Sara...oh, Sara, how am I going to live without you? When she reached for the shower button he stayed her hand while the flow of water washed away the grit suddenly filling his eyes at the thought of losing her.
“I will never stop wanting you,” he said later, as he wrapped her in a huge, soft towel. Pressing its fluffy folds against her skin he dabbed her dry, taking his time to memorize every part of her beautiful, wanton body.
“And you will fill all my fantasies until the end of time.”
When she whispered that, he felt strips tear away from his heart, leaving it raw and irreparable.
Sara tugged herself from his grasp. “I must get ready for the taxi. It’ll be here any minute.”
I must be mad, she thought, walking out on a man who says he loves me, and makes no secret of the fact I’m at the centre of his universe. “I’ll never endure a long good-bye, so I’ll go down to the foyer and wait on my own. I don’t want you hanging around in a public place. Now I know who you are, I’m afraid other people will discover your secret too. If that happens, you might not be safe here for much longer, Leo.”
“That’s not what matters. All I care about is you, my love.”
His gruff reply was another direct hit on Sara’s heart. When she arrived at the Paradise Hotel, her heart and soul had been too battered to risk giving any man—even Leo—the excuse to start ordering her life for her. She would remember him as a kind and sensitive lover. She wanted to believe he wouldn’t have tried to take over her life. As long as she was in control, no man could ever hurt her again. Not even if that man was Leo.
“I believe you.” How many times would she have to say those words before she could accept them as true? “That’s why I have to get out of the picture and leave you free to concentrate on your life in Kharova.”
She checked her watch again. “My plane leaves at three. The taxi should have arrived by now. I wonder where it’s got to.” She tapped the numbers of the taxi firm into her phone, but the sight of Leo pulling on his clothes was too much of a distraction. She was only half listening to the booking clerk, but the news was bad enough. “They don’t know what’s happened to it, and there’s no time to get another car out here from the depot.” She frowned. “I hope he’s okay.”
“Give me the taxi firm’s number, and I’ll check up on him again for you once I’ve seen you onto your flight.” Tousled and barefoot, Leo padded around the room searching for his keys and the socks he had scattered on their way to bed. He looked so normal it was impossible to imagine he was the same man who could turn into an aloof monarch if his superiority was challenged.
“Are you offering to give me a lift?”
“It’ll mean we have more time together. Every moment with you will give me a million memories.”
“What about your bodyguard? I thought you’d given him the day off.”
“I’m sure he can look after himself until I get back.”
“You can’t abandon your security! They’re supposed to keep you safe!” she said, but the thought of making their time together last a little bit longer was a powerful argument.
“It’ll be fine for an hour or so,” he said. “Trust me.”
They walked down the stairs in silence. Their minds were too full to speak. Leo tried to make conversation, but Sara couldn’t trust herself to join in. She had to get away, but wanted to take him with her, to somewhere safe where the rest of the world would never find them.
Leo gave the security guard a nod as he guided his sleek blue car through the hotel’s gates. Then he tensed, alert to a shape heading down the open road toward them.
“That must be your taxi trying to make up for lost time. Do you want me to stop him so he hasn’t had a wasted journey?” he said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sara muttered, too sad to care. Something wasn’t quite right about the way it was taking such a direct line along the narrow country lane, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to bother. “I left the fare and a decent tip with your bodyguard. The driver won’t miss out.”
“I love the way you’ve pinned your hair today. Almost as much as I love you.” He revved the engine.
She glowed at the compliment, but shrugged it off. “If I’m going to be whisked along in this babe-magnet of yours, I don’t want my hair getting all tangled. And you’d better watch what that maniac in the taxi is doing rather than look at me, Leo Gregoryan.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll wait for him to turn in here before I pull out—”
He never finished. The taxi didn’t intend pulling into the grounds of the Paradise Hotel. It headed straight for them, like a guided missile. Leo stamped on the accelerator, throwing the car forward in a desperate attempt to dodge out of the way. As the vehicle plowed into the side of their vehicle, Sara recognized the driver.
It was the man who had picked up Krisia’s organizer from the terrace.
In a moment of total stillness everything went black. Sara couldn’t think where she was, and why day had turned into night. Then any number of alarms burst into life, and she found herself lying on the hard tarmac. The rich upholstery of Leo’s car lay fragmented around her. A vibration beneath her body brought her wading back to full consciousness, or as close to it as she could get. She realized the sensation was the pounding beat of running feet, and called, “Leo!”
The cloud of dust filling her lungs muffled her voice. She cried out, reaching for the hand that had been holding hers just minutes before. All the terror she felt when her own car went off the road rushed back, but this time there had been no lucky escape. She had woken to a reality as dark as her nightmares. Sara curled into a protective ball. Pain circled like a shark, haunting the shadows surrounding her. She fought the darkness, but it was too powerful. The next wave sucked her under. She closed her eyes, and with one last word almost slipped into unconsciousness. “Leo...”
