Her Royal Protector (a Johari Crown Novel) (Entangled Indulgence) (13 page)

“Fairy-faced and a fairy body,” he supplied inadequately; and when Suha continued, he translated, “True beauty is not found in manufactured breasts and swollen lips. Where is the female magic in such as that?”

“The female magic,” Aly repeated, and sat mesmerized, staring first at him, then at the older woman, a kind of psychic shock shadowing her grey eyes. Then she seemed to recover herself, lifted a self-conscious hand and ran her fingers through her hair, releasing the lock from behind her ear to hide her face again. The unconscious grace of the movement dragged at his blood. How could a woman be so blind to her own gifts? And why was she so unwilling to hear the truth?

…

They strolled back towards the harbor together. It was mostly deserted now, the sailors all bedded down for the night, and silence enveloped them as they wandered down the dock towards where
Janahine
was moored.

Beside him, Aly yawned. “Early start tomorrow.”

“Where there are so many people, is it still worth it to walk the beach?”

“Oh, yes. Of course I’ll put signs on the cages to alert people, and mount fences. It’s a long stretch of beach,” she said, looking around, “and you’re right. All sign of any nest activity will get trampled underfoot very quickly. Chances are any nests here are lost to us, unless some are laid tonight.”

“This is certainly the busiest island in the group.”

“Then we sail to the south coast, yes? Is that as busy as here?”

“No, it is more remote.” Arif hesitated. “There’s some weather blowing up in the south of the island, according to the last report. It’s a difficult sail anyway, along the south coast, the winds are always unpredictable. I think we have to wait it out here for a couple of days, Aly.”

“A couple of
days
?” Aly stopped in her tracks and turned to look up at him. Her grey eyes glinted like perfect opals in the moonlight, urgent and pleading. His body read its own meaning into the look and let him know it was willing to satisfy all her needs. “But that’s…Arif, I can’t afford that. Can’t we go to another island and then double back to do the south coast later? I can’t bear to sit here for two days doing nothing.”

He heaved out a breath to calm his blood. “Aly, I have no control over this. It depends on what the weather is doing in the morning. I’ll look at the charts. There may be a possibility to head west to Faatin Island.”

“Oh, I hope so. Oh, please, if it’s at all possible, let’s do that.”

His gut urged him to promise her whatever she asked. “It depends on the weather,” he said firmly.

They walked in silence for a few moments, listening to the creak and slap of halyards against masts, the lap of water against hulls.

“It is interesting that Suha compared you to her granddaughter,” Arif said. “I noticed the resemblance, too.”

Aly shrugged. “I don’t know who her granddaughter is.”

“Princess Shakira is her only living granddaughter.”

Her face went blank, her mouth fell open. “Suha was saying I was like
Princess Shakira?
”

“You didn’t realize it?”

“No.” Aly gave a half laugh. “That’s ridiculous. I’ve seen pictures of Princess Shakira. I’ve seen her on TV. She’s…she’s…”

She couldn’t even say the word. “Beautiful?” Arif supplied.

“Well, if she’s not, she’s got something that masquerades well.”

“You, too, Aly.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she said again.

“You are, in fact, very like our Boy Princess. Both of you are small and elfin, both dedicated fighters, and yet still with an intensely feminine grace. That is what made me think of…”

They were at
Janahine
now, and Arif reached up to unhook the gangplank and lower it. Aly stepped onto the deck, then stood waiting for him. Most women were more eager to believe that they had territorial rights. Most women used their key to unlock the hatch while he saw to the gangplank.

“Think of what?”

“Soon the helicopter will bring you a gift from Princess Shakira. I hope you will be able to accept it in the generous spirit in which it is given.”

“A gift from—but why? She doesn’t know me from Adam.”

“Eve,” he corrected, with a look, as he unlocked and opened the hatch. “She does, now. I have told her about you. She knows you are dedicated and true. She knows that you work to save the heritage of Joharistan and its people. She is close to the Johari cause—she has Johari blood and her brother is an adopted Johari prince. And so she sends you a gift.”

Something lighted her eyes then, he wasn’t sure what. “What is it? Is it a donation to Turtle Watch?”

“Do you think of nothing but turtles?” he asked impatiently.

“What else could she be sending me?” But before he could answer her, she had gone down the steps. “Good night,” she called up. A moment later he heard her cabin door close.

Chapter Thirteen

In his cabin Arif stripped off and showered, then tossed aside the pajama bottoms that Jamila always laid on the turned down sheets, propped up his pillows, and lay down with the Turtle Watch application files. He couldn’t escape the possibility that someone on his own team might be responsible for more than just incompetence. What justification had been used for cutting the amount of the project’s funding so drastically?

Of course there were always far too many applications for limited environmental funds, but he would have expected his staff to be aware of the importance he himself placed on the survival of the Johari turtle. It was surprising that no one had brought the application to his personal attention long before the point at which he approved the funding decision.

Do not attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Most screw-ups
can
be explained by stupidity, he reminded himself, and whoever said that ignorance causes more grief in the world than malice does was undoubtedly right—but there was nevertheless a great deal of malice doing damage in the world. Trojan Percy was one of many. An extreme, of course, but in many ways, in many fields, malice in its various guises accounted for plenty of grief in the world.

