Klingon Hearts 09 Hidden - What Lurks in the Darkness Read online

  They were all gathered in the large living room of the Paris Estate, reminiscing over their days as children on the Enterprise.

  "I hate to tell you this, sis," Robbie began with an evil grin. "But Dad wasn't the reason no one would take you out."

  "Oh, really? Are you implying that no one wanted to date me because there was something wrong with me?"

  "Far from it, I remember several of the guys wanting to ask you out the minute Lucas left."

  "Then why didn't they?" she asked, a sneaking suspicion creeping into her mind.

  Kyle began to laugh. "Because my dear brother let it be known that you were -his- girl and no one had better mess with you...or else."

  K'Leena turned to her husband. At least he had the grace to look ashamed of himself. "Well, you were," he said in defense of his actions.

  "Didn't you trust me?"

  "It was them I didn't trust," he growled.

  B'Elanna burst out laughing. "Kahless, the men in this family! You'd think we were all helpless, simpering little weaklings that can't handle the slightest problem."

  K'Leena shook her head.

  It's no wonder I was a twenty-eight year old virgin.

  You were only that because I let you be it, 'Leena. You've always been mine.

  Blue eyes met black.

  "Well, the rest of you can stay up all night long talking about our Enterprise days...but this is my wedding night and I have more interesting things to do," Lucas said with a wicked smile as he got to his feet and pulled K'Leena with him. "Come on, Mrs. Riker. The guest house awaits."

  K'Leena smiled back. "Mrs. Riker...I like that."

  Lucas swept her up into his arms and carried her out the patio doors. "So do I."

  They all watched the newly wedded couple disappear into the night before turning back to the conversation.

  *****

  Mike saw Tessa pull Robbie down so she could whisper in his ear. After a second he nodded and they walked out of the room arm in arm. She hadn't left his side all day and Mike was more than a little frustrated that her maneuverings worked. And the fact that she and Paris were so comfortable with each other really didn't sit well with him. With a large gulp he finished his drink and left the living room as well. Even an empty bed was starting to sound good.

  *****

  Robbie walked Tessa to the door of her room. She was reluctant to let go and to his surprise, so was he.

  "Do you want to come in?" she asked him.

  His eyes widened. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Tessa."

  "Why not?"

  He cupped her cheek with his hand. "Because I might not leave once I'm there." His lips brushed across hers.

  She reached behind her and turned the handle, swinging the door open. Taking a step back she pulled him into the room with her.

  "Then don't," she told him.

  *****

  He was not generally a man prone to violence. He would rather plan and execute a flawless covert operation than resort to any kind of bloodshed. It was what he did and he was -very- good at it.

  However, at this moment he was seriously contemplating the benefits of pounding the living daylights out of Robbie Paris. He felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest when Tessa invited the other man into her room. It was all he could do not to go up there and tear Paris apart.

  "She loves you, you know."

  He spun around to see the younger Paris leaning against the patio door, his arms crossed in front of him.

  "She has a funny way of showing it," Mike snapped. He -was- going to kill him. The man had a lot of nerve coming out here to speak to him.

  "There are things you don't know about her, Mike." He moved to the edge of the patio to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other man as they both looked out over the crashing waves.

  "I know that, Paris. I'm trying to be patient. She just makes it so damn hard!"

  They turned to face each other and Robbie considered the man before him. "You're in love with her too."

  Mike stiffened at the words and opened his mouth to deny it, "Yes."

  "She couldn't do it," Robbie told him, suddenly, looking back out on the ocean. "I had her in the bed, under me and she realized she couldn't do it.... Quite the blow to my pride, actually, when she looked up at me and said 'It's not the same, you don't make me feel like he does.'"

  The muscle along Mike's jaw leapt furiously but he said nothing. Robbie continued:

  "She's damn lucky she chose me...most men wouldn't have stopped. And some might have even been angry enough to hurt her."

  Mike sucked in a steadying breath. Paris was right. And it was all his fault. He was the one pushing her into something she was unsure of, something she didn't think she wanted. He had created this situation with his own demands and unbending positions.

  "Thank you," Mike said.

  "Don't thank me, I didn't do this for you. I love Tessa and want what's best for her. Believe it or not, I have the feeling that's you...but I'm warning you Burns. You hurt her...and you'll answer to me."

  "You and every other man in her life," Mike said grimly. What was this now? the -fourth- time he'd been warned? Lucas, Kyle Riker, Harry Kim and now Robbie Paris.

  "I wouldn't worry about the rest of them," he told Mike with cool confidence and a hard look. "By the time I'm done with you, there won't be much left."

