In the Flesh (8 page)

“Why am I here?” he wondered aloud.

“It is only a guess,” Dalen answered. “But I assume the queen arranged for you to be here as a punishment.”

“Punishment for whom? Sapphire or me?”

Dalen shrugged. “I’m not sure. How could the
queen have foreseen how miserable you and the Mistress would make each other?”

Wulf snorted. “How did she know we wouldn’t kill each other?” The thought of Sapphire injured affected him strongly. He was as protective of his captor as she had been of him, a reaction that confounded him.

“That might have been Her Majesty’s intent.”

Wulf held Dalen’s gaze to drive home his sincerity. “I would never physically hurt the Mistress. Not even to secure my freedom.”

“I believe you, Your Highness, but even if you wanted to, you’d find it very difficult to hurt her. She’s too well trained.”

“Because of her father.”

“Yes. She was taught by the general himself.”

“The Mistress requires a towel in the healing chamber, Prince Wulfric,”
the Guardian called out.

Wulf grabbed a couple towels from the cart by the arched doorway. “I’m on my way.”

As he left the receiving room, he began whistling. At this particular moment, he didn’t mind being a servant. A person had to be naked in the healing chamber. He was about to get his first unobstructed view of Sapphire’s naked body.

He waited at the door for one of the guardsmen to approach and disengage the lock. Wulf’s prints were banned from all of the lock pads in the palace to prevent his escape. Pointless, but he was flattered by the effort. He would leave soon, regardless. One night—one
full
night—with Sapphire and he would be able to leave without looking back.

The door slid open and he stepped inside. He
froze when he saw Sapphire in the healing chamber. Her perfect body was marred with an assortment of cuts and bruises that were fading quickly. As he approached, she looked up with a fierce gaze and jerked her chin toward the exit in silent dismissal.

He stood stiffly for a moment, his hands fisting in the towels at the sight of her so abused. He had to force himself to retreat as she’d ordered. The healing chamber opened with a hiss of released air pressure just as he turned to leave. From the periphery of his vision, he caught sight of Sapphire stumbling. With a warrior’s quick reflex, he dropped the towels and spun on his heel, catching her before she hit the tiled floor. She was unconscious.

Cradling her in his arms, Wulfric left the room, heading down the hallway to her bedchamber. The day was ending, the center courtyard bathed in shadows as darkness began to fall.

“Guardian.” Worry was evident in his voice. “Open the door to Sapphire’s quarters.”

The doors retracted as he neared. A guard attempted to follow him inside, but the Guardian prevented the intrusion by sealing the room with unusual haste. Wulf smiled grimly. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

“How are her vitals?” He laid her down on her bed. The drapes slid closed and simulated candlelight illuminated the space.

“Vitals are stable. She is simply exhausted.”

He sat beside Sapphire on the bed and brushed her dark hair away from her forehead. “What the hell happened to her?”

In answer, the computer projected a recording
of the holo-room on a bare wall beside him. He watched, appalled, as Sapphire fought a brutal battle with at least ten Valarian trolls. They were called trolls because of their short stature, but in truth they were evenly matched to the petite courtesan.

Wulfric was astonished by both her skill and his reaction to it. She was good. Very good. She could easily best most men and she neutralized over half the trolls before they gained the upper hand, dragging her to the ground. He winced as she was subjected to violent kicks and vicious blows. Suddenly the holo-program disengaged and Sapphire lay alone on the floor. Struggling to her feet, she cursed at the Guardian for aborting the program even as she clutched at bruised ribs.

The projection ended.

“Okay.” Wulf’s voice was carefully controlled. “Explain to me what that was all about. And while you’re at it, relay her bio for me, as well.”

“I can share public records, Your Highness.”

“That’s fine.” Wulf arranged himself on the bed beside Sapphire, turning her gently to her side, then spooning behind her. He enjoyed the feel of her softness and appreciated the opportunity to hold her, despite the circumstances. Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he listened as the Guardian began to speak.

