Outside Tahira's room, two more royal guards stood sentry. Darius recognized them as men he'd met before at the Clearwater Beach estate. When they both gave him curt nods of their heads, it was obvious they remembered him as well. Neither stopped him as he pushed open the door just enough for him to ease into the room. Only one soft light over the bed was on, illuminating the beautiful woman curled up on her side. She looked so small amid the white sheets and blankets. Her long, dark hair covered the pillow her head was laying on. Even though he hadn't made a sound entering the room, her eyes flew open, and her terrified gaze met his worried one. Darius's heart clenched, and his gut felt like he'd been kicked by a mule.
Subtle movement from a dark corner of the room caught his attention as Amar emerged from the shadows. "If you need me, Your Highness, I'll be in the other room."
The man mutely shook hands with Darius before disappearing into the attached living room, closing the door behind him. He was probably going to catch up on some much-needed sleep, but that wasn't Darius's concern right now. He stepped forward and took a seat next to the bed. Tahira's face was ashen, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Th-thank you for coming, Darius. I am sorry to have Amar call you so late.”
She reached out, and he grasped her tiny, trembling hand in his big calloused one, rubbing his thumb over her soft skin. "Shh. There's no need to be sorry. What happened?"
"I had a nightmare. I was back . . . back in th-that bedroom. It was happening all over again. I—I don’t remember most of it, but what I do remember . . .”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the mattress. "You're safe. I'm here, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He brushed a lock of her hair back from where it had fallen in front of her face. "Try to get some sleep. I'll watch over you."
Tahira hesitated, then tightened her grip on his hand and tugged. "Would you please lie with me? Like you did before. I—I just need you to hold me."
He really shouldn't, for so many reasons, including the fact this was a hospital and the nurses would probably have a fit, but he couldn’t refuse when he saw the pleading in her gorgeous, brown eyes. Giving her hand a squeeze, he let go, stood, and rounded the foot of the bed. Her troubled gaze followed him. After making sure he wasn't disturbing any monitor wires or IV tubing—they’d apparently all been removed since he’d last seen her—he kicked off his sneakers and climbed onto the bed, on top of the covers she huddled beneath. As he spooned in behind her, making sure there was some distance between his groin and her backside, Tahira reached for his hand again. She pulled it until his arm was over her waist, then held it against her torso, just under her breasts. He tried to ignore the fact she was wearing a thin hospital gown over nothing but bare flesh.
Sighing, Tahira closed her eyes. "Thank you, Darius."
He shifted to get comfortable on the full-sized bed, then settled. "Go to sleep, Tahira. You're safe."
Her body relaxed as she whispered, "Only with you."
20
Tahira stirred in the warmth cocooning her. This time when she awoke, it wasn't in fear and hysterics, but in safety and contentment. Before she opened her eyes, she inhaled and a familiar male scent she'd grown used to over the past few days, tickled her nose.
Darius.
His arm was curled around her waist, and she wondered if it had moved at all since she'd drifted off to sleep. Turning her head slightly, Tahira felt his steady breaths against her cheek. She wanted very much to turn over and watch him sleep, to study his handsome face, but she knew that much movement would have him waking instantly. When he'd arrived after her nightmare, one of the first things she'd noticed was he'd shaved. The coarse, heavy beard was gone, and in its place was soft, smooth skin over his firm jawline. She'd wanted to reach out and see what it felt like against her palm, but she'd held back. It would have been far too intimate, something she still wasn't ready for, even with the man who would soon be her husband.
Relief warred with dread in her stomach. She should relieve him of his promise to marry her, but having anyone find out she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night scared her almost as much as the thought of being sold in a slave auction. She and Darius could make the farce a success. Since he lived and worked in Florida, it wouldn't seem odd to anyone when she moved there permanently to be near him. They'd live in the Clearwater Beach estate and pretend to be a happily married couple. Whether or not they ever consummated their marriage would only be between the two of them. She trusted Darius to keep his word. He was a man of honor, something she'd known the first time she'd met him and the others on his team. Once an appropriate amount of time passed, the palace would announce the couple decided to divorce and remain friends. She wouldn't have to worry about her virginity after that.
The muscles in Darius's arm tensed, and he pulled her closer to his chest. One would think that after her sexual assault, Tahira would be afraid to be in a man's arms this way, but Darius would never hurt her, of that she was certain.
She was about to close her eyes again and relax into his embrace once more when the door to the hallway opened and one of the nurses walked in. Behind Tahira, Darius was instantly awake. He rolled away from her and stood, stepping back from the bed. She immediately missed the heat, strength, and safety of his body. She was also grateful it had been a nurse who’d walked in on them in bed together and not her parents. That wouldn’t have gone over well—engaged or not.
A flash of jealousy coursed through her when the pretty nurse smiled brilliantly at Darius, her eyes filling with interest at the sight of the handsome man. "No worries. I could tell you stories of things I’ve walked in on while working on this floor."
While the woman's words seemed kind, she was clearly flirting with Darius, and Tahira felt the need to subtly stake her claim. "My fiancé was comforting me. I sleep better when he is by my side."
