Royal Ransom

by Susan Kearney

  Hunter set a brisk pace, walking so silently that Tashya felt like an elephant trampling every crisp leaf. Forced to knock aside branches to avoid having them strike her face, she winced with every crackling sound.

  Neve brought up the rear, and Tashya wondered if the nanny was herding them into danger. Had she been an innocent, her mother threatened as she’d claimed?

  With every step, Tashya’s nerves stretched tauter until her muscles ached. Surely they had to arrive at the cabin soon?

  Just when she’d resigned herself that the hike would never end, Hunter stopped, raised his fingers to his lips and pointed through the trees. The structure appeared more shed than cabin. There were no windows in the tin walls. The roof was flat, and she saw no signs of life. No people. Not even a parked vehicle. No electric or phone lines were attached from poles to the structure, which appeared very temporary. She’d bet the royal jewels that whoever owned this acreage had no idea the illegal hideout existed.

  Hunter raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes and took a good five minutes to look over ever detail. Tashya used the opportunity to rest against a tree trunk, and Neve did the same. Tashya would have given anything to know what the nanny was thinking. Had she really escaped from the kidnappers? Or was she part of their plan?

  IT WAS QUIET enough to hear a finch flutter through the trees. Quiet enough to hear bees buzz around the wildflowers. Quiet enough to hear mosquitoes hum hungrily around the bare skin of Hunter’s face, neck and wrists. But he remained still, careful to keep the sunshine from reflecting off the binocular’s lenses and back toward the hut, which didn’t have windows but might very well have peepholes.

  He wished he had time to observe for several hours before he considered the next step. But the children would be frightened, possibly hungry, definitely in danger. The sooner he could find them, release them and return them to Sophia, the better.

  The hut sat in the middle of the clearing. From the raw dirt around the perimeter it was clear that the structure hadn’t been there long enough for grass and weeds to grow. Yet, whoever had built it had carefully considered the location. First and foremost, it was isolated. He doubted the sound of a gunshot would reach town. Dead bodies here might not be discovered for days, weeks, even months.

  Hunter didn’t like leaving Tashya alone with Neve while he checked out the cabin. But what choice did he have except to trust in Tashya’s ability to use the gun if the nanny turned on her? Not one to dwell on the limits of the options open to him, he placed the binoculars back into his duffel.

  As if sensing that he’d come to a decision, Tashya shoved to her feet and approached him. He plucked a leaf from her hair and twirled the stem between his fingers. She raised her eyes to his, and for a moment, he had to fight the urge to swoop down and let his lips claim hers. He would have stopped fighting if Neve hadn’t been watching.

  Instead, leaning toward her, he spoke softly into her ear, close enough to inhale her scent and tuck it into his memories to savor later. “Wait here. I’m going in.”

  “Okay.” She agreed without hesitation, but he thought he saw a flicker of annoyance in her eyes. When he looked again, her expression appeared normal.

  However, he wasn’t totally surprised that when he darted into the clearing and toward the shed, she dashed right behind him. His heart kicked into his throat at the danger she’d placed herself in. In the bright sunlight, out in the open, he knew better than to send her back. Once they reached the hut wall, she’d be safer than if she tried to recross the clearing.

  Damn her. She’d agreed to stay behind without the slightest hesitation, and then she’d done exactly what she pleased. Stubborn woman.

  He flattened himself against the wall, every sense on alert. His keen sense of smell didn’t pick up the scent of unwashed bodies, or even a whiff of shaving cream, cologne or toothpaste. He heard no human noises. No talking, no whispers, no sounds of hurrying feet. Without a window to peek through, he headed straight for the back door.

  Hunching low, he reached for the doorknob. It was unlocked. The door swung open of its own accord.

  Hunter didn’t move a muscle. Beside him, Tashya held perfectly still. Again he strained his hearing, sniffed the air, and closed his eyes to a near squint so his pupils would adjust before he rushed into the dark hut.

