King of Slaves (Jenna's Story) (The Slave Series Book 5) (20 page)

The air sizzled between them with tension, and images of all the things he wanted to do to her popped into his mind. For the last two weeks he had been plagued by desire for her and resisted seeking her out, and now she was here, in his arms, and all he had to do was lean in a little to kiss her. 
Why does she have to be so annoyingly stubborn? It would be much easier if she just submitted to me and behaved like a proper woman should.

“So, we’ve established that I’m not a humble guy. Live with it, because as far as I’m concerned, I’ve done nothing wrong,” he said.

“Fine, but know this.” Jenna pointed a finger to his chest. “I don’t need your or anyone else’s permission to have sex, ever!”

Kioni reacted fast and backed her completely against the wall. His voice was low and gruff when he spoke into her ear.

“Until we know whether or not you’re carrying my child, you
will
stay away from other men, do you understand?”

“Don’t touch me.”

The only part of Kioni that was touching her was his torso pressing her against the wall. He didn’t want to frighten her, but he couldn’t allow her to sleep with any other men either. Not even his best friend.

“I won’t hurt you, Jenna… but you chose me. If you want sex, you come to me!”

Jenna made a strained sound in the back of her throat.

“I thought you didn’t want to be my boy toy. Did you change your mind,
lover boy
?” Her voice was low and husky, her words meant as a clear provocation. 

He leaned in close enough to kiss her, his lips hovering just above hers. He lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper in her ear. “Are you pregnant with my child?”

She gasped.

Butterflies were roaming around his system and creating all sort of fucked-up thoughts of hope and fear at the same time.

“Answer me.”

She was looking away and he leaned back, giving her a bit of space.

“I don’t know,” she said in an almost inaudible voice. “You never gave me the pill I asked for and now I’m late, I think, but I’m not really sure when I last had my period.”

Kioni was confused. “How can you not know something that important?”

Her eyes shot lightening. “For someone without an active sex life, it’s not important. I didn’t exactly plan to have unprotected sex with an idiot who couldn’t understand the words
don’t come in me
.”

“You will never call me names again… do you understand, Jenna?” He was trying his best to stay in control but was furious at himself for coming inside her and angry at her for rubbing it in his face.

“Tyrant,” she hissed but her eyes fell to his lips.  

“Keep it up, Jenna, and I’ll pull you over my knees and give you a well-deserved spanking.”

“Yeah, I suppose weak men need to physically abuse women to feel powerful.” Her words were full of malice but her two hard nipples and the way her eyes kept going to his lips told him she was fighting her attraction too.  

“I’m not one of your weak American men. In this country we teach our women to show respect, and I’ll be more than happy to teach you.” Kioni lowered his head slowly and got nose to nose with her. “You will respect me, Jenna.”

Her breathing quickened and she placed her hands on his chest, pushing him away from her. It was a weak push with no resolve behind it.

They were back to the same damned situation as in the elevator. Their passionate resentment ignited a sexual attraction that trumped reason and logic. He didn’t want to be pulled toward this troublesome American but he could fight it no more than he could fight gravity. He was falling and it was going to be a painful landing. That part he knew for sure.

“Kioni,” she whispered in a strained voice.

“Jenna,” he answered. And in those two words were so many loaded emotions.

“We can’t do this… it has to stop.” Her hands were contradicting her words and roamed his naked shoulders.

It took everything he had to pull away from her, and for a long moment they stood silently staring into each other’s eyes. The things he wanted to tell her, he couldn’t. The things he wanted to do to her, he shouldn’t… It was a cursed situation and he needed to stop it and walk away.

“I’m going to take a shower.” It was the only thing he could think of to say.

“Okay.”

“Later.”

“Yes, later.”

It was the last thing said between them before it all went to hell.

CHAPTER 17

Smile

Jenna

Guilt hit Jenna when she saw her father strut toward her with a confident swagger, as if he was the emperor of this fine palace. He had traveled around the world to see her, and she should feel grateful, maybe even honored, but his presence just annoyed the hell out of her.

I’m an ungrateful, small person if I can’t even give him a genuine smile,
she thought.

“Jenna darling.” His deep voice carried loudly before he opened his arms. Jenna braced herself for the impact with his suffocating squeeze.

“Hey, Dad.”

“My munchkin, why do you look so skinny? Did you lose weight?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’m still a size six.”

“Hmm…” He released her from his tight grip and gave her a once-over. “How are they treating you?”

She tried to appease him with a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, Dad. Just like I told you in my emails. Why are you here?”

“What kind of dad would I be if I didn’t come to check up on you?”

The kind who respected my wishes
, Jenna thought and only barely resisted rolling her eyes.

“How long are you staying?” she asked.

“I haven’t decided yet. I’m thinking about taking your sister to Paris on the way home – you know her birthday is coming up – and with you not around, I thought that might cheer her up.”

Alex lit up next to Jenna. “Paris sounds good to me.”

Okay, so maybe it’s just a day or two; that’s not so bad.
Jenna thought relievedly and started to relax. “Great, so what do you want to do while you’re here?”

