Police Training Ch. 05

"Lizzy." Nic sounds desperate. She smiles down at him and takes pity on the poor guy. No more teasing.

She slides back down and grinds against his pelvis. His eyes lock on hers as his large hands wrap around her waist. They start with an easy rhythm. She presses down and flutters along his length, then tightens as she pulls up. Occasionally she does a figure eight against his pelvis, or rocks back and forth a few times. Nic quickens the pace, thrusting into her as she slides down. Lizzy sits up and leans back; Nic is enjoying the sway of her breasts as she rides him.

He can feel it. His balls begin to tighten. The muscles in his abdomen convulse in anticipation. "Oh. Fuck, Lizzy. Oh fuck." She cums first, the spasms of her walls against his shaft send him instantly over the edge. With one last hard thrust, he erupts inside her. For that one moment of time, the world stops. It's just the two of them. Together.

Lizzy collapses on his chest, and they lay together in bed for a while. They mostly discuss yesterday's dinner at her brother's place. Eventually the talk of breakfast brings them back into the real world. They're standing in the kitchen, Nic pulled on his slacks, and Lizzy just slipped a cami on. Lizzy wants something simple at home, like cereal or eggs, Nic has his heart set on taking her out for their first 'real' date.

The sound of the lock on her door opening silences them both. Nic grabs a knife from the drawer as they both watch the door open. Nic twitches the knife hand as red hair appears from behind the door, then the intruder spots them and stops dead in her tracks. Her mom stares at them, they stare at her mom.

Nic surreptitiously puts the knife down and goes to greet Lizzy's mom. "Mrs Byrne, I presume. It's a pleasure to meet you." He goes to shake her hand and pulls her gently into the living room. Her mom just stares at the large, handsome, shirtless man holding her hand. Nic looks down at what he's wearing. "Ah, yes. Let me slip into something more appropriate. I'll be right back."

He leaves her standing in the living room and goes to the bedroom, both to get some clothes on and to give them a few moments alone. Her mom turns wide eyes to Lizzy. Then she does the last thing Lizzy would ever have expected. Her mom mouths the word "WOW!" at her and they both start laughing.

Nic walks back in wearing a shirt, and hands Lizzy a shirt and a pair of shorts. She slips on the clothes. "Mom, this is Nikolai Kerchenko. Nic, this is my mom, Neila Byrne." The two shake hands again and trade pleasantries.

Mom, being a mom, asks Nic the best question ever. "What happened to your armpit?" Lizzy tried, she really, really tried not to laugh, but she failed miserably.

Nic glares at Lizzy for a second. "It's not my armpit. I have a partially torn AC ligament from wrestling with my boys. I was holding my own, until the sofa joined in. Then it was three against one, and I lost."

Lizzy giggles again. "An 'armpit injury' is not very manly." Nic pokes her in the belly and starts ticking her. She ends up wrapped in his arms, her back to his chest, before remembering her mom is watching them.

Nic recovers first. "We were just planning to go out to breakfast, would you like to join us, Neila?"

"Ahhh, no. Thank you for the offer though. I just came to check up on my daughter after yesterdays 'excitement'."

He's still holding Lizzy in his arms. "Yeah, I heard a bit about that. What are the chances of Rogan or Seamus actually coming after me? I'm not trying to get them in trouble, I'd just like to know how much additional security I need."

Neila looks at the two. They make a cute couple. "I'll talk to Seamus after I leave here, he's practical, if he's not settled down already, I'll get him there. Rogan I'd be careful of. I know your father and he got into a few unreported fist fights though the years. He'll hold a grudge till the stars stop shining." Nic nods as he figures out the logistics of extra security measures.

Neila keeps looking at them, then steps closer. She looks around and whispers. "There might never be a good time or place for this, but I need to say it. Thank you. Thank you both."

Lizzy knows instantly that her mom is thanking her for avenging the death of her husband. Nic looks between the two strong fierce women in the room. He asks her the question with his eyes. Lizzy confesses. "She knows. She knows everything. I didn't know where to turn and I trust her completely."

He knows Lizzy talked to her mom about them, but not about the killings. Never one to take things for granted. "Neila, this thing you're thanking us for, where did it happen? Just so I'm sure we're on the same page."

