10. Madelyne
Aidan finally got to sleep around ten with a belly full of steak, but even with it cooled down and a good meal in me, I was restless. Maybe even angry. Having Nathan and his pack around was definitely a good thing, and as I’d said to Bela, I wanted it to go on well beyond when Matthias was finally dealt with.
The idea was sweet. It made me happy to think about it. But that happiness was ephemeral compared to the growing rage and sense of helplessness I felt about Matthias. It was like dropping ice cubes into a lava flow.
I had never backed down from a fight in my life. Not even with heavy fighters who towered over me. I knew how to take the bruises, tough it out, and keep going. The idea that a piece of shit like Matthias had magical powers that made it impossible for me to fight back against him directly was intolerable.
I wasn’t satisfied with letting Nathan and the others fight our battles for us. I might have hired them for that, but I just wasn’t made for the damsel in distress role. I would never be able to tolerate it, and maybe it was best that I prepare for the fact that that sneaky bastard might find a way past my guardians somehow.
My forge sat out back of the house, far enough away that the clang of the hammer and the roar of the blowers would not disturb Aidan or anyone else. The men were sleeping and guarding in shifts, true to their military backgrounds. I knew the grounds were safe, for now. It was time for me to get out and work some steel.
It was finally cool enough to wear jeans, my apron, and some work shoes. I had the design for Aidan’s knife, and I had decided that I wasn’t just making one. I wanted one of my own, just in case. At a minimum, I could use it to buy myself time until Nathan and the others showed up to step in.
Once I had my gloves and goggles on, I started up the forge and selected a couple of lengths of steel to work with. I heated the first length of steel to a steady yellow glow, then started shaping it.
Unsurprisingly, the clang of my hammer soon brought me attention. Nathan was on guard, and maybe ten minutes in, I caught sight of him walking up out of the corner of my eye. He moved around into my field of vision, staying far enough away to avoid any flying sparks, and watched as I balanced and formed the rough blade.
I loved working the forge. The tension I’d been holding in my shoulders unknotted itself. Sweat dampened my skin as my body put all its effort into shaping the stubborn steel into what I wanted. It was as good as a sauna. Later, once I was done, I’d take a cold shower and really feel myself wash away this trying day.
Once it was shaped, it was time to heat it in the forge again and let it cool on its own while I worked on the other. I would have to repeat this process multiple times to get the freshly shaped steel to mix toughness and flexibility in the right proportions. Then would come sanding, reheating, and oil-quenching and reheating to finely shape and properly harden the steel.
I might run out of arms before both knives were ready to be jacketed in silver, but by then, I wouldn’t have much left to do besides that. Sharpening would be a trick. I didn’t want to sharpen all the silver away from the edge, but I would figure it out. If there was one thing I was good at, it was making metal behave.
When both blades were going through the slow-cooling process, I sighed and stepped back, pulling off my gloves to air my sweaty hands. Nathan moved closer to me then, smiling and looking curiously between myself and the blades. “Not planning to mix silver into the steel?”
“It’s possible for me to do that Damascus style, but my skills in that style aren’t up to where I want them yet. Easier to jacket the blades.”
“Mm.” He tilted his head, and the light caught in his eyes intriguingly. “You mean for yourself and Aidan to carry them?”
“As a last resort, yes. In a stand-up fight, I would bet on you and the guys all day. But Matthias is sneaky, and so are his kin. And Aidan… he’s not the only one who doesn’t like feeling like our only options are to hide and be dependent on others.”
“Well, it’s good that you trust us, but you’re right. As a last resort, you should have something. After that little incident this afternoon, it seems especially important.”
I couldn’t quite hide my relief. “I’m glad you approve.”
“Of course I do. In your shoes, I’d want some means of direct self-defense, too.” He reached over and brushed some stray hairs off my cheek with his fingertips. The contact made me shiver a little.
“I never asked how you got into metalworking.”
I shrugged. “When I went to art school, I didn’t like sticking to flat media or things like clay. I wanted something I could really put some physical effort into. Something I could go all-out on.
