The Prince's Intimate Abduction (The Samara Royal Family Series Book 2) (8 page)

Raven woke up the following morning confused and more rested than she’d felt in a long time.  She was also surprised at the stiffness in her limbs.  And in strange areas that shouldn’t be stiff.  Then memories of the previous night came back to her mind and she blushed, looking around the bedroom for Turk. 

When she realized that she was once again alone, she wondered if the previous night had only been a memory.  But when she looked in the mirror, saw the evidence of last night on her thighs, she cringed and jumped into the shower. 

She didn’t want Turk to know that he’d been her first lover.  What kind of woman was twenty-five years old and still a virgin?  That was just crazy! 

In her defense, she thought as she used the soap to scrub her body as thoroughly as possible, she’d been too busy studying to become a doctor to be bothered by dating.  She’d had her fiancé, but they’d been like-minded, driven to succeed.  They’d tried to have a sexual relationship, but their careers kept getting in the way. Well, and neither had really been committed to venturing into a sexual relationship.  Both of them had been content to just let things linger, to enjoy their intellectual connection instead of pursuing a physical one. 

In retrospect, she and her ex-fiancé had simply been good friends, she thought.  They never should have considered marrying each other but at the time, they’d thought it was a perfect idea.  Both of them had wanted the same things, both were driven and ambitious, wanting to be the best doctor possible.  For a while, the things that they agreed on had kept them going but “going” meant meeting for a quick lunch or dinner in the hospital cafeteria when they both had time. 

They’d drifted apart after their residencies had taken them in different directions.  When they’d both agreed to end the engagement, Raven hadn’t wanted to spend time looking for another man. 

Not really an excuse, she sighed as she shut off the water and toweled herself dry.  But it was the truth. 

No, it wasn’t the truth, she thought as she once again stepped out of the bathroom to figure out what to wear.  The reality was, she and her ex-fiancé had been using each other as friends, hiding behind their relationship as they both pushed to gain more knowledge and get better grades or better reviews than the other students without either of them looking silly and single-minded. 

Her neatly stacked pile of clothes was gone and in its place, she saw a lovely pair of silk slacks, matching blouse and even a pair of two-inch heels.  The color was perfect, in a lovely shade of lavender that would make her skin look creamy and smooth. 

She walked over to touch the silky clothes, amazed at how soft they felt.  She’d been wearing raggedy jeans and torn up tee-shirts, camouflaged by her lab coat for so long, she’d forgotten what it was like to feel feminine.  And heels?  She wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk in heels!  She’d worn sneakers throughout her years at school and even during her internship.  It was easier to run down hospital hallways, to keep up with the head doctor, in sneakers than in anything else.

She’d come down the stairs a while ago, in search of Turk and a cup of coffee.  Neither had been obviously present.  So here she was, pacing back and forth carefully in her lovely lavender outfit and growing more irritated by the moment as she watched the soldiers or analysts or whoever, working on computers. 

Apparently, this was more than a simple safe-house.  This room and the house, which was fully stocked with just about anything a person could want or need, was a hub of buzzing activity, acting as the central zone for finding the rebels who had attacked Turk.  It probably functioned in other ways at different times, but the members of the Kilarian military and what seemed as if the entire intelligence community were on alert, finding and disseminating information quickly, bringing it all here to this house where analysts were working on computers to decipher the information. 

Where was Turk?  Why wasn’t he here? And why wouldn’t anyone tell her anything? 

Not to mention, she was starving!  She hadn’t eaten anything yesterday and she eyed the kitchen with longing.  But it wasn’t her home and she didn’t feel right just helping herself to food. She thought of walking out the front door and finding a restaurant but she didn’t have any money.  All of her identification, her wallet and anything important, had been left back at the clinic.  Ouch, she thought with rising panic.  How was she supposed to do anything, to move around Kilar or even to get back home, without her identification or money? 

This was a scary thought.  She’d never been without money.  Of course, she’d never had gobs of it like some of the other medical students, but she’d always had a job even if it was waiting tables or selling something at the mall.  She’d even worked in a laboratory running tests on poop during one summer in between college and medical school.  That had been a real low for her, but she’d survived and actually learned a great deal during that period in her life. 

When the back door opened up and yet another soldier entered through the door, she threw up her hands.  “Okay, I’m starving.  I’m going to head out of here and find something to eat.”  She took two steps towards the door and stopped. 

Turk was standing there, looking meaner and angrier than she’d ever thought possible.

“What were you planning to do?” he asked in a soft voice that perfectly conveyed his feelings. 

She stepped back a moment before she realized what she was doing.  She didn’t cower!  Ever!  “I’m hungry,” she told him, her chin jutting out defiantly.  She hadn’t done anything wrong.  She was going to get some food.  That wasn’t a crime. 

His head tilted slightly as he looked down at her.  “And you were going to just saunter out into the streets and find a food vendor?”

She shrugged her shoulder rebelliously.  “Something along those lines.  What’s wrong with that?”

He moved into the room, towering over her.  “First of all, you don’t have any money to buy anything, so it would be difficult to charm a food vendor to give you any food.  Secondly, there’s a whole kitchen filled with food.  Grab something there.  Thirdly, you may not, under any circumstances, step outside of this house until this situation is resolved.  Do you understand me?” he growled the last part because he was scared for her life. 

He’d just discovered that the rebel leader had put a price on her head.  And it was an astronomical amount!  It was high enough to have every professional hit-man and every mercenary soldier out looking for her, not to mention every low-level goon who wanted to make a name for himself or herself and was willing to take a stupid chance on finding her. 

He was livid that he hadn’t anticipated something like that happening and wanted to wrap her up in his arms and make sure she was safe.  Damn, he should have done something to prevent this from happening and he blamed himself. 