  Mike's eyes narrowed as he viewed the younger man. Paris had a relaxed easiness about him that was remarkably deceptive...and dangerous. He had a great deal of his father in him. Mike didn't doubt a word of what he was telling him.

  Thunder rumbled in the distance as the two men faced each other. Robbie's eyes flicked to the skyline then back.

  "Tessa is afraid of storms," he said matter-of-factly.

  This surprised Mike. Tessa didn't strike him as the type to be frightened by a storm. "Why?"

  "That's for her to tell you, but you might want to check on her."

  "I was planning on it, anyway."

  *****

  She was sitting on the window seat, watching the storm roll in. Closing the door softly behind him, Mike walked over to her.

  "I didn't do it," she told him, still staring at the sky.

  "I know."

  "He was sweet and sensitive and I'm sure he's a wonderful lover, but in the end, he couldn't be what I needed him to be."

  "What did you need him to be?" Mike asked quietly.

  She looked up at him, there were tears in her eyes. "You."

  Mike bent down and kissed her tenderly then drew her up to stand in his embrace. "Let me in, Tessa," he pleaded. "I want to be so much more to you than just an occasional bed partner. I want all of you. We would be so good together, I know it."

  "How?" she asked desperately, her blue eyes searching his for answers. "How can you be so sure?"

  "I know you don't believe me, but what we have is special. I've been with other women and it's never been like this with any of them. I've never cared about who they were. I've never wanted to know more about them. And I've never felt so utterly out of control with -any- of them like I do with you." Mike smirked in self-derision.

  "You know, I'm usually a pretty easy going guy--cool, calm, collected. I once had a woman tell me I was the most mechanically flawless lover she'd ever known and that it was such a shame I didn't -feel- anything when I made love to a woman...but not with you. With you it's a constant struggle to control my temper. And I don't like it at all. Within seconds of being close to you, my self-control is in shreds. I operate on instinct. When I make love to -you- it's pure emotion. Blinding white-hot emotion that I have absolutely no control over. And as much as I hate that, I also know I wouldn't want it any other way. We're -meant- to be together. I -know- it as sure as I know the sun will rise in the morning. You belong to me, Tessa...and I belong to you--body and soul."

  She looked at him in wonder. He loved her. It was a startling revelation, as much for him as it was for her by the sound of it. She couldn
't deny what he was saying, either. What happened with Robbie had convinced her of that. What she and Mike had -was- special. Soulmates in the truest sense of the word...but she didn't know if she could be with him. He was domineering and possessive, both of which went against what she wanted in a mate.

  "I don't know...."

  "Can we at least try, Tessa? Can you give me that much?"

  She stared at him for such a long time. He had no idea what he was asking of her. It had been such a struggle to make an independent life for herself and he was asking her to give it up now. Let him be part of it. And if she knew him--and she did--let him control it. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't. It would be like living with her mother all over again. He would be just like her, over-protective and controlling in the name of love. Love. Damn! Why did he have to love her? Why did she have to love him? How could she love him? How could she have let this happen? He was looking at her with such concern, it made her heart ache. She had to say no. End it now, before it went further.

  Tension wound them tighter and tighter. And the storm grew closer and closer. Tessa closed her eyes briefly then opened them and met his gaze. She couldn't do it. She couldn't hurt him like this. God! what was she supposed to do? She couldn't say yes and she couldn't say no! Tears welled up in her eyes.

  "Yes, we can try," she told him, quietly.

  Maybe he was right. Maybe they could make it work. She hoped so, because if they couldn't she didn't think she was going to survive this relationship.

  If he doubted he loved her before, he didn't anymore. There weren't words to describe what he was feeling, but he was pretty sure 'love' was an understatement.

  *****

  The darkness was all around...it was time. Finally...it was time.

  K'Leena screamed as she came awake, but a hand covered her mouth. She panicked, thrashing against the man who held her.

  'Leena! It's me.

  She calmed immediately, collapsing in his arms.

  It's here, Lucas! Now!

  I know, I can feel it. Get dressed, hurry, we have to get out of here.

  K'Leena bolted out of bed and grabbed a top and shorts from her bag along with her phaser. By the time she was dressed Lucas had pulled on his clothes and was trying to use his communicator. He also had his phaser.

  Damn...they've got some kind of dampening field going. This thing is useless.

  Now what?

  Now we get out of here and up to the house.

  They weren't ten feet from the guest house when a phaser blast barely missed them. Lucas hauled K'Leena against him and ducked under the tree limb. Lightning flashed so close electricity charged everything around them. Thunder came on the heels of the flash almost instantly and K'Leena lost her footing on the slippery rocks. She impacted the ground with a cry. If Lucas hadn't been holding her arm she would have struck her head on the boulders. As it was, she tore a large gash in her leg and hip.

