Secured Mail (4 page)

“Ah.” He exhaled slowly, his breath stirring the ends of her hair. “I have offended you again.”

She couldn’t stop staring into his deep brown eyes which were edged by the thickest, longest eyelashes she had ever seen.

“You haven’t offended me. I just want to make sure you understand that this is strictly business.”

He smiled and her gaze lingered on his mouth. “I understand, my lady.”

She retreated to her side of the table. “Right then, let’s go. We can take one of the chauffeured cars, okay?”

“As I cannot drive your Earth vehicles very well yet that would be a good idea.” He stood up and stretched. The muscles under his white shirt pulled the fabric taut over his wide chest.

Thea imagined those arms coiling around her, holding her so close she couldn’t breathe. She licked her lips. “I can drive.”

His mouth curved up at one corner and her warm feelings for him disappeared. She took a step toward him.

“I’m a very good driver.”

He bowed, hiding his expression. “I’ll meet you by the main entrance. I need to tell the queen where I’m going and get my coat.”

Thea hurried back to her office to get her purse. She also took the opportunity to dash into the nearest bathroom and reapply her makeup. Just because it was a business dinner didn’t mean that she had to look like an old hag.

By the time she reached the hallway, Sven was already waiting for her. He wore a long black leather coat and black sunglasses that made him look even more menacing than usual.

She pointed at his sunglasses. “It’s nearly dark out there. Why do you need those?”

“My queen says they help to conceal my identity.” He took them off and settled them on the top of his head. “Do they not please you?”

She stared at him. Didn’t he know that he looked like dark sinful sex on a stick? “It doesn’t matter if they please me or not. I just don’t want you tripping over your feet and causing an accident when we’re out.”

He nodded slowly and turned to hold the door open for her. “I will only wear them if I see any reporters. Will that ease your fears?”

19

Kate Pearce

She walked past him into the breezy evening air. “I’m not worried about you. I’m worried that you’d bring me down with you.”

He grinned. “Don’t worry, my lady. I’d make sure I didn’t crush you.”

Thea persuaded the restaurant to give them a discreet table at the back of the room.

Despite her caution, since they’d sat down, every single server in the place had managed to pass their table. It was Sven’s fault. Dressed in black leather he was the finest eye candy she had ever seen. To his credit, he made no effort to acknowledge the constant stream of servers who offered him water, cocktails and dinner menus, his attention remained on her.

After considerable thought, Thea ordered two large pizzas, a salad and a side of garlic bread. She hoped that would be enough to satisfy her dinner companion who sat quietly sipping his beer. His long legs stretched so far out under the table, his booted foot nudged hers.

She propped her elbows on the red and white checked table top and smiled brightly at him.

“So tell me, where were you born?”

“On Valhalla.”

She kept smiling. “Where exactly?”

“Why do you wish to know?”

Her smile slipped a little. “Because I’m making conversation. That’s what we do here on Earth while we’re waiting for our food to arrive.”

He put down his beer. “I was born in a small village called Iron Fist.”

“And how did you meet King Marcus?”

“I met him when I was selected to be one of his bodyguards.”

“How old were you then?”

“Old enough to fight.”

Thea sent up a prayer to the heavens for patience. “Old enough to miss your family?”

He looked away from her, his mouth set in a thin line. “Old enough to have seen them all die.”

She closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry. You’re right. That’s none of my business.”

He shrugged and returned his gaze to hers. “It is a common enough tale on Valhalla. My family contained several females.”

She stared at him. “Is that supposed to make sense to me?”

“On my planet, women are rare and highly prized. Other villages and tribes regularly raid their neighbors to secure females for themselves.”

“That’s terrible.”

20

Secured Mail

He shrugged. “That’s life. The desire to procreate, to have a child is deeply embedded in most societies, yes?”

“I suppose it is, although most of the planets in our galaxy are trying to keep their populations down these days to preserve quality of life.”

