The Persuasion

by Iris Johansen

“Have you?” His voice was thick, dark, sensuous. “I haven’t done fine without you, Jane. I need you.” His fingers were suddenly touching the hair at her nape, rubbing, caressing the sensitive area. “Don’t go in there. Come with me. I can make you need me, too.”

  Melting heat. Tingling electricity. She couldn’t breathe. Don’t look at him. She had to get away from him.

  No, stand your ground. She couldn’t keep running away. She couldn’t let him do this to her. “I’m sure you could, if I let you.” She kept her voice steady. Then she deliberately turned to face him. “Sex is terrific and you know all the tricks, Caleb. It’s really not fair that the talent you have lets you also manipulate the mind and imagination. You can make me pretty dizzy.” She moistened her lips. “But it’s not enough for me. I tried it before and I need more than you can give.”

  She saw a flicker on his face that might have been hurt. Then it was gone and he was smiling mockingly. “No, you don’t.” His voice was soft, his dark eyes glittering. “You haven’t even touched what I can give you yet. Because I never used anything connected to that talent from the moment you came to my bed. I made you a promise I wouldn’t go down that road and I kept it. I was actually trying to be what you call normal, but I guess I couldn’t pull it off.” His fingers were touching her throat and the skin was burning, her breasts tautening. “Do you feel that? I can make every part of your body come more alive than you’ve ever known.” He reached out and touched her nipple. She inhaled sharply. “Feel the throbbing? Feel the heat? Feel the flow? You gave up on me too soon. Isn’t this enough to content you until I find a way to work this out for us?” He rubbed back and forth over her breast, his fingers delicately plucking.

  The heat…

  The swelling…

  The muscles of her stomach were clenching…

  Her entire body was pulsing…

  The sensation was incredible, and she instinctively moved catlike against him.

  “See?” he whispered. “We can do this, Jane. What we had before was only a beginning. Maybe I handled it wrong. I’ll take you in another direction. Just give me a chance. I can make it happen.”

  He probably could, she thought dazedly. Her body was ready for him after only these short seconds. But how would she feel afterward? Caught in that same whirlpool of feeling she’d fled all those months ago?

  She wouldn’t know, because she couldn’t let it happen. She took a deep breath. Then she pushed him away and took a step back. She was shaking, she couldn’t get her breath. “Go away, Caleb.” She was fumbling to open the door. “You’re wrong. We’re wrong for each other. How could I trust you when I don’t even know who you are? It’s too late.”

  “The hell it is.” His eyes were narrowed, his lips tight. “Okay.” He drew a deep breath. “Get the hell inside before I change my mind. I don’t want to blow it. Everything’s crazy right now. I knew I’d have to take a step back until we could find out what was happening at MacDuff’s Run, but it’s only a step back. Just realize I’m not letting you go.” He turned away. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Jane.” He was striding back down the hall toward the elevator.

  She watched him get in the elevator. She was still shaking, and she hoped everyone would be asleep when she went inside the apartment. She didn’t need Eve to know how vulnerable she was at this moment.

  Maybe not so vulnerable.

  She had made Caleb take no for an answer.

  When she’d only wanted to say yes…

  * * *

  “Are you still mad, Jane?” Michael whispered.

  She turned over in bed and gazed at him standing in the doorway of her bedroom, silhouetted against the light of the hall. “For heaven’s sake, it’s one thirty in the morning. I’ve just gotten to bed, Michael. Did you stay up just to ask me that?”

  “Yes.” He padded barefoot across the room and plopped down on the foot of her bed. “You said to tell Mom and Dad not to wait up. You didn’t say anything about me.” He was wearing his blue-and-white-striped pajamas, but he sounded as wide-awake and alert as he had this morning when she’d opened her eyes and found him sitting beside her sleeping bag. “And since you just got to bed, I knew you wouldn’t be asleep. I figured it would be okay. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t still angry. That way we’d both sleep better.”

  “I’d sleep better if I knew you weren’t going to pull this kind of stuff again,” she said dryly.

