A Reputation For Revenge (10 page)

“It’s just so… sad.”

He looked at her incredulously. “You’re sad? For him? For the man who took your sister?”

She shook her head. “Not for him. For you. You’ve wasted ten years of your life on this. How much more time do you intend to squander?”

He finished off his wine in a gulp. “Not much longer now.”

The brief, cold smile on his face made her shiver. “There,” she breathed. “That smile. There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?”

Kasimir stared at her for a long time, then turned away. “It’s not your concern.”

She watched the flickering shadows from the lanterns move like red fire against his taut jaw. He clearly wanted to end the subject.
Fine,
she told herself. What did she care if Kasimir wasted his life on stupid revenge plots? She didn’t care. She
didn’t
.

She bit her lip, then said hesitantly, “Is hurting your brother really more important to you than having a happy life yourself?”

“Leave it alone, Josie,” he said harshly.

Josie knew she should just be quiet and drink her mint tea but she couldn’t stop herself from replying in a heated tone, “Maybe if you just talked to him, explained how he’d hurt you—”

“He’d what, apologize?” Kasimir ground out. “Give me back my half of Xendzov Mining, wrapped in a nice gold bow?” His lips twisted. “There must be limits even to your optimism.”

She looked up quickly, her cheeks hot. “You keep telling
me to be honest, to be brave and bold, but what have you done lately that was any of those things?”

He looked at her.

“If I weren’t bound by my vow,” he said, “I’d do the bravest, boldest, most honest thing I can think of. And that’s kiss you.”

She sucked in her breath.

Exhaling, Kasimir looked up, tilting his head back against his chair. “Look at the stars. They go on forever.”

Josie stared at him, her lips tingling, her heart twisting in her chest. Then she slowly followed his gaze. He was right about the stars. They had never looked so bright to her before, like twinkling diamonds above a violet sea. Looking at them, she felt so small, and yet bigger, too, as if she were part of something infinite and vast.

“You really want to kiss me so badly?” she heard herself say in a small voice.

“Yes.”

“And it’s not just because I’m—handy?”

He groaned. “I never should have said that. I knew I was wrong to kiss you. I was trying to act like it was no big deal.” His lips quirked upward. “Hoping maybe you wouldn’t notice that it was.”

Her own lips trembled. “Oh, I noticed.”

Their eyes locked across the table. As they faced each other, alone in the desert, the full moon had just lifted above the horizon. The world seemed suspended in time.

“But why me?” she choked out. “You could kiss any woman you wanted. And we both agreed I’m not your type….”

Tilting his head, Kasimir looked at her. “You keep talking about my type. What is my type?”

She looked down at her plate, which had been filled with enough
tajine
and bread for your average Moroccan lumberjack. It was now empty—and just a moment ago, she’d been considering going back for seconds. She bit her lip. “She’s
thin and fit. She spends hours at the gym and rarely eats anything at all.”

He gave a slow nod. “Go on.”

Josie looked down at her linen trousers and plain cotton blouse that had felt so good, but now seemed dowdy and dumpy. “She’s very glamorous. She wears tight red dresses and six-inch stiletto heels.” She ran a hand over her ponytail. “She has her hair styled every single day in a top salon.” She pressed her bare lips together. “And she wears makeup. Black eyeliner and red lipstick.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “Yes. Even when I wake up beside her in bed, her lipstick is perfectly applied.”

“What, you mean when you wake up in the morning?” Josie blinked, pulled out of her reverie. “How is that even possible? Do magic makeup fairies put lipstick on her in the middle of the night or something?”

He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Obviously, she gets up early, to freshen up her makeup and hair before I wake up.”

Josie dropped her fork with a clang against her plate. “Sheesh! What a waste of time!” She thought of how much she loved sleeping in on mornings she didn’t have to work. And if she happened to be sharing a bed with a man—a man like Kasimir—there surely would be better ways to wake up. Not that she would know. Her cheeks flared with heat as she pushed away the thought. She scowled, folding her arms. “You would never know the flaws of a woman like that. So long as she’s wearing lots of lipstick and a tight red dress, you don’t really know her at all.”