Andy placed his arms around his daughters’ shoulders, leading them down the hallway. “Why don’t you take us on a tour of the beautiful park outside? I think it would make a good background for some family pictures.”

Jenna and Alex exchanged a quick glance. They both knew that it wouldn’t take long before some of those pictures would reach the media back home, showing him off as a wonderful father. This visit wasn’t about her, it was about him milking the situation to secure more voters for the upcoming election. Jenna had gotten a lot of media attention when she was detained, and her father wasn’t going to let a chance to piggyback on a media wave go to waste. 

Jenna didn’t say anything until they were in the garden. She didn’t need to, as her father was fully adept in filling out any awkward silence. He kept talking about people he’d been meeting with lately and how he had demanded the president step in and get Jenna out of the holding cell. “You are lucky to have a father in high places, or you might still be sitting in that tiny room,” he told her with great complacency. 

The park offered an orgy of colors and flowery fragrances, and Jenna was pleased to see that there wasn’t anyone else around.

“I think that spot over there would be a perfect place.” Andy pointed to their left.

“How about that place by the bench? Then we could have the roses in the background,” Alex suggested.

“No, I want the palace in the background,” Andy insisted.

“Why?” Jenna asked.

“Because, dear girl, it makes for a much more regal background.”

Her father was scouting around and when he saw one of the king’s guards patrolling the perimeter, he shouted out to the uniformed man to come and photograph them.

“Dad, stop it,” Jenna said and pulled down his waving arm. “They are here to protect their king, not help tourists.”

“Nonsense, it’ll only take him a few minutes, I’ll go get him.”

Alex shot Jenna a nervous glance and Jenna called out again. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Dad.”

But it was an impossible task to stop Senator Davis when he was on a mission, and he strode right up to the guard, approaching him in a voice loud enough for Jenna and Alex to hear. “Hey there, young man, I need you to take a few pictures of my daughters and me.”

The guard shouted something back in Spiri that sounded more like a warning than a greeting, but it didn’t stop Andy, who waved his cellphone. “Just a few photos.”

The horrified scream from Alex when the guard pulled his weapon and aimed at their dad startled Jenna.

“Dad, come back here,” she shouted while Alex ran to him, screaming her lungs out.

“How dare you point your weapon at me?” Their father’s thundering voice reached Jenna, who watched in horror as other guards came running, and windows were opened by people looking out to see what the commotion was about.

Alex was screaming, her father and the guards were shouting, and Jenna stood powerless when her father was quickly surrounded by three guards who signaled with their guns for him to get down on the ground.

“I refuse to soil my clothes,” Andy shouted angrily, which only resulted in his getting manhandled to the ground.

It was a nightmare of overwhelming proportions, and Jenna ran to hold Alex back from getting entangled in the mess of angry men.

“Do something,” Alex cried with tears running down her cheeks.

Jenna looked around and saw a grim-looking guard come marching towards them. He looked to be of a higher rank, and she called out to him. “Get Coun Zurry here right now.”

The man ignored her but spoke into a headpiece before he walked right past her.

“It’s gonna be okay, Dad, I’ve asked them to get Zurry here.”

“I demand to see the king,” her father belted out with his glasses askew and his face red as a boiled lobster.

It hadn’t even been two hours since her family arrived, and already her sister had offered Zurry sex and caused the king and his best friend to fight and run half-naked through the palace – and now her father was on the ground with three guns pointing at him.
As if my life here wasn’t complicated enough.

It took seven very long minutes before Zurry arrived on the scene. He gave a few hard commands and all the guards pulled away from Andy immediately. Zurry’s face was tight with tension when he walked over and pulled Andy up on his feet again.

“Please give me a second to understand what made them attack you, sir,” he muttered and took a few steps away from Andy. He engaged in conversation with the highest-ranking of the king’s soldiers. All five men looked solemn as they spoke quietly in Spiri. Finally Zurry made a sharp nod and must have dismissed the soldiers, as they all went back to what they had been doing.

Jenna and Alex tended to their father and made sure he was all right. It was clear to Jenna that the only real injury to him was his pride.

“I told you not to approach him,” she muttered.

Her father was dusting off his pants and sleeves with angry movements and scoffed. “Don’t you even think about blaming me for what just happened. Didn’t you see how they assaulted me completely unprovoked?

He was fuming with indignation and batted her hand off his shoulder when she tried to calm him down.

“Don’t tell me to quiet down. First they attack and mistreat my daughter, and now me personally. These people are brutes and bastards. Go pack your things, Jenna, we are leaving this place within the hour.”

Zurry made a loud noise clearing his throat. “There is no need for you to leave. You will not be harmed as long as you leave the soldiers to do their job.”

“Do their job?” Andy exclaimed in a high pitch. “Does that include attacking visitors?”

Zurry kept his face impassive. “The soldiers are under strict orders not to allow anyone within ten feet of them. They tell me you were warned not to come closer.”

“How was I supposed to know what the maniac was saying when he didn’t speak English?” Andy complained.

