Choosing Hearts - The Fighter's Passion (Gritty, Explicit Romance Novel) (A Lusty Stand Alone Story) (10 page)

He felt strangely
comfortable with this young woman, barely moments after he had met her. She
didn’t look anything like his beloved Alicia, but there was something similar.
Her spirit, perhaps, and even the way she seemed to be very positive about
everything. Alicia was just the same in that way and he began to miss her even
more. Looking at Julia, he realized that his need for Alicia was making him
feel the way he was about this woman he had met less than an hour ago.

“Ah, here we are,”
Julia grinned, stirring him from his thoughts as their order arrived. “Onion
and beef stew, fresh garlic bread and lettuce.”

Rogan nodded
appreciatively as he fell upon the food with gusto. He found the food more
pleasant than he had done ever since he had been in this future. Perhaps, he
mused, it was the company of a friendly, pleasant person like Julia that made
him feel that way.  But he also realized that he should not let his focus fall
short, lest he got himself lost even further than he already was.

“This is a fine
repast, indeed.” He smiled at Julia. “It may serve me well to take all my meals
here.”

“Yeah, Wendy’s is
the best.” She gave him a wide smile. “But tell me, Rogan… why do you speak
like people did, I don’t know, maybe a few centuries ago… almost as if
Shakespeare wrote your lines.”

“Pardon me, I am
unaware of the customary speech of this ti… er… place.” He shrugged. “Perhaps
under your tutelage I may learn the local nuances here.”

“Er, yeah…” She
almost blushed again. “Now that you’re going to basically be my partner, I
suppose I could teach you a little more than what the standard manual offers.”

“Ah, yes.” Rogan
nodded. “Pray tell me, what manner of patronage does your sire, Foster, bestow
upon me?”

“Um, if I
understood all that correctly… Captain Foster agreed to appoint you as a
trainee on the force, under my care.” She explained as he stared into her eyes.
“We’ll have a week’s worth of training at the station before we are ready to go
out in the field. And Foster’s not my sire; he’s just a superior officer.”

“Ah, I see now.”
He smiled warmly. “Foster is your captain and I am to be trained under you to
serve as a law bringer here in this vast city.”

“Yeah, that’s
right.” She sighed in relief.

“This I most
willfully accept,” Rogan said, surprising himself with his own enthusiasm. “I
am at your service whenever you deem fit.”

“Great!” She
smiled. “Let’s get you outfitted right away then, Trainee Officer Rogan
O’Kirkfalls.”

~ ~ ~

“Are you sure
these scores and results are for real, Kincaid?” Captain Maurice ‘Mo’ Foster
raised an eyebrow as he leafed through the paperwork. “He’s practically set
records in every theoretical test we have here.”

“Wait till you get
a load of these, Captain.” The young woman beamed as she excitedly handed him
Rogan’s fitness and weapons handling tests. “I can’t believe these myself, and
barely a week ago he couldn’t tell one end of a shotgun from the other.”

“So he’s a master
of every type of firearm we’ve got now, all in the span of one week.” Foster
grunted, eyeing the reports with a little disbelief. “And he was exceptional
with his bare hands and batons, sticks and also blades even before we started
his training last week.”

“I told you that
there is something more to him than meets your eye.” Julia laughed
triumphantly.

“Sure, you can be
smug about this, but you’ve still got the task of making him into an effective
police officer.” Foster wagged his finger at her. “All these reports prove he
can make a great soldier. I wonder if the army knows about him. They’ll take
him in a heartbeat.”

“Don’t you dare,
Mo Foster.” Julia feigned anger. “Rogan is NYPD and I’m getting him his badge
in a week.”

“I’ll buy you a
steak dinner and Peter Luger’s if you get him to make the news in a week.” The
stocky captain shook his head in acceptance.

“Yum, I’ll hold
you to that, Cap.” She winked as she turned to leave his office. “And I’m
bringing Rogan with me. That man can eat, so you’d better take your Amex card
along.”

Her smile
stretched wide across her lovely face as she strode up to the highlander
waiting outside. Rogan looked up from his seat near the stairway. A week had
gone by since he had first met her. It was the most pleasant seven days of his
month long stay in this future world. He had grown accustomed to many things
and had begun to like a few of them. He felt guilty as he enjoyed Julia’s
company. She almost made it bearable for him without his beloved Alicia. It was
still too soon for him to accept that he might never see Alicia again and this
life was all he had now.

