“I’m telling you, Ty, she’s trouble!” exclaimed Lane. “She’s hiding something, I know it.”
“Come on, Lane, you’ve got to be kidding me. Kyra’s just the new girl on the block, there’s nothing secretive about her.”
“She won’t answer any questions about her life.” Insisted Lane. “Try it, she won’t tell you anything.”
“Maybe she fought with her parents, maybe she lost a child, did you ever consider that?” demanded Tyler, impatiently. “Look, Lane, I like Kyra, and I can date her if I want to. And I do. Can’t you just get over your paranoia and congratulate me for finding the woman who might actually be right for me?”
Lane sighed. Tyler had always been a ladies’ man, claiming that he was just looking for the right girl, and he couldn’t stand the ones he was finding. “Fine, but when you find out just how much trouble she’s caused, don’t come running to me.”
He turned to leave, but Tyler grabbed his arm. “Do you know her from somewhere or something? Is that why you’re so determined to keep me away from her?”
“I know her type, Ty, and she plays games. She’ll play with you until she gets tired of you, and then she’ll go off to find a new toy. In the meantime, I don’t particularly look forward to watching you turn into an idiot over her.”
“Then maybe it’s time we agreed to disagree.” Replied Tyler coldly. “Goodbye, Lane.”
Sarai sat in Cathy Reynolds office at the Archaeological Institute, across the desk from the older woman. Cathy’s short graying hair curled around her head like a cloud, matching her easy-going brown eyes. She flipped through Sarai’s résumé and references, pleased, before glancing up at the girl herself. Sarai had dressed in blue-gray slacks and a black and white blouse. Professional, yet functional, something that Cathy admired. The archaeologist snapped Sarai’s file closed, decisively. “You seem like exactly what we need, Ms. Davis. I always enjoy assigning bright, independent young women to my teams. It’s quite vindicating.” Cathy smiled grimly, the picture of a woman who had fought every step of the way to become what everyone had said she couldn’t be. “In fact, your application comes at a rather opportune time. I’ve been looking for a lab specialist for one of my new digs.
“I had hoped to start right away.” She already knew she came as an answered prayer. She’d done her research before she arrived. Where could she go and who could she be that would make life functional and normal as soon as possible?
Cathy was pleased to hear the note of power and confidence in the young woman’s soft voice. “I have to admit, though, I have my doubts about placing you on this particular team. I’m the only other woman on it, and I’ve had trouble in the past with the young women on such teams.”
Sarai smiled. “I assure you, Ms. Reynolds, there won’t be any trouble. In fact, I shall rather enjoy the challenge of the circumstances.”
“Call me Cathy.” Replied the other woman, holding out her hand. Sarai shook it. “Welcome to the team.”
“Yes, Jen, I’ve settled in fine.” Soothed Sarai, walking down the street towards the restaurant that Tyler had invited her to. “Of course I’m sure! You and Eli worry too much. I’ll be fine.” She sighed. “Yes, of course I’ll check in. And I’ll take care of myself. Work’s fine. I had to put in a request for a few items, but other than that, it’s really a very satisfactory set up. Say hi to María for me. Goodbye, Jen.” Sarai shook her head, laughing to herself as she pocketed her phone. Jen really did worry too much. She looked up as she saw the figure approach her. “Oh! Hello, Lane.” She said brightly, already having brushed off the fears she’d had the previous night as the result of the unfamiliar circumstances. “How are you?”
“Fine.” He said, shortly.
She was surprised by the clip to his tone. “Did I say something?” she asked, confused.
“Let’s cut to the chase. I don’t think Tyler should be spending time with you.”
“Oh!” Her nose wrinkled, unsure what to do with this information.
“You and I both know that you’re more of a player than even he is, so I’m going to warn you once. Tyler’s impressionable, and he doesn’t believe me when I say you’re trouble, but if you play him like you do everybody else, like you played Alec and Flynn, I’m not going to hold back. I’m not afraid to pick a fist fight with a woman.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I know how to hit back.” She said quietly. “I don’t want to get in between Tyler and his friends, and I certainly don’t want to have to finish any fights, but I can promise you that if you throw a punch at me, you’ll miss and I won’t. Marine or no, I’m out of your league.”
She turned to leave, and he grabbed her arm, like Tyler had done to him earlier that day. “I’m not done.” He threatened.
