Part Three disclaimers part one _______________________ He reached out and clamped onto my wrist with a grip like an iron vise. He didn't hurt me, but my dramatic exit had been effectively thwarted. "Where are you going?" he demanded. I whipped around to face him. "What do you care?" I snarled, "What? Are you afraid I'm attempting to abscond with your merchandise?" I dug the disk out of my purse and threw it at him with a tear-filled glare. "There it is. Now, unless *you* want to service Mr. Parker when he comes round, you might want to be someplace that isn't here. The drug will be wearing off soon and *I* have no intention of helping him out in that arena. So, either let me go or do your best to kill me because I won't be here when it becomes an issue." I gave him my eyes, intending to show him only my resolution, but couldn't completely hide the pain that lurked just behind it. Just as the cloud had obscured his face before, the sun seemed to dawn in his eyes, lighting him from within. "No, I think we'll be leaving together," he said, with a cocky smile. His hand still fixed firmly around my wrist, he led the way out of the room, to a bank of elevators and out of the hotel into a waiting limo. Once inside the car, he pinioned me against the back of the seat with a kiss. Angrily, I pushed at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked incredulously. "I think I'm kissing you," he said around my lips, pulling until I sat astride his lap. He grabbed my hands and held them behind my back as he reasserted his lips to the task at hand. I bit him. "Ow!" he squawked, immobilizing me completely with his free hand, fisting it in my hair, "what was that for?" He leaned in and nipped my lip in retaliation, bathing it with his tongue in the same motion. He pulled back with extreme alacrity, a wicked grin on his face, as my teeth clicked shut on the air inches from his bottom lip, the action punctuated with a furious growl. "First, you ask me to acquire this information for you; then, you look down your nose at me like I'm damaged goods for what you *assumed* I did to get it. Now, you expect me to just spread my legs and fuck you, too, is that the deal? Well, for your information, you conceited, arrogant jackass, I am not your whore, do you understand me?" I couldn't comprehend that smile, but I recognized the look in his eye. He was aroused. "Well, well, well now, aren't we just the little wildcat?" he whispered sensually in my ear. His lusty appreciation of my fighting spirit was evidenced by the throbbing hard-on that nudged me through the silk of his trousers. Even through my anger, I felt my body betray me, react to him. Moisture flooded between my legs and my nipples hardened to nubs as he continued to kiss my throat, pulling my head backward with my hair and moving it this way and that to facilitate better access. I put up a token struggle, just enough to make him have to hold me tightly to keep me under control. I undulated and rocked against his rigid member under the auspices of trying to get away and I heard him stifle a moan. "I never thought you were a whore, Marley. Mine or anyone's," he murmured softly, as his lips brushed the sensitive skin just below my ear. "You're practical, pragmatic, and would have bedded him had it been necessary to achieve my objective. At first, I didn't think I had a problem with that, but the more I thought about him touching you," his eyes grew hard, "inside you, the less I liked it." His tongue traced the shell of my ear and he lifted his hips thrusting his hard cock against me as I straddled his legs. "I love you, and there's nothing you, or I, can do about it. You don't have to believe me, but I know you love me, too. So, mark my words, I *will* have you and you will be sighing like a furnace before this night is done." His lips now brushed over the tops of my breasts while he still held my hands immobile with one hand and controlled my head with the other. His supercilious assumption both infuriated and seduced me. "Anything you get from me, you'll have to take by force," I said, throwing down the gauntlet with a fierce facade and hoping with all my heart he would pick it up. "I can live with that," he said, not disappointing me. The car came to a stop in front of our hotel and Alex shifted his grip. He pulled my thumb backward and applied just enough pressure to show me that resistance would be painful. The driver had made his way to the curbside door and was pulling it open to give us egress. Alex maneuvered me ahead of him through the lobby and toward the elevators, still holding me hostage by my thumb joint, giving the appearance of eager lovers holding hands. He pushed me through the door ahead of him and kicked the door shut behind us. I found myself suddenly face down on the bed, with him on top of me. He had relinquished my thumb, but still held my wrists together behind me with one strong hand. With the other, he pushed my dress up over my head in one smooth motion, pulling it down my restrained arms to bind my hands there. Beneath the dress, I wore a French-cut black satin bra and panties set and thigh-high stockings topped with red lace garters that sported a matching ribbon of black satin. He gave a deeply primal moan of appreciation that brought a private smile to my face. He positioned his legs between mine, parting them, then raised up on his knees and sat back on his heels. His hands snaked around my hips and he lifted me to my knees. With my hands tied behind me, my cheek and chest lay flat against the soft duvet coverlet. With my ass in the air, the only thing between me and total exposure was a thin scrap of black satin. His fingers hooked into the string of my panties and tugged sharply. The fine material gave easily and I was lain bare, spread open before his intense gaze. I moved to close my legs together, but his knees still separated my thighs. His hands moved over my hips, down the insides of my thighs and back up over my ass stroking and kneading the flesh. He slid up my sides to brush the sides of my breasts with his fingertips. His hands glided under me to cup my breasts in his hands, the resulting elevation of my chest, pushing me back into his throbbing erection. His fingers swept over my ribs and one hand deftly unhooked my bra, tossing it aside. He once again took my breasts in his hands rubbing the nipples between his first and middle fingers eliciting an involuntary moan from me. He had removed his jacket before pushing me to the bed and now, no longer needing his hands to restrain me, he removed the rest of his clothing. I couldn't see him, but my mind filled in the details and again felt the ache of desire for him to be inside me. Once divested of his clothes, he moved in close behind me. I could feel the hair on his legs scratching against the backs of my thighs like a very fine wool. He took himself in hand and rubbed the head of his unyielding Priapus. He found me already very wet, and slammed into me, burying