“Your awesome
scores sure made the Captain jump up.” Julia patted his broad shoulder. “We’ve
got the green light to hit the field, Rogan. Tomorrow, we’ll be out on patrol,
keeping the streets of New York free of crime.”

“I daresay, I have
been looking forward to that.” Rogan rose up, his near seven foot frame
towering over her.

“Cool, so get some
rest, no more training to do,” She grinned and patted the side of his thick
upper arm. “Take in a movie or read a book. We’ll be up and about for nine
hours a day from tomorrow.”

Rogan nodded and
watched her walk away. He wanted to follow her to where she was headed, but he
didn’t think it would be wise. She had given him her leave and he would honor
it, but he wasn’t sure of what to do next. A movie was not something he
particularly liked, having seen such moving images on small window-like screens
since the time he had been stuck in this alternate realm. He found what was shown
to be too phantasmal for his liking. And he wasn’t much for scrolls and books,
leaving those tedious tasks for the monks and priests. With nothing else to
keep him interested, he strolled back to the little room that was assigned to
him at the back of the police station and decided to take a midday nap.

Clasping the
little glowing pendant around his neck in his callused fingers, he closed his
eyes and thought of Alicia, asking for forgiveness if his mind had strayed a
few times in the last week. Julia was a very impressive woman and he had begun
to get very fond of her, but Alicia was his love, his life, the one whom he
would go to Hell for and back. He sighed deeply, whispering her name. He could
almost feel her as he caressed the glowing stone in the pendant. Her beautiful
face, large misty blue eyes and rich raven black hair, smooth and shiny, filled
his mind. He envisioned her smiling and holding her arms out wide for him to
fall into.

“Oh, Alicia…” He
said, his voice a trembling whisper. “I’m coming for you, my love.”

“Yes, my love.”
She said sweetly, making his heart soar. “Come to me, my love… my life… my
heart. Come to me, Rogan…  I am so cold and lonely without you.”

Rogan could almost
feel her touch, the warmth of her breath on his rough skin. She was so close,
right there, barely inches away. He reached out. He could feel the smooth
velvet of her soft skin. Her pale naked flesh seemed to glow in the light of
the full moon. Rogan looked around in surprise. His heart leapt for joy. He was
back in the meadow and it was a full moon night with the sweet sounds of the
familiar bubbling streams and the melodious chirps of birds, the rustling of
leaves and the whistling wind.

He was back home
and with her, with his beloved Alicia. She hugged his neck, kissing his face,
weeping for joy. Tears ran freely down his face as much as hers did. He kissed
her, drowning in the intoxicating nectar of her sweet lips. She breathed
huskily into this mouth, filling him with longing and desire. Her bare skin was
hot and sent waves of arousal all through him. The familiar pleasure of his
raging blood filling into his rising erection made his head spin. So long it
had been, since he had made love, so long ago it seemed.

Alicia rose up and
pushed her naked breasts to his face, her erect cherry pink nipples yearning
for the warm moistness of his hungry lips. He gave in to the temptation
immediately, making her moan lustfully and call out his name. Rogan savagely
sucked and bit into her soft flesh, even as her sharp nails raked across his
dense muscular back. Their love was pure and their union eternally blissful.
Rogan rejoiced as the warmth of her womanhood engulfed his pulsing erection
whole, sending shivers of paralyzing pleasure all through his weary body. He
felt his energy level rise, his strength multiply and his love for life bloom
once again.

“Oh, Alicia… my
Alicia.” He all but wept as he ground his hips against hers.

“Oh, Rogan… oh,
fill me with your love.” She gasped, siphoning his raging hardness ever deeper.

His body stiffened
as he felt days of stress and angst begin to release though him. He shook with
the anticipation of a powerful orgasm and held on to her tightly, kissing and
pecking at her lovely neck and yielding breasts. He slammed in hard, going in
deep with animalistic grunts, making her gasp and moan in tandem with his
frantic strokes.

“Oh, Rogan…
Rogan…” Her scream was almost hysterical. “I’m cumming so hard, baby… fuck me,
fuck me, yeah!”

“Oh, yes!” Rogan
roared, almost on the verge of ecstatic release himself.

