Always

Six

"Coffee?" John Galbraith stood before her holding out a Styrofoam cup, carefully balancing himself against the vibration of the plane.

"Yes, thank you." Lisa accepted the cup, pushing the blanket from around her shoulders to her lap. "I certainly need something to wake me up. I must have been sleeping for hours. Where's Clancy?"

"In the cockpit radioing instructions to Mara-sef." Galbraith dropped into the seat beside her. "We should be arriving there within the hour."

Then she had been sleeping for almost five hours. It wasn't really surprising. In spite of Clancy's excellent advice, she had been unable to get to sleep immediately. Once she'd gone to bed she had found herself wide awake, her mind zinging and hyperactive. Yet as soon as they'dboarded this luxurious private jet and were airborne, she had fallen asleep as suddenly as if she'd been hit by a sledgehammer. "Do you live in Sedikhan?" she asked Galbraith as she took a sip of her coffee.

"I live where Clancy tells me to live," he said with a shrug. "It's a job that requires a good bit of traveling."

"That's what Clancy said." He had also said he could cut out a good deal of that traveling, she remembered with relief. Perhaps she would be able to travel with him at least some of the time when he did have to go. "Does Clancy have an apartment in Sedikhan, too?"

Galbraith shook his head. "He has quarters at the palace. He usually finds it more convenient to be close to Sheikh Ben Raschid."

Oh, dear, she had never considered where they would live. She wasn't sure she'd like living in a royal palace.

"Go up front with the pilot, John." Clancy was standing beside them. There was an air of leashed tension about him that was nearly palpable. She'd been aware of that edginess during their preparations for departure but hadn't thought it strange. It was a big step for both of them, and she was nervous about this trip, too.

Galbraith got to his feet with a grin. "I have the distinct feeling that I'm not wanted. I always was quick on the uptake." He sauntered down the aisle toward the cockpit.

"Is something wrong?" She set the coffee cup on the table beside her. "Yes." He sat down in the chair Galbraith hadjust vacated. "There's something definitely wrong."

"What?"

"What the devil do you think?" he asked. "Last night you told me you were going to have my child. Now to have a child it's necessary to perform certain anatomical functions. I couldn't think of anything but those functions after you left me this morning. Not that it was different from any other night since I've met you. Then we get on board the plane and you proceed to fall asleep."

She felt the breath catch in her throat. "You wanted to make love to me on the plane?"

"I want to make love to you anywhere I can," he said harshly. "I'm hurting, damn it. I've never wanted a woman like this before." He distractedly ran a hand through his hair. "And now you're going to think that all I said last night was just to get you into bed. It's not true, but I'm… What are you doing?" His eyes were on her fingers, which had moved to the front of her blouse and were calmly unfastening the buttons.

"You want to make love," she said as she undid the last button. "We don't have much time, but I'm quite willing. No one will disturb us, will they? You were sharp enough with John to guarantee he won't come back until he's called."

"No one will disturb us," he said thickly. His eyes were fixed on the front of her opened blouse. He could see tempting glimpses of her smooth, pale stomach and the upper swells of her breasts encased in a lacy bra.

"That's good." Her hands were on the front clasp of the bra. Suddenly it was loose and her breaststumbled free, veiled only by the silk blouse. She smiled at him mischievously. "Well, shall we make a baby, Mr. Donahue?"

His eyes were hot and smoky as they clung to the full mounds thrusting against the silk. "You'd let me love you now?"

"Anytime," she said softly. "Anywhere, any way. Why not? I want you, too, Clancy, and there's no reason you should be uncomfortable when I can fix it so easily." She leaned forward and began unfastening the buttons of his pin-striped shirt. "You should have wakened me earlier."

"Lord, I wish I had," he muttered. He closed his eyes as the tips of her fingers brushed against the naked flesh of his chest. Lisa could see the pulse leap in the hollow of his throat and then drum wildly. She felt a primitive delight that she could bring him so much pleasure. Her fingers tangled in the soft fleece matting his chest and tugged gently. "Clancy, come." She took his big hands and put them on her breasts. Feeling their warmth through the silk she began to tremble. "Love me."

