Any Price (4 page)

“Never before my lady.” He insistently ushered her into the plush vehicle, retaining possession of her hand as he slid in beside her. Yuri and Thomas squeezed into the front seat with the driver.

Kenna spent less than two seconds wondering why both large men jammed themselves in the front while there was a big empty backseat facing her and Lore. Then she was distracted by the driving need to find a reason for her response to the large man beside her. For three days she had been struggling with this question, but now it was so much more.

His sexual impact was making her an idiot, but more than that, she
liked
him. Liked was not the correct word for the powerful effect he had on her. Physically, mentally, he surrounded her, invaded her, seized control but did it with velvet words and gentle touches. He didn’t apologize or even attempt to conceal his intentions. She simply couldn’t resist all that power. So she was making excuses by using a safe word. A normal word to justify this level of trust in someone she’d just met.

His concern for her seethed around him. Kenna felt it in terms of worry and determination. She felt him seeking something else. He was reaching around them, trying to feel the threat before it reached them. His entire body was in some uniquely male way hardened with the will to defend.

Again she struggled to put a name to what she felt in him. His instinct to kill was like nothing she’d ever encountered before. Kenna shivered mentally and tried to pull back.

Glancing down at his hand covering hers and seeking a distraction from the internal view, she focused on externals. His fingers stroked her skin absently. She swallowed as those long fingers captured her attention with a vision of exactly how she’d like them to touch her. He knew immediately and his hand stopped caressing the back of hers.

Lore had been examining his impressions of the danger he sensed. Why was he convinced it was aimed at Kenna, despite what he’d told her? Then her emotions changed.

Sexual awareness engulfed him and it hadn’t been instigated by him. Feeling her want him was so unexpected he was incapable of fighting it for a moment. It took all his will to remain still beside her. If he answered her need in this moment, it wouldn’t matter that others were in the vehicle with them.

“Don’t,” he murmured aloud.

Kenna scrambled for another subject to distract her from the sexuality her thoughts were forcing on them. His response of utter stillness would have felt like rejection if she hadn’t felt him on that other level. His need to respond to her had been a primal roar and he’d brutally silenced it. Turning her face into his shoulder, she squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed the first thought guaranteed to calm her down and hopefully release him from the need for that painful control.

“Your guy was right. I can’t show up beside you. Isn’t the joust supposed to be a formal reenactment thing?” She was referring to the distasteful man’s statements.

Satisfaction softened the hard edge of lust as Lore looked down at her bent head. She hadn’t turned away from him, hadn’t tried to deny the intimate connection. Gratification from that small surrender was almost as powerful as her escalating sexuality had been to him. Lore resisted the urge to comment on it, so she’d verbally acknowledge their involvement. Forcing her to face her unconscious choices would only make her defensive. That didn’t mean he couldn’t encourage her with his acceptance on the same unspoken level of communication.

Lore’s head bent and his lips brushed her forehead as he answered. “I feel your concern, Kenna. Please relax. I’ll take care of it.”

Kenna’s face turned up from his shoulder. “You have some magic plan to teach me what I’m supposed to do so I don’t embarrass you?”

Lore settled his lips over her sharp question. He’d only meant to test a theory, see if the reaction in the war room had been a one-time thing. She drew him, of course she did. Beautiful, smart, gifted, the woman was made to order, but surely his animal response was just that, the animal within.

Too late he realized his mistake. Their connection rippled with an indefinable power. He wasn’t as prepared as he thought for the primal drive that came from touching her. Perhaps it was her acceptance that did it, but he wasn’t sure as everything in him lunged toward her.

Her head melted back in invitation. She might not be aware of her natural submission, but it inflamed the aggressive male at the core of his being. Leaning over this woman as she yielded and mewed around his tongue compelled his responses as if she were triggering a survival instinct. The arcing sexual avalanche meant there was a very short period of time to pull this back. It looked as if he had less than a minute or he’d be doing her in the backseat. Unacceptable.

Lore wrenched his mouth off hers. Breathing hard, he tried not to glare down at her shell-shocked face. Scaring her because he couldn’t smile about this shit wasn’t his intention, but it wasn’t possible to look like a cuddly bear when it felt as if his cock were going to burn through his zipper.