“Most metal sculptors don’t go for the practical. They’re casting bronze nudes or making big abstract things out of scrap metal. And I’ve done some of the usual arty stuff. Busts, mobiles, fountains. But what I like best of all are things that are beautiful and something that people can actually use at the same time.”
“Like the fence at the Colony?”
I laughed a little, reminiscing. “I was still mourning when I made that. I really needed a big project to focus my energy on, and they needed a new security fence. Besides, back then my inheritance from my parents was still in limbo thanks to my aunt suing to try and get everything. The fence was how I paid my way.”
“I see.” He was standing closer, the light from the forge catching in his eyes. “I should have been there then. I could have helped.”
“I… I don’t think I was ready yet,” I said hesitantly. “I wasn’t over Ben’s death. Wouldn’t be for a couple of years. I wish we’d stayed in touch then, too, as friends, but… it was too soon then for anything else.”
“What was it like?” He moved a little closer. I looked from the rifle slung across his back to his face, and back to the forge. He smiled at me gently.
“It felt like losing a limb. I think I toughed it out, more for Aidan’s sake than my own. He was barely a toddler, and he needed me. Besides, Ben wouldn’t have wanted me to give up.”
“No, he wouldn’t have.” He licked his lips. “It must have been very hard, losing your family and then Ben within a few years.”
My eyes stung a little. I swallowed hard, fiercely willing myself not to get too misty over something I’d already moved past. “It was. But I had my work, my friends, and my little miracle kid. Nellie propped me up a lot back then. I’d eventually return the favor when she caught her husband with that teenager.”
“Ouch.” He shook his head. “Never going to understand men who would cheat on their wife, especially with someone who’s practically a kid.”
“Literally a kid. She was sixteen.”
His eyes widened. “Yikes. Is he in jail now?”
“Ran for it. Left the state and disappeared once the girl came to her senses and told her parents.” I chuckled bitterly. “Don’t ask Nellie about it. She’ll go off like a bomb.”
“Can’t say I blame her. I’m just glad she was there with you when I… couldn’t be.”
I looked into his eyes and said softly, “You were on a tour. There was no helping it.” And it might have been for the best, back then. The energy between us was so powerful that it felt palpable, like a wave of heat passing back and forth, leaving a fresh sheen of sweat on my skin that had nothing to do with the forge.
“I know. I still have regrets. About that… About a lot of things.”
“The past is past,” I told him. “I never felt abandoned by you. I just wish I had reached out as soon as you were back.”
“I wish I’d done the same. Looking back now, I can’t even remember why I didn’t. It almost seems cowardly.” His hand slipped from my shoulder down to my hand, and I gave his a squeeze.
I didn”t know who kissed who first. I only knew that I was suddenly in his arms, our mouths on each other”s again as we caressed each other. His breath was hot on my cheek. His heart pounded against my breasts. I could barely think, even with the forge roaring away not ten feet from me.
His hands roamed over me with a hunger that was years in the making, tracing every curve, digging into the globes of my ass, the insides of my thighs, lifting me off my feet as he sank to his knees on the dusty ground.
I straddled him as we kissed and kissed, breathless, desperate, going after each other like a feast when we were starving. He had his hand under the apron and up my shirt before I knew he was going for it. His fingertips teased at my nipple as he darted his tongue into my mouth.
I didn”t care anymore whether anyone saw us. I didn”t care that the security cameras were getting a show. When he took off my apron and laid it down on the ground for us, I let him. When he unzipped my jeans and shucked them down off my hips and then my legs, I let him. I couldn”t wait to be naked with him. I couldn”t wait to have him inside me.
He pulled a condom from his trouser pocket, laying his rifle down next to us before unbuckling his belt. I was already pulling off my tank top and bra, impatient. He zeroed in on my breasts right away, bending over me, grasping them, covering them with kisses before suckling them until my pussy ached.
