The Forever Dream (12 page)

"Nonsense! I'm not one of his mistresses. And even if I were, I wouldn't throw a jealous scene and make him

uncomfortable. All I want is information." And a little ammunition, she thought.

His expression retained its wariness. "He's never been married, but is very sexually active. He seems to have a preference for blondes." He paused deliberately. "And I believe that should conclude our little question-and-answer session."

There was a glint of steel in the blue of Kevin McCords eyes and a firmness about his lips that caused Tania to look at him with fresh speculation. There was obviously more to the senator's aide than the likable charmer he appeared to be on the surface. If this was so, she'd be wise to probe a little further.

"Okay, no more questions about Jared Ryker," she agreed cheerfully. "Now let's start on you."

He chuckled. "Lord, you never give up, do you? I think I'm beginning to feel sorry for Jared."

Her first response was an impudent grin. Then she said, "You should. But I'm probably not going to be any threat to you, so there's no reason at all not to answer my questions about you."

"The key word there is 'probably', " he said, and sighed ruefully. "Any woman who'd barge in on a naked man just to give him the third degree is capable of anything. What do you want to know?" Then, as she opened her lips, he held up his hand. "Don't tell me. Everything, right?"

She nodded serenely.

"Well, at least it shouldn't take as long as Jared's biography. I'm very boringly middle class, I'm afraid. I grew up in Bakersville, California, attended the University of California at Berkeley, and spent two years in the Peace Corps. I moved to Washington, D.C. five years ago and worked at several positions before I became Sam Corbett's aide. That was almost two years ago." He

scowled at her. "And I have no intention of revealing my sexual preferences."

"That won't be necessary. I think I have quite enough to go on."

His face was suddenly serious. "I admire your tenacity, but don't think anything I've told you will help you escape, Tania. If it would, you'd never have gotten it out of me. I've been pumped by experts in the past, including members of the press." He smiled. "The only reason I let you do it is because I thought you'd be more at ease here if you knew something about us. It must be frightening to be snatched and left alone with no one but strangers surrounding you."

Tania felt a twinge of warmth for McCord. Despite the toughness she could sense in him, there were likable qualities to the man.

"I wouldn't worry too much about me, Kevin. I'm very adaptable."

"I gathered as much," he said. "But everyone needs a little help sometime or other. As much as it's within my power to give it, I will."

"I don't intend to be here very long. But I may take you up on your offer. I've decided to accept Ryker's offer of the wardrobe. It may come in handy. I'll also need a barre and mirrors installed in the gym." Her lips tightened. "I have no intention of missing practice and losing muscle tone even for the short time I'm here."

"No problem. I'll have them installed today." He made a face. "Though I can't say I'm going to enjoy working out in front of those mirrors. A man of my size has a tendency to have all the physical appeal of a pregnant ox."

"Oh, I don't know." The glance she slanted at him was teasing. "My first impression of you was more that of a bashful ostrich."

"Ouch, that hurt! Not the image a virile young executive wants to project. It really was unfair of you to catch me off-guard. I'm usually positively dripping with poise and savoir-faire."

"That's not what I'm dripping with at the moment," Tania said as she stood up and moved toward the door. "I'm definitely starting to glow. I think I'll leave you to it and hop in the shower. Thank you for your cooperation. You've been very helpful."

"Any time," Kevin said politely. "It's been an experience, Tania. However, next time you have one in store for me, I'd appreciate a little advance warning."

"I'll remember that." There was a rush of cool air in the cubicle as she opened the door, then closed it carefully behind her.

Thirty minutes later she'd showered, dressed, and was proceeding to the next item on her agenda. Now that she'd learned as much as she could reasonably hope to at the moment about two of the principal inhabitants of the chateau, it was time to get a fix on her physical surroundings. She didn't expect the task to be easy after her experience with those winding corridors yesterday. As she explored, her surmise proved to be depressingly correct.

