“No,” he uttered, coldly. “He’d kill you if he knew how much you enjoy this, with me.”
“Why do you hate me so?” she cried weakly. “Do you just hate everything?”
For an instant Raine wanted to tell her. Her questions had set his fury boiling again, reminding him who she was; the fruit of the evil monarch’s loins. The king wanted him dead—but for more reasons than just her abduction. The sovereignty had murdered his family, taking from him all that he cherished.
He almost began telling her who he really was but caught his rational. He couldn’t make his identity known, for it might jeopardize his mission.
No, he’d put his loathing into taking her ...
Sarra gasped from his harsh entry, the tears springing into her eyes ... and then he became slow and deliberate, imploring himself upon her, mercilessly building up the searing heat until she bucked up violently in will-less ecstasy ... and then he was callous again, never so unfeeling before.
Sarra shut her eyes tightly when he rolled off her and tied her wrists to the bed. He cared nothing about her quiet crying, he seemed to want her to. Without a word he stormed from the cabin, slamming the door behind him.
She had a long while to stare at the blue sky beyond the window; he was punishing her, showing his dominance over his captive. She couldn’t recall ever knowing such desolation, such all-consuming loneliness. She felt like she had been violated—she had been violated. Why had she asked him for answers!
She didn’t acknowledge him when he finally returned, closing the door quietly. He came to untie her, and she turned her back to him. She was listless when he came down next to her, pulling her up against him. He had mellowed, and now he was content just to hold her, ignoring her wincing while he softly caressed her cheek, her hair, as if apologizing.
“Princess ... I’m ...”
Sarra had but one thing to say. “My father. He’s not corrupt.”
Silence.
“He’s not corrupt.”
“Perhaps not,” he sighed, clearly unconvinced.
She struggled out of his hold and went to the window. She blinked back her emotion and stiffened when he came up from behind, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Princess—” he began.
“No!” she choked. “I don’t want to! I don’t want to talk again, at all.”
He lifted her up into the cradle of his arms and carried her back to the bed. This time he had her tenderly, soothing away her rueful tears.
***
The sun came bright and cheery into the sky, but Sarra started her day in a black and dour mood. Recalling yesterday, she glared at Raine who was slumbering peacefully. She rose and donned her masculine shirt before venturing outdoors in search of a meal.
While picking choice ambrosia fruits, a slight rustling caught her ear. She turned and saw how a tall and dark form flashed, obscured and moving within the foliage.
A shriek of surprise tore from her and she flew back into the cabin, bumping into Raine who had an M-5 in his hand.
“What is it?” he asked anxiously.
“Someone—in the garden!”
He hurried into his leggings, and she hid behind him, hanging onto his arm for protection.
“Princess—it’s me! Are you here, Nick?” a familiar, deep voice called.
Somberly, green and blue eyes met. The fantasy was over.
Raine sighed and put the gun down on the table.
And there stood Darius. A glad smile spread across his large jowls while he rushed to clap his friend heartily on the back. “I should have known not to worry!” he exclaimed.
“Me, too,” Raine said, with mutual relief.
When Darius saw the princess’ regal face, and how she looked as stunning as always, momentarily he could find no words. He remembered his common duty and fell into a sweeping bow. “Your Royal Highness. I’m sorry that I startled you.”
She hadn’t seen this much respect for a while. “You are forgiven, Darius,” she murmured, and glanced coolly at Raine.
He scowled and rescued the Arab from his humility, ushering him out to the lawn. “You must tell me the news ...”
Sarra didn’t bother to follow them. She stayed back in the doorway, straining to hear their private conversation until, exasperated, she gave up. She took the illegal M-5 in hand and studied the silver metal, feeling oddly miffed that he hadn’t told her about it. Where had it been hidden?
Darius’ heart twittered when he entered the cabin, and he sputtered nervously, seeing the gun in the princess’ possession. He slapped at Raine’s arm and pointed, but the man didn’t seem too concerned.