His expression was wry. “I believe the queen would call that ironic. We worship fertile women and other civilizations try to stop their females from breeding. My queen tells me that women on your planet are not always well treated by their men.”

Thea paused as the server put the garlic bread on the table between them.

“Statistically, there are more women than men on this planet. Most of the men seem to think that gives them the right to mess around with a woman and then move onto the next one.”

Sven picked up a piece of garlic bread and swallowed it whole.

“You sound bitter, Ms. Cooper.”

She nibbled at the corner of her bread. “Please call me Thea, we’re not at work now.”

He took more bread. “But you said this was a business meeting.”

She glared at him. “I know I did but that doesn’t mean you can’t call me by my first name. As long as you don’t do it at work, I’m fine with it.”

He nodded and his lips gleamed with garlic butter. She wanted to lean across the small space and lick them clean. “Then you must call me Sven.”

“I suggest that we meet at five everyday and discuss the proposed members of the press team and the observation party. Will that work for you?”

“If it is all right with the king and queen, I will be there.”

Thea sighed. “The queen probably has a good reason to believe all the men on Earth are bastards. She was left to bring up her first son alone, wasn’t she?”

“She was.” His expression grew savage. “I cannot understand how a man could abandon his woman and his child. If I had such an opportunity again I would give my life to protect them.”

After his explanation as to the courting habits of the average Valhallan male, she had no problem believing he meant what he said.

“Women don’t need men to bring up a child. We’re perfectly capable of doing it ourselves.”

Sven picked up the remaining two slices of garlic bread and held one out to her, one eyebrow raised. “Women are the givers of life. They are far stronger in some ways than men.”

She waved the bread away, watching in fascination as he downed both slices and finished off his beer. Perhaps two pizzas wouldn’t be enough after all.

She raised her glass. “I’m glad to hear you admit that women are the strongest sex. I didn’t think you had it in you to be so honest.”

21

Kate Pearce

“I didn’t say that women are always the strongest.” His considering gaze dropped to her chest. “I would be able to knock you to the ground in less time than it took you to say my name.”

“I doubt it.”

His brown eyes gleamed. “We will have to test out my theory one day in the gym.”

She held out her hand. “You’re on. I’ll see you there tomorrow at five.”

He shook her hand and kept hold of it. She shivered as he turned it over and dropped a kiss on her palm. The hot hard tip of his tongue branded her flesh. “I will look forward to it. I’ve often imagined you on your back.”

Thea felt her skin heat and was grateful for the arrival of the pizzas.

Sven gave a murmur of appreciation as he bit into the first thick slice. “Some of your Earth food is strange but this pizza is good. The queen says we shall take the recipe home with us and instruct the palace cook on how to prepare it.”

“Do you think it will be safe to go home again?”

He looked at her over his pizza. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if your people spend most of their time stealing women, will the queen be safe?”

“Since King Marcus took power, things have improved. He has encouraged tribes to negotiate with each other for women rather than just steal them.”

“Don’t the women have any say in this? You make them sound like cattle.”

Sven winced. “Now you sound like the queen. She has great plans for the future of women on Valhalla.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“The king had already introduced laws to ensure women received the same education as men and access to the courts if they felt their families were forcing them to make a particular match.”

“Good for him. I would’ve expected nothing less.”

Sven snorted into his beer. The first pizza was gone and he was already halfway through the second.

“Don’t you agree with the reforms?”

“Of course I do. There is nothing worse than a woman who is unhappy. Why would a man want to live like that?”

Thea found herself smiling back at him. Who would’ve guessed that behind that macho exterior lurked a man who understood that his life would be a lot easier if he kept his woman happy?

“Are you married?”

Sven’s smile faded. “No.” He drank more beer and then picked something off his slice of pizza. He held it out to Thea. “What is this?”

She squinted at the object and then sniffed. “It’s an anchovy, why?”

