“Just holding your wrist. I want to keep track of your pulse for a little while.”
“Blood’s full of bark juice. Might sprout leaves.”
Chuckling, she placed tiny kisses on his face until he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
“GET READY,” DRAKE said over his shoulder. “The cave’s at the top of this rise.”
Kyle Surprise, one hand wrapped tightly around his saddle horn because his horse was determined to make him a tree ornament, pulled a semiautomatic machine gun from the sling on his back. He wondered ruefully if Jeopard would appreciate his greenhorn efforts to ride this damned rock-headed horse.
Kyle just hoped that his brother was all right. He’d arrived from Florida that day, planning to accompany Drake into the mountains and meet the fascinating woman who’d turned Jeopard into a romantic. Kyle had news that would shock them both.
If he weren’t too late. When Drake couldn’t get a response during the six-o’clock radio call, Kyle had feared the worst. Now that he knew why Olaf Starheim wanted Tess dead, he worried more.
Jeopard was a stickler for routine. If he’d said he’d be on the radio at six, only a catastrophe would have prevented it. A catastrophe or capture by Olafs people.
Kyle drew up on his horse’s reins as Drake waved him to a stop. They stepped down from the horses and watched the flickering light of a campfire dance on the outer edges of the cave walls.
“I’ll go first,” Kyle whispered, and in deference to his relationship to Jeopard, Drake moved aside.
Kyle slipped forward with a grace that belied his lanky frame. While Jeopard was put together with compact perfection, Kyle was too long in some places and too short in others.
Still, women told him he was just right in the places that counted, and he was certainly no less athletic than his brother. And no less dangerous, when circumstances demanded it.
He crept to the cave entrance, the lethal little machine gun held in front of him. Listening intently, Kyle heard nothing but the crackling of the fire.
Adrenaline pulsed through him. He dived into the cave, tucked one shoulder and rolled neatly into a crouch, the gun aimed at anything that moved.
Not much did. Jeopard, naked except for a towel covering his groin, lay unconscious on an air mattress beyond the fire. He looked as if someone had scalded him with boiling water.
A beautiful woman with lightly bronzed skin and dark hair stood over him, her feet braced on either side of his body.
She was barefoot, and she resembled some sort of gypsy, in a flowery skirt and clinging white T-shirt. A large gold medallion dangled on a chain over her full breasts. She glared at Kyle with fierce silver-blue eyes.
As she pointed her own machine gun at him, she said in a polite British accent, “I am quite capable of shooting you, if you move one inch.”
Kyle stared at her, amazed.
So this was the Princess of Kara.
CHAPTER 10
TESS NEARLY COLLAPSED from relief when Drake hurried inside the cave and ended the confrontation. She explained what had happened to Jeopard and that he was all right, just sound asleep. She’d heard noises outside and had risen to defend him.
As Jeopard stirred groggily and propped himself up on one elbow, Kyle ran to him and knelt by his side. Tess stepped back to give them privacy, and her heart wrenched at the sight of Kyle’s ravaged face. What neighbor’s dog was capable of this? She knew that there must be more to the story than Jeopard had told her.
What had surely once been handsome was now a patchwork horror outlined by jagged red scars down his cheeks and across the bridge of his battered nose. Scars fronted both of his ears and made pathways through the reddish-blond hair at his temples.
But his eyes, dark blue eyes like Jeopard’s, were so loving and kind that after a moment she noticed nothing but them.
“Damn, you look like an overcooked lobster,” Kyle said hoarsely. Then he leaned forward and kissed the top of Jeopard’s head.
Jeopard grasped his brother’s shoulder affectionately. “I never thought I’d be so happy to hear your insults.”
Kyle lifted the gold chain Tess had slipped around Jeopard’s neck while he slept. He gazed drolly at the antler amulet, then nodded over his shoulder to Drake. “This is the man who refused to be seen with you and me that time in Brazil.”
“Yeah,” Drake grumbled. “Didn’t like our earrings.”