She glanced down at where his fingers were marking her porcelain skin, then back at him. “I assure you we are. You’ve warned me, I’ve parried, and I shall also promise to do everything in my power not to play him. Would you mind letting go, please?” Her voice was sweet and light, designed to keep people from being attracted by her tone, but her eyes had long ago frosted over.
He looked at her for a second, then nodded, more to himself than her, and released her. “I’ll see you around.” There was a warning in his voice.
“Perhaps.” She slipped into a crowd of people on the sidewalk and disappeared from his sight. She glanced at the red marks on her arm, knowing that she would have Lane’s fingers bruised into her arm by morning, and made her way to the restaurant in a thoughtful silence.
Several months later, Sarai leaned back against Tyler on her couch as the two of them watched a movie. She yawned, exhausted. She hadn’t been able to sleep for days because of her dreams. One night, she’d be having night terrors of Suicide Alley, and the next, she’d be dreaming about those blue eyes she missed so much, but either way, she woke up gasping in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep no matter how tightly she curled up against the sharp ache in her body. Tyler glanced down at her. “Bored?” he teased.
She shook her head, yawning again. “My father keeps calling me in the middle of the night.” She explained. It was somewhat true, her father had been calling her without much concern for the time difference between them, and the ring of her phone had interrupted her night terrors more than once in the past week. “He keeps wanting to talk.”
“You don’t get along to well with your dad, do you?”
“No.” she admitted softly. “I haven’t seen him in years. Mamá died when I was fourteen, and we didn’t get along too well after that. I guess, maybe, I blamed him somehow.” He dragged his fingers through her hair, and she relaxed in his arms. “There are a lot of people who don’t like me. Other women, mostly, but men too, sometimes. Lane doesn’t like me.”
She felt him tense under her, and when he spoke, his tone was annoyed. “Lane just hasn’t gotten to know you. He thinks he knows everything about you, and he’s hardly even spoken to you.”
Sarai reached up behind her and put her hand to his cheek. “He’s a good friend, Ty. He just doesn’t want anyone to take advantage of you. Gen is the same way about me.”
Tyler laughed, and the tension in the air vanished. “That’s true. Gen absolutely hates me. She threatened me with manicure scissors if I ever hurt you. I’m not even sure what they are.”
Sarai smiled and pulled a small kit out of her purse, removing a small pair of sharp, curved scissors, the blades looking like some cruel bird’s beak. “These are manicure scissors.” She said, handing to them. Tyler paled at the thought of tiny, ferocious Genevieve going after him with these. “Don’t worry, baby,” she cooed, stifling laughter. “I won’t let her anywhere near you with them.” They were completely ignoring the movie by now, not caring that Van Helsing was about to enter the Vampire’s lair. Sarai turned in his arms, kissing him softly. Her heart sped up as his fingers trailed over her skin, and she traced his lip with the tip of her tongue, enticing him to deepen the kiss. It worked, and her mind went blank as his mouth moved seductively against hers. She sighed, happily, relaxing on top of him. His hands rested on her hips, carefully inching her blouse up her torso. She smiled at his caution and pulled the tank top over her head, tossing it to the floor. “Yours too.” She murmured, huskily, popping the buttons open on his shirt. She pushed the sleeves over his shoulders, leaving his arms pinned by the fabric.
“No fair.” He teased, nipping at her lips, but she just smiled wickedly and kissed his chest.
“I don’t remember signing a contract that said I had to be fair.” She said, watching the muscles in his arms work to move the shirt off his arms. “Just that I wasn’t supposed to reason myself through this.”
“Damn straight.” He rose up, pushing her onto her back and sliding the shirt onto the floor with hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him through her Rx lenses, and she had the sudden and irrational urge to pull them out of her eyes and let him see the emerald colour beneath them. Through a haze of sensation, she knew that she needed to get back in control of herself before she let herself do something dangerous. “Wait.” He pulled back, gazing into her eyes expectantly. He’d gotten used to that word being used before she expressed another of her doubts that she could function in a relationship. “What are we doing? Where are we going?”
“Tonight? Nowhere.” He replied firmly. “I merely enjoy kissing you.”
She flushed, more uncertain than ever. “I’m sorry, I just…”
He shrugged. “Don’t be. You’re just being reasonable again. We’re not going anywhere.” He began his usual comforting mantra. “We’re just going to make each decision as they arrive, not plan for all the thousands of possibilities.”