Kasimir stared at her in the moonlight.

“You’re right,” he said softly. “And that’s why I want you.”

Josie dropped her folded arms. “What?”

“More than I’ve ever wanted any woman.” He sat forward in his chair, his eyes intense. “I know your flaws. They’re part of what makes you so beautiful.”

She swallowed, looking down as she mumbled, “I’m dowdy and frumpy.”

“You don’t need sexy clothes for your natural, effortless beauty.”

“I’m a klutz.” She looked down at her empty plate, feeling depressed. “And I eat too much.”

“You eat the exact right amount for your perfect body.”

“My what?” She gasped out a laugh, even as her throat ached with pain. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it. I’m chubby.”

“Chubby?” He shook his head. “You drove me insane in your wedding dress. You taunted me in that sliver of white lace, teasing me with little flashes of your breasts and thighs until I thought I’d go mad.” Standing up, he walked around the table. “You have the type of figure that men dream about,” he said quietly. “And if you haven’t noticed, I’m a man.”

Kasimir stood over her now, so close their bodies almost touched. Her body sizzled as her lips parted.

“But I’m plain,” she whispered. “I’m naive and silly. I blurt out things no one cares about.”

He knelt beside her chair. “Your beauty doesn’t come from a jar.” He took her hand gently in his own. “It comes from your heart.”

His palm and fingertips were warm and rough against hers. And Josie suddenly realized that he wasn’t just being courteous. He wasn’t trying to give compliments to an honored guest. He wasn’t even flirting, not really.

He actually believed what he was saying to her.

A lump rose in her throat. How she’d longed to hear those words from someone, anyone, let alone a devastatingly handsome man like Kasimir….

But she couldn’t let herself fall for it.
Couldn’t.
She swallowed. Her voice was hoarse as she said, “I’m nothing special.”

“Are you joking?” His hand tightened over hers. “How many women would have spent their last money to cross an
ocean—and agree to marry a man like me—just to save an older sister who’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself?”

Josie’s whole body was shaking. With an intake of breath, she pulled away. “Anyone would have—”

“You’re wrong.” He cut her off. “And that is what’s different about you. You’re not just brave. Not just strong. You don’t even know your own power. You are—” he kissed the back of her hand, causing a flash of heat across her body as he whispered “—an elemental force.”

Her body felt as if it was on fire. A breeze blew through the desert night, cooling her skin. Her heart pounded in her chest. She looked up at him.

The wind caught at his black hair, blowing it against his tanned skin, against his high cheekbones that looked chiseled out of marble in the silver moonlight and flickering glow of the lanterns.

“Now do you understand? Now do you believe?” he said softly. “I want you, Josie. Only you.”

He reached out to stroke her cheek, and the sensuality of that simple touch caused her whole body to shake. Against her will, her gaze dropped to his mouth. Could she…? Did she dare to…?

Kasimir’s hand dropped.

“But I will be true to my word. And I am almost glad you bound me by it.” He gave her a small, wistful smile. “Because we both know that you are far too good for a heartless man like me.”

Searching his gaze, she swallowed. “Kasimir—”

His expression shuttered. “You are tired.” Rising to his feet, he held out his hand. “I will take you back to the tent.”

But Josie didn’t feel tired. Every sense and nerve in her body was aware of the stars, the night, the desert. From a distance, she could hear the call of night birds. She breathed in the exotic scent of spice on the soft warm wind. She’d never felt so alive before. So awake.

Because of him.

Kasimir’s handsome face was frosted by moonlight, giving his black hair and high cheekbones a hard edge of silver. He looked like a prince—or a pirate—from a far-off time. Euphoria sang through her body, through her blood.
Like an elemental force.

As if in a trance, Josie reached for his hand. Without a word, he led her down the sand dune towards the encampment. She was distracted by the feel of his hand against hers, by the closeness of his powerful body. Her feet were somehow as sure-footed as his as they walked lightly over the sand, down past the flickering torches blazing through the night, illuminating their path.

