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“You told him?” Angelina couldn’t believe it. Betrayal? From Alec?
“I didn’t have to. He already knew. But yeah, I confirmed it.”
“How? How did he know?”
“Apparently you, along with everyone else on the security details, are under observation by Zakhar’s secret intelligence service.”
She blinked but made the connection. “The assassination attempt. Of course. The king said he wanted us all investigated. I did not realize...” She glanced down at her hands. “I am sorry, Alec. I should have thought of this. I should have—”
He crushed her hands in his. “Don’t apologize. If you think I give a damn who knows about us, think again.” He loosened his grip but still kept possession of her hands. “I know you wanted to keep our relationship a secret, at least for a while. Especially from your captain.” She still refused to look up, but she sensed his internal struggle, could hear the strain in his voice. “But I’m not ashamed, and as far as I’m concerned, the whole world can know about us. Or the whole world can go to hell.”
She raised her face to his then, and saw the truth in his eyes. “I refused to lie to your captain,” Alec said now, a hard edge to his voice. “When he told me he knew about us, I admitted it. But I also told him you have the right to keep your private life private, so long as it doesn’t impact your job. And he knows it won’t.”
“Then he does not think less of me? It is not an issue?”
“Why the hell should he think less of you?” The challenge in his words was matched by his tone. “You’re a woman, Angel. A living, breathing woman, not an automaton. Neither is he. In fact—” He stopped abruptly, as if he wasn’t sure he should say anything more. But then he said, “In fact, I just found out he has a date tonight with my administrative assistant.”
“A date?” Angelina couldn’t believe it. “Captain Zale?”
Alec laughed suddenly, and then she did, too. “What’s wrong with that? As far as I can tell, he’s a normal man with functioning parts. You act like he’s not allowed to be human.”
“No, not that, but...” It still struck her as funny, and she chuckled. “He is very much a man. No question of that. He is much sought after by women, this I know—it is no secret within the ranks. But he has time only for his duty. His eyes are always on the queen.” Angelina suddenly realized how this might sound, and hurried to clarify. “Not that he is interested in the queen that way. Please do not misunderstand.”
“Don’t worry,” Alec assured her. “I wasn’t thinking along those lines. Besides,” he added dryly, “it would take an extremely brave—or reckless—man to touch anything belonging to your king. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would tolerate that, not for a second.”
“That is a very sexist thing to say,” she retorted. “The queen is not a thing, and—”
“Okay, okay,” Alec said, holding up his hands, palms outward. “Forget I said it.”
But Angelina could tell he was still thinking it. So Alec is not perfect, after all, she realized. In some ways, he is a typical man, with typical male thinking. It didn’t make her love him any less. Just the opposite, in fact. It was somewhat endearing to know that Alec—so perfect in many ways—had his faults just like everyone else.
Then another thought crept into her mind, distracting her from consideration of Alec’s few faults, and she blurted out before she meant to, “I have never known Captain Zale to date. Is she very beautiful, this assistant of yours?”
Alec’s eyes widened in surprise, and Angelina cursed her unruly tongue. “You’re jealous,” he said eventually, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“No, I...how can there be jealousy when there is trust?” she asked, suddenly flustered in a way she hadn’t been since high school. “And I trust you. I... I am not jealous, you understand. I would merely like to know.”
Alec tried to suppress the unholy glee in his expressive eyes but failed. And that is another fault in him, Angelina averred with a spurt of anger. He laughs at the most inappropriate times. But when she admitted the truth to herself, her anger faded.
“Yes, I am jealous. I do not mean to be,” she said seriously. “But I...what are you doing?” Alec was stripping off his coat, his shoulder harness, undoing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. “What are you doing?” she asked again, bewildered.
“Proving to you there’s no reason to be jealous. Not of Tahra. Not of any woman.” He was completely naked now, except for his socks, which he stripped off with an un-self-conscious air. He was magnificently aroused already, but his hand went to his erection, stroking it a couple of times until it swelled even larger. Impossibly larger. He bent down and retrieved a condom from his pants pocket, which he quickly rolled on. Angelina watched for a moment, then glanced up at Alec’s face, trying to read his intentions in his determined expression.
