Oceans of Fire (26 page)

“Is something wrong?” He worked his way through the crowd, protecting her from the crush with his larger body as they made their way toward the smaller, more intimate tables at the back of the room.

It was impossible not to remember how he did that, the small things, making her feel so safe. So loved. Abigail turned her face away from him, wanting to weep with the memories of what she’d lost.

“Abbey.” He curved his arm around her waist. “Tell me.“

“I’m too afraid to love you again, Sasha.” She made the confession in a low voice. The lump in her throat nearly choked her. “I can’t lose you a second time. I can’t lose myself a second time. I’m just not that strong.” It hurt so much she couldn’t explain, couldn’t find words to describe the razor sharp cuts still so raw in her heart.

Aleksandr drew her closer, moved onto the dance floor where he could safely hold her. He kept to the shadows. The tears shimmering in her eyes broke his heart. She fit so perfectly, her body moving with the rhythm of his, her face buried in his shirt.

“Let the past go,
baushki-bau
, you have to let it go or we’ll both lose. My life is better with you in it. Your life is better with me in it.” His chin nuzzled the top of her head as his arms enfolded her close. “If you reach out to me, just a little, Abbey, we can make it.”

She shook her head, denying something she knew was inevitable. If she didn’t step off the cliff and reach for him, he was already lost to her.

“I’m tired,
moi prekrasnij
. I stopped sleeping the day they took you from me. Do you remember what it was like together? My body curled around yours, holding you as we drifted off to sleep. I thought at first I’d be unable to allow anyone to sleep in my bed. I have no trust, but, with you, it was natural. You belonged with me. The moment my arms were around you, I was at peace. Do you remember the feeling, Abbey?”

His whispered words slipped inside her, hovered there, brushing against the fragile barrier she tried to erect between them. The music was slow and dreamy, a soft blues number that matched her melancholy mood. She could feel the touch of her sisters and knew that they had arrived, worried as they felt the strength of her emotions. She slipped her arms around Aleksandr’s neck, trying not to weep for her lost trust in him. He had not only shaken her faith in him, but in herself and her magic. The past wouldn’t let her go, not her love for him and not her memories of his betrayal.

“I remember.” She choked out the words against his throat. “Can you hear me screaming in pain? Can you, Sasha? It’s so deep I can’t ever get it out and it’s locked inside me forever.”

He crushed her to him. “Yes. I’m screaming too.” He held her, staying to the shadows, his face buried in her silken hair. He was screaming, deep inside where no one else could hear. Where it hurt so much he couldn’t find words to let it out. He had never needed anyone before Abigail had brought love and laughter into his bleak world. His duty had been his life and in that barren existence there had been violence and deceit and even treachery. Abigail had been an unexpected treasure, precious beyond even his understanding until he’d lost her. It hurt like hell to know he was responsible for their pain. “I’m sorry, Abbey.”

She didn’t respond and he’d spoken the words so softly he wasn’t sure she’d heard him. He leaned over her and put his lips against her ear. “Did you hear me?” He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d said those words to anyone. When he meant them. And now he knew he would say them again and again until he put right what he had made wrong between them. He brushed his lips against her ear. “I’m sorry, Abbey, I’m sorry.”

“I heard.” Her fingers curled around the nape of his neck, stroked bare skin until he felt her touch burning through his body like a brand. “I heard you.”

Lights flickered as the last notes of the song faded away and Aleksandr turned her toward the back of the room and the small tables. Fitting her body beneath his shoulder protectively to prevent others from seeing her poignant expression, his gaze shifted around the room, a slow, unhurried examination, noting the placement of furniture, exits, and most of all the faces in the room. Several fishermen sat at the bar. A group of locals laughed together in a larger group at the far end of the bar near the entrance. Couples held hands, some standing, some sitting. Abigail’s sisters sat together right next to the table where Carol and her friends were gathered. Deliberately, Aleksandr chose the small table between Abigail’s family members and he took the chair facing the entrance, pulling hers around so she would be sitting beside him rather than across from him.

“Do you see the men at the table behind the partition?” He brought her hand up to his mouth and nibbled on her knuckles, smiling at her as he did so. “Just glance over at them, Abbey, and see if anyone is familiar to you.”

