Monsoon Mists (21 page)

‘What were you doing in our courtyard when you asked me to shield you?’

He smiled and opened his mouth to show her what he’d hidden under his tongue – three diamonds, each about the size of his smallest fingernail. ‘Emergency supplies,’ he said, once he’d put them back. It wasn’t too difficult to talk with them there. It was something he’d practised.

She blinked. ‘What? Where did those come from?’

‘I usually keep some in the hilt of my dagger, which is hollow, but I thought they’d probably take that away from me, which they did, so I removed them. You never know when you might need something to bribe people with.’

‘You’re going to try and bribe the guards?’ She perked up at that idea, but he shook his head.

‘No point. I’m sure Mansukh has them well-trained and he’ll pay them more. No, I’ll hang onto these for a while. Although perhaps it’s better if you have them, in case I’m taken away for questioning.’

Her nostrils flared, as if the mere thought of that scared her. He wasn’t so keen on the idea himself. Still, at least he had something to bargain with, unlike William.

‘If I give them to you, can you keep them hidden the same way?’ he asked.

She looked doubtful. ‘Probably not three of them. I won’t be able to speak normally. I think I could manage one under my tongue maybe?’

‘Then I’ll have to put two of them elsewhere. It’s probably a good idea not to have them all in the same place anyway. Come closer, please. I think these chains might just be long enough.’

‘Why? Where are you going to …
Jamie!
’

Jamie had shuffled over and bent to put his face in her décolletage. He dropped two of the diamonds down the cleft between her breasts, making her gasp, although he wasn’t sure if it was with outrage or because what he was doing tickled.

‘Jamie, really!’ she protested.

‘Let’s hope they don’t look there,’ he said with a grin, as he reluctantly removed his lips from the vicinity of her breasts after placing a kiss on each swell. Zar opened her mouth, presumably to remonstrate with him some more, but he forestalled her by leaning over to kiss her instead. He kept it light and playful, using his tongue only to trace the outline of her bottom lip, and heard her sigh as if she’d given up the fight to stop him. He noticed she didn’t back off and soon entered into the game wholeheartedly, meeting him halfway each time. That was just as well as he couldn’t have reached otherwise.

‘Jamie, this isn’t really the time,’ she murmured between kisses.

‘Yes, it is. It’s the perfect time.’ It took their minds off the surroundings, which to Jamie’s thinking couldn’t be a bad thing. And he hoped to distract her so she wouldn’t think about their predicament. It was certainly helping him. ‘This doesn’t … scare you?’ he added, tugging a little on her lip with his teeth which made her shiver.

‘No.’

‘Is that because I can’t touch you?’ he whispered, trying to keep his tone light and flirtatious, even though he desperately wanted to know the answer.

She stopped for a moment and looked into his eyes, then nodded. ‘I … think so.’

‘I would never hurt you. I swear.’ He feathered kisses along her cheek and leaned his forehead against hers. ‘Do you believe me?’

‘I-I don’t know. You might not mean to, but—’

‘If you’ll let me, I can show you that lovemaking doesn’t have to be painful. One of these days, I’ll teach you to enjoy it, I promise.’ He knew he was treading on eggshells here, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
‘You liked my mouth on your skin just now, didn’t you?’ He glanced towards her bosom. ‘Just imagine what it would feel like lower down, if your, um … assets were free from constraints.’ He bent down to kiss his way from her collarbone towards her cleavage, nuzzling the velvety skin before grazing it ever so slightly with his stubbly chin.

She trembled, but drew back a bit and swallowed hard enough for him to hear it. ‘I can’t. I just … no, it’s not possible.’

‘Yes, it is.’ He allowed his mouth to dip lower down, rubbing against the material that strained across her bust. He felt her nipples harden and smiled up at her. ‘See?’

She drew in a sharp breath and shook her head. ‘Please, don’t.’

He sat up straight again. ‘It’s entirely your choice,’ he emphasised. If he was ever to make love to her, it had to be on her terms so there was no point pushing her. ‘Just think about it, all right? You’ll need to trust me.’

Not that there seemed much chance of anything happening between them at the moment. Who knew if they’d even get out of here alive? But at least if he could keep her mind focused on thoughts of lovemaking, she wouldn’t think about their incarceration.