The chateau was enormous, but the size wouldn't have been difficult to deal with, for the plan of the central part of the building was simple and symmetrical. It was the additions put in at various times and apparently willy-nilly, that made the layout confusing.

Many of the rooms on the second floor were not used, and her own quarters were set off in a separate wing from those occupied by the other members of the household. The lower level was also vacant, and seemed to have housed a scullery and servants' quarters in the past.

The first floor, however, was as beautifully cared for and lavishly furnished as a museum. From the magnificent chandelier that dominated the foyer to the seventeenth-century tapestry that graced the wall of the formal dining room, the entire chateau was steeped in the glory of old-world culture and elegance. She opened the door to the spacious library, where they'd had coffee last night. A nineteenth-century clock on the mantle ticked loudly in the otherwise serene and lovely book-lined room. How was one supposed to be able to concentrate on one of those beautifully bound books with that annoying noise in the background? She'd definitely be doing her own reading in her room.

The exterior of the chateau was her next target. She studied closely the formal garden and courtyard that she'd walked through the day before. The outer perimeter of the estate was smaller than she would have thought. The chateau was bordered on three sides by cliffs that dropped with breathtaking steepness to the valley several hundred feet below. The only exit from the castle appeared to be the winding gravel road that led from the courtyard and disappeared around a curve some distance down the mountain. That road was sure to be well guarded if security was as tight as McCord had indicated yesterday. Of course, there were the possibilities offered by a concrete pad at the rear of the chateau to consider. It was obviously used for helicopter landings and, if escape by road turned out not to be feasible, she'd have to focus on the potential of that landing area.

"Don't you ever wear a coat?" Ryker's voice drew her quickly out of engrossed study of the serpentine path down the mountain. He stood only a few feet away, and the scowl on his face matched the tone of voice he'd used.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to appropriate your jacket again." She turned back toward the chateau. "I was just going to return for breakfast. I think I've worked up an appetite now."

"I imagine you have," Ryker said, catching up with her. "I could almost see the wheels go round while you were gazing down that road. Forget it, Tania, you'd never make it."

"We'll see. There's always a way out. One just has to find it." She wrinkled her nose. "Though I did notice that neither you nor McCord appeared to be exaggerating about the security measures here. On my little stroll I counted at least eight supposed servants who look more like Olympic weight lifters. How remarkable that such big men can move so gracefully and swiftly through that oh-so-convenient shrubbery."

"It's the ones who don't look quite so intimidating whom you have to watch out for. They have more of a tendency to resort to firepower, since they don't have brawn to rely on."

"Firepower?" Tania asked, her eyes widening with shock. She didn't know why that casual comment surprised her. Of course there would be weapons here that brought pain and death. How could there not be in a situation where a hundred thousand dollars in bribe money was considered trifling and kidnapping was a simple means to an end?

Ryker's hand on her arm was swiftly reassuring. "Don't be afraid. Nothing like that is going to happen to you. I've passed the word you're to be treated with kid gloves."

"I wasn't afraid," she said in hot denial. "And I don't need or want your protection, Ryker. I can take care of myself."

"I don't doubt it. A woman who can climb up and down a mountain in a snowstorm has very impressive credentials."

"Well, it was very small, as snowstorms go. But it was a very large mountain." She chuckled. "You're right, though, my credentials are impeccable."

He opened the front door and stepped aside for her to enter. "Give it up, Tania. I'm not as much afraid of the security boys hurting you as I am of your doing something foolish and hurting yourself."

"You think I'll fall off your mountain, perhaps? I'm a ballerina, remember? We're very sure on our feet." She darted him a barbed glance. "And I make it a practice not to do anything foolish. Which is more than I can say for you, Ryker. Kidnapping is considered very foolhardy by most individuals."

"I told you I had nothing to do . . ." He shrugged resignedly. "I suppose it was too much to hope that you'd mellow overnight. So much for the sweet council of sleep.

"Much too much to hope, Ryker. I'm exactly of the same mind as I was last night." She glanced at him over her shoulder as she walked to the center of the foyer. "By the way, what's your favorite color?"