“Simple rhinestone hearts worn on one side only,” Kyle continued, “and we had to wear them so Alvarez’s people could find us. But would my brother let us live that down? Noooo. And yet now he’s wearing deer parts around his neck. Does this strike you as a sudden change in attitude, Drake?”
“Strikes me,” Drake said, nodding.
“Very funny,” Jeopard muttered.
“It’s been in my family for quite some time,” Tess explained. “I believe the Cherokee symbols on it have something to do with my great-great-grandmother’s tribal clan. The Blue clan.”
Jeopard glanced down at it, then up at her. She blushed, wondering how much she’d embarrassed him with her whimsy. He looked back at his brother.
“It’s for spiritual protection,” he explained seriously. “I wear it all the time.”
Tess thought her chest would burst with adoration.
“Oh.” Kyle looked flabbergasted. He put the amulet down carefully.
Jeopard chuckled. “Nice of you to drop by the neighborhood, bro.”
Kyle recovered his cockiness, grinned, and gestured toward the towel that was Jeopard’s only covering. “Wearing loincloths these days?”
“It’s not kind to make fun of lobsters.”
Drake, who’d been examining the blasted radio. came over for a closer look at the angry welts on Jeopard’s body. “What kept you from going into shock?”
“Tess saved my life.” He explained about the bark tea. When Kyle and Drake looked at her in astonishment and admiration, she bowed grandly.
“Have you learned anything new about Tess’s situation?” Jeopard asked.
“Nothing important. It can wait. We have to get some food into that bizarre-looking body of yours.”
Tess noticed Jeopard’s frown and the sharp scrutiny he gave his younger brother, who seemed adept at ignoring him.
THE NEXT MORNING Jeopard waited impatiently until Tess and Drake went to the creek to fill buckets and pots with water. She’d declared that someone in the cave smelled like a spittoon full of rabbit-tobacco juice and therefore needed a bath.
Jeopard knew she was just trying to give him and Kyle time for a private, brotherly powwow.
“What have you found out about Tess?” he asked Kyle as soon as they were alone. Jeopard threw open the sleeping bag and wrapped himself in a big towel, moving gingerly because his welts throbbed and itched.
Kyle brought a large envelope out of a saddlebag and sat down cross-legged beside the mattress. He tossed the envelope to Jeopard and looked intently into his eyes.
“How important is she to you?”
“I love her.”
“That’s obvious. Does she love you?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve known each other for such a short time.”
“We’ve barely been apart since the day we met. It doesn’t have to be rational.”
“Those are words I never thought I’d hear from Jeopard Surprise’s mouth.”
“Oh? Listen to this. I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
Jeopard watched closely as his brother’s expression turned grim.
Kyle nodded toward the envelope. “Open it.”
Jeopard pulled out an old color photograph clipped from Life magazine.
“Look at that face. Tell me what you see.”
Jeopard frowned at the close-up of a pretty blond woman wearing a tiara. The caption underneath said simply, “Kara’s Popular Monarch—Queen Isabella.” He saw aristocratic features and silver-blue eyes.
Tess’s eyes.
Recognition s
lammed into his stomach and took his breath away. Jeopard held the clipping in one hand and covered the lower half of the queen’s face with the other.
“She’s Tess’s mother,” Kyle said softly.
Stunned, Jeopard continued to stare at those haunting eyes. He removed his hand and saw other likenesses—a certain tilt to the mouth, a familiar curve in the jaw.
“Hank Gallatin had an affair with the queen,” Kyle explained. “They met twenty-eight years ago when the palace hired him to find the diamonds Royce Benedict stole. The irony was that Royce and Hank were pals.
“Hank got the diamonds back without incriminating his friend, but one of Royce’s enemies blew the whistle. Royce went to prison, though he never blamed Hank for that. Anyway, Queen Isabella and Hank Gallatin developed a relationship. She was committed to the king by a polite, socially correct marriage with all the right bloodlines. She and the king had no children.
“The king and the country were her duty; apparently Hank Gallatin was her pleasure. We’re not talking a casual affair here, Jep. Their relationship began two years before Tess was born and lasted until Gallatin’s death.”
