King's Ransom

by Diana Palmer

  She stopped, touched by the way he expressed the memory. "But he said..."

  "Yes?"

  He looked dangerous. She hesitated. "Well, he said you wanted to leave here because I was driving you up the walls."

  He smiled. "You are."

  She was confused, and looked it.

  He got up from the sofa and took away her purse and coat, depositing them on a chair. "Sit down and have some coffee. I made it. It is surprisingly good, for a first attempt."

  She couldn't have imagined Ahmed making coffee. But he was right. It was good.

  He sat near her and leaned forward, his dark eyes intent. "I told Lang nothing except that I dislike the risk of remaining here."

  "Because of all that catered food?" she prompted.

  "Because I find you much too desirable," he said solemnly. "You have no knowledge of men, or of the deceit even an honorable man can employ when desire rides him hard. It was dangerous, the way we were together last night at the hospital. You are vulnerable to me, and I to you. I have explained already how I feel about the situation."

  "Yes, I know." She sipped her coffee. "Then if you didn't tell Lang, how did he know?" The coffee cup hung in midair. "Cameras...!"

  "No," he assured her. "There are no cameras in the bedroom. I had my own men sweep it, to make certain. It disturbed me that you might be spied upon as you slept."

  "Thank you."

  "Where is the gown you wore?"

  "I washed it and hung it in the window to dry." She caught her breath. "So that's how...!"

  "A telescope, no doubt," he mused. "And there are microphones which can pick up a heartbeat from a great distance."

  "Oh, dear," she groaned.

  "Lang would not permit such a blatant violation of your privacy," he said, "and my men would not dare eavesdrop on me."

  "I hope you're right. It nauseates me to think that someone might have watched, listened...."

  His dark brows drew together slightly. "You know very little of the world," he said gently. "There are men who think nothing of..." He laughed. "Never mind. It is not fit talk for your ears. Drink your coffee."

  "I suppose you have your pick of women," she murmured without looking at him. "In your position, I mean. Diplomats travel in high social circles, and you're not bad looking."

  "You flatter me."

  Her eyes lifted, searching his impassive face. "I've never had much time for dating. I went out a time or two, but Mama was unwell a lot after Tad was born, and I had to help her look after the house, and after him. Most boys weren't interested in me anyway. I was always thin." She fingered the coffee cup. "After the wreck, I thought my hip looked horrible."

  He laughed gently, without malice. "And now?" he teased. "What do you think of it now?"

  She smiled back. "I think that you were very kind."

  "I had a great deal more than 'kindness' in mind, Brianna," he said softly. "You are very desirable. I find myself lusting after you, and that is why I wish to leave here. An affair between us would be a tragic thing."

  "There must be many women in your life who would gladly give you what you want," she said demurely.

  He looked very introspective. "Perhaps. But it will be best if Lang can find other accommodations for me. This enforced togetherness will lead to disaster eventually."

  "I haven't any plans to drape myself nude across your bed," she remarked.

  He looked at her with lazy appreciation. "Even the prospect makes my head swim," he murmured. "You realize that I would find it impossible to resist you?"

  "I would find it impossible to behave in such a way," she confessed. "I want to explain..."

  The ringing of the telephone, an unusual event, stopped her in mid sentence. She dived for it, listened for a minute and went deathly pale. She hung up.

  "Brianna, what is it?" he asked softly.

  "It's Tad," she said numbly, her eyes tragic and shocked. "He's gotten worse. I have to go to him...."

  "You are in no condition to drive. Get your coat."

  He phoned for a cab, certain that the agency had bugged the telephone.

  Sure enough, when they got to the curb, there was Lang with the limo. He packed them inside grimly and sped toward City General without a word.

  Tad's frail body convulsed over and over again. Brianna watched until she began to cry. Ahmed drew her into his arms and comforted her all through it. He refused to leave her, even when the doctor came and gave her a sedative.

  "How is she?" Lang asked when Ahmed reappeared from the room they'd given her.

  "She is not well," he replied. "She has spirit, but even so much will eventually give way. The boy's condition is dangerous. He may very well die."

  "And if he doesn't?" Lang asked.