Okay, maybe not so subtly.
Sad to say, that seemed to backfire when the nurse's gaze blatantly roamed Darius's lean, muscular body. "I don't blame you. I'd sleep better with him by my side too."
Tahira's eyes narrowed, and a tone of disapproval crept into her voice. It was one she'd learned from her mother when dealing with those who were rude to others or didn't remember to follow proper protocol in the presence of royalty. Neither Tahira nor her mother used it often, but it came in handy now. "Unfortunately, for you, I do not share. Please leave and have another nurse assigned to me—one who will give her full attention to me, her patient, and not my fiancé."
Her words had the desired effect when the blonde woman's mouth fell open and her spine stiffened. Her gaze flittered back and forth between Tahira and Darius. The princess had to fight back a smile when Darius cleared his throat and said, "I suggest you do as Her Royal Highness says. I really don't want to go over your head and get a supervisor, but I will.”
The nurse's eyes widened, but then her jaw tensed. She spun on her heel and stormed out the door, pulling it shut behind her. She must have said or done something in the hallway because one of the guards knocked a second before he pushed the door open again and stuck his head in. "Your Highness, is everything all right?"
Sighing, Tahira nodded. "Thank you, Zareb. I am fine. Please do not allow that nurse to return. I would prefer someone else."
"Understood, Your Highness." The man ducked back out into the hallway and shut the door.
Rolling on her back, Tahira stared at Darius, who was now leaning against the wall next to the window. "I am sorry."
His brow furrowed. "Sorry? For what?"
"For behaving like a bitch."
He snorted and chuckled. "You had every right to tell her off. I was pretty shocked by her forwardness myself."
He ran his hand through his longish hair. Her parents would probably want him to get it trimmed for an official engagement photo, but she kind of liked it this way. He was incredibly handsome and could easily grace the cover of one of the novels Devon's wife wrote. After finding out Kristen Anders-Sawyer was a r
omance author, Tahira had purchased one of her books. She loved the woman's style, and after finishing that first one, she'd quickly downloaded and devoured the rest of them. Kristen's debut series had been . . . tamer—Tahira guessed that was the right word to use—than her Seductive Sensations series, which had the BDSM lifestyle as a backdrop in the story lines. Even though she'd been a twenty-five-year-old virgin before her assault, Tahira was far from naïve. She loved reading romance novels—going through ten to fifteen in a month—in every genre except for dark erotica; she’d tried reading it once but had found she didn’t care for it.
A thought occurred to her. She'd once overheard Brody Evans and Marco DeAngelis discussing a club the Sawyer brothers had founded that was apparently on the same property as their security business. She'd been surprised when she realized it was a BDSM club they'd been talking about as she eavesdropped on their conversation at her family's beach estate. But then she'd realized the original TS team members were very much like the alpha heroes written by her favorite authors like Kristen, Cherise Sinclair, Avery Gale, Lexi Blake, Kallypso Masters, and more. She could easily picture the former SEALs as Doms. Now, she wondered if any of the members of the Omega team were in the lifestyle—specifically Darius.
"Princess, are you all right?"
She hadn’t realized she’d zoned out for a moment. Lifting her gaze from her lap, she looked at him. She didn’t correct his use of “Princess” in private because, for the first time in her life, it sounded more like an endearment than a title to her. It was probably just wishful thinking on her part, but she liked to think it was true. His soft, moss-colored eyes stared at her in concern, and she gave him a small smile. "Yes, I am, but I would very much like to be discharged and spend the rest of my recovery at the beach house. Could you please find my doctor and ask if that is possible?"
The corners of his mouth ticked upward. "Sure, I think we can arrange that. Anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
She watched as he strode to the door, opened it, and turned the corner into the hallway. Part of her was sorry she'd interrupted his sleep in the middle of the night, but she was also grateful he'd come quickly. He hadn't asked for the details of her nightmare. Instead, he'd held her hand and then her body when she'd asked him to. As soon as his arm had wrapped around her waist, she'd felt safe enough to fall back into slumber, knowing he would watch over her. But the more she got to know her hero, and relied on him to keep her safe, the more she wondered who was going to protect her heart from falling in love with the man.
Tahira wished she could read Darius’s aura better, but the colors surrounding him were mixed, and the ones that stood out the most said he was guarding himself. The real Darius was hiding behind a mask—not an evil one, but one that kept the rest of the world at bay. Would he ever let down the walls he’d erected around himself? And if he did, was Tahira ready to discover who he really was?
21
“Gentlemen, please have a seat." King Rajeemh gestured to a sitting area as Ian, Devon, and Darius walked into his large office in the Clearwater Beach estate. "Can Semira get you something to drink? Coffee, tea, or something else?"
