Ndari rolled onto her side and reached for the pack, dragging it toward her. She pulled a bottle of wine out of a big side pocket. She tilted it and looked at the label. “Hmm, your man has good taste in wine.” She handed him the bottle, then dug in the pack until she came up with a corkscrew and handed that to him too.
He grunted, pushed himself up and set about opening the bottle for her. When he realized she was eyeing his biceps as he strained to pull the cork out, he took a little more time, milking the moment. When he finished, he handed the bottle back. She took it and began filling one of the glasses. It was a stemless plastic cup, but she didn’t seem to mind. That was one of the things he loved about his Princess. She didn’t enjoy roughing it, but she could if she had to.
She took a small sip, her lips touching the edge of the cup. Her eyes closed as she savoured the red wine. “Mmm,” she said, letting out the sexiest sound he’d ever heard. She licked her lips. “Rich, but not too heavy. A nice blend with notes of cherry and blackberry. I like it.” She leaned back next to him and handed him the glass.
He shook his head. “Hate the stuff.”
She pushed it into his hand and sat next to him, her hip touching his. “Just put it to your lips.” She tilted the glass and once the red liquid touched his lips, she pulled it away. “Now lick your lips.”
He did as she said, fascinated by where she was going with this.
“What do you taste?” she asked eagerly.
Rotten grapes? He didn’t want to disappoint her though, so he said, “It tastes sort of bitter, like beer, except not beer.”
She laughed and pushed the glass toward his face again. “Try it again, but this time think about the flavours.” She allowed a few drops to spill on his bottom lip and then asked, “Tell me what you taste? Is it light, hearty? Do you taste fruit? What kind of fruit? Citrus, berries, apples? Vintners will often infuse the wine with other flavours.”
Keane tried, he really did, but he didn’t think he had much of a palette. Finally, he tried to answer, “I guess it’s in between, not too light, not too heavy, maybe some fruit.”
She grinned at him and he was glad he was making the effort. She turned and reached for the food containers, pulling them toward her. She opened them and perused the contents. She picked up a strawberry and pushed it toward him, touching it to his lips.
He opened his mouth and bit into the juicy fruit. A burst of sweet hit his tongue. He wasn’t really a fruit guy, but strawberries were about to become his favourite food if she kept this up. Those fingers brushing his lips, that look of concentration in her gorgeous startling dark eyes, it all messed with him. His dick felt like it was made of stone and it only got worse with every touch, every glance, even the way her voice sounded.
“Now try the wine again,” she said softly, her voice taking on a tone that suggested she wasn’t unaffected by all the touching.
He took another sip of the wine, just a small one, and was surprised to discover he liked it better. It took on the flavour of the strawberry.
“See!” she said happily. “It’s so much better to pair wines with food when you’re just learning to appreciate them. Here, try some meat.”
She picked up a pepperoni slice and popped it into Keane’s mouth. Now this he liked. He could live off of chunks of meat if he had to and still be a happy guy. Once he finished the pepperoni, she urged him to drink some more wine. He did as she asked and was surprised to discover that once again the wine seemed to pick up the flavour of what he was eating. Or maybe enhanced it? Or vice versa? He didn’t know how it worked, but he liked it. The wine tasted spicier, heavier, when paired with the meat.
“This is actually good,” he commented, surprise in his voice.
She grinned at him, her straight white teeth sparkling in the late afternoon sunshine. “See, you do like wine,” she said happily, then took the glass from his hand and drained it on one long thirsty gulp, tilting her chin back and giving him a glimpse of her long brown throat and the little dip in it as she swallowed the liquid.
He decided that, when she drank like that, he loved wine. Loved imagining his cock in her mouth and that little dip bobbing as she swallowed his cum down that beautiful throat.
“More?” she asked innocently, lifting the bottle and tilting her head.
“More,” he agreed, his voice taking on a hoarse edge.
When she twisted around to reach for the bottle, he adjusted himself as discreetly as he could.