“Katie Erikson was born on—”

“You lost me already.”

“The woman in your arms.”

He smiled. “Go on.”

If the Guardian could have sounded smug, she
would have.
“Her given name is Katie. Katie Erikson. Daughter of General Grave Erikson and his wife, Sasha.”

“Katie.” The name rolled off his tongue. What a sweet, girlish name for such a fierce woman. He wondered what she’d been like as a child and listened attentively as the Guardian told him.

Looking over Katie’s shoulder at the wall, Wulf studied the scenes projected there. Over the course of the next hour, he was regaled with a litany of her accomplishments. He saw her graduate from primary, secondary, and the Sensual Arts School. He watched recordings of training sessions with her father and televised royal events where she had been in attendance, standing just behind the Sarian monarchs.

He was intrigued by the deference King Gunther had shown to his favorite concubine and the resulting notoriety that esteem had given her with the people of Sari. Curious as to how that had affected the queen, he employed a keen eye and several replays to catch the carefully veiled hostility Her Majesty displayed toward her rival in unguarded moments.

When he had finished riffling through all the data and the Guardian fell silent, Wulf realized that everything he’d just learned only whet his appetite to discover the individual behind the life. He still had no idea who Katie was, only what she was capable of. It wasn’t enough.

Wulfric refused to put a name to why he cared. Until now, he’d preferred to know little about the women he slept with. He maintained his distance because clingy, dependent females were an annoy
ance he had no time to deal with. A quick, mutually enjoyable tumble in bed was all the entanglement he needed or wanted.

“Wulf…”

He tensed at the sound of Katie’s sleep-soft sigh. She wiggled her body more firmly into his embrace, her bare back pressed as closely as possible to his bare chest.

“Katie?” he queried in a gentle whisper, refusing to call her by a possessive appellation given to her by another man.

“She’s not awake,”
the Guardian informed him in the subdued evening volume.
“And she’s cold.”

Careful not to wake her, Wulf reached down and pulled the velvet duvet over them, then drew her back into his embrace. After a few moments, when Katie had settled more firmly, he called out to the computer, “Does she always talk in her sleep?”

“If you call the mention of your name ‘talking,’ then yes, she does that fairly often of late.”

Wulf couldn’t restrain his triumphant smile. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one with torrid dreams.

“She has taken great pains to keep you here.”

“I know.”

“But it would be more logical for you to leave.”

His smile vanished. “Yes. I shouldn’t be here.”

“Yet here you are.”

“I could give her more than the king has given her.” The moment the words were said, he wished he could take them back. He shouldn’t say such things, or even consider them.

“The only thing she ever wanted from the king was her independence.”

“Independence…” Wulf wanted to own her. Possess her. Have her at his beck and call. He could imagine sparring on the practice field and returning to her drenched in sweat and filled with aggression. He wanted to take her like that. Rough, gritty, raw sex. A base, primitive claiming.

As he drifted to sleep holding the love of his enemy while deep in hostile territory, he pondered his responses to all he had learned. When Katie slipped a silken leg between his own with a pleasured sigh, he knew, despite the danger, that he’d never felt as safe or relaxed in his life—simply from the act of holding her. There was a constant, vibrating anxiousness inside him that was soothed by her proximity. He hadn’t realized it was there until it was gone.

Addiction. Katie was the fix that eased his restlessness.

A dangerous thought solidified in his mind, unbidden and astonishing: How much more content would he feel with her in
his
bed, in
his
country?

Chapter 6

“You allowed him to spend the night in my bed?” Sapphire asked, incredulous.

“The prince was concerned for you and wanted to assure himself that you were well.”

“Like hell he did. That’s what I have you for.” She buried her face in her hands. “Damn you.”

“It is my primary programming to ensure your happiness.”

She lifted her head. “I should upgrade you for this.”

“There is no Guardian system of greater capability. I am a prototype, uniquely designed to serve only you.”