“Put that down,” Raine warned, calmly. “It’s dangerous.”
Sarra snorted irritably, but obeyed. “I know it’s dangerous! What—do you think I’m stupid?”
Worried, Darius studied them. He realized that they both were busy ignoring each other. Something was different about them ... but it would be absurd to suspect that they were lovers! She was angry with her abductor, but why hadn’t she escaped when she had the chance? He snatched up the M-5 and gave it to the reckless owner.
Raine sauntered over to his side of the bed, bent, and lifted up part of a plank. He placed the weapon in the compartment under the floor.
Sarra pouted. “You could have told me.”
He shrugged.
Their baffled rescuer decided that he wouldn’t even try to figure it out. “So!” he said cheerily. “Are we all ready? We’ve a long journey ahead of us.”
After Sarra dressed—feeling like a dwarf wearing Raine’s baggy white shirt and black leggings—she waited by the auto parked near the garden while the men secured the cabin. Raine was clothed entirely in black, and he had shaved off his beard, seeming like he wanted to also cast away and forget about the time they had shared here. Tears threatened her, for she could never return to this wilderness, this utopia her spirit had come to love.
Hiding her sadness with petulance, she pushed off Raine’s assisting hand, crawling by herself into the auto’s trunk, into a secret compartment at the base of the modified vehicle. Briefly, she wondered what Darius’ usual unlawful cargo was as she lie down in the cramped, long and narrow space. Her eyes widened, seeing that she was to have company. Raine followed, having no room but to lay sideways and crook an arm around her head.
Darius said, “Sorry, Princess Sarra. This is the only way.”
Raine assured, “We’ll be fine. Just be careful.”
The top came down and everything turned black. Sarra felt claustrophobia pressing in, hearing the containers being placed above them—decoys that would appear to fill a normal auto’s only trunk. She gulped rapidly, fearful that she would suffocate.
“Shhhh,” he comforted.
The engine began to hum quietly, and there was motion as the craft lifted a short distance off the ground and began riding a carpet of air. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, becoming aware of the sunlit crack near their feet. The breeze also filtered through the one near their heads, sweeping briskly over them. She relaxed, calmer, but was soon consumed by trembling. With him so near, his desire against her thigh, even after his cruelty to her yesterday, she wanted to react.
In a stubborn effort to maintain her control, she tried to push him away. “Let go of me!” she demanded sharply.
Raine was sympathetic to her sour mood, for he tasted the emotion, as well. Reality ruled again—it would all be over soon. But it wasn’t, yet. “I want to make love to you,” he whispered.
“Here?” she breathed. “We can’t!”
“There’s no such word.”
He set out to prove that anything was possible, raising both of their shirts above the breast and pressing her bare womanliness against him. He worked her leggings down to the knees and did the same with his own, and he met her, spreading the fire within her. There was no room for wild passion and little air, and he took her slowly, savoring each thrust, every enigmatic sensation. Dizzy, she tangled her hands i
n his silken hair, wanting the fervor never to stop ... awed when it ended in soft jolts of paradise.
He let out a husky groan, captivated.
They had scarcely composed themselves before their driver raised the secret lid, daring to let them out for a moment into the wilderness. When Darius, quietly quizzical and embarrassed, locked them back in, eroticism began again. Like an enemy, the hours assailed upon them, blending and passing too quickly—perhaps this was the last day they would have together. Satiated, she turned her face away from his breast. She was thankful for the darkness, for he couldn’t see her silent tears while she feared how she could bear to be without this.
***
Sarra became aware that Raine was prompting her to wake.
“We’re here,” he said soberly.
She was listless and drowsy, uncaring about where she was or even about her fate as she climbed out of the auto into the idle shipping port. Darius gave his good-byes and strode off, and Raine ushered her into an elevator. They were silent while the box climbed, and when it opened they moved out into a narrow hall. He chose a door that parted to show a spacious apartment, the contemporary decor done in classic white and black hues.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
Hesitantly, she nodded.