“Damn it, Lore. Quit kissing me. Just because you’re good at it doesn’t mean you have a right,” Kenna hissed.

“Trust me.” His deep tones washed over her ragged responses, soothing them as he continued. “The way we respond to each other isn’t something I manipulate and use against you.” He let her sit up, but no fucking way was he giving in to her little tug for more space between them.

“We fit, Kenna. The physical response we trigger in each other is growing. I suspect it is recognition on a cellular level because of our similar abilities.” He dragged a hand through his hair and glanced out the window to gage where they were. “But we have responsibilities, and now just showing up at this event is a life-and-death matter. I need you to trust me, Kenna.”

Kenna studied him using her natural talent to seek deep into the man. It wasn’t something she should be doing. It was one of those things she didn’t want to explain if he somehow felt her doing it, but this was way beyond a special circumstance. He wanted her trust and she’d be kidding herself if she didn’t admit she wanted to give it to him. Just surrender and let him handle everything. What she found in his soul wasn’t helping her pull away.

He felt such a deep apprehension about what might occur if he let her go. And he was just as confident he could handle whatever was happening. The man didn’t have an ounce of back up in him. He was not only willing to handle everything, he intended to do it. Kenna pulled back.

Big, handsome, powerful and fully focused on her, could he be any more irresistible? But modern women do not just swoon into the big man’s arms and let him take care of everything, even if they really want to.

It was time to light a candle for the demise of her modern woman because this situation had nothing to do with that chick. When death was personal and the one standing between her and it was the big man, he might as well be guarding the cave entrance.

“Stop worrying about trust,” she answered softly. “I need to trust you. Do you get how scary that is? I need your strength, your protection, and we hardly know each other. Then there is this sexual-craving insanity happening between us. It scares me. Not as much as a terrorist bomber and kidnappers, but close.”

“No one will take you from me,” he answered. “Don’t be afraid of our responses to each other. Consider it a bonus, another way to know you can depend on me.”

The limo glided to a stop. Security jumped out of the front seat and did a quick search of the area before the king and his guest stepped out of the vehicle at the back of a large tent.

“We’ll change into costumes here,” Lore explained as they moved quickly into the tent. “The woman with your clothes is waiting for us.”

Inside, an elegant woman smiled and curtseyed deeply to the king. She simply looked courtly. From her Italian pumps to the faultless twist of her thick black hair she was perfection without appearing distant. It was difficult to tell her age. Kenna guessed somewhere in her thirties. She looked at Kenna and her eyes rounded in surprise as an almost reverent exclamation in her own language fell out of her mouth.

Kenna smiled and held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Kenna.”

The woman glanced at the king and took Kenna’s hand while dropping into a deep curtsey again.

“No, no. No need for that.” Kenna tried to pull her up, a little astounded that this woman would think to curtsey to her.

“This is Julianna,” Yuri’s richly accented voice rumbled as he entered behind them. “Please go with her, my lady. She has your clothing.”

Still in possession of Kenna’s hand, Julianna pulled her toward a curtained-off area.

“Come out when you’re done. They can’t start without us,” Lore responded to Kenna’s questioning look over her shoulder.

Once behind the curtain, Julianna chatted in a steady flow of Hungarian. It didn’t appear to bother Julianna one bit that Kenna couldn’t understand it. The process of removing Western clothes was accomplished with a lot of fumbling.

Swiftly, Kenna realized letting Julianna do whatever she wanted was the safest route in this situation. Besides, most of Kenna’s attention was taken up with the ebb and flow of Lore’s emotions while he dressed a short distance away. Awareness between them was constant. They both were finding ways to deal with it, even manage it. They were absorbing new abilities and information at a rate she realized should be impossible.

Even though telepathic communication was easy for them, it wasn’t thoughts or words that flowed freely between them. What they shared with relentless clarity was feelings, as though a floodgate had opened between two souls. It allowed an exchange that went both ways.

The exchange felt natural, as if her body and mind were meant to communicate with her partner on this level and she’d just forgotten how.