“So, Linton,” she said, using his first name. It felt good when she said it, intimate. “Why are we out here? What are we hoping to accomplish by spending the night in the desert with nothing to separate us and the predators?” She filled the first glass with wine and handed it to him, then filled another one for herself. He was disappointed that she was done sharing.
“The only predator out here you need to worry about, Princess, is yours truly,” he said with a wolfish grin.
She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t contain the quick smile that stretched her lips.
“Thought since you decided to go for a walk, we’d take some time to ourselves, just the two of us,” he continued, leaning back on his elbow and sipping slowly at the wine. It wasn’t so bad when he drank it that way, slowly, while watching her lips caress the edge of her own cup. “You had the right idea, wandering out here by yourself, luring me into this situation. It’s just us, this blanket and the stars.”
“There are no stars,” she pointed out.
“There will be.”
“I’m hoping to convince you to take me back before that happens. I don’t think I can navigate using the stars. As it turns out, my education has been woefully neglected.”
He shook his head. “Nope, we’re sleeping out here tonight. Getting to know each other.”
She sighed in annoyance. “Fine, what do you want to know? Let’s get this over with so you can take me back to civilization.”
He gave her a penetrating stare. It was on the tip of his tongue to give her a joking response, to hit on her. Instead, he demanded, “Everything, I want to know everything about you.”
It was true. She was the most fascinating creature he'd ever met. His scarred heart sat up and noticed every time she was near, every time he heard her voice, whether they were in the same room or not. When her brother called her back home, he felt the loss right away. He would look for her everywhere he went, but she was never there. He felt compelled to seek her out, to understand this strange obsession that took hold of him and wouldn’t let go.
“Tell me why your eyes are so dark a man could get lost in them and never find his way out. Tell me what it was like growing up in this place, in a palace with jewels and finery and such. Tell me about all those wild escapades that got you in trouble. I want to know what makes you happy and what makes you sad.” He stared at her, watching her eyes take on a look of curiosity and wonder as she studied him.
She licked her lips, then she made herself comfortable, laying down on the blanket next to him and snuggling into his side. He held his breath as she pressed herself into his ribcage. Then she tilted her head up, rested her chin on her hand and talked, giving him what he wanted. Everything.
“I got my eyes from my father…”
Chapter Seven
Ndari talked to Keane in a way she’d never talked to anyone before, not even Jaya. She told him not only what it was like to grow up in a palace, but she told him what was in her heart. She described the loneliness of growing up without a single friend, of having parents who were so preoccupied with their royal duties that they didn’t have time for their children, the longing to feel loved, the conflict she felt when her parents were killed. She told him of the love, frustration and admiration she felt for her brother, the Crown Prince Sal Kamala. The man who held her fate in his hands.
“Not anymore,” Keane growled.
“This is nice, Keane. Hanging out here in the desert with you. Really nice, actually.” There was a note of surprise in h
er voice. “But it won’t last. My brother will come to collect me, I will go back to the palace and I will go back into service for the royal family. It was what I was born to do and what I was raised to expect.”
Keane took her chin in his hand and turned her face to his. “Not if you don’t want it.”
“What I want doesn’t matter,” she said.
“It does now,” he assured her. “You won’t worry about the palace anymore. I’ll take care of you.”
She looked at him, at his ruggedly beaten up handsome face. It had become so dear to her in Indonesia. Now, she was starting to wonder what she would do if she had to go even one day without seeing it. She’d missed him so much when she was forced to move back home, like a tearing in her heart.
“What if I want something different?” she asked, challenging him. “What if what I want is something you can’t take care of?”
He thought about it, then shrugged. “Say the word, Princess, and I’ll slay whatever dragon you need and set its corpse at your feet. If you need me to leave you alone, then I will become the shadow you never see. I will be there for you, but I won’t interfere.” He paused, then added, “If that’s what you really want.”