Mom doesn't miss a beat. As head of the Byrne clan for decades with Quinlan, she's seen and heard a lot of weird shit. "The harbor. In the cargo hold of a ship." Test passed.

Nic looks between the two, deciding. "Wait a minute." He grabs his suit jacket from the chair by the TV. He pulls out his gun. Both women are fully alert now. The shadow's not a toy. Nic removes the clip and empties the chamber, showing the unloaded gun to both of them. He puts it on the kitchen counter. No one says a word.

Nic reaches into the pocket of his jacket and pulls out four cylindrical shaped lumps of metal. He puts them on the table next to the shadow. They're similar in color and size to the gun. Lizzy gasps. The gun! The gun they melted down. She looks to Nic and he confirms it with a nod.

She touches one like it the most precious thing in the world. She looks to her mom with wide eyes. Her mom doesn't know what they are. What they mean.

Lizzy runs over to her mom and pulls her into a hug. She starts whispering in ear. Nic just watches. He barely remembers his mom, and the mom/child relationship is something he doesn't quite understand.

The ladies separate, and Neila takes one of the ingots with the same reverence. Her hand trembles as she holds it to her chest. Lizzy gives her mom a second ingot and says it's for Grampa; when the time is right. The girls whisper again before mom has to leave. Nic slips the last ingot back in his pocket. Lizzy closes the door and rushes into Nic's arms. He holds her, not sure why she's emotional, but she's with him and together they can get through anything.

They spend the next few weeks figuring out this new dynamic in their relationship. Lizzy is so bored stiff after three days of unemployment that she gets a job at her gym. Many of the cops she knows work-out there, and it seems like a good fit. To start, she runs two spin classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and a kickboxing class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. Carlos is the first to join, and he smoothed it over for the other cops to sign up.

Nic's armpit injury healed nicely, though by the end, the story he was telling sounded like he single-handedly stopped World War III and solved world hunger at the same time. There was the one little hiccup about three weeks after the 'great reveal' where Nic shows up after the Thursday kickboxing class with a limp, scraped knuckles, and several gashes on his face. He says it was a simple mugging, but Lizzy can tell when he's lying by now. Things clicked at Sunday dinner that week. Rogan and Aiden were both there with similar injuries. The shouting match that ensued could be heard four houses away. Stupid males.

The next weekend, they go to upstate New York, to Nic's ex-wife for a family dinner. She's met Sergii and Luka a few times through the weeks. They show up randomly at Nic's home, and we've been to lunches and movies together. But this is the first time she'll be meeting his ex and his daughter. So she's understandably nervous.

The house is a big two-story colonial, white, with pillars on either side of the light blue front door. There's even a white picket fence surrounding the quaintly landscaped property. It's as un-Nic as I could imagine. He squeezes her hand for reassurance. Here we go.

Nic is holding a cake, and Lizzy has a bottle of wine. He rings the bell and bumps Lizzy with his hip. "Relax. This is supposed to be fun." Before she can respond with all her uncertainties, the door opens. A middle-aged man greets them and welcomes them in. Instead of the happy havoc usually present at a Byrne family gathering, this is practically formal by comparison. Serj and his girlfriend are playing cards with a middle aged, dark haired woman. There's a young woman reading a thick book on the sofa listening through earbuds. Soft music is playing in the background. The man takes our gifts and Nic leads us into the house.

Nic taps the feet of the girl on the sofa, she jumps up, squeals, and hugs him. Lizzy watches silently as they catch up quickly. The rest of the family is gathering around to greet them. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my heart, Elizabeth Byrne. Lizzy, this is everyone."

Everyone turns to look at the woman Nic has fallen in love with. After a moment, they all introduce themselves in turn. Nic's ex, Syeira, is now married to Derrik Richards. He's an accountant, and she designs and makes purses for a small boutique. Sergii's current girlfriend is Alysse, I say current, because he has a new one every few days. Luka Introduces his baby sister, Essaandra. The two young women eye each other up. Lizzy is first to offer her hand, and the younger girl reluctantly shakes it.

Serj is the one to break the tension. "Let's go men, we've got a score to settle." The two older men groan, and Nic's sons are hopping around eager to go. Nic gives his ex-wife a look and she nods up at him. A basketball appears out of nowhere. Game on.

