'Til the End of Time (6 page)

“Of course I have a sense of humor.” It was ridiculous to feel so indignant. Why should it matter what he thought of her? Yet it did. Good Lord, what was happening to her? She drew a deep breath and tried to block out the effect he was having on her emotions. His sensual effect on her was bad enough, but she was beginning to find she actually
liked
the man. She was discovering qualities of patience, humor, and gentleness she didn’t want to acknowledge. He was a man to trust. She had developed an instinct over the years of separating the dross from the gold, and
Karpathan was the real thing. The affection and respect she had noticed his men gave him was impossible to ignore. Well, she
would
ignore it. She must ignore it. “I don’t want to talk anymore.” She closed her eyes determinedly. “I’m going to sleep now.”

“I think I’m being dismissed.” His tone held only indulgent amusement. “All right, go to sleep. I’ll watch over you.”

Karpathan would watch over her while she slept. The assurance filled her with warm contentment. After a lifetime of relying on no one but herself, for this brief period she could lower her guard. He was the enemy, but for some unexplainable reason she trusted him. She could feel the tension of years begin to splinter and then dissolve. She would have no trouble rebuilding those defenses later, she assured herself drowsily. “I don’t need you to look after me, Karpathan. I can take care of myself.” She didn’t question the impulse that led her to cuddle closer, even as she murmured, “I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

Within a few minutes she had drifted off to sleep. Karpathan carefully shifted his position to slide his arm around her shoulders. Even in sleep she tensed with wariness before relaxing again. Soldiers in the field often developed an alertness that followed them into unconsciousness, and he had been forced to learn it himself. But how and where had the pampered mistress of an industrialist acquired the instinct? She was an enigma.

Moving with caution to avoid alerting those instincts, he slowly brought her close until her cheek was resting on his shoulder. Her hair smelled faintly floral, and he lowered his head to breathe
in the scent that clung to her skin. The fragrance was as individual, basic, and full-bodied as Alessandra herself.

He supposed he should try to go to sleep, though the possibility was extremely unlikely. His arousal was responding to the touch and scent of her with aching sharpness. He drew a shuddering breath and then wished he hadn’t. The lush, seductive woman scent was going straight from his head to his loins. His lower body moved in a thrusting, yearning movement against her. God, he was hurting. Control. He had to maintain control. By some miracle Alessandra had been persuaded to trust him, and he mustn’t betray her. He had an idea she gave her trust with great rarity. His arms tightened around her for a brief moment. Let her go. He knew he had to let her go, but, dammit, he … He set his teeth and forced his arms to loosen and then withdraw entirely from around her.

He gazed unseeingly into the darkness. His muscles were stiff and unyielding as he tried to fasten his thoughts on something, anything to keep them away from the woman whose cheek still lay pillowed so trustingly in the hollow of his shoulder.

“A
labone
is a
sewer
? No wonder you told your friend I’d need a raincoat.” Alessandra gazed distastefully at the round, gaping mouth of the manhole. “I presume it’s damp as hell down there.”

Sandor nodded. “Sorry. Belajo is a very old city, and the walls of the sewer system have a tendency to spring leaks.” He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “But you’ll be glad to know I’ve seen only a few rats when I’ve been down there.”

“How very comforting,” she said dryly as she edged closer to the manhole. She shivered and drew the folds of the black oilcloth poncho closer to her body. She wasn’t sure if the shiver was caused by the thought of going down into the darkness of another unknown labyrinth or from the predawn chill. She should have suspected Karpathan would have an unpleasant surprise for her when he had led her to this alley behind Jannot’s café. She didn’t like burrowing around
beneath the ground, dammit. “I’m going to present you with a formidable bill very soon, Karpathan. I’m definitely going to get you.”

“I hope so,” he murmured as he watched her negotiate the first rungs of the ladder. “Or vice versa.”

She glanced up and had to smother a smile. She was grateful it was still dark and the smile went unnoticed. She wouldn’t have wanted him to know of the strangely companionable mood she’d found herself experiencing since he’d wakened her twenty minutes earlier.