Her mouth opened, but she didn’t know what to say. What did a person say to a declaration like that? His level of devotion was completely uncharted territory for her. The man was both insane and hopelessly romantic. “But why?” she asked. “I don’t deserve this kind of… of thoughtfulness.”
He shrugged. “Whether you deserve something or not has nothing to do with it. Now lay down with me.” He pulled her down and tucked her into his side. “Look at the stars.”
She looked up at the brightly shining sun sinking slowly toward the horizon, still a few hours away from setting, and laughed. She smacked his side. “There are no stars yet, idiot.”
“Then we’ll have to think of something else to do instead.” He rolled on top of her so fast she didn’t have time to protect herself. She brought her hands up to shove at his shoulders, but he was so close and so heavy all she could do was rest her hands against him.
“Keane…” she said warily.
“Shhhh, Princess, we’ve both wanted this from our first conversation. I won’t do anything you don’t want, trust me.”
The vulnerability in his voice and eyes called to her. This giant beast of a man, scarred and hardened by so many years in the mercenary business, was asking her to trust him not to hurt her. And she did. For some reason, she knew that he’d rather cut off a limb than do something irreparable to her.
“I trust you,” she whispered.
And then he kissed her. It wasn’t hard, it wasn’t frantic, it was light and exploratory. She was able to assess the entire thing from beginning to end. His lips were softer than she imagined they would be. His breath was nice, a mixture of wine and the wonderful wildly enticing scent that always surrounded Keane. He moved his lips across hers, brushing, playing, teasing. Her heart sped up and her fingers clenched against his shoulder.
He lifted his head. “Alright?”
She reached up and locked her fingers behind his neck, tugging him back down. “I’m perfect,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”
“I’ll never stop, Princess,” he growled against her mouth and then took her on a sensual journey that engaged all of her senses.
He kissed her and held her for what felt like hours. They laughed, they talked, and they made out. It was the most magical thing that had ever happened to Ndari, and that was saying something considering she had met the Queen of England, went skinny dipping with a famous American actor and watched an eclipse from a zero-gravity airplane.
Keane treated her with the utmost respect as he explored her lips and her body. His hands stayed over top of her clothes and he avoided the erogenous zones she desperately wished he would run those calloused fingers over. She was writhing underneath him by the time he called a halt to their impromptu lovemaking. He rolled off her with a groan, flinging an arm over his face. She giggled at his pained look.
He gave her a fierce glare from under his arm. “You think it’s funny my dick is hard enough to pound concrete?” He rolled over to her again and grabbed her waist. “I’ll give you something to laugh about, woman.”
She shrieked as he tickled her, his strong fingers dancing over her body and pinching her. She laughed hysterically and tried to roll away, but he dragged her back and tickled her until she begged for mercy. He leaned over and spoke in her ear.
“What’ll you give me to stop?”
She laughed. “What are we, twelve?”
He tickled her again and she jerked in his arms, shrieking with laughter. He chuckled. “Try again, Princess.”
“Alright, alright, what if I give you… some jewels?” she asked breathlessly.
He shook his head. “Not interested. I’ll just give them to my sweetheart.” When she frowned up at him, he added, “Which is you, of course.”
“Of course,” she giggled. “So, what do you want from me then?”
His face froze and she felt the sudden intense sobering of his mood. She sucked air into her lungs, feeling both scared and excited for his next words.
“Told you, Princess, I want everything,” he said gruffly, smoothing the hair off her forehead. He kept his hand on her head, cupping her, holding her. “I want your loyalty, your smiles, your humour, your kindness. Everything I saw in you when we were in Jakarta. Everything you shared with Jaya and that damned kitten of hers.”
Ndari couldn’t help herself; a slow, satisfied grin spread across her face. Who knew this psycho mercenary was capable of saying everything right, of melting her heart with his words? “Some of those smiles were for you too.”
“Not enough,” he complained.
