The Prince's Intimate Abduction (The Samara Royal Family Series Book 2) (9 page)

He laughed softly, a sexy sound that thrilled her all the way down to her toes.  “Your mother would be proud,” he told her.  “You take the glass at the same time you hand me a brownie.”

She thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out what trick he might play on her.  She still had the rest of the tray of treats but…that glass sat there on the granite, taunting her with its golden perfection. 

“Fine,” she said.  “At the same time.”  Any other time, she would think this whole scene hilariously funny in a pathetic kind of way, but there was something in Turk’s eyes, something that warned her that…

Too late!  She’d fallen for it and he had the brownie, both glasses of wine…and her!  She was pinned to the counter while he took another enormous bite out of the brownie.  He wouldn’t release her either!

“You cheated,” she accused angrily. 

“Yes, I did,” he laughed but handed her the wine.  “Here.  You’ll love it.” 

She sighed happily as she took a sip of the wine.  She didn’t even care that he was still holding her around her waist.  For once, she wasn’t focused on his touch but only her lips as she sipped the excellent wine! 

“Oh my, this is amazing,” she sighed and took another sip.

“Good.  My ultimate plan is to get you drunk so that I can have my wicked way with you again tonight,” he said low enough so that only she could hear. 

Her eyes moved up to his.  He wasn’t smiling which told her he was completely serious about his intentions.  She shivered…with anticipation and dread.  “Turk, you really shouldn’t…”

She was going to argue that he wasn’t really wanting her but his mouth covered hers, kissing her and silencing whatever protests she was going to make. 

When he finally lifted his head, his dark eyes were narrowed as he looked down into her silver ones.  “No more talk about your transference theory.  I want you, Raven.  I don’t want the woman who healed me.  I didn’t even know you were the doctor the first time I saw you. All I knew was that I wanted you and you were the hottest thing in ratty jeans I’d ever seen.  Then you bent over to help one of the little kids and I was lost.”  He watched as her eyes widened in surprise.  “Yes, I was watching you before you even knew I was awake.  So no more discussions about this doctor-patient stuff.  This is genuine lust I’m feeling.  And that you’re feeling so don’t even try to pretend otherwise,” he told her before he kissed her open lips again. 

“Come on,” he said and pulled back, taking his glass of wine as he pulled her hand forward.  “I need your knowledge of the village and surrounding areas.  We haven’t found a trace of your rebel friends yet.”

He led her over to a table and pressed a button.  The top of the table opened up and an enormous map was revealed. 

But then she looked closer and realized that it wasn’t a map but actually a satellite image of the village and the terrain around it.  “What’s going on?” she asked warily. 

Turk’s dark eyes looked across the table at her and something in his eyes told her that this was very serious business.  She shivered, but for the first time since this man had shown up, she wasn’t sure what to say to him. 

Turk watched her carefully, not sure if she might feel protective of the villagers and hinder his investigation.  He’d tracked the rebels to a hideout near her village, but would she help him?  “What do you know of this area?  What have you heard from your patients?” he asked.

Raven looked to the location he was pointing, compressing her lips.  “I’m not sure I know the actual area so much as what comes out of it,” she told him. 

Turk was relieved when he heard the sincerity in her voice.  It didn’t sound as if she was trying to hide anything or protect anyone.  “Explain,” he said.

Raven took another sip of her wine, savoring it for a moment while she looked at the map, trying to get her bearings from the various landmarks.  When she finally figured out where she was, she leaned over the table and pointed to the mountainous area beside her village.  “This area isn’t inhabited as far as I know.  All of the people who came to the clinic for the usual reasons, such as pregnancy help, vaccinations, various broken bones or cuts, live in this area,” she said and pointed to another area on the other side of the village, at the base of a barren looking mountain.  “Having said that, I’ve heard rumors about strange happenings and there have been several accidents that seem to have happened in this area.”

“Why do you say that?” Turk asked, leaning his hands on the table’s edge.  The other three analysts had stopped what they were doing at the terminals and were hovering around the edge of the table as well, listening intently.

Raven bit her lip as she looked down at the map, wishing she could give Turk better clues.  “I’m not sure I can give you any specific reason.  It’s more of just a sense than anything with hard facts.  But several times, I’ve been out with the kids in the streets around this area, playing soccer or baseball, when someone drove in with a wounded person from this direction.”  She leaned closer and pointed to the corner of the village.  “The only road out there is from here,” she said and pointed to another area. 

She pulled back and looked over at Turk.  “Keep in mind, my focus was on the patients and not on where they were coming from or what happened for them to get hurt.”

Turk’s eyebrows lifted.  “You never asked how someone might have been bombed or knifed?”

She shook her head.  “Never.”

This was news and he wasn’t sure he liked it.  “Why not?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared down at her. 

She mimicked his pose, trying to look just as intimidating.  She was probably failing miserably, but she was going to put up the good fight.  “If I start asking questions about how someone got hurt, people will stop coming to me for medical help.  My primary objective as a doctor is to help anyone who is hurt.  That’s what I do.  The villagers and the people who live out on the farms or fish along the river, they need to know that I will help them, no questions asked.  And that’s what I do so that they’ll keep coming to me.  I’d rather deal with all of the traumas initially than to try and fix something that they tried to fix themselves and the wound became infected.  Early treatment, Turk.  It works.”

Turk acknowledged that she had a point by simply turning back to the screen and looking at the information.  “Okay so we…”

Raven walked over to one of the comfortable chairs in the corner of the room, the plate of brownies on her lap and her wine next to her.  She listened to the men discuss the possibilities of the rebels having a hideout in the area.  But mostly, she simply listened to Turk talk, his deep voice making her body tingle.  She’d never felt this way about any other man and it excited her in ways she hadn’t thought possible. 

