“Oh, my, when you furnish a lady with a castle, you do it right, Clancy. I’d better get moving or I may lose my guide.” She waved and hurried after Marna.
He watched her as she climbed the wide stone steps of the staircase in the foyer. She moved quickly, her carriage light and graceful, her delicate coloring contrasting sharply with the harsh gray of the stone wall.
He felt a swift rush of possessiveness that was as powerful as it was sudden. Tonight she was going to belong to him. If he was lucky, that one night might possibly turn into forever. When she disappeared from view, he turned and walked across the hall to the library. It took him only a few minutes to get through to Galbraith in Marasef. “Is there any word yet?”
“Not even a whisper. I called Berthold and told him to keep an eye out in case Baldwin returned to the island, and also contacted our operatives in the U.S. and alerted them.” Galbraith paused. “But you don’t really think he’ll return to either place, do you?”
“No. I think he’ll go to Said Ababa and join his terrorist friends. He knows he’ll be safe there.” Clancy’s tone roughened. “And with their contacts in Sedikhan, he won’t find it difficult to discover where Lisa can be found. It’s a combination he’ll find hard to resist.”
“Then hadn’t you better return to Marasef? You’re pretty isolated out there in the desert.”
“On the contrary, in the starkness of the desert you notice anything unusual at once. I can’t say the same about a crowded city like Marasef. I want you to send a few of our best men out here tomorrow. Tell them they’ll pose as servants. I don’t want Lisa worrying about all this.”
“You’ll be staying out there indefinitely?”
“Until we get Baldwin.” There was a slightly sardonic note in Clancy’s voice as he added, “It would be nice if you made the effort to capture him before we have to confront him here. If it’s not too much bother.”
“Testy, aren’t we?” Galbraith asked lightly. “I’ll do everything short of crossing the Said Ababa border. Okay?”
“Okay, and for God’s sake keep in touch.”
Clancy hung up the receiver and stared at it abstractedly for a moment. He had been a little testy. He knew Galbraith would do everything possible to capture Baldwin if he crossed the border. It was just that he was so damned scared for Lisa.
He checked his watch and then moved swiftly to the door. Fifteen minutes had already passed, and he wanted to shower and change before he joined her. An elegant tuxedo wouldn’t turn him into the kind of glamorous knight a princess deserved, but by God, he could try.
TO LISA’S RELIEF, dinner was served in a small oval dining room instead of the high-ceilinged hall she had glimpsed from the foyer. The walls were hung with rich tapestries faded with age and lit with flickering candles in a silver candelabra. The oak table was also oval and gleamed in the candlelight with an age-silkened patina. The entire castle had an air of dignity and grace, reminiscent of a bygone time, she mused. Though the modern comforts of electricity and efficient plumbing had been added, they hadn’t been allowed to interfere with the ambience of the place.
The maid who served them was quick and deft and appeared a little nervous as she moved around the table serving the delicious duck a l’orange. When a tiny drop of sauce dropped on Lisa’s placemat, she gasped with horror, her gaze flying to the figure of Marna Debuk standing unobtrusively just to the left of the doorway. Marna frowned. The girl gasped again and hurried from the room.
“What was that all about?” Lisa asked.
“It was nothing,” Marna said with a shrug. “I’m sorry the foolish girl was so clumsy. I will send in another maid from the kitchen.” She left the room, moving with surprising grace for a woman of her bulk.
Lisa met Clancy’s eyes across the table, and she grinned in amusement. “And I thought the headwaiter at the cafe was intimidating. I don’t believe I ever saw any of the waiters blanch and run from the room when Monty frowned.”
“But Monty wasn’t a gypsy believed to be able to cast spells and hexes,” Clancy said dryly. “His subordinates only have to worry about their jobs.”
“She’s a gypsy?”
“A genuine, card-carrying gypsy,” Clancy said with a grin. “There are several tribes in Tamrovia that travel in caravans around the countryside. She belongs to one of the more powerful ones.”
“But how did a gypsy become nursemaid to a royal princess?”