Her words seemed
strange; he had never heard such from her lips before. He glanced up to look at
her ecstatic face as she released all over his throbbing manhood. His heart
froze and he felt a chill descend all over him, making his impending release
implode back on itself.

“Julia?” His eyes
went wide. “No… no…”

“What’s the
matter, baby.” The naked hazel eyed woman writhing under him smiled
lasciviously. “I know you want me… and now you have me.”

“No!” Rogan sat
upright, scrambling away from his trainer and falling off the bed.

He hurt his head
on the way down and then looked around the small room groggily. He was alone,
his trembling body covered in cold sweat. His hands shook as he felt himself
up. He was fully clothed and no one else was around. It was still daytime.

“A dream?” He said
softly, burying his face in his palms. “Another accursed dream… why am I
haunted so?”

He washed his face
and sat by the little window, his hands clasping at the pendant, calming
himself down. His love for Alicia burned ever brightly in his heart and yet he
seemed drawn toward Julia. He asked for forgiveness from whoever would grant
that to him. This wasn’t a life he had bargained for. It seemed that Nostrazcus
could even torment him from across the great divide of time. He was sure that
the wizard was behind these horrible dreams that plagued him, to drive him
insane.

“I will return,
wizard.” He cursed under his breath. “I will tear out your black heart and feed
it to you.”

“I know you will,
my love.” He heard Alicia’s soothing voice filling his mind. “Now rest, sleep
and let your love for me find you a way back here.”

“Yes, Alicia, my
love.” He mumbled as drowsiness overcame him again. Holding on to the pendant
with both hands, Rogan fell back on the bed and this time the dreams decided to
spare him.

~ ~ ~

“Hey, wake up,
sleepyhead!”  Julia’s cheerful voice exploded inside his head and his eyes shot
wide open.

“I swear to you,
Julia.” Rogan smiled sheepishly. “I am awake, just closing my eyes to think…”

“Hm, so I’ve
noticed… you’ve been doing a lot of thinking since we’ve been training
together.” She eyed him with a mischievous gleam. “What is it that’s going on
in your mind, I wonder?”

“I am merely
trying to bring back some of my lost memory.” He smiled, glancing across as she
drove the squad car.

“So you’re not
sleeping well at night?” She sounded genuinely concerned. “Your memory will
return, once the time is right… no point losing sleep over it.”

“Your advice is
sound, fair Julia.” He nodded. “And I shall heed it.”

“That’s cool and
all but look alive.” She gave him a nod. “You’re a police officer now and we’re
on patrol.”

“Aye, I am as
sharp as ever.” He grinned, narrowing his green eyes for emphasis.“I shall
remain ever vigilant as we scour the streets for vandals and highwaymen.”

“And whenever you
get your memory back, I hope you don’t forget all the training you’ve been
through.” She expressed concern. “And about little old me.”

“That would be
impossible, fair Julia.” He sounded sincere. “You are most unforgettable.”

“Oh, now you’re
just flattering me.” She laughed, but couldn’t help blushing a little.

“Truth is hardly
flattery, dear Julia.” He sighed. “I am far from being silver tongued.”

“Oh, incoming
message.” Julia cranked up the wireless set.

A static ridden
voice erupted over the secure police band, informing them of a hold up in a
grocery store down the next block.

“Oh, wow!” Julia
exclaimed. “We’re just a minute away. Time for some action, rookie.”

“I am ever ready
for it.” Rogan cracked his knuckles as the young woman floored the pedal.

“Here we are.” She
hit the brakes hard after a sharp right turn. “Wiley’s Quick-E-Mart.”

Stepping out of
the car, guns drawn, Julia took the lead with Rogan silently following her
footsteps. It was still quite early in the morning and the mart had just opened
its doors to the few morning shoppers who braved the chill. An armed robber
thought it a perfect time to pull a heist.

“How many in
there, Mitch?” Julia asked the beat cop crouching outside the main door of the
store.

“Just one and he’s
packing heat - a magnum .45 and some kind of sawed off shotgun.” The older man
replied. “Who’s the big guy, Jules?”

“He’s new.” She
nodded. “Name’s Rogan. I’m breaking him in.”

“Some hostages in
there - old man Wiley and a few customers, mostly senior citizens, and his
grandkid.” Mitch Caruthers went on.

