The Stone Prince (12 page)

Silence.

Silence so thick it cast an oppressive shadow across the white sands, and at that moment it seemed as if even the rain dared not pitter-patter. Percen dropped to his knees, pressed his forehead against her midriff, all the while craving her arms around his shoulders. “If I give him back to you, will you truly love me? Mayhap even love me more than you love him?”

Again, silence.

He expected nothing different, but could not stop himself from hoping for a sign that she heard him, that she welcomed his need to please her. But as he gazed up at her face, her expression clearly proclaimed:
You are my greatest disappointment.

And it did not have to be so.

“I will find him,” Percen said finally. Purposefully. He pushed to his feet and stroked a hand across her soft white cheek. “I will search the galaxies, if need be, and find exactly where you sent him. And then, sweet Mother, I will bring him back to you.”

Broken and destroyed.

W
HILE
K
ATIE MANEUVERED
the enchanted transportation along the winding roads, Jorlan weighed his options. The woman was obviously in a temper. Her breath was coming in short, shallow pants and her fingers were clutching the steering wheel as if it would fly out the window if she let go. He needed to gently sway her from her pique so that she could at last admit her desires for him. But how?

He could make her laugh with a story of his childhood. He could whisper sweet, seductive words in her ear. Or he could simply wait until her anger crumbled on its own.

“I don’t think this is going to work between us, Jorlan,” she said.

A dark, primitive blaze uncurled inside him. “It will.”

“Of course it works for you. You gain everything and lose nothing.”

“So I must lose something to win you? Then so be it. Name it and it is gone.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I have less than thirteen days,
katya.
’Tis a mere flash.” He had considered begging before, dropping to
his knees and begging her for her affections. His desire for permanent freedom far surpassed any pride he harbored. “You have only to tell me what you need of me and I will do it.”

“I don’t know what I want from you, okay? I only know I can’t give my heart or body easily. Besides that, it’s hard to think of you as the love of my life when I know you consider me nothing more than a necessary burden.”

“Then I—”

“We’re from different worlds,” she rushed on, slicing his apology to a halt. “I have enough trouble with Earth men.”

“Just because you have trouble with men of your own world,” he growled, “does not mean you will have trouble with a man of Imperia.”

“No, it just means I have trouble with any man who wants to screw everything female.” Katie parked the vehicle, emerged, then strode inside the old house, all without uttering another word. She was beyond angry now, that much was obvious. Her shoulders had been stiff and her chin high and she had never once glanced back to see if he followed. He didn’t. He remained within the enchanted transportation.

The day was not fraught with the promise he’d first supposed.

Screw everything female? He had already proved those words for the falsehood they were by declining the girl, but he only now realized the full extent of what had transpired inside the café. He, a man who had been without bodily contact for more than nine hundred spans, had been unable to summon a single shred
of awareness for any woman save Katie since obtaining his freedom.

The simple fact was that he was fast becoming obsessed with Katie.

“Katie,” he said, wanting to hear her name aloud. “Pretty, courageous Katie James. How can I want you so desperately, yet want no other?” Though he hated himself for it, he did want her desperately. Wanted, if only for a little while, to be the center of her life. Wanted to tear down her resistance and bend her so completely to his will that he could take her whenever, wherever he wanted. More than that, he wanted her cries of love to ring in his ears long after he left her.

For the first time, however, he considered what would happen to
her
if he were to win her. Would she suffer greatly if she fell in love with him and he simply abandoned her? Curse it, she claimed she did not need a man’s protection, physically or emotionally. Why should he consider her well-being his responsibility?

Obsessed. Aye, he truly was obsessed, for not even Maylyn had affected him like this. He’d thought of her, but not constantly and she had never confused him. He’d wanted her, but it had been a gentle kind of want, a need to cherish and show tenderness. Now, with Katie, he felt anything but gentle, and all traces of tenderness had already dissipated. He felt an ache, an all-consuming desire that constantly battered against his reservations. He felt a need to dominate, a need to ride her harder than he’d ever ridden a woman.