  “I’ll try, but it’s hard to promise. It just kind of happens when I get worried.” He added gravely, “I was worried today, Jane. I wanted to do something.”

  And she couldn’t ignore the soberness of his voice. “Why, Michael?”

  “I just woke up scared and I didn’t know why. I thought something had happened to you, but I saw you were still asleep.” He bit his lower lip as he looked down at the sheet. “But it didn’t matter, it was still about you. So I started to think about ways to make sure you stayed safe.”

  “Caleb.”

  He nodded. “But it didn’t work out like I thought. He shouldn’t have taken you to that place. It gave me a bad feeling.” He raised his head and looked at her. “Did you have a bad feeling when you were there?”

  What could she say? She wasn’t about to tell him why she’d consented to go to MacDuff’s Run. “Yes. But it wasn’t because I wasn’t safe. I wasn’t alone or frightened.”

  “No, you weren’t alone.” He was silent a moment. “Someone was there.”

  She inhaled sharply as a chill iced through her. His meaning was unmistakable. “My, how spooky you sound. If there was, he wasn’t close enough to make me afraid. And you just had a feeling. It could have been imagination. Right?”

  Another silence. “No, he wasn’t close.”

  “And it might have been imagination?” she repeated.

  He nodded. “I guess so. But it worried me.”

  And the fact that he’d sensed someone close, threatening, worried Jane. She wanted to dismiss it from her mind, but she knew Michael too well. Just because it was weird and mysterious didn’t mean there wasn’t some basis to his words.

  “And that means I’m not going to get my promise from you,” she said ruefully as she leaned forward and touched his cheek with her fingers. “Then I can’t promise not to get angry with you again. You can’t keep doing this.”

  “But you’re not mad now?”

  How could she be? He was part fey, part boy, all wonder. She’d have to fight every day to maintain any kind of anger against him. “Not at the moment. But don’t get cocky. I meant what I said.”

  “I won’t.” He jumped to his feet, dived forward, and gave her a bear hug. “I’ll try. I really will. Good night, Jane.” Then he was running toward the door. “I’ll think of something really fun for us to do tomorrow. See you in the morning.” He skidded to a stop. “Is Caleb going to be here?”

  “No, he has something else to do.” She added quickly, “And don’t call him after you go to bed.”

  “I won’t.” He was frowning thoughtfully. “I think maybe what he has to do is really important stuff…I’ll talk to him later.”

  The door closed behind him.

  She settled down more comfortably and pulled the sheets higher. She still felt a little chilled.

  Someone was there.

  * * *

  “Where are you?” Caleb asked Dimak Palik when he answered his call. “Tell me you’re not in Russia again.”

  “I wish I was,” Palik said sourly. “I like the Russians. My jobs for them are much simpler than for you, Caleb. Just in and out, gather the information and pick up my cash. With you I need hazard pay.”

  “You’re paid well. I just demand my due.” He repeated, “Where are you?”

  “Greece.” He sighed. “Where am I going?”

  “Italy. Mantua. Right away. I’m heading for the airport now. I’ll meet you at the San Girano Hotel. It’s good you’re fairly close. You’ll be able to work on getting me what I need before I get there.�
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  “And you’ll expect me to have the entire package to give you by the next day.”

  “Maybe. At least the initial information.” He paused. “There is an urgency this time.”

  “Always.” He was silent a moment, and Caleb could almost hear the clicking of his thought processes. “Italy. It’s not one of your damn hunts?”

  “Not of the usual type.”

  “None of them are usual,” Palik remarked. “You go on hunts for armies, governments, police, personal family vendettas, or just because you’ve found someone who particularly deserves to be killed. Why is this one different?”

  “Jane MacGuire might be involved in the fallout.”

  “Shit. Who was stupid enough to do that to you?”

  “That’s what you’re going to find out. I’m going to send you a current photo of her taken in Mantua. I need to know when it was taken and who did it. She was probably stalked in the hotel itself, and some of the hotel staff might have noticed her being photographed. If you get even a nibble, check all the security cameras and follow through on it. I need a name. Use bribery or force but get me the answer.”