In the adjoining room, the sight of the downy bed gave her spirits a lift—perhaps they would have another night? As he searched through the wardrobe, she went to the window and saw the twilight fading its color. He came near, giving her a nightgown.
“You had best wear something with Darius around.”
In the bath, the suite’s third and final room, Sarra hastily changed into the golden, luxurious nightgown. She used the brush on the vanity to swiftly untangle her long tresses, eager for his presence. When she returned to him and crawled into the bed, she felt his appreciative green eyes upon her. But, all he did was tuck her in. Suddenly shy and confused, she held the black sheet to her chin. He bent to give her brow an affectionate kiss.
“I’ll be back. I have business to attend to.”
Disappointed, she watched him until he moved from sight. The main door beeped as it locked.
Restless, Sarra tossed and turned, wanting to stay awake until he returned.
“I have become too accustomed to sleeping within his arms,” she chided, and added a spirited curse.
She yanked back the bedding and paced a while before pausing at the window. Wanting the night air, she touched the wall panel and was surprised to find that it wasn’t locked, that the glassy wall did silently slide apart, making an exit onto the balcony.
A gentle gust of wind struck her as she stepped out on the long balcony that serviced two other rooms, one of the rooms occupied, the windows lit. Carefully, she wrapped her hands around the breast-high railing and balanced herself against the lower meshwork of billets, leaning a bit over the dangerous edge. Below her a sea fanned out endlessly, rolling toward the shore and breaking upon the huge, murky rocks with a quiet roar. The cool mist bathed her, along with the silver moonlight that fell in fluid streams, shimmering hazily upon the dark waves. The star-sprinkled sky eased away her troubles, making her want to forget about everything and just feel the serenity, until ... She heard Raine’s laughter, faint and broken on the breeze.
A strange foreboding gripped her while she crept down the balcony, toward the open window of the room where his and Darius’ voices emanated.
Darius was scolding Raine. “You have changed so!” he cried. “The hatred is taking you over! Your father—your family would not want this!”
“That I’ll never know, will I?” Raine asked, sardonically.
“You’re taking their deaths out on her, aren’t you? Poor innocent girl, making her the victim of your vengeance.”
“She’s not innocent.”
Sarra held her breath.
“You did have her!” Darius exclaimed.
“Of course I had her. Can you blame me? Near her, all those days ... A man can do nothing else.”
“Friend, I have known you since we were schoolmates on Adriel. Look at everything I have done for you. I let you hide her on my estate, and in the process I’ve had the full weight of the law come down on me. And the traitor who caused it could be anyone waiting to stick a knife in my ribs—who knows? Even though your ship that you crashed was registered under your other alias, I don’t know if the FAS really bought my story that ‘Nathan Christian’ was just a client of mine. I had a hard time convincing them, when they raided my estate, that I knew nothing about her abduction—and you can imagine how difficult it was to explain that the princess was never there when the damn traitor said that she was!”
“‘Nathan Christian’ is laid to rest, ‘his’ remains obliterated in the ship’s explosion, and that’s that,” Raine replied.
“That’s that?” Darius exclaimed. “Easy for you to say! You have dragged me into this ransom scheme of yours ... Like I said, I had the Revolutionary scouts send word out to the king, telling him that she still lives, and he does believe that. But, the FAS aren’t stupid, and if this keeps up they’ll figure out that our antagonist isn’t just a loony playing a hoax on them. I’m still a suspect. They would have tracked me to you if not for Cronala. Did you know I had to use her as a decoy? She’s at my hideaway—I know that they’re watching her, thinking that I’m still there. I’ve got to get back to her by morning—I didn’t want to get her so involved in this!”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” he replied. “What matters is that the king knows that we still have our hostage. We’ll just have to be more careful in the future.”
