Her Every Pleasure Part 41

He felt tears of sheer love for her fill his eyes. He blinked them away before anyone saw. After all, he was just the bodyguard. But watching her from a few steps behind, his heart in his throat, he had no idea what she was going to say. He doubted she knew.

Only one thing was clear: The moment of her destiny had come, and now he, right along with the disorderly crowd that had gathered to see her, waited on tenterhooks to hear her very first address.

"People of Kavros!" she yelled more fiercely than even she seemed to have expected. "I am Sophia, daughter of Constantine!"

They fell silent at her introduction, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"Many years ago, we were parted. You have suffered-I know the pains that have been visited upon you. I suffered with you from a distance as a child. You know the losses I have endured, as I know yours.

"Our enemies cut down my father, your king. They cut down his firstborn, Prince Giorgios. And when my brother, Prince Kristos, would have taken their place, they killed him, too." Her somber words carried out over the crowd as she swept them with her gaze. "When I prevailed upon our British friends to give the throne to me so that I could serve you, our enemies also tried to destroy me. But they have failed!" she roared.

The throng surged, screaming back at her, cheering her ferocity.

Gabriel felt chills run down his spine.

The people stared up at her, quieting when she held up her hand. They seemed awed by some indefinable note in her voice as she continued.

"They are trying to tear us apart," she explained in a strong tone, pushing her blowing hair out of her face. "To tear you apart. My people, don't let them. We are one nation. I beg you-" she started, then stopped. "No," she said as if to herself, "I command you as your rightful queen to keep the peace, obey the law, and stop attacking each other. Justice will be done."

Skeptical murmurs now buzzed through the crowd.

"You must be patient," she continued. "Have a little faith. Now that we are together once again, our country can begin to heal. Help is coming. Many new resources are on their way from those who have pledged their help. All I ask is the chance to prove to you that you can trust me to keep my word. And with your prayers, after all you have endured, we shall prevail!" she promised in a stern shout.

When she came back inside amid a cloud of cheers rising from the balcony beyond, she was trembling and pale.

Gabriel stared at her in wonder.

Father Nectarios had the presence of mind to pull a chair over for her to sit on. Clearly shaken, she mumbled her thanks.

"Magnificent, my dear. Simply splendid," the old man murmured. "Neither of your brothers could have done better."

She rested her left elbow on the chair's arm and bowed her head, her forehead leaning on her fingertips. She dismissed them all with an agitated wave of her hand. "Leave me."

They did, reverently obeying. A whole entourage had somehow accrued between their exit from the base to their arrival at the palace. Gabriel barely knew, himself, where all these people had come from. Priests, soldiers, advisers, and courtiers all retreated from the grand saloon, but for his part, he hesitated, certain that she was suffering in her heart.

"Even me?" he asked softly, so proud of her that he could burst and eager to lend her his comfort and strength.

But she looked at him coldly. "Especially you."

A country could not die. It could be maimed, part.i.tioned, sold off, invaded, but few countries ever truly perished, Sophia thought. That was why she had once decided to give her heart only to Kavros. That neat safety had once been her whole philosophy of love.

Now she had met her new "lover." She had addressed her people today. She hoped she had made a good first impression. Tomorrow, she would have her tour.

Unfortunately, she now knew that this love would never be enough to satisfy her. Only Gabriel Knight knew how to do that. As she lay awake that night in her royal chamber, listening to the m.u.f.fled roar of the distant surf hitting the rocks, everything in her yearned to go to him.

Wanted to go to him.

Refused to go to him.

Going anywhere near him would only make the pain worse when he deserted her to carry out his destiny.

Alas, as big a fool as Cleopatra for her handsome soldier, in the end, Sophia could not stop herself.

Not when any day with him could be her last.

Gabriel was in bed when she appeared in the doorway dressed in a white chemise. She came to him in silence with her dark hair spilling all around her shoulders.

He moved over a few inches to make room for her and pulled back the covers for her to join him. But instead of sliding in beside him, she climbed on top of him and without so much as a greeting, claimed his mouth in a deep, aggressive kiss.

This was no ordinary seduction. She was as angry as h.e.l.l at him, and still they could not stay away from each other. He felt they should probably talk, but it was clear that was not why she had come. He tried to stop her, grasping her arm gently, even as his blood caught fire with her smell, her softness. She ignored his subtle signal, driving her open mouth against his.

She was trembling. Whether from pa.s.sion or fury, he could not say, but his body responded to her nearness with helpless want, even as his heart sensed her churning, conflicted emotions. He shared them. He, too, had been lying awake with nothing but her on his mind. All he knew as he ran his hands down the cool, silky skin of her arms was that he was hers for the taking.

And take she did.

She grasped his already rigid c.o.c.k like she knew that it belonged to her and simply claimed him, guiding him inside of her, straddling him as she had that night in the hotel. Gabriel's chest heaved as she had her way with him. He could not tear his l.u.s.t-soaked stare off her. When he was deep inside her, she tipped her head back, staring up toward the ceiling, and gradually, as she savored him, all the anger seemed to leave her. He heard her sob.

Sorrow flooded him in answer.

He pulled her down into his embrace and held her in his arms.

"I can't-" she wrenched out.

"Shh," he whispered. He sought her mouth again and gave her the most exquisite kiss that he was capable of, a kiss he hoped could in some small part communicate all of his love for her, all of his yearning and devotion, for when it came to words, he did not possess the silver tongue to tell it all.

Sophia wrapped her arms around his neck and let him roll her gently onto her back. Then he made love to her slowly, sweetly, taking all the tender care with her that he should have on that savage night when she had given him her virginity.