After a night spent in his arms, she was having problems convincing herself he was still the enemy. It was really a pity. He would have made a wonderful comrade in the old days. Together they would have run rings around the guards, and he wouldn’t have been intolerant of Dimitri, as the others had been.…

“There are several inches of water in the sewer. When you reach the bottom rung, step to the left. There’s a foot-wide ledge that’s usually above the water level. Be careful. I can’t risk turning on the flashlight until I’m in the sewer and the cover is back in place.”

Usually
above the water level? She cast an apprehensive glance downward. The air here in the sewer was moist and heavy and smelled abominable. She thought she could faintly discern the glitter of water just below her, and she shifted uneasily on the ladder. She had no intention of landing in that murky water if she could prevent it. There was no telling what manner of disgusting debris was floating in a sewer. She carefully lowered a foot past the bottom rung of the ladder.
The tip of her shoe touched liquid, and she quickly jerked it back.

“Are you all right?” Karpathan asked.

“Did you ever hear the story about there being alligators in the sewers?”

He laughed with genuine amusement. “Yes, but it’s just a myth.”

“I’m glad you’re so confident.” Her foot touched the ledge, and she carefully moved to it from the ladder and pressed back against the damp wall of the sewer. “I wouldn’t think of questioning your source. If you’re wrong, I don’t want to know. I’m on the ledge now.”

She cautiously sidled a few feet forward. It was awfully slippery. She wished Karpathan would turn on the flashlight. It was even darker down there than before, now that he’d replaced the manhole cover. She heard his steps echoing on the metal of the ladder, but he was only another dark silhouette in a tube of shadows. Then he was on the ledge, and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was odd how much more secure she felt with Karpathan at her side.

The slender beam of the penlight pierced the darkness. His gaze quietly searched her taut face with concern. “There’s nothing down here to hurt you. I never would have brought you with me if there had been.”

She knew he wouldn’t. In spite of the unpleasantness of her surroundings, she’d been certain Karpathan would never expose her to any real peril if he could prevent it. She smiled crookedly. “There had better not be. I’m not skilled at alligator wrestling. The fist one we run into is all yours.”

“Right.” His hand was on her elbow, propelling her forward. “I welcome the challenge. We modern men are handicapped by the lack of dragons to fight for our ladies. I guess an alligator would do nicely.”

His lady. A warm contentment touched her like the crackling heat of a fire on a crisp winter day. She should resent the possessiveness in the words. Yet she found it difficult to do so when it made her feel so exquisitely treasured. She had the irrational feeling that now that she had experienced this warmth, she would miss it when Karpathan took it away. She must be going soft. She had never missed being cosseted before. “I think I’d enjoy watching the show.”

“The question is, which one of us would you be rooting for?” he asked dryly. His hand tightened as she slipped a little on the fungus-coated concrete. “Watch it. I wouldn’t want to have to pluck you out of that water. You’d be even more perturbed at me if you came out of here smelling like …”

“A sewer,” she finished for him. “I think I’m already in that condition. How much farther do we have to go?”

“Another half mile or so. This sewer empties into the Gratani River about a quarter of a mile outside the city. Unfortunately there’s a road directly across the river controlled by Naldona’s troops. We’ll have to wait for the diversion Jannot’s arranged before we leave the sewer. That should be in about forty minutes.”

“Diversion?”

“A guerrilla attack.”

“Quite a diversion just to get me out of the city.”

“But very worthwhile. I’m becoming more convinced of that with every passing moment.”

She glanced back to see a faint smile on his lips.

“Now all I have to do is to convince you, my dear Amazon.”

“You’ll never—” She broke off and looked away. No doubt Karpathan would regard the denial she’d been about to make in the same light as the alligator challenge. She wasn’t sure she was up to facing that particular kind of challenge at the moment. She closed her lips, her steps unconsciously quickening. “Let’s get out of here before this odor becomes embedded in my bones.”

She didn’t know whether the sound echoing behind her was a chuckle or a reproving cluck. It didn’t matter. Whatever his response, she knew it would not be meant unkindly. She had discovered that beneath the hard facade Sandor Karpathan assumed, there lay a surprising gentleness.