  He glanced inside cautiously, and a filament of fiber stretching across the lower part of the doorway caught his eye. A trip wire?

  He pointed to it, and Tashya nodded. However he couldn’t be certain she understood the significance of tripping the wire, so he took a chance and whispered, “If you trip the wire, the entire building could explode. Stay here, Princess.”

  “Okay.”

  “I mean it.”

  “Okay.”

  In case someone waited inside ready to shoot him, Hunter wanted to go in fast and hard. But if there was one trip wire, there could be others. He would have liked to spray the building with bullets. His firepower could easily penetrate the aluminum walls. But suppose the boys were inside? He couldn’t risk using a weapon.

  Hunter could think of no way to minimize the risk of going through the doorway. So he just stepped carefully over the trip wire and hoped for the best.

  It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Food wrappers, empty drink cans and the assorted trash of a hideout littered the hut. However, there was no furniture, no garbage cans, not even a cubbyhole where the boys could be.

  It was empty.

  Chapter Eleven

  After seeing that there was no one in the shed, Hunter focused on the booby-trapped doorway. The simply constructed trip wire could have been devised for a variety of reasons. To take out the prince and princess when they arrived. Or to cover up the crime scene. Or both.

  He shone his flashlight on the wire, following it back to the fuse, igniter and firing device that he immediately recognized as a Russian-manufactured Spitblaster 23-7. Set off by a prearranged frequency. A sound could detonate the explosion. Any sound—like an airplane flying overhead. A scream. A gunshot. Was that why Neve had waited outside? Was she about to issue the sound that would set off an explosion?

  Tashya stepped inside. Did the woman never listen to orders? Without hesitation, Hunter raised a finger to his lips, signaling Tashya to silence. He grabbed her hand, made sure she stepped over the trip wire and yanked her out the door. They both stumbled outside into the bright daylight. Neve was nowhere in sight.

  Hunter’s phone rang.

  “Run. Go. Go. Go.”

  Hand in hand, they made it five steps before the blast behind them tossed both of them into the air. Hunter hit the ground hard, rolled, at the same time searching for Tashya.

  She shouldn’t have followed him.

  He ignored the flaming pieces of metal raining around them. He ignored numerous cuts and bruises. He ignored the heat and smoke. He had to get to her. She had to be okay.

  This was his fault. As he crawled to where she lay on her side, unmoving, fear grabbed his gut. She faced away from him, silent and still. In the heat of the flames, he couldn’t take time to check her breathing. Grabbing her up into his arms, he lifted her, carried her away from the smoke and gently laid her down at the edge of the forest.

  Her face was pale beneath the grime. A cut on her forehead bled freely. All his years of training had come down to one stupid decision. He should have sent her back.

  About to perform CPR, he leaned close. When she opened her beautiful blue eyes, clouded with confusion, and stared into his, relief eradicated some of his fear.

  She coughed, then took a deep breath but didn’t try to move. “What happened?”

  “My cell phone ringer triggered an explosion.”

  “Explosion?” She turned her head and looked at the flaming hulk of a hut. “We were in there?” She sat up, her eyes growing wide with terror. “The boys…”

  “Weren’t there,” he assured her.

  “Thank God.”

  “You were
n’t supposed to be there, either.” He frowned at her. “I told you to stay back but—”

  “I didn’t listen,” she finished. “I remember following you inside.” She frowned. “Then it all gets kind of hazy.”

  “Short-term memory loss is common with a concussion. Let’s hope that’s all you suffered.” He examined her limbs and torso, but saw no sign of injury. “Are you hurt?”

  “My finger.” She held up the dirty bandage that protected her broken nail. “But I already did that, right?”

  “Yes. Lie still for a few minutes. It’s normal to feel dazed after an explosion.”

  “You seem fine.”

  He stood to fetch his duffel bag and withdrew his canteen. “I have a hard head.”

  “No kidding.”

  He unscrewed the cap, lifted her head and held the canteen to her lips. “Small sips.”