She smiled, feeling better, as always, after his words. “Thank you. It’s just that, I want…I mean, I don’t know…” she struggled to put her thoughts into words. “I guess I’m scared.” She finished quietly.
“Of what?”
“Of us. Of what might happen. I don’t know what the right thing is to do, all I know is that I want you so much it hurts sometimes.”
He hovered over her, tracing her scars absently. She controlled the small shivers the action caused, but noticed that her skin didn’t catch fire the way it had for Jethro. “That’s the way it should be. If you didn’t feel like that, it wouldn’t be right.”
She sighed, closing her eyes. “It’s so confusing. I feel like there’s a rulebook out there that everyone’s read but me.” She muttered. He laughed and kissed her, promptly making her forget why she was so confused by the way love worked. She traced her fingers over his chest as his lips moved seductively against hers. “Let’s reconsider that idea of not going anywhere tonight.” She breathed, eyes clouded by desire. She could feel the change her words caused and she gave a small sigh, only mildly impressed. “Please?”
His reply was to slide his hands down her body and undo the snap on her jeans, sliding them down her legs. “We can do that. How shall we go about it?”
She tipped her head back, breathing faster as he stroked her skin. “First things first, we’re not staying on this damn couch.” She told him, pushing herself up. She pulled him back towards her room, determined to avoid her usual style this time. She didn’t want him to fuck her up against a wall anywhere in her house, she wanted to make love in her own bed. She wanted it to be careful, almost innocent, the first time. She wanted it to finally make her care about him. She lay back on the bed, dragging his mouth back to hers.
Their clothes seemed to melt away, easily, and she was surprised at how nervous she really was. It was almost as if she was a young virgin about to make love for the first time. He seemed to notice her anxiety, because he slipped his hand under her head, rubbing her cheek gently, and moved through the motions carefully. She gasped when he pressed against her, repositioning her hips to better accommodate him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding herself close, and Tyler kissed her hard, drowning her soft moans in his scent. His mouth skimmed along her collarbone, nipping at the pale skin one moment and softly placating the small wounds the next. Sarai pulled him back up to her mouth, desperately, and covered the hand on her cheek with her own, interlacing their fingers. The only part of her body that held steady as she fell into the heavy abyss of orgasm was that hand, holding tightly to his.
As she lay under him, her racing heart beginning to return to its normal pace, she kissed him deeply, a glorious heat spreading through her. He ran his fingers through her hair, relaxed. “You seemed nervous.” He murmured. “Was that your first time?”
“No. I’m just not used to…to knowing that the person I’m with is still going to care in the morning.” She answered softly, rolling them onto their sides. “I’m used to being abandoned after I give in.” It was true, though, in some cases, it wasn’t their fault that they had left her.
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Well I’m not going to walk out on you. You’re stuck with me now, Miss Kyra.”
She smiled, the feeling in his voice making her glow even more than the warmth in her stomach. “I’m only stuck if I don’t want to be here.” She replied. “I love you, Tyler, I’m not stuck.”
He looked at her for a moment, thoughtful. “I love you too.” He said thoughtfully.
“You’re not obligated to say that, Ty.” She told him, gently. “I’d rather you take your time so that I know you mean it.”
“I do mean it. I’m not quite used quite used to it yet, but it’s true.” He looked deep into her eyes. “I love you, Kyra.”
She could’ve cried, he was so sincere. As it was, her eyes stung with the effort of keeping them dry. She loved him, it was true, but she wasn’t IN love with him and she never could be. Her heart had already been left with someone else, someone she could never go back to, but it wasn’t fair to let him say those words with such seriousness was it? But he was watching her, every moment that she fought with her conscience made him wonder a little bit more about her, so she made up her mind. “I love you.” She whispered, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in the crook of his neck.
She felt, more than heard, his sigh of relief, and his arms cam around her, running up and down her back as he held her close.
Five years later, Sarai sat nervously in the car, knuckles white on the steering wheel. She snuck glances at a furious looking Tyler every now and then, and didn’t move when they reached their destination. “Just give him another chance.” She pleaded softly, staring straight ahead.
He turned to glare at her, but found he couldn’t in the face of her anxiety. “He doesn’t have to be such a bastard, Kyra, and I’ve given him plenty of chances.”