The air was thick; she could hardly breathe. Fingers made contact with her neck. She forced her eyes open again. “Leo! Oh, thank God you’re alive!”
He was covered in dust and streaked with blood. “What happened? What happened to you?”
“Shhh, my love. Don’t try to speak.”
“But your face!” She tried to wipe it clean with the back of her hand
“I’m fine,” he said, his voice muffled as he caught her wrist. Frowning at his watch, he concentrated on her fluttering pulse.
“My ears are full of cotton wool.” She shook her head, but the feeling wouldn’t go away.
“That taxi was aimed straight at us. I must have been the target. Luckily my car’s modified to withstand most kinds of attack. The rescue services are on their way. We’ll get you to hospital.”
He sounded calm, but for the first time since they met, she saw uncertainty in his eyes. “Leo, listen...there’s something I’ve got to tell you.”
He touched her lips with one finger. “Not now. This is all my fault, Sara. I am so sorry. I knew getting close to you would put your life in danger. That’s why I tried to resist, but it was impossible.” He spoke in an undertone.
She had to fight to hear what he was saying, and she was frightened by what it might mean. Things must be bad for her. That settled it. She couldn’t die without telling him the truth. “I don’t care about the danger. All I want is you.” She hesitated, then as he stroked her hair back from her brow she felt a surge of certainty. “Forever.”
He froze. “Are you sure?”
She scrubbed at her face with one fist. Her head ached and her ears were still fuzzy, and she felt so tired. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and go to sleep.
He caught her hand and pulled it away. “Stop it. Sara, stay awake. Tell me again.”
“Want you forever...but your duty…Kharova...”
“To hell with duty! Sara, you have to know I won’t abandon you. Not now, not ever! This”—he gestured to the twisted wreckage beside them—“this is the reason why we had to part. I never wanted to inflict it on you!”
“That does it. I’m never leaving you again. Not for a second,” he whispered, and gave her a kiss to cushion her against the sirens, and sudden confusion of voices and people milling around them.
“I’ve got such a pain in my shoulder,” she grumbled as the crash team lifted her onto a gurney.
“I’ve got the perfect cure for that. If a kiss can waken a fairytale princess I’m sure I can use one to distract my own leading lady.”
“Is that what the doctor ordered?” She smiled, hoping it was.
“Yes. And I’ll keep kissing you all the way to the hospital.”
“I thought only next of kin could travel in ambulances.”
“I’m sure I can persuade them to let me in on a technicality.”
“You mean you’re going to pull rank as King of Kharova?” She tried to look scornful, but the effort was too much. As a medic found a vein to put in a line, she drifted away.
Leo stared out the window. The hospital provided everything a king might need and more, from TV to champagne, but they might as well not have bothered. All he could think about was Sara. From the moment his eldest brother died, Leo had kept his mind trained on one thing. “Trained” was the right word. Putting Kharova before everything else wasn’t an instinctive duty. Other people spent their lives trying to get out of uncomfortable situations. Loyalty always pulled Leo in the opposite direction. Instead of finishing his medical training and working to save lives, he’d taken up a role that meant living in the shadow of danger for the rest of his life. He could have stood that. It was the threat to those around him he couldn’t stomach. Duty had brought him a long way, and this was how it repaid him.
Sara was still in surgery.
The events of that day had brought Leo to the end of the line. Weighed against the life of the woman he loved, generations of tradition looked as light as feathers.
Reaching for his mobile, he stabbed out a number and paced up and down the room while the phone connected. “Leo? They said you’re not badly hurt. Is that true?” Athan’s worried voice answered.
“I’ll survive. What’s the latest? Have you found out any more about who did it?”
“The driver? Yes. His body was pretty well smashed up. He hadn’t bothered with a seatbelt, and there was no airbag. Your bodyguard found his wallet. Turns out he was a clansman of Mihail with more money than sense, trying to impress the rebels.”
“Mihail—so this is his doing?” he groaned.
“Hold on, Leo. I haven’t finished. The guy was a loose cannon, acting on his own because no one else trusted him. I’ve been on to Mihail, and I’m convinced he didn’t know anything about this.’
“Do you believe him?”
“When I told him who it was, he was incandescent. I’ve known Mihail since school, don’t forget, and he can’t fake innocence. He agreed with me. An attack like this brings shame on our whole country,” Athan said. “Right now, I’d say Mihail feels as much horror over what happened to you, as anyone else in our country does.”
Leo felt some of the tension in his body ease. “That’s good, but can Mihail deflect all the lunatics who want to make names for themselves?”
“No, of course not. That’s why you have bodyguards. Even then, they can’t stop the determined nutcase.”
“So that’s my life from now on? Waiting for the next maniac to have a go at me?”
“You’ve always known that, Leo. What’s the matter?” Athan sounded concerned. “I’ve never known you to be scared of anything before.”
“I’m not scared…not for myself. You know me better than that. But I won’t allow people I love to be put through hell like this.”
“Worry about that when it happens. It’s not as if you’ve got a family yet.”