A sense of foreboding wound around Jeopard’s chest. “Where do Karl and Viktoria Kellgren fit into this?”
“Friends of the queen’s. She wanted to stay close to Tess, and she knew Gallatin would need help raising her. The Kellgrens loved Tess like their own blood. It was a perfect arrangement.”
“What about the blue diamond? Did Benedict steal it too?”
“No. He had nothing to do with it. The Blue Princess was one of the queen’s favorites, and she thought it was ordinary enough that no one would question her if she said that she’d lost it. Of course, she didn’t lose it at all—she gave it to the Kellgrens to pass along to Tess.”
“But she never acknowledged Tess publicly,” Jeopard said with disgust.
“It wasn’t because of shame. The Karan people would have welcomed any child of Isabella’s, legitimate or not. But Isabella didn’t want Tess to lead the kind of regimented, cloistered life she’d had. She was trying to protect her.”
Jeopard numbly laid down the magazine clipping. “How’d you learn all of this?”
“From the Kellgrens. I got Brett Sanders from the State Department to convince them that I was on their side; Sanders is an old friend of theirs. They’re terrified, Jep. They know now that Olaf won’t stop until he eliminates Tess.”
Jeopard gave his brother a troubled look. “Even though she’s illegitimate, she’s the heir to the throne?”
“Yes.”
“Can the Kellgrens prove what they told you?”
“Yes. Sanders went over their documentation and said it’s indisputable
Jeopard stared at Queen Isabella’s photograph and fought an urge to toss it into the campfire.
“Jep?” Kyle asked gently. “You look pretty damned miserable
Jeopard raised his gaze dully and said in a gruff, anguished tone, “How can I ask Tess to give up a kingdom?”
SHE WISHED THAT Kyle hadn’t quit joking around her and that Drake had whispered an apology for selecting such a racy bra for her. They were treating her differently now, and she didn’t want to be different.
She just wanted Jep to stop looking at her with a guarded, fathomless expression, as if he no longer thought it wise to share his feelings with her.
“It’d be best to meet your grandparents—uh, Karl and Viktoria Kellgren, that is—in Kara,” Kyle told her. “Our State Department man has already been in touch with the Karan prime minister. To say that you’ve caused some excitement is an understatement.”
Tess paced back and forth, her fingertips pressed to her temples. Even now, an hour after Jeopard had quietly explained her heritage to her, she felt that her head would burst with the enormity of it all.
“Is this the only way?” she asked, and looked at Jeopard wistfully. “To go there and stake my claim?”
He nodded, his eyes shuttered. Oh, she knew that private, neutral look too well, and it made her ache with loneliness.
“Going public is the only way you can protect yourself from Olaf.”
“And that’s all I need to do? Then I can come back home?”
There was a strained silence in the cave. Drake, leaning against one wall, shifted awkwardly and looked out at the clouds. Kyle stared at the floor. Only Jeopard met her gaze directly.
“Tess, you’re heir to one of the oldest and richest monarchies in Europe. The Karan people revered your mother, and they don’t want Olaf to be king. They’ll probably welcome you with open arms. Think about the life you’ll inherit.”
He began to list on his fingers. “Two hundred million dollars—and that’s just your mother’s personal fortune, Tess. She also had an extraordinary collection of jewelry. A royal yacht that sleeps one hundred and fifty people. Homes all over the world, including two palaces in Kara.”
Jeopard smiled wearily. “The fastest sports cars in the world. Any car you want, Tess. A whole fleet of Jaguars.”
“Oh, my,” she said in a weak voice. Tess fingered the gold medallion around her neck and looked down at it numbly. Her voice broke. “I’ve discovered two wonderful heritages
She raised her head and gave Jeopard a beseeching look. “But I don’t know where I belong anymore.”
“You can be a Cherokee and a Scandinavian queen at the same time.”
Her heart thudded with a strange feeling of dread. “How do you feel about all this?”
He gave her one of his perfect, noncommittal smiles. “I’m happy for you, of course.”