Raven shifted on her elegantly shod feet, furious that he would try to lay down the law like this.  “Please tell me that you’re not serious.”

“Deadly serious,” he replied quickly, still glaring down at her.  “Tell me you won’t go outside for any reason.”  He debated explaining the situation to her, but in the end, he kept the contract detail from her, not wanting her to be scared.  He would protect her, he thought to himself.  He would keep her safe!  She was his woman now and he protected what was his! 

She shook her head, feeling her hair shift around her shoulders.  She hadn’t worn her hair down in years but she’d done it today because she’d been trying to impress Turk.  Thinking about her decision now, she realized that all she’d done was look silly by trying to appear pretty for him.  “I will leave whenever I want.”

He leaned down closer to her, fury masking his fear for her life.  “No. You. Won’t.”

Her hands were clenched at her sides but she lost her target when he stepped around her and entered the kitchen.  “Why haven’t you had anything to eat?” he demanded. 

She spun around, almost spinning too fast when her elegant shoes didn’t move the same way as sneakers would move.  “This argument isn’t over, Turk.”

“It’s over.”  He lifted a pretty tray up into the air and sniffed, nodding his head.  “Yeah, these are going to be good.” 

Raven’s mouth dropped open when she saw him lift what looked to be a brownie to his mouth.  Half of it was gone by the time she realized what he was eating! 

“Brownies!” she gasped in awe.  “Where did you get brownies?”

She rushed over to him, putting her hands on his wrists.  When she looked up at the brownie, she realized that he was bringing it down to her lips.  She opened them up and took a reverent bite, closing her eyes as the rich chocolate and sugar hit her.  “Oh my,” she gasped, unaware that she was still holding onto his arm as she relished the treat.  “Oh my,” she said again, her head falling backwards in delight. 

Turk wanted to bend lower and taste her neck, to feel her body press against his the way she’d done last night.  But there were too many men around.  Even now, Raven’s moans of ecstasy were drawing their attention.  And making him hard again! 

When she opened her eyes, they were a bright grey and, with a flip of her hair, she took the tray of brownies away from his unsuspecting fingers.  He’d let his guard down and she’d snuck in when he was vulnerable.  He laughed as she moved over to the other side of the table but, one glance at her triumphant gaze and he suddenly realized that she wasn’t going to share. 

The startling insight wiped the laughter from his face.  “Hey, wait a minute!” and he tried to take them back.  Not all of them, but he reached around her to grab a brownie for himself, but she only smacked his hand.

He looked down at her, trying his best to be intimidating because, well, hell, she should be afraid of him! 

But she only growled up at him and pulled the brownies further away. 

“Give me a brownie, woman,” he commanded in his best “Minister of Defense” tone of voice.  It was the voice he used when one of his soldiers had messed up and was standing in front of his desk. 

But did the little doctor-woman care?  Not even a little!  Hell, if anything, he thought he heard another growl.

“I would have thought a doctor would have better eating habits,” he commented and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of white wine.  He brought down a glass and uncorked the bottle, watching her the whole time.  He suspected she hadn’t had a good glass of wine in a long time.  Possibly as long as it had been since she’d had chocolate.

Raven’s mouth froze, still filled with brownie and her eyes widened in fascination while he poured the wine.  He looked up and smiled.  “Want a glass of wine?” he asked, lifting the glass to his lips and tasting.  “This is good.  A nice, fruity taste with a bit of an effervesce to it.” 

He lifted the glass up so that the sunlight sparkled through it.  “I don’t know how they make wine taste fizzy without actually adding in carbonation as they would for a bottle of champagne.”  He looked over at her, noticed that she’d stepped closer although she was still hoarding the plate of brownies.  “But you don’t want any wine, do you?”

Raven whimpered a bit as she continued chewing her brownie.  “Is it really good?” she asked, stepping a bit closer.  She wasn’t sure what to do, guard her brownies from his sneaky hands or come closer so that she could beg for a taste of the wine.  Wine was like….oh my, it was like water from heaven, she thought with another whimper. 

He took another sip, nodding as he lowered the glass.  “Yeah,” he sighed.  “It really is good.”

He reached behind him, took down another glass and poured the wine into it, then pushed the glass forward a couple of inches.  “Want some?”

Raven dusted off her fingers, preparing to take the glass.  But something in his eyes warned her that it wasn’t going to be that easy.  “Are you going to just give me the glass?” she asked, her fingers fiddling with the side of the brownie plate nervously. 

“No,” he chuckled, ignoring the amused expressions of the men working at the computers, gathering data.  He should wait to tease her until they were alone, but this was just too much fun. 

She swallowed, considered picking up another brownie but the wine was more enticing now.  “What do I have to do?” she asked, leaning a hip against the granite countertop. 

“Give me a brownie,” he told her.  “And every man in the room gets one too.”

Raven grabbed the plate again, pulling it protectively closer as she looked back at the three men who were working the computers.  They glanced at her as well, but not a muscle in their faces twitched as she searched their expressions, glanced down at the plate of brownies then the glass of wine. 

It was a very hard decision to make. 

In the end, she was weak.  “Fine!” she snapped and brought the brownies over to the men, offering them a brownie each.  They smiled as they selected one and then she came back to the kitchen.  There were still a large number of brownies left so it wasn’t as if she could even eat all of them.  But she was looking forward to trying! 

“Here!” she said and reached out to hand him a brownie.  But she pulled back when he was about to reach for it.  “Trade at the same time,” she told him. 

He almost laughed at her narrowed eyes.  “What?  You don’t trust me?” he asked, pretending to be offended.  Smart woman! 

“Not in any way,” she replied, shaking her head, unaware of the way her soft, brown tresses caressed her shoulders and neck.