“Giving an enemy such intimate access to me is dangerous!”

“On its face, I would agree. However, his vital signs and deportment tell me differently. He cares for you. He cared for you last night when you were unwell.”

“You don’t understand human behavior, Guardian.” Sapphire brushed the hair back from her face. “I’m valuable to him because I’m protecting him
and because fucking me also fucks the king and my father.”

“You are not being truthful.”

“You
are being a pain in the ass.”

“My programming is such that I am able to seek your happiness, even while you seek to sabotage it.”

“We’ll deal with your programming in a minute,” Sapphire snapped. “First, tell me how I’m supposed to deal with him now.”

“He was pleased to spend the night with you.”

“I’m sure he was. Where is he now?”

“Unpacking the household goods that just arrived.”

“When His Highness is finished, I want him taken to the coordinates I specify. If he follows the instructions I leave with you, he should be able to cross the border without getting killed.”

“Should he approach you with any questions he might have?”

“No. I’m leaving for the day. Arrange my transportation into the city.”

“Mistress, may I suggest—”

“No.” Sapphire held up her hand. “You have caused enough mischief. I can manage this part on my own.”

Sapphire surveyed the assemblage at the governor’s residence with an indifferent eye. Once she’d enjoyed such lively events, but that had changed over the years. Her value to the king had created a barrier around her that few could breach without incurring his wrath. She was sorry to realize that she still felt lonely in a crowd. She was tired of being alone, and
exhausted from wearing a façade so carefully crafted no one saw the woman beneath it.

Dignitaries, wealthy entrepreneurs, even the governor himself had approached her to come out of retirement. The sums of money offered for her services had been staggering, but she was far from flattered. The career of a concubine was a revered position requiring years of training and dedication. Depending on how wisely she selected her contracts, she could attain much power and privilege. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Sapphire was at the top of her game, but she couldn’t find much satisfaction in the notoriety. Not now that she’d experienced what it was like to enjoy the attentions of a giving, attentive lover.

“You look bored.”

She turned with a smile at the sound of her father’s voice. “I didn’t know you were back in town!”

“I arrived this evening.” Grave Erikson cut a suave figure in his military dress uniform of dark blue jacket and slim trousers. “I went to your home and your Guardian told me I might find you here.”

“Is this a social visit or business related?”

“Both. You wanted updates on the investigation into Prince Wulfric’s disappearance. Or have you lost interest?”

“No.” Her heart raced. “What have you learned?”

“Not too much, to be truthful, but it was a good excuse to visit you.”

“Dad!” Sapphire laughed. She adored her father for all his many facets. He was strong and powerful, yet infinitely loving and blessed with the ability to find the silver lining in every cloud.

“Let’s take a stroll through the governor’s conservatory and I’ll tell you what little I know.”

He offered his arm, then led her easily through the crush. The masses parted quickly for their revered war hero and his equally famous daughter. “I still haven’t determined where the prince was taken after he was sold.”

“Have you found out who hired the mercs to attack him?”

“No. I tracked down the go-between, but he communicates only through videoless comm-link.” Grave glanced down at her. “I had assumed the prince was attacked in an effort to kill or ransom him, but apparently that was not the case. He was to be delivered to someone here in Sari. The torture was merely for the merc’s amusement.”

They had almost killed him, the fools. The memory of Wulfric’s horrifying network of injuries would haunt her forever. It was a testament to his resilience that he remained proud and unbroken after such abuse. His will to survive was strong and admirable.

Aching with the knowledge that he would be gone when she went home, Sapphire pushed him from her mind. The only future contact she would have with him would be through news reports in the media. Look, but don’t touch or covet. In the brief time she’d known him, he had become an ever-present specter in her thoughts. Her body was attuned to his on a deep level. He had only to look at her and she became aroused, hungry. She knew he was thinking of all the ways he could please her,
which was entirely removed from the king’s weighty expectation for how she would please him.