Iris Johansen - The Treasure

She couldn’t breathe.

Rhythm. Fire. Friction. Fullness.

She wanted to scream but no sound came.

Her hands reached out and clasped his shoulders.

Kadar. Part of her. Heat. Need.

Always.

Let it be always.

“Stay…” she gasped. “Don’t leave me.”

“Never.” His teeth were drawn from his lips. “So good. I may stay in you forever.”

No, he didn’t understand, and she couldn’t explain. Not now. Something was happening. Something…

“Now.” He looked down at her, his face twisted with agony. “Please… I can’t wait any longer.”

She cried out as he thrust with powerful force. His back arched and his eyes closed.

Release.

He collapsed on top of her.

Her arms closed tightly around him.

Kadar… Kadar…

Hers.

He moved to the side and looked down at her. “I cheated you.” He bent down and kissed her lingeringly. “Forgive me. I needed you too much. I couldn’t wait.”

She looked at him in bewilderment. “Cheated? But I found it very pleasant.” It was an understatement. It was true she still felt restless and oddly unfinished, but… “Should there be something else?”

“Oh, yes.” He grimaced. “Dammit, I wanted it to be perfect for you. All those years I pictured how it would be and I-”

“Stop complaining. I’m content.” She huddled close to him. She knew him so well, yet Kadar’s naked body felt strange against her own. Smooth in places, corded with muscle in others, the hair on his chest wiry and male against the softness of her breasts. Strange and stimulating. “Just stay with me.”

“It’s late. I have to get you back to the castle.” He sat up and reached for her gown. “Put it on.”

“I want to go back to the ship with you.”

He shook his head.

“Why not?” Her smile faded as she gazed at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Other than the fact I pulled you down in the dirt as if you were a whore from the streets?” He was throwing on his clothing, not looking at her. “It was a mistake. God, what a mistake.”

“I didn’t-What are you talking about? I wanted it.”

“You didn’t want it, dammit. How could you know whether you wanted it or not? You were a virgin.”

“Well, I wanted to be close to you.”

“So I took what I wanted because I knew you wouldn’t refuse.”

“Why are you talking in this foolish way?” Her hands clenched nervously. “You’re confusing me. I came to you because you told-I had to show you that I trusted you.”

“And I made you pay the price. Christ in heaven, don’t you realize you could be carrying my child?”

Guilt? She smiled, relieved. “Is that all? That’s nothing that can’t be mended. Wed me, Kadar.”

“I can’t.”

A chill went through her. “You don’t wish to wed me?”

“I can’t. ” His lips tightened. “I’m going away tomorrow.”

She stared at him, stunned. “There were no plans for another voyage. Where?”

He was silent.

“ Tell me.”

He shook his head.

“When will you be back?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Not where I’m going.”

“Anywhere.”

He shook his head again. “You have to stay here.”

Alone. He was leaving her. He was like all the others. Taking and then going away. “Very well.” She slowly stood up and numbly pulled her gown over her head.

“Don’t look like that.” His hands fell on her shoulders. “Do you think I want to leave?”

“Men always do what they wish to do.” She looked away from him. “They couple and then they go.”

“For God’s sake, I’m not like the men in Nicholas’s house. You know that.”

“I don’t know anything. Except that you’re going.” She jerked away from him. “And that I’m a fool.” Her eyes were suddenly blazing at him. “I’ll not be one again. You need not run because you think I’ll bother you. Coupling is nothing. Animals in the field do it and then wander away.”

“It wasn’t like that. You’re not thinking, Selene.”

No, she was only feeling, and the pain and anger were growing every second. “I would have done anything. I came to you and told you things that hurt me to say. I had no pride. I wanted to show you… Trust? You had no right to ask it of me.” She snatched her cloak from the ground. “You had no right to ask anything of me.”

She turned and started up the hill at a run.

“Wait.” Kadar’s footsteps behind her. “I’ll go with you.”

“Don’t you come a step farther,” she said over her shoulder. “Come close to me and I promise I’ll knock you down this hill.”

The wind tore her hair as she put on speed.

Go faster. Get away from the hurt.

Try to leave the pain behind.

Kadar’s hands balled into fists at his sides as he watched Selene run up the hill.

He had hurt her. After all the years of care and patience, he had reached out and grabbed what he wanted. She had come to try to give him what he wanted of her. He had ignored that gift and taken her body instead. Then, in the next breath, he had destroyed that fledgling trust.

What was he supposed to do? Tell her about Sinan? Neither she nor Ware must know before he left on the Dark Star.

Damn, it had been hard not to tell her. Everything he wanted, she offered, and he’d thrown it back at her.

May God curse you, Sinan.

She was now lost in the shadows cast by the castle walls. He turned away and stared down the hill toward the harbor. He would board the Dark Star in the morning and tell Balkir to set sail at once. The sooner he reached Maysef, the sooner he could accomplish his mission and come home.

If he lived through it.

He would live. He wouldn’t let Sinan win by claiming either his soul or his life. He would come back to Montdhu.

He would come back to Selene.

Kadar wasn’t following any longer.

The drawbridge of the castle loomed ahead.

Selene could barely see anything in the dense shadows cast by the stone walls.

Soon she would be in her chamber, closing out the shadows, closing out Kadar.

Fool. She had been a fool. No more.

Build the wall again. Let no one in.

Safer that way. Let no one-

Agony seared through her left temple.

Darkness.

ALI BALKIR WAS WAITING on deck when Kadar walked up the gangplank of the Last Hope. “Good evening. What a fine ship you have. Almost as good as the Dark Star.”

“Better,” Kadar said curtly. He was raw and frustrated and in no mood to confront Balkir tonight. If the captain pushed him, he’d probably break the bastard’s neck. “Go back to your ship. I told you I’d-”

“Give me your decision tomorrow,” Balkir finished for him. “But Sinan gives neither of us a choice. I have orders and they must be fulfilled. We’ve waited too long already. I’ve decided we leave tonight.”

“Indeed?”

Balkir started to take a step back and then stopped. “It would be most unwise of you to harm me. If I don’t return to the Dark Star, the consequences will be most unpleasant. I’ve taken measures to assure your compliance.”

Kadar stiffened. “What measures?”

Balkir’s smile was smug. “It was necessary. The master must be obeyed.”

“What measures?”

“The woman. Lord Ware’s kin, the sister of his wife. We’ve taken her. At this moment she’s on her way to the Dark Star.”

“Selene?” Bluff. It had to be a bluff. “You lie.”