Lizzy goes to join in, basketball she can do, except for the fact Nic and his sons are well over six feet tall. Damn mutant long legs. The men are tumbling outside, Serj's girlfriend and Nic's daughter giggling and following behind them. Syeira taps Lizzy's arm and gently shakes her head no. "We have season tickets, the best seats in the house." Her accent is light and exotic. She's a very beautiful woman.

The dining room table is already set; the smell of ham is permeating from the kitchen. There are two comfortable chairs facing the large window that gives a panoramic view of a rather large backyard, and the basketball court alongside the garage. Syeira offers Lizzy a glass of lemonade and joins her in the empty chair. They sit quietly as the boasts and taunts drift through the open kitchen windows. Lizzy starts squirming in her chair.

"It's not that bad, Lizzy. Nikolai just wanted us to talk. There are some things he's uncomfortable talking about, but he wanted you to know. This is the way he decided to go about it."

"What things? Why couldn't he tell me himself? Why here?"

"Things about his past that are hard for him. They defined him in a way he struggles with every day. And you must have noticed his pathologic aversion to negativity." Lizzy grins. It's true the man finds the good in every situation. "We only have about an hour before the game is over, he didn't want this to get stretched out into epic proportions. You ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course you do. But you'd just end up asking Nikolai, and he would just give you an incomplete, round-about, answer. So do you want to hear it?" Lizzy grumbles, but her interested is piqued now. She nods yes.

"First, I would like to mention that our children don't know this. We told them ours was an arranged marriage, and left it at that. We decided that if any of them asked when they were older than sixteen we would tell them the truth, but luckily, none of them have. So if you could respect that, and not bring it up around the kids, we'd appreciate it" Lizzy nods. She still working around the 'arranged marriage' part.

"In the gypsy culture, arranged marriages are still the norm. Bloodlines are very important to us, so families arrange marriage to keep the bloodlines going. Sometimes the marriages lead to love, other times not."

"Your marriage to Nic was an arranged one?"

Syeira shakes her head sadly. "Not exactly. Our marriage was forced on us." Lizzy just looks at her, not quite knowing what the difference is. "I cannot tell you Nikolai's perspective of our marriage, but I can tell you mine." She takes a sip of her lemonade and watches her children play for a few moments. Lizzy sits quietly, waiting for her to start explaining something.

"I had been promised to a local boy, his father was the baker for a neighboring village. He was kind and sweet, and I was fast falling in love with him. When I finally grew to marriageable age, I was so excited to move out of my family home and start my new life." Here she stops again, remembering the boy she was so in love with.

"That was not to be. One dark night, men broke into our house. I heard my mama screaming and things crashing. The men found me and dragged me out of the house and tied me in the back of a truck. The night was deathly silent as we drove away. I could see my house begin to burn before I lost sight of it. Years later when I got a chance to return, it was confirmed that my parents died that night. My fiancé, Tyr, was the one that buried them for me, caring for the plots in my absence." Lizzy puts her hand over Syeira's, silently offering sympathy.

"I was pulled out of the truck in front of several men. We were in an airplane hangar. One of the men pushed his fingers between my legs and said I was 'pure'. If I wasn't so scared, I might have laughed. Tyr and I had snuck out and made love several times after our marriage was arranged. But mentioning that now might have gotten me killed, so I stayed silent."

"I was put on the plane, then a small boat, then the back of an enclosed truck. I was dragged into a house, bigger than I had ever even imagined. That was the first time I ever met Andovan Kerchenko. The demon. He also tested my purity himself. I was then sent off to be washed, fed and clothed. I waited alone in a small bare room for hours." Andovan was Nikolai's father, he died over a decade ago.

"I was brought out again. I waited in the office between two big guards who never took their hands off my arms. No chance for escape. The door opened and Nikolai walked in, he glanced at me as he walked up to the big desk but didn't acknowledge me in any way. They spoke in English for a while, both men ignored me. I didn't know what they were saying, but I could feel the tension build between the two men. Then Andovan switched back to our native language. When his father told him he would be marrying me, he was as shocked as I was. If I wasn't already sure of the precarious situation I was in, what happened next only confirmed it. Nikolai said 'No.' and the demon attacked him. He was punched several times and then men dragged him from the room. I spent the next three days alone in the same room I was in before." Lizzy can't speak. She's never seen any signs of childhood abuse in Nic.