himself to the hilt. The depth and force of the thrust drove me right to the edge. He didn't withdraw and plunge, though, driving me to whimper piteously, but rather reached down to loose my hair from its twisted knot at the nape of my neck. His fingers raked my tresses smooth down my back and he let them trail down to the top of my ass. He gathered it together and wrapped it around one fist like a silken rope. His other hand reached around me and sought out the tiny bundle of nerves that was engorged and throbbing for attention. His middle finger probed our connection and slid back to circle my clit. I moaned and wriggled my fingers to make contact with his rippled stomach, desperate to touch him, to reciprocate the fingers that danced over the highly sensitive nubbin. He pulled back and thrust roughly into me again, using my hair as a sort of bridle to control my movements. He slammed home again and again, his finger circling and massaging my clit. I found a rhythm, swiveling my hips to maximize our contact. The heat gathered low in my belly, building until it ignited and exploded in a soul-shaking spasm of pleasure. My inarticulate scream sent him over the edge and he spilled into me, joining me in ecstatic oblivion. We collapsed, spooned together, with him still buried deep inside me as our hearts slowly ceased their galloping paces and our labored breathing returned to normal. He kissed my shoulder and disjoined from me, turning me over onto my back as he raised up on one elbow to look down into my serene face and fluttered butterfly kisses across my eyelids, nose and slack mouth. He lay his head upon the pillow, his lips close to my ear, "I would die for you, Marley," he whispered softly, "you're my soul mate, my nobler half. I wish I could give you a life with white picket fences and happy endings." But we both knew all too well, that our happiness was ultimately irrelevant in the face of the coming holocaust. So both of us tended to lurch headlong toward fatalistic hedonism refusing to acknowledge fear, doubt or the deep emotional need to unlearn certain secrets. Letting emotions cloud judgment could get us killed, or worse. I knew I was being foolish, but I couldn't turn off my feelings. I took the Claddagh from my right hand and moved it to the left, crown outward. My tender heart was truly spoken for, and I could do naught to change it. With his arms encircling me, I finally found a light and restless sleep interspersed with dark and ominous dreams. *~*~* A persistent nudge at my bladder woke me and forced me to reluctantly untangle myself from Alex's embrace. He was the only man I'd ever known who held me like a living teddy bear while we slept. I pulled my leg gently from between his and he moaned as I gingerly lifted his arm to wriggle out from beneath it without waking him. He growled softly as he patted the bed and finding it empty, curled into a fetal ball with the bulk of the blanket without ever fully reaching consciousness. I headed into the bathroom. The toilet was located in a discrete alcove in the furthest corner of the cavernous room and I made my way to it, not bothering to close the door completely, merely bumping it with my elbow in passing. I didn't turn on the switch as there was just enough illumination to find my way without taking out a toe. I sat down to relieve my bladder, goose bumps raising as the cool air slithered over my naked body, and wished that I'd thought to grab my kimono on the way in. Finishing quickly, I turned and was reaching for the small handle when I heard the door to our room crash open followed by masculine voices demanding "Don't move!" "What the fuck?!" Alex's confused voice and the sound of a scuffle came to me through the partially closed bathroom door. I held my breath to see if they would let him live long enough to answer his question. I moved silently to the door to see what I could. The drapes were open in the room and in the pale moonlight, I saw two men holding Alex by his arms as a third man struck him in the face with the butt of his pistol. They looked like spooks, but *whose* was anyone's guess. Enough of the moonlight reflected off the mirrors in the bathroom to cast sufficient light for me to see my duffle resting on the counter by the sink. I could hear the man asking Alex questions about what he'd received from the man whose neck I'd broken. I could hear Alex cursing him in Russian between blows with the gun butt, but not answering his questions. I crept silently, quickly toward my bag. I fished out my Beretta and moved, still naked, back to the door where I could see what was happening. Alex's mouth was bleeding and his right eye was already swollen nearly shut. I knew that I had only one shot at this, so I'd better make it good. The only gun I saw was the one that the first man had used to beat Alex. The other two didn't seem to be armed, but that most likely meant that their weapons were concealed and I would only have as long as it took the men to retrieve them. With a deep, steeling breath, I let my arms hang loosely at my sides, hiding the gun behind my right thigh, and stepped naked into the room. For a moment, it was as if time stood still. I let my eyes adjust to the marginally brighter room, picking out all three of my targets. Four pairs of male eyes suddenly fixed on me as I raised my gun and sited between the first man's eyes. "Sir, it's her," were his last words. I raised my weapon and fired with unerring accuracy eliminating a sizable chunk of his head as the one who was holding Alex retrieved his weapon. I fired again and he took the next bullet in his chest, while the third man grabbed Alex and dragged him naked from the bed. He disappeared down the hallway, using Alex's stumbling form for cover. I heard a faint voice saying that the hotel was surrounded and they had "the man in custody and the woman pinned down". I found a radio in the pocket of one of the dead men and grabbed it listening carefully to their dialogue. I threw on jeans and a t- shirt, hastily stuffing what belongings I could quickly find into my duffle. I found shoes and shoved my feet into them. I shrugged into Alex's leather jacket and beat a hasty retreat with the radio in hand, managing to evade them with their helpful information until I was on the ground floor. There must have been a dozen "unmarked" units at strategic points around the hotel, but, only a great fool wouldn't recognize them for what they were. I saw Alex, cuffed and bleeding in the back seat of one unit. There was a petite red-haired woman treating his injuries none to gently and a tall, angular-looking man with her who scanned the perimeter of the hotel as though he could sense me and was trying only to pinpoint my location. I knew that I couldn't do anything to help my Alexei right now. "I love you, Alexei," I thought fiercely, "I'll come for you as soon as I can." And I disappeared down the alley. THE END Feedback gratefully accepted at msmortis@excite.com