When Tamar realized that she wasn’t going to get on board, he cursed under his breath. With one swift movement, he lifted her into his arms and strode forward. Unfortunately, he hadn’t anticipated that her fears were real and she wasn’t just playing games. He almost dropped her when her body went rigid, then began fighting him for everything she was worth. It took all his concentration to get her on board. By that time, she was sobbing in his arms and he didn’t have the heart to toss her into the next seat. He nodded to the pilot to take off, all the while holding Wyndi gently in his arms, rocking her back and forth and rubbing her back while he whispered soothing noises to her, trying to calm her down.
Thankfully, the flight was only twenty minutes, but it would have taken them more than an hour to get to his destination via car. So when the machine set down, he told the pilot to halt the rotors. He didn’t move until all the dust had settled around them. Then he carefully picked her up and carried her inside. He ignored the way her body was trembling violently and refused to think about how nice she felt with her face tucked into his neck so she couldn’t see anything. Her arms were iron bands around his neck and, in this instance at least, she trusted him to keep her safe. He realized that her fears might be irrational, but they were very real, and he felt bad for forcing her to endure the short flight.
He carried her through his palace, ignoring the servants who were quickly bowing down as he passed. He didn’t stop until he pushed through the doors to his very own bedroom. Why he’d brought her here instead of one of the smaller rooms that would be easier to guard, he had no idea. All he knew was that he wanted answers and he was going to get them from this woman, one way or another.
Wyndi looked up, trying to absorb this nightmare in which she’d been dumped. It simply wasn’t possible that she’d been kidnapped! That the man who had been so funny, kind and sensual had turned into a monster, and she was now in a foreign country where she didn’t know the rules. No, these things happened in the movies and on television. This wasn’t her life! This was just another nightmare in which she would wake up. She just hoped she’d wake up sooner rather than later because this was terrifying.
“When you’re ready to cooperate, just let one of my body guards know.” He turned around and walked to the door but when his hand was resting on the doorknob, he stopped and turned around. She looked so small and scared sitting in the middle of his bed. Was he doing the right thing? Perhaps there was a better approach…something that would be kind….
He swore once again and yanked open the door, refusing to let her lost, forlorn expression move him again. It was all a lie and he hated liars. Especially liars that tried to fool him.
He went to his office and forced himself to deal with all the issues that had been piling up while he’d been hunting down the hacker. Over the past two days, he’d spent way too much time thinking about that woman. Even yesterday when he’d been sitting in meetings, he hadn’t been paying attention, too occupied thinking of different ways to make love to her.
And that was probably the crux of the problem. She’d fit him so perfectly sexually, her drive was so in tune with his. No matter where he touched her, she was breathless for more and he’d felt the same way when she’d touched him. Now he understood that it was all just a game, a way to hide her illegal activities so she wouldn’t be prosecuted.
With brutal self-discipline, he forced his mind to work, focusing on his responsibilities and not allowing his mind to think of the slender, enticing and defiant prisoner currently in his bedroom.
Wyndi pushed herself to the head of the bed, looking around and trying to figure out what she was going to do. The sun was starting to set through the windows and she’d already looked around this enormous room, trying to find a way out, to escape and, when that was not possible, just snooping through Tamar’s things.
She’d been kidnapped and, unless she was completely losing her mind, this wasn’t a nightmare.
When the lock sounded on the door, she stared at it anxiously. Tamar strode into the room followed by several servants who set up a table and some delicious smelling foods. Wyndi realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since the previous night’s pasta, but since she had no idea what time it was, or even where she was, she couldn’t figure out what meal this should be. She was starving though, so she wasn’t going to turn this down.
“Come,” he called out to her when they were alone once again.
So much for filling her painfully empty stomach, she thought angrily.
She’d just been about to get up off the bed and find out what was under the silver covers, but when he ordered her around like a dog, that stubbornness flared to life once more. She stared back at him, pretending like he hadn’t just ordered her to move and her stomach didn’t feel like it was caving in from hunger.