  Ahmed pursed his lips. "Then he may come out of it," he said with a smile. "This is what the doctor hopes. It is evidence of frenetic brain activity, which can go either way. For Brianna's sake, I hope the boy recovers."

  "When will they know?" Lang asked.

  "Soon, I hope."

  And it was. Minutes later, Ahmed was called in by Dr. Brown, who was laughing with tears running down his cheeks. "Come and look," he said. "Then I'll let you wake Brianna and tell her."

  He drew the tall Arab to the ICU, where a young boy's eyes were open and he was being examined by another doctor. He looked at Ahmed with fuzzy curiosity.

  "He will recover?" Ahmed asked.

  "With treatment and time, of course!"

  Ahmed paused long enough to tell Lang before he burst into the room where Brianna was sleeping restlessly.

  "Wake up, darling," he whispered, unaware that he'd even used the word. "Wake up, let me tell you."

  She opened her eyes heavily, peering at him through a fog of tranquilizers.

  "What is it? He's gone?" she asked suddenly, choking on the word.

  "No! He's awake. He's come out of the coma, Brianna. He's going to be all right!"

  She sat up, clinging to Ahmed's strength while she fought to be lucid. "Tad's all right," she echoed. "Oh, thank God!"

  He held her while she cried, then helped her as she struggled to get to her feet.

  "Steady, darling," he said gently. "You'll keel over." He helped her into her shoes, unaware of the endearments he was whispering to her.

  She leaned on his arm and walked into the ICU, dazed and stunned and deliriously happy when she saw Tad's blue eyes sparkle with sudden recognition.

  "Sis... ter?" he whispered.

  His voice sounded strange. It was the long period of disuse, Dr. Brown assured her.

  "Tad," Brianna whispered back, smoothing his dark hair. "I love you, Tad."

  "Love you," he managed to say. "Mom? Dad?"

  She looked, anguished, at the doctor. He nodded solemnly. She looked back at Tad, forming words she didn't want to speak. "We lost them both. I'm so sorry."

  He began to cry. The sound was haunting. Brianna had had three years to cope with the loss, but to Tad, they were only minutes beyond the terrible wreck. He sobbed, shaking all over, and Brianna gathered him up as best she could with all the tubes and wires, and held him, murmuring comforting words.

  When he was calm again, she laid him back down and dried his tears.

  "We still have each other," she told him. "You can come home and live with me.

  We'll be fine, Tad. Really we will."

  "Head hurts," he murmured.

  "We can give you something for that," Dr. Brown said.

  "No!" Tad grabbed the doctor's hand. "Mustn't!"

  "Don't worry," Dr. Brown said gently. "You won't go under again. You have to trust me."

  He looked at Brianna, terrified. She nodded. "It's all right. None of us wants to lose you now. It's been such a long time, Tad. I've come every other day to see you. I've hardly missed a day at all."

  "I know." He frowned. "Remember.. .your voice."

  She laughed, delighted. "I told you," she said to Dr. Brown.

  "Who is he?" Tad as
ked, looking at Ahmed. "Saw him... through the glass."

  "This is, uh, Pedro," she stammered. "He's a cousin of ours. From Chihuahua," she added helpfully.

  "No cousins... in Chihuahua," he murmured.

  "Oh, now, Tad, you remember Uncle Gonzales, don't you, who married Aunt Margie?" She bit her lower lip.

  "Don't remember... much," he confessed.

  She relaxed. "You will," she promised. "For now, you need to get some rest. Tad, it's so good to have you back!"

  "Good... to be back." He smiled and closed his eyes.

  She looked quickly at Dr. Brown. "He'll be all right," he assured her. "Don't look like that. He'll be fine!"

  "You're sure?"

  "I'm sure." He looked at Ahmed. "Take her home, young man, and give her two of these. She'll sleep. She needs to," He handed Ahmed the tablets.

  "I shall see that she does," Ahmed assured him. He drew Brianna to his side and along the wall to the elevator.

  She let him take her down to the car, where Lang was waiting, beaming. He'd already talked to the doctor. Brianna listened to the conversation, but she was too muzzy and exhausted to register much of it.