“There might not be a future! Don’t you see how risky it’s all becoming? Aren’t you worried at all about how the traitor could be so close to find out the signature code of your ship? When we were monitoring the FAS and heard that they had locked on to your signal and suspected that she was aboard, I feared that that was the end for us all!”
“Well, it wasn’t. It worked out rather well. We’ll find out the identity of the traitor. He’ll slip up,” he added, confidently.
“You are too reckless, too bold. It seems I can’t trust anyone anymore—you have sunk to a new low! What am I to do with you? How could you do it? Raping the princess royal!”
“You, friend, give me little credit. She was quite willing. The princess, who you regard so highly, has the morals of a whore. All lofty with her title, but you get her in bed ... I can say that there were times when she raped me.”
“No! She would not willingly fall on her back for you! A Revolutionary? Her abductor?”
“Blame it on my charm.”
“Your charm!”
“I think she’s in love with me.”
“In love with you? Insane! Have you told her who you are?”
“Are you insane?”
“You have done it this time, my friend. Manipulating a virgin—and just how do you feel about her?”
“Lust—for the woman. But my feelings for who she is haven’t changed. You know I loath her.”
“You have ice in your veins! What will happen to her? What if King Ellis doesn’t comply? The scouts are still waiting—he should have delivered, by now. If he doesn’t comply, are you prepared?”
“If the king is so vile that he would sacrifice his own daughter for his greed, then we will go the way of violence and kill her and the king, and everyone in the government. But this is only if it comes to war—and if she doesn’t kill me first with her wild bed-play.”
“You talk of taking her and killing her in one breath!”
“Darius, Darius. Calm down. What’s the harm? She’s no longer chaste. A tamed prisoner is easier to handle. The king will comply—I’m not sure why he’s stalling, but I’m sure that we’ll find out. We’ll just compensate. And I’ll deal with the consequences for what I have done, later, when it’s over. But until then, I may as well enjoy her.”
“No! You must stop this right now!”
“Sorry. I plan to have her ag
ain, tonight. She wants it. Come and offer to rescue her. You’ll see what I mean.”
Sarra stumbled back and her hip met the balcony’s railing. She caught her balance and moved ... and her next awareness was that she was on the bed, slamming the pillows with her fists.
She heard a sound and gasped and whirled, but it was only the breeze rustling through the doorway. She flew over to hit the wall panel, and the window closed soundlessly, leaving only a wisp of Myrrh’s fragrance in the room. She dove back onto the bed and scurried under the sheets. Then she became still.
She scrunched up her visage painfully as the vow came.
“I will escape him this very night or I will die—by his hand, or mine.”
Sarra had never experienced such hatred, such molten rage that made her blood rush wildly through her veins. With such a potent singleness of mind, she was able to command her loud seething to stop. She must act like nothing had happened—everything had changed! No, she mustn’t die. She must be around to see that glorious day when the bestial smut would regret his birth—at his execution!
She braced herself when the main door opened. She feigned sleep, even as he shed his clothes and sank down beside her.
“Princess?” he whispered, his voice rich with tenderness.
‘What an actor!’ she silently stormed. “Ummh?” she murmured.
He touched her cheek, and she suppressed the urge to strike at him.
“You’re hot,” he said, concerned. “Are you all right?”
‘What a mockery!’ “Must have been dreaming,” she said while she yawned and stretched.
“Good or bad?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“Let’s make good dreams,” he wooed, and began sliding her out of her nightgown.
If she weren’t the princess royal, it would be her duty to the galaxy to be an actress. This was grand theater! Outwardly she was calm and meek, but inside a tempest blew, one of icy-cold gales. Tamed! Loath! ... In love with! The hurtful words swept through her head and echoed in her ears and shook her very core. His hands lovingly caressed her breasts and she longed to hit them away, but she writhed wantonly beneath him. His tongue traced her lips and she yearned to bite him; she met his kiss with equal ardor. Her palms smoothly traveled his back, though she was nearly overwhelmed to use her long nails to rip his skin from his hip to his nape.
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