An Alec chapter for you all. Hope you enjoy it. I plan to have a weekend writing since I have two whole days off! Sorry for the delay, work has been hectic - but I have delivered my first baby. So things are going well. Enjoy!
She was suffocating him with that musky perfume she insisted on wearing. It was a living presence in the room, surrounding him, choking him, clogging up his senses.
If she came near him one more time, he would not be responsible for his actions.
Alec Trevelyan slumped in his chair, his back, although long healed, protesting slightly at the awkward posture. He stroked his chin, grimacing at the feel of a few days stubble under his fingers. He badly needed a shave, but right now, he didn't care. He stared moodily at the room, pointedly ignoring its other occupant.
It had the look of a futuristic office. Sleek looking machines whirred and buzzed in the corner, a large flat screen television dominated one wall. Something beeped in the corner, and he glanced over at it, irritated by the small noise.
He had been here for too long. He was allowed to leave whenever he wanted, returning to the hotel where he was sleeping, but the freedom was with a price. If he ran, if he left the island, if he simply vanished into thin area, Natasha would die.
He took a deep breath and tried to picture his daughter in his mind. It was always the same, first he would think of her dark cloud of hair, hair that was soft and silky under his rough fingers, hair that would tickle his chin when she sat in his lap, completely trusting him, unable to see anything but the good in him, because he was her father. Her hair was her mother's and once, Alec had foolishly suggested to Ashleigh that she should grow her hair like Natasha's, he knew that it would be the same, thick, slightly waving and heavy, so heavy, but Ashleigh had looked at him like he was mad, and point blank refused.
Next he would look past her hair, and see Natasha's eyes. His eyes. Green, cool, and framed by thick, blunt lashes. He had seen those eyes flash in anger, in one of her few tantrums, and he had seen her look lovingly and adoringly at him.
He loved her with a fervour he didn't know could exist. She was his. His daughter, his blood, the only family he had in the world.
And the bastard Merkalov had taken her, and used that love against him.
When he had first met Ashleigh, he had refused to fall in love with her. Love was too dangerous, better to use a woman, and then discard her before the feelings could develop too far. Ashleigh had changed that. He had felt himself slipping deeper into the abyss, finding the need for her too strong, too demanding, but unable to help himself. He had tried telling himself that she wasn't worth it, any argument that he could think of to try to convince himself that it was wrong. She wasn't beautiful enough. She was English. She was his friend's daughter.
And oh how that last excuse had mocked him.
He wouldn't think of Ashleigh now.
'Penny for them?' a cooing voice interrupted his thoughts.
He looked up distastefully at the woman. In this close a proximity to him, her perfume seemed even stronger, he could taste it in his mouth, and he resisted the urge to gag.
'I don't sell my secrets,' he said dismissively.
She caught onto the subtle insult and bristled, walking away.
His fingers rapped out a tattoo on the edge of the desk, the waiting was getting to him more than he wanted to admit.
'Can you stop that?' the woman snapped at him.
'If you don't like it, leave,' he snapped back. She glared at him, but stayed put, contenting herself with a few muttered comments.
It was cool in the office, almost too cool. The woman shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself.
'Look, can't we start again?' she tried, a tentative smile on her face.
'No.'
'Oh don't be like that,' she laughed, a silvery sound that rippled through the room. 'We're going to be working together, we can at least attempt to get on.'
'No, we don't have to attempt anything,' he leant back and closed his eyes. He hadn't been sleeping very well, and the dreams, well, the dreams were becoming more frequent.
When he opened his eyes, she was once more standing over him. He looked up at her, taking in the figure hugging black wrap over dress, the olive skin, the brilliant green eyes. Her brown curls were caught back, showing off the bone structure of her face. There was no denying it, she was a beautiful woman, but he didn't want her anywhere near him.
'You and I could be a good team,' she purred, leaning over him, her long fingers stroking the unscarred side of his face. The angle afforded him a good view of her cleavage, and he supposed that was the point.
He caught her arm. 'Is that what you said to Bond?'
Jasmin Van Dien struggled in his grip. 'It wasn't like that,' she protested, trying to pry his fingers off her wrist.
'Don't tell me, you actually had feelings for him.'
'No! Yes! I did care for him. He was good looking, it could have been a lot worse.'
He let her go, almost throwing her backwards in his viciousness. 'And what do you want from me?'
Jasmin looked at him coolly. 'I thought we could be friends.'
'Is that all?'
She flushed, the colour creeping up her throat to darken her face. 'I just thought that perhaps, we could both do with an ally.'
'Oh I see. Get me on your side, and then what? We take on Le Loup? You and me together, you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours,' the flush deepened on her face, and he smiled darkly. 'That was exactly your plan, wasn't it?'
'I like to keep my options open,' she spat at him.
'Did you offer to be an ally to my wife?'
