The Pleasure King's Bride (12 page)

“We’re here for each other,” he answered gruffly. “Always.”

Jared found himself too choked up to speak. He lifted his hand in a salute to Miranda, spun on his heel and walked out of the room, carrying with him a multitude of feelings that made life all the more precious to him, feelings he wanted Christabel to experience when she joined her life to his.

When,
he thought fiercely. Not
if.

He strode down the hall to the bedroom wing where she and Alicia had adjoining rooms. He’d done all he could to cover contingencies. His brothers were on-side. King’s Eden was King’s Eden. Tomorrow would come, but first there was this night to get through and Christabel needed to be loved.

More than that.

He needed her to believe in his love.

And that took action, not words. Tomorrow he would show her how deep and enduring his love was, but tonight was for feeling it.

He knocked softly on her door, hoping Alicia was asleep in the next room and Christabel was not sitting with her. He waited for several long seconds. When there was no response, he knocked again.

Again no sound of movement. Was she cuddling her daughter for comfort, deliberately ignoring any intrusion on her privacy? He couldn’t imagine she was asleep herself, though it was possible. He glanced at his watch. It was over an hour since she’d left him.

Then the door opened a crack. “Who is it?’’ came the husky whisper.

“Jared.”

He heard the shaky expulsion of a long breath. “There’s no more to say tonight,” she said listlessly, the weary dullness of her voice transmitting the sense of everything being over, and her acceptance of it.

“I just want to be with you, Christabel,” he softly pressed.

The door was held at a mere crack. Jared sensed the conflict tearing at her—to open up or close—and pushed to end it.

The door swung open. No resistance. No welcome, either. She wasn’t immediately visible. A lamp on the bedside table was switched on, spreading a soft glow of light around the room. The bed was mussed, the pillow dented, evidence that she had been lying down.

He found her sagged against the wall behind the door, as though she no longer cared about anything, letting him do what he willed because it really made no difference. Her head was lowered in a beaten expression, her cheeks streaked with tears, her long hair in a tangle of disarray. She wore the white nightgown Miranda had supplied, a sexy satin slip, but there was no sexual awareness in the slump of her shoulders, and her eyes were closed, shutting him out.

He closed the door and gathered her into his arms. She seemed too drained to fight anything any more, letting him draw her body to his, dropping her head limply on his shoulder. He held her, gently stroking her hair, rubbing her back, hoping he was imparting warmth and comfort, trying to wrap her in a blanket of love that would soothe her inner anguish.

Eventually her arms slid around his waist and her body heaved in a long, ragged sigh. “I’m sorry it is...how it is,” she said tiredly. “I never meant to drag you...or your family...into this.”

“I know,’’ Jared murmured. “I’m sorry you’ve had to bear so much alone.”

“I have Alicia,” she answered, resigned to the curse of the inheritance—the price of having the daughter she loved.

“Was there no other family of your own to help?” he gently probed.

She raised her head, looking at him with sad, washed-out eyes. “They did help...when I went back to Rio.”

She broke out of his embrace, shrugging off his solace as she turned away and walked towards the bed, her hands waving futile little gestures as she explained further.

“Through family contacts I managed to sell some of my jewellery to get untraceable money, passports in a different name. But I knew they couldn’t shelter me for long. My family was known. I had to leave them.” She paused, half-turned, aiming a direct look at him. “Just as you must know...I have to leave you.”

He shook his head. “Not for my sake, Christabel. And not because I might endanger your life or Alicia’s, because I won’t do that.” He strolled towards her, holding her gaze with purposeful conviction. “Only if you want to, and I don’t believe you do.”

He saw the flash of naked yearning in her eyes before she veiled it with her long lashes. Even as she jerked her head forward in a negative protest, he reached her and swung her around to face him, to hold her more firmly.

“Jared...”

“No. No more talking. Say you must leave me tomorrow night if you decide that’s how it has to be, but love me now, Christabel, as I love you.”

He kissed her and her anguish turned into a passion that matched his. No persuasion was needed. The loving was too intense not to be believed by either of them, and for Jared, that was enough to carry them through whatever had to be done to assure them of a future together.

The
day Christabel had always dreaded through her years of running had arrived. It felt strange not running any more...just sitting, waiting, letting others take charge, trying to hold onto her belief that Jared could take care of everything when the men in suits came. The clock was ticking down. In less than two more hours they’d be landing at King’s Eden.