  “I’ll use bribery. I’ll call you to instigate the force. You’re infinitely better at it than I am. Anything else?”

  “Fiero Village. Contact the people you’ve hired to monitor it. I have to know if there’s been any change in status.”

  “Fiero?” Palik gave a low whistle. “I would have been told. You’ve made that a top priority.”

  “Just check it. Any change, no matter how small. Is there any problem with my sister’s surveillance?”

  “You would have known about it if there had been. I received a report two days ago.”

  “Check it again.”

  “I’ll contact Haverty. But I don’t think that—”

  “Don’t think,” Caleb said harshly. “Just get me answers fast. I want to get back here in the next two days.”

  “You’ll have them,” Palik said. “And you’ll pay handsomely for them. You’ll remember that speed is always expensive.”

  “How could I forget?” he said dryly. “You’re always so willing to remind me.” He cut the connection.

  * * *

  Heathrow Airport

  London

  “It’s been a fantastic two days.” Eve had to clear her throat as she gave Jane a hug while waiting to follow Joe through security. “But I’m tired of not having you at home. This globe-trotting has got to stop. Georgia does have some beautiful areas for you to paint, too.”

  “I know. But you’re the one who ended up in Africa this time,” Jane said. “And it will only be a couple of weeks before you come back through here.”

  Eve made a face. “And I hope that two weeks won’t stretch out any longer. We’re going direct from the airport to the royal palace for the inauguration of the interim president, and it might be a day or two before I can get back to work. We’d skip it, but he’s a good man trying to keep that country afloat.” Eve gave her another hug. “But relationships and families have to be kept afloat, too. Start planning on ways we can do that, and let it start in Atlanta. Think about it. Okay?”

  “I always do.” She blinked back tears as she watched Eve and Joe start through security. Eve was right: It had been such a good two days that she’d managed to almost forget both Caleb and that visit to MacDuff’s Run that had been so unsettling.

  Almost.

  “I wish they’d been able to stay longer, Jane.” Michael’s wistful gaze was following her own. “There never seems to be anything to worry about when they’re around, does there?”

  Jane didn’t like the sound of that. Michael had told her he’d been worried and had a bad feeling that night she’d come back to the apartment. The last thing she wanted was to have him feel depressed or anxious during these last two weeks he was under her care. She was having enough problems keeping her own attitude positive. “That’s because they’re your mom and dad. That’s how you’re supposed to feel. But now we’re on our own again, and we’ll get along fine.” She smiled down at him. “Ready to go? We probably won’t get back to the castle before dark. Want to stop and get a bite to eat?”

  Michael shook his head. “No, I’m not hungry.” His gaze was still on Eve. “She was right, you know. We should all be together. Particularly now.” He turned away and started walking toward the exit. He was silent until they began crossing the parking lot. “It will be good to get back to the castle. I like the idea of searching for treasure.” He frowned. “I know it wouldn’t really be our treasure, but we’d be the ones who found it. Like the way you discovered Lord MacDuff’s family treasure and saved his family fortune at Loch Gaelkar. That was very cool. Mom said that he might have lost his estate except for you.”

  “MacDuff is smart; he would have found another way to save it. And it wasn’t only me. It was a joint effort. Just the way it is for all the volunteers at Kendrick Castle.”

  He didn’t get in the car but stood there, gazing at her. “You said Caleb was one of those people who helped MacDuff at Loch Gaelkar where you found Cira’s treasure. He probably did a real good job, didn’t he?” He added gravely, “I bet he could help Lady Kendrick, too.”

  Caleb again. That was another clear hint that she should invite him to the dig. Patience. Everything always seemed to lead to Caleb where Michael was concerned. However, verbally attacking him would only upset the boy. Maybe she could get her brother to look at Caleb a little more objectively. “Caleb usually does a very good job. But he’s not perfect, Michael. Believe me, he’d be the first to admit that.” She paused. “What do you like so much about him?”