She had all but forgotten why they had come to the inn. Abigail rested her head on his shoulder and shifted her gaze. People came from the various surrounding towns, and she might not know them all by name, but she knew their faces. Camaraderie was strong on the coast and she nodded and smiled at those she made eye contact with. Most of the younger men were staring openly at Joley and Hannah. A few strangers hung out at the bar, around the dance floor, and in small groups at a couple of the tables. Behind the low partition a larger group of men sat together and they didn’t look as if they were enjoying the music all that much.

“They aren’t blending in,” she said.

“No, and it’s probably annoying the hell out of Prakenskii.” There was a wealth of satisfaction in Aleksandr’s voice. He opened Abigail’s hand and pressed a kiss into the exact center of her palm. “He likes to be the chameleon, never noticed.”

“Prakenskii? The man you said was a…”

He drew her finger into his mouth, distracting her. Her gaze jumped to his face. She looked wary. Excited. Interested. He smiled at her. “You taste good.”

“You better pay attention to your job. Which one is Prakenskii?”

“He’s standing up against the wall, one hand in his jacket, very aware I’m in the same room with him. I’ll have to go over and acknowledge Nikitin. It would be poor manners not to do so.” He kept his gaze firmly on hers, the picture of a man enthralled with his date.

A small crumpled napkin hit Abigail on the side of the head. She turned to see Joley making faces at her.

“Does she need help?” Aleksandr asked. “Is she having some kind of fit?”

Abigail dipped the wadded-up napkin in her water glass and threw it back with accuracy, smacking Joley’s cheek. “She’s warning me. And she’s about as subtle as a bullhorn.”

“Warning you about what?”

“Not what. Who. Sylvia Fredrickson has arrived. The resident man-eater. Sylvia doesn’t much care for me. I’d much prefer not to go into the details. Suffice it to say my magic went a little wrong and her marriage ended. Not only her marriage, but also her lover’s marriage.” Abigail sighed.

Aleksandr read her body language easily. He had trained all his life to read the smallest details in expression and posture. Abigail was uncomfortable with the
other
woman in the room. He glanced at the newcomer, a blonde with a low-cut top and the generous curves to carry it off. She looked brittle, laughed too loud, and touched every man as she worked her way through the crowd.

Aleksandr slipped his arm around Abigail. “I feel sorry for her. She’s desperate. Desperation often makes people do things they’re ashamed of. Her life can’t be easy.”

“No, I’m sure it’s not. I’d hoped when she married Mason Fredrickson that she’d settle down. Mason’s a good man and he really loved her and seemed to understand her need for constant attention, but she cheated on him as well. Unfortunately, along with making her own life difficult, she makes everyone else’s life around her the same way.”

The band swung into a faster dance rhythm and at once the dance floor was crowed with swaying people. Aleksandr watched as Carol joined the Drake sisters in a small circle where they danced together. His gaze shifted back to the Russians and he frowned as he laced his fingers through Abigail’s. “I don’t like the way Nikitin is watching your sister.”

His chin rubbed across the back of her hand. Abigail found the small gesture sensual. Her awareness of him was so heightened she felt she could feel every breath he took. She tried to look over toward Nikitin casually, as if she were just sweeping the room. All the while she leaned into Aleksandr, wishing she were in his arms again. Wishing she could turn back the clock. If she only had confidence in her magic as a Drake, in herself as a woman, but she was more shaken than she’d known.

Nikitin was staring at the dance floor, even leaning forward in his chair. As she watched, he signaled to someone at his table without ever looking away from the dancers, put a wad of bills in the man’s hand, and sat back, still watching. Abigail followed his gaze to Joley.

Her sister was a wild, uninhibited dancer. A true musician, she lost herself in the beat, eyes bright with laughter, her body moving in a sexy interpretation of the rhythm. As Abigail watched, a stranger approached her sister, inserting himself behind her, moving with her in an attempt to “freak” dance. The moment his body touched her, Joley spun around, jarred out of her enthrallment. Beside Abigail, Aleksandr tensed and half rose.