Kasimir led her into his private tent. They faced each other, and as they stood beside the enormous four-poster bed, which suddenly seemed to dominate the luxurious tent, Josie’s knees felt weak. Her lips felt dry, her heart was pounding.

He looked down at her with smoldering eyes, as if only a hair’s breadth kept him from pushing her back against the bed and covering her body with his own. As if some part of him were waiting—praying for her to say the magic words:
Kasimir, I release you from your promise.

Josie clenched her hands into fists at her sides. And, in a supreme act of will, stepped back from him.

“Well,” she choked out. “Good night.”

He tilted his head, frowning. “Good night?”

“Yes,” she stammered. “I mean, thank you for our wedding night. I mean, our wedding feast. It was delicious. I’ll never forget how you tasted—I mean, how the
tajine
tasted.”
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
Squaring her shoulders, she cried out, “But good night!”

“Ah.” His sensual mouth curved at the edges. He took a step towards her. Josie almost lifted her arms to push him away. That was surely the reason she yearned to put her hands against his chest, to touch the powerful plane of his muscles
through his djellaba and see if they could possibly be as hard as they looked. “Josie,” he murmured, “I don’t think you understand.” He leaned his head down towards her with a gleam in his eye. “This is my private tent.”

She licked her lips. “And you’re giving it to me as your guest? No.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t possibly accept. I’m not kicking you out of your bed.”

“Thank you.” His eyebrow lifted as he said evenly, “And I’m not going to allow you to run away.”

“What?” She jumped, flushed with guilt. “What makes you think I’m planning to run away?”

He put his hand over his heart in an old-fashioned gesture, even as his eyes burned through her. “If you run out into the desert alone, you will die in the sand.”

She swallowed nervously. “I would never…”

“Then give me your word.” In the dim light of the tent, lit by only a single lantern, his gaze seemed to see straight through her soul. He put his hand on her cheek.

“My word?” she echoed softly.

“As I gave you mine. Not just a promise. But your sacred word of honor—” his eyes met hers “—that you won’t try to leave.”

She sucked in her breath, knowing what a word of honor meant—to both of them. Her cheeks were burning as she licked her lips. “What would be the point? Do you really think I’m that much of an idiot to—”

“I think you are an incurable optimist. And when it comes to people you love, you make reckless decisions with your heart. I cannot allow you to put yourself at risk. So I intend to sleep here. With you. All night.”

“Here?” she squeaked. She frantically tried to regroup, to think of a way she could still try to escape. Maybe if she waited until he was deeply asleep in the middle of the night… She licked her lips. “So you’re going to sleep where—on those pillows? Or on the carpet, across the doorway of the tent?”

“Sorry. I’m not sleeping on the floor.” Coming closer to her, he smoothed a tendril of hair off her face, looking down at her with something like amusement. “Not when I have a nice big bed.”

She furrowed her brow, then with an irritated sigh, she rolled her eyes. “You mean after all that song and dance about me being your honored guest, you want the bed, while I get the floor?” She folded her arms, scowling.

Then she saw a spot on the floor not too far from the door. He was actually doing her a favor. She brightened. This would be almost too easy! Looking up, she saw his suspicious, searching glance, and tried to rearrange her own face back into a glower. She tossed her head, pretending she was still really, really mad. “Fine. I’ll sleep on the floor like a prisoner. Whatever.”

“I’m afraid that solution is also unacceptable,” Kasimir said gravely, looking down at her with his midnight-blue eyes. “There is only one way I can make sure you do not try to sneak out in the night the moment I am asleep.”

She stared at him in dawning horror.

“We are going to share this bed,” he said huskily.

“N
O WAY!” JOSIE
exploded. “I’m not sharing a bed with you!”

She folded her arms and stuck out her chin, glaring at Kasimir in a way that told him everything he needed to know.

He’d been right. She’d been planning to escape.

Narrowing his eyes, Kasimir folded his arms in turn and glared right back at her. “If I cannot trust you, I will keep you next to me all night long.”

