If her glands were out of control, she could blame it on the job. Traveling from mission to mission through deep space meant she’d only had sex twice in the last four months. While there were plenty of handsome mercs and flyboys out there, she preferred not to waste time on social niceties. Her solution was a trip to the
Pleasure Your Way
resort on Galous V. There she paid a fee, scanned the vid-brochures for a well-built male—they were all certified as clear of disease and up to date with their contraceptive vaccines. With those guarantees, she was free to have her way with the candidate of choice until her hormones were balanced and back in their pen.
Now, trying to regain control of the situation, she remarked, “The word is you’re descended from Old World Scottish royalty. What do I call you, Prince Cameron? Your Royal Highness?”
Steering the car back to the service road, he cut her sharp look, as if he expected to see a smirk on her face.
“Cameron will do.”
“Okey-dokey.” As she settled back in her seat, her primal instincts were still on alert, aware that no menace lurked in the background. Her
keen gaze spotted
an incongruous pack of wild horses, kicking up clouds of red dust as they headed toward a ridge of wooded mountains. From her research, Brig now knew that most of those mountains were, in fact, rich deposits of the Zexus ore that everyone was eager to buy and sell—a totally clean energy source that was mined without damage to the wilderness, and outperformed all the power supplies presently in use. That was a very good reason for someone to want Duncan Cameron dead.
* * * *
Slowing his vehicle down as he reached a curve in mountain road, Duncan glanced at Monroe from the corner of his eye. She obviously felt no pressure to make conversation. She’d reclined her seat, but he knew she wasn’t asleep behind those sporty sunglasses.
What he
could
sense was her unwilling curiosity about him as a man. She’d thought he was going to kiss her when he’d opened the car door. He’d seen it in her unusual silvery-gray eyes. Not that he hadn’t noticed her alluring unpainted mouth. Overall, she was totally not what he’d expected. Not that he had had a comparison in mind. Like most people, he’d assumed that women who signed on as bodyguards would be muscular with minimal curves. The reality was surprising. Monroe presented an interesting blend of strength and femininity with a solid body and delicate features. He’d already noted the good-sized breasts filling out her simple black top. At this moment, with the breeze whipping strands from her sable-colored braid to frame her face, she looked more like a model who put in a lot of time at the gym than a bodyguard.
Since he’d never been with a woman who had muscles—not ones to rival his own anyway—he couldn’t help but be fascinated, wondering how she’d look naked.
Down boy, he told himself, no naughty thoughts about a woman who wouldn’t hesitate to kick your dick up to your throat. While he’d never thought of himself as narrow minded or sexist, it turned out that his masculine pride would prefer that it wasn’t widely known that a female, no matter how skilled, was acting as his guardian.
That brought him back to why he’d driven out here today. “We need to discuss a cover story.”
After a second’s hesitation, Monroe replied without looking at him, “I thought you might. I’m listening.” There was no mistaking the smirk in her voice this time.
Duncan ignored it, since he was the one who’d inserted the aggressive element into their exchanges. “I thought you could act as my chauffer. I have several larger vehicles.”
She spared him a quick glance through her tinted glasses. “What about the trade meetings? While you may not want me in your face, you might as well use my services, since I’m bought and paid for. I can’t protect you from a distance.”
Inhaling her alluring fragrance, he yielded more readily than he’d intended. “All right, what do you have in mind?”
“I was thinking I could pose as a commerce liaison from an outlying planet. One that’s newly colonized, so the other delegates probably won’t have heard of it. The one I have in mind is Asterrel, in the Xerpas quadrant.” She paused. “By the way, are any of the delegates staying in the palace?”
Watching her mouth as she spoke, he glanced away. “Yes, about half will be staying in the palace. The rest will be accommodated in hotels.”
* * * *
With the threat to his life, Brig thought, it was foolish to have any of the envoys staying in the palace. She held her tongue. “Okay, so put me up in the palace and I can do my job while I join in the social activities and the trade talks.”