“Joley can take care of herself,” Abigail assured him. “And the others are there. She won’t want attention when she’s having fun. Look, that’s the manager.” She indicated a man moving through the crowd with her chin. “Joley comes in here a lot just to relax and listen to music. He’s not going to allow anyone to mess with her.”

As she watched, Ilya Prakenskii came out of the shadows and caught the man accosting Joley and took him away from the floor. He did it without a sound, without fuss, so quickly no one seemed to notice. Joley stood for a moment, watching the two men disappear out the door, and then she shrugged, grinned at the manager, and went back to her dancing.

“What just happened?” Abigail asked. “I swear, two seconds ago, Prakenskii was standing against the wall behind Nikitin. How in the world did he get through the crowd like that and why didn’t I notice him?“ She leaned her head back to look up at Aleksandr. ”You move like that. Like Prakenskii. Sometimes I don’t even hear you or see you and you’re across the room.“

He grinned at her. “We blend. I hope the eager young man is all right. Prakenskii, depending on his mood, can be a little enthusiastic about his work.” He nodded toward the wall behind Joley, and Abigail frowned when she saw the Russian had returned unnoticed.

“That’s just creepy. He isn’t looking at Joley at all, but I still don’t like him being so close to her.”

“He sees her. He sees everything.”

“Great.” Her fingers tightened around his. “How do you do this day in and day out? I’m a nervous wreck, worried about my family, you, what the heck they’re up to. The man Nikitin gave his money to didn’t go to the bar to get drinks; he’s up by the band.”

“It’s possible Nikitin wants a certain song played and he’s going to bribe the band. He’s reputed to really love music and it is something he would do. Money talks with him. There is no need to worry. Prakenskii has twice acknowledged my presence and indicated they are here peacefully.”

“Well, that’s just great. As opposed to going into battle?” She toyed with the drink on the table. “At least Aunt Carol and the other ladies are having fun.”

As the music ended, the Drake sisters returned to their table. Joley paused and went up to Prakenskii. Abigail held her breath. The man wasn’t exceptionally tall, but he seemed to loom over her sister, powerful and looking enormously strong. More than anything he had an aura of danger surrounding him. Her sisters wouldn’t fail to recognize it.

“I’d like to buy you a drink,” Joley said as he walked with her to the table. “It wasn’t necessary to rescue me, but it was very gentlemanly. Thank you.”

“You should be more aware of what is going on around you,” Prakenskii reprimanded her. “And drawing attention to yourself by dancing so suggestively is utterly stupid for a woman in your position.”

“Oh, God.” Abigail covered her face with her hands. It didn’t help that all the women sitting at Aunt Carol’s table overheard and nodded their heads in complete agreement.

Joley tossed her head, sending her hair flying in all directions. Sparks fairly flew from her eyes. “Really? How lovely of you to give me unsolicited and unwanted advice. Take a hike, buddy.”

“He had a knife on him and he carried a drug to put in women’s drinks.”

Joley had turned her back on Prakenskii, but that stopped her cold. She turned back slowly. “Where is he? Did you get his name?”

“Did you know this man?”

“No, but sometimes I get letters…” She trailed off. “Where is he?”

“I suggested he leave before the police were called. His knife and the drugs were confiscated and thrown away. What letters?”

Joley waved the question away. “We should have called the sheriff and had him arrested.” She tilted her chin. “Men like that don’t need suggestive dancing to do what they do. They’re sick perverts.”

“That is true, but it does not excuse your deliberately enticing men with your suggestive dancing.”

“You are a jerk.”

The singer in the band stepped up to the microphone as the music faded away. “I’m certain if we all put our hands together we can persuade Joley Drake to sing for us.”

The manager of the bar frantically drew a line across his throat, signaling the band member to stop, but he was ignored.

Abigail swore softly under her breath. “The Caspar Inn is one of the few refuges left to Joley where she can enjoy herself without fear of tabloid reporters or crazed fans. Singing would definitely draw unwanted attention and this place would be lost to her if word got out that she ever dropped in to sing.”

“Now we know why Nikitin gave his man money. He wanted to bribe the band to ask Joley to sing.” Aleksandr sat back in his chair. “What is interesting is that Nikitin knew it was the band he had to bribe, not management. He knew ahead of time that management wouldn’t take the money and sell her out. How did he know that?”