"I do," he said hoarsely. "And I will." His hands contracted on her and she felt herself swell into them. She arched toward him with a little moan. His unsteady hands were pushing aside the blouse and closing on her flesh. A shock of pure desire rocketed through her. She closed her eyes as the tremors started to spread throughout her body.

His thumb and forefinger plucked teasingly at one burgeoning nipple, and he laughed huskily as it hardened and distended to pointed beauty. "Come here, Lisa." The blouse was pushed off her shoulders and the bra followed it. Then she wasbeing lifted to straddle him, his hands running up and down her naked spine in a fever of urgency. He arched her forward and his mouth enveloped her breast with a hungry groan.

Her fingers tangled in his hair and she threw back her head with a silent moan. His tongue on her breast was burning, starting little flames of sensation that touched every part of her body.

"You like that?" he muttered. She couldn't answer: her throat had closed and her breath had stopped in her chest. He took her silence for consent and suckled strongly while his hands rhythmically squeezed her breasts. Finally his lips left her. "I love the taste of you," he murmured. He rubbed his cheek back and forth against her breasts, and she could feel the faint stubble of his beard scraping her softness. It sent a hot liquid tingling to the apex of her thighs. "The feel of you." With each movement his tongue darted out to caress, to tease, to taste. Her hands clenched on his shoulders, her arousal almost unbearable in its intensity. She opened her eyes and watche,d his lips move against the swollen globes of her breasts, his tongue on her nipples.

Then his hands were on the zipper of her slacks. He didn't lift his head as he slid the zipper down with a soft, sibilant hiss. Then his hands were sliding beneath the waistband, cupping her buttocks. Lisa tensed, the muscles of her stomach knotting painfully. His hands were kneading her feverishly while his lips pulled powerfully at her breast. His chest labored harshly with the force of his breathing, and she could feel the hard length of him pressed against her. She nestled closer with a littlemoan. His muscles stiffened and his hands dug into her with unconscious force.

She didn't care. The minute pain was only another element in the cascade of sensations. "Don't do that," he said between set teeth. "I'm trying to be gentle, dammit I want everything to be-" He broke off. "Oh, my God…"

"What's the matter?" she whispered.

"The matter is that all my brains seem to be located in my groin," he said with supreme self-disgust. "All I can think about is laying you down across this seat and driving into you."

"Sounds good to me," she said with a faint smile. "It sounds wonderful to me."

His hands tightened on her. "It was a hell of a lot easier to stop when you weren't so willing." His fingers moved yeafningly over her skin with tactile hunger. "Say no, Lisa."

"No?" Her eyes widened. "I don't want to say no. Why should I do a stupid thing like that? I'm about to turn into an incendiary bomb and you want me to stop?"

"Please. Say no." His gaze was fastened on the ripe heaviness of her breasts, and he ran his tongue over his lips, remembering the taste of her. "I can't stop unless you do. And it's important to me."

"Why?"

"Because you're important to me. All my life sex has been just another appetite to be appeased. " He smiled crookedly. "Wham, bam, thank you. ma'am. That's why I automatically behaved like a stud presented with a prize mare when I knewwere going to let me love you. But I don't want that with you. 1 want it to be special."

Lisa stared at him with a wild mixture of emotions-frustration, desire, exasperation, tenderness. "Now you tell me," she said, shaking her head. After a moment her lips began to quirk. "Lord, how I hate a tease." She slid off his lap and into the seat next to him. "All right. I'm saying no. Very reluctantly. But I have an idea you're going to be sorry about this, Clancy."

"I already am." His eyes lingered hungrily on her naked breasts. "You're taking this very well."

"No, I'm not taking it well at all. At the moment I could murder you. Or rape you. I haven't decided which."

He looked startled. "That sounds bawdy, coming from you."

"That's because I am bawdy on occasion." She grinned at him. "Just because I'm a trifle thin and delicate-looking, don't make the mistake of thinking I'm a milk-and-water miss."

He looked at her, his eyes narrowing. "You seem… different."

Her smile was a sudden brilliant flash of warmth. "I've come alive. If you don't like it, that's just too bad, Clancy. You're responsible for it."