With a sigh, he turned around and glared at her. “Wyndi, it has now been more than eighteen hours since you last ate. I know you are hungry, so stop being ridiculous and come sit down.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she made herself more comfortable on the bed. “It doesn’t matter how hungry I might have been, my appetite simply disappeared the moment you entered the room. I guess your presence now has that effect on me.”
He wanted to applaud her spunk, but he was too worried about her getting some nutrition to be impressed. Taking another approach, he walked slowly over to the bed, his eyes moving over her slender figure suggestively. “I guess I’ll just have to interpret your lack of an appetite for food to be an appetite for me to join you in that large, comfortable bed. Is that right?” he asked, his eyes flaring at the idea.
Wyndi was having none of that! She jumped off of the bed, leaping to the opposite side to protect herself from him touching her. “Don’t you dare!” she growled angrily.
And with that rejection, the fire inside of him was once again ignited. She didn’t know him well enough, and if the truth were told, he didn’t even understand his reaction to her lately, but her rejection of his touch only made him want to prove that she wasn’t as immune to his touch as she’d like to claim. It was as if he needed to put his stamp of ownership on her, to make her so crazy with desire that she would tell him everything he wanted to know.
With that intent in mind, he moved towards her, his intention clear.
“What are you doing?” she gasped when he had taken no more than three steps.
“I’m going to prove that you’re not as repulsed by my touch as you continue to assert. That should go a long way towards proving that you are a liar.”
She looked around, trying to figure out how to stop him. When nothing occurred to her, she panicked. “Please Tamar! I’ll eat. I’m starving actually. I really could use some food right now and what you’ve provided smells absolutely delicious.”
Tamar stopped, looking at her pale skin and the glassy look in her eyes. She definitely needed to eat something and he found that he couldn’t seem to push himself on her, even though he knew that it would take very little effort to get her purring in his arms once more. Priorities, he told himself. She needed food, then she needed to understand that he would not tolerate her lies.
He reached out and took her hand, intending to drag her over to the table, but instead, he tucked her hand onto his arm and led her gently over to the table. He even pulled out the chair for her despite the fact that he was sorely irritated with himself for giving her any kind of consideration.
“Tell me about your past. What got you into the hacking business?” he asked, sitting down across from her and lifting the silver covers off of several bowls filled with fragrant, diced meat, a bowl of black rice and various grilled vegetables.
Wyndi contemplated ignoring him, remaining silent, but she wasn’t sure what he would do if she refused him. And perhaps she might be able to get some information out of him if she cooperated slightly.
“I learned how to write code in college,” she explained as he filled her plate high with the black rice first, then the meat and vegetables. He also handed her a sauce that smelled incredibly good. She told him about her classes in various subjects, and how none had felt “right” to her until she started creating software code. She’d even developed a video game that would help kids with their math homework.
“What happened with that?” he asked, more intrigued than he wanted to admit.
She shrugged and looked down at her plate, surprised to find that she’d eaten every morsel he’d dished out for her. “I couldn’t get anyone to look at it. They all said they would consider me for employment once I had more experience.” She laughed derisively. “It’s hard to get experience when no one will hire me.”
Her story eased something inside of him. It was astonishing because a few hours ago, he’d thought that nothing could make her crimes make sense to him. “Is that why you started hacking into companies? To earn money since no one would hire you?”
She pulled back, stunned that he would go right for that door. But why wouldn’t he? “You think you have me all figured out, don’t you?” she asked, picking up her wine glass and taking a sip. “But you’re wrong.”
He was surprised to find that he wanted to be wrong. But the possibility of that was pretty slim, not with all the evidence he had against her. Even now, his technical team was working on her computer, finding all sorts of interesting code and the stored results. The results were encrypted, but he was confident that they would find a solution to her encryption before the night was over.
“Why don’t you tell me where I’m wrong?”
She thought about it, but she simply couldn’t trust him any longer. “Let me go home and I’ll give you all the information you want.”
