He pretended to be hurt. “You don’t like it? I thought it quite royal-looking.”
“Oh, very royal.” Her eyes were dancing as she took the scepter and waved it with a grand gesture. “If you were dressed more appropriately for the ceremony, I’d knight you.”
“Oh, but I couldn’t accept it.” He smiled innocently. “Not yet. A knight has to earn his spurs. But if you’ll wear my favors in the tournament, I’m sure I’d be able to win them.”
“Tournament?”
He nodded solemnly. “Of course. Every queen has to have a tournament.” His smile deepened into sensuality. “We’re about to have one helluva bloody tournament.” He paused. “If her majesty permits.”
The firelight cast shadows over the planes of his face and glinted on his dark hair. The playfulness had vanished, replaced by a sensuality so intense, she could feel it vibrating, encompassing, and holding her helpless in its field. She swallowed. “I don’t know much about tournaments.”
“We’ll learn together. Will you wear my favors?”
“I thought it was the knight who wore the favors.”
“Not necessarily.” He was reaching into the sack again. “Who says we can’t make our own rules.”
“You always do.” Her voice sounded breathless and she found herself shivering with anticipation. She wanted to touch him. She wanted his hands on her body. The urgency of the desire was no surprise. Jordan had always been able to arouse her to instant sexual response. Many things had altered in their relationship, but that had remained steadfast. “Why should this be any different?” Her gaze dropped to a cellophane twisted into a cone shape. “Flowers?”
“Very special flowers.” He tore off the cellophane. “Daisies. I thought they were pretty and very appropriate for the Queen of the May.”
The yellow daisies were bright and cheerful and rather sweet. She took a flower from the bunch. “I’ll be glad to wear your favor.” She started to weave it into her hair, but he reached out and stopped her.
“No,” he said softly as he took the daisy from her. “Not there. It would distract from your crown.”
She felt heat tingle through her and it was suddenly painful to draw a breath. “Where, then?”
He held her gaze as he smiled slowly.
Her heart began to pound harder. “Jordon …”
With a deliberate movement he parted the edges of the happi coat and pushed it away from her body. “We’ll have to find a place for every one of these daisies.” He tilted his head to study the lush curves of her naked body. “Now, where do you plant daisies? On a hill perhaps …”
He had her lie down, then placed a daisy over her left breast just above the nipple. “How does it feel? It looks so beautiful. We have to plant a field.… He scattered daisy heads all over her body. “Pretty. So pretty.”
Her breasts and belly with their daisy decorations trembled with her every breath. Hot color was stinging her cheeks and burning through every vein.
“Such a lovely garden. Such a lovely Sara,” Jordan murmured.
The emptiness between her thighs was throbbing, aching to be filled. “When does the tournament start?”
“Soon.” He bent his head slowly, his breath feathering one pointed, distended nipple. “Just a few preliminary forays …” His lips closed on her nipple and he sucked delicately. A low cry broke from her and she reached out for him. He lifted his head and smiled as he took her hands and put them back at her sides. “No, just lie there and let me tease you a little. It will make it better for you.”
“Tease me a little!” She was burning up, lost in a haze of hunger. It was sheer sensual torture to lie here unmoving while Jordan’s lips and teeth tugged and soothed, tugged again …
It couldn’t last much longer; Jordan’s chest was heaving as if he were running and his cheeks were hollowed with hunger. He was whispering her name over and over in a husky litany.
He suddenly plunged forward, filling her.
Sara’s lips opened in a silent scream and her nails dug into the muscles of his shoulders. He laughed softly. “Every Queen of the May is entitled to a maypole. I hope you like yours, Sara.”
Fever. Beauty. Golden daisies in a field of rapture. “Yes, oh, yes.”
“Then let the tournament begin.”
It was wilder than the time before, wilder than anything she had ever imagined. Heat, force, tension. Then the tournament ended with a passionate explosion that made them both the victors.