“Tradition. In olden times it was believed that gypsies had great magical powers, and to have one in attendance on their children was a social coup. It became a custom in Marna’s tribe to send a chosen one to serve in the royal household in every generation. Unfortunately, Their Majesties made the mistake of assigning Marna to Kira when she was born.”
“Why unfortunately?”
“Because combining a lawless gypsy philosophy like Marna’s with Kira’s temperament was like adding oil to fire.” He picked up his glass of wine. “Explosive.”
“Fascinating,” Lisa murmured.
“If you like to play with dynamite.” He smiled. “Personally I like my entertainment a little less volatile. Have I told you how lovely you look tonight? I like that caftan.”
“So do I.” She touched the peach-colored brocade of the bodice. She knew the color was good with her hair and eyes, and the richness of the material always made her feel festive. “Though the style is more fitting to one of your Middle Eastern palaces than this castle.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I imagine quite a few knights brought their ladies gorgeous garb like that from their crusades.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” She wasn’t thinking very coherently of anything, she thought ruefully. Her palms were actually damp with nervousness. Good Lord, she was acting with all the sophistication of a teenage virgin. She should have seduced Clancy this afternoon on the plane. Then she had responded with complete naturalness and passion. Now that she’d had time to think how important tonight might be to her, she had developed a case of nerves.
“You’re not eating again.” Clancy’s eyes were twinkling. “You mustn’t disappoint Marna. She might put the evil eye on you.”
“Is that why you brought me here? So that Marna could accomplish what you and Galbraith couldn’t?”
He went still. “You know why I brought you here,” he said quietly. “And it has nothing to do with that particular appetite.”
Her chest was suddenly so tight she was finding it hard to breathe. She could see the reflection of the candle flames in his eyes, but she doubted if that was what made them blaze. The room was charged with an electricity and naked desire that was unmistakable. Why were they sitting here indulging in this charade of social amenities when neither of them wanted to be anywhere but in each other’s arms? She swallowed. “You don’t seem to be eating very well yourself. Shall we give it up and take the risk of incurring Marna’s wrath?”
He threw the napkin on the table and stood up. “If we can manage to escape before she comes back from the kitchen.” He was around the table, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s go!”
They ran from the room like naughty children, only to be confronted by Marna in the hall. Braking, they skidded to a stop.
“You do not wish dessert?” the housekeeper asked, raising a brow.
Clancy shook his head. “Miss Landon needs some fresh air. We thought we’d take a walk on the battlements.”
The faintest smile touched Marna’s lips. “It is always wise to satisfy one’s needs when they occur. It is unhealthy to do otherwise. Good night, Mr. Donahue.”
Lisa stared after her retreating figure. “Maybe she is a witch. That had to be a double entendre.”
“She wouldn’t have to be psychic to read our minds at the moment. There’s a certain look.…” He grinned. “Though I wouldn’t swear that she didn’t.” He took her hand and pulled her up the stairs. When they reached the landing he suddenly turned to her with a frown. “Would you like to?”
She bl
inked. “What?”
“See the battlements. I don’t want you to think I’m rushing you off to the sack. And I suppose a stroll in the moonlight would be romantic.”
She gazed at him with exasperation and enormous tenderness. “Clancy, you’ve done your duty. You’ve provided me with all the romance a woman could possibly want. Now for God’s sake, will you take me to bed?”
A slow smile lit his face. “Did I ever tell you how much I admire an aggressive woman? You’re damn right I will.”
He rushed her up the second flight of stairs with a speed that had her choking with laughter. Then he swung her up in his arms and strode down the hall. “One last romantic gesture. I was tempted to carry you up the stairs like Rhett Butler did Scarlett, but I thought you’d prefer to have me able to function when we got to the top.”
He opened the door of a room at the end of the corridor and carried her into a large bedroom much like her own. Several crystal candelabra bearing long white tapers were scattered about the room, and the flames cast dancing shadows on the walls. Lisa was vaguely aware of tapestries in muted hues covering those walls, Aubusson area rugs on the stone floors, and a huge canopied four-poster bed across the room.
