Her Every Pleasure (16 page)

He snorted at this suggestion. “You are still not convinced of an Englishman’s self-discipline?”

She took note of the reproachful double entendre in his murmur, but opted to ignore it.

“Because of all the unrest on Kavros, the English government has decided to restore me to my father’s throne,” she said. “I’m to be given full sway over domestic matters, while England will control our foreign affairs. Unfortunately, it is now clear that there are those who would prefer it if I did not come back at all. But I won’t be stopped. This is my duty, Gabriel. My destiny. My people need me. And, if you’re willing, I’d like for you to join me in my quest.”

He stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. “You’d better give me that,” he muttered, reaching for the brandy snifter she had set aside.

He finished the rest of its contents in one large gulp. She watched him in wary amusement as he licked his lips. Then he set the glass down, eyeing her dubiously.

“Why didn’t you tell me all of this from the start?”

“I couldn’t! Gabriel, those were the rules.”

“You didn’t think you could trust me?”

“Don’t be obtuse! How would you like it if someone you were guarding back in India ignored your rules and did whatever they pleased while you were risking your life for them? Considering all my men risked for me, the least that I could do was follow the bloody protocol, and if that meant lying to you, well, I’m sorry if you feel slighted. I wanted to tell you the truth, but when you shared the story with me about how you nearly died, my mind was made up to keep you out of it. Maybe I was trying to protect you, I don’t know—”

“Protect me?”

“After all you’ve been through, I did not want you involved. Unfortunately, that is no longer possible. For me and for my people, there is so much at stake, and you’re the only one I feel that I can trust.”

“What do you mean?”

“As a result of the attack, the Foreign Office is now forcing me to accept an English officer as my new head of security. They tried to appoint some fool for the post, but I told Lord Griffith that if they’re going to insist on this, then at least it will be a man of my choosing.”

“And that’s me?” he murmured with a skeptical stare.

She tried hard not to blush. “You’ve been a bodyguard before, and more important, you understand the Eastern way of warfare. It is my strong feeling that Ali Pasha of Janina is behind this…” Her words trailed off and he slowly paced away from her.

He gave the globe an idle spin as he sauntered past it. “So, you summoned me here because I’m useful to you.” He cast her a smoldering but hostile look. “Is that why you lingered at the farmhouse with me? Because I was…useful?” he asked with pointed innuendo.

“Of course not! What happened between us, well, you can’t deny we both wanted it. I admit, the thought of being able to spend time with you again holds—a certain appeal. And if we’re together again in this fashion—”

“That’s not what this is about.”

She stared at him, her heart pounding. “It could be.”

“No,
Your Highness,
” he said in soft but pointed tone. “To be sure, I’m flattered by your interest in this lowly commoner, but you’re dead wrong if you think I’m going to serve as your plaything as well as your bodyguard. You’ve already toyed with me enough, don’t you think?”

She stiffened.

“I enjoyed it, of course, but what makes you think I’d even be willing, after the way you left me in that bed without a word?”

“What was I to say?”

“A simple good-bye would have been appreciated,” he said idly while Sophia stood there, tongue-tied, to find her attempt to reestablish some sort of discreet romance with him completely rejected.

The most startling part was her realization that he was this hurt. He was trying to pretend he wasn’t, of course—being a male, he had no other choice—but hurt was the most logical explanation for his rude façade of nonchalance.

Her mind was reeling. She hadn’t dared hope that he cared about her enough to bother much over whether she left or stayed.

“Besides,” Gabriel continued, distracting her as if he realized she had seen through him, “I don’t suppose your current head of security will be very obliging about this little arrangement you’re proposing. Or has he been duly sacked?”

“He is dead.” Her stare sharpened, a hint of tears coming into her eyes. “Mock me as you like, but do not aim your sarcasm at him, Major. Leon gave his life so I could get away,” she informed him, then drew a shaky inhalation.

Gabriel had gone motionless. He was staring at her. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head, avoiding his gaze as her tears thickened. “He was already wounded when he put me on that horse to ride away, but I didn’t think…” Her voice failed her, her words trailing off as a tremor moved through her body. The funeral had been two days ago, but she still could not believe he was dead. The hope of having Gabriel as his replacement had been the only thing that had finally made her stop crying.