"I was dragged out of the room and down into some underground tunnel. There were no windows, the walls and floors were dank and moldy. The smell made me gag. A metal door was opened and Nikolai was dragged out of the cell, naked and filthy. He looked at his father, but he did not cower in front of the man. I will always remember those clear deep eyes shining in the darkness. The demon asked if he was ready to get married. Nikolai said the same word he said last time: No. The men pushed him back in the cell and dragged me to the door. Andovan put a knife to my throat. He said if I wasn't good enough, he would kill me and toss my dying body in the cell while he went out and found a suitable replacement. Eventually there would be enough decaying bodies that Nikolai would find one acceptable." Syeira stifles a shiver as she remembers that horrible time.

"For the first time, since the glance in the office, Nikolai looked directly at me. I'm terrified he'll say no. I'm terrified he'll say yes. He spoke to his father in English and I didn't understand any of it. Long story short, he relented and we were married that night."

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"Thank you, but this story isn't about me. Nikolai was a different man when his father was alive. He never slept. His nights were spent pacing and plotting. Anything could set him off, and violent outbursts were normal. He would smash windows and destroy furniture. He never hit me or the kids, though. We barely spoke, except to relay information about the kids. I do know he kept me as far away from Andovan as he possibly could and I will be eternally grateful for that. Essaandra doesn't remember much from that time, she was too little, but the boys do. The change in him after his father died was so sudden, and so drastic. I barely recognize him as the man I was married to for almost a decade. For the first time ever he played with the kids. He smiled and laughed. He encouraged them instead of trying to break them."

"He was a completely different man. It was only a few months after his father's death that he suggested we divorce. I was scared to death. Gypsies don't get divorced. A marriage is an oath to god, breaking that would be a black mark on your soul. No one has ever heard of a gypsy divorce before, so we were in new territory. Nikolai is very practical. He only agreed to the marriage because he knew his father would dump woman after woman into that cell until he relented, and I had to agree or be killed. True oaths are freely given. This marriage was not. God would certainly know the difference and understand."

"We talked for a few weeks, hashing out the specifics. He would protect and continue to claim me as family. He would provide for me and the children. He would be my friend, which we never were before. I agreed, and this is where we are now." She shrugs her shoulders, indicating the story is over.

Lizzy just looks at her. That's a lot to dump on a complete stranger in a short period of time. Syeira smiles knowingly. "You don't have to respond. Nikolai and I don't want your sympathy. He just wanted you to know where he came from. When you're around gypsies, I will still be referred to as his wife. Again, gypsies don't get divorced, and this lets everyone know that I am still under his protection."

"If you're his wife, what am I?"

"You're his heart. You're the one he loves. Gypsies will know this too." We stare out of the window watching the two older men, whoop the asses off the younger ones. Syeira gets up to work in the kitchen, and Lizzy joins her. They have everything ready and plated by the time everyone else comes in from the backyard.

Derrik comes in first and with a big grin on his face, he kisses his wife. Nic is next and he swoops Lizzy up in his arms. "You man has been victorious on the battlefield!" Everyone laughs except Sergii and Luka.

"We went easy on you old geezers. We didn't want you to break anything." More taunting and friendly banter as the guys get cleaned up for dinner. Lizzy is trying to imagine the dark brooding angry man Syeira described.

Dinner isn't anything fancy, just a good home-cooked meal. Everyone tells stories and tries to outdo the others. Derrik throws up his hands midway through the meal saying no mortal man can ever compete with a gypsy in a lying contest. The others go around making up more and more extravagant stories until everyone's sides are sore from laughing.

Luka and Sergii clear the table as Syeira brings out the cake Nikolai brought. Lizzy didn't get to see it, or even sample it before they got here, so she's pleasantly surprised by a double layer German Black Forest chocolate cake. Wine and cake are served as we all relax around the dining table.

It's early August and the night is perfectly warm. Derrik and Serj kick up a bonfire in the backyard and everyone settles in around it. Eventually Lizzy makes her way inside to use the bathroom. She can't help cutting off another small slice of the cake before going back outside. It's so good!