The Princess And The Mercenary

by Victoria Paige

  His eyes landed on the girl.

  Brown eyes.

  Aysha.

  Kade shook his head as fragments from his past collided with events of the present.

  Farideh, certain that the boy was okay, turned venomous eyes on Bearded Man. Her face contorted in a vicious snarl as she flew at him just as he got back on his feet, eyes widening at the tigress coming at him. She hit him again and again. “You worthless son of a dog!”

  The man shoved Farideh back but thought twice about striking her, wary of Kade’s presence and the small crowd that was gathering.

  “I told you I’ll get you the money!” Farideh yelled, a trembling hand swiping at her brow. “I can’t believe you’d sell Laila!”

  “I’m not selling her, I’m marrying her off.”

  “To a man of thirty!”

  “He can take care of her.”

  Farideh laughed in derision. “You make me sick. You’d beat your son. He’s already a hundred times the man you are protecting his sister when it should be your job as their father.”

  Bearded Man looked around, clearly embarrassed by a scene where he was outnumbered, his dirty laundry aired to spectators. “What are you all looking at?” he shouted at the crowd. “Nothing to see here.” His face reddened, fists clenching. “They’re my children.”

  “Told you I’m adopting them,” Farideh whisper-yelled. “Give me until the end of the month—”

  “That’s what you said last month” the father sneered. “I need the money now. One million rials. Do you have that, Farideh? That’s how much Laila’s dowry will be.”

  Yara and Farideh exchanged glances. The latter’s expression troubled, embarrassed. Yara’s fingers went around her neck and unlatched her beautiful necklace.

  “Yara, no,” Kade whispered, his chest hurting when he realized what she was about to do. What the hell was going on? How did she even understand what they were talking about?

  “What are you doing?” he growled, grabbing her wrist.

  “You’ll get it back for me.” She clutched it in her palm as if feeling its imprint before opening it for the father to see. Pavé diamonds sparkled around the ruby stone set against brilliant gold.

  Her grandmother’s pendant that brought her true love.

  It didn’t take a jewelry expert to appraise the value of the heirloom.

  The father reached for it. Kade wanted to chop off his arm, but Yara closed her palm again. She gently eased Kade’s hold on her and handed the pendant to the seamstress.

  “Come back tomorrow evening,” Farideh told her brother-in-law. “I’ll have your money, but you will sign those adoption papers and turn over guardianship.”

  “And if you fail to produce the money?”

  “I won’t.”

  When her brother-in-law still looked doubtful, Kade lost patience and dug into his pocket, resisting the urge to throw the cash at the bastard. “Here, this should tide you over.”

  The man looked at the money. “I still want my million rials.”

  Kade crowded him, face and tone full of intimidation. “Listen, you piece of shit. Take this money and get out of here. Now.” His voice was low, so the children wouldn’t hear, but not less threatening. “Or I’ll find you and finish what I started, and no one will be around to stop me.”

  The man’s breath stuttered and he couldn’t meet Kade’s eyes. He grabbed the money, slipping past Kade without even saying goodbye to his children.

  When Kade turned around, the two women and the children were staring at him.

  “What did you tell him?” Yara asked.

  Put the fear of god in him, Kade didn’t say. He gestured with his chin for them to return to the shop, noting surreptitiously a couple of suspicious spectators in the dispersing crowd.

  20

  Farideh, Laila, and the boy Kade now knew was Iddy, walked with them back to the Patrol. He opened the back passenger door, loaded the clothes Yara bought from the seamstress and enough groceries to last them a few days.

  “Here, you can have this back,” Farideh said, offering the pendant to Yara.

  She shook her head. “Keep it for now. We’ll bring you the money tomorrow, but if somehow we’re unable to return, sell it. Get the money to pay off your brother-in-law.”

  Kade looked at Iddy. He was tall and lanky, one of his expressive brown eyes almost swollen shut, his lips were torn, but he still managed a smile. Kade chucked him gently under his chin. “Take care of your aunt and sister. What you did was very brave.” Kade turned to Farideh. “You should be proud of him. He’s what this country needs.”