“I am sorry,” he repeated, taking a step closer. “I meant no disrespect.”

She wrapped her arms around herself and stared out the window. “Leon was like a father to me. That night I told you about, when I was a child and my family had to flee Napoleon’s cannons, it was he who carried me as we all ran down to the ship. Now he’s gone. And I must face the greatest task of my life without his counsel.”

“It sounds like he prepared you well for it.” Slowly, Gabriel came over to stand before her.

“He did everything in his power to try. Any shortfalls in my abilities are my own.”

Gabriel lowered his head and touched her hand with a small, tentative caress. She let him take her hand. He curled his white-gloved fingers around hers. “Is he the reason you’re so good with that knife?”

She mustered up a smile and met his tender gaze at last. “He taught me everything I know. It was necessary,” she added in a cynical tone. “People in my family have a habit of winding up dead. My father, two elder brothers. That’s how I ended up next in line for the throne. I’m the last one left. I may be just a woman, but I’m all my people have got.”

“Sophia,” he whispered. “Come here.” He drew her into his arms, sheltering her in his protective embrace. Perhaps he sensed how badly she had needed to be held. With a lump in her throat, she hugged him hard around his waist, burying her face against his chest.

“Gabriel—I’m scared.”

“Of course you are.” He cupped her head under his chin, standing steadfast as he held her. “It’s all right, sweet,” he breathed, caressing her hair for a moment. “You’re not as alone as you think.”

With tears tumbling from her eyes, Sophia pulled back and searched his face intensely. Her heart pounded. “Does that mean you will help me?”

“Sophia.” Holding her gaze with a stormy yet gentle look, he captured her face between his white-gloved hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. His voice was a husky whisper. “I could never turn my back on you.”

“Gabriel.”
She slid her arms around his neck and hugged him for all she was worth. “Thank you,” she choked out, kissing his cheek as more tears spilled from her eyes. “I know what I’m asking of you is a lot. We’ll do everything perfectly so you won’t get hurt again and no matter what, I’m sure you won’t have to kill again, but I need you—”

“Shh.” He hushed her with a finger over her lips, as if he knew she was making promises she could not keep.

This was bloody dangerous. There was no way around it, and she was asking him to risk his life for her. More than his life—she was asking him to risk his soul.

After what he had seen on the edge of death, he believed he’d be damned for all eternity if he ever spilled any man’s blood again. There was no certainty that it would come to that—a bodyguard protected a life more than concerning himself with trying to slay enemies. But of course the risk was there. And to her awed amazement, it was a risk that Gabriel was willing to take for her.

Still holding her in his embrace, he looked down tenderly at her; she tilted her head back, meeting his gaze.

As they stared at each other, she was aware of the exact second that a smooth subtle shift between them changed their embrace from one of comfort to desire. Her heart raced; her fingers tightened on the back of his neck with a will of their own, pulling him down to her. Her longing for his kiss shone in her eyes. She did not even try to hide it. His gaze dropped to her lips, his eyes burning like blue flame. Then he closed them.

The temptation was too great.

He lowered his head and kissed her. A soft moan escaped her as his mouth brushed hers in a silken caress. She held perfectly still, adoring him while her senses clamored and her heart rejoiced. Maybe everything would turn out all right if she had Gabriel on her side.

He curled one knuckle tenderly against her cheek as he kissed her, and with that light touch, Sophia was on fire for him. Her body melting against him, she tightened her hold around his neck. His hands molded her waist, pressing her to him, but as she parted her lips a little to offer him her mouth, he brought their brief, relatively chaste kiss to a close.

“No,” he breathed, panting slightly. “There can be no more of this between us.”

He loosened his hold on her waist, but for her part, she refused to release him. The room was spinning.

“Why?”

“Oh, Sophia, do you really have to ask?” he murmured, sounding slightly short of breath from their contact. “If I had known the truth of who you were, I would never have touched you.”

She leaned her forehead against his in unabated yearning. “But I wanted you to.”