“Just one more, please!” she begged. “I’m sure the two of you can stay on each other’s good sides this time. Lane’s just got a temper.”
Tyler sighed and leaned over the centre piece of the car. The kiss soothed her a little, and her tense muscles relaxed. “You have no sense of self-preservation, do you?” he sighed.
“I don’t like being the reason you two are always fighting.” She said carefully. “And I admit, he’s a bit nicer when he talks about me if you two are on friendly terms. I don’t like being called a whore any more than the next woman, and he’s not quite so verbal when he’s trying to stay on your good side.”
Tyler laughed, getting out of the car. “Fine, one more chance, but this is the last one, okay?” She nodded, following him up the path, trying to stay out of sight for the reunion. Tyler knocked on the door and Lane opened it quickly. “Hey, Lane, I’d like to apologize for being a little hasty today.” He said, not sounding at all sorry.
Lane glanced over his shoulder and when his eyes fell on Kyra, they darkened. “I don’t need you trying to fix things.” He told her, angrily.
“Evidently, you do.” Said Tyler, stepping between them. He knew that Lane would take a swing at Kyra if he could. “Or this wouldn’t be happening.”
“It wouldn’t have started if she’d never shown up. You never listen to me, but I’ll say it anyway, she’s trouble.”
“Now you listen, Lane…” he took a step forward angrily, but as Kyra looked over his shoulder, she saw a little boy in pajamas standing in the doorway of what was presumably his room.
She slipped between the two men quickly. “Tyler…” she said warningly.
He glanced over and took a deep breath when he saw the boy. “Can’t you just be civil, set a good example for Brian?” he asked keeping his voice level.
“I am being civil. You just won’t listen to the truth.” Replied the taller man angrily. “It’s not my fault the bitch has got you all wound up for her.”
Sarai touched Tyler’s arm, soothingly, trying to keep him calm, but Lane’s words were getting to him, and if the other marine kept pushing buttons, she wouldn’t be able to stop the resulting fight. “Please,” she pleaded quietly. “You two were such good friends once, please just try to go back to that. You shouldn’t get so upset Tyler, and Lane, please just try to get along for a while. I know you two can work this out.” She flinched, her head snapping to the side as Lane slapped her, instantly blocking Tyler’s path to the him. She itched to fight back, to put the bastard in a body cast, but she knew it wouldn’t solve any problems and would only force an explanation for her skill later.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” spat Tyler, furious. “Do you have a death wish or something?”
“She doesn’t have any right to talk like that.” replied Lane coolly.
Sarai threw a pained glance over her shoulder as she dragged Tyler back to the car, muttering curses under his breath. “You should’ve let me deck him for you.” He spat.
She focused on putting the car into gear instead of on her stinging cheek. “I can take care of myself, Ty, don’t worry. If he ever really tries to hurt me, I’ll fight back, but under the circumstances, there was no point. Besides, his son was there, and if it wasn’t me then, it would have been him later. You know how I feel about exposing children to violence.”
“Unreasonable violence, sure, but…”
“ANY violence.” She said passionately. He glanced at her in surprise and she took a deep breath, calming her thoughts and staring straight ahead, her neck tight with stress. “I grew up in a world where you had to fight for your life every day. I saw no reason for it then, I see no reason for it now.”
He ran his hand along her leg, sighing. “I forgot. But I need you to promise me something.”
“Hmm?” she asked absently.
“No more trying to fix things, I’m tired of dealing with his crap.”
“Alright, I’m sorry. I just…I just hate that it’s because of me you two aren’t friends anymore.” Muttered Sarai.
“It isn’t just that, and besides, he’s just jealous that I’ve got the most beautiful, incredible woman in the world.” Teased Tyler.
Colour flamed up in her cheeks. “Shut up, you. I’m trying to drive.”
“No you’re not, you already parked.” He laughed. He got out, opening the door for her. Her blush deepened as he yanked her out of the car and into his arms. “It’s the truth, you are beautiful and amazing, and I’m just going to have to find a way to make you believe it.”
“I’m not as humble as you seem to think.” She warned, backing up until she hit the door. He reached behind her and opened it, making her stumble backwards.
“Maybe not, but I love you all the same.” He replied, kissing her hard on the lips.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sarai has made new friends and her boyfriend is more in love than ever but a new enemy may prove to obe he most dangerous one yet, especially when she refuses to fight back.