But why had he left her last night?  Or had it been this morning?  Not to mention, he wasn’t acting like a lover today.  Then again, he’d brought her brownies.  And wine.  That was lover-like, wasn’t it?  He’d remembered her comments about chocolate from when they’d been at the clinic.  She had to give him big kudos for remembering that conversation. 

She sighed and looked down at her wine, confused and confounded.  In truth, Raven had no idea how a lover would or should act.  She was a novice at this game and she hated not knowing what to do, how to act.  She’d spent most of her life preparing to be a doctor but she had no idea how to be a woman.  For someone who prided herself on her expertise, this kind of confusion was frustrating. 

“What’s wrong?”

Raven looked up, surprised to find Turk kneeling in front of her. 

She put the brownies off to the side and took another sip of her wine.  “Nothing is wrong,” she lied.

His dark gaze told her that he didn’t believe her.  “Come on,” he said and stood up, taking her hand and lifting her out of the chair as well. 

“Where are we going?” she asked. 

“Outside,” he said.

She smiled brightly at that answer.  “I thought I was supposed to stay inside.”

He pushed the back door open and led her out to a covered patio.  “You’re okay when you’re out here.”

She looked up at him curiously.  “Why can’t I go out?  What’s keeping me here?”

Turk wasn’t about to tell her about all of the criminals that were out to kill her for the payout.  “Because I don’t know what’s going on and you’re safer inside where I can protect you.”  That was true enough without scaring her.  “Promise me that you’ll stay indoors, okay?”

“Fine,” she told him.  “I’ll stay inside for as long as I can.  But what am I supposed to do with my time?  I’m not used to having nothing to do.  Isn’t there…”

“You can read and relax.  Maybe take a long bath?  Aren’t women supposed to enjoy taking long bubble baths?”

Her nose crinkled up at that suggestion.  “A bath?  Really?  You want me to take a bath?”  She took another sip of her wine.  “Why don’t you take a bath?”

He pulled her closer.  “Will you be in the water with me?” he asked, his voice deep and husky with an edge to it that she loved.

She felt her body go hot, which had nothing to do with the heat of the sun beating down on the earth.  She didn’t understand her reaction to him though.  His words brought such an instantaneous reaction, why couldn’t she control this? 

“I don’t think so,” she told him, afraid now that he was pulling her closer.  She felt like she was being controlled by him, like she was a puppet and he was the master.  It had been like that ever since he’d been hauled into her clinic and she needed to regain control of herself.  “No, I don’t think this is good,” she told him.

“What’s not good?” he countered, bending lower to nibble on her neck.  It was exactly how he’d gotten her so excited last night. 

“We can’t do that again,” she told him.

He laughed softly.  “Oh, we’re going to do that again.  And again and again.  I don’t think it was exactly right last night.”

She wasn’t sure, but the idea of him touching her, moving inside her as he had last night but better, might have made her eyes roll back in her head.  “I don’t like this feeling,” she told him.

“What feeling?  The way you’re out of control when I touch you like this?” he asked and his hands slid underneath her silk blouse. 

“Yes,” she sighed, knowing she should pull away but held captive by the hope of him touching more of her. 

“Or maybe you feel more out of control when I do this,” and his fingers cupped her breasts. 

“Turk!” she gasped, slapping her hand over his hand which was still underneath her blouse.  “We can’t do this here.”

He raised his head and looked around, reminding himself that they were outside where any of his men guarding the house might see them. 

With a sigh of frustration, he looked back down at her.  “You’re right.  But there’s always tonight,” he told her with anticipation. 

“We need to sleep apart tonight,” she told him, trying to be firm about her intentions to not lose control.

His only response was to laugh.  “Not happening, princess,” he told her.  “You probably need something more to eat.  Something other than just brownies.”  He took her hand and led her back into the kitchen. 

“What are you in the mood to eat for lunch?” he asked, pressing his hips against hers as he pinned her gently against the countertop behind her. 

“Lunch?” she asked, painfully aware of his body’s reaction to their position. 

“Yes.  It’s normally the meal that happens in the middle of the day.  You’ve had it a few times although I suspect most of the time you just grab a protein bar or something simple.”  He was teasing her but he also liked the way she could be distracted.  She must be ravenously hungry because, except for the brownies and the wine, she hadn’t eaten anything in twenty-four hours. 

When her hands lifted higher, resting on his chest and he felt her fingertips exploring unconsciously, he just about lost his ability to hold out.  He considered just tossing her over his shoulder once again and carrying her up the stairs.  He could phone the palace later and get them something to eat. 

But he mentally shook his head.  She needed food more than he needed to make love to her again.  “How about a sandwich and some fruit?” he offered.  “Tonight, I’ll have something delivered that will be more exciting.  Unfortunately, all I have in the fridge is sandwich materials or ingredients that would need to be cooked, although I can get one of my men to whip something up if you want something warm for lunch.”

Raven was appalled by the idea of him ordering one of the soldiers to cook a meal and shook her head.  “A sandwich sounds wonderful,” she told him sincerely.  The brownies were wonderful, but they hadn’t filled up her stomach for long. 

“Sandwiches it is.”  He pulled out several loaves of bread and started laying them on the countertop.  “We’ll make enough for everyone,” he explained when she looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.  “And they’re all hungry men who can eat an obscene amount of food.  Like me,” he told her with a wink.

In the end, she had a fun time putting the sandwiches together.  She spread the condiments while he slapped a piece of cheese on every other slice.  Then she came behind him and distributed the lunch meat.  By the time they were finished, there was an enormous stack of sandwiches piled onto a platter.  She had to give up her brownies too, but Turk assured her that he would get her more chocolate tonight.