  When they got to the apartment, Lang left them at the door. Ahmed herded her inside and gave her the tablets, making sure she swallowed them down with a glass of water.

  "Thank you," she whispered.

  He smiled at her. "For what?"

  "For all you did." "I did nothing."

  "That's what you think." She knew the tablets would take several minutes to take effect, but she was already drowsy. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  "Certainly. Sleep well."

  She nodded, wandering down the hall to her room. She closed the door and walked to the bed, and passed out on it.

  Ahmed found her sprawled there minutes later when he looked in on her.

  He chuckled. It seemed to be his role in life to play valet to her. He removed her clothes and put her into her gown. He almost removed her briefs as well but that would probably send her into hysterics, he decided, when she woke. He slid her under the covers and pulled them up over her.

  Her sleeping face was very vulnerable. He studied her in silence, watching her lips part as she breathed. She looked so fragile like this, and he felt guilty for being a burden to her during his occupancy. He'd have to be more patient.

  There was, of course, no hope of leaving the apartment now. She would need someone with her, and Tad would be coming home soon. He would be needed.

  That was a new, and strange feeling. No one had ever really needed him before on a personal level. He found himself feeling protective of not only Brianna, but of her young brother, as well. Odd feelings for a man in his position.

  Well, he could sort them out tomorrow. He started to rise, but Brianna caught his arm and pulled it to her breasts, murmuring something in her sleep.

  "What is it?" he whispered.

  "Don't...go," she said drowsily, her eyes closed. "Stay." -

  He chuckled softly. She was in for more than a few shocks when she woke, it seemed. He pulled loose long enough to divest himself of everything except his own briefs. Then he climbed in beside Brianna and curled her into his body. She flinched a little at first, at the unfamiliar contact with a man's nearly nude body. But after a minute, she relaxed and curled trustingly back against him.

  It wasn't going to be the most comfortable night of his life, he mused dryly, but he couldn't remember a time when he'd felt more at peace. He closed his eyes. Tomorrow was soon enough to face the implications of what he'd just done.

  Chapter Seven

  Brianna felt a weight on her arm. She moved and fell even closer to a warm, muscular sort of pillow. She must be dreaming. Her hand moved over what felt like a furry animal. It paused and moved again.

  "Careful, chérie," a voice whispered drowsily near her ear. "Such caresses are much too dangerous early in the morning."

  She opened her eyes. A pair of liquid black ones smiled into them. She jerked up, shocked to find herself in bed with Ahmed. The sheet covered his waist, and his chest was bare.

  So was hers, she discovered as the cover fell and she realized that she was nude.

  She jerked the cover closer, flushing violently.

  "It was your idea," he pointed out. "You felt that the gown was too hot, so you removed it. And, uh, apparently everything else. Then you curled into my body and went immediately back to sleep. I confess, I was unable to. I feel like a man who has been through the rigors of hell."

  "The tranquilizers," she stammered apologetically. "I'm not used to drugs.

  They... sometimes make me behave... strangely."

  "I did notice. You made a rather blatant request."

  She groaned and pulled the cover over her head.

  "There, there. I understand."

  "I'm ruined!"

  "Not yet," he mused. "However, if you are still of the same mind you were in last night, I find myself more than capable of accommodating you."

  She groaned again. "Oh, don't!"

  He chuckled, stretching. "It was a revelation, to feel you like that against all of me." He groaned softly. "I confess that I removed the rest of my own clothing, so that I could enjoy the silky warmth of you even more. It took all my willpower not to carry through. You were deliriously soft and sensuous."

  She was staring at his face. "You mean.. .you have nothing on?" she gasped.

  He rolled over onto his side and propped himself upon an elbow. "Not a stitch."

  She chewed her lower lip almost through. "I have to get up.

  He swept his arm toward the side of the bed invitingly.

  "I can't.. .with you looking."

  "How could I not look at something so captivatingly beautiful?" he asked simply. "You are a work of art."

  She flushed. "Well... you mustn't look at me, all the same."

  "Then you wish to have me get out of bed first, n'est-cepas?"

  "Please."