Zurry’s eyebrow arched slightly. “I should think someone shouting at you and pointing a gun is a universal language that most people would interpreted as ‘don’t come closer.’”

Andy waved a finger at Zurry. “You have some nerve to put the blame on me. This would have never happened in a civilized country. Never!”

Jenna knew that wasn’t true. She had visited Buckingham Palace in London and seen the Queen’s soldiers shout and threaten tourist who climbed up the fence.

“My men are not toy soldiers, Senator Davis. I am certain the soldiers guarding your president are trained to react similarly in case of a threat.”

“I wasn’t a threat.”

“I understand, but the soldier doesn’t know you and acted according to protocol.”

Jenna stepped in between the two men. “My father just wanted someone to snap a few pictures of us. We meant no harm and will leave now.” She didn’t miss how Zurry’s eyes shifted to Alex before his gaze returned to her and he spoke low through gritted teeth.

“You are not seriously going to leave Spirima because of this small misunderstanding, are you?”

Andy pushed Jenna behind him. “I can assure you my daughter is leaving.” 

Jenna closed her eyes and took a deep long intake of air. When she opened her eyes again she looked directly at Zurry. “I promised the king I would stay three weeks and I have. Right now I think the best you can do is to leave us alone to calm our nerves after what just happened.”

Zurry’s lips were pressed in a thin line when he gave her a sharp nod and turned to look at Alex. She didn’t return his gaze but looked away, and then he left.

“Let’s sit over here,” Jenna suggested and led them to a large bench in the park.

“Look, I’m still shaking,” Alex said and held out her hand to show them how it trembled.

“Did you hear how that Zurry guy blamed me for the whole thing?” Andy said with an offended snort. “As if I would ever do anything to provoke such a violent attack.”

“Dad, the soldier did clearly signal to you that he wasn’t friendly. You could have walked away instead of starting a macho face-off with him.”

“Why would I? He should treat us with respect. We’re guests of the king, for god’s sake.”

Jeez, Dad, you haven’t even met Kioni and you’re certainly not an invited guest,
Jenna thought, but of course she couldn’t say that aloud, so instead she said: “I know you are upset and I completely understand if you want to leave right away.”

“That’s exactly what I want. I’ll call my assistant and have her book tickets for the first flight home.” He stood up. “You two go pack your things. Now!”

Alex sprung up and started off toward the palace but Jenna stayed where she was.

“I’ll see you when I get back to Chicago in five months.”

Both Alex and Andy stopped in their tracks. “What did you say?” her father asked irritably. “I told you to go pack.”

Jenna stood up and squared her shoulders. “And I’m telling you that I’m not going to. I came here to do a job and I’m not a quitter. I have my team and millions of people depending on this project. I’m not leaving yet.”

His eyes narrowed. “It’s not up for discussion, Jenna, I’m your father and I’m ordering you to go home with us.”

A defiant smile lifted the corner of Jenna’s mouth. “You are right, Dad, it’s not up for discussion. I’m thirty-two years old and the only one who decides for me… is me! Go boss your staff around if you want to feel in control.”

He took a step closer, crossed his arms, and swayed his hips to one side. It was his I-want-things-my-way posture and she had seen it a million times when he used his authoritarian voice to intimidate people. “Jenna, you are being disrespectful and unreasonable.”

She met his stare head on. “What can I say? I learned from the best.”

“Jenna, don’t,” Alex warned but Jenna was on a roll. 

“I told you specifically not to come and you didn’t care but came anyway. How is that respectful?” she challenged.

“A father is supposed to look out for his daughters,” he retorted.

“Is he?” Jenna mimicked his stance as they stood there surrounded by flowers and beauty, finally having the argument that had been building for years. “Then where were you when we were children and needed you?”

“I was there,” he insisted.

Jenna shook her head. “Come with me, Dad.” She didn’t wait for him to agree but started walking toward the palace, trusting that he would follow. They walked in silence until they got to her room and entered, all three of them. Jenna moved to the closet and pulled out the album her mother had made for her – the one she hadn’t been able to leave behind.

“Here… this book represents my childhood. Show me a picture of you and me.”

Her dad took the album and opened it. There were pictures from her birthday parties, pictures of Jenna riding a pony, pictures of her swimming, dancing, eating ice cream, and acting in the school play. 

Lots of pictures of her mom and her and some of Alex as a baby.

“Right here,” he said and dabbed his finger on a picture.

“That doesn’t count. It’s from your political campaign and we were nothing but props to you. Try to find a picture of us being a family, doing normal things and bonding as father and daughter.

He frowned but kept turning page after page until he finally held out the album to her. “There… see?”

Jenna felt a knot in her throat. The picture showed Jenna on her father’s lap. She remembered that day well. She had been around seven or eight and they had visited a state fair where her father had done a speech of some kind. Her mother had asked her to go sit with her daddy so she could take a picture of them. He had been annoyed with her mother and her, as he was deeply engaged in a conversation with another man, and as soon as the picture was taken, he had asked her to run along. It was the last time Jenna ever sat on her father’s lap.