“Romance isn’t everything.” He set her on her feet and kicked the door shut behind him. “In a situation like this, stamina counts for a hell of a lot, too.”
“Clancy …” She gazed up at him helplessly. Why didn’t he realize how wonderful he was? “Don’t you know you don’t have to act romantic? You are romantic. You’re handsome, brave, and intelligent.”
“And sexy?” he suggested solemnly.
“And sexy.” She nodded. “Oh, yes, very sexy.”
“Just testing. I wanted to be sure you appreciated all my attributes.” Suddenly he put his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. “Oh, God, I didn’t think I’d ever make it.” His hands moved feverishly on her back. His lips were on her ear, her temple, her cheek in soft, hot kisses. “It seems as if I’ve been aching for this for at least a decade or so.”
Lisa could feel the hardness of his rigid muscles against her, but he wasn’t close enough. She cuddled nearer, rotating in a sinuous little movement into the cradle of his hips. He inhaled sharply. His heart was pounding so hard she could detect the movement through his white dress shirt.
His tongue darted in her ear and she moaned deep in her throat, arching against him as if he’d jerked a hidden string.
“Naked,” he muttered. “I’ve got to get you naked.” His unsteady hands were unfastening the barrette that held back her hair and then combing through the loosened tresses until they fell in a shimmering cloud down her back.
“Clancy, that barrette wasn’t exactly a significant body covering.” Lisa laughed shakily. “If you’ll let me go for a minute, I’ll see if I can improve on what you started.”
His hips moved slowly against her, rotating, stroking her sensuously, his hands cupping her buttocks to bring her in closer contact. Their lower bodies were pressed so close that she could feel the heat of his arousal with every breath. “I don’t want to let you go,” he said. She could hear his ragged breathing as he pressed his fevered cheek against her temple. Then he was pushing her away. “Quick. For God’s sake, be quick.”
He didn’t need to urge her to speed. When he had pushed her away she’d felt an aching sense of loss, as if they had been joined and were now severed by a surgeon’s scalpel. She needed that joining.
She moved swiftly, pulling the caftan over her head and then dispensing with her slippers and underthings with equal speed. Then she was back in his arms and was aware of the shock of naked flesh against her own. Clancy had stripped with the same frantic urgency she had.
“Clancy …” Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she rubbed her body against him with exquisite sensuous pleasure.
The cloud of hair on his chest was teasing her sensitive breasts, the hard muscles and bones of his thighs were locked and rigid with a leashed threat that was deliciously exciting. With every movement of her body he gave a little gasp that was almost a groan. She was gasping, too. Each breath was a shock of sensation as it brought her flesh in fresh contact with his. His left thigh insinuated itself between hers, and she could feel the thick muscles, lightly dusted with hair, pressing against her softness.
Her teeth clenched to suppress a cry that could well have turned into a scream. Heat. Wanting. His thigh moved with soft abrasiveness against her womanhood in an urgent, mindless rhythm that was making her mindless as well. “No more,” she whispered. “No more, Clancy.”
He nodded jerkily. “No more,” he agreed. His chest was heaving with the force of his breathing. “Come on.” He half pulled her across the room to the bed. Once there, he didn’t wait to jerk down the spread but pushed her down on the cool satin surface. His eyes were glazed and almost blind as he followed her down and settled himself between her thighs. “Are you ready for me? I hope to heaven you’re ready.” He didn’t wait for an answer but plunged deep with a low groan that was almost painful. Fire, fullness, hunger. So much hunger surrounded them. She felt it in him even as he took, feasted, filled. Her own hunger, too, seemed completely insatiable.
She arched upward helplessly as he thrust with a force and passion that sent shudder after shudder through her body. Hot, slick, driving. Her nails dug into his shoulders with unconscious force. His face above her was heavy with the same hunger and a pleasure that was primitive and exciting as the act itself. The muscles of his torso were strained with unbearable tension.
She didn’t know how long that mindless rapture continued. The tension mounted constantly, spiraling, sparking, until she didn’t think she could stand it for one more minute. Her head thrashed back and forth on the satin spread, her hair splaying in wild abandon. She felt abandoned and wild and …
He was moving more forcefully within her. Plunging, rotating, thrusting deeper when she hadn’t thought there was a deeper. A cry escaped from her as the tension broke and then splintered into a thousand sharp, glittering prisms of splendor.