What did it mean that he simply
had
to have her, whether she returned his affection or not? That he sim
ply had to taste more of her? Her lips were too sweet, her scent too delectable, and her body too ripe. What did it mean that a part of him was willing to wait forever, if need be, to have her?

He didn’t want to contemplate the answer.

The air inside the transportation was hot, cloistering, and sweat dripped down his chest. Still he made no move to leave. He needed more time to gather his wits. Closing his eyes, he thought back over Katie’s reasons for ending their kiss. They did not like each other, she had said. He liked her all too well. She thought he still considered her a necessary burden. She was necessary, but no longer a burden. They did not know each other, she had said. He did not like discussing his life, but he would do it, tell her anything she wanted to hear.

Aye, he would do whatever was required to gain her favor. In the process, he would do whatever was required to rid himself of his fascination with her.

Resolved, he emerged from the vehicle and followed the path Katie had taken.

K
ATIE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED
doing a dropkick and punch right into Jorlan’s solar plexus, followed by a knee to the groin, and as a finale, taking his rolling pin and bashing him over the head. The man was entirely too confident, too cocky (in every way) and most assuredly a jackass. And to top it off, he was too damn sexy for his own good.

Even the redhead had noticed.

Just thinking about the redhead sent her already heated blood into a serious boil.
Where is that rolling
pin?
she thought savagely.
Where is it?
At the moment, she’d even settle for the spatula. Jorlan might need her love, might want to use her body, but he still wanted to sleep with every woman he encountered. Yes, he was a jackass and a womanizer and there was no way in hell Katie was falling for him.

She paced the living-room floor, her movements clipped, jerky. The soles of her shoes squeaked with each step. Her palms were clenched so tightly her nails dug half-moon crescents into her skin, and her knuckles had long since lost all traces of color. Five minutes later, her muscles were still clenched. Somehow, and God only knew how, she managed to paste a carefree smile on her face when the screen door groaned in protest and Jorlan entered the house. His massive frame filled the entrance.

“You are tense,” was the first thing he said.

Tense! Tense! She rounded on him, one finger pointed at his chest. “Are you blind? I’ve never been more relaxed in my life.”

One inky brow rose in mocking salute. “Then why is your eye twitching?”

She spun away from him, blocking his view of her face. “There’s something in it. An eyelash, I think.”

“Then there is no need to tell you that the girl—”

“Girl? What girl?” Katie tried for a carefree laugh, but couldn’t quite manage it. Jorlan could do what he pleased, with whom he pleased, and show interest in little redheads all freaking day if he wished. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then allow me to remind you,” he said at last. Silently, he moved behind her, placed his fingers at the base of her neck and gave a gentle squeeze. He bent
down, allowing his breath to fan her ear. “The girl found me desirable. Had I shown any interest, I could have had her sooner rather than later,” he said.

Lord, she both hated and loved his words. “You showed no interest?”

“Nay.”

Slowly, she released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding.

“I
should
have been interested,” he added in a self-disgusted growl. “She was a woman who knew what she wanted and was not afraid to try and obtain it.”

“Just what are you implying?” Katie spun around to confront him. “That I’m too cowardly to go after what I want?”

He clasped a pale lock of hair from her ponytail and brushed the strands across his lips.

She shivered.

His gaze locked with hers. “That is exactly what I am saying,
katya.
You have been afraid of what I make you feel since the beginning.”

“That may be true,” she retorted, “but how dare you judge me? You don’t know me, not my likes, my dislikes or my past. You have no idea what made me the woman that I am.”

“You are right,” he said, his voice just as dark. “I do not understand you, nor do I know much about what makes you do and say the things that you do.” Then, “But I would like to.”

But I would like to,
echoed so sweetly in her mind and so shocked her, she could only blink up at him. His tyrannical disposition she could resist. This…gentle caring she could not. Suspicions sparked in the back
of her mind, like a candle in a shadowy room. “Is this a ploy to make me fall in love with you?”