Duncan frowned. “That would mean you’d have to act the part of a negotiator. Most of them have degrees in mineralogy.”
Little did he know that
in addition to holding several degrees to include a doctorate in criminology,
Brig had a keen interest in both geology and mineralogy,
thanks to her rock-climbing hobby. Additionally, she could control her pulse-rate and other physical elements well enough to fool a lie detector. She was fluent in fifteen languages and could converse convincingly on countless subjects. In short, she was a major geek with muscles. She tipped down her sunglasses and
peered over them, giving Cameron what some referred to as her rapacious grin.
“I think I can handle
it.”
Chapter Two
The observer stood on his balcony, looking out over the fertile countryside as he watched the prince’s car head back to the palace. Seeing a woman sitting beside Duncan brought a rush of familiar resentment. How many times had he watched in frustration while nubile females passed him by to flirt with Duncan?
More provoking was the immense wealth Duncan had accumulated from the discovery of Zexus ore. Who knew that digging into those black mountains would unearth valuable crystalline rocks.
Duncan didn’t deserve any of it
. He certainly didn’t deserve to rule. With his shifting traits and pleasure-seeking outlook, it was doubtful he had the temperament to govern Nevis permanently.
However, all that was about to change. With the rim planet’s energy leasing agreements due to be renewed during the trade talks, it was a perfect time to get rid of Duncan. In the insuring chaos, he would
take over as
regent and bring Nevis’s citizens under martial law. Once his dominance was established, he would
push up the price of Zexus ore and
live the life he deserved, with boundless wealth and his pick of beautiful women. While
money and power were the ultimate goals, the true satisfaction would come from destroying the overconfident prince.
A knock on his private entrance door, interrupted his dark thoughts. Quickly, he walked to his desk and sat behind it. Clearing his throat, he deepened his voice to convey the authority that would soon be his. “Yes, enter.”
A slimly built man with small dark eyes and a carefully clipped flaxen goatee beard entered. His name was Cedral, and he planned to rise higher in his world. He inclined his head in a gesture of respect. “Sir, I’m pleased to tell you the shipment has arrived.”
“There’s no need to speak in code when we’re alone. Are they all here?”
“Yes, sir, as arranged, they were smuggled in on your private craft and taken to the houses prepared for them. They’re ready to move on your command.”
“Excellent, I’ll let you know when and where.”
As he waved Cedral away, his eyes filled with zeal. Everything was going to plan except for the annoying fact that Hagen Warner had hired independent security. He sat back and steepled his fingers as he considered. Could the fact that Warner had stuck his nose into the mix mean he had his own agenda? Alternatively, could he be part of a group plot? With billions at stake, plenty would grab whatever they could.
He shook his head slowly. It didn’t matter. They would all be dealt with.
Chapter Three
“If there is anything else that you require, Miz Monroe, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Just press the top button on the intercom.”
Brig smiled at the elderly manservant. “Thank you, Crawford. Is that your first or last name?”
“Crawford is my surname, ma’am. That’s how I’m always addressed.” He was well up in years, but light on his feet with golden eyes and a magnificent head of white hair. Brig had warmed to him immediately.
Once Cameron had driven her to the white-walled palace, he’d dismissed her with the statement that he was in no danger until the delegates arrived, which was nonsense, of course, but she didn’t argue when he’d handed her over to Crawford to see to her comfort. However, on the way to her quarters, she’d asked the kindly manservant if she could have a tour of the palace, which gave her an opportunity to scan the sentries on duty. She was pleased to find they were exactly what they appeared to be, well-paid bodyguards.
“Please call me Brig,” she said. “You’ve been with…er… Prince Cameron for quite a while, have you?” She told herself it was important to know as much about her charge as possible, to help her discover who had the most to gain from his death. She wouldn’t admit she was curious about him on a personal level, because she couldn’t stop thinking about the heat she’d felt and the exciting smell of him.
“Yes,” Crawford replied. “I’ve been with His Royal Highness since his birth, ma’am
, and I can tell you that he was a good boy who has grown into a fine young man.”
