Read The Perfect Temptation Online
Authors: Leslie LaFoy
was in trade. There are others
who argue that I'm an Untouchable
simply because I'm British and
Christian. There's
absolutely no reason for anyone
to envy me anything."
He had no choice but to playa
high card. Mohan could just
be
angry
about the betrayal. "Perhaps someone thinks you
might someday be the raja's wife
or one of his royal consorts."
Her smile disappeared in a heartbeat.
''There are strict
rules about
relationships-especially intimate ones-outside
one's caste. Violating them isn't
done without great personal
and social risk."
"Mohan says
differently."
She arched a brow. "Mohan
has been saying a great deal
lately, hasn't he?"
"Change of subject, darling.
It's not going to work. Mohan
thinks you'll marry his
father."
Her jaw dropped. And for some
insane reason his spirits
soared.
"I don't know why he'd tell
you such a thing, Aiden. He
knows full good and well that would
never happen." She
pursed her lips for a second,
then took a deep breath. "What
I'm going to tell you must remain
between us, Aiden. It goes
no further. Promise me."
He nodded and she went on.
"If
Mohan's
father had been
willing to take an English woman
as either a wife or a mistress,
he and my mother would not have
had to maintain the
clandestine nature of their
affair for all the years they did.
But the price of openly admitting
it would have been too
great for Kedar."
"Kedar?"
"Mohan's father. His name is
Kedar."
"What would have been the
consequences?"
Alex sighed, knowing that only a
Briton would have to ask
the question. "Congress with
a woman some consider an Untouchable?
Those that want the throne for
themselves would
have been delighted
to
have that
weapon
to
use
against him."
"So why would he risk even a
secret affair?"
''They loved each other,
Aiden," she said, squeezing his
hands. ''They
dared
as much as
they could. Kedar had to outwardly
pretend otherwise, but he was
devastated when
Mother suddenly fell
ill
and
died."
"Who wants the throne? Who
opposes Kedar's rule?"
"It's India," she
replied with a quiet snort. ''The easier
question
to
answer
would be who doesn't want his throne?"
"A related truth.
If
you had to
come up with a short list of
likely plotters, who would be on
it?"
There was no point in trying to
divert him. He was going
to persist until he simply
couldn't go any further. "At the top
of it would be his cousin Kalin
and his younger brother
Hanuman."
"Do you have any idea of
where they might be?"
''When I left India, they were at
court. I assume they're
still there.
Kedar
doesn't
dare let them out of his sight."
"Are they wealthy men in
their own right?"
''I
can see the lines along which you're thinking, Aiden.
Yes, they have the resources
necessary to reach
all
the way to
England. But it's Kedar's and
Mohan's deaths that would benefit
them, not mine. I'm of no
consequence to them whatsoever."
He frowned and stared down at
their hands. "So, we're
back to the original question,
Alex. Who wants
to
harm
you?"
''No one, Aiden. Absolutely no
one."
"What about those who resent
a British presence in the
court on general principle?"
She groaned and slumped back
against the seat. He could
be so relentless, so exhausting.
"In the first place," she began
with all the patience she could
muster, "their protests are
largely hollow. As much as they
dislike being under British
rule, they're realistic enough to
know that there's an advantage
in understanding the ways of the
rulers. And in the second
place, they lack the power and
wherewithal to do
anything more than verbally rail.
As long as Mohan's father
remains firm in his commitment to
working with the British,
the worst they can do is be
unpleasant."
''Alex,'' he instantly countered,
his gaze coming up to meet
hers, "I have never believed
that those two thugs came into the
Blue Elephant to steal the
silver. That might have been the
pretense or the second thought,
but it wasn't the primary reason.
I think they were sent in with
instructions to either take
you to someone-our shadow
warrior-or to simply take you
out and kill you. There has to be
a reason why."
"If
there is, I have no idea what it might be, unless it's
to
make getting to Mohan
easier."
"If
that's what they wanted, then I'd be the prey. And I'm
not. It's
you."
Heaven forbid that he ground
supposition on reality. She
studied him as he stared out the
window. He was so determined
to see. So very worried that he
couldn't. Her heart
swelled and her irritation melted
away.
"I understand," she
said, shifting on the seat so that she
reclined against his chest again,
"that rugby uniforms are really
quite form-fitting.
Inspirationally so." His arms slipped
around her and she added,
"Not that you need the assistance
of clothing to do that, of
course."
"You're flirting dangerously
close to the edge, darling.
You have been
all
afternoon."
"I know," she replied,
reveling in the warmth of his body
against hers, the rich rumble of
his voice as it passed into
her.
''At some point I'm going to draw
the line and dare you to
cross it."
"I know that, too."
He nibbled the edge of her ear,
whispering, "Ask me not
to play."
"No," she replied, a
lusciously warm shiver cascading
through her. "You promised
Hawkins you'd be there."
"Which
I
sincerely regret."
''All
things happen when they're meant to. And not a moment
before."
Moaning quietly, he gently pushed
aside the hair at her
nape. "Patience," he
said, brushing his lips over her skin,
"isn't my long suit."
Savoring another delightful
shiver, Alex tilted her head to
afford him better access, certain
that, despite his claims, he
was the most remarkably, gently
patient man she would ever
know.
Aiden stepped out of the carriage
acutely aware that James
Crumb was a considerably slighter
man. The only possible
salvation lay in the condition of
the field. After the first slide
or two through the mud and muck,
the fabric might give
enough to allow him to breathe.
"Oh, my."
He looked over his shoulder. Alex
stood by the front
wheel, her brow arched as she
slowly looked him up and
down. Jesus. What she could do to
him with a wicked little
smile. Add in the devilish
twinkle in her eye ... "Darling,"
he said, turning away before she
could do any further damage
to his self-control. ''These
breeches are entirely too snug
for you to be looking at me like
that."
Suppressed laughter rippled
brightly through her voice.
"I'm sorry. Have fun, but do
be careful out there.
If
you tear
something, you're going to reveal
what precious little you've
left to my imagination."
Walking onto the field was both
an act of supreme denial
and desperate self-defense. At
the edge of his vision, he saw
movement and the colors of the
Blackthorn team. He fixed
his vision on the knot of his
teammates and kept going.
"How on earth did you manage
to find yourself such a
pretty little half-caste?"
He knew the voice, the son of a
bitch who went with it,
and that he was talking about
Alex. Being half. English and
half something else didn't matter
to Aiden in the least. Purity
of ancestry did matter to other
people, though, and
clearly Geoffrey Walker-Hines was
one of them. His teeth
clenched, Aiden ignored him and
kept walking, hoping he'd
go away.
"Did you bring her out of
India yourself?" Walker-Hines
persisted, falling in beside him.
"Is that where you've been
these past two years?"
Damnation. He'd been in such a
good mood. And now,
just one narrow-minded bastard
later ... Deciding to put an
end to it, Aiden stopped and
faced the other squarely. "Not
that it makes any
difference," he began, "but for the record,
Geoff, my mother's American
Irish. Strictly speaking, I'm
the half-caste mongrel. Alex's
parents were both British."
"And you believe that
story?" the other snorted, smirking.
"I spent my entire two-year enlistment
garrisoned in India.
She looks British, but the way
she carries herself is Indian.