Brock: A Bad Boy Romance (64 page)

“Have you come to me with a decision?”

“I have come to you with a request Your Highness.” He looked intrigued.

“Go on?” he said.  She looked about to be sure that no one was listening and whispered.

“Can you take me flying?  To see my home one more time as I am?”  He looked dubious of her request.

“You wish to speak to someone there?” he asked suspiciously.

“No, only to see it one more time.  I have no family there.”  He still looked doubtful, “I want to experience the flight for myself,” she added.  He thought about her request for a few moments and then said to her,

“I will decide later; for now have some food and drink and relax.  I have some acrobats from the far east for our entertainment tonight.”

Nera did this, seated at his side.  The acrobats were very entertaining, and she was stunned by some of the feats they pulled off.  She watched the Prince drink and saw that the wine was affecting his as it would any normal man.  She decided she could use this to her advantage and she topped up his goblet at every opportunity. 

Some of his friends came and sat, and they told stories that he found very funny.  After one of these he leaned over to Nera and said,

“I will grant you your wish tonight, but then you must keep your end of the bargain tonight.  No tricks or any more stalling.”

“Thank you,” she said nodding in agreement to his terms.  His eyes sparkled as he looked at her, and she saw that it made him happy to please her. 

It was late when he cleared the room on this night, and that was exactly what she had wanted.  The drink had dulled him and made time go by ever faster.  It also gave him, as it did with all men, a heightened sense of what he could achieve.  She knew how far away her home was, and no matter how fast he flew she felt there was no way he would be able to get back here by sunup.

The Prince took her hand and gave her a shawl to put on over her clothes.

“We don’t want you getting cold,” he smiled.  They walked out to the balcony and looked out over the land.  It was such a clear night, and everything was bathed in moonlight and looked magical.  He had a look of pride on his face, as though he had made this landscape himself and was not just part of a dynasty that controlled it. 

Nera was nervous about flying; though she knew it was her one chance of escape, she also had no idea what it would be like to be soaring unnaturally high above the ground.  What if she fell?  Would he try to save her, or would he be content to see her fall?  She looked to him again, and the look in his eyes said that he would save her if she fell.  A pang of regret poured through her.  She had never met anyone who had made her feel the way she did in his presence, but she just couldn’t sacrifice her life to those feelings.   

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yes,” she nodded nervously.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said, “I will make sure you are safe.  Take my hand.” She did as she was bid.  “This is the start of a new life for you and I.  I have found in you something I never thought possible,” he said looking into her eyes and stroking her hand.  She trembled with anticipation before him.  He lifted her in his strong arms and then eased gently from the ledge. 

She shut her eyes against her expectation that she would plummet to the world, but the easy feeling of the light wind on her skin had her open them again and she wondered at the feeling and the things she was seeing.  He flew so fast and yet it was so smooth.  He held her in front of his chest like she weighed nothing at all.  Down below the mountains soon gave way to flat lands and then to the sea.  She recalled some of the places from her forced march to this strange country and she pondered if those same men were in some other part of the Kingdom now rounding up women in same way to take to be part of the Royal house. 

They hit landfall in her home territory about an hour after they left, and she guided him to the small village she had called home for the last ten years.  Though she had never liked the place and had planned to leave, she found that she was stung by fondness and nostalgia for this place on seeing it and being there once more.  There was no one about, but she knew who lived in every dwelling and what they must have been up to her absence.  She pointed out her own house and said to the Prince,

“Can we go inside?”

“Won’t there be someone there?” he asked.

“No, I lived alone.”  He swooped down and landed at the doorway and set her on her feet on the ground. 

“Thank you,” she said to him.  She pushed open the door and looked inside.  She knew there wouldn’t be anyone there, but there was always the chance that someone knew what had happened to her and had usurped her home and would be sleeping there right now.  But instead all was quiet and as she had left it.  He stepped in behind and she watched as he took the place in.  She saw his eyes settle on her bed, and he smiled at her.  She smiled back and kissed him and led him to it.

This was the first time she had ever made love in her own bed, and again it was so amazing with him and she lost herself so deeply in his presence that she almost gave up her plan and was willing to settle for his offer.  But, she managed to hold her resolve, and it was with a heavy heart that his final thrusts against her spent him, and he flopped down panting on top of her. 

The alcohol had tired him and with the exertion of the flight and then the lovemaking he soon drifted into a light slumber beside her.  Nera lay there as quiet as she could be and let the minutes tick by.  She closed her own eyes in the vain hope that she too would fall asleep, but she was so scared that the pounding of her heart would wake him that she couldn’t relax.  She looked out at the sky, and she was sure that she could see the first hints of a change of light in the heavens.  He stirred suddenly and looked about the room.

“Where am I?” he asked groggily.

“My home,” Nera said.  He looked at her and saw who it was that he shared a bed with smiled at her and kissed her on the shoulders.

“We better get going,” he said as he rose,”How long did I sleep for?”

“Only a moment,” she lied.  He nodded but didn’t seem to think anything of it.  They dressed, and he took her back outside.

“You will be able to come back here any night you want to, now that you know the way,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.

They retook to the skies and not a single person that she was aware of had known that she had been back home, and with the Crown Prince no less.  They were only in the air a few minutes when she thought she saw the first looks of concern on his face as she looked at the horizon.