"Color?"

"What's your favorite color? You must have one. Everyone does."

He frowned. "I've never thought about it. I guess I have a preference for bright colors. Why?"

"Nothing." She started toward the breakfast room. "Just curious, Ryker. Just curious."

The tangerine gown would not only be considered bright, but brilliant, and it was certainly the most seductive garment Tania had ever worn offstage. Made of chiffon so soft and sheer it was like petals drifting about her, the gown dung and undulated with every step and every breath she took. She cast a rueful glance down at the neckline, which plunged to the waist before being caught in a matching tangerine cummerbund. She'd have to be very careful of those breaths or she'd come out of the gown entirely. Her hair was in its usual lustrous braid, and she fastened it with her own diamond star. It was quite remiss of Ryker not to supply her with a fresh selection of jewels to go along with the fabulous wardrobe that had arrived this afternoon. She grinned at the thought. She'd have to speak to him about that, she decided as she hurried toward the staircase.

The crystal chandelier glowed softly at this late hour. Sweeping down the last few steps to the broad foyer, Tania could imagine that she was going to a glittering ball in the long-ago past instead of a rendezvous with Ryker.

Actually, rendezvous wasn't the right word. It implied collusion on the parts of both parties, and this meeting was entirely her idea. By discreet questioning of McCord at dinner, she'd learned that Ryker could usually be found in the library poring over a weighty tome into the wee hours. She'd waited to leave her room until after midnight so she could be sure he'd be alone. No, "rendezvous" definitely wasn't the word for it: "Stalking Ryker" was a more appropriate description of her maneuver.

She drew a deep, steadying breath as she paused outside the cream double doors of the library. She'd never done anything like this before, and for a moment a quiver of uncertainty went through her. But she staunchly repressed that small self-doubt, assuring herself there was nothing to be apprehensive about. This was just another role to play, just another move to be made in the battle with Ryker. She threw open the library doors, flamboyantly entering the room and drawing the doors closed behind her, breasts thrust forward, head held high as her hands lingered on the doorknobs at her back.

Ryker was lounging in a Queen Anne chair across the room, his feet propped up on the matching ottoman. He was still casually dressed in the dark cords and

hunter-green turtleneck sweater he'd worn at dinner. His expression as he looked up from his book to gaze at her with lingering thoroughness was curiously enigmatic. "Very beautiful. You should have given me some warning and I'd have dressed for the occasion."

"That's what McCord said. He didn't like being caught off-guard, either." Ryker smiled. "He told me about your foray into the sauna. He was irritated that you'd rattled him like that." He paused. "However, I can't say that your appearance tonight is exactly a surprise. I was expecting a skirmish. I just wasn't expecting you in such full and potent battle regalia."

"You were expecting me?"

He shrugged. "I've studied your expressions a great deal over the past two weeks. I ought to recognize that air of repressed excitement about you at dinner." He smiled. "It's exactly the same look you have the split second before you execute one of those grand jetés with such exceptional elevation. What does one call that ability to rise so lightly, to hold position in the air?"

She drifted toward him, the brilliant panels of her gown floating about her. "
Ballon
. It's a special quality of elevation—and it applies equally to the way a dancer lands. If one has
ballon
she comes down softly, smoothly." She stopped before him and fluttered a panel of her gown. "Is this bright enough for you, Ryker?"

"Yes, it's bright enough," he said, his gaze on the neckline. "What there is of it. It's quite a change from the slacks and sweater you wore at dinner."

"I admit I thought about wearing it for dinner. But I decided there'd be no purpose to it. It would have much more impact on you when we were alone."

"And that's the purpose, I assume."

"But of course," she said, and punctuated her words

with a throaty laugh. "After going over the chateau's defenses, I decided it might take awhile longer to escape than I'd thought. It was only practical to initiate plan two." With one swift movement she was on his lap. "Would you like to kiss me, Ryker?"

He inhaled sharply, and she could feel his muscles stiffen against her. "Stinging nettles, Tania?"