She smiled up at him and pulled him in for another kiss, then gave him a shove. “Get off me, the stars are coming out now. If you’re going to make me stay out here and stargaze then I want to see them, not your big head.”
He moved off her, but kept his hand spread across her belly, sending a flurry of butterflies through her. They looked at stars, commenting, laughing, and kissing. She was in heaven. This was the best moment of her life. When they finished all the food and wine Keane dragged a blanket over her. Her eyes were starting to grow heavy. She yawned widely and snuggled against his side. He tucked her against him and held her in a way that made her feel safer than if she were in a palace full of guards.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I can honestly say, I never thought the most romantic thing to ever happen to me would occur while I was stranded in the desert.”
“You aren’t stranded,” he argued. “I know exactly where we are, and I have the means to get us out of here whenever we want to go.”
She thought about it, thought about making their way to civilization, ending their little interlude. “Can we stay here forever?”
He gave her one last kiss before closing his eyes and murmuring, “I will give you whatever you want, Ndari.”
She wanted to explore that statement some more, because ‘whatever she wanted’ could encompass a lot of things, like the Crown Princess Catalina of Holland’s jewels. It’s not like the too-serious Princess needed them. She was not one to join in any kind of pomp and ceremony, preferring to live in a cabin in the forest and paint. As far as Ndari was concerned, if a Princess didn’t use her jewels then she should lose them.
But instead of asking for her rival’s jewels, Ndari said, “I think I only want you.”
Her declaration fell on a silent night though as he was already asleep.
Chapter Eight
Despite the fact that they were sleeping on the ground, after having eaten in the outdoors, two things Ndari swore never to do, she would have called the night entirely perfect. If it weren’t for being woken by bright lights, loud shouts and her body being forcibly lifted off the ground. It took Ndari a moment to come fully awake and when she finally managed to pry her eyes open, she was being shoved
in the back of a vehicle. The door slammed shut behind her, trapping her inside.
“What the - ?” she looked out the window in confusion.
Keane was being dragged off their shared blanket and toward another vehicle, but his retrieval wasn’t nearly as easy or graceful as hers. He was punching and kicking everything he could get his fists and feet on. Ndari watched in awe and a little pride as one man went flying through the air, landing on the hood of the vehicle. The impact rocked the SUV and Ndari was finally able to see what the men were wearing. It was the uniform of the palace guard. Her brother had found them.
Ndari sighed irritably. Well that hadn’t taken long. Trust Sally Spoilsport to ruin her grand adventure. He had absolutely no sense of fun to go along with his serious lack of humour. Keane punched another man in the jaw with a left hook that was so forceful that the man’s eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the ground. She was impressed; her new man was able to throw punches with either fist with equal amount of devastation.
She tried the door but of course it was locked. She crawled from the back seat into the empty front seat and hit the unlock button. The latch clicked and she leapt from the vehicle, running toward Keane.
“Keane!” she shouted his name.
He looked at her as he threw another guy over his head and continued his path of destruction without bothering to see where the guy landed. So hot, his ability to lift that much weight with apparent ease. Ndari forced herself to focus on the task at hand, which was emptying Keane’s bag in a pile on the ground. It was all picnic and overnight supplies. She was disappointed; last time she'd looked, it had held an obscene amount of weaponry.
Before she could start checking the pockets, because who knew what a man like Keane would manage to shove in those small spaces, she was grabbed around the waist and hauled away from the picnic supplies. She looked up to find Keane’s strong jaw, tensely knotted, and his ruffled red hair. Relief slammed into her that he was safe. She was a little surprised at how much she cared that he not be hurt, but she didn’t currently have time to unpack the emotion as armed men were running toward them with ill intent. Keane flung himself on the motorbike, swinging her around to his back and starting the bike. She was deeply impressed with the smooth move, or she would have been if she hadn’t gotten a mouthful of sand when he hit the gas so hard the tires spun sand in every direction.
The Princess and Her Mercenary: A Driven Hearts Novella Page 4