"I like it," he said softly. "I'm just having a little trouble adjusting to it. I wonder what other surprises I have in store for me." His gaze returned compulsively to her breasts. "Could I persuade you to put on your blouse? Looking at all that lovely bounty is putting me in a very painful state."

She reached down and picked up her blouse,then slipped it on and began to fasten the pearl buttons.

"Haven't you forgotten something?" He nodded to the lacy scrap of a bra on the seat.

She shook her head and calmly picked up the bra, stuffing it into her tote bag beside the seat. "Nope." She picked up her linen blazer and slipped it on. "I'm taking out insurance."

"Insurance?"

"The way you're behaving is entirely too gallant and noble to suit me. I'm not at all sure how long it's going to take you to set up this 'special' situation in which to make love with me. So I thought I'd add a little incentive. This jacket maintains a facade of respectability, but I want you to know it's only a facade. That I'm naked and available for you." Her smile was both mischievous and wickedly alluring. "That all you have to do is reach out and undo a button or two and you'll have whatever you want. Anytime you want it," she whispered. "Is that enough of a goad to your initiative, Clancy?"

He gave a low whistle. "Why, you little devil. Hell, yes, that's enough of a goad."

"I thought it would be." She leaned forward and began to fasten the buttons on his shirt. Her hands were still trembling, but she didn't try to hide it. She wanted him to see how much she wanted him. She couldn't tell him she loved him as yet, but she could give him that. "Of course, I don't promise to keep my hands off you." Demurely, she lowered her lashes to veil her eyes. "But I'll make an effort. It depends on how long you make me wait."

"Well, I promise it won't be long. You're a tough lady to go up against."

She sat back in her seat and picked up a magazine from the table beside her. "But I guarantee you'll enjoy it when you do go up against me," she said softly. "You certainly didn't seem to have any complaints before you got that sudden attack of conscience."

"Lisa, dammit…"

She smothered a smile. "Sorry. It's not too late to change your mind about me. You didn't really know what you were getting when you made me that offer. The lady you knew on Paradise Cay was only the tip of the iceberg. Now the part of the iceberg that Was submerged is breaking up and bobbing to the surface."

"How does it feel?" he asked, smiling gently.

She thought about it. "Mostly good, I think. Sometimes a bit scary. It's a little difficult to flow with the southern current and feel the ice melting. I can't help wondering what will be left by the time I hit the Equator."

"I know what will be left." His hand reached out and covered hers. "A lady with dignity and character who will have become all she could be. There's nothing to be afraid of in that. I'm looking forward to being around to see it."

Lisa felt a sudden tightness in her throat. Clancy was a rock to cling to in that current. How many other people had used his strength and support in the past? He gave so selflessly that it was easy to forget he had needs as well. She felt a rush of fierce maternal tenderness. Well, she wouldn't forget, and she wouldn't let anyone else forget, either.

She looked blindly down at the magazine on her lap. The moment was so fraught with emotion that she had to lighten it. "I hear that you live in the sheikh's palace. Does that mean I'm going to be established as a harem favorite?"

"You certainly display the erotic temperament for it. I do have quarters at the palace, but that's not where I'm taking you tonight."

Her eyes twinkled. "You're not installing me in a nunnery, by any chance?"

"Not by any possible chance. I have a setting in mind that doesn't lean to either extreme." "You're not going to tell me where we're going?" He shook his head. "I want it to be a surprise. I've never planned a romantic tryst before." There was a touch of boyish eagerness in his smile that was very appealing. "I find I'm looking forward to it. I hope to hell I don't mess it up." He stood up and turned toward the cockpit. "It's almost time to land. I'm going to tell John he's to take you sightseeing this afternoon while I complete the arrangements."

She frowned. "But I don't want to go sightseeing. I'd rather stay with you."

He glanced back over his shoulder, his gaze lingering on the unconfined swell of her breasts beneath the silk blouse. Then, with an effort, he averted his eyes. "You should have thought of that before you initiated your little goad, acushla. I wouldn't last five minutes with you in the back of the limousine, and then all my arrangements would go down the drain." He paused. "As it is, I might just last until tonight if I get to the cockpitin the next two seconds." He walked quickly down the aisle.