But not right under my own nose, if I can help it.

Something thumped, and he heard a muffled curse. Arif frowned in surprise, and listened. Only the creak of the rigging in the wind. Another thump. He shoved the file of papers off his stomach and swung his feet to the floor, simultaneously reaching into the drawer of his bedside table for his gun. Two seconds later he flung open the door of his cabin.

Aly, wrapped in a bath towel, was standing in the main cabin, her hand on the lamp that came on in the moment that he opened his door. She froze and stared at him, her mouth open, her eyes going dark.

That was when Arif realized that he was buck naked. Why the fact should give him an erection he had no idea, but he had the presence of mind at least to step back inside his cabin and close the door. He plucked his bathrobe from a hook, wrapped himself in it, tied the belt, and stuffed the handgun into the pocket, all in five seconds, before opening the door again.

Aly was halfway back to her own cabin, but as her door was immediately opposite his, this only meant that she was much closer to him than before. Her face was pale and she was trembling with nerves.

“What’s the matter?” he demanded. “What has happened?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

He gripped her upper arm. Her skin was cool and smooth under his fingers. “Don’t lie to me. What is it? Who is here?”

“Nobody! For God’s sake, it’s nothing. I can’t find my nightshirt, that’s all.” She shrugged out of his hold and tucked the towel more securely across her breasts. “I was wondering where Jamila put it, but I don’t know if she and Farhad are back on board. Sorry if I woke you.”

“I was reading. Didn’t Jamila do laundry today?”

“Yes, but that was all clean and folded on my bed. I didn’t put my nightshirt in, anyway. But now I’ve looked everywhere and it’s just not to be found.”

Arif frowned at a vague thought. “What color is it?”

“Blue. Well, kind of blue. It’s a man’s Oxford cotton shirt, but faded. I just can’t—”

Arif turned. On the other side of his bed, set on the turned-down sheet, lay a neatly folded blue shirt. “I think I’ve solved the mystery,” he said, gesturing.

Aly’s nervous gaze followed his hand, and she let out a little gasp of laughter. “
There
it is. But why did she think it was
yours?
”

The bath towel was big and she was small, so it covered her well, leaving her shoulders and arms, ankles and feet bare. But still there was more erotic impact in it than if she had been wearing a sundress giving equivalent cover. More than most women produced with lace and silk and lascivious eyes. But this was not the moment to remember his dream. Arif turned, picked up the shirt, and returned to hand it to her.

“I think she assumed that you were sharing my cabin.” What he could not say was that he considered this a very good idea.

“Why should she think that?”

He looked at her and didn’t want to tell her that it was because most of the women who sailed with him did share his cabin. Aly wasn’t at all like those confident, sophisticated women. If he told her, she might never come to his bed, and his body was insisting that she must. “I don’t know. She must have made your bed this morning, so she knows where you slept last night.”

“She doesn’t make my bed, actually. I do. But I don’t see what…”

“Ah,” said Arif. “It is now explained. Jamila has assumed that you are not sleeping in your own cabin. Simple.”

Aly bit her lip. “Well, never mind. I’ve got it now, thanks. Sorry to have disturbed you.” She was turning to her own door, and then he watched the little peri frown draw her eyebrows together as the memory surfaced. She turned back to him in open-mouthed surprise.

“Were you carrying a
gun
?” she asked.

…

It said something for her state of mind that this had only been noticed as an afterthought. Between a naked man and a gun…

Something kicked up behind his eyes and Aly blushed for her own stupidity. Why had she said anything, why hadn’t she just let him go? Did he think that was an invitation?
Is that a gun in your pocket or…
She was sure he did, and that the light in his eyes was mockery. Of course he would laugh at her. She hadn’t meant anything by it. She had just had one of those flashbacks and belatedly seen the gun in his hand, and like a fool hadn’t been able to censor her surprise. But she couldn’t even try and tell him that—because it meant she’d been staring at his naked groin and not noticed the gun. He would think she was sex-starved. He would think
…

But he said only, “I was.”

“Why?”

“In order to protect you, of course.” He grimaced and amended that. “Protect the boat.”

Her blood was roaring so that she hardly heard the emendation. “
Protect
me
.
Here in Ausa? Is this port dangerous?”

Petty criminals might try to board a yacht in port, but serious piracy generally happens on the high seas. And few people think a gun an effective answer to either threat: it escalates the danger.

Arif hesitated a long time, during which her heart began to trip.

“Tell me. Please, Arif.”

He said reluctantly, “For you, anywhere may be dangerous.”

Her heart kicked so hard she nearly fell over. “Please tell me what this is all about.”

He paused again. “Do you want to hear it tonight? This is not a good time. It will be easier to hear in the morning.”

Chills were coursing over her skin now, her stomach going into a knot, like a snake wrestling a troublesome prey. The expression in those blue eyes was nothing she could begin to read. Aly bit her lip to try to contain her trembling.

“If you think you need to protect me from some specific threat with a gun, I want to know what that threat is.”

“All right.” Arif nodded once. “Let’s sit down. What will you have to drink?”

