Out of Hand - PAPERBACK - DC O'Connell Book 3

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Chapter 1

“So, what would you like to do first, hmmm?” the young lady said to him as she walked through his entrance hall, her heels clicking on the marble floor. She ran a finger along the top of a table as she admired the décor, and came to a mirror. She glanced over at him, twisting her slender body as she moved, letting him enjoy the shape of her.
She smiled and turned, bending over and checking her makeup in the mirror.
Alister’s eyes wandered to the escort’s rear, and although she was not the one he’d ordered, she would be a worthy replacement. He enjoyed the ripple of the girl's muscles in her legs as she went up onto her tiptoes to get closer to the mirror.
“So, um, Mindy was it?”
“Mmm-hmm,” Mindy replied as she finished reapplying her ruby lipstick, and dropped it in her bag. She turned and put her butt to the table edge, lifting one foot off the floor to rub it up the back of her other calf.
She bit her lip and smiled.
“Did Shelly tell you what we usually do?”
“No, sorry. We didn’t get time to talk before I left. Nothing too naughty, I hope,” she teased.
The way she said those words, so full of hidden meaning and secrets, sent his pulse racing. He approached her, wanting nothing more than to lift her dress and take her right there against the table. He could already feel himself getting aroused by her and the unvoiced promises she was hinting at.
She glanced down and then back up to his eyes. “Getting excited, are we?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.
“I guess,” he replied and stepped closer, placing his hands on her hips and running them up over her sides, feeling her warmth as he pressed his pelvis into her.
“Oh, my word, Mr Langley. Feeling frisky, are we?”
She seemed almost reluctant as he leaned in and kissed her neck. She placed her hands on his rear and pulled him in close and he forgot his doubts. He enjoyed the feel of her pressing against him as he caught his reflection in the mirror.
He sometimes wondered what these girls really thought of him—a man in his fifties, hiring them each week to satisfy himself. He paid them well and always treated them with kindness and respect, but they both knew they were here for one thing, and one thing only.
“Oooh, what’s that?” she asked and slipped sideways, stepping away from him. She pulled her dress back down over her hips as she walked towards the modern glass door and walls. “Is that a library?”
Alister blinked and sighed. She wasn’t the first person, or escort, to comment on what was behind that door. The stacks were well lit and filled with carefully placed volumes, many of them ancient and delicate.
Mindy walked right up to the locked door and pressed her hands against it as she peered through.
“That’s amazing.”
Alister smiled. “Thank you.”
“Can I have a look?”
Alister walked up behind her, reached up and gently took hold of her slender wrist, removing her hand from the glass. He frowned at the greasy mark her hand had left on the door.
He’d have to clean that later.
“Maybe afterwards,” he answered, feeling annoyed by the distraction.
Mindy looked up at him, her eyes pleading. “Oh, please? I love books. Their feel, their smell. Hmmm,” she purred. “Helps get me in the mood.”
Alister stared at her for a moment. Was she being serious? Looking at books turned her on? “I can think of other things that might do that for you.”
Mindy pressed into him again, her hand on his chest. “You wouldn’t deny me just a little peek…” Her hand slid south, over his body and slipped into the front of his slacks where she wrapped her exploring fingers around him. “…would you?”
Alister closed his eyes for a moment and enjoyed the feel of her fingers running over him, visualising all the things he could do with her.
“Please?” she pressed once more.
“Okay, okay. You can have a quick look, but you mustn’t touch anything, do you understand?”
She gave him a playful squeeze and then withdrew her hand with a wink. “Guide’s honour.”
Alister wanted this over and done with quickly. He moved to the security keypad and quickly keyed in the code.
Between the layers of ballistic glass, the metal locking mechanism withdrew and the indicator light turned green as air hissed through the seals.
“Wow,” Mindy said.
“It’s a sealed, temperature and humidity-controlled room, it helps keep the books in top condition.”
“Must have cost you a lot to get installed.”
