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“And that is supposed to be of particular enticement to me?”
She lifted a shoulder. “No man has had me. A shock, I would think, given that I have been kept prisoner for so long. But I think it was quite a game, right? To keep me untouched. For future leverage. Virginity is valuable.”
His gaze flickered dispassionately over her again. “Is it? Here it is quite disposable. Something to throw away at the earliest of conveniences.”
“Well, not for me. For every indignity I have suffered, for all that has been taken, not that. But I will give it to you.”
“I don’t have a need of your virginity, Princess. I didn’t even need my own. It’s been gone for twenty years and I haven’t missed it.”
“Money, then. What I have is a land rich with minerals. Gold and oil. Untapped. The dictators, they were not so smart, I think. But I learned a great many things, because I had nothing but time. So, I read. And what I discovered is that there is much unexplored in my country. But I need the investment to see it done. And I need to live. I need to keep living, or none of it matters. And for that I need you.”
“You think you can buy me?”
“You are bought. Repeatedly. Do not pretend to be a man of great principle now. If you are a man of great principle, then you would perform your task for free, but you do not.”
“No one works for free.”
“Yes, see? That is what I’m saying. No one works for free, and I do not expect you to. You protect me, and I will reward you in the end. Consider it a new mission, but this time you fix what it is you broke.”
“You believe you need a guard? That you are in danger? And for how long do you foresee needing this?”
“I am to be crowned Queen soon, and I think...some time. It has been held off by the council, my coronation, to see if I am fit after my time as prisoner. And I worry the neighboring countries...lie in wait. It will take time.”
“How much time?” he asked, impatient now.
“My neighbors in Lackland are a threat to me,” she said. “I have intelligence that says they will overthrow me.”
“From where?”
“Your government,” she said, waving a hand. “Such a help they were, ridding us of dictator extraordinaire Pierre Doucet, and such aid was given! For all of three months and now I am threatened and on my own. So you see, I get insurance of my own. Protection of my own. And it is fair I confiscate one of their resources to do it.”
“The resource being me?”
“Oui.”
“You’re trying to play the victim here, Annick, and yet you lead with a threat to my family?”
“You lead with a gun. So, seems fair.”
She steeled herself, for she knew what was coming. She knew what she had to do. She had planned for this. She had prepared for it.
“We will be quite close in the palace, while you protect me. I am ready to give you a preview of what we might share.”
“Really?”
He stared at her stone-faced, and she took a step toward him. She had practiced this. Her hips swaying with each movement, eye contact with him never wavering. Of course, eye contact with herself in a mirror was a damn sight different than contact with the man himself. His eyes were blue. It was shocking on one with such dark hair. They were piercing, as if they could see into her soul. But he did not move.
His face was like rock. And his undoing would be that he underestimated her. His undoing would be that he did not think her an enemy.
She sighed, reached into her pocket and leaned in as if to kiss him.
Then she pulled the handkerchief out of her pocket and clapped it over his face. He removed her hand immediately, but it was too late. She had anticipated that. That he would be stronger. That his reflexes would be faster. That she would have to overdose him.
He growled and lunged toward her, knocking her back, and he came down on top of her, his hard body a heavy weight she could scarcely wiggle free of, until...
Until his muscles relaxed. Until it was clear that the chloroform had done its job.
“It is good that I planned for this.”