“Hold on, I’m going to go a little faster this time,” he said.  If he was worried his voice didn’t betray it, but why else would he be speeding up if not to get home before the sun rose?  She clasped her hands around his neck, and he set off much faster than before.  The raging sea below then became a blur, and she had to close her watering eyes to the sharp wind that greeted them from time to time.  When she could open them, she was sure that there was a change in the light in the sky.  She looked at his face, and now she was sure she could see panic and fear in him.  His body sweated and his breaths were more laboured.

“I shouldn’t have taken you out so late!” he scolded himself.

“What’s wrong?” she asked playing the innocent.  He didn’t answer, and she thought it was because he didn’t have the breath to say anything more. 

Nera looked ahead, and it soon became clear to her that they were flying easy.  There was an unmistakable sheen of light that rounded the horizon and was the dawn trying to rise up over the land.  She saw that he saw it too, and he steeled himself to a renewed effort to get home before that happened.  He flew lower as the approached the higher lands so as to remain in their shadows but on this morning the dawn seemed to come at a rate she had never experienced before and the land lit up around them as the sun showed her the world.   

He was in a full panic now, but they were in sight of the tower.  The rays of the sun came over her, and she heard him cry out in pain as they struck him also.  He used the high mountains and the building of the palace for cover but there was no avoiding the light at places and each time he would scream in pain as he crossed the shafts of light.

Nera looked, and the hole that was the balcony of the tower zoomed at them and they both went flipping to the ground as he landed with speed.  She sat up dazed and saw that the women from the night before were all back sitting around the room.  Each of them rose at the spectacle, and she saw some run to the howling Prince.  She stood up and looked in his direction.  This was not what she had hoped for; she wanted to be out over land when he faltered so that she could escape.

The women were huddled around him in concern, but Nera could not see him.

“You!” his voice suddenly roared out as he sprang from their envelopment.  “You tried to kill me?” he said snarling at her and pointing an accusing finger.  The skin on his body looked very badly burned, and his eyes were black with anger. 

“Me?” she said, “What did I do?” she asked playing her role again.

“You know what you tried to do.  I should have gone with my gut and said no when you first asked me this evening!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Your Majesty,” she said backing away towards the balcony.  The other women flocked around her in a wide circle now, some of them going behind her blocking her from the outside.

Nera knew that she was cornered now and that he probably only wanted to kill her outright now instead of making her like the rest of the women here.  She took one last look at him, sad at what might have been had he not been the creature he was. 

“I can’t give up my life for the one you want me to live” she called out to him as she turned and ran for the balcony.  There were a few women there who were poised to stop here; she shoe the smallest one and crashed into her with all her might, force enough that it sent both of them tumbling to the light outside and falling rapidly to the earth below.  Her only hope was that this crying and burning creature would be able to arrest both of their falls before the ground, and the body of Saleem rose up to finish them both.  They spiralled and fell in the morning sunlight down and down and down.  

THE END

TRIGGERED LOVE

Chapter 1

“I’m sorry that I had to call you in earlier than expected. I think the new girl is starting to try my patience. She thinks that if she can bat her eyelashes and bounce a little bit to get my attention that I will bend over backwards to accommodate her whenever she has a personal day. I hired her specifically to give you a hand, but I’m beginning to see that she’s not going to work out.” Tony Tompkins was the owner of this dive bar. The regulars loved that the waitress was a comely young blonde that would laugh at all of their insane jokes.

Nicole Sterling knew that it was a mistake offering the job to her roommate. She was always flighty and just because she had an hourglass figure and red flaming hair; she thought that the world was her oyster.

“Tony, you’re not the only one that’s sorry about Tiffany. I thought that she was making an effort to be better, but I’m now starting to understand that she is who she’s going to be. Nobody is capable of changing. If we think otherwise, then you and I will be the ones standing alone. I suggest that we give her a few more chances. You do have to admit that the boys in this club find her to be quite intoxicating.” “
I look at Tony and he is this Italian stallion. I would never ruin a good thing with the kind of tips that I’m getting by throwing myself at the owner. Besides, he is too good for me and I only attract those guys that want my pin number. The last one was the worst of them all and I really did think that he was a keeper.”

“I guess I can give her a couple of more chances and she is good for morale. I have a nice place here, Nicole and I want to keep it that way. Live local bands on weekends are a good draw, but you girls are the lifeblood of this place. If I haven’t told you that in a while, then that’s on me.” Tony moved his hand through his greasy locks and saw his reflection in the mirror over the bar. He liked to present a pretty picture, but he also believed that his employees should be comfortable in their surroundings. He allowed them to decide what they would wear and there was no customary dress code. He was happy to see that both girls like to flaunt what their mama gave them. Short mini skirts or dresses were the order of the day and sometimes even a very revealing daisy duke to get them in the door.

“I know that I’m betting a lot on Tiffany, but I’m hoping that she’ll finally get her head out of her ass. She’s flitting through life thinking that the world is going to make up for her shortcomings. I’ve tried to get through to her that her looks are only going to be there for a certain amount of time and then they will vanish in the blink of an eye. She thinks that some charismatic young billionaires going to come calling on her one day. That only happens in fairy tales and romance novels with the guy with his shirt off. I don’t know how women get caught up in those things. I think they only want to escape from their boring lives for something a little bit more adventurous and maybe a bit taboo.”
“I don’t know we talk about this, but I feel sometimes that he can be the little brother that I never had. I don’t mind setting him up for some of my friends, but only if they are worthy of a good man like Tony. He may look like a playboy, but underneath he’s a soft teddy bear that would give you the shirt off his back.