“Yes, but it’s worth it,” he said as he turned the handle and swung the door wide. Mindy stepped into the room right away. Alister swallowed nervously as she took a few steps between the stacks. He watched intently, minding where her hands went, but she kept them close and didn’t reach out.
She pointed to a nearby volume on the shelf before her. “What’s this?”
Alister frowned and stepped into the room, unable to see what she was looking at from where he was. “I, um… Err…”
“They’re all beautiful. This is an incredible collection. What are they about?”
“Various esoteric subjects,” he replied, preferring to keep things vague, lest he scare her off.
She turned her head slightly and gave him a lop-sided smile. “The occult?”
“Um… Yes. Some.”
“You dirty dog.”
Alister raised an eyebrow at her comment.
“Who would have thought it? A nice old man like you with an occult library in the heart of Surrey. My, you are a contradiction. I had no idea that was what you were like.”
“Like?”
“You’re a bit of a black sheep, aren’t you?”
“No less than yourself.”
The girl smiled. “You have no idea.”
Pain exploded on the back of Alister’s head. He dropped to the floor with a grunt and reached up to feel where he’d been struck. The world swam, and he struggled to make much sense of what he was seeing.
Dark shapes loomed above him.
“You took your time,” a woman said. Was that Mindy speaking?
“All good things, my dear, all good things.”
“I had to touch his wrinkly dick to get him to open this door.”
“And it’s a sacrifice I’m eternally grateful for,” replied the man.
“Yeah,” replied another. “You make a fucking hot whore.”
“Piss off, before I rip your cock off,” Mindy replied.
“Indeed, a little respect please,” the first man replied.
“Sorry, boss.”
As his vision began to clear, he felt himself being sat up against something.
“Hello? Anyone in there? I didn’t hit you that hard.”
Alister blinked and looked up at the face of the bald man before him. He was a mountain, with broad shoulders and a rugged face.
“You in there?” he asked.
“Wha… What do you want?” Alister asked as he tried to focus on his predicament and not the throbbing lump that was growing on the back of his skull.
“Ah, he speaks. Welcome back, old man. Well, the answer to that is simple. We want a book.”
“I have many, take one,” he moaned, just wanting them out.
“A very specific book,” the thug replied.
It was a struggle, but Alister managed to lift an eyebrow and look up at the man as he stood up straight.
“I have your attention now, do I?”
“Which book?” Alister asked. He had many in here, and while all of them were precious to him and he desperately didn’t want to lose any of them, he’d still put the value of his own life above any of them.
Well… almost any.
“Oh, this isn’t just any book. This is a special book. A very special book.”
“I have many books in here that are important to me,” Alister replied, unable to narrow it down to a single volume.
“I believe it goes by the name of Liber Exterious.”
“Oh…” Alister replied, suddenly aware of just what the man was talking about.
“Yes.”
“That book.”
“Indeed.”
“Well, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. I don’t have it,” Alister replied truthfully. He didn’t have it. Not here, anyway, and he’d rather die than let these guys get it.
“Really?” the man replied.
“Really.”
“Well, that is a shame,” the man answered and turned away. Alister couldn’t see what he was doing. After a moment, the man pulled his shirt off, revealing the huge tattoo that covered his back.
It was a fierce-looking, intricately designed dragon that covered his entire back. The man spread his arms wide in sinuous lines as if he was a dancer playing to a crowd, his muscles bulging.
“I am the Dragon. I am strength and fire, and I will not be denied.”
One of the other men approached, Alister could see at least two others besides the one who called himself Dragon and Mindy, but there could be more out of view. The thug held up a wooden box for the Dragon, who turned to it and opened it reverentially. He withdrew a pair of gleaming, ornate daggers, and held one in each hand before turning to face Alister.
“Talk, or don’t,” the Dragon replied. “We’ll find it either way.” He moved in a blur, and a deep screaming pain exploded in Alister’s gut as the Dragon plunged a knife into him. “Your sacrifice will not be in vain.”