  She swallowed several times then pushed the canteen toward him. He took several deep gulps, letting the cool water wash away the smoke and fear he’d swallowed.

  Tashya peered around the clearing. “Where’s Neve?”

  “I haven’t seen her since we entered the hut.”

  “Maybe she ran for help after the explosion,” Tashya suggested.

  “Maybe.” Or maybe she’d taken the opportunity to flee back to the kidnappers. Or had she simply remained behind in the woods because the prince had given her an order?

  Hunter’s phone rang again.

  He didn’t immediately answer it. “It’s probably the kidnapper calling to find out if we survived the explosion.”

  The phone kept ringing.

  Tashya clutched his wrist. “If they think we are dead they may not have a reason to keep Dimitri and Nikita alive. Answer it.”

  Her thinking had quickly cleared. Her resolve to save her little brothers hadn’t wavered.

  The phone rang a third time.

  Hunter hesitated, testing her determination. “The boys may not still be alive.”

  “Answer the damn phone,” Tashya demanded.

  Hunter did as she asked. “Hello.”

  “It took you long enough.” The kidnapper’s distorted voice conveyed anger.

  Hunter used Alex’s voice to make his demand. “We’re going back to the palace right now unless I speak to Dimitri and Nikita.”

  “No.”

  Hunter clicked off the phone.

  Tashya rose to her feet, her eyes furious. “What did you just do?”

  “They’ll call back,” Hunter told her, hoping he’d made the correct decision.

  “Suppose they don’t? Suppose they never call again? Suppose we never see Nikita and…”

  Hunter tried to gather her into his arms, but she planted her palms on his chest and pushed backward, clearly still furious with him. “You have no right to make unilateral life-and-death decisions.”

  “Yes I do.”

  “It’s my family.”

  “And this is my job. I’m very good at it, so let me do what I do best. Okay, Princess?”

  Before she could answer, the phone rang again. Hunter raised an eyebrow. He waited until it rang a third time before he replied. “Dimitri?”

  “I’ll put him on,” the kidnapper agreed.

  Hunter heard several clicks, as if the call was being relayed, which made him think that the kidnapper on the phone was in a different location from where the boys were being held.

  “Uncle Alex?”

  “Are you and your brother hurt?”

  “We want to go home.”

  “Can you take care of Nikita and be brave just a little longer?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Hunter’s heart went out to the five-year-old, who seemed to be holding up remarkably well. He hadn’t been crying. He hadn’t sounded hysterical.

  Hunter expected the kidnapper to make an immediate demand. But the line went dead.

  “What happened?” Tashya asked him.

  “I suspect the kidnappers are having communication difficulties.”

  Tashya’s face looked hopeful despite the tears brimming in her eyes. “How did the boys sound?”

  “Alive.”

  At his response, Tashya burst into tears. Not tiny delicate tears, but giant tears that made her eyes go red. Without a second thought he gathered her into his arms, smoothed back her hair and simply lent her his shoulder to cry on.

  He said nothing. Just held her and rocked her gently, knowing she needed to release the pent-up stress. The disappointment of not finding the boys, the explosion, then Neve’s mysterious disappearance were simply too much for her to endure.

  So he held her, giving her the opportunity to react like an ordinary woman under huge pressures instead of as a princess who never felt free to show her emotions. He’d occasionally comforted his sisters, and tears didn’t unnerve him the way they did some men.

  However, holding Tashya so closely was causing his body to react in inappropriate ways. In another moment she would have to notice his erection, and he tried to pull away, but she clutched him so tightly that he couldn’t separate his hips from hers.

  She sniffled. “I’m…s-sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I can’t…seem to stop crying and…I’m making a mess of your shirt.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I must look a mess.” She sniffled again. Then stiffened, obviously realizing how she’d affected him.

  He expected her to pull back. She didn’t. She simply wrapped her arms around him and snuggled her head under his chin and against his chest. While he realized Neve could pop out of the woods and into the clearing at any time, the nanny wouldn’t think it too odd to see the prince cradling his sister while she cried.

