Iris Johansen - A Summer Smile

She felt his arms tighten around her for the briefest instant. “Nothing is going to happen to Pandora,” he said gently. “She’s under Philip’s protection.” He brushed the lightest of kisses on the top of her head. “And nothing will happen to you either. I’ll take care of that. Now, just relax and let me get you back to your room. I think you should try to take a nap. I’ll wake you for dinner.”

“I didn’t get to see inside the stables.” It was merely a token protest. She was suddenly feeling maddeningly weak, utterly sapped of strength.

“I’ve never seen a woman so fascinated by four-footed creatures. I never thought I’d be forced on the back of a horse to play guardian angel to a horse-crazy cowgirl.”

She glanced up in surprise. “You don’t ride?”

He shook his head. “There are some people who don’t, you know,” he told her solemnly. “I realize it’s hard for centaurs like you and Philip to understand, but there are a few of us who even prefer it that way. The last animal I rode was the orneriest mule ever begat on the face of the earth. I was forced to suffer excruciatingly for an entire two-week trip through the Andes.” He glared down at her with mock ferocity. “Why the devil are you giggling, you heartless woman? It was a very traumatic experience.”

“I’m sure it was.” She chuckled. “Don’t worry, riding a horse is much more pleasant. I’ll teach you. It will be fun, you’ll see.”

“Will it?” he asked gloomily. “I couldn’t persuade you to recuperate on a nice peaceful cruise around the Mediterranean, I suppose. I have a yacht anchored at the harbor at Marasef, and I assure you that I’m much better at riding the waves than I ever will be a horse.”

“Don’t be a defeatist,” she said with a grin. “You’ll be an expert in no time. It’s much easier than captaining a ship or blowing up airplanes. Besides, I think I like the idea of being in charge for a change. It’s rather nice to know that you’re not the master of quite all you survey.”

His expression became grave. “Where the hell did you get an idea like that? I don’t pretend to be any kind of superbrain. I learn things fairly quickly and my lifestyle has provided me with a variety of skills, but you’re probably far better educated than I am.” He shrugged. “Hell, I didn’t even get my college degree until I retired a couple of years ago. There are probably any number of things you can teach me.” He smiled down at her. “And maybe a few I can teach you. It will be interesting to find out anyway, won’t it?”

“Yes, I think it will,” she said softly. He actually believed that, she realized with a touch of incredulity. He didn’t realize how very extraordinary a man he was. He possessed humor, intelligence, and a dogged determination that would always enable him to move mountains. Yet he honestly believed there was nothing unusual about him. “I understand that’s a big part of what friendship is all about.” She tried to hide the pang of tenderness she was feeling as she nestled nearer to him and closed her eyes. She could hear the throb of his heart more clearly when she shut out the rest of the world. Such a strong vital sound. Just like Daniel himself.

When Zilah opened her eyes she experienced a momentary disorientation that brought her heart leaping to her throat. The slight figure lounging in the wing chair by her bed was totally unfamiliar, and the dusk that pervaded the room threw that stranger into shadow. Dear God, how she hated those shadows. Not this time! Without thinking she scrambled to her knees on the bed, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “No! Go away.”

The slender shadow figure froze in surprise; the trousered leg flung over one arm of the chair halted its lazy swinging. “I can’t. Philip won’t let me.” The hoarse voice was indignant. “It’s not that I want to be here, blast it.”

“Philip?” Zilah shook her head to clear it, and the shadows of the past disappeared into the mists. Philip El Kabbar. Daniel. “Who are you?”

“Pandora Madchen.” The boyish figure straightened in the chair, stretching her booted legs out before her and crossing them at the ankle. Scornful defiance breathed out of every pore. “I’m your new maid,” she drawled. “Ma’am.”

“My new maid?” Zilah asked blankly. “I’ve never had an old one. What will I do with you?”

The girl shrugged. “Search me. That’s up to you. Scrub your back, brush your hair, junk like that. You’re my punishment.”

“Punishment?”

“For taking out Oedipus. Philip was mad as hell.”

“Yes, he was,” Zilah said. “I was there when you took the fence. It was a beautiful jump.”

“I’ve made better,” Pandora said. “I saw you on the fence with Philip and Daniel. Which one are you sleeping with?”

“What?”

There was an odd tenseness to the girl’s silhouette. “I asked if you were sleeping with Philip. Are you?”

“No. Not that it’s any of your business. I just met Sheikh El Kabbar this morning.”

The tenseness left the younger girl’s body. “I didn’t think so.” She was obviously trying to keep the relief from her tone. “He wouldn’t have assigned me to you if he’d wanted to keep you happy. He knew I’d probably make your life hell on earth. Is he mad at you or something?”

“Let’s just say that he doesn’t approve of me.” Good heavens, the child was incredible. Amusement was rapidly replacing the resentment that had been Zilah’s first reaction. There was a touching childishness beneath Pandora’s bravado that reached out to her.

“That’s because you’re beautiful,” Pandora said flatly. “He sleeps with beautiful women but he doesn’t like them.” She paused before adding with a touch of defiance, “I’m not pretty, but he likes me. He’s never said so, but I know he does.”

“I’m sure he does,” Zilah said gently. “He was very concerned about your safety before you made that jump.”

“He was?” The eagerness in the question was naked before Pandora masked it with an offhand shrug. “That’s because we’re friends. He saved my life, you know.”

“No, I didn’t know.” Zilah brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and settled herself more comfortably against the headboard. She wished there was more light in the room. She’d like to get a better look at this wild child who was intriguing her more every minute.

Pandora nodded. “It was in the first month after I came here with my father. There were some men in the bazaar who were trying to hurt me just because I let loose all the doves in the cages at their stall.” She shivered. “They had knives. Philip saved my life. Then he spanked me.” Her hand reached up to her throat and she pulled out a gold chain with a round medallion that caught and held the dwindling light in the room. “And then he gave me this.”

“A present? That was very kind of him.”

“It’s not a present,” Pandora said indignantly. “It’s the sword and the rose. It shows that I belong to him. He said so.”

So that was what Daniel meant by Philip extending his protection over the child. “Then he must value you very much.”

Pandora lifted her chin. “He does value me. I told you that we were friends. Just because he punishes me now and then doesn’t mean he’s really angry. He wouldn’t bother at all if he didn’t like me.”

And it was evident Pandora’s mischief-making was at least partially a ploy to attract the sheikh’s attention in the only way she knew how. It was clear she adored the man far more than he deserved. “Well, I can’t say that I like being looked upon as a punishment by your hero,” Zilah said dryly. “Nor having you inflicted on me as one either. I don’t need a maid and you don’t want to be one, so why don’t we just call it quits?”