Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Another mistake. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “He knocked me down and took my car. The police found it on the beach two days later. They never caught the man. Was that my fault, Kash?”
He frowned but eased up on her wrist, turning and offering his back again. Such a touchy tiger. “Of course not.”
She smoothed her palms down his back, sending a shudder through him. “Should I have not driven again?”
“No. You should not have. Had we been married at the time, I would have escorted you everywhere. Your lovers were quite lazy if they did not. Nor should you have been allowed to walk alone at night, and I will ensure that you have all the bodyguards. Women, of course, fierce women who would slaughter anyone who dares to look at you.”
She groaned but wrapped her arms around him. She loved him. So much. This was the Kash she adored. Why couldn’t he see that he could be anything he wanted to be when they were alone? “I didn’t have a lover at the time. And don’t change the subject. What happened wasn’t your fault, but how you reacted to it was.”
He leaned back into her. “You’re not the first person to point that out to me.” His head rested back, bringing their cheeks together. “I don’t want to think right now. I want you touching me. I want you needing me.”
Longing rushed in again. How easy it was to turn the tide. “I always need you.”
“Tell me what you want me to do.” He whispered the words. “Tell me how to please you. I won’t think anymore. I won’t think about eyes being on me or my past sins. If you tell me to stop, I can do it now. We’re alone.”
“Are you ashamed of how I make you feel?”
He sat up straight, letting go of her hands, and she could feel the distance between them. “We should go to bed. You were right. We have to talk about this. We have to find a way to work through our differences because I need you to understand that we can’t go on like this.”
She wanted so badly to reach out to him, to have not ended the moment, but the thought of something sacred to her being a dirty secret for him wasn’t manageable.
“Your Majesties,” a deep voice said, and the bodyguard on duty stepped into the space. Wade Rycroft was a huge man with a slow Texas accent. She’d spoken to him a few times, enjoying his stories of living on a ranch with five brothers and more cattle than one could count. Now, though, his usually jovial face was set in deep lines.
Kash stood, stepping in front of her as though the man was going to hurt her somehow. Or perhaps he was embarrassed by the way she was dressed. “Yes?”
“I’ve been informed there’s a problem back in Loa Mali,” he explained. “Your mother has been hospitalized. We’ve got a private jet waiting to take you back.”
His hand was suddenly in hers again. Though his face showed no expression at all, he tangled their fingers together. “Of course. We’ll be down in a moment.”
She followed him silently upstairs, wondering what the next few days would cost her husband.
CHAPTER 10
Kash stood outside his mother’s room, shaking his head at Simon Weston. “What exactly does that mean?”
Weston looked like he hadn’t slept in a couple of days. The strain of taking over the household security, dealing with the press, and trying to find a killer had likely worn on the man. He’d probably thought this would be a cakewalk, a fun job that would be almost like a vacation.
Kash had fooled him.
“It means that I found a vial of the poison in your former guard’s room. I had an anonymous tip come in that Rai’s new bride had been to Australia recently.”
“Her mother lives there.”
“When I searched the room he used here in the palace, I found the vial.”
Kash shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. Rai hates me because of something I did before he got married. Namely, his wife. He might cut my balls off if he had the chance, but he would never try to kill me. Not like that. He might do some froufrou historical duel thing because he watches far too much Masterpiece Theater, but he would never poison me.”
Simon’s expression didn’t change a bit. “I understand that it seems convenient, but I did have him arrested. At this point he’s being detained for possession of an illegal substance, but to hold him further, the police have to be able to announce the real charges. That’s why he’s not being held at the police station. He’s in a guarded room here in the palace. I wanted to get the okay from you to go public so I can have him moved to the city jail.”