She now looked near tears. “You’re being ridiculous!” She unfolded her arms. “Can’t you just trust me not to escape?”

His eyebrow lifted. “Sure. I told you. All you need to do is give me your word of honor.”

Her eyes widened, and then her shoulders sagged as she looked away.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

Kasimir brushed back some long tendrils of light brown hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I know.”

Her brown eyes were bright with misery as she looked back at him. “How did you guess?”

“Ah,
kroshka
.” He looked down at her trembling pink lips, at her cheeks that were rosy with emotion. “I can see your feelings on your face.” His jaw tightened. “But you saw how deep we are in the desert. Even with your reckless optimism, you cannot think that running away on foot in the middle of the night is a good idea.”

“That wasn’t my plan,” she mumbled.

“If you try to flee, you’ll die. You’ll be swallowed up by the desert and never be found again.”

Her shoulders slumped further, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I wouldn’t…” She took a deep breath, then lifted her eyes, shining with unshed tears that hit him like a knife beneath his ribs. “I just can’t share a bed with you,” she whispered.

His hands clenched.

“Damn you, can’t you understand?” He had to restrain himself from shaking her. “It’s either share a bed with me, or I’ll tie you up as you were before, and leave you to sleep on the floor!”

She didn’t answer.

“Well?” he said sharply.

“I’m thinking!”

He exhaled, setting his jaw. “I’m not going to seduce you. Surely you know that by now. What more can I do to prove it to you?”

“You don’t have to do anything,” she said in a small voice. “I believe you.”

“Then what are you so afraid of?”

She looked at him in the dim light of the flickering lantern as they stood alone together in his tent.

“But what if I touch you?” she whispered.

Kasimir’s whole body went hard so fast he nearly staggered back from the intensity of his desire. He held his breath, staring down at her as he choked out, “You—”

“Just accidentally, I mean,” she said, her cheeks red. “I might roll over in bed in the middle of the night and put my arms around you while I’m sleeping. Or something. You might wake up and, well, get the wrong idea…”

The wrong idea? Kasimir’s mind was filled with dozens of ideas, and all of them seemed exactly
right.
He looked at the way she was chewing her full, pink lower lip. A habit of hers. He wanted to lean forward and taste its sweetness for
himself. To part her mouth with his own and stroke deep inside with his tongue. To push her back against the blue cushions of the bed, to feel her naked skin against his, and bury himself deep inside her.

“Well, would you?” she said awkwardly. “Or would you know it was all… an innocent mistake?”

Kasimir cleared his throat, forcing the seductive images of her from his mind. “You don’t need to worry,” he said, hoping she didn’t notice the hoarseness of his voice. “I do not make a habit of pouncing on virgins in the middle of the night.”

She stared at him, then gave him a sudden, irrepressible smile that caused a dimple in her cheek. “Why? Is there some other time you prefer to do it?”

She was teasing him! His lips parted in surprise, then he gave a low laugh, shaking his head. “For your information, I’ve never been anyone’s first lover.”

Josie blinked. “Ever?”

“No,” he said softly. “You were my first ‘first’ kiss.”

“I was?”

“And I’ve changed my mind,” Kasimir said in a low voice. “I’m not sorry about kissing you. Because I’ll never forget how it felt.”

For an instant, they looked at each other in the flickering light.

“Nor will I,” she whispered.

The night wind shook noisily against the canvas of the tent, and he forced himself to turn away. “Change for bed.”

“Change clothes in the same tent? Forget it!”

“You can change behind the screen. I won’t look.”

“Can’t you please wait outside?”

“And give you the chance to run off in the dark? No.”

“But I don’t have a nightgown.” She choked out a nervous laugh. “Am I supposed to sleep naked?”

Naked.
He squeezed his eyes shut, imagining the full, bare curves of her naked body, hot and smooth beneath his hands.
He shuddered, his body aching. He realized he had clenched his hands again. His fists were as hard as the rest of him.

Stop it,
he ordered his body, which ignored him. He exhaled.