“Water,” her mouth moved in a half smile. “Back in a mo.”

In her cabin she dropped her towel, flung on her nightshirt, slipped a pair of shorts on underneath, and was back in the softly lighted room as Arif was pulling a tray of ice cubes, a bottle of San Pel, and a bowl of lemon slices out of the drinks fridge. He opened another little door, pulled out a glass and a brandy snifter, then a bottle that glowed amber under the lights, and set everything onto the coffee table.

Aly tucked one bare foot under her butt and sank onto the sofa, gazing at him as he opened the hatch wide overhead to let a welcome breeze blow in. He looked so serious that her heart started kicking up again. But Arif said nothing until he had put ice into her glass, opened the mineral water with a snap and a hiss and set it in front of her, poured himself a small cognac.

He picked up his snifter and sat down kiddy-corner to her on the sofa.

“You think I’m
personally
in danger?” she prompted.

“I think you might be.” He looked at her with that same calm, unreadable gaze.

“What…what makes you think so? I’ve seen nothing to—what have you seen?”

“It is nothing I have seen. I simply feel that the work that you are doing may carry risks.”

It went through her like a bolt of lightning. “You think they’re going to come after
me
?” They hadn’t thought of that. They had thought only of the threat to the turtle nests, they had never once thought that the saboteurs might take a more direct action.

“‘They?’” Arif’s eyebrows went up. “I see the idea does not entirely surprise you.”

“We thought—we thought they were sabotaging the nests, but it never occurred to us that—but what good would it do them to
…?”

“Who is the
they
you suspect?”

Aly bit her lip. She had promised Ellen, but if she couldn’t trust Arif all was lost anyway. She had to act on her own judgment now. She heaved a breath and looked at him.

“Webson Attary, the pharmaceutical giant. Which also owns Mystery Resorts. They’ve got a strong double motivation.” She could see by his face that it was a new idea to him. “Who do
you
suspect?”

He hesitated. “Kaljuk agents.”

She jumped so high she almost went through the hatch. “
Kaljuk agents!
” Aly stared at him. “Kaljuk agents,” she said again. And then, as her brain started to make sense of it, “It’s
political
?”

“For all the reasons I told you before. Tell me how you think it would benefit Webson Attary to destroy the Johari turtle,” he said.

Belatedly she realized she had slopped mineral water into her lap. She brushed the drops away, but all her focus was on Arif.

“Well, it’s multi-pronged. We know they want two things: Mystery Resorts wants to take over the whole island group and create a high-end holiday resort. But that will take major building works and this is a World Heritage site now, because of the turtles. So the long-term goal there would be to wipe out the turtle and eventually get the World Heritage designation revoked.

“But the big one is, Webson Attary still hope to patent the active ingredients in the medicinally effective herbs that are found here on the islands. That could be worth billions, but at the moment, again, it’s a World Heritage site, and the islanders have the rights. If they can move in and buy the islanders out one by one with the excuse that it’s for the resort—in other words, they won’t be paying royalties on the herbs because they won’t be admitting that’s what they really want—they can cut the islanders out completely. So they benefit two ways—they get the islands for their exclusive resort, and they get the herbs, and there’s little to pay and no one to harass them if they are wrecking the ecosystem here.”

Arif listened with focused interest till she stopped speaking. He nodded, sipped his cognac, set the glass down. “Interesting,” he said.

He paused, gazing at her, then seemed to come to a decision. “You are concerned to keep me at a distance when you are marking the nests, Aly. And you have mismarked many nests, even sometimes returning to marked nests to do so. What is the reason for what you do?”

Aly drank till the sparkling water burned her throat. It was an inexpressible relief to be open with him. Never had she so wanted to trust a fellow human being, and now that she could, tears of relief burned at the back of her eyes.

“Unless there’s some mysterious new disease happening, we can be almost sure that nests are being sabotaged. So that’s a dilemma—because we need to mark the nests in order to track what’s happening, but in marking them, we may assist the sabotage. Our plan was to false mark a majority of the nests so that we would have a way of measuring which nests end up dying.”

“Why have you not told me all this before?”

“I couldn’t, because…”

She ground to a halt, catching her lower lip between her teeth. She didn’t want to tell him.

“Because?”

“Richard was suspicious when you insisted on coming with me. He thought…”

But she couldn’t look into that noble face and say what Richard thought.

He took a sip of his drink and the blue eyes regarded her calmly. “And did you share Richard’s suspicions?”

“No,” she admitted, wondering if that were some kind of confession. “I wanted to confide in you, but they insisted, and Richard’s got much more experience than I do of official corruption. I had to keep an open mind about it. I thought I needed more reason than just my own personal conviction before I broke their embargo on telling you. But it’s been hard.”

“Yes, I see.”

“Now it’s your turn,” Aly said. “What do the Kaljuks stand to gain?”

“The Kaljuks are worried by the constant demand for independence that rages in Joharistan. And they know the importance that many Johari people place on the turtle’s legendary connection with independence. We think that someone in the Kaljuk regime has made the decision to wipe out the turtle altogether, in order to dishearten the revolutionaries.”