She heard a low, harsh groan above her that sounded as if it had been torn from him, and then she was caught close to Clancy’s big body. Her arms closed around him fiercely, protectively, with a loving possession that she had never known before. She had brought him this wild, mindless pleasure. It had been her body that had assuaged his hunger and then made him tremble with satisfaction. That knowledge was almost as wonderful as the passionate glory that had gone before.
His heart was slowing now, though his chest was still laboring with the force of his breathing.
“Lisa …” His voice was oddly choked. “Lord, I’m sorry.”
Shock jolted through the euphoria she was feeling. “Sorry? Why on earth are you sorry?”
“You know why,” he said with self-disgust as he shifted off her to one side. “I did just what I said I wouldn’t do. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am. Just as if you were some call girl I’d ordered for a one-night stand.”
Oh, dear, if Clancy didn’t get over these romantic illusions of what she was due as his lady, they were going to have a difficult time of it. She sat up and brushed the hair from her face, then turned to look at him. “Do you know what a truly romantic man does, Clancy? He gives a woman what she wants.” She grinned down at him. “And I assure you, that’s exactly what you did just now. I wanted wham and bam, and a sincerely expressed thank-you wouldn’t be far off the mark, either. I certainly feel fervently grateful to you.” Her voice lowered to a whisper of tenderness. “It was beautiful. Thank you, Clancy Donahue.”
He looked at her searchingly, then pulled her down to kiss her with an exquisite sweetness that caused her throat to tighten with tears. “You’re welcome,” he said gruffly, then fell silent again. “There aren’t any words, you know. What happened was …” He shrugged helplessly and repeated, “There just aren’t any words.”
“Then don’t try to say them.” She cuddled closer, nestling her head in th
e hollow of his shoulder, her fingers tangling contentedly in the crisp hair on his chest. “You certainly don’t need them. You do extremely well with body language.”
His chuckle reverberated beneath her ear. “I’ll remember which form of communication you prefer.” His lips feathered a kiss on the top of her head. “Nap a little, love, and then we’ll see if we can develop a few new innovations to the state of the art.”
There was the lightest brushing at the crests of her breasts, then a warm, wet teasing and probing, and then a tugging. It was all deliciously gentle and lazy and right. Sleepily Lisa opened her eyes to see Clancy’s dark head nestled at her breasts, and she smiled with contentment.
His head lifted and he smiled, too. “Hi,” he said softly. His hand moved to cup the swelling globe that had been receiving his attention. “Did I ever tell you that you have fantastic breasts?”
“I don’t believe the subject has come up, but I’m glad one part of my anatomy meets with your approval. All I’ve been hearing lately is how skinny I am.”
“Well, these lovely things are definitely not skinny.” His tongue placed another caress on the rosy peak. His hand ran down her midriff to her belly, and he began to massage it gently. “Your hips are damned narrow, though, and you’re awfully tiny here.” He frowned. “You won’t have trouble with the baby, will you?”
She stiffened in surprise. She had completely forgotten that this heady delight also had a purpose. She might have a child as the result of this night. A quiet glow of joy swept over her. “I didn’t with Tommy. It’s the pelvis measurements that count.”
He was still frowning as his hand moved down to press the tight curls at the apex of her thighs. “I’m so blasted big. Our child is bound to be—”
She reached down and covered his lips with her hand. “Hush, it will be fine. Let me worry about the actual production process. You just keep your mind on your part of the project.”
His lips parted and he nipped at the fingers covering them. “That won’t be hard to do. I’m having trouble keeping my mind on anything else when you’re around.” Suddenly his cheek was on her stomach, rubbing back and forth with loving affection. She could feel the slight roughness of his beard growth against her smoothness. It brought a sudden hot tingling sensation between her thighs that sent a ripple of surprise through her. So soon? His words were slightly muffled. “You’re not sorry? You haven’t changed your mind?”