A Secret in Her Kiss (21 page)

But more than that, he wanted to give Mari everything she wanted. For some unfathomable reason, she seemed to want him. And he could hold nothing back.

How could he? He’d thought the devil owned his soul, but now he had no doubt Mari had taken complete possession of it.

Slowly, he brought his hand to the soft wetness at her core. She quivered as he teased the sensitive flesh.

She was ready for him. He closed his eyes tightly, silencing his hungry groan. Everything else in their world might have turned hellishly wrong, but this he could make perfect. He repeated the rhythm that had pleasured her in the bath a few days before, catching her cries of pleasure with kisses, driving her until she gasped and dug her fingers into his arms, a moan of bliss issuing from her lips.

Only then did he poise at her slick entrance. “You are certain?”

“I already said yes.” Eagerly, she arched upward, then gasped in pain.

He stilled and kissed the tear on her cheek. “You never do things the easy way, do you?” He showered kisses over her face and neck until her little sounds of pleasure began again.

After a moment, she wriggled against him. “There is more to this, isn’t there?”

He grinned at her in the darkness and stroked her breasts. “I think you and I will have a few new pages to add to your book when we return.”

M
ari gasped as Bennett started to withdraw. She locked her legs around him. “Don’t you dare.” The sensations were just beginning to build again. She didn’t know if it was possible to experience such pleasure twice in one night, but she intended to find out.

“Trust me.” He slowly reentered her.

She raised her hips to meet him, ensuring he didn’t change his mind and leave her. She bit her lip as bliss overcame any remaining discomfort.

She trusted him. Almost.

Clinging to the taut muscles of his shoulders, she held tight as he thrust again. Tension radiated from him and she could feel the tight control he placed on his body. But she didn’t want him to hold back. She wanted him over the edge, dragging her with him.

“Stop protecting me. Just love me.” She dropped her hands to his buttocks, urging him to press deeper and faster.

He groaned against her neck. “Heaven help me, but I do.”

Before she could ponder his statement, Bennett pressed hard and full, and she lost the ability to think.

Bennett whispered beautiful things against her neck and lips as their bodies joined. Soon, there was nothing but the moment. Only the two of them existed. No orders. No missions. No prisons. Again she teetered on the edge of ecstasy so immense it terrified and yet enslaved her.

“Don’t fight it, Mari. Let go.”

“I can’t— I have to—”

“Trust me.”

Ecstasy exploded through her, sweeping though every fiber of her being. She clung to Bennett, his shoulders the only thing keeping her from being lost forever.

Holding her close, Bennett thrust one final time and stiffened before his ragged breathing slowed to match hers. Even though she had to struggle against his weight for each breath, she never wanted to release him.

But after a moment, he rolled to the side, pulling her tightly to him. “Try to get some sleep.”

Mari closed her eyes, but now she could smell the moldering filth of the cell, feel the uneven floor grinding against her hip. And if she opened her eyes she knew she might be able to see shadows flickering in the light under the door.

She reached desperately for Bennett and kissed his chest, running her hands down his abdomen. “Not yet. Our version of the book needs a few more chapters.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

A
door slammed in the distance. Mari blinked from the warm comfort of Bennett’s arms. She trembled and desperately hoped Bennett was too deeply asleep to notice.

Footsteps moved past their cell. How long had she slept?

The sound faded, and her stomach roiled. She closed her eyes against her terror. How long now until they came for her?

Or Bennett.

Anger built within her, edging out the sleepy tendrils of fear. She burrowed further into his arms. Well, they couldn’t have him. She’d do whatever was necessary to protect him.

After running through every option of escape in her mind again, still she came up with nothing. She had no supplies, no resources.

Or perhaps she did.

A new plan blossomed with leaden certainty in her mind. The simplicity of it astounded her.
It would work
. Yet even though her heart soared, sickness pooled in her stomach. Nevertheless, she set her jaw.

Bennett planned to confess to being the spy.

Instead, she’d confess first. But not to the captain.

Refusing to give Bennett a chance to stop her, Mari stood and knocked on the door.

The guard’s voice from outside the cell was slurred with sleep. “What do you want?”

“I need to speak with your captain,” Mari replied in Turkish. “I have information.”

Bennett jumped to his feet and grabbed her shoulders. “Mari, what are you doing?”

She cursed her impetuousness. Perhaps it would’ve been a good idea to talk this over. After all, his connection to the ambassador hadn’t helped earlier. She switched back to English. “I’m saving you by—”

The door cracked opened. The butt of a rifle connected with Bennett’s face and he stumbled back. Mari gasped, reaching for him.

The guard snickered, his skeletal face twisting into a sneer. “I’m no green recruit to fall for your ploys.”