It wasn't a Middle Eastern palace, but a medieval castle complete with drawbridge, turrets, and a wall to keep out potential invaders. The magnificent anomaly sat squarely in the middle of the Sedikhan desert when it should have occupied a cliff in the British countryside.

"What's the drawbridge for?" Lisa asked blankly. "There's no moat."

The blue-and-white helicopter Clancy was piloting hovered, dipped, and then settled on the flagstones of the courtyard. "The castle was built by one of Lance Rubinoffs more flamboyant ancestors, who decided he was homesick for Tamrovia." His lips curved in a half smile. "He must have been a great deal like Lance, because it apparently didn't make the slightest difference to him that the idea wasn't exactly practical."

"Tamrovia? That's a small monarchy in the Balkans, isn't it?" Clancy had made passing mention of Prince Lance Rubinoff, who was Alex's cousin, but he hadn't gone into any detail. "It's ruled by a King Stefan. I read something about it in National Geographic."

Clancy nodded. "Stefan is Lance's older brother. There have been close diplomatic ties between the two countries for decades, but no familial ones until Alex's father married Sheikh Karim's daughter." He turned off the ignition and opened the door of the helicopter. "Lance found the atmosphere at Sedikhan much more to his liking thanTamrovia and settled here with his wife, Honey. Brother Stefan is a bit of a stuffed shirt, evidently."

And Lance Rubinoff definitely was not. What Lisa had read about him had been in the gossip columns, not the National Geographic. He had been the darling of the tabloids with his scandalous love affairs and wild pranks before he was married. Lately his name had appeared more often in the art section as his reputation as an artist had skyrocketed. "This is Lance's castle?"

"No; he uses it occasionally, but it actually belongs to Sedikhan. It was lost to Alex's greatgrandfather in a poker game." He lifted her down to the flagstones of the courtyard. "No one is really fond of the old place except Kira, and she's in Tamrovia right now."

"Kira?"

"Princess Kira Rubinoff, Lance's younger sister." He frowned. "Can't we drop the family history bit? I didn't bring you here to regale you with stories of the Rubinoff dynasty."

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked with a teasing grin. "I haven't seen you at all since we arrived in Marasef this afternoon, until John delivered me back at the airport. Then you flew me off in the helicopter to this Ivanhoe's castle. I definitely feel swept off my feet."

"That's how I wanted you to feel," he said quietly, and made a gesture toward the castle. "I thought we'd spend a few months by ourselves before I dropped you into the social whirl in Marasef. Its towers aren't ivory, but I thought it made a fitting background for a princess all the same. I wanted to give you that."

What a touching gesture. Lisa felt tears sting her eyes. "But I don't have the princess mentality anymore. I just want to be a woman." She repeated his own words softly, "A woman with character and dignity."

"I knew I'd blow it. What can you expect when an old war horse like me tries to play Galahad?"

"You didn't blow it. It was a beautiful, wonderful thing to do," she said. "I love it. What woman wouldn't want a castle put at her disposal? But I'm afraid I don't deserve it. I'm not sure I can live up to such an extravagant gesture."

"You deserve it." His fingers touched her cheek gently. "And you don't have to have a particularly aristocratic mentality to be a princess." He made a face. "Remind me to introduce you to Kira sometime. What's important is that it gives you pleasure."

"Oh, it does." Impulsively she stood on tiptoe to press a kiss on his cheek. "I can't wait to see the rest of it."

"I'll give you the Cook's tour tomorrow." Clancy took her elbow and propelled her across the courtyard. "Right now, I want to introduce you to Marna and give you a chance to freshen up before dinner."

"Who's Marna?"

"She's the housekeeper of the castle. She used to be Kira's old nurse, and when things got a bit difficult in Tamrovia, Kira whisked her here to Sedikhan."

"Difficult?"

"Just a spot of diplomatic bother involving Kira. Considering that it did involve Kira, it's a wonder itwasn't worse. Marna would probably commit murder to protect her."

Lisa was becoming increasingly intrigued by the casual remarks Clancy dropped regarding Kira Rubinoff. She was clearly a colorful character.