“For the love of God, move!” There was no sign of gentleness now on Karpathan’s face as he jerked her after him up the incline. “Jannot’s men can’t keep up the artillery fire much longer without being spotted. We have to get beyond the summit of the hill so they can get the hell out of there.”

“I
am
hurrying.” She twisted her arm out of his grip. She cast a glance across the river. The attention of Naldona’s soldiers was concentrated on the bluff bordering the highway, but that could change at any moment. “Go on. Run. I’m not a doll to be carried. I can keep up with you.”

Something warm flickered in his expression
before he turned away. “I believe you can. Let’s prove it, shall we?” He began to run, keeping as low as he could on the open terrain of the path.

Alessandra followed him, moving with the same speed and caution. The path was steep and went almost straight up. By the time they crested the hill, her breath was coming in labored gasps. Good Lord, she was out of condition. But Karpathan was a little out of breath, too, she noticed with satisfaction, “Were we seen?”

“You would have known it if we were.” Sandor’s lips twisted. “There would have been bullets whistling over the pretty brown bun on the top of your head. But we should keep on going until we get behind our lines. Do you need a rest?”

She shook her head, too breathless to answer.

There was again that flicker of pride in his face. “It’s only across the next hill. Our base is a few hours’ hike away, but once we’re behind the lines, it will be safe to let you stop for a while.” He turned away and began to cover the ground at a half trot, trusting her to keep the pace.

Karpathan’s trust filled her with the same strange, fierce happiness as the pride she had seen glimmering in his face. In that moment she could understand why Karpathan was supposed to be able to inspire his followers to perform miraculous feats. She would probably have done a hell of a lot more than stretch her physical resources to the limit to have him look at her again, with admiration and pride.

However, her limit of endurance had nearly been reached when Sandor called a halt. There was a bead of moisture running down her back and every breath was causing an agonizingly sharp
pain in her side as she collapsed against a huge maple tree and leaned back against the rough bark of its trunk.

“We’re safe now.”

“How do you know we’re behind your lines?” she asked curiously as soon as she could get her breath. “We haven’t seen any soldiers.”

“That’s because they know who I am.” Sandor dropped down beside her. “Guerrilla warfare. Naldona’s men would have been cut down a hundred yards ago.”

“I’m glad your men have good eyesight.” She grimaced. “I suppose they would shoot me, too, if I wandered away from you.”

“Not after they’d seen you with me.” He went still. His eyes narrowed on her face. “Don’t even think about it, Alessandra. You might be safe from them, but you wouldn’t be safe from me. I’d stop you long before you reached the
labone.
”

“I have to think about it.” She leaned her head back against the trunk of the tree. “I told you, I have something to do in Belajo. I can’t leave until I’ve finished what I started.”

“What the devil is important enough to risk getting killed for?” His tone was roughly impatient. “For heaven’s sake, tell me.”

She opened her lips and then closed them without speaking. She was tempted to give him the information he demanded, but the trust she was learning was too new. Sandor Karpathan’s charisma was forceful enough to persuade an angel to give up its wings. What if she were wrong to give him her trust?

An expression close to pain fleetingly crossed his face. “Very well. I can wait. You’ll have to talk to me eventually.”

She met his gaze and felt a flutter of panic. He was right. If she stayed with him, there was no question that she’d tell him what he wanted to know. It was only a matter of time. Why, she had been trailing after him as meekly as a blasted camp follower! It was incredible how far they had come since she had walked out on the terrace last night.

“No!” She jumped to her feet. “Dammit, Karpathan, I won’t let you manipulate me. You’ve already mesmerized half of Tamrovia. Just let me alone.”

“I can’t seem to do that,” he said simply. “I’ve given up trying. I believe you’ll reach that point, too, before long.”

“The hell I will.” She whirled and was running back in the direction from which they had come. She heard a low curse and then the rustle of the brush behind her as he started in pursuit. She flew over the ground, adrenaline lending strength to lungs and muscles she had so recently strained to the point of exhaustion.