She moved away from Bennett and more fully into the light. “Your captain will want to hear what I have to say.”

The guard grabbed her arm and dragged her against him. He smelled of sweat and onions. “I want to hear what you have to say.”

Panic flared as his thick arms crushed her against him. “No, I—”

A rock struck the side of the guard’s head. He fell with a grunt and she stumbled with him.

Bennett untangled her from the man’s arms and helped her to her feet. Then he grabbed the guard’s rifle and her sketchbook. Red ribbons of blood trickled down his face from a cut on his forehead. “Damnation, Mari. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me.” He slipped past her into the corridor.

“I wasn’t planning on—”

“It’s clear. Come.”

Mari sighed in exasperation, but followed. “My plan—”

Bennett had reached the top of the stairs. He raised his finger to his lips. Stepping through the door, he swung the rifle into the face of the man just outside. The guard collapsed.

Mari bit her tongue. Speaking now would get them both killed.

The salty tang of the ocean hung rancid in the air, but anything was preferable to the stench of the dungeons. From the violet glow along the horizon, dawn was only a few minutes off. As they hugged the smooth stone wall of the building, she kept a few steps behind Bennett, placing each foot carefully and trying to emulate his noiseless progression.

A soldier turned the corner directly into their path.

Bennett dove for him, but the startled man managed a cry before Bennett reached him.

The cry echoed around the dark courtyard. Soon guards swarmed their position, shouting commands with rifles aimed.

Her heart hammered in time with the metallic click of hammers being drawn. “They want you to drop the gun.”

Bennett’s lips quirked. “I’d surmised as much.” With great caution, he set the rifle on the ground.

Three guards rushed Bennett, taking him to the dirt. Once they pinned him, one of them kicked him viciously in the ribs. Bennett grunted, his face contracting in a grimace.

She tried to run to him, but a soldier grabbed her. “Stop it!” she screamed, clawing at his face, anything to get to Bennett’s side. They’d kill him before she had a chance to explain.

They kicked him again.

“Stop or you will answer to Esad Pasha!”

The group of men quieted and the man who’d been kicking Bennett took a large step back.

A buzz hummed through the crowd. Torchlight flickered across suspicious faces.

“What is going on?” The captain strode to the center of the gathering. His clothes hung slightly askew, testifying that he’d hurried from his bed.

One of the officers scurried to his side. They conversed in hushed tones. The captain looked her way several times. Annoyance marred his features, but she saw hesitation there, too. “What would the esteemed pasha have to do with you?”

This was her only chance to make him believe. She straightened and held her chin at an angle that would have done Fatima proud. “He’s my father’s friend. He raised me.”

The captain scowled. “How do I know this isn’t a trick to buy you time?”

“Send for him.” She glanced over to where Bennett had risen unsteadily to his feet. His face betrayed nothing of his agony, but he couldn’t straighten to his full height.

Please let them believe. Please
. The courage she thought she’d be able to muster didn’t exist. If they hurt him again, she’d confess to anything to make them stop.

The captain snorted. “You’re important enough for him to come to this hellhole?”

She nodded. Whether he’d order them hanged once he came was another question entirely.

“Lock them back up. No one opens the door for any reason until the pasha comes. No food or water.” The captain smiled. “You’d better hope your pasha finds you important enough to make haste.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

E
sad’s well-sprung travel coach barely bounced on the rutted roads. He hadn’t spoken since he’d ordered Mari and Bennett inside.

His hand tapped on the muted gray of his trousers, the dull color terrifying her as much as the rage that corded his neck.

“Give it to me,” Esad ordered.

“I don’t—” The automatic denial sprang to her lips.

“I may have confirmed your story about drawing insects to the captain back there, but do not for a moment delude yourself into thinking I believe it.”

Bennett stiffened beside her, but made no move to touch the sketchbook that rested between them.

She wanted to beg Bennett to understand what she was about to do and not be disappointed with her again, but she could hardly address that now. She tried one final tactic to maintain peace with both men. “The soldiers would’ve taken anything when they captured us.”

Esad saw it for the weak attempt it was. “And you would’ve found a way to keep it. I know you better than that, Mari. Do you have the information on the fort, yes or no?”

Tears burned in the back of her throat. Bennett’s life was worth the price, but Esad’s hatred flayed her.
I was trying to do the right thing
, she wanted to cry. But she knew that wouldn’t save her; doing what she thought was right had brought nothing but anguish these past months.

She handed him the sketchbook.

Esad sighed wearily, and his eyes dimmed. He flipped the book open and scanned the images. “Where’s the information hidden?”

“I—”

Bennett placed his hand on her knee. “You have the information in your hand whether you know where to find it or not. That is enough.”

Mari quieted.