She wept in his arms, tears spilling from her eyes as she reached her climax, arching under him. Gabriel kissed her throat again and again, his own eyes not entirely dry.

"I love you," he breathed.

She clutched him more tightly. "I'll always love you," she choked out in a trembling whisper.

But she did not stay the night. Having got what she came for, she left his bed, gliding away as silently as a ghost in her gown of white.

He reclined on his elbows, watching her, his body sated but still needing her near, his heart and mind a tangle of battling emotions.

She paused in the doorway and looked back at him over her shoulder, and for a long moment, just stood there, as though memorizing him.

Then she slipped out and pulled the door shut behind her.

He fell onto his back with a low exhalation, covered his eyes with his arm, and tried to quiet the thunderous pounding of his half broken heart.

He had a feeling, this time, she would not be back.

CHAPTER.

TWENTY-TWO.

T he next day, Sophia went out to tour the country that she was to rule. A bevy of her father's loyal advisers accompanied her, including Archbishop Nectarios, and a wall of heavily armed Royal Marines conducted her from place to place. Gabriel was there, scanning the crowd continuously; she knew that he took note of a few suspicious-looking faces in the crowd, strangers skulking along the background of the throngs that gathered wherever she went. But she ignored her lurking enemies and let him deal with that.

Her sole mission was to extend her love and service to her people, meeting them face to face with a familiarity that her father would never have dreamed of; listening respectfully as they aired their grievances and giving them the rea.s.surance they had so long craved, that help for their plight was on the way. She walked among them, shaking hands with the elderly, receiving flowers from the children, surveying the damage from wars and from the latest round of minor earthquakes. Indeed the ground shook a little while they were traveling in between towns. By the evening, as her whole contingent returned to the palace, she was beyond exhausted. It was a wonderful, scary, exhausting day.

Maybe it was the sun that had made her so tired, she thought. Maybe the strain of it all. Or maybe she was carrying Gabriel's child.

Back at the palace, she walked in wondering if there would be time for a nap before dinner, but to her amazement, Timo and Niko were there waiting for her.

She hugged them tightly, moved to see her friends and longtime guards again. But despite their thanks to G.o.d to find each other safe and their warm congratulations on her accession to power, both men were grim and all business, eager to meet with Gabriel, for they had brought the information he had been waiting for.

The three of them withdrew into the adjoining room and conferred for a moment, but Sophia did not intend to be left out. She went in, bringing Father Nectarios with her.

Gabriel likewise beckoned in Commander Blake, who had been invited to dinner. He shut the door and turned to Timo with a dark look. "What did you learn?"

"The audacious b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are right under our noses-er, sorry, Father."

The priest gestured forgivingly.

"They're hiding up in the old medieval fort at Agnos."

"Agnos! But it's practically a ruin," Sophia said.

"What's Agnos?" Gabriel clipped out.

"One of our smallest islands out on the fringe of the chain," Sophia replied. "It's barely inhabitable, but there's an ancient fort there originally built for keeping out the Turks."

"How fitting."

"No doubt the location has helped them to go unnoticed by my ships," Commander Blake said with a scowl. "I feel terrible about this."

"Don't worry, Commander. You could not have known. These men know exactly what they're doing. They are not common fighters, but the trained former bodyguards of the Ottoman Sultan himself."

"Bodyguards who betrayed him," Gabriel specified.

"Well, listen to this," Timo said with a grim smile. "Sheik Suleiman himself is there. Their leader."

"You saw him?"

"I saw an imam preaching to his followers," Niko affirmed. "b.l.o.o.d.y religious zealots-er, no offense, Father."

Archbishop Nectarios frowned.

"If we could grab Sheik Suleiman," Gabriel said, "we could use him for a bargaining chip. Offer to hand him over to Sultan Mahmud in exchange for him taking stringent action to rein in Ali Pasha."

"By stringent action, do you mean cutting off his head?" Timo asked pleasantly.

"That is what I would recommend," Niko agreed.

"No doubt Mahmud will be tempted to do just that when he hears that Ali Pasha has been teaming up with the bleeders who betrayed him," Gabriel murmured.

"How many of them are there?" Commander Blake inquired.

"By our count, some two hundred."

"Two hundred?" Sophia breathed. "How are fifty Marines and you three going to overcome two hundred Janissary warriors?"

"By stealth, my dear, and a great many explosives," Gabriel said. "How are your powder stores, Commander?"

"Well stocked with whatever you could want, Colonel."

"Black powder?"

"Now you're talking," Niko said with a grin.

"Fifty barrels, easily. Crates of mines, as well."

"That should do the trick."

"Gabriel, what exactly do you mean to do?" Sophia asked, barely noticing how she had slipped and used his first name in front of the others.

"Blow the place up with the lot of them inside it, I should think."

"Capital notion," Blake joined in.

"That fort will not be easy to approach," Timo warned. "It's on a steep rock hilltop with very little cover going up. No matter what we do, they're going to see us coming."

"Well, the first-rates aren't here yet, but our smaller ships can give us cover."

"Good, but tell them to hang back," Gabriel replied. "They've got the numbers and the high ground. The element of surprise may be our only advantage when we spring the attack."

"When will that be?" Sophia breathed, her heart pounding.

"Soon. We've got to hit them hard before they even know it's coming."

"We're ready," Timo said eagerly.

"Commander, do you think it can be organized to launch the attack before dawn?" Gabriel asked.

"I don't see why not."

"Maybe you should wait until the first-rates come," Sophia said with the feeling that she was swimming against the tide in this. "There'll be more guns and many more men on those ships to help you fight."