by Leanne Banks
“That hasn’t changed.”
She looked down for a long moment, pursing her lips. “Okay, I’ll give you the abbreviated version. I was inexperienced when I got married. He’d been involved with some beautiful, worldly women, and I didn’t want to disappoint him.”
The rising dawn revealed the tension on her face. Alex wanted to wipe it away, but he sensed she was struggling to retain her composure.
“The honeymoon went okay. Nothing earth-shattering, but I figured if I tried, it could get better.” She looked out onto the water. “It didn’t. When I think back—” She broke off and gave a heavy sigh.
Alex narrowed his eyes. He’d like five minutes alone with her ex-husband. This was the kind of chore he delegated to his security force, but this time he’d trade a slew of his titles for the opportunity to get the man who’d done this to her. “How do you know your husband wasn’t at fault?”
She met his gaze and shrugged. “Because he was the experienced one.”
“Experienced in what way?” he asked, a hard edge creeping into his voice.
“In the usual way.”
“Katherine, every woman is different. What works with one doesn’t necessarily work with another. It’s the same way for men. A man must discover the hidden desires in his lover.”
“I tried to do that,” she said earnestly. “I read the Kama Sutra. I read How to Drive Your Man Wild in Bed. I tried every trick in the book, and it just didn’t work.”
Al’s patience ran out. “Then you married an idiot. Any man who wouldn’t be delighted with you ‘trying every trick’ on him would have to be insane.”
“We’re not getting anywhere with this discussion.”
“If you would trust me instead of—”
Katherine held up her hand. “Oh, no. You’re not pulling that autocratic stuff on me again. I know what I went through, and you don’t.”
The idea of Katherine being with another man made him feel murderous, yet he couldn’t leave the issue unsettled. The taste of his questions was bitter on his tongue, but he had to ask them. “Did he hurt you physically?”
“No.”
The next question was the toughest. He gritted his teeth, then deliberately relaxed his jaw. “Did you enjoy making love with him?”
“No! How was I supposed to enjoy something that felt so empty and humiliating? I always felt like he was trying to do me a favor.”
He would kill the man. “You were married to the wrong man.”
“How do you know that?”
He stifled the impulse to tell her to trust him and tried another tactic. “I could always offer for you to try your tricks on me.”
“How generous of you,” she retorted. “I think I’ll pass.”
“It’s a fair trade. You’re teaching me to have fun. I could teach you…”
She rolled her eyes. “Teach me the wonders of sex.”
Disliking her flip tone, he caught her chin. “No. You know about sex. What you need is to learn how to enjoy making love.” He raised an eyebrow. “The process of making love.”
He caught her attention with that. Katherine could appreciate the idea of enjoying the process. After all, those had been her exact words to Al.
She looked at his face and tried to see into his mind. The hard sculpted lines told the truth of his will and personality. His hair, longer than when he’d first arrived on Pirate Island, invited a women to look past his dark countenance, to weave her fingers, to hold on. His unflinching gaze could burn steel with its intensity. And Lord knows, she wasn’t made of steel.
He was too arrogant and too proud. She could have hated him for that arrogance and kept her distance, but he’d shown her the secret of his vulnerability. He was so male, so sexy, and he said he wanted her. It made her heart stop to think of it.
It wouldn’t take much for her to give in. But for some reason she couldn’t explain even to herself, the stakes were higher this time. Part of it was that she’d lost a piece of herself in her marriage. Part of it was something else, something deeper.
Katherine gave a quick shake of her head, pulling away. She tried for a lighter note. “Your offer’s very generous, but I think I’ll have to pass.”
His gaze narrowed. He didn’t like being refused. She’d wager he didn’t deal with refusals too often.
His intensity made her nervous. She made a show of reaching for her fishing pole and fussing with it.
“It’s going to happen between us.”
She shivered at his tone. “It doesn’t have to.”
“It will happen, Katherine. And when it does, you’ll beg me to love you again.”
She shook her head. “No. I’ll be embarrassed and humiliated.”
“You’ll burn when I come inside you.”
Katherine suppressed a shudder and swallowed the lump in her throat.
“I’ll find your soft, secret places with my hands, my mouth, with all of me.”
Lord help me. Katherine covered her eyes with one hand. He couldn’t see the rage going on inside her, the way her breasts drew taut at his words, the way she ached between her thighs. For some men this would be bragging. But with Al she sensed it was an oath. She suspected he was capable of all he promised. But was she?
She pushed back her bangs. “You know, Al, I’m only saving you frustration and disappointment.”
His lips played with a grin, but his eyes remained serious. “Then say yes.”
She scowled. He’d deliberately misinterpreted her. “No. Besides, we’ll both be too busy for—” she waved her hand “—that kind of stuff. You’ve got the drama tomorrow night, and I just found out the press is coming.”
His voice dropped an octave. “The press?”
She was puzzled by his grim expression. “Yes, I thought it might draw in some new prospects.”
He looked away, saying nothing. The distance between them had suddenly grown exponentially. A moment later he caught a fish, and she exclaimed over it. “It’s huge, and I didn’t even catch a minnow. I’ll have to hang my head in shame.”