Kenna snapped her thoughts to a screeching halt.
Partner?
Where did that strange word come from? Partner was a weak word for the one she should have used there.

Oh my God! She couldn’t bring herself to even think the other word that went so naturally in that thought. This deep emotional connection to Lore could only end in… She didn’t know what. What possible outcome would be a good one?

What attracted her to Lore had nothing to do with his station or wealth. And she had been attracted long before she’d been forced to contact him. Since entering this strange little country, she’d be battling the constant need to open her mind to him. He gave her relief from the overwhelming psychic burden of reading every thought and emotion around her. He offered peace by simply reaching for her mentally. She needed him just to remain sane.

There was something else she couldn’t escape. If these strangers found out who Grandmother claimed she was, they would get rid of her in the really bad sense of the words. And it was the guy she kept climbing who had the most to lose.

Fear, panic, exhaustion, they all rushed to the surface and wrapped around her neck. The heavy weight of impossible emotions squeezed down on her windpipe. She couldn’t breathe. Kenna couldn’t make a sound as she clutched her throat. Julianna was turned away, folding her jeans, and never saw Kenna’s hands grasp her throat.

Immediately Lore was there. Clothed only in tights that molded powerful thighs and disappeared into period boots, he dragged her against his chest.

“Breathe! Slow and easy, baby.” His command cut through her panic, his lips talking into the top of her head. “That’s it. It’s all right. Stop scaring yourself. What the hell were you thinking?”

His gentle crooning and the overwhelming tide of concern that washed through her panic effectively diluted it. He didn’t exactly invade her mind, but there was no question he would if she hadn’t responded. His grip on her mentally, though gentle and soothing, was firm and much more direct than it had been five minutes ago.

As oxygen rushed into her brain, Kenna found she was losing the ability to focus anyway. Lore holding her mostly naked body against the heavily muscled chest created a whole new set of problems. Fear faded into awareness of how deeply she felt every inch of him.

Lore leaned back to look into her face, hands caressing the cool cream of her skin. It was a bitch to ignore the fact that they’d gotten her out of everything but bra and panties, but his little witch needed to know she could trust him, naked or not. “Kenna, look at me, baby,” he commanded softly. She had smashed her face into his bare chest when he’d grabbed her. Now she seemed reluctant to move.

“Lore, we’ve known each other for little more than a few hours,” she hissed. “How can I need you, want you like this? I can hardly stop myself from wrapping my legs around your hips. I know what sex is. I know what desire is. I don’t know what this is. This is more…” Her voice trailed off into his chest and she started to tremble.

“Baby, look at me. I need you to hear me.” Lore inserted an insistent knuckle under her chin and turned her face up to his. He knew he’d been unable to hide the possessive male response to her acknowledgement. She wasn’t trying to pretend their sexual connection was normal.

“Kenna, listen to me and feel my intent as you hear the words. I know what’s between us is strange, but understand this—I have never had this type of connection with anyone else. It’s about us and it’s about our gifts. We’ve been intimately connected for over three days now, not an hour. What we share is so far beyond what normal people do to get to know each other that none of those rules apply.”

His other hand caressed her back, and the one from under her chin soon joined it. There was no help for it, his hands slid down to cuddle a perfect ass that fit in his palms so sweetly. This was who they were, where they were. He wasn’t going to pretend differently, but he also needed her to see that it wasn’t a threat. He was hers as much as she was his.

“I will not allow anything to harm you. Feel it in me, Kenna. Trust me. I am yours as much as you are mine. I can’t escape this any more than you can. I don’t want to.

“Right now several thousand people are waiting for me to appear. There are people from China, the Soviet Union, America, Germany and France whom I personally invited. They represent companies this county would like to convince to invest here. New technology has shown huge natural resources that will change this region’s future. Controlling how that happens is as dangerous as the mad man hunting you. We need the terrorist to see you. Calm, beautiful you. The corporate vultures have to see strength in me.”

Lore regarded her in silence a moment. “You’re worried and afraid…” He stopped as he thought better of pointing out the obvious. Fighting her fear with what was right about this seemed like a much better tactic.

