten in the back seat. Soon they were there. Even with the beginning of rush hour traffic, it had not taken long.

She climbed out and looked at the house. It looked like one that would have been in a horror flick, which was why she never watched horror flicks.

She climbed the creaking stairs, hoping she wouldn’t fall through them.

“Lars, where are you?”

Nothing greeted them, but silence.

“Maybe he’s not here.”

“Attic, he’s in the attic. Why? Because he knows it creeps me out.”

He led her through the house and up the first set of stairs.

“What are those noises?”

“Don’t know. I don’t look in those rooms.”

He pushed Rena past the open door and towards the attic stairwell.

“You first.”

She felt the hard steel of the gun touch the small of her back and started climbing. They reached the top and went in.

“Lars?”

“No one’s here.”

“He has to be here.”

“Maybe he sold you out. Maybe he really didn’t take your wife and she just went off on a trip.”

“No! He has her. He has to be here somewhere.”

The white paper sticking out under a rock caught her attention.

“Could that be a note for you?”

He went over and picked it up reading it. When he was done he crumpled the paper and threw it.

“He changed locations. Wants you brought to a different spot.”

“Seems like Lars likes to play games.”

She moved in front of him, trying not to bring any attention to herself. Mr. Harris was now sweating. His eyes had gotten smaller as if he needed to squint to see things clearly. His hands shook just a little.

They left the house quickly, going back to the car. She noticed the door open and close before they got to it. She gave a small sign of relief. She wasn’t alone.

“Where are we going?”

“A park not too far from here. He wants the exchange in a more open place. I guess he wanted a set-up like the bank to protect himself.”

“So you will hand me over to him and he will get the pleasure of killing me?”

“I don’t know what he will do. All I know is that when I get my wife back, I am done. I would rather spend time in jail than be under his thumb again.”

“
Doll, the park is a set up. They don’t intend for anyone to walk out alive. When you get there, you will see lots of young males looking like they are having a party. Ignore them. They are on the hunt and if you look at them, they will focus on you as the target. Right now, they are still waiting to see who the main kill will be. We will get you out of there.”

“Mr. Harris, do you trust Lars?”

“No.”

“How do you know he won’t betray you? Set you up and have you and your wife killed?”

“I am doing everything he asked.”

“You’re a loose thread, like me. Doesn’t it make more sense that he would want all of us dead?”

“Shut up.”

“Mr. Harris.” She lowered her voice, becoming as non-threatening as possible. “Think about it, that’s all I ask. When we get there, we have to rely on each other to stay alive and make sure your wife stays alive also.”

“You want my wife to live?”

“Yes as much as I wanted Dee to live.”

“That’s why I always liked you. Yes, if there’s a way to keep the two of you alive, I will do whatever it takes.”

“Funny thing, Mr. Harris I always liked you too.”

He parked along the sidewalk. The park was empty of children, but filled with young adults partying.

“Whatever you do Mr. Harris, do not look at them. No eye contact. We are here to find Lars, remember.”

He nodded and cast around for Lars. They spotted him on the other side of the park in the tree line.

“I see him in the trees.”

“I see him, too. Let’s walk around the partiers.”

They skirted the perimeter, never looking to see exactly what was happening in the middle of the park, until they heard a scream.

They held a woman in the middle of the park with a knife to her throat. A bloody knife.

“That’s my wife.” A roar came from Mr. Harris as he tore down the hill, heading for his wife.

She saw someone raise a gun and point it towards Mr. Harris. She ran after him, screaming and tripped. Her run became a roll. She bowled over him right before that bullet would have taken off his head.

Chaos broke out. The brothers were no longer cloaked, but going after men who were now running as well as shooting.

She heard Mr. Harris cry out and looked up in enough time to see the man holding his wife swipe the knife across her neck.