  He searched her eyes with a deep laugh. "Delightful little wretch. Will you hide your eyes in your hands, I wonder, and then peek through them to see what looks like when he is aroused and needful of a woman?"

  She flushed. "You stop that! I won't look!"

  "As you wish." He threw back the covers and got up, stretching so that his body was taut and the muscles rippled all the way up and down. And Brianna, with her hands over her eyes, parted her fingers just enough to get a shocking, blatant view of him. Surprisingly, she couldn't manage to cover her face back up. She took her hands away, her heart pounding, her throat dry, and he turned completely toward her, letting her look.

  "It is not something of which you need be ashamed," he said softly.

  "Oh, my," she said on a shaky breath.

  He smiled. "You flatter me with those big eyes, chérie, but they make it all the more difficult for me to practice restraint." He turned away from her and found his silk briefs and pajama bottoms. He slid them up over his slim hips and snapped them in place before he turned to look at her. The cover had dipped, so that only the tips of her breasts remained covered.

  "Still so shy," he accused. "You slept with me."

  She flushed. "Not... like that."

  "We slept nude, in each other's arms," he said. "Like lovers."

  "But we aren't!"

  He smiled gently. "We will be," he said softly. "The prospect of it makes me dizzy with pleasure. You're silk and satin. Innocent and sweet and brave. What more could a man ask of life than such a woman?"

  "1 won't be your mistress," she managed.

  "Oh, Brianna," he said tenderly, "never could I ask you to be so small a part of my life as that."

  She was puzzled. Her eyes sought his and found only dancing mischief in them. "Well, then, what do you want?"

  "What you whispered in my ear last night as you slept," he said.

  "But I don't remember."

  "You will, at the appropriate time. Get dressed while I make coffee. Tad will be awake and impatient to see you
!"

  "Tad!" She laughed. "It wasn't a dream, then!"

  "No. Not at all. Get up."

  He went out, closing the door behind him. She jumped out of bed and rushed toward the bathroom just as the door suddenly opened again and Ahmed stared at her with rapt delight.

  "Stop that," she said.

  He shook his head and smiled apologetically. "I couldn't resist. Hurry, now." He closed the door again.

  She darted into the bathroom, embarrassed and excited. She had a new lease on life, it seemed, and Ahmed was part of it.

  Tad's eyes lit up when Brianna walked into the new private room he'd been given.

  He looked much better, with some color in his cheeks, and his speech had improved, too.

  "I feel like Rip Van Winkle." He chuckled, his voice a little rusty but much more animated than it had been the day before. "Hi, cousin!" he added, smiling at Ahmed.

  "Good morning, young cousin," Ahmed said indulgently. "I trust you feel more yourself?"

  "I feel much better. I was worried about Bri, though," he confessed, falling naturally back into his old familiar way of addressing her. "They told me she had to be sedated."

  "I'm fine now," she assured him. "I had a good night's sleep and I'm all right."

  "I'm sorry I gave you a fright," he said, wondering at her faint color.

  "You can give me all the frights you want," she told him warmly. "It's so wonderful to have you awake and alert and talking to me. Tad, you're all I've got in the whole world," she added huskily.

  "Not quite, chérie," Ahmed said from behind her, his hand gently smoothing her hair.

  She flushed, looking up into dark, possessive eyes.

  "When can I get out of here and come home?" Tad asked eagerly, changing ins subject.

  "I'll ask your doctor. I'll pester him five times a day until he's desperate to let you leave," she promised dryly.

  "Thanks, sis!"

  But it wasn't that easy to persuade Dr. Brown to dismiss the boy. He insisted that Tad stay long enough for more tests to be conducted, and until they were certain that his body could manage on its own. However, he added with a grin, if Tad's appetite was any indication, keeping him fed was going to be the biggest headache Brianna would have.

  Since the night Brianna had spent in his arms, Ahmed was convinced that marriage to her would solve some of his most pressing problems. The major one would be his hunger for her, which grew by the day. He wanted not only her perfect body but her warm heart and brave spirit. The minor problem would be his country's relations with the United States. Surely it would pave the way for better ones in future if he had an American wife. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that it would be a wise move. The details could come later.Now it was enough that the decision had been made.