“I will not let him have you. You know I can’t. I don’t think he knew what would happen when he pushed you. I mean simply being a telepath is way different from the connection we are involved in. Together we make something new, honey.

“As the king, I have to get us in front of that crowd. You as visible as possible are our best chance at keeping him from detonating. As a man, I want nothing more than to cover you with my body in every way there is. Not just sex, Kenna. It’s much more than that.”

His arms loosened. His hands rose up her back until fingers threaded through her hair on either side of her face. Kenna’s continued fear and confusion were the strongest emotions in her. Her hold on control was difficult.

“Don’t let fear dictate our relationship. That gives the sick bastard control of us, baby. We get to choose what happens next, not him. Trust me.”

“Lore,” Kenna breathed, and let her eyes close for a second. That one word was consent.

There was no need to guess how much of what he said was the truth. Feeling his determination, the sharp surge of power that he’d repressed when he’d thought of her in the hands of their enemy, all of it flowed between them. If she had to measure anything in him, it was how much he was trying to water down his responses.

Kenna didn’t have the strength to fight what she’d just seen in him. But more than that, she didn’t want to. What she did want was unclear, hard to untangle in any coherent way.

She smiled and knew it was a little sad. He wanted her trust, had to have it for this to work. What would he want when he figured out who she was? There was no time to explain why she was afraid. “Go get dressed. Julianna and I will be finished in a minute. I understand we have to get out there on time. So go,” she repeated as he bent to kiss her.

The kiss was brief, a show of control. Lore let go reluctantly. Her smile was fragile but he felt her sincerity, and if he didn’t get his hands off her, that control he was trying to comfort her with would evaporate. Leaving her was fucking difficult, he drew away quickly.

As he disappeared around the curtain, Julianna made a snappish sound. It was a cross between a
tsk
and an exclamation. It sounded quite final as if things were settled. Kenna eyed her warily, not sure what to expect from the witness to this strange scene.

Julianna swept into motion. Kenna’s bra was swiftly removed and a filmy, white cotton underdress pulled on. A loose tie gathered the wide neck that draped over her shoulders and form-fitting sleeves ended in a point at the back of Kenna’s hands. Her middle finger slid through a little loop to keep the points in place.

A buttercup-yellow overdress was next. Its bodice came up in a wide square neckline to just cover her nipples, which would have been visible through the thin cotton of the underdress. The lovely raw silk laced up tightly in back from hips to shoulder blades. It outlined her willowy figure as it emphasized a tempting glimpse of tightly constrained breasts through the gauzy cover. The laced-up bodice presented alluring cleavage.

Julianna worked in silence. Pulling the bodice tight, lacing up the fastenings, she tsked several times and grabbed a needle and thread to do something quick and magical that adjusted the dress to fit as if it’d been made for Kenna. Kenna’s long hair was brushed out and a filmy wimple settled over her head to flow down her back. Julianna then pressed a golden circlet onto the crown of Kenna’s head. Its graceful point settled in the center of her forehead as it held the period headdress in place.

Hose and flat shoes in the correct size appeared. Kenna’s estimation of Julianna’s magic touch increased with that. A full skirt flared around Kenna’s legs. The raw silk was adorned with a thick band of gold-threaded embroidery at both hemline and neckline. A golden belt of braided metallic strands settled around Kenna’s hips to knot just above her pubic mound. The remaining lengths of belt hung down to almost touch the ground.

This temporary dressing room lacked a mirror so Kenna watched Julianna as she stepped back and looked Kenna over critically then curtseyed deeply.

“You look lovely, my lady,” Julianna said in accented English.

“Good grief, Julianna, what’s with the English now? You could have told me you speak it.” Kenna grabbed Julianna’s hand to pull her up. Her tone laughed and chided at the same time.

Julianna straightened and smiled. “Do not worry. My lips are sealed. I offer my services. As the oldest daughter descendent of Zsofi Tosh, it would be a great honor to serve you again, my lady.”

Kenna chuckled. “I’m American. We don’t do titles. I would be grateful for any help you’re willing to offer. This dress is lovely and what you did to make it fit is incredible.”

