Iris Johansen - Everlasting

“She's under guard in an apartment close to mine at the palace. Stefan thought it would be more difficult for me to bribe the palace guards.” She added dryly, “Not that I would have had the money to do it.”

“So that's the present situation?”

She hesitated. “That's not quite all of it. About six months ago Stefan appointed a new adviser, Sandor Karpathan. I think he might be manipulating Stefan by pitting us all against each other to further his own ends.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I don't know. He's always very polite and charming. It's just that there's something-”

“Woman's intuition?”

“Woman's judgment ,” she corrected. “Besides, Marna doesn't trust him.”

“Ah, the final condemnation.” He held up his hand as she opened her lips to protest. “I'm not mocking you or Marna, Kira. I believe in instincts. I've relied on my instincts all of my life. Is Karpathan the principal reason for this sudden urgency?”

She nodded. “I was nearly frantic. He frightens me. I didn't know what to do. Then Marna sent for me and told me about you.”

His stillness took on charged tension. “Really? What did she tell you?”

“Not nearly enough,” she said crossly. “Only that when you were a boy in your teens you traveled with her tribe one summer. She said she'd met you when she'd left the palace and gone back to the caravan to nurse her mother for a few months. I understand she's kept track of you through the years, she feels strongly that if anyone can get her out of Tamrovia, it will be you. She said you and a man named Nick O'Brien went into Said Ababa right after the revolution and freed some of your employees who were being held hostage. Is that right?”

He nodded. “But a war-torn country is a good deal easier to manipulate than a stable government like Tamrovia.”

Her eyes were suddenly wide with fear. “Does that mean you won't-” She stopped. “She sent you a message. I have no idea what it means, but she said you would. She said to tell you it was the time of the mondava .”

His heart skipped a beat and then started to pound so hard he felt a little dizzy. He had to struggle to keep his face expressionless. “Mondava is a Tamrovian word. I learned only a little Tamrovian that summer. You should know better than I what it means.”

“It means ‘the bonding.’ ”

He shook his head. “Not quite. In Marna's dialect it means the ‘forever bonding’ or the ‘everlasting bonding.’”

Her eyes lit with sudden interest. “You do know what she was trying to tell you.”

“Yes, I know.”

She waited eagerly. Then, when he failed to elaborate, she grimaced. “But you're not going to tell me either, are you?”

“Perhaps if you wait a little longer, I won't have to tell you.”

“Damn, now you're being as cryptic as Marna. I hate to wait.” She jumped to her feet, walked across the room, and stood restlessly beside the fireplace. “I can't bear double-talk. It drives me out of my mind. Are you going to help Marna or not?”

“Just what are you asking of me? Do you want money?”

“I don't know. I suppose it will take money. You should know better than I, considering your experience in Said Ababa.” Her hand closed tightly on the oak edge of the mantel. “I want her out of Tamrovia and safe, and I don't want this to happen ever again.”

“How much do you really care?”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I care more about her than about anything in the world. I love her so very much.”

He was silent a moment, his gaze fixed on her face. “What did Marna say to you when she sent you to me?”

“She said you were a disek , one of the exceptional ones.” She hesitated and then added slowly, “She said I should put myself in your hands, do whatever was necessary to bring you to Tamrovia.”

“And just what do you intend to do?”

“Exactly what she told me to do,” she said simply.

His lips twisted. “You're very meek and obedient all of a sudden. And you're making a total commitment.”

“Don't you think I know that? I'm scared to death you're going to ask me to hijack a plane or something. You're a complete stranger to me.”

“Yet you're willing to obey blindly a woman who hasn't set eyes on me for over fifteen years.”

“I've trusted Marna all my life. She wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I've got to hang on to that certainty.”

His gaze forthrightly met hers. “What you're asking will be very difficult. It will take money and time. I have quantities of the former and absolutely none of the latter. I'm in the middle of a merger. It just may go down the drain if I neglect it during this crucial period.”

Her lips drooped with disappointment. “You're not going to help me.”

“A faulty conclusion, Kira. I'm merely stressing the point that if I make certain sacrifices, I'll expect compensation.”

She shook her head. “I told you I don't have any money.”

“But you do have something else I want.”

“The title? You want to marry me and have a princess to add to your status?” She felt a sudden jolt of disappointment. Somehow she hadn't expected such a superficial response from Damon. “All right, but I-”

“Not the damn title,” he said harshly. “Why the hell do you think that's all there is to you? I don't need to marry a princess to show the world I've made it. I know I've made it, and that's all that counts.”

She should have realized. She would have realized it if she'd thought for a moment instead of reacting immediately. “I'm sorry.” She smiled shakily. “I seem to be apologizing a good deal tonight. I didn't mean to make you angry.”

“You didn't make me angry. I guess it was natural for you to think that of me.” His eyes narrowed on her face. “I suppose your brother Stefan would consider me beyond the pale as far as bloodlines go. I know nothing about my father, except that he was a white man. It was the only thing my mother would tell my grandfather about him.”

“You're probably right about Stefan,” she said frankly. “I told you he was a chitka . But your money would endow you with a very tolerable patina in his eyes. What difference does it make? You said you didn't want to marry a princess anyway.”

“Yes, I did, didn't I?” He rose to his feet. “But I said nothing about not wanting to take Kira Rubinoff to bed. Do you think Stefan would object if you took me as a lover?”

She gazed at him blankly. “Sex?” She didn't know how she got the word out. Her throat had closed and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. “You want to have sex with me?”

He slowly shook his head. “I want to be your lover. I want to sleep in the same bed you do; I want you to let me make love to you whenever and however I wish, for as long as it pleases me.” His voice lowered to a velvet softness. “I believe I can guarantee it will please you as much as it will please me.”

She didn't doubt it for a minute. Sexual magnetism radiated from Zack Damon in an almost visible aura. She felt a languid heat begin to flow through her at just the thought of his intimate touch. “Why?”

He smiled. “I don't believe a woman has ever asked me that question when I asked her to go to bed with me. The answer seems self-evident. However, I can make it much clearer, if you like.”

She moistened her lower lip with her tongue. “We've just met. I'm not unattractive, but I don't exactly exude feminine allure, either. You're willing to jeopardize a merger to go to bed with me?” She shook her head in bewilderment. “I don't understand this.”

His rare smile widened to warm his dark face. “Perhaps I have peculiar tastes. You happen to appeal to me very much, and I can afford to let the merger slide. You had no problem at all believing I would want to marry you for status, and you agreed to that without a second thought. Why are you having a problem with the idea of being my mistress? The position would be much more advantageous for you. You'd have your freedom and still get what you want from me.”