  "Damn," Lucas swore. "Are you okay?"

  She nodded her head and got to her feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in her side. She leaned on him for support as they made their way up the retaining wall.

  *****

  Tessa lay spent in his arms, shaking violently. The storm was upon them and she trembled with each lightning strike.

  "Do you want to talk about it?" Mike asked gently.

  "I...," she began when a flash of red illuminated the room.

  Mike sat up, instantly alert. Phaser fire? He leapt out of bed startling Tessa.

  "What the hell?!" she exclaimed.

  "Something's wrong," he told her, pulling on his pants hastily before he left the room.

  Tessa stared at the wide open door for a moment then flung her nightgown back on and followed him. He was in his room grabbing his phaser and communicator. He tried to activate the comm-badge but got nothing.

  "Damn."

  "Someone's set up a dampening field," Tessa said. Interesting. "Why would someone do that?"

  Mike didn't answer.

  "Mike?"

  "Just stay here, Tessa. I have to check on Lucas and K'Leena."

  *****

  Mike found them scrambling over the top of the large rocks that served as a retaining wall. K'Leena collapsed on the ground once they made it, she was hurt and bleeding.

  "Get her back to the house and wait for me," Lucas told him. The wind howled in fury all around them. Lightning flashed and thunder roared.

  "You can't do this alone, Lucas," Mike yelled to be heard over the raging storm. Rain began to pelt them mercilessly.

  "That's an order, Lieutenant! She's your responsibility until I return, understand?"

  It's her they want.

  Mike hesitated for just a moment then nodded and bent down to pick K'Leena up.

  "I can walk," she snapped.

  "Let him carry you, Blaze, you're hurt."

  "I'm fine...."

  "K'Leena, I'm not putting you down, so just shut up and live with it," Mike told her as he strode steadily toward the main house.

  *****

  Tessa impatiently knocked on Robbie's door.

  "Come in," came the muffled response.

  She rushed in to find both Robbie and Kyle wide awake and already dressed. Kyle had his communicator on and phaser in hand.

  "What the hell is going on?" she asked.

  "We're not sure," Kyle told her setting the phaser on the bed to quickly pull his boots on. "I just know Lucas is in trouble and K'Leena is hurt."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Lucas. He needs back up. Mike is on his way back to the house with K'Leena," Kyle informed her leaving the room with Robbie right behind him carrying his med-kit. Tessa followed in confusion.

  "I didn't think you were a telepath, Kyle," she said.

  "I'm not, but I'm empathic enough for Lucas to reach me," he replied as they reached the bottom of the stairs to see Mike approach the glass doors with K'Leena in his arms. The storm raged and when lightning flashed, the blood running down K'Leena's leg was plainly visible.

  Tessa ran to open the doors for him. Mike quickly laid K'Leena on the couch.

  "You need to go out and help him, Mike," she said trying to get up.

  Robbie pushed her down and grabbed a blanket, she was wet and shivering. "Lay back, K'Leena," he told her, opening his med-kit to get the tricorder.

  "I can't, K'Leena, he gave me a direct order," Mike said regretfully.

  "I'm going," Kyle broke in. He met Mike's gaze and an unspoken command passed between them. Mike nodded and Kyle slipped out into the night.

  K'Leena tried to get up again, Robbie's firm hand on her chest prevented her from rising.

  "You need to go too, Mike. He can't do it alone," she begged.

  "No, I won't disobey a direct order. Lucas has to know he can count on me to do as ordered."

  Tom and B'Elanna came into the living room at that point, the commotion having awakened them. Fast on their heels were Will and Deanna and Harry and Seven. A fleeting thought crossed Mike's mind as B'Elanna, Seven and Deanna flew into the room in nothing more than nightgowns: It should be a crime for women old enough to be grandmothers to look as good as they did.

  "What's going on?" Tom demanded to know.

  "We've got intruders on the grounds, K'Leena was hurt when she and Lucas tried to elude them and get back up here," Mike said in full Starfleet mode.

  "Where are Lucas and Thomas Kyle?" Deanna asked.

  "They're trying to capture whoever is out there, but I think it's too late. I'm betting whoever did this was long gone when they missed their target," Mike replied grimly.

  Tom and Will exchanged meaningful looks. Mike was right. They wouldn't stick around for a second chance once they were discovered.

  "Daddy, Mike needs to go and help. Tell him I'm okay with all you," K'Leena started to get up again and Robbie threw his hands up in disgust.

  "Goddammit, K'Leena!" Mike yelled at her. "You try and get off that couch again and I will tie you to it! Stop b
eing so difficult and let Robbie check you out. Lucas put me in charge of your safety and I promise you, you're not moving until he returns."