“Give me the information I want and I’ll contemplate letting you go home,” he countered.
She had to laugh, even though it probably wasn’t very funny. “I guess we’re at a stalemate,” she said quietly. “How long are you going to keep me here?”
“Until you tell me what I want to know. I won’t allow my companies or my country to be hurt. So I have to know what you sold and who you sold it to. I have to limit my vulnerabilities.”
She bit her lip, choosing her words carefully. “If I promise you that I didn’t create any vulnerabilities with either Surisia or your country, would you let me go?”
His finger rubbed the rim of the wine glass as he contemplated her request. “Could you prove it?”
“If you give me back my laptop, I could.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m sorry, my beauty. But you are a very skilled person with a computer. Giving you access to your computer is the very last thing I am willing to do.”
“Then how am I going to prove anything to you?” she demanded, exasperated but still seeing the humor.
“Tell me what I want to know.”
She couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped her lips. “We’re going in a circle here.”
He chuckled as well. “I guess we are at an impasse. What are we going to do about that?”
“You could trust me.”
He threw back his head and laughed, delighted with her gamin expression despite himself. She was truly a fascinating adversary. His anger from this afternoon had completely dissipated, but he still needed to remain firm about his goals. He couldn’t allow her to bring down Jabril’s government or any of his businesses. That was an absolute. But perhaps he was going about the interrogation wrong. He contemplated her lovely features across the table from him, thinking that he might get the information he wanted if he approached her differently. His body would certainly agree with his next approach.
“I must attend to some business,” he said abruptly, standing up and coming to the other side of the table. “I will see you later, my beauty.” He reached down and took her hand, gently kissing her fingers before walking out the door.
Wyndi was so startled by that touch, she wasn’t sure what to do or say. Or even how to react. What happened to the man who had been livid with her only hours ago? She was so confused. And scared.
She prowled the room, exploring the shelves and the various items. She selected a book off of the shelf and curled up in one of the chairs, snuggling down to read the story. She was surprised when she found herself intrigued by the plot, engrossed to the point of forgetting the time. She had no idea how long she’d been reading, but she finally accepted that she needed a light. Unfortunately, the only lights were on each side of the bed. How was it that the whole room had only those two lamps?
Looking up at the ceiling, she found that there were recessed lights and even some modern looking hanging lights, but she couldn’t figure out how to turn them on. So as much as she didn’t want to get back into that bed, she couldn’t come up with an alternative. The mystery she’d selected had captured her mind and there didn’t seem to be anyone coming to unlock the doors to release her. There wasn’t any other form of entertainment either.
She curled up on the side of the bed, stuffing the multitude of pillows behind her back, making herself comfortable. She figured she could jump up as soon as Tamar came in. If he even came back.
Tamar refused to allow himself to return to his bedroom until later than normal. He hounded his tech team, demanding that they do something to find the files he needed. But they worked well into the night with no success. They weren’t finding any stolen information on her laptop. At least not in the files they’d been able to open up so far.
So here he was, looking down at the woman curled up on his bed and his body instantly started aching with the need to have her once again. He walked to the side of his bed, looking down at her pale features shadowed by the dim light of his bedside lamp. She truly was an exquisitely beautiful woman with delicate features and a full, luscious mouth that he wanted to taste even now.
Stripping off his clothes, he considered all the ramifications of his next plan of action. Figuring there was no downside to making love, or more specifically, having sex, with this woman if it sped the process along and he got the information he needed, he tossed his clothes to the side, then lifted her into his arms, kissing her awake. He knew the instant consciousness arrived because she stiffened in his arms. But he’d been prepared and, if there was one thing he’d learned the previous two nights in this lovely woman’s arms, it was where she liked to be touched, the way she shivered with delight when he found all of her secret erogenous areas. And he used that knowledge to his benefit, touching, kissing and caressing her until she was gasping for breath, begging him to finish what he’d started.
And when it was all over, he held her in his arms as she gently fell asleep, almost purring with satisfaction.