MadetoBeBroken (10 page)
Authors: Lyra Byrnes
Funny how the lake’s waters changed from blue to green as
you got close to its verdant edge, she thought. Funny how she should think of
this place as the site of terrible deeds she had been tasked to commit, but
that changed color, too. The cottage looked humble and welcoming in the
midmorning sun. There was nowhere she would rather be, and no one she’d rather
be there with.
She shook out a blanket and laid it on the grass, watching
with a smile as Alexi pulled off his shirt.
“You’re going to eat naked?” she teased.
“Still asking questions.”
“I have a million of them,” she admitted. “Like, should I be
jealous of this Yelena?”
“She is rich and powerful, with many connections. Procuring
this house was no trouble after I spoke with your boss.”
“Beat the shit out of him, you mean.”
He frowned. “I did both. He has very stiff hair.”
She admired the graceful efficiency of Alexi’s movements as
he laid out the food—roast chicken, a tub of olives, a baguette, cheese and a
basket of tiny strawberries. Her mouth watered. She realized she hadn’t had a
proper meal in days. Finally he produced two bottles of champagne from the boot
of the limo. There had been a time, not long ago, when his slashed eye repulsed
her. It seemed inconceivable that she had shuddered at the thought of smiling
into that face, teasing and flirting with him, trying to seduce him out of
secrets. Now, all she wanted to do was tear off the moss-green slip-dress he’d
brought for her and pounce on him.
“They said you were dead.”
“Yelena said. I am sorry,
krahsniy
, you were not
meant to hear that. Better if they think me gone. My people will not prevail,
but neither will they die.”
“And you’re just giving up the fight?”
“You know what will happen if I don’t.”
She sipped the champagne. It tasted glorious. The last thing
she wanted was to lose Alexi to the madness of war, if she could keep him here
forever, safe in their safe house. But the man whose dossier she had flipped
through while sitting on her hotel bed was passionate and uncompromising. She didn’t
want to change him. That would be her own way of defanging the wolf. And, if
she was honest with herself, the wolf part of him attracted her as strongly as
the gentle one who had pulled the hull off a strawberry before handing it to
her.
“It will go on anyway.”
“Yes. You made me see that. When I told you this fight has
lasted for a hundred hundred years, I was not listening to myself. Now I see.
Before me and my grandfathers, long after I am truly dead, it will go on. I am
nothing—a speck in the eye of an evil god.”
“Times change,” she said weakly. “Loyalties shift. You never
know.”
“I know this—the day I shut my heart down was a mistake.
When I saw that picture you sent, the one that reminded me of home, I knew you
understood what it means to me, and then I could let it go.”
“And I almost caused it to be bombed into rubble. I was
trying to avoid a war, you know, not start one.”
He shrugged. “You see now, it’s more easy to start war than
people think. You were doing your job, I was doing mine. Now we are orphans
together.”
“I know, I mean, what’s next? Maybe the OSO won’t come after
me, if Rod keeps his word. But why would he? He knows you’re out there.”
“Out here and dangerous. He fears me now,” Alexi said
simply. “He should. The man is a coward at heart. He wants to keep his job more
than he wants peace.”
“Well, we can’t live here forever, swatting salmon out of
the lake with our hands like bears.” She spit out an olive pit. “You’re
recognizable, and I’m in the shadows again. This is wonderful, Alexi, but it’s
temporary, you know that. Is there dessert in that basket?”
He didn’t answer, just looked at her with an odd expression
on his face. She lowered the chicken leg she was holding. “What is it?”
“You eat like a man,” he laughed.
“For that, I should chain you to the wall again.”
“No, I like it. I like your passion,
krahsniy
. We
will find our way. And yes, there is sweet treat for us both.”
She rummaged through the basket, her flaming hair curtaining
her face. “I’m not seeing anything.”
He stopped her hands. “This fantasy is temporary, yes, but I
have found home in you. And you in me, I think, no?”
She gulped, nodding. It was true—home was wherever they
could be together, the memories of their shared past and separate pain bonding
them, their future an uncertainty. But whatever was to come, she had found safe
haven in Alexi, a man who had given up an entire nation just to be with her.
“The waterfall, little one. Maybe for you, fantasy is to
dive into lake of ice cream. For me, is to make love under a waterfall with a
beautiful red-haired spy on a glorious summer day.”
“Well, since you neglected to buy us a lake full of ice
cream
¼
But I warn you, I fight back.”
She stood and pulled the dress over her head. Alexi took in
the sight of her long ivory legs, creamy breasts and warm, teasing smile, and
licked his lips.
“And I will subdue you—” he began. But she had already
jumped into the lake, squealing at the cold, and begun splashing toward the
curtain of clear water.
“With three little words,” he whispered to himself.
Coco disappeared behind the waterfall, becoming nothing but
a smudge of red.
“You’ll never take me alive, Maksimov!” she yelled, sending
up a splash of water with one playful hand.
He shook his head at the chirping of his little red bird.
With a smile, he stripped off his jeans and waded in after her.
Bookish crafter by day, scribbler of passionate tales by
night, Lyra Byrnes leads a most satisfying double life. A former award-winning
journalist and multi-published author, she turned to writing romances full-time
after being inspired by the many wonderful stories out there. Rumors that she
dons a cape and mask to write are probably unfounded.
Lyra welcomes comments from readers. You can find her email
address on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Made to Be Broken
ISBN 9781419949074
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Made to Be Broken Copyright © 2013 Lyra Byrnes
Edited by Beverly Horne
Cover design and photography by Syneca
Models: Axl and Taylor
Electronic book publication October 2013
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