Leo hesitated. “Not yet, no.”
“Ah...Krisia mentioned you’re interested in a new piece of crackling. That was the woman in the car with you, was it?”
“Don’t believe everything Krisia says. She’s had the knives out for Sara ever since they first met.”
“Actually, Krisia’s cooled about that. I get the impression she thinks you could do worse. At a pinch.”
Leo relaxed even more. Bringing Sara into the conversation was helping him to reach a decision. It was one he’d never dreamed he would make. “That’s a backhanded compliment, but better than nothing I suppose.” He felt calm enough to risk a joke. “You and Krisia getting on all right, are you?”
“We’ll drive each other mad, but I’ve got to admit she’s very good at her job. You can’t have her back, if that’s what you’re angling for.”
“No, she’s better off where she is. But listen—I want to ask you something. Something important, so I need you to think hard about it, and not rush into anything.”
“I’m listening.” Athan’s reply was guarded.
“What if I didn’t want to be king?”
“You can’t not be king.” Athan sounded puzzled. “You’re the heir. It’s like saying you want to give up breathing.”
“Of course it isn’t, and there are far more important things in life than titles and traditions. I wanted to change a lot of those traditions anyway, so why not start with this one? I’m turning down the job.
Athan’s voice was barely a whisper. “Leo? You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. If I was alone in the world, I’d buckle down and get on with it, but I’ve got Sara to consider now. Why can’t you take my place on the throne? We both know you’d make a better king than I would, and you’ve got no intention of falling in love.”
“Too right!” Athan snorted.
“Also, Mihail likes you more than he likes me.”
“Dislikes me less than he loathes you, you mean.”
“Whatever. He’s less likely to cause trouble if you’re king. You could even marry into his clan. You suggested it to me, and I know you don’t have a problem with purely political liaisons. That way, everyone would be happy,” Leo said, and heard Athan hum over the idea.
“The traditionalists would kick.”
“There’ll always be some people ready to make a fuss, whatever happens. While I’m king they’ll be vocal about it, which encourages rebellion. If you’re king, anyone who disagrees with what you say or do will have to either forget it or fight, because that’s the way you work, Athan. I’m not like that. I want everyone to be happy, all the time. That’s not possible. “
“So…if I did agree to become king,” his brother said, with a cautious show of interest in the idea, “what would be left for you to do?”
“Whatever you, as the new King of Kharova, want. As long as my future wife and children are never at risk.”
There was a long silence. So much depended on Athan’s reaction. Whatever happened, Leo was determined to give up the crown, but he wanted the transition to be as painless as possible.
“All right,” Athan said at last. “If you do decide to abdicate, I’ll try to be as good a king as you would have been.”
When Sara awoke, Leo was sitting beside her. For long moments she let herself revel in his smile. It was enough to know he was safe.
“Did you have to bully the emergency services into giving you a lift in the ambulance?” she said before spotting the blue sling cradling his left arm.
“No. A busted collarbone won me the sympathy vote.”
She gave an anguished cry. “Oh, Leo—you must be in agony!”
“I’ll heal. I’m more concerned about you. How do you feel? Shall I call a nurse?”
She shook her head. “You’re all I need.”
“And to think... I might have lost you.”
She went pale, and Leo grabbed her hand to reassure her. “I mean, I was almost too slow to stop you leaving me.”
“Now you’re worrying me!”
He lifted h
er hand to his lips and kissed each finger as she curled them around his.
“They’ve had to pin your shoulder, and you’ve got a few nasty bumps and bruises, but you’ll be fine. They’ll be keeping you in for a few days, so I’ve made sure you’ve got the best room in the house.” He smiled at her. “That makes you my captive audience. I let you slip through my fingers once, Sara. That’s not going to happen again.”
“Oh...but we’ve been through all this, Leo. As King of Kharova, you can’t marry a commoner like me, and I won’t settle for anything less than marriage. That’s the end of it.”
“No, it isn’t. Our stupid argument has got to stop. If you hadn’t wanted to leave me, you wouldn’t have been traveling in my car.”
Sara wasn’t letting him get away with that. “Please don’t try and twist everything I do and say against me.”
“You didn’t let me finish. Your life was saved by the security systems that surround me, but they’re only necessary in the first place because of my job.”
“It’s not a job. You were born to rule.”
“That’s the whole point—I wasn’t. My brother Zacari was!” Letting go of her he pushed his hand through his hair in exasperation. “He was trained for the role from birth. Succeeding to the throne was the last thing I expected. I wasn’t trained for it. I never wanted to be king.”
Sara hesitated before answering back.
“You’ll change.”
“I came to the throne by accident.” His voice was rough and hesitant.
“And I never wanted to fall in love again...until I met you. That was an accident too.” She smiled. “It makes quite a change to be ruled by fate for once.”
“Sara? Are you speaking for both of us?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Am I?”
He jerked his head in the smallest nod. Taking her good hand, he leaned forward until his brow was touching hers. It felt so natural and wonderful that tears sprang into her eyes.
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