22

Secured Mail

To her astonishment, he started to blush. “An anchovy. That is good to know.

Thank you for telling me.”

“What about it?”

His gaze dropped to his plate. “Nothing, I just wondered what it was. The taste reminded me of…something else.”

She squinted at the tiny fish. “What?”

He sighed. “This is a business meeting, yes? Then I cannot tell you or you will accuse me of getting personal.” He sucked the anchovy into his mouth, his expression considering. “Mmm…”

Thea set her teeth. He was deliberately trying to wind her up. She should be used to being excluded from male jokes but this felt more personal.

“Sven?”

He smiled at her. “Yes, my lady?”

“If you don’t tell me what you are getting at, I’m not going to order you any dessert and I’m going to tell the driver you’ve decided to walk home.”

He stood up. “Perhaps I should start walking, then.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down again.

“Fine, don’t tell me. Be a jerk.”

He winked at her as he settled back in his chair. “Do I still get dessert?”

Sven insisted that the driver take her home first. Thea sat beside him in the back of the maglev vehicle marveling that he could move after all the food he’d eaten. His feet were crossed in front of him and one of his arms lay along the back of the seat.

Whenever the maglev turned a corner, his wrist brushed against her hair.

To her surprise, after the driver opened the door, Sven followed her out of the vehicle. She touched his arm.

“You don’t have to walk me to the door, I’m a big girl.”

He covered her hand with his own. “It is my pleasure.”

She sighed and allowed him to follow her into the building and up the stairs to her second floor apartment. She paused at the door and turned to face him.

“Thanks for coming out to dinner with me. It was fun.”

When she went to turn away, he touched her cheek.

“If this was a date and not a business meeting, would I be expected to kiss you goodnight?”

Her heart rate increased and her nipples hardened with anticipation. “If I let you, yes.”

He took a step closer until she was pressed up against the door.

“And will you let me?”

23

Kate Pearce

In response, she lifted her head and closed her eyes. She heard his sharp intake of breath as he bent toward her. His kiss was as bold and thorough as she had expected.

He tasted of beer and garlic and so male that she wanted to kiss him forever. Her body reacted instantly and she slid her hand into his thick auburn hair to bring him closer.

Soon close wasn’t enough. As his mouth ravaged hers, she struggled to slide her hand beneath his coat to touch his back. He groaned into her mouth and picked her up until her mound met the hard demanding length of his cock. She couldn’t help but rub herself against him, moving her hips in the rhythm of his thrusting tongue.

His hand clamped over her ass and held her still as he continued to kiss her until she wanted to rip off his coat and climb inside his skin. It had been so long since she’d felt so passionate about anything, let alone a man. With a moan, she wrenched her mouth away from his.

“Do you want to come inside? I…want you too.”

He stared down at her, his mouth swollen from her kisses, his hard body pinning her to the wall. He closed his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to look at her.

“I cannot.”

Thea licked her lips and he groaned.

“Thea, I cannot. I would be…”

She pushed him away as a wave of embarrassment flooded her. She’d been on the verge of allowing him to fuck her in the corridor. So much for her reputation and her insistence that she only intended to be his friend. So much for her much repeated demands to be treated as one of the boys.

She manufactured a smile. “It’s okay. I was out of line. I should never have kissed you in the first place, not that it wasn’t fun, but as you said, this is strictly business.”

He held out his hand. “Thea, you don’t understand, that’s not why I stopped.”

She turned her back on him to key in the code to her apartment. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost couldn’t manage it.

“Goodnight, Sven. See you in the morning.”

She managed to shut the door in his concerned face and sank down to the ground.

Oh god, she was so pathetic. She’d wanted him so badly. He’d been everything she’d imagined and more. The ache between her legs increased and she whimpered. She opened her zipper and slid her hand down inside her panties to cup her pussy. She was so wet, her fingers were instantly soaked. If she couldn’t have Sven inside her, she’d have to do the best she could.