He unzipped and shoved his pants and boxer briefs down, freeing his proud erection, which trembled with his heartbeat and wept little tears of precum. We were both impatient, our bodies humming with the need for each other. My hands traced down his back, over his chest, then took the rubber from him and opened its little foil envelope to roll it on. He groaned through his teeth as my fingers caressed him.
Then he was on me, hands and mouth on my breasts as he kissed up my breastbone to my neck. I was so wet already that when he pushed into me roughly, his cock slid with ease, and I gasped with pleasure instead of pain.
He let out an incoherent shout and started thrusting, his cock rubbing me in all the right places as I wrapped my legs around him. I bit my lip against my moans, trying to keep quiet but failing after a few strong thrusts.
I was tingling all over, trembling, my body starting to shake as I saw his face strain with growing pleasure. He shuddered and groaned a little louder each time our hips met. I whimpered in time with him, until finally, I couldn’t hold back and started to gasp and moan. My nails dug into his shoulders. My hips lifted to meet his, making our bellies clap together.
Harder, faster, we galloped toward climax together, voices rising in unison, bodies twined together, taut, shaking. The haze of pleasure and desire was rising until I didn’t care anymore how much noise I made. My toes curled. My vision swam. I wanted to beg him not to stop, but I couldn’t form words anymore—only thrash under him, arching, tossing my head from side to side as his voice rose in a cadence of bliss.
Finally, the pleasure rose so high it caught fire. I sobbed into his neck as my aching pussy suddenly contracted, fluttering around him as waves of ecstasy rocked through me. He threw back his head, his hoarse cries mixing with mine as my climax touched his off.
I collapsed to the ground, muscles slack, tingling all over. I felt like I was floating, even with his big body pinning me down. We lay there catching our breaths. My climax had hit me like a freight train, and even as I remembered that I was on camera and Matthias might be spying, I couldn”t bring myself to move.
”I love you,” I murmured and heard him return the words as my eyelids fell closed. I just need to rest for a minute…
I was asleep before my heart could fully slow, knocked out by the intensity.
I woke up in my bed, and Nathan was gone. I could still smell his sweat and cologne, taste him in my mouth. My body still tingled from everything he”d been doing to me, and I felt more relaxed than I had in ages.
I shouldn”t have been surprised that we”d meshed so well as lovers right from the start, but as I sat up and stretched, I was. I also felt strangely at peace, as if something in me had been desperately waiting for the barrier between us to finally break down for good.
It was three in the morning. Everything was dim and still. I looked out my window and saw the forge was dark. I”d have to pick back up the process of tempering the steel for our knives later. In the still of the night, all I could think about was Nathan and how much I wished that he could have stayed in bed with me. The only thing that could have made this moment more perfect would be waking up in his arms.
That, and Matthias being dead and gone, along with the others. But for the time being, I was simply happy to finally have Nathan as my lover and have my last memory of sex be with someone I actually wanted and cared about.
Matthias would have been jealous as hell to realize I was with someone else. That I”d moved on so quickly once he had shown his colors. But what could he expect? Blind devotion from someone he had manipulated, robbed, and terrorized? Not happening.
I rolled my shoulders, feeling aches in unfamiliar places. My skin was itchy with dried sweat. I went to rinse off in the shower, keeping the water lukewarm. I didn”t like washing off Nathan”s scent, but I was sure we”d be together again soon. No way would he refuse seconds when our first time had been so amazing.
I realized I should check on Aidan, who hadn”t been sleeping well the past few nights. I dressed in a fresh cotton nightgown and padded out into the hallway. To my surprise, I heard Nathan’s deep voice downstairs.
I walked over to the stairs to listen. I heard a masculine yawn and some muttering in Russian. Then Nathan spoke up again.
“Well, it looks like Bela hit the mother lode this morning. You want to brief us on all this?”
Bela spoke up. “Yep, looks like Interpol has a file on Matthias and his mom that’s even longer than the stuff we got from the local Sheriff. They may have only been at it for ten years, but those guys are infamous.”
“Does Interpol know they’re shifters?” Jamie’s voice.
“Absolutely. They have this group on their red list to approach with shifter operatives only.”