  Michael was silent, and for a moment she was unsure if he would answer. Then he finally said, “He sees me, Jane.”

  She looked at him in bewilderment. “Sees you?”

  Michael was gazing straight ahead as he nodded. “From the first time you brought him to meet me, I knew he could see me. And he never pretended he couldn’t, not once. Everyone else pretends because they know Mom and Dad like them to do it. But Caleb never has and it makes me feel…good inside.”

  She stared at him in shock. His words had come out of nowhere, and she wasn’t sure that she knew what he was talking about. But she had an idea that she might, and it was scaring her. Because how the hell was she supposed to handle it? Yet she knew this could be the most important conversation she’d ever have with him. She couldn’t blow it. “What are you talking about, Michael?”

  “Sometimes I know things other people don’t know,” he said simply. His gaze shifted back to her, his amber eyes clear and steady and his expression grave. “And you see me, too, Jane. You always have, but you do pretend. Because you love Mom and Dad and you know they’re more comfortable if you do. They believe they’re keeping me safe by doing it, and maybe they are.” He smiled. “So I pretend, too. After all, most of the time it doesn’t really matter.”

  “I think you’re wrong.” She had to swallow to ease her tight throat. “I believe it must matter. Because why else are you talking to me like this in the middle of the airport parking lot? This is a very weird conversation. Either you’re serious and trying to get through to me about something really important to you or this is a very bad joke.” She paused. “But it’s not a joke, is it?” She gestured for him to get into the car. “So let’s discuss it and get it out in the open.” She went around the car and got into the driver’s seat. She braced herself for an instant before she turned to face him. “Okay, talk to me. Why did this come up now?”

  “Because I think it’s time.” He stared directly in her eyes. “I got scared the other day and I couldn’t talk to you. And lots of times you don’t really answer me when I ask you questions. You leave stuff out because you’re afraid I’ll worry.” He moistened his lips. “That was the way it was that day you went to see Lord MacDuff. I could feel it. Everything was all mixed up. I knew you wouldn’t listen to me. And you wouldn’t tell me things I needed to know.” His expressio
n was troubled. “And I was afraid it might happen again and keep on happening. So I decided that I couldn’t let it.”

  She was staring helplessly at him. Those words had tumbled out, stunning her. She tried to think, but her mind was a jumble. “And what am I supposed to say to that? You’re a kid. You still have rules and lessons to learn, and right now I’m in charge of you. If I don’t explain everything in triplicate, it’s because I want to protect you.” She drew a deep breath as she realized how lame that sounded. Because everything he’d said had struck a chord, and she’d realized it was only the tip of the iceberg. She supposed she’d always known this time would come. She’d gotten a hint of it when he’d spoken so frankly to her about Caleb the other day. Time now to be honest and confront it. She tried to smile. “Okay, so you’ve got a lot of psychic stuff going on in that brain of yours that I’ve tried to ignore. Because I guess I don’t know how to handle it, and it’s not really my responsibility; it’s Eve’s and Joe’s. Only now you’re making it my responsibility.” She shook her head. “So what do we do about it?”

  “Gee, how do I know?” Michael’s expression was suddenly no longer sober. His eyes were twinkling, his face was alight with laughter. “I’m just a kid.”

  She scowled at him. “Don’t joke. I want to shake you, brat.” But that moment of mischievous humor had made her feel less helpless and bewildered. This was still Michael whom she loved and needed to protect and guide. That would always be fixed and firm in her life. Providing he needed either of those services from her, she thought ruefully.

  Of course, he did. They just had to find the right way to broach this new era in their relationship. She said brusquely, “Okay, then we’ll work it out somehow. I just want to be clear that I’ll still be the one running things. Just like I was before.”

  He nodded solemnly. “Right. Just like you were before.”

  She gazed at him suspiciously. “If you grin, I’m going to take you back in the airport and put you on that plane with your mom and dad.”

  “No, you won’t.” He was grinning broadly now. “That’s a bluff. You’d be worried about all those jungles and the wild animals.”