Nothing on Earth (4 page)

“There is no name for it. This is the language our people speak. Everyone speaks the same language, so it has never been given a name.”

“Your people? What country are you from?” She looked to be getting angry now, and John, though relieved to see her natural, normal personality, worried that she would soon remember the fear she’d felt yesterday. She’d stopped short of actually calling him crazy, but it had been obvious in her behavior that she thought it.

“We don’t have a country.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but Alec moved slightly and pulled her tighter against him.

“
Tara
, trust John, please.” The words were awkwardly pronounced, but he was grateful to Alec for his effort. Learning the local language had been a cause for argument for so long in their relationship that John had given up hope of Alec ever being able to communicate with
Tara
. Hopefully, Alec knew enough of the language to keep her calm while he was gone.

Speaking in his own language again, he gave quick instructions to Alec, told him he would lock the door from the outside, and all the while tried really hard to avoid the angry look on
Tara
’s face. Guaranteed, he wasn’t going to be very popular once he locked them both in again.

Chapter Five

Alec watched John watching
Tara
. He’d always known his lover felt deeply for the woman but somehow had convinced himself that despite all of their relationship issues, he was secure in John’s love. Now he wasn’t so sure.

When John looked at
Tara
, his face lit with a type of pleasure that Alec hadn’t seen in a very long time. Not since they’d first met and their relationship had been shiny and new and full of possibilities. He pulled
Tara
closer even as he realized the strangeness of his thoughts. He wasn’t just jealous of John’s feelings for
Tara
but also the possibility that
Tara
might have feelings for John that excluded him. He knew it was ludicrous.
Tara
was terrified of John, but still, what happened when she learned the truth? Would she still push John away?

When she asked about their language, Alec had been willing to tell her almost anything. Anything at all to put her mind to rest. Hell, he’d make up a name for his language if that’s what it took to help her relax.

John finished telling him everything else as quickly as possible. He smiled, and Alec thought he would lean forward and kiss him good-bye, but he stopped himself midmovement and started to pull away.

Alec couldn’t stand the thought that his lover would hide their relationship in front of a woman who was quickly becoming very important to them both, so before he could talk himself out of it or think rationally, he reached over and gripped the back of John’s neck.

Before he could react, Alec pulled John toward him. Slightly off balance, John placed his hand on the bed, leaning over Alec as he smiled sadly.

“I love you,” Alec said clearly, cursing himself for not knowing how to say it in English. He wanted
Tara
to know how he felt about this man, but he supposed the fact that he was about to kiss his lover good-bye might help break the language barrier.

John looked relieved and hopeful and a dozen other emotions before he exhaled heavily and crushed his lips against Alec’s relieved smile. Alec tried not to analyze why John had thought he wouldn’t want to kiss him in front of
Tara
, so he deepened the kiss even further.

He felt
Tara
move beside him and had a moment of terror when he realized she may be about to use their distraction to her advantage and make a run for it. He almost laughed aloud as both he and John moved to hold her still without actually breaking their kiss.
Tara
wriggled a moment more before giving up and lying limply in their hold.

Finally, John lifted his head, and Alec wanted to cry at the relief he saw there. He’d hurt his lover so badly over the last year, he hadn’t even noticed when John had begun to doubt his love. Oh hell, he really needed John to know that he loved him and supported him in every way.

“Keep
Tara
safe,” John said as he leaned forward for another quick kiss. “I’ll return as quickly as possible.”

Alec nodded, determined to live up to his lover’s faith in him. He felt
Tara
tense as John left the room and locked the door behind him.

“It be okay. Trust John,” he said to
Tara
as he smoothed the hair away from her eyes. She nodded, and he hoped that she at least was feeling less in danger and more protected than she had yesterday.

“You love him, don’t you?” she asked. He looked at her quizzically, hearing the words but not really understanding them. “You love John,” she said again as she nodded her head.

“Love?” he asked carefully. Was that the word he needed?

“Yes, love as in care for John. Live with John. Love him with all your heart.” She pressed her hand to Alec’s chest and then to his lips. “You love John.”

“Yes,” he agreed, hoping he understood her correctly. “Alec love John. Trust John.
Tara
trust John.”

* * * *

Strange as it sounded,
Tara
was beginning to trust Alec, despite the fact that he obviously loved and trusted John. Alec seemed to genuinely care about both of them, and that could be the difference between life and death.

When John had first entered the room, she’d been terrified. She knew that she was very literally cuddled up to John’s lover, and she’d braced herself for the fit of jealously that would surely follow.

But instead, John had stood over them both. She’d barely had the courage to open her eyes the small fraction necessary to see him, but fear had won over cowardice. If attack was imminent, she wanted to at least see it coming. John had watched them both for a long moment, and if she’d had to guess, she would say that he was not unhappy to see them together. In fact, he appeared quite pleased that she and Alec seemed close.