When she was introduced to Marna Debuk a few minutes later, Lisa's curiosity was even more aroused. She couldn't picture anyone "whisking" this woman anywhere. She must have stood six feet tall in her stocking feet, with the deep chest and powerful shoulders of a lady wrestler; the neat, dark dress she wore looked wildly inappropriate. Her face was heavy-jawed, both impassive and ageless, and framed in a helmet of dark hair clipped in a short Dutch bob.

Her large hand completely enveloped Lisa's as they shook hands. The woman murmured a polite acknowledgment in slightly accented English. She turned to Clancy, and for a moment there was a flicker of warmth in her eyes. "Everything's prepared as you instructed, Mr. Donahue. Will you be ready to dine in an hour?"

"That will be fine, Marna. I appreciate your going to all this trouble on such short notice."

"It's no trouble." The housekeeper shrugged. "It gave the servants something to do. No guests have visited here since Kira left a few months ago. They grow lazy."

"I doubt that, with you in charge." Clancy said dryly. "They're all terrified of you."

"Yes." Her dark eyes glinted. "Which is as it should be, as we both know, Mr. Donahue." She turned to Lisa. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you toyour room. I hope you will find it suitable. It's the tower room, as Mr. Donahue ordered."

Lisa smothered a smile. Trust Clancy to go all the way. "I'm sure I will." As Mama padded ahead of her down the hall, Lisa cast a quick glance at Clancy. "Aren't you coming?"

He shook his head. "I'll come to your room in an hour and take you down to dinner. I have a few phone calls to make." A shadow crossed her face. "Martin?" "Not all my business has to do with Baldwin," Clancy said. "Don't worry, it's too soon for him to surface again. And even if he does, I'll keep you safe."

But would he be able to keep himself safe? Martin had been so chillingly malignant that day in the market. Lisa gave herself an admonishing shake. She wouldn't think about unhappy things tonight. Tonight was very special. "I know you will." She smiled at him. "And you can bet I'll¹ wait for you to come and get me. This place is absolutely huge. I might get lost and never be heard of again. How many rooms does this castle have, for goodness' sake?" "Thirty-two, excluding the servants' quarters." "Oh, my, when you furnish a lady with a castle, you do it right, Clancy. I'd better get moving or I may lose my guide." She waved and hurried after Marna.

He watched her as she climbed the wide stone steps of the staircase in the foyer. She moved quickly, her carriage light and graceful, her delicate coloring contrasting sharply with the harsh gray of the stone wall.

He felt a swift rush of possessiveness that was as powerful as it was sudden. Tonight she was going to belong to him. If he was lucky, that one night might possibly turn into forever. When she disappeared from view, he turned and walked across the hall to the library. It took him only a few minutes to get through to Galbraith in Marasef. "Is there any word yet?"

"Not even a whisper. I called Berthold and told him to keep an eye out in case Baldwin returned to the island, and also contacted our operatives in the U.S. and alerted them." Galbraith paused. "But you don't really think he'll return to either place, do you?"

"No. I think he'll go to Said Ababa and join his terrorist friends. He knows he'll be safe there." Clancy's tone roughened. "And with their contacts in Sedikhan, he won't find it difficult to discover where Lisa can be found. It's a combination he'll find hard to resist."

"Then hadn't you better return to Marasef? You're pretty isolated out there in the desert."

"On the contrary, in the starkness of the desert you notice anything unusual at once. I can't say the same about a crowded city like Marasef. I want you to send a few of our best men out here tomorrow. Tell them they'll pose as servants. I don't want Lisa worrying about all this." "You'll be staying out there indefinitely?" "Until we get Baldwin." There was a slightly sardonic note in Clancy's voice as he added, "It would be nice if you made the effort to capture him before we have to confront him here. If it's not too much bother."

"Testy, aren't we?" Galbraith asked lightly. "I'll do everything short of crossing the Said Ababa border. Okay?"

"Okay, and for God's sake keep in touch."

Clancy hung up the receiver and stared at it abstractedly for a moment. He had been a little testy. He knew Galbraith would do everything possible to capture Baldwin if he crossed the border. It was just that he was so damned scared for Lisa.

He checked his watch and then moved swiftly to the door. Fifteen minutes had already passed, and he wanted to shower and change before he joined her. An elegant tuxedo wouldn't turn him into the kind of glamorous knight a princess deserved, but by God, he could try.