“Look in that trunk.” He waved his hand behind him without looking towards her. “Over there. They should fit.”

“Really? Thanks.” He heard her go to the trunk and dig through it before she went towards the wooden screen painted with designs of flowers. “I guess I owe you.”

“You can pay me back by not getting yourself killed,” he growled, still not turning around. “What was your plan of escape, anyway?”

“My plan?” When he heard her voice muffled behind the screen, he knew it was safe to turn around. He saw her arms lifting over the top of the painted wooden panels as she pulled off her shirt. She tossed it over the screen, followed by the white lacy bra he’d given her. He swallowed, feeling hot. She gave a low laugh. “You’re right, it was completely stupid. I hadn’t figured out the exact details, but I was going to steal a horse from your pen, fling myself on it and ride bareback into the sunset.”

“Do you have experience with horses?”

“Absolutely none.” She tossed her pants over the top of the screen with a merry laugh. “Now that I’m considering my plan in a more rational light, I’m kind of relieved you figured it out.”

Josie was naked behind the screen—or nearly so, just wearing the lacy white panties he’d had purchased for her in Marrakech. He tried not to think about it. Because in a moment, they’d be lying beside each other in his big bed.

He had the sudden feeling that it was going to be a long night.

“Pretty nightgown,” she mused behind the screen. “And modest, too.”

He was grateful for that, although in his current state of
mind he knew he’d be aroused by her even if she was covered from head to toe. Turning away, he pulled off his djellaba, leaving his chest bare, wearing only his lightweight, loose-fitting pants. “Just so you know,” he said, “I generally sleep in the nude.”

He heard her gulp.

“But not tonight,” he said quickly.

“Good.” She breathed an audible sigh of relief. “I’ve never seen a naked man before, and tonight doesn’t seem like the time to start.”

He couldn’t even disguise the hoarseness of his voice this time. “Never?”

Lifting on her tiptoes, she peeked over the screen, looking at him over the painted wooden panels. Her eyes lingered over his bare chest as she purred, “Never.”

Kasimir didn’t breathe till she ducked back behind the screen. Her arms lifted as she pulled the nightgown over her head. The loose fit of his pants had never felt so uncomfortably tight before.

“Is it safe to come out?” she called.

“Safe as it will ever be,” he muttered.

Josie came around the screen in a silver silk nightgown, bias-cut in a retro style, which went to her ankles, but left her arms bare. “Thanks for this. It’s very retro. Nineteen forties.”

“I told my staff to ransack the vintage shops, and avoid designer boutiques. Warned them not to get all ‘fancy.’“

“I love this.” She stroked the silk over her belly. “It’s… soft.”

His fingers itched to discover that for himself. He didn’t let himself move. “Glad you approve.”

Their eyes met. His forehead broke out into a sweat. At the same moment, they both abruptly turned towards the water basin, causing their hands to brush.

Josie ripped back her hand as if he’d burned her. “You go ahead.”

“No, be my guest.”

“All right.” Keeping a safe distance, she quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, then walked a semi-circle around him towards the bed. She was afraid to touch him, which meant she felt the same electricity, after all. Knowing she wanted him made this all the harder.

Or maybe it was just him.

As he brushed his teeth, out of the corner of his eye he watched her climb into bed, watched the silk of her nightgown move as sensuously as water over her curves. Putting down his toothbrush, he splashed cold water on his face, wishing he could drench his whole body with it.

Josie hesitated, biting her lip prettily as she glanced at him. “Do you care which side—”

“No,” he ground out.

She frowned. “You don’t have to be so rude…”

He looked at her, and something in his face made her close her mouth with a snap. Without another word, she jumped into bed and pulled the covers all the way up to her chin.

“Ready.” Her voice was muffled.

He put out the flickering lantern light. Stretching his tight shoulders, he climbed in beside her. They each took opposite sides of the bed in the darkness, neither of them moving as the wind howled against the canvas roof.

“Kasimir?” her soft voice came from the darkness a moment later. “What will you do… when all this is over?”