Silence followed as he deftly unhooked it. Then he looked at her. “It’s time to go back.”
Her stomach clenched. She nodded. The warmth in his eyes had turned cool, his manner remote. The easy moments were passed. To her dismay her sense of loss was staggering.
By the following evening she was ready to wring his neck. Swollen with humidity and expectation, the starless cloudy night reflected her edgy mood. “He’s around here somewhere,” she muttered, looking at the crowd filling the beach in anticipation of the pirate drama. “I don’t know where, but I know he’s still here.”
Chad came up behind her. “How do you know he didn’t take a ferry?”
Because the back of my neck tingles as if he’s watching me. Because I still hear that blasted music. Because I don’t want him gone. Katherine shook her head. “I don’t know. I just think he is.”
Chad looked at her skeptically. “We’re supposed to start in ten minutes, Katie. We’ve got two reporters, a crowd and no Raven.”
“I know that, Chad,” she said, irritation seeping through. “Have you got any brilliant suggestions?”
Chad jammed his hands in his pockets. “No. It’s like he disappeared after you two went fishing yesterday.” He gave her a curious glance. “What’d you do to the poor guy, anyway?”
Poor guy! Chad’s question hit a nerve. Katherine had worried that she’d offended Al yesterday. On top of that, dealing with the reporters all day had made her nervous and edgy. “I didn’t do anything to him. How am I supposed to know what’s wrong? He’s not exactly forthcoming.”
“I thought maybe he was more open with you.”
“Well, he’s not,” she said, reminded afresh of how much she didn’t know about Al and how much more he knew about her. “Maybe he’s not as reliable as we thought.”
Chad checked his watch. “Five minutes. I gotta go backstage. I’ll try to come up with something.”
K
atherine forced a smile. “Break a leg.”
“Gonna break his neck,” he muttered as he hurried away.
Fifteen minutes later the drama was under way, and Katherine wasn’t sure if Al had shown up yet. She sent up a hundred prayers.
She inhaled the metallic scent of impending rain. The wind lifting her skirts and her hair echoed a wordless warning. Every muscle in her body was tense. Every nerve was rattled, and her stomach churned. She told herself it was because of the reporters, but part of her knew she wasn’t ready for Al to leave. The knowledge unsettled her more.
There was a long pause when Raven was due to make his entrance.
Katherine held her breath.
Then the spotlight caught Raven with his tight black pants, billowy white shirt, gleaming sword and something new—a black mask. Relief gushed through Katherine. She let out the breath she’d been holding, and the drama continued with near-perfect timing.
This time Katherine looked away when it came time for Al to kiss Suzanne. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she didn’t want to see that again.
Afterward, the performers took their bow. Al seemed to be searching the crowd for someone.
Was it for her? Her heart quickened to an embarrassingly fast rate. Digging her toes into the sand, she brushed the thought aside. He was probably looking for those reporters. So much for her ardent lover.
Fat drops of the promised rain began to fall. The crowd broke apart, with everyone headed for their tents or the nearest shelter.
Dawdling under a floodlight, Katherine couldn’t resist a last glance at him. For one long moment she’d swear he was looking at her. What do you want from me? she wondered. Tension and restraint vibrated from him. Something inside was tearing at him, making him miserable. Couldn’t everyone else see it? Why did she? Why did she care? Why did she want to be the one to soothe him?
Whatever he wanted, she couldn’t give it. The price was too high.
He came to her in the night and woke her with a gentle kiss. Soon he joined her on her bed with the moonlight streaming through the window. Her clothes dissolved beneath his hands, and he caressed her until she was breathless.
Giving in to her wordless need, he entered her, stretching and filling her. Tears came to her eyes. They were one at last, she thought. Now, she knew him intimately. Then Katherine saw that he was wearing a mask on his face. He was a stranger after all. She lifted her hands and tugged, but the mask wouldn’t come off…
Katherine sat straight up in bed. Gasping and disoriented, she looked on either side of her rumpled bed for Al. He wasn’t there.
She rumbled, then clicked on her bedside light. Her window was cracked, just as she’d left it. Her door was closed. For a moment she just sat there, breathing hard, trapped in that window between reality and fantasy. It had been so real. She’d heard his voice, felt his lips.
He had been there. In her arms, against her breasts. Inside her. Between her legs she felt swollen and stretched, as if…
“Oh, no,” she moaned. It couldn’t be.
Another dream. She must be going crazy. She rubbed her arms, her heart hammering against her chest. Her white cotton gown clung to her damp skin, and her hair stuck to the back of her neck. She lifted it away and shivered.
His scent clung to the air, and the music still played in her head. Her breasts tingled with arousal. Her lips burned.
Desperation bubbled to the surface, and a sob escaped. With shaking hands she covered her mouth. She had to get out of here. It didn’t matter that her clock read 2:00 a.m. or that the rain still fell outside her window. She felt trapped, and she had to get out.
Jerking off her gown and pulling on her dress from the night before, Katherine left her bedroom and ran to the beach.