“How long?” Esad asked. “How long have you been a spy? All those times I welcomed you into my house, you were plotting against me.”

Bennett cast her a look, warning her to be silent.

But she could not. “I only sought freedom for the Greeks.”

“The Greek rebel a few months ago, were you involved in the plan to assassinate the sultan?”

If she had been, Mari didn’t doubt Esad would see her executed. “No! I had no part in that.”

Esad studied her, then shook his head. “I understand your part in this, Major. You are no doubt under orders. But Mari, I thought you despised the English. Why betray me for them?”

Her chest burned like it had been ripped open. “I never betrayed you!”

“You betrayed the empire. It is the same thing. Why?”

“My mother’s people deserve their freedom.”

Esad rapped the sketchbook against his hand. “The Greeks are a disordered, shiftless people. They can’t stop fighting each other long enough to fight us.”

“The Ottomans shouldn’t oppress them.”

Esad snorted. “The British are no better. Look at their stranglehold on Ireland.”

“They’re the only ones strong enough to help the Greeks.”

“So the English are actively helping the Greeks. The Russians were correct. And if you are in contact with the rebels, that means they have an active cell in Constantinople.”

Mari paled. What had she just said? “You cannot tell anyone.”

Esad slammed the book against the bench. “Don’t mistake my coming to your aid for weakness. My loyalty is to the sultan. I won’t withhold this information.”

The warmth of Bennett’s hand resting on her knee kept her steady as her head swam. She had to warn Achilla and Nathan and the others. A fleeting image of a lifeless body hung at the city gates sickened her. “Please, Esad—”

“You’ve lost the right to address me so informally. Don’t you see—” His voice cracked. “I should have you both executed.” A hardened ferocity returned to his gaze and Mari realized this was the ruthless commander she’d never seen. “Leave the empire at once. You as well, Major. The only reason you live is because of Mari. If I see you again, you will hang.”

Bennett nodded once.

The coach rumbled to a halt in a dirty village. “I will wait for my coach to return for me. I can no longer stand to look at you.” Esad picked up the sketchbook and climbed to the street. For a moment, grief seeped into his expression. “This will kill Beria. It would be better if you were dead.” He gave a curt order to the coachman, and the coach sprang into motion. Mari pressed her face against the glass, desperate for a final glimpse of him, a part of her praying that he’d suddenly change his mind and call her back. The dust obscured the pasha from view.

Bennett pulled her into his arms. She rubbed her cheek on the rough linen of his shirt. She wanted nothing more than to stay there and forget the sorrow she’d just inflicted on Esad.

“You shouldn’t have given him the sketchbook.” Yet Bennett’s voice was gentle. His fingers stroked her back, sending remembered tremors through her.

She drew in deep breaths until she could speak. “I had to.”

He kissed her temple. “I know.”

“Is that why you didn’t try to stop me?”

“Yes.”

Despite her pain, her heart warmed. She meant more to him than the mission. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his neck.

He cleared his throat. “And I removed the sketch from the book on our way to Esad’s coach.”

“
What?
” She’d deceived Esad yet again. True, it had been without her knowledge, but she’d done it all the same. The warmth evaporated, leaving an aching void in her chest.

“I couldn’t risk the sketch being found and connected with you if Esad changed his mind or passed the sketchbook on. I won’t risk you.” He traced her cheek.

But her battered heart refused to soften. “You wanted to protect me or you wanted to complete your mission?”

His hand dropped from her face. “Does one preclude the other?”

No, but it did remind her of his priorities. She slid off his lap. When they reached Constantinople, they’d both have to leave. He to England and she to . . . She rested her forehead against the smooth glass window. To where?

Bennett belonged in England. She could hear his love for it when he spoke, and more importantly, his love for his family. She couldn’t ask him to leave that. After all, what did she have to offer him? In the cell last night, she’d considered asking him to return after he helped his sister, but now, she didn’t have anywhere to ask him to return to.

She closed her eyes, hoping exhaustion would claim her. But it didn’t.

She’d betrayed Nathan and Achilla, and all the Greek rebels in Constantinople. Esad would begin hunting them, and he excelled at the hunt. They would need to flee before they were discovered.

She lifted her head. Bennett had his duties and she had hers. She’d hurt the Greek fight for independence today. She’d go to Greece and join with the patriots there to make amends. Nathan would know how to contact them. She wouldn’t just gather information for them, she’d fight alongside them.

She glanced over at Bennett. A tear escaped and she hurriedly wiped it away. She’d never intended for anything to develop between them and neither had he.

If she’d fallen in love, it was her own foolish fault.

Fighting for the independence of Greece had been her mother’s dream and now it was hers.

The decision sat awkwardly in her mind.

She forced herself to look away from Bennett. It was her dream now. It had to be.