Sara collapsed against him. She couldn’t move, every muscle felt like warm butter. She could hear the thunder of Jordan’s heart slowing beneath her ear but he, too, was trembling. His palm was stroking, caressing her back in a movement that was poignantly sweet after the storm that had gone before. “Sara?”
She didn’t have breath enough to answer.
“Come on, love. Bed.” He lifted her off him and rose to his feet before pulling her up to stand beside him. Daisy petals drifted from her body as she swayed unsteadily.
“Oops.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her toward the bedroom area. “Tournaments can be exhausting, can’t they, love?”
“I can walk,” she protested, but weakly.
“I want you to save your strength.” He grinned down at her. “You’re obviously out of training for this kind of tournament, and I want you fresh for the next event.”
“Is that a slam at my sexual stamina?”
His smile deepened to tenderness. “Oh, no, I’m happy as a clam you’ve been leading the celibate life. I’d have shown up here a helluva lot sooner if I’d thought there was any danger of you jousting with any other man. Fortunately, you shied away from relationships after you left me. Not exactly a compliment but …” His expression became grave. “There hasn’t been any other woman since you left me. I want you to know that, Sara.”
She gazed at him, stunned. She knew how highly sexed Jordan was and yet it was clear he was telling her the truth. “I … see.” She didn’t know what to say, and she felt suddenly shy, awkward, and tried to lighten the moment. “Well, then it’s no wonder you fell down on the efficiency level.”
He laid her down on the bed. “I wasn’t aware that I did.”
“The daisies. You didn’t scatter them all, as you said you would.”
He lay down beside her and propped his head on his hand, gazing down at her. His lips curved in a teasing smile. “I’m saving the last two for later. I know exactly where I’m going to plant those particular daisies.”
“You do?”
His head lowered slowly until their lips were just a breath away. “Oh, yes, love, I most certainly do!”
Sara stirred, fighting her way through the skeins of sleep. There was something wrong. No, not wrong. Just not … right. She opened her eyes, her gaze searching the darkness. “Jordan?”
“I’m here.” He quickly moved closer, leaning on one elbow to look down at her. “I’ll always be here.”
His features were shadowy above her, but she could sense the tension emanating from him. “Can’t you sleep?”
“I didn’t try.” His fingers stroked the fair hair back from her temple with exquisite tenderness. “I wanted to savor this. It’s been so long since I’ve lain beside you. I wanted to store up the memories.”
Sadness. The aching sadness in his tone engendered a concern that brought Sara fully awake. “There is something wrong. What—”
His lips were covering her own with gentle sweetness. He lifted his head. “How could anything be wrong as long as we have this? Nothing could be more right than the two of us together.” He kissed her again and when he spoke again his voice was soft, urgent. “You can see that, can’t you? You have to let me stay with you.”
The hint of desperation in his voice caused her uneasiness to return. “What are you saying? I don’t know what—”
He was kissing her again and it was no longer gentle, no longer sweet but hot, hard, sensual. “Shh, never mind,” he said. His tongue entered, stro
ked, teased as his hands began their magic arousal of her body. “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about anything but this.”
“But, Jordon, tell me …” She trailed off, forgetting words, forgetting thought, remembering only sensation.
The phone rang, once more rousing Sara from sleep.
“I’ll get it,” Jordan said quickly as he started to reach across her. “Go back to sleep.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, pushing his arm away. “The phone is on my side of the bed.” She reached out and picked up the receiver. “Hello.”
“Sara?” It was Cam’s voice. “Sorry to wake you, but I have to speak to Jordan. Will you put him on?”
“Cam?” She sat up in bed and shook her head to clear it of sleep. “How did you know—”
“It’s Cam?” Jordan took the phone away from her and spoke into the receiver. “What the devil is wrong now, Cam?”