'Ashleigh?' Jasmin laughed contemptuously. 'She didn't need an ally, she needed someone to hold her hand throughout this all. If it hadn't been for me, she'd still be running around Paris like a headless chicken.'
Jasmin leant over him again. 'She's so obsessed with finding you that she can't see beyond the end of her own nose. She's just floundering in the water, hoping someone will tell her what to do next.'
'So where is she now?' Alec asked.
'Probably with the Americans. It was easy enough to convince her that I was dead - the Americans will just confirm it to her once they find the body.'
'Body?' Alec frowned.
'Some local girl. Same height, similar hair. It was easy enough, quick and quite painless I imagine. A few strategically placed slashes, and you have a body.' Jasmin reached up to adjust a lock of hair that had escaped from her hair clip. 'I doubt she'll be missed.'
Alec felt disgust rising in him. He felt the urge to hit this woman and he pushed it down, but it was a close called thing. His hands clenched into fists and he had to look away from the bitch. He tried to focus on the positive, if Ashleigh was with the Americans, then she was safe. And out of his way. With any luck, they'd send her back to England.
Jasmin scowled at him. 'There's no need to look so outraged. I'm sure you've done much worse in your time. In fact, I know you have,' she laughed again.
The sound grated on Alec's already raw nerves. He stood, his movements jerking and tense. He reached out for the edge of the desk to steady himself, hating the fact he showed any sign of weakness in front of Van Dien.
'Its time to realise that you're playing with real men now,' he said harshly. 'This may be just fooling around for you, but Le Loup is playing a very deadly game. If you cross him, he'll kill you without thinking. If you cross me, I'll kill you without a moment's hesitation. Remember that, "Vixen".'
She flinched visibly, but stood her ground. 'I've killed before,' she said defiantly. 'I fooled MI6 for long enough. I'm not some rookie agent, I've been doing this for years.'
'Then I would expect you to be more subtle about it,' Alec spat, turning his back on her.
She threw herself at him, clawing at his back, he turned and grabbed her round the waist, his free hand managing to snag both of her wrists. He held close, bringing his scarred face close to his, and he saw her recoil from him.
'You want me, do you?' he hissed.
'Never,' she shrieked, writhing in his arms. He could feel her body pressed the length of his, but he felt nothing for it. 'I wouldn't want you if you were the last man on Earth!'
He laughed, cruelly, straight into her face. 'You earn power, Vixen, remember that. But you're not the first woman to think she could earn it on her back and by spreading her legs. You certainly won't be the last. You're an intelligent woman, try using your under worked brain rather than your over worked body. You'll get much further in this world.'
'What the hell would you know about it?' she said viciously.
'Because I'd been with women like you. More than I care to think about.'
'Before or after you married your wife?' she spat the last two words out as insultingly as she could, and was infuriated even more when he laughed again.
'My wife,' he said, his voice soft, almost a caress, 'my wife does not like to be fooled, Van Dien, and when she discovers that you're very much alive, and very much involved with her daughter's kidnapping, she'll destroy you.'
Jasmin snorted derisively, and Alec increased the pressure. 'Perhaps I'll get to you first.'
He was satisfied to see a flicker of fear in Jasmin's eyes. He had met too many women like her, too many who thought that power came from sex, and not from respect. Ashleigh had known that respect meant more, and she had struggled hard to progress in her chosen career, devoting her time and energy to being the best agent that she could be. When she had met him, they had ended up in bed quickly, and he knew it had been for pleasure, not for what she could gain from him.
She was always creeping into his thoughts. He wanted her as far away as possible from him. He didn't want her interrupting what he had to do.
Jasmin saw his eyes darken, and knew that his thoughts were far from her. She took the opportunity to wrench herself away, her breathing fast and shallow. Her wrists ached, she massaged them to try to get the circulation going again. He was a bastard, but she wasn't convinced that Alec Trevelyan was a dangerous man.
She stalked across the room, and snatched an envelope from her bag. She threw it down on the desk nearest to him with all the contempt she could muster. 'I've worked for Le Loup for a long time,' she said angrily, 'and I'm under his protection. Touch me again, and I'll…'
'What?' he interrupted with a smirk on his face. 'You'll tell on me?'
She flushed furiously, and stabbed her scarlet painted nail down onto the envelope. 'This is the address you need. Le Loup wants it down as quickly as possible. If not, he asked me to tell you that your daughter would suffer,' Jasmin smiled nastily. 'So I wouldn't push me, Janus, I'm just dying for an excuse to have a very long conversation with Le Loup about you.'
She snatched up her bag and flounced from the room. Alec watched her go, grateful that he didn't have to open up the envelope with her in the room.
The helplessness he was feeling more and more often swamped over him again. He turned the envelope over in his hands, knowing that he was powerless to refuse what he had been asked to do.
Powerless. It was a new emotion for Alec Trevelyan.