She nodded, looking torn, and he decided not to press her further for the moment. There was just one thing left to do.

‘Now, I need one more kiss, that’s all,’ Jamie said. When she leaned forward, he pushed the remaining diamond into her mouth. ‘Don’t swallow it. That might be dangerous. Go on, place it under your tongue.’

‘Mmm-hmm.’ It took her a moment to move the stone, but once she had, she was able to speak again. ‘That feels awkward.’

‘You’ll get used to it. And if you find it impossible, I can always take it back. Now then, let’s see how tight these bonds are.’

‘So you really thought you could outwit me, Miller? I knew you were stupid, but not quite
that
idiotic.’

Mansukh was standing in front of William, glowering at him, while two of his burliest men held onto their prisoner. A third, at a nod from the merchant, punched William in the solar plexus, making him retch painfully.

‘I didn’t! It was Kinross. He was threatening me. I swear it.’

Another couple of punches, to the jaw and side of the head. William’s vision swam and he began to see that he’d been extremely foolish indeed.

‘The other foreigner was just a courier. He knew nothing of what he carried, so how could he threaten you? Do you take me for a moron?’ Mansukh’s cheeks were mottled with anger and his eyes shot sparks of fury.

‘No, I was going to tell you, but …’

‘Ah, that must be why you bought passage on board one of that cur Feroz’s ships, eh?’ Mansukh nodded. ‘Oh yes, I know all about that. He talked before we stopped his vocal chords for good.’

William felt physically sick and his knees trembled with fear at the thought of what had happened to Feroz. If his hands had been free, he would have raised them to protect his neck. A neck he’d prefer uncut.

‘Now, I want you to tell me exactly where you’ve hidden the talisman in preparation for your journey. And believe me, you
will
tell me!’

William only wished he could.

Zar was still shaken by the sensations Jamie had caused without even using his hands. No one had ever touched her breasts other than Francis, and certainly not in a way she enjoyed.
But I liked it!
She had to be honest with herself, even though the thought terrified her. Dear Lord, but what could he do to her if she allowed his hands free rein?

No, that was a step too far.

There was no point thinking about it now, though, as they were trapped here and not likely to be let out. Fear of what Mansukh would do to them gained the upper hand in her mind and she forgot all about lovemaking. ‘Is he going to kill us, do you think?’ she blurted out. ‘Can he get away with that? We’re English. Surely, as foreign nationals, he has no right to detain us?’

‘Huh?’

She became aware that Jamie was wriggling and jangling the chain behind him. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Trying to free myself, of course.’ He grunted and suddenly she heard the sound of metal clanking down onto the floor. ‘There we go, that’s one of them.’ He grinned, his teeth flashing white in the near-darkness.

‘How did you do that?’

He shrugged. ‘These irons must have been made for a large man, because they were quite loose on me, and the bones in my hand are very flexible. Remember when I put on your bangles? Not enough to get out of these damned ropes though. They’ve tied them too tight. But perhaps you can undo the knots if I sit with my back towards you? Let me just free my other hand from the cuff first.’

Zar wondered if she too could free herself, but the heavy shackles around her wrists were very small, perhaps made for a child. What a horrible thought. The only thing she could do would be to help Jamie.

It took her a while, but eventually she managed to undo the knots on Jamie’s bonds. He bent to investigate hers. ‘Can you get out of these?’ he asked.

‘No, I don’t think so.’

Feeling with his fingers, he checked, but Zar knew it was the truth.

‘
Fan också!
’ he swore.

‘What does that mean? And what language is it?’ Zar was curious and realised she still didn’t know very much about the man she’d kissed three times now. She really ought to rectify that if she was going to continue to allow him such liberties. Although she wasn’t. She shouldn’t.

‘It’s Swedish and you don’t want to know the meaning, trust me.’ He chuckled. ‘Not something a well-brought up young lady should ever say.’

‘So why Swedish? That’s a country to the far north, isn’t it?’ Zar had only been to England once and her knowledge of the geography of Europe was very limited.

‘Yes, very far. There is snow all winter, deep and numbingly cold. I long for it sometimes when the weather here is at its hottest, like now.’ He hesitated, then added, ‘It’s where my parents live. My father is Scottish, but he moved to Sweden as a young man and then he met and married my mother.’