  However, if Neve returned and noticed the swelling of part of his lower anatomy, she might have second thoughts about Alex’s identity. But Hunter didn’t have the heart to pull away while he could give Tashya comfort. The princess had been so brave, waiting until the immediate danger had passed before bursting into tears. He knew his statement that the boys were alive had been merely the catalyst for the release of her restrained emotions.

  Hunter wished he could take away her pain, and with his wish came the realization that he’d fallen in love with Princess Tashya.

  He loved her.

  He should have seen it coming when he’d started thinking of her as his woman. He should have known how he felt when he’d had so much difficulty fighting his own intense reactions to her. Other women and other missions paled in comparison to this one. Tashya was special. Unique. Complicated. He should have known that fighting against wanting her wouldn’t have been so difficult if he hadn’t been battling the strongest of emotions.

  He loved her.

  That was why his pulse went bonkers and his thoughts raced uncontrollably whenever she placed herself in danger. That was why he couldn’t keep his mind squarely on his mission.

  He loved her.

  And as he held her crying in his arms, he experienced a tenderness he’d never known before. What the hell was he going to do with these feelings? Feelings that seemed to deepen with every moment he spent with her.

  Why couldn’t he just lust after her body? Why couldn’t he think of her as a career woman who would enjoy a fling? Why couldn’t he just take her to bed, make wild, wonderful love and leave the princess and her country behind as a pleasant memory? Why did he have to go and fall for a woman he could never have?

  Taking civilians with him on his missions wasn’t an option, and once he finished in Vashmira and moved on to the Cobra assignment, he couldn’t even phone or write a letter. For the safety of both of them, he’d have to cut all contact between them. He knew the rules, understood the game, and never before had it bothered him.

  He almost groaned out loud. He’d fallen in love with a real live princess who might not be alive much longer if he didn’t pull himself together. He was on a dangerous mission, he repeated to himself like a litany. Lives were at stake. Not just his and hers, but h
er little brothers, too.

  He had to stay focused. In one sense, his head had never felt so clear. Admitting his feelings cleared up a lot of his confusing reactions. At least he now understood why his pants were tight enough to make him grit his teeth from the ache. For once, he was glad Alex wore no underclothes. More restrictions might have cut off his circulation.

  Hunter knew he could find release and make Tashya forget her troubles for a while. Perhaps they both deserved a little pleasure after all they’d been through. But Hunter was no longer the man he’d been before coming to Vashmira. He could no longer live for the moment with no thought for tomorrow, not with the feelings he harbored for her. Tashya was not the kind of woman he could make love to and then say thanks for the memories. She deserved better.

  Hell, he deserved better.

  He tried to pull back, but she refused to release him. He spoke gently and firmly. “Let me go, Princess.”

  She sniffled, stepped back and nodded. But she didn’t look at him. “You have any tissues in that duffel bag?”

  He left her and retrieved a piece of gauze from the first-aid kit. “Best I could do.”

  She blew her nose noisily into the gauze, wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and slumped to the ground. “Sorry about that.”

  “About what?”

  “Crying all over you. I don’t know what got into me. I’m not usually so…”

  “Human?” he teased.

  She still refused to look at him. “I swore to myself that the next time that I flung myself at you, I’d be irresistible. Not a crybaby with a runny nose.”

  Her self-disgust made him smile. “Maybe I’m attracted to runny-nosed princesses with weepy eyes.”

  “Well—” she considered the bulge in his crotch without any embarrassment “—you’re certainly attracted to something about me. Or is it just that you haven’t been with a woman in a long time?”

  Her frankness gave him the opening he needed to tell her his feelings, but now was not the time. They’d already been here too long—although he doubted the kidnappers would immediately try for a second hit. Their enemy didn’t seem too sophisticated, which was a good thing with the way Tashya kept him half distracted.