  Honorable men. Men willing to lead and stand up for the weak.

  “My sister would be so proud of him,” Farideh said, eyes misting. “Thank you, Mr. Spear, for stepping in when you didn’t need to.” She looked at Yara. “Both of you are a blessing. We don’t know how to pay you back.”

  “Pay it forward,” Yara replied, hugging Farideh and the kids.

  At this point of goodbyes, Kade got uncomfortable, so he opened the driver’s door to escape. He caught a glimpse of Laila. She held her brother’s hand and stared at him shyly.

  An odd feeling cramped his chest.

  Holy fuck, he was becoming an emotional son of a bitch.

  He shot the trio a tight smile and started the SUV, waiting for Yara to get inside the vehicle.

  “We made new friends!” Yara said, waving at Farideh and the kids as they pulled away.

  He kept an alert eye on a group of men, chewing khat under the heavy boughs of a tree. He recognized a couple of them from the alley and, at that moment, they were watching them leave.

  A growl rumbled up his throat.

  “What now, grumpy bear?” She was obviously in a good mood.

  “Grumpy … bear?”

  “I mean we just helped two children get away from their awful father, I’d expect you to be in a better mood.”

  “My mood is just fine.” He checked the rearview mirror to see if they were being followed. There was a motorcycle and another pickup behind them.

  Yara, as usual, picked up where his attention was. “Did we mess up our cover? Helping Farideh and the children?”

  “It’s done. I messed up first by intervening.”

  “You did the right thing.”

  “I jeopardized your safety.”

  Yara took his right hand in hers. “And Laila isn’t marrying a man three times her age. Condemned to a life where choices are taken away from her? I think it’s a fair exchange.”

  He tried to pull his hand away, but she held fast. “If you hadn’t stepped in when you did, I’d be questioning my faith in you right now. Before all the stuff went down in Aden, that’s what you told me, right?”

  No matter what happens, have faith in me, Tink.

  “Besides, we’re still in one piece, aren’t we?” she added.

  Kade grunted.

  Yara laughed. “If you expect something more between us, you need to work on your communication skills.”

  A smile tugged at his mouth. He squeezed her hand and stole a glance at her. “Are you saying you’re giving me a second chance?”

  “I’m leaning towards a yes,” she said impishly, letting go of his hand.

  Kade chewed on his bottom lip, still controlling the grin that wanted to break out. “How much of a lean is it?”

  “What?” she laughed out her question.

  “Percentage-wise. How am I doing in my lean toward a second chance?”

  “Oh, eighty percent.”

  He could work with that. It certainly took a load off his mind, knowing he was earning his way back into Yara’s heart. He snorted. Jumping the gun, Spear. Before he could have her heart, he needed to have her trust.

  He made a turn on the road back to Abdul’s house and exhaled in relief when the two vehicles didn’t follow. If the people who were after them—and there were several factions who were—had informants in the town, then he had to come up with a backup plan for
a quick escape.

  Then he remembered something. “Farideh wasn’t surprised when you offered your pendant. Wanna tell me what that was about?”

  “I asked if the dress shops were always that busy and she said there was going to be a mass wedding in two weeks.”

  “Mass wedding?”

  “Yes. People can’t afford to have traditional weddings anymore. It was getting expensive, so this is becoming more common.”

  “And?”

  “Farideh mentioned she was afraid her niece would be forced into marriage because of her father’s debts which were mostly from illegal gambling. Now a local gang is after him to pay up. She needed to come up with the money to pay him off so she could legally be their guardian.”

  “And you simply offered your pendant?”

  “Of course not. She was just telling me why she gave up a secure life in Paris to move here. She was even adamant about refusing our help but, after what happened in the alley, she realized she was out of time.”

