Chapter 10 #2
“So it would seem. Or perhaps it is merely a distraction to throw me off my game?” He flipped the steaks and checked the veggies. The heat from the grill left a primal shimmer of sweat on his skin.
“Could you truly be distracted from an impossible seduction by a counter of seduction?” Swirling the wine in her glass, she considered the possibilities. “Isn’t that like fighting fire with more fire?”
“An effective technique if you have a range fire you can’t control. You start a backfire and consume all the fuel in front of it so that when the two fires collide…” He clucked his tongue.
“I’m sorry, Richard. Are you trying to tell me that if we collide, you’re going to fizzle out?”
Surprise blustered across his face and his eyes narrowed. For a split-second, she thought not only had she scored a point, she’d won the match, but he recovered. “I can assure you I don’t fizzle out of anything.”
“Well, that’s very good to know, but we may have to test that theory later.” They locked gazes and her body pulsed with the naked desire in his eyes. “For now, you need to feed me. I think we’ll need all the caloric intake we can manage.”
It was an offer.
He didn’t answer right away, his attention dipped to the food he cooked then one by one, he removed the pair of steaks and added the veggies to the platter.
The silence dragged on long enough that worry began to nibble on her spine.
Shutting off the grill, he carried the platter and his wine glass to the table and set them down.
Turning, his lashes swept up and he gave her a lingering look from head to toe.
Extending his hand, a smile full of dark promises curved his mouth. “Then would you allow me the honor of feeding you?”
That was an acceptance.
Her stomach bottomed out. She’d been calmer about jumping out of planes. Fear and nerves had never made her balk before and tonight would not be the exception. Pushing away from the railing, she sauntered toward him. “Open door?” she murmured, sliding her hand into his.
“I’ll take the damn thing off its hinges.
” Then his mouth closed over hers, his tongue gliding over the seam of her lips demanding access, and she sighed.
The passion in his touch sought acceptance and when she acquiesced, he swept in and claimed.
It was the sweetest form of surrender and she moaned when he lifted his head.
“But first?” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Calories. Lots of calories.”
Laughter bubbled up inside her and she grinned. “Promise me there’s dessert.”
“Oh.” He stroked the curve of her neck and if she’d been a cat, she would have purred. “There will definitely be dessert.”
Dinner turned out to be fun and Richard took tormenting her to impossible levels—exactly as he was supposed to, he’d teased when she complained.
The food was delicious—the baked potatoes soft and buttery, the steak damn near perfection, and the grilled veggies the excellent complement.
They both nursed their wine, loosening up to only have a second half glass.
She wanted her wits about her and, evidently, so did he. “Out of curiosity…” He speared a pepper on his fork. “Why work as an assistant? You’ve got the drive and the capability to run your own small empire.”
Fortunately, she didn’t have to play a complicated word game to answer his question. “I never went to college,” she admitted and his brows raised. “What, you thought only people who get a four-year degree are savvy?”
“Not at all, it’s just surprising. You’re wildly intelligent.” The emphasis he put on the last two words delighted her more than if he’d called her beautiful. Of course, he’d done that too.
“Admittedly, I thought about it. But I was an army brat, I went army.”
“You were—son of a bitch, no wonder you’re so good at Call of Duty.” Admiration and exasperation mingled in his laughter. “I think that’s cheating. And more than a little sexy.”
“Well, I was a communications specialist, not as sexy as you might think.” She lifted her wine glass for a sip. “I spent six years in the service and got a lot accomplished, but after the boys, well, Mom was happier when I took a step back.”
“So, you didn’t want to leave?” He settled back in his chair, one foot braced against a rung on the bottom of hers.
“I wasn’t a lifer.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t something I saw myself doing until retirement.
I wanted to serve, I wanted to learn and I got a hell of an education.
If you ever need me to take apart your electronics and put them back together, that I can do.
If you need me to jump out of a plane and land on a deserted isle somewhere and set up a cell tower? ” She grinned. “That I can do too.”
“You just get sexier by the minute. You can para jump?” At her nod, he picked up his wine glass. “What else can you do that I don’t know about?”
Since that skated perilously close to a truth she couldn’t tell him yet, she danced along the edge. “I’m sure I have many hidden talents. What about you? What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”
“Probably playing hide and seek with Armand’s security detail.”
“How so?” She was curious, particularly in light of their current situation.
“Because I jumped out of a moving car and landed in an alley. Then I got lost in a street fair where I didn’t speak the language.
” Boyish chagrin warmed his expression. “The secret of why they couldn’t find me?
I was well and truly turned around. I spent most of the day trying to figure out where the hell I was so I could get back. ”
“And you never told them because…?”
“Pride. Guilt.” He spread his hands. “But I’d also made my point so the little impetuous action served its purpose. What about you? You jump over bridges and out of planes, but what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”
That didn’t explain how he slipped them now, but they had time for that. Gritting her teeth, she made a face and stared at the pool “Would you believe me if I said that I’ve been pursued by a prince before?”
He leaned forward and put the wine glass down. “If his last name sounds anything like Dagmar, I don’t want to know.”
“No.” She softened the response and covered his hand with hers. “I hadn’t met His Highness before I started working for Anna.” Which was the absolute truth. She’d worked for Peterson, taken on some jobs here and there when he’d had work for her, but not for the grand duke.
“All right.” Richard relaxed and blew out a breath. “So what prince pursued you?”
“His name was Achmed Al-Sabah. He was the fourteenth son or something like that.” She stroked her tongue against her teeth.
Richard seemed relaxed, but she recognized the sharp look in his gaze.
He wanted details. “I met him while on assignment in Kuwait. I’d gone there to do some work on one of our bases—which is neither here nor there—but he had been part of a tour.