“You mean our marriage?”

“Yes.”

He leaned his head back against the pillow, folding his arms beneath his head. “I’ll have everything I ever wanted.”

“You mean the land?”

He exhaled with a flare of nostril. “Among other things.”

“But you’re not planning to live in Alaska, are you?”

Live at the old homestead? He inhaled, remembering nights sharing the cold attic room with his brother. Remembering
the constant love of his hardworking parents, and how he’d bounded up eagerly each morning to start his chores.

As a boy, Kasimir had felt so certain of what mattered in the world. Home. Family. Loyalty.

“No, I won’t go back,” he said quietly.

“Then why do you want it so badly? Just because of your promise to your father?”

“It was a deathbed vow…” He stopped. He’d told himself that same lie for years, but here in the darkness, lying in bed beside her, he couldn’t tell it again. “Because I don’t want Vladimir to have it. He doesn’t deserve a home. Or a brother.”

“What about you?” Josie said softly. “What do you deserve?”

Kasimir looked away from her, towards his briefcase, which looked distinctly out of place in the corner of the tent. “Exactly what I will get,” he said. Retribution against his brother and the Mata Hari who’d caused their rift. Total ownership of both Xendzov Mining and Southern Cross. That would make him happy. Give him peace.

It would. It had to. Looking at her shadowy form in the darkness, he turned the question back on her. “What will you do? With your life?”

“I don’t know.” She swallowed. “Bree always talked about sending me to college, but even if we had the money, I’m not sure that’s what I want.”

“Why not? You’d be good at it.”

She gave a regretful laugh. “Bree should have been the one to go. She’s a planner. A striver. Though she dropped out of high school to help support me.” He could hear the self-blame in her voice. Then she laughed again. “But maybe she was glad. She was impatient with school. She’s always had an eye to the bottom line. If not for those old debts threatening us, she’d be running her own business by now.”

“I didn’t ask about Bree’s dreams,” he said roughly. “I asked about you. What do
you
want?”

She paused. “You’re going to think it’s stupid.”

“Nothing you want is stupid,” he said, then snorted. “Except maybe stealing my horse and riding off alone into the desert.”

“Not one of my best ideas,” she admitted. For a long moment, they lay silently beside each other in the darkness. Kasimir started to wonder if she’d fallen asleep, then she turned in the darkness. Her voice was muffled as she said, “I never really knew my mother. She died a month after I was born.

She was supposed to start chemo, then found out she was pregnant. She didn’t want to put me at risk.”

“She loved you.”

Her voice trembled. “She died because of me,” she said softly. “When I was growing up, my father and Bree were always away on their moneymaking schemes. I was mostly alone in a big house, left with a babysitter who got paid by the hour.”

Kasimir’s heart ached as he pictured Josie as a child—even more tenderhearted and vulnerable than she was now—feeling alone, unwanted, unloved.

“And from that moment, even as a kid, I knew what I wanted someday. And it wasn’t college. It wasn’t even a career.”

“What is it?” he said in a low voice.

He heard her shuddering intake of breath.

“I want a home,” she whispered. “A family of my own. I want to bake pies and do piles of laundry and weed our garden behind the white picket fence. I want an honest, strong husband who will never lie to me, ever, and who will play with our kids and mow our lawn on Saturdays. I want a man I can trust with my heart. A man I can love for the rest of my life.” She stopped.

Kasimir’s heart lurched violently in his chest. For a moment, he couldn’t speak.

“See?” she said in a voice edged with tears. “I told you it was stupid.”

He exhaled.

“It’s not stupid,” he said tightly. For a moment, he closed his eyes. Then he slowly turned to face her in the darkness. His vision adjusted enough to see her eyes glimmer with tears in the shadows of the bed.

I want an honest, strong husband who will never lie to me. A man I can trust with my heart.

Kasimir suddenly envied him, Josie’s future husband, whoever he might be. He would deserve her, give her children, provide for her. And she would love him for the rest of her life. Because she had that kind of loyalty. The kind of heart that could love forever.