He seemed reluctant to talk about it, but Zar pressed on. She sensed a mystery and her interest was well and truly piqued. And she’d rather pursue this subject than sit quietly and contemplate their possible fate. ‘Tell me about them. Do you have other family? A wife?’ The thought had only just occurred to her and sent a sliver of ice into her stomach. Why hadn’t she asked before? What a fool.

‘No, I’m a widower. I have … a daughter though.’

The admission sounded as if it had been pulled out of him against his will and Zar didn’t understand why. ‘Well, that’s lovely. Isn’t it? How old?’

‘Um-hmm. Four and a half.’

He didn’t appear to be convinced that having a daughter was a good thing and Zar was about to take him to task, since a man ought to care for his own child, especially one as young as that. Then a thought occurred to her. What if his wife had died giving birth to the baby? Sometimes when that happened, a husband could find it difficult to take to the child, she’d heard.

‘I’ll tell you about that some other time, but not just now,’ Jamie muttered. ‘It’s complicated.’

That seemed to confirm her assumption, so Zar decided to drop the subject. ‘Well, tell me about Sweden at least. How do you survive such cold? I found it hard enough in England. My father took me there once and we arrived in March. The weather was awful and I was chilled to the bone for months! Luckily we left before autumn began.’

Jamie laughed at that. ‘You found that unbearable? You’d never survive in Sweden then. Imagine snow drifts up to waist height, icicles hanging from the roofs and every tree branch covered with frost. It’s beautiful, but harsh.’

‘I can’t even begin to picture that.’

‘Of course, you wrap up warm. There are garments made of fur, which helps. Hats, gloves, layer upon layer of clothing and hot bricks to put in your sleigh when you travel.’

‘Sleigh?’

‘A carriage without wheels that glides along the snow. Wheels would only get stuck.’

‘I’d like to see that.’

‘Would you?’

‘Maybe just once. Briefly, before I froze to death.’

That made him chuckle. ‘Then perhaps I’ll take you one day.’ He sighed. ‘As for now, I’m afraid we’re stuck here.’

He’d been trying to find a way of freeing her while they talked, tugging at her chain, presumably to see if there were any weak links, but it was no use. ‘
You
don’t have to be,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you try and go for help? Surely the English factors would come and rescue me and William if you could but reach them?’

‘I would, but there’s no way out. The door is locked, so until someone comes, I’ll have to wait. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I stayed? If I promise to give up the talisman, I’m sure they’ll at least let you go free.’

‘No, why would they? I doubt they’ll risk anyone knowing about it.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I think they mean to silence us for good, once they have it.’

Chapter Seventeen

They waited for what must have been hours. Complete darkness fell. All was silent apart from the distant shushing noise of the tide coming in or out on the river, and the
muezzin
calling faithful Mohammedans to prayer. Mohammedan churches, or mosques as they were called, were everywhere in Surat. The larger ones had arched cupolas, while smaller ones only had little turrets. Three or four of them also had minarets, the tall round towers with a walkway at the top from whence these reminders to prayer were issued to believers. Jamie was so used to hearing them now, it was merely a background noise.

At first, Jamie stood by the door, trying to listen for sounds of movement and hoping someone would come so he could overpower them. But as time passed, he went back to sit next to Zar, making her lean her head on his shoulder.

‘Try and sleep,’ he said. ‘I promise I’ll wake you if I hear anything.’

‘Very well, but you’d better take the diamond back first.’

He did, with a quick kiss, but he didn’t linger over it this time as he wanted her to get some rest. To his surprise, she dozed off, and something inside him stirred at the thought that she trusted him, at least when it came to her safety. No one had relied on him for such a long time, it was a strange feeling. But he shouldn’t have involved her in this business at all. It was his fault she was down here in this dank cellar in the first place. The thought made him clench his fists. Although really, it was Miller’s fault for being so greedy.

He wasn’t sure what to do next. Overpowering one or maybe two men as they entered the room would be possible, but how would he escape through the house? And could he really leave Zar behind, not knowing what Mansukh and his men would do to her? He could guess and after what he suspected she’d already been through with her husband, such treatment might rob her of her sanity.