He ignored her question. “From the moment I first appeared to you, you have driven me half-mad. I cannot explain the connection between us, but I do know that it is there.”

This was everything she’d ever wanted to hear from him, and yet self-preservation proved tenacious, clinging to her with a sharp grip. “What you’re saying is wonderful, and I want to believe you. I do. But how can I truly believe that you’re interested in me as a person and not just my love?”

“Can I not say the same to you?” he demanded quietly.

He could, she realized then. He really could. Since he first appeared in her garden, she had lusted after him like he was the last piece of chocolate in a PMS survival kit. She probably would have slept with him already if he’d claimed just once to love her or even that he would stick around for a while. But she’d never once stopped to consider the man beneath the brawn.

He lightly fingered her earlobe. “I want you to know about me, and I want to know more about you.”

“What do you know about me already?” She didn’t mean to sound so desperate, like a child pleading for assurance, but she just couldn’t help herself. Things were changing between them with every word he spoke, and she
liked
the changes. Maybe too much.

“I know that you do not smile nearly enough. I know that you were generous to allow me into your home when I had nothing to offer you in return. And I know that I hurt you by calling you a necessary bur
den.” His fingers released her ear, traveled to the base of her neck and lightly massaged. “For that, I am truly sorry.”

Katie stilled, absorbing the warmth of his hands and the glow of his apology. But surely she had misheard him. Surely this man, this warrior who took great pleasure in ordering her around, had not just apologized.

“Jorlan—”

“Nay. Say no more. I once thought taking only your body while remaining distanced was best. Not so now.”

And yet, she thought suddenly, he seemed more distanced from her than ever before. There was a flat tinge to his eyes that clashed with his honeyed tone. For the life of her, she couldn’t make herself care that this might be a ploy.

“You intrigue me,” he continued, “and I find myself constantly thinking about your thoughts and actions. Were I home, I would still wonder, and I would regret not knowing. We have this day, and only
Elliea
knows how many others, to learn of each other. If you wish.”

If she wished, Katie silently repeated. What did she truly want from this man who had no plans to stay? Just how much of herself was she willing to risk? The answer had seemed so clear only this morning.

“No alliance is one hundred percent secured,” he said. “In this, at least, we know the final outcome.”

He was right, of course, but that didn’t make her decision any easier. “Saying goodbye will be harder if we’ve initiated any type of emotional relationship.”

“Only if we make it so.”

So where did that leave her? She truly had tried to ignore her attraction to him, but it hadn’t gone away. It had only grown stronger. So strong, in fact, she had only to picture his face in her mind and bam! She desired him. Katie closed her eyes. Opened them. Gazed up at him. “Just give me a little more time, okay? That’s all I’m asking.”

He lightly pressed his lips to her collarbone. Flames uncoiled in her belly, and she almost blurted her capitulation then and there. But Jorlan pulled back, and said softly, “I remind you that time is our enemy,
katya.
Do not forget that fact.”

“How can I?” she answered, her tone just as soft.

A long, protracted moment passed. She stayed exactly as she was, afraid to sever—or perhaps afraid not to sever—the tentative bond growing between them. Then, suddenly, Jorlan stepped back and clasped his hands together, brisk and formal, as if they’d never shared such an intimate moment. “What labor would you have me do? I am eager to begin.”

The heavy sexual tension eased with the small distance between them, making her feel as if she had been released from some sort of captivity. “I need you to move the large rocks that line the edges of the driveway to the back fence. It’s a tedious and back-breaking chore, and I hate to ask you to do it, I really do, but you’re free labor, and I…” She shrugged.

The blue of his eyes twinkled. “Have I not told you before that I welcome the chance to exercise?” He turned and tossed his next words over his shoulder as he strode to the door. “Worry not, for I fully intend to
lose myself in whatever physical task you place before me.”