“Don’t make me want what I can’t have.”

“I say you can.”

“No, I can’t.” Gently, he pried her back from him and held her at arm’s length.

Sophia gazed at him in dismay as he stared somberly into her eyes.

“It can’t be like that between us anymore. As much as we both might want it. Keeping you safe needs to be my top priority now, and emotional entanglements in this line of work can get people killed.”

“But you—”

“No, sweetheart. A clear head is essential.” He swallowed hard. “We can only be friends.”

“Friends?” she asked hoarsely, trying not to let the full brunt of her disappointment show on her face.

Gabriel nodded in regret, dropping his gaze. “You’re too high above me. You know it, and certainly I do.”

Sophia pulled back and took a few steps away from him, absorbing his all-too-noble rejection.

It was not easy.

“The difference in our rank didn’t stop you when you thought I was the lower born one, your maid,” she pointed out, perhaps churlishly, her back to him.

“It was a mistake. We both got carried away.” Behind her, he fell silent. “Why did you do it?” he asked quietly after a moment. “Why did you offer yourself to me? Don’t tell me you do those sorts of things with lots of men?”

She whirled around. “Of course not!”

He held up his hands. “I’m just asking. I know what goes on in these decadent palaces.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “So, you still think I’m a harlot, then?”

“Sophia—”

“I’m a virgin, Gabriel.” She stared at him meaningfully, until he looked away with a flicker of pained lust on his face.

She lifted her eyebrows matter-of-factly. “If you had met Leon, you would know how difficult it would have been for me ever to set foot off the straight and narrow at any time, I can assure you.”

“So, what was I, then? An experiment in freedom?”

“Maybe, just a bit.” She walked back to him slowly, her arms still folded across her chest. “Maybe I could also claim I was afraid of the assassins chasing me, and did not think it fair that I should die a virgin. Not that you were very compliant on that point.”

“I should be sainted,” he muttered under his breath, leaning his hips back against the arm of the hefty leather couch behind him. He sat there in a casual pose.

She stopped before him and gazed into his eyes. “But, truthfully, Major, those things were just a part of it. I just felt…drawn to you.” She reached out and smoothed the lapel of his uniform coat. “I still do.”

“You are making this impossible.”

“Kiss me properly, Gabriel. Please. I need to taste you again—”

“This can’t happen,” he said tautly, grasping her wrist where her hand still rested on his chest, and stopping her caresses.

She lowered her gaze.

“Sophia, I’m an all-or-nothing kind of man. What you’re offering is only part of what I would’ve wanted with you.”

Cruel.
She flinched and let out a small sound of frustration, wounded to think he’d chosen to refuse her and deny what they felt for each other based on something she could not control. Her rank, her birthright. It wasn’t fair.

“Isn’t part better than nothing?” she whispered.

He quivered at her insistence. “God, you are hard to say no to.”

Her heart slammed behind her ribs when she saw the hunger in his eyes.

His grip on her wrist loosened and began inching down her arm, as though, any second, he would pull her to him once again. “It’s only going to hurt worse if we indulge in this, you know.”

“I don’t care.” As she wetted her lips in anticipation of his kiss, he closed his eyes, struggling for control.

“I went looking for you, you know. My Gypsy girl. I wanted you back. Back in my arms. Back in my bed.”

“Oh, Gabriel.”

He dragged his eyes open again. They were deep blue, hazy with desire. His hold on her arm tightened. She leaned toward him, intent on showing him just how much she had missed him, when suddenly, a rap on the door startled them apart. Sophia jumped back. Gabriel shot up, standing at attention.

“Come!” she called out, her heart pounding, her cheeks aflame.

A footman opened the door, and Gabriel’s urbane kinsman, Lord Griffith, came striding into the Map Room. “Ah! There you both are. Sorry, I was detained. Your Highness. Major.” The high-ranking diplomat gave Sophia an impeccable bow and then smiled suavely at his brother-in-law.

Gabriel’s posture was stiff as he carefully avoided any telltale glance in Sophia’s direction. “Her Highness has been filling me in on the situation with Kavros and our government’s plans.”