“Of course it fits, my lady. It is dress made for the likeness of Queen Annedrine. Kindly go. My lord awaits.” She physically turned Kenna and pushed her out from behind the curtain.

Being rushed out of the dressing enclosure, Kenna didn’t have time to puzzle over Julianna’s offer of service and how that might be related to some ancestor she was claiming.

As Kenna faced Lore, he sucked in a silent breath. The vision she created in period clothing was both wickedly appealing and innocently entrancing. The dress caused her skin to glow. Her figure was outlined in the most flattering way imaginable with its teasing display of creamy breasts and tightly constrained bodice that faithfully formed her supple shape.

Lore stood very still, waiting for her visual impact to subside. It wasn’t happening fast enough. It hadn’t seemed possible that her effect on him could get stronger. Again Lore had been wrong. Men were visual creatures, and looking at Kenna caused the primitive within to throw himself at the restraints of control. Wanting this woman was becoming an exercise in willpower.

He didn’t need the emotional connection to see a flash of fear. She was reading the suffocating waves of sexual aggression he must be putting out. Her lower lip caught beneath white teeth as she visibly shifted to wariness. The pretty little creature was looking at the predator, unsure if she were lunch.

He couldn’t force himself to look away, smile or do any damn thing that might reassure her. All he could give her was the connection between them. Yes, he wanted her, but more than that, he’d go to war to make sure no one harmed her, even himself.

Moving slowly to keep from being threatening, Lore stepped forward to capture her hand and brought it to his lips. The brief homage of kissing her hand was the assurance she needed, her acceptance of his response stroked the salivating side of him and they both calmed as he tucked her hand under his arm.

“Ready?” he asked, leading her into the passageway.

Kenna nodded. Her breathing was shallow as she absorbed his response to her, but her hand tightened on his arm. That little indication of trust shot through his other responses and he realized he was proud of her. The strength this woman displayed had become personal to him.

For security reasons, the entrance from the tent to the royal stands was covered. It was a short, private walk. Physically touching added intensity to the response they triggered in each other. Kenna was glad for the few seconds to adjust to it.

“What’s after this?” Kenna asked softly while glancing at the security entourage following them. “When do we get off stage?”

“After the reception that follows the joust,” he replied. “All together it should take around three hours. I promise you can rest after that.” His hand covered hers on his forearm with slight pressure. “I know this is tough, lean on me.”

At the appearance of the king, the crowd roared. Lore stepped to the front and waved for the cheering throng. He turned and held out his hand to Kenna who had remained out of view.

The crowd quieted as the king invited someone to join him. Everyone expected it to be Gregory Karoly Leionoff, first advisor of Kersonov and the king’s constant companion when he appeared before them. The lady who stepped up beside the king elicited a gasp followed by stunned silence as she raised her head and looked at them.

At the silence, Kenna looked to Lore in concern. Something was wrong. Thousands of people were standing there gaping at her. What was it? Had she done something inappropriate?

Lore smiled gently as he bent and touched his lips to hers and the crowd went wild. The volume of shrieking, thundering applause was deafening as he lifted his head and smiled at her.

“Wave to them,” he instructed softly.

Kenna turned to the screaming, stomping and applauding crowd. Lore waved with her while he held her other hand securely in his.

“What’s with them?” she asked as they waved. “Is it always like this?”

“No. It’s never this way,” he responded. “In costume, you resemble the queen this festival commemorates.”

“The chick who vanished in violent events,” Kenna commented.

“Interesting,” Lore mused. “Not quite the same conflict, but the same threat happening on the same ground, seven hundred years later but still the same day.”

“Interesting isn’t what I’d call it,” Kenna murmured as they turned to take their seats. Not really seats. The chairs were faithful replicas of those used by heads of state in the early Middle Ages.

“If you ask me, it’s exactly the same events given modern definitions,” she continued. “Last time it was directly following the Third Crusade and the Mongols were a horrific threat. They destroyed everything—women, children, livestock, crops, everything. But in this one place they came and only took the queen, ignoring the rest of the population. I really don’t like how this went last time,” she finished softly.