Wrong? Sara slowly lifted the telephone cord and slipped under it and out of bed. Oh, yes, something was wrong all right and not only the information Cam was imparting to Jordan. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. She slipped on the yellow happi coat and shivered a little as the cool silk touched her body. Strange, she hadn’t thought she could feel any colder. The needle of ice that had pierced through her when the pieces had all come together seemed to be spreading into every cell of her body.
“You’re sure?” Jordan’s voice was clipped. “There’s no mistake?”
Oh, God, how could she have made such a mistake? Sara wondered. How could she have been so stupid, so blasted trusting? She turned on the lamp beside the phone on the bedside table. The sudden illumination caused Jordan to blink, and his gaze flew to Sara standing by the bed. His expression became wary. “Tell Marambas. I want him found,” he said, his gaze never leaving Sara’s face. “Even if he has to backtrack to every stop. I’ll talk to you later, Cam.” He replaced the receiver on the cradle and sat very still, looking at her with narrowed eyes. “Well?”
“I want you to leave.” Her voice was trembling. “I want you to get dressed and leave and not come back. Not ever.”
A flicker of pain crossed his face and then was gone. “Aren’t you overreacting?”
“Overreacting?” The icy cold was gone, burned away by fury. “Do you think I’m an idiot? Cam knew you were here. I could tell. There wasn’t the slightest doubt in his mind that you’d be in bed beside me and I’d be able to hand the phone to you. Now, how could he know, Jordan?” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Unless you told him you planned on being here all night? And you did tell him that, didn’t you? You had every intention of making sure you seduced me when you walked through my front door tonight.”
His face was pale in the lamplight. “Yes, I did. Every intention. I won’t lie to you, Sara.”
She crossed her arms across her breasts to try to still the trembling. “You manipulated me to get your own way. You knew I wasn’t ready for this but you decided—” She laughed shakily. “Damn, but you’re good. You played me so well that I didn’t have a chance. You were so blasted honest and boyish. You even dangled those little tidbits about Bandora in front of me and I snapped at the bait like a hungry trout. You were sure I would, weren’t you? You know I’ve always been curious about you.”
“Yes, I knew you wanted to know more about me.” He got out of bed and strode out of the bedroom area. A moment later he returned with the clothes he’d left strewn on the carpet before the fireplace and began to dress. “And yes, I used every bit of knowledge I had as to what makes you tick to get you to let me stay with you tonight.” He looked up as he began to button his white shirt. “And I would have continued to try seduction or guile or any other weapon I possessed to make you let me stay with you until Kemp was caught. I told you I couldn’t stand the thought of your being hurt.”
“And I told you I’d never be manipulated by you again. I was wrong.” She laughed huskily. “Oh, boy, was I wrong. You would have thought I’d have learned my lesson. You’re such a skilled teacher, Jordan. Well, no more. I think I’ve at last seen the light at the end of the tunnel. You were right; I was far too trusting.”
“I suppose it wouldn’t be any use to remind you these circumstances are unusual and might never occur again?” He looked searchingly at her. “No, I can see it wouldn’t.” His smile was bittersweet. “I didn’t think I’d get lucky.” He fastened his belt and thrust his feet into his loafers. “I knew when I came here tonight it was probably going to blow everything.”
Her lips tightened. “How perceptive of you. If you used those methods now, knowing that they could destroy our relationship, you’d use them anytime to get what you want.”
“Would I?” He shook his head. “I don’t think I would have, Sara. I think I was actually on the road to giving you what you wanted from me.” He shrugged. “Not that you’ll believe that either now.”
For a moment she was shaken out of her rage and bitterness by the aura of pain surrounding him that reached out and enfolded her. Then her own pain rushed back and she deliberately closed her mind to what he was feeling. She would not feel sorry for him. He had used her, molded her as if she were Galatea to his Pygmalion. “Why should I? You can’t expect me to believe anything you say.”
“No, I can’t expect anything of you. I’m not fool enough to think I’ll get another chance from you. You warned me, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So I have nothing more to lose.” He smiled with sudden recklessness. “I’m free to do any damn thing I choose. No more walking on eggs, no more worrying about what you’ll think of me.”