Darius followed his bosses’ leads and requested a coffee from the woman wearing a black skirt and crisp, white, button-down shirt, standing next to a table laden with anything they might be in the mood for. He then sat on a couch next to Devon, while Ian took an upholstered wingback chair, opposite the leather one the king was sitting in. The only other people in the room were Amar, who was standing behind and to the left of the king's chair, and the king's chief of staff, Sebak Fahim, who was sitting on a loveseat across from the couch. His Majesty waited as the drinks were served and a platter of finger sandwiches and pieces of fruit was set on the coffee table between them.
It had taken a little more than an hour to make all the arrangements for Tahira to be released from the hospital. Dr. Moreau would be making a house call tomorrow to check up on his patient. He'd also strongly suggested to Darius that Tahira speak with a psychologist experienced with sexual assault victims. When Darius had mentioned Dr. Trudy Dunbar, Moreau had agreed she’d be a good choice. Darius would call Dunbar's office after this meeting and make an appointment.
When they’d first arrived at the estate a short time ago, Queen Azira had whisked her daughter up to the younger woman's bedroom, insisting she get more rest. The bags under Tahira’s eyes had belied her attempts to convince everyone she wasn't tired.
The server glanced around and then addressed her employer. "Is there anything else I can get for you, Your Majesty?"
The king gave her a kind smile. "No, Semira, thank you. That will be all. I will call for you if we require anything else. Please make certain Princess Tahira is settled in her room."
"Of course, Sire." She bowed slightly at the waist, then left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Once she was gone, Rajeemh glanced up at the head of his security. "Amar, please sit and tell me where you are in the investigation."
The man took a seat next to the chief of staff. "While I've held off on interviewing Princess Tahira until she was released from the hospital, I have spoken with Lahana and Nala. Neither recall ever having seen the men who kidnapped them in Jamaica before, and they did not see those same men at all once they awakened in Argentina. They could not give anything further than what we’d learned from the few witnesses at the park. Their memories of the actual abduction are blurred, most likely due to a combination of fear, shock, and whatever they were drugged with. On that matter, the drug used to sedate them was out of their systems by the time the blood tests were done at the hospital, as expected.”
Lahana and Nala had been treated and released from the same private wing at the hospital where Tahira had been. They'd boarded a private jet to return to their families in Timasur yesterday morning, hours before their cousin had arrived on US soil. Lahana would receive all the help she needed to get past her sexual assault as Tahira would.
“As far as we can tell,” Amar continued, “the kidnappers were not on the cruise—all other guests and staff were accounted for before they left port. Ian sent Jake and Nick to the ship to recover the women's belongings, and they didn’t find any clues as to who may have abducted the women. Farid, Daillo, and my other men assigned to the princess did not notice anyone suspicious paying attention to the women. Any attempts by other male guests to interact with the women were discouraged by Farid and Daillo, and there were no altercations as a result."
Darius noticed that whenever Amar mentioned Farid and Daillo, the king frowned but didn't say anything. Since Farid was his nephew, it was probably Daillo he disapproved of. Darius made a mental note to find out more about the man who had joined the cousins on their cruise.
"The Jamaican police are doing their best to try to identify the kidnappers, however the trail has grown cold. They are still trying to track down the final three jets that left the private airport during the timeframe we believe the women were flown off the island. If any further information comes to light, I will let you know immediately."
The king acknowledged him with a nod before his attention turned to the man sitting directly across the coffee table from him. “Ian, my friend, once again, I must thank you, Devon, Darius, and the rest of your employees for rescuing Tahira and her cousins."
"No thanks necessary, Your Majesty,” Ian responded. "I'm just glad Darius was in the right place at the right time."
"As much as I would like her to return home with her mother and me, she has asked to remain here during her recovery. I would appreciate if you handled increasing the security measures, so her mother does not worry. We will be leaving for Timasur in the morning. Unfortunately, we are hosting the President of South Korea for a state dinner and trade talks. It took a long time to arrange, and to cancel would cause more questions and problems than I want to deal with at this time. Tahira's privacy is my utmost concern, and if that means I must return home, so be it.
"Yes, Sire. I have it here for you to approve." Opening a manila file he'd been holding, the squirrelly-looking man handed Rajeemh a piece of paper. "Amar has already reviewed it. We thought it was best to not hide the abduction but have kept many of the details out, including Lahana's assault. However, there is a chance further information will eventually be revealed if any of the other women rescued talk to the press, and we are prepared to deal with it if that happens.
Once the other hostages had been rescued, the Deimos operatives had made sure they were returned to their families. The women were told their captors had been killed, including the man who'd sexually assaulted some of them. They were also asked to remain silent about the princess, her cousins, the rescue, and the rescuers, however, there was no way to guarantee they would remain mum. His majesty instructed his staff to make certain all the rescued women received any aftercare necessary to help them deal with what had happened and he would quietly pay for it.
Fahim consulted his notes. "I have mentioned the guards' funerals are being arranged by the palace and their families will be taken care of during this difficult time. We are requesting that the press allow them to mourn in peace. We are also requesting they allow Princess Tahira and her cousins a chance to recover from their ordeal. No interviews will be granted, and an updated schedule of Her Royal Highness's public events will be posted within the week.
Forty Days & One Knight: Trident Security Omega Team Book 2 Page 13