  “Yes. We can give her two thousand dollars which would amount to five hundred thousand rials. Would that cover it without selling your necklace?”

  “From what she told me she has more than half.”

  “Good.” He scratched his brow. “But hell, Tink, I wished you consulted me first. I hate that you left your grandma’s pendant.”

  “I just wanted that horrible man away from the kids.”

  “It also sickens me that the money is going to that deadbeat motherfucker.” Certainly reminded him of his stepdad.

  Yara made a disgusted sound and didn’t respond, turning her head to look out the window, as though needing to send that disgust to the other side of the glass pane.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her look back at him. “Did you know one of the NGOs did a study,” she started. “That instead of handing out relief goods, they were thinking it’s better to give people money so they can buy what they really need. In that study, it said to give the money to the woman. She would spend it on basic necessities for the family. The man would spend it on gambling and other useless things.”

  Kade barked a laugh. “Now, that’s simply unfair.”

  “I didn’t make this up! It was a study!”

  He didn’t argue, but continued chuckling.

  “Be honest,” Yara said. “Outside the equipment needed for this mission—because I know you contractors love your weapons, what was the first thing you guys bought?”

  She got him there. Kade scratched his jaw.

  “Well?” she prodded.

  “Three cases of Basil Hayden’s whiskey.”

  “See!”

  “It’s hard to find alcohol in Yemen,” he defended. Harder even to find the good kind.

  “I thought you didn’t drink.”

  “I make it a rule not to drink on the job, but this whiskey is low-proof and doesn’t compromise our effectivity at all.”

  Yara emitted a cute snort. “I rest my case.”

  “Bet the study was put together by women.”

  She smacked him on his arm. “I’ll find it on my laptop and you can wipe that sexy smirk off your face.”

  “Sexy, now, am I?” This time he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

  He liked this.

  This banter.

  Her smile. The way she rolled her eyes at him.

  Just like at that moment. “Gah, you have such an ego!”

  Adorable.

  A force beyond his control compelled him to reach across the console and take her hand in his, linking their fingers, just like she did to his earlier. He went further and kissed the back of her hand. “Not an ego. Just glad you think your man is sexy.”

  “Wait a minute … when did the eighty percent lean translate into you being my man?”

  “I’ll prove it to you once I get you naked and under me.” He shot her a salacious look and winked. Bad timing to remind him and her of the last two times he did have her under him.

  His cock hardened at the memory.

  The taste of her.

  Fucking hell.

  He, casually, as much as humanly possible, released his hold on her hand and gripped the steering wheel.

  “Of all the …” she sputtered. “Might I remind you that you failed to deliver the last two times you had me under you?”

  Kade didn’t answer. The side of the road was looking very tempting to park the SUV and give her a thorough, deep tongue-sucking kiss.

  Maybe more. He imagined her spread out on the back seat with his face smashed between her thighs. His erection pushed against his jeans.

  But … safety first. He checked the rearview mirror. No traffic. He released an effusive breath.

  He willed his hard-on to go down, convincing himself that he was content to wait until she trusted him first. But as soon as those thoughts formed, he knew it was futile as his head swam with the numerous ways he wanted to fuck her.

  “The next time,” he said. “There’ll be no stopping.” His voice roughened. “The next time, I’ll be fucking you so deep and so hard, there’ll be no question I delivered the goods.” He glanced at her. “Got me?”

  Shit, his cock wasn’t going down.

  “Looks like someone worked himself up.” The sweet drawl out of her mouth was like warm, honeyed molasses wrapping around his dick.

  Her fingers stroked teasingly over the bulge in his jeans, the final nail to the coffin of his good intentions.

  Yara Emerson was getting fucked.

  21

  She shouldn’t have tempted the beast.

  The beast being the massive arousal behind Kade’s zipper.

  Yara didn’t remember it being this huge, she clenched her thighs, wondering how it would feel inside her. She was drenched, pulsing heat gushing at the dirty promise he issued tersely a few seconds back.