“I don’t care what you do.” Oh, dear heaven, she wished that were true. This was a thousand times more agonizing than the first parting. She felt as if she were bleeding inside, but the icy rage was cauterizing and making it bearable.
Jordan turned a shade paler, but his smile never wavered. “Good. That makes everything much simpler for me.” He turned on his heel. “Good-bye, Sara. Come lock the door behind me.”
She followed him from the bedroom and watched as he crossed the loft. The flames in the fireplace had burned down to glowing embers and cast an eerie red glow on Jordan’s face, giving his features a strange, satanic beauty. He unlocked and opened the door before turning to face her. “In case you’re interested, Kemp got off the Greyhound bus somewhere between New York and St. Louis. He could have caught a plane or a train or another bus. At any rate, your efficient policemen aren’t going to be able to pick up his trail very easily.” His gaze met Sara’s across the room. “He could be here in two hours or two days. I’ll tell the detectives on stakeout downstairs to be on guard, but don’t unlock your door tonight without checking. Not for anyone.”
“I won’t,” she whispered. “Just leave, Jordan.”
“I’m leaving.” He stood looking at her, his gaze running slowly over her from the top of her gleaming fair hair to the long legs bared by the happi coat. “But I’m not going to let you die, Sara. I may have lost you, but I’m not going to let him kill you. I won’t lose that battle.”
“Stay out of it. This isn’t your battle. I’m not your concern any longer. Do you hear me? I want you to stay out of my—” Jordan could no longer hear her, he had closed the door behind him.
She heard the grinding of the elevator pulleys and moved automatically across the room to lock the door behind him.
She leaned against the door, her palms flat against the panels, her cheek pressed against the smooth wood. God, she was hurting. Pain was exploding through her and each breath felt like a sob. But she wasn’t weeping. She wouldn’t cry. It would get better. The pain would go away in time. She just had to remember how well she had gotten over him the last time. Minute by minute, hour by hour. She had to remember that magic formula. But she hadn’t really known Jordan then. She hadn’t realized how sweet, how endearing, how gentle he could be.
She straightened away from the door and turned to move heavily across the r
oom. He had broken his promise and deceived her. How could she believe that the Jordan she had come to know in the last weeks wasn’t a lie as well? How did she know anything connected with him was the truth?
Kemp. He wouldn’t have lied about Kemp. She should be frightened but felt only numb. Strange to feel uncaring about something as important as one’s own survival. Thank God, it was only temporary. As soon as this hurting stopped she would be able to think of something besides Jordan. Just as soon as the pain stopped.
Six
“Get packed.” Penny strode past her into the apartment. “Now. You’re getting out of this place.”
Sara closed the door and locked it again. “I can’t leave here. Not yet.”
“You will leave here.” Penny whirled to face Sara, her brown eyes flashing. “What kind of idealistic nitwit are you, for heaven’s sake? I couldn’t believe it when Jordan showed up at my office this morning and told me what was happening here.”
“Jordan told you? He had no right to do that.” Sara’s lips tightened. “But it really doesn’t make any difference. This is no one’s business but my own.”
“You’re wrong,” Penny said crisply. “It’s my business and Mac’s and World Report’s. What kind of public image do you think we’d have if you got yourself killed playing bait? And don’t tell me World Report isn’t connected with this foolishness. How many people do you think would believe we hadn’t set you up to get an exclusive?” She shook her head. “The media gets too much flack as it is without inviting this kind of trouble.”
“I’ll sign an affidavit clearing you of all responsibility.”
“Do you think a piece of paper will make me feel better if you get your throat cut? I am responsible, dammit.” Penny started to turn away. “I don’t mind shouldering my share of responsibility, but I’m not letting anyone lay a guilt trip of that size on me. We’re getting you out of San Francisco and stashing you someplace safe until they locate Kemp and can resume surveillance.”