Alex hadn’t gone to sleep, hadn’t even tried. Distracted, he still wore Raven’s shirt and pants. He walked the width of his small bedroom, debating whether he should go ahead and return to Moreno. He’d counted on eluding the press, and it had been a shock to learn they were on Pirate Island by invitation. So, there was the press, his responsibilities to his country, his false identity.
And there was Katherine.
He stiffened, bracing himself against untried emotions rushing through him, threatening to erupt. She made him feel powerful, yet human. How, he wondered, frowning, did she manage it? How could anyone so small affect him so much? Why had such an unworldly woman turned his head? He could never marry her. She was totally unsuitable. Yet he had to possess her. It was becoming an obsession.
The silk mask dangled from the bedpost, mocking him. He swore at it, then crushed it in his hand and threw it out of sight. He was so frustrated, he could have roared.
A click from the front door interrupted his brooding thoughts, and he brushed aside the curtains. He immediately identified the small figure running through the rain. He stood stock-still while his mind raced. He should leave her alone. He should accept her rejection. He should turn his back, blank her out of his mind. He shouldn’t follow her.
Alex had spent his life doing what he should, denying himself. What he wanted for Katherine, though, was more powerful than all his shoulds. Discontent rippled through him, taunting and challenging. He pushed away from the window and followed his needs.
Heedless of the rain, he tracked her to the beach. It was only a few strides before he caught her from behind. She was damp and soft and light. Then she turned into a whirling dervish.
She cried out, fighting. “Stop it! Let me go. Let me go.”
She rammed an elbow into his side, and he swore, tightening his grip. “Hush! It’s me, Alex.”
His voice didn’t calm her. “Let me go, you, you, you—” Her heel connected with his shin.
The little pain fueled his irritation. Patience gone, he flipped her into his arms so that her face was two inches from his, but her arms and legs were safely bound.
She glared at him. “You creep!”
Al frowned. Something was wrong with this picture. He’d imagined her soft and malleable in his arms, not hissing like a she-cat. He opened his mouth, ready to make her take back the insult, but Katherine was just getting started.
“You low-down creep! I was just fine until you came. Get your slimy hands off me.”
Creep was one thing, but slimy? He dumped her on the sand. He heard her muttered curses about his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather. Al stopped listening after that. “Would you care to explain this irrational display of behavior?”
She scrambled to her feet. “Irrational!” She thumped herself on the chest. “I’m not irrational. I didn’t disappear for over twenty-four hours and show up for a performance in a mask, did I?”
Temporarily distracted by the outline of her breasts against her damp dress, he did not respond.
“I didn’t assault you from behind when you were minding your own business taking a walk on the beach.”
He looked straight into her furious eyes. “I didn’t assault you. It’s a strange time to stroll on the beach since it’s the middle of the night and it’s raining.”
“Then go back to bed.”
“I wasn’t in bed. I couldn’t sleep for thinking of you.”
She sucked in a deep breath. Their gazes locked for a full minute. A full minute with the soft drizzle coming down when need and desire fought against fear. A full minute when he didn’t feel lonely because he saw she felt the same way that he did.
Katherine bit her lip and turned away.
His chest went tight. “Wait,” he said. When she still wouldn’t face him, he swallowed his pride. “Please.”
She bowed her head. “I wondered if you’d left.”
She looked fragile and vulnerable. It made him want to hold her. He took a step closer. “I won’t leave without saying goodbye. I swear it.”
She turned then and looked at him curiously. “It was the press, wasn’t it?”
He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t.
“Are you a crimin
al?”
He shook his head.
Her fine brows furrowed in confusion. “Is it something to do with your family?”
He let out a long sigh. “It’s always something to do with my family.”
“Well, I guess I can understand that.”
She couldn’t fathom the half of it, he thought, but she let him take her hand and walk beside her.
“Are you married?” she blurted out after a few steps.
He coughed to cover his amusement. “No.”
“It’s not funny, Al. You know much more about me than I know about you.”
“Okay. I’m the oldest of four children. I’m thirty years old. I graduated from Oxford University. I’m on a monthlong vacation from a—job that’s both draining and rewarding.”
“A monthlong vacation in North Carolina?” she asked skeptically.
“Luck. Pure luck.”
“Where were you born?” she ventured.
“At home,” he sidestepped.
“And where is—”
He put his fingers over her mouth. “There are some answers I can’t give you.” A grim feeling came over him. “Later, but not now.”
“That’s a promise,” Katherine whispered.
“Yes.”
She took a deep breath. “One more question.” She paused. “Are you promised to another woman?”
He thought of the relationship he’d just cut off. He thought, also, of the women his advisers would love to see him marry. “No.”
She was cautious. “You had to think about it.”
He took her other hand and made her face him. “I have neither publicly nor privately promised my love and life to another woman.”
Tension coiled between them. It was always hovering. He saw it in her face, felt it in her grasp. “And now,” he said in a low voice, “answer my question. Why are you out here in the rain?”
Katherine pulled back immediately. “Oh, no.”
“I answered your questions.”
She shook her head. “But this is, oh, this is craziness.”
“We have a bargain,” he reminded her.