“Think we can take
him?” Julia asked apprehensively. “Don’t want this to turn into a bloody
shootout. Not with children and the elderly in there.”

“We must take him
by surprise.” Rogan offered. “Laying siege outside will only increase the peril
of those trapped inside.”

“Say what now?”
Caruthers scratched his head, looking up at the towering man in the same
uniform he was wearing.

“He means, we need
to sneak in and disarm the guy.” Julia smiled. “He’s just a robber, and not
some trigger-happy psycho, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, name’s Dilly
Pyres, small time hood, done time for robbing before too.” Caruthers said
through clenched teeth. “He knows we’re out here, so we’d better wait for more…
hey, where’s the big guy of yours gone?”

“What?” Julia
looked around in surprise. “He was right here. What the heck?”

A gunshot echoed
from inside the mart, making the two of them jump. They could hear some
scuffling and then people were suddenly cheering. The front door opened and
Rogan strode out, dragging an unconscious man out by the collar.

“Rogan, what the
hell?” Julia had a look of incredulity in her face.

“He will threaten
the fair patrons of this fine tradesman no more.” Rogan grinned and dropped the
senseless man before her feet.

“How did you do…”
Caruthers stood agape. “I mean, what the heck… he just went in and came out
with the guy trussed up… what?”

“Hero cop in the
making?” Old man Wiley beamed around, clapping his hands. “Whatever you want,
young feller, just ask, it’s on the house for you as long as I run this place.”

“You are most
generous, kind sir.” Rogan bowed slightly. “I shall take up on your offer
should the need arise.”

“Wow, is he, like,
not from around here?” A young redhead in tight cutaway jeans and tube top with
a lollypop in her mouth was all smiles. “He, like, saved Grandpa and me… he’s
awesome.”

“Yes, he’s new
here.” Julia nodded curtly. “On an exchange program with the Irish Police.”

“Cool!” The
redhead smiled at Rogan and winked. “Call me sometime, Irish Cop.”

Rogan smiled back,
doffing his cap.

“Well, it’s all
wrapped up here then.” Julia cuffed the incapacitated robber. “I’ll call it in.
Let’s go, Rogan. We’ll need to fill in a full report of your first arrest.”

“To the dungeons
with this one.” The flame haired warrior grinned, pushing the robber into the back
seat after divesting him of anything else he could use as a potential weapon and
then getting in beside Julia as she gunned the engine.

“Well, yeah, he’s
getting five years for this repeat offence, being on a parole and all.” Julia
eased the car around and slammed down on the gas. “But how did you do it so
effortlessly?”

“I walked right up
to him.” He smiled nonchalantly. “He wasn’t expecting such a thing and so I
took advantage of his surprised state of immobility.”

“And who fired
that shot?” She eyed him with a bemused smile.

“I did.” Rogan
laughed, whisking out the magnum. “I wanted to see what this weapon did after I
rendered him senseless.”

“I hope you didn’t
hit anyone.” Julia sucked in a sharp breath.

“Just the
woodwork.” He grinned, putting the confiscated weapon away.

“Well, good job…
but next time, we go in together…” Julia said in an almost lecturing tone. “if
I report this one as it happened, Foster’s going to take my badge for letting
you run in all vigilante-like.”

“I will do as you
command.” He bowed his head.

“I don’t command.”
She laughed, honking at the car in front of her. “I want us to work together. We’re
a team.”

“…Kelvin Bank,
fifth and main, armed robbery, at least three suspects, nine hostages…” The
voice on the wireless crackled to life. “Alarm came in three minutes ago, all
and every available unit…”

“We’re on it.”
Julia barked into the microphone. “Fifth and Main, we’re two minutes away.”

“Three adversaries
this time.” Rogan noted. “We shall do this together.”

“And with every
other team that shows up there.” Julia wrestled the car around a sharp curve,
kicking up dust. “We might need Swat for this too.”

The bank building
loomed up before them and the two leapt out of the car. They were the only ones
there, at that hour of the morning. The voice on the wireless informed of
another team arriving there is thirteen minutes. Swat would take another six
minutes after that.

“Damn, almost
twenty minutes.” Julia cursed. “That’ll give them time to clean out the vault
and make a get away.”

“We should go in
now, and disarm them.” Rogan took a step toward the front door. “They would not
be expecting such a swift retaliation.”