“So, what did the records say?” Ulf sounded impatient. I wondered if he’d been woken up to take this briefing.
“Amala Montrose, maiden name Amala Kumar, has been running cons for over fifty years. Bangalore, Hong Kong, Monaco, Rome… She’s been all over Europe and Asia defrauding rich people and taking their money. Forty years ago, she married Matthias’ dad in London, bore Matthias, and settled down for a few years to play a rich guy’s wife.
“Montrose’s family didn’t trust her. Stopped coming around, even to see Matthias. Then, five years into her marriage, her husband dies suddenly under… mysterious circumstances.” The sarcasm positively dripped from Bela’s voice. “She inherited everything. The family tried to fight legally, but she’d bribed enough of the right people to make sure that couldn’t happen. Soon after the estate settles, she skips town with the money and her son.”
I sat down on the top step, intrigued but not really wanting to go down and join them. I was still damp, still worn out, and still dealing with my emotions over making love with Nathan. I couldn’t just pull myself back together and talk normally with all this on my mind.
“Eighteen months after she disappears, she pops back up in Paris playing the part of the wealthy, grieving widow. Her activities slowed down for a while for about ten years after that. She must have been raising her son to follow in her footsteps. Meanwhile, she’s roped in a cousin from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to act as her bodyguard and security guy.
“I think she tried the romance scams for a bit longer, but having a kid around made that more complicated. So, she turned to high-end theft, con jobs, and blackmail. Her son started joining her on these jobs at the tender age of fourteen.”
“Like mother, like son,” Nathan said drily.
“Exactly. So finally, Matthias hits puberty, and suddenly we’ve got some disappearances associated with the two of them and they leave Paris. Go on the run again.”
“Disappearances?” Ulf sounded grave.
“Two nannies in their employ within the space of a month. My guess is the kid started shifting at puberty like we do. But unlike us, he wasn’t suddenly hungry for a fat deer or a side of beef.”
I shivered. Eaten. Bela’s saying that Matthias ate at least two people at fourteen.
There was no bottom to Matthias’ perversity or his cruelty. I should have known it was that bad, but somehow, Matthias still managed to shock me with his wickedness every single time.
“That’s disgusting,” Jamie growled. “So, he started being an evil piece of shit really early.”
“Apparently so. Looks like he learned well from his mother and bodyguard.” Bela’s disgust was plain in his voice. “The three of them traveled all over, but they didn’t head for the States until five years ago.”
“I wonder why they gave up on Europe,” Nathan mused.
“Oh, that? They nearly got caught. They made the mistake of trying their shit in Moscow. Next thing they know, the shifter wing of the FSB was after them. File says they were nearly captured in a fight at a train station on the border.” Bela sounded gleeful. “They got away, but they paid for it in silver wounds.
“They go dark for several months, then pop up in New York as wealthy foreign arts supporters.” I heard the slosh and gulp of Bela taking a swig of beer. “Guess they wanted to go somewhere where the cops were underfunded and undertrained.”
“That’s everywhere in the US these days.” Jamie didn’t sound too pleased about it.
“Well, anyway, those are the basics. Boils down to this: if we actually manage to drive them away instead of killing them outright, chances are they’ll stay in the States.”
I had heard enough. I was starting to doze off, and I still had to check on my son. I stood and walked back down the hall, stifling a yawn before opening Aidan”s door and slipping inside.
He was curled into a ball in the far corner of his bed, against the wall, the blanket over his head and his little hands gripping it tightly. He shifted now and then, the odd little kicks and gestures he always made in sleep. I smiled; it was adorable, but I was still worried that he might be having bad dreams. That would explain why he was hiding under the blanket even when fast asleep.
I slipped into bed next to him and threw an arm over the bundle of blanket and child. He stopped wiggling and nestled closer to me. I dozed off, and I didn’t remember my dreams.
I woke up past dawn and found the blanket had been fixed and laid over the both of us. I lay there blinking sleep from my eyes and wondered which of the men had tucked me in.