He saw me, decided I would make a fantastic princess, and began to send me the craziest things.
” No matter how entertained she was by the story, she never forgot how damn irritating it had been at the time.
“For example?” Richard curved his hand around hers, his thumb tracing a lazy pattern against skin. Tiny electric shocks impeded her interest in telling the story.
“First, he sent me silks—several thousand dollars’ worth of silk.
I wore fatigues and BDUs, not silk. The guys in my unit got a big laugh out of it.
Then he sent me meals, gourmet meals flown in from all over the world, and he tried to send in a chef, but the gate guards wouldn’t admit him to the base.
” She’d almost forgotten about her royal stalker.
“Every gift included an invitation, usually something innocuous—a walk together, a supper, twice he invited me the palace. I declined every invitation, but when he sent me the camels? That I had to explain to my C.O.”
Whether it was the consternation in her tone or the content of the statement, Richard laughed. “Camels?”
“A dozen camels.” She squeezed his hand.
“And what offer did he have with the camels?”
“Oh, that was a proposal.” Shaking her head, Kate laughed. “My C.O. told me we needed to put an end to the pursuit immediately and that meant letting the prince know in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t interested, but…” She trailed off invitingly.
“There’s always a but.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table and played with her hand between his. “You couldn’t upset the political balance or curry disfavor?”
“Exactly. So how does one tell a prince to stuff his camels up his ass politely?” She waggled her brows and Richard’s grin grew.
“Very carefully.”
“Well, that’s one theory.” She’d been polite.
It hadn’t worked. “You see, I had been gracious in declining every single gift. We’d sent them all back.
I couldn’t accept them and I’d always gotten someone from the public relations office to give me a very well-worded, cordial no, but they were all nos.
Seriously I think this guy was just messing with me because he could.
So, I asked my C.O. for a pass to go off base for thirty-six hours. ”
“Why?” He was completely hooked on the story and, despite his constant caresses, she enjoyed his reactions too much to leave him hanging.
“Because I needed to give the army as much plausible deniability in my choices as I could. My C.O. approved it, but I had to take one of the MPs with me—Messer, he was a good guy. He played it cool and off we went to have lunch with a prince.”
“Okay, now I’m intrigued. How the hell is going to lunch with that camel salesman going to send a message?” The protectiveness in his voice and grip turned fierce.
Rubbing her thumb against his fingers, she shushed him. “Shh, it’s all right. I’m a big girl. I could handle it.”
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
No means no in any language.” Hmm, probably a very good thing Richard hadn’t been in her life during that particular episode.
She rather suspected he’d have made an international incident.
When she said as much he nodded firmly. “Damn straight. And I have a grand duke in my corner, he’d have helped. ”
“Well do you want to hear the rest of the story or would you like to get angrier on my behalf?” She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles. “You’re very sexy when you’re angry.”
The quiet fury in his gaze drained away and the want returned. “Finish, I’ll behave.”
“Hopefully not for long.” His eyes flared at her tease, so she grinned and continued.
“Lunch turned out to be a huge formal affair with a dozen of his closest relatives and, of course, Messer and me. We went through all the motions and then went for a long walk and Messer—acting as my ‘brother’—informed the prince that his pursuit had earned a measure of interest from my ‘family,’ but unfortunately, we had rules and traditions that had to be observed.”
Richard’s attention remained riveted on her. “I think we’re getting to the crazy part.”
“Uh huh.” She laughed. “The prince said he would happily meet any ritual my brother wanted to put him through to prove his great and undying love for me. Messer told him that in order for the family to feel comfortable accepting his pledge, he’d have to beat me in a hand-to-hand fight.”
“What?” Richard stared.
“That was exactly what the prince said. He was shocked, I tell you, shocked, that combat was what was required. Now I had to stay quiet through all of this, demure and restrained and not laugh my butt off at his facial expressions. Messer told him that we came from a long line of warriors—technically true since he was my army brother. Anyway—” she pressed on before Richard could interrupt, “—the prince was outraged, but Messer gave him a helpless look and said if the prince didn’t think he could handle a mere woman in a very straightforward fight, he could hardly be expected to protect and care for me in a manner that would be expected. ”
“Oh my God, he played him.” Richard looked torn between horror and amusement. Covering his mouth with one hand, he stared at her. “And what did this paragon do?”
“He argued for a little while, but finally conceded that, yes, he wanted me enough that he was willing to beat me to have me.”
“Please tell me you kicked his ass?”
“All over the floor. We kept the fight very private—Messer with me and one of the prince’s bodyguards with him.
The bodyguard was ordered to stay out of it and so was Messer.
After he was done puking in the corner, the prince offered me his most sincere apologies, but he’d changed his mind and dropped his pursuit.
” Merriment danced through her. “We never heard another word—no censure, no political fallout. Achmed didn’t want anyone to know. ”
“…that a gorgeous, talented woman kicked his ass.” Richard laughed, his open joy delighting her more than recounting the story. “You’re right, that’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever heard and damn if I’m not proud of you.”
Pleasure speared her at the words.
“Of course, I’m not going to fight you physically to win.”
“No?” She challenged, brows raised.
“No.” It was his turn to lift her hand to his lips.
“What I will do is begin here at your hand and kiss each finger and then glide my tongue up the soft side of your arm to the crook of your elbow. I want to explore every inch of your skin. If you’re still in the game at that point, I’ll ease your shirt up, just enough to let my hand rest against your abdomen while I nuzzle the curve of your neck and then your jaw and finally tempt that gorgeous mouth of yours—” his voice dropped and her breath hitched, her humor melting into a pool of molten heat, “—with the slowest of caresses, I’ll ease a hand around your breast… ”
She shoved the chair back and stood. “You win.”
The triumph in his smile took her breath away. “But I’ve only just gotten started.”