“Do you always refer to him formally as His Royal Highness? He told me to call him Cameron.”
The elderly man puffed out his cheeks. “Yes,
the prince does take a casual approach to such things, but
I
’m a traditionalist, preferring to uphold the old ways of doing things
.”
She had to smile at his quaint outlook, which for reasons she couldn’t fathom, she found appealing. “Is the prince popular with Ben Nevis’s citizens?” It was possible the threat against him could be homegrown.
Crawford put his hands together, obviously warming to the subject. “Oh yes, ma’am, the prince is extremely popular with the people. Though the media likes to portray him as a dashing man about town, there’s a lot more to him than that.
H
e works extremely hard to look after his people.”
“I understand he was the one that actually discovered Zexus ore.”
“Yes, indeed, geology was a boyhood hobby of his. As a delegate, you probably know that Nevis now supplies seventy percent of the Kalaris coalition’s energy.”
“Uh-huh, so the prince is good at commerce.”
Crawford’s amber eyes gleamed. “Oh, yes, he’s a very shrewd businessman, but also an honorable one, who is trusted by the coalition not to raise the price of Zexus ore to a level that would beggar some of the newer, evolving worlds
…” He trailed off, as if he thought he’d said too much and e
xecuted a half-bow that Brig found charming.
“Now, I’d better leave you in peace, to rest before the delegate’s banquet dinner. They’ll be serving cocktails in the annex banquet room at nineteen-hundred hours.”
When he closed the door behind him, Brig took another stroll through her suite of rooms, four to be exact, if you counted the bathroom. The living room’s light wood floor provided a backdrop for the blue patterned Oriental rug. The chests and display cabinet were made from limed-oak, and the salmon-hued soft furnishing looked deep and comfortable. At the far end of the room, a connecting door opened into a fully equipped office. Crossing to the bedroom, she saw the color scheme had been carried throughout. Her feet sinking into powder blue carpet as she studied the gigantic bed, covered with a blue and white patterned duvet and piles of matching pillows. Against the far wall, there was a long mirrored armoire, and a glass-topped table holding a clear vase of carefully arranged flowers.
Brig walked over to the bank of wide windows to gaze down at the formal gardens. The current situation wasn’t one she’d encountered before. Essentially, she was being well paid to twiddle her thumbs. The sensible thing would be to take a long hot shower and nap for a couple of hours, except that she was feeling too edgy to sleep, as if she’d overloaded on caffeine.
And you know why, Monroe. It’s him with his honed muscle animal appeal and those hypnotic blue eyes.
She blew out a breath, making a popping sound. How was she supposed to do her job when merely looking at her client threatened to turn her into a week-kneed mess?
Chapter Four
Dressed in
a black t-shirt and
compression shorts,
Duncan was in the palace gym,
trying to
work off the impact of Brig Monroe. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had rattled him at first sight, to the extent that he’d lost track of a discussion at the meeting he’d just attended.
Finishing his routine, he set the twenty-pound weights down and crossed to
program the holo-trainer for a grueling mountain run
.
Walking toward the portal, he picked up
a red bandana from a bench, tying it around his head as
the gym door opened behind him
.
Expecting to see one of his assistants, Duncan stared in disbelief when Brig Monroe stopped dead on the threshold.
“Uh, sorry, your aide said it was all right to use the gym…”
Duncan watched in fascination as color spread across her cheeks.
“…I’ll come back later.”
His first impulse was to agree. “No, wait! It’s not a problem. I was about to go for a holo-run. You’ll have the equipment all to yourself.”
She hesitated with one hand on the door handle. In her silvery eyes, he read both curiosity and wariness.
“
Okay, thanks.”
His gaze followed her as she walked further in
to the room, studying the array of machines and free weights.
Her pleasing scent wafted in his direction, stirring his juices and unsettling him in equal amounts.
“Excellent equipment.” She cast him a glance over her shoulder. “Does your invitation mean you’ve forgiven me for being here?”