“What?” Julia
stared at him in disbelief. “These guys are probably professional bank robbers,
not some small time shop-lifting perp like Pyres.”

“The longer we
wait the more advantage we give them,” the warrior knight said with a hint of
urgency.

“And if we go in
like Superman and Wonder Woman,” Julia looked around, with her hands on her
hips, feeling frustrated. “we’ll risk those nine hostages in there.”

“And if we do
nothing, is the risk any less?” Rogan argued insistently.

“Hm, if you put it
that way, they’re obviously counting on us to wait until we have enough force
here to make any attempt. That’s why they’ve hit the bank so early.”

“Is there another
way to enter?” The tall man scanned the surroundings acutely.

“Yes, let’s take
this side route from the alley here. I know the back way into the bank.” Julia
nodded and took a step toward a dark alley. “It was built as a fail safe for
this reason.Only top bank security and a few select police personnel know of
it.”

She led the way,
through the dark back alley and into the basement of the bank. A winding
stairway would take them up to the pantry area of the bank. They took it and
silently made their way up. A small woman almost screamed at the sight of them
as she cowered behind the coffee-brewing machine. Julia put a finger on her
lips and the woman nodded, her face showing relief.

“They’re with the
manager, making him empty the vault.” The little woman whispered.

“Stay right here.”
Julia whispered back. “We’ll send the other hostages back here and you can lead
them out the way we came in.”

The woman nodded
and watched the two cops slowly make their way forward. Julia froze in mid-step
before rounding a corner. One of the men, wearing a ski mask and brandishing a
small Uzi, stood over six men and women crouching on the polished marble floor.
The other two robbers were not in sight, possibly with the manager inside the
vault. She turned to Rogan and put a finger on her lips, jerking her head
toward the corner and indicating that she could see only one of the robbers.

Rogan nodded
silently and then to her utter horror loped off in the direction of the armed
bank robber. He silently dropped into a roll and grabbed a discarded pen off
the floor, and in the same motion whipped the pen like a projectile. The
surprised masked man clutched at his neck where the pen had sunk in almost
halfway. Rogan silently rose before the stunned man, grabbed his weapon off him
and smashed his huge elbow into his face. The masked man went down limply, as
Rogan grabbed him and placed him on the floor soundlessly. The six hostages
looked up at the huge policeman with awe and silent fear.

All but one of
them, a diminutive young woman of lesser mettle, managed to hold their nerve.
She opened her mouth and let out a fearful wail. Julia knew that they were in
deep trouble at that very instant. The terrified woman had reacted on instinct,
ruining everything Rogan had masterfully done so far.

“We aren’t undone
yet, Julia.” Rogan whispered, crouching low by the counter. “Stay low and keep
close to me.”

“Here come the
other two, Rogan.” She whispered sharply, drawing her standard issue
six-shooter. “No crazy heroics now.”

The two other
masked men darted out of the vault, their automatic weapons primed and ready.
They split apart and came at the two police officers from opposite directions.
Guns blazed and bullets ricocheted wickedly off the marble columns and
steel-reinforced windows, filling the area with dust and debris. Everyone lay
flat on the ground, except the four shooters. Rogan leapt like a panther, his
heavily muscled form moving with unbelievable speed and agility. He drew the
gunmen’s fire, ducking and sliding out of the hail of bullets. He dived full
length on one of the robbers, taking him down hard. The man went down with a
huge fist to the head rendering him unconscious.

Julia raced in
behind Rogan, fearful for his life as the other gunman bore down on him. She
screamed, drawing his attention and at the same time pulling the trigger. The
bullet shattered the gunman’s right arm, making him drop his Uzi and fall to
his knees in agony. As he fell, he drew his backup handgun strapped to his boot
with his left hand and fired, the bullet leaping out of the barrel and heading
straight for the young policewoman.

The next few
seconds everything seemed to move in slow motion for Julia. Her eyes went wide
as she watched the gunman go down and at the same time draw and fire at her.
She saw Rogan leaping like a leopard, diving for her. His huge bulk crashed
into her, and he fell hard, twisting to shield her from the impact of the hard
floor. She heard him grunt and his breath came in short, sharp gasps. His
immense weight bore down on her and he didn’t seem to be able to move. She
struggled for a moment and then her head began to spin. Everything began to
blur and she could hear familiar voices before darkness fell over her.

~ ~ ~