Page 113 of Hot & Heavy

The knaves upstairs were heavily armed with weapons that resembled the guns and piss-toles she'd seen the seals carry. But Ian and his seals, who she presumed were with him, would be armed, as well. She had to trust in Ian.

Still, she worried.

Then she heard gunfire upstairs. Lots of gunfire.

She dropped to her knees and prayed as she never had before. "Please, God… please, Thor, god of battle… protect this man I love. Please, please, please."

She heard a hard object hit her locked door, even as the gunfire continued upstairs. She backed up against the far wall as the object hit once again and came barreling into the room.

The object was Ian.

He smiled grimly at her, swore softly at the bruises on her face, then lifted her into his arms. "Thank God!" was all he said, against her neck. She thought she felt a wetness there.

"Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

She shook her head.

"Did they… rape you?" he choked out.

Again she shook her head.

He carried her out in a rush, reaching the back yard through a separate basement exit. When they were free, he ran with her in his arms to a stand of trees at the end of the yard. He dropped down to his knees, then laid her gently down. Kissing her softly, he said, "I'll be right back, sweetheart." He rose then, picked up the large weapon that hung from a sling over his shoulder and ran back to join the fight.

Madrene realized belatedly that she hadn't uttered one word to Ian. Me, speechless? She smiled and thought there were some people who would find that a miracle.

The gunfire continued for a short while. It was early morning and she could see neighborhood people coming out of their houses, but the terrorist house was cordoned off with yellow ribbon. There were many armed men outside the house, as well as inside, and not all of them were seals. Some of them wore helmets.

The gunfire tapered off, then stopped. First, Ian's seal comrades came out of the house, talking excitedly.

They turned as one and waved at her, huge smiles on their faces. She waved back. Who knew I would be so happy to see a seal? she joked to herself.

She stood when she saw Ian reel out to the front yard, punching and rolling on the ground with Musab, the one who had been so nasty to her last night. Was Ian pummeling the brute on her behalf? Probably.

In the end, Ian had to be pulled off of the evil varmint by several of the helmeted men. As Musab was escorted by two of the helmeted men to a nearby square vehicle, Ian bent over at the waist, as if trying to get his temper under control.

Before long, he walked over and began talking to a group of several big men, even taller than he was.

They all glanced her way, then one of them broke away from the group and started to walk toward her.

All the fine hairs stood out on Madrene's body, and she started to weep. No! It is impossible. I am dreaming. But Ian is there smiling at me. It can't be a dream.

What a cruel jest for Loki, the jester god, to play on me after all I have survived!

But what if it is not a dream or a jest?

A hiccoughing sob escaped her lips. She, who never cried, was making a habit of leaking eyes lately.

Heart pounding wildly, she began to walk slowly, then faster toward the big, weeping man. Weeping?

He is weeping, too? He had long blond hair with strands of gray at the sides, woven into war braids.

War braids? And he had big ears. Big ears? There was only one man she knew with ears like that.

"Father?" she asked just before he lifted her into a tight, tight hug.

"Thank the gods, you have finally come home, Madrene. We have missed you mightily." Her father noticed the scars on her neck then and touched them tenderly. "The brute who did this to you will pay, that I promise you."

Madrene felt like a little girl again. No need to worry about anything. Her father would take care of everything. Ah, that wasn't quite true. Even as a youthling, Madrene had been taking over household duties. It was a nice fantasy, though.