  “Enough,” he growled, gripping her wrist and moving it away from his crotch. “Not gonna last.”

  He shot her a fierce glare, laced with hard edges, and filled with raw agony. Kade was at his breaking point. Yara was willing to nudge him past it.

  “Are we almost at Abdul’s?” She flicked her wrist out of his grasp and arranged her hands primly on her lap.

  “Five minutes.”

  Yara shifted in her seat. She hated the abaya she had on. It was suffocating in the vehicle, and she wanted to tear it off.

  “Are you wet?” His voice was low and terse.

  “What do you think? If I didn’t have on this abaya, I would have shoved my jeans down so I could touch myself.”

  Kade emitted a strangled sound. “Goddammit.”

  Her lips curved into a devious smile. There was an ache inside her, an itch, and this brooding man beside her was the only one who could give her relief.

  “This is what will happen,” he growled. “The second I park the car, you will get down from the vehicle and walk straight to our room and take off your clothes because the way I’m feeling right now, I’ll be ripping them off you. That’s not gonna help with your clothing situation. Leave your panties on.” His words were measured control. “No dilly-dallying talking to Abdul. I will take care of him. It’ll take me less than a minute to follow you right into the room. It will take even less time than that for me to be balls deep inside you. Got it?”

  “Got it,” she whispered.

  Yara spent the last five minutes of their trip thrumming with anticipation. There was no little voice telling her to wait and fully trust him. No little voice telling her she was jeopardizing the Yemen mission because that was out of her hands. Her body and mind were onboard with giving in to this carnal pull between them, needing to see past the fog of sexual tension and move forward in their relationship. When Kade parked the vehicle in the wooded area beside the house, Yara didn’t need any prodding to step down. She grabbed her purchased clothes from the back as Kade muttered for her to leave the groceries for him to carry.

  She waved to Abdul who was sitting in front of the house and walked
through the open door. The poor man must be confused, but she could feel Kade’s weighted stare on her back and her skin chafed with the weight of her clothes.

  What was it with this man that made her want to strip?

  She entered their bedroom, dropping the plastic bag of pants and shirts on the floor. She flung the abaya on the couch and ripped the scarf from her head. Kicking off her sneakers, she was removing her pants when she heard the door open, close, and click.

  Her back was to the door. She heard the rustle of clothes and could feel his eyes taking in the way she bent and stuck her butt out as she hopped and slipped off the jeans. She straightened, and stood motionless, goose bumps prickling on her skin.

  He approached, she imagined, stalkingly. Heat slammed into her back, his breath ragged against her neck as he inhaled her. Her arms lifted, shirt tossed. Her bra discarded. She was pushed against the rough mud wall, her nipples pebbling against the cool surface. An arm came around her torso, pulling her back, a hand cupping her jaw, turning her head into his kiss, an obscenely wild devouring kiss, full of tongue and biting.

  Just as quickly, the kiss broke, her body spun around and her back hit the wall.

  He nipped her jaw, palmed her breasts, and stepped away. It was the first time she looked at him since he entered the room. With his shirt off, his rangy build, rippling muscles, and sexy tattoos on display, he was a primal specimen oozing testosterone from every pore. His keen gaze pinned her to the wall as he unbuckled his belt, lowering his zipper and boxer briefs. Her eyes dropped to his beautifully veined cock and her mouth turned dry and the pulsing need low in her belly intensified.

  “Take off your panties.”

  Her core spasmed at his guttural order, her eyes snapping back to the hardened face of a man keeping a tight rein on his control.

  She did as she was told and her panties joined the growing pile on the floor.

  He wrapped a condom along his impressive length and prowled back to her. Leaning in, he took his cock in hand and rubbed the head of his shaft against her clit. Her body shuddered, her pussy quivering in delicious anticipation. “You’re going to feel me for days, Tink.” He hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. “Every time you sit, or stand, you’re gonna cross your legs and squeeze them tight because you’ll remember the way I fucked you.”