It had taken every cell in her body to stay still while they talked in their own language, but eventually her need to know had overridden her sanity, and she’d demanded details.

The smile John had given her had been a little unnerving, and she couldn’t decide if he respected her for standing up to him or thought she was simply a lunatic for taking on two men who were so much larger and far more dangerous than herself. She still couldn’t believe she’d lain there and watched them kiss for almost three seconds before it occurred to her that this was her chance to escape. John had left the door unlocked, and in their distracted states, she might’ve had a chance to run.

Strange how exciting it had been when they’d both reached for her and held her immobile as they continued to kiss. It had been one of the more intimate moments of her life, which had made the experience even weirder. Maybe she’d been locked in this windowless room for far longer than she realized. She certainly seemed to be suffering from some sort of mental incapacity.

“Sleep,” Alec urged as he pressed her head back onto his shoulder and played with the curls of her hair. Part of her wanted nothing more than to lose herself to unconsciousness, but the rest of her demanded action.

“I need the bathroom,” she told Alec, wondering how on Earth she was going to explain her need to a man who didn’t understand the language. An unnerving image of a game of charades entered her mind, and she spoke louder, very aware that yelling a language the man didn’t understand was not going to make him understand any better, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“Bathroom! I need the bathroom. If I don’t get to pee in the next five minutes we are going to have a very messy problem on our hands. Bathroom,” she shouted in annoyance. “Dammit! How the hell did I get kidnapped by someone who doesn’t even understand the fucking language?”

She glared at him angrily, frustration that he couldn’t understand her shouted words making her irrational. “I want a fucking bathroom. I want a fucking toilet, and I really want a fucking shower!”

“Shower?” he repeated, raising his eyebrows as if he understood that particular word. “
Tara
, shower, yes.” He nodded as he said the stilted words.

“Yes,
Tara
wants a shower,” she said tiredly, no longer caring if he understood or not. She shook her head. Nature was going to be appeased one way or another. Dammit.

“Shower,” Alec said as he levered off the bed and held his hand out for her. After a moment of uncertainty, she placed her hand in his and let him help her to her feet. He dragged her behind him as he moved to the corner where the small light hung suspended from the ceiling.

She watched in uncomfortable fascination as he ran his hands over the wall. It seemed more and more likely that he’d misunderstood her words, and she found herself wondering about his sanity as well. Just as she was about to surrender to despair, Alec grunted something, and with a small click, a door popped open in the wall.

“Shower,” he said grinning at her. There was no light beyond the open doorway, and she was very reluctant to step into such complete blackness. “Shower,” he said again and nodded at her to enter.

She shook her head, the terror of waking to pitch-black darkness last night returning to choke her. “No,” she said as she shook her head more vigorously. “No, it’s dark, and I can’t see, and I’m scared, and I want to go home and—”

She didn’t get to finish the frantic words as Alec pulled her into his embrace. She hadn’t realized she was crying until Alec’s oversized knuckle swept the moisture across her cheek. He held her close, mumbling words she couldn’t understand, and she clung to him as she shook.

Chapter Six

God, how could he be so thoughtless? The woman was already scared witless and here he was trying to shove her into a dark, little room. He murmured words of comfort, knowing that she wouldn’t understand him, but hoping she would recognize the tone.

She clung to him, her whole body shivering in reaction. Damn, the harder he and John tried, the worse they seemed to make the situation for her. Alec held her until she sagged against him, her energy gone. He had no clue what the words “I’m sorry” were in English, so he just held her and silently cursed his own inability.

When she seemed calmer, he held her and twisted so that he could reach the light just inside the doorway while showing her with his actions that he was not going to push her into the room. He fumbled against the smooth wall, his fingers sliding against the cool tiles until he found the switch.

The immediate brightness stung his eyes, and he closed them for a moment, but he felt her lift her head away from his chest.

“Bathroom,” she said quietly.

He looked into the tiny room. Bathroom? The room that held a shower was called a bathroom? He filed this away for later reference at the same time realizing that
Tara
could help him learn more of the language. Chances were they were going to be locked in this room for quite a while, even if John got back quickly. Teaching Alec the local language just might help
Tara
set aside her fear for a while.

Tara
stepped back, wiped her eyes with her fingertips, and gave him a small smile. “Bathroom,” she said as she stepped into the small space. “Shower,” she said pointing at the shower stall.

He knew the word shower. There wasn’t an actual translation for the word in his language, so both he and John had used the local word for the cleansing area.

Tara
saw the toilet in the far corner and headed over to that spot. Her hands moved to the clasp of her jeans, but her hands stilled, and she gave him a pointed look. He wasn’t quite sure what she wanted, but when she tilted her head towards the door, he figured she was probably asking for some privacy. He could give her that. He turned his back and stepped through the doorway. He pulled the door closed part way, uncertain if she would welcome the claustrophobic feeling of being locked into an even smaller space than the room where the bed was.