Tess stared at him with disbelief. She’d thought they’d put those kinds of deceptive games behind them, but he was shutting her out of his real emotions just as he had before. It hurt her more than she could put into words.
Everything was changing, even Jeopard’s feelings for her.
Tess drew herself up proudly. “I’m going to the creek,” she announced, her voice shaking. “I need to think.”
Jeopard, who was now dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, rose from his mattress. He was still a little weak, but recovering quickly. “I’ll go with you.”
“No. Since I seem to be something other than a normal human being now, I don’t need company.”
“Tess, calm down—”
“I really would like to be alone.” She felt as if she already were.
“All right,” he said slowly, his voice grim.
Tess left him standing there, his emotions closed within a vault that she no longer had the power to open.
HE’D CAUSED HIS own destruction. The aborigine shaman had been right: Jeopard had brought it on himself. And there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it except sit on his side of the campfire and watch with anguish as Tess remained sitting at the cave entrance, where she’d been since supper, staring into the night sky.
Jeopard ground his teeth together. But wasn’t he doing the best thing for them both? He couldn’t complicate her new life with a commitment to him. She was only twenty-six years old; she was going to have fame and wealth beyond imagination.
How could she tie herself to a private, moody man with a past that would feed the world media’s gossip mill? A man who was ready to settle down and have children? A man who wanted nothing more grand than to stay in these mountains alone with her?
Kyle rose from his spot by the fire. “Well, good night,” he announced dramatically. “We’re going to have a long day tomorrow. Let’s leave by dawn. Tonight I’m ‘going to water,’ myself, Tess. The sound of the creek might make me forget how much I hate camping out.”
“Me too,” Drake said, and vaulted up. He busied himself grabbing his sleeping bag and a few pieces of gear, just as Kyle was doing. “We’ll see you two in the morning. ‘Night.”
Cupids, Jeopard thought darkly. Two large, bumbling Cupids.
“There’s no need,” he told them. Can’t you apes see what I’m trying to avoid here? “Stay put.”
Tess sw
iveled her head and tortured Jeopard with her wounded gaze. “Are you uncomfortable in my royal presence?” Before he could say anything else she told Kyle and Drake, “Thank you. And good night.”
They hurried out, sensing the upcoming battle like two old war horses, and anxious to get out of harm’s way. Jeopard thought ruefully.
Tess rose, went to the lantern that lit the cave, and brusquely turned it off. Star-softened darkness surrounded the campfire like a lover and enhanced its flickering light.
Jeopard’s skin tingled with alertness and a sense of anticipation that was blatantly erotic, no matter how much he wanted to ignore it. She walked to the end of his mattress and stood looking down at him.
Then she began to undress.
Given the privacy of the shadows. Jeopard let his mouth drop open. What kind of tactic was this? No. No.
“Don’t do it, Tess,” he warned in a husky voice.
She flung her shirt and shorts onto the ground, followed them with her underwear, and stood there defiantly, a mysterious Cherokee war woman outlined in sensual detail by the firelight.
“I want to see if you can make love to me the way you did that first night on the Irresistible,” she said in a haughty tone. “Without emotion.”
He groaned inwardly. “It wasn’t without emotion. I just couldn’t let you see how much you affected me.”
“You’re awfully good at that. I won’t have it, you hear? I won’t be shut out now as if I’m some strange, rare beast at the zoo. You can’t keep me at a distance.”
“Yes, I can,” he murmured. “I’ve spent all of my adult life learning how to do that with people.”
She knelt on the mattress and crawled slinkily up to him, a ferocious cat on the prowl. “It won’t wash, Sundance. Give up. I’ve got your number. You can’t tell me that you want me less, now that I’m royalty.”
“We need to back away from each other. There are going to be a lot of changes in your life, a lot of new opportunities …”
He gasped as she ran a hand up the inside of his thigh and caressed him through his shorts. “What does that have to do you and me?” She skimmed her hand over the rock-hard bulge at the apex of his thighs. “Yes, you want me as much as ever. If this is the only way you can show your love for me right now, I’ll take it.”
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