Christabel found it difficult to keep fighting the waves of panic that knotted her stomach. She felt hopelessly distanced from the King women who emitted the same calm confidence as the men, blithely chatting over the breakfast table in the old homestead’s huge country kitchen, as though there was nothing whatsoever to worry about.

Jared and Nathan had left them some time ago, intent on discussing some plan with the Aboriginal tribe members who lived on the cattle station, but still no note of anxiety crept into the cheerful conversation between Nathan’s wife and Tommy’s fiancée.

They talked of plans for the upcoming wedding to be held in Kununurra at the end of the wet season, progress on the house Samantha and Tommy were having built on a hill overlooking Lake Argyle—exciting things in normal lives—and while most of it floated past Christabel’s tension-ridden mind, Alicia was gobbling it up.

From her five-year-old view, Miranda was a lovely lady who reigned over a cattle kingdom, and Samantha—whom everyone called Sam—so bright and pretty with her copper curls, sky-blue eyes and friendly freckled face, was an exciting adventuress who could fly a helicopter. Both of them happily pandered to Alicia’s avid interest in their activities.

Christabel wondered if the imminent visit of the men from Europe and what they represented seemed unreal to them. Though she recalled that Miranda had been in hotel management before marrying Nathan, so she’d be used to dealing with people from all walks of life, and Sam Connelly, as a charter pilot, would also be familiar with moneyed clients. Even so, Christabel doubted they’d ever met the like of Rafael Santiso, and he and Vogel and Wissmann were not coming here on a pleasure jaunt.

There was no safe place, she thought bitterly. Elizabeth King had been persuaded into bringing them to King’s Eden, just as Christabel had predicted, and only the fact that Tommy was flying them in kept a measure of control in the family’s hands.

“Well, I guess it’s time for me to be going,” Sam announced, surprising Christabel out of her assumption that the whole family was gathering to present a block of support.

“You’re leaving?” It felt like a desertion, rattling what little confidence she had in what they could achieve on her and Alicia’s behalf.

“Have to fly to the house to supervise some carpentry.” She smiled warmly at Christabel. “Since you’ll be occupied with the men today, I thought Alicia might like to come with me. I have a picnic lunch in the helicopter.”

“Oh, could I please, Mummy?” Alicia cried, her eyes agog with excitement.

“You can contact me any time,” Sam assured Christabel, patting the mobile telephone hanging from the belt of her jeans. “It’s only a fifteen-minute flight if you want us back. But it sure would be fun having your daughter along with me.”

“Yes, yes,” Alicia pleaded.

It dawned on Christabel that the reason Sam was here was to take Alicia out of the Kruger equation, at least physically, until the conflict of interests was settled. For the past couple of hours she had been winning the child’s trust and building her liking so the invitation would be accepted quite naturally—no frightening sense of being taken away by a stranger.

“It won’t be a problem,” Sam promised, her clear blue eyes shooting both sympathy and moral support as she pointedly added, “she’ll be safe with me.”

Safe...
a weight lifted off Christabel’s heart. Alicia, at least, would not be subjected to any trauma today. “Thank you,” she said with deep gratitude before smiling at her daughter. “Promise you’ll be good and do everything Sam says.”

“I promise.” She was off her chair and dancing around in wild eagerness.

Miranda held out a hand to her, laughing at the childish excitement. “Come and we’ll get your hat from your room.”

As soon as they were gone from the kitchen, Sam addressed the
real
issue. “I’ve known Nathan and Tommy and Jared all my life. You couldn’t have better men on your side, Christabel. None of them will shy from doing whatever has to be done to ensure you and Jared can make a life together.”

She hadn’t agreed to marrying Jared, or even sharing any more of her life with him. She tried to explain her position. “There are...risks.”

“No risks, no prizes,” Sam lilted back at her as though her own experience had taught her that being passive didn’t get her where she wanted to go. She showed no concern whatsoever over
her
part in today’s arrangements and seemed intent on soothing Christabel’s fears as she chatted on.

“Tommy will be flying your visitors over the most inaccessible parts of the Kimberly—no roads, no vestige of civilisation, just ancient ranges and big, daunting, uninhabited country. He wants to impress on their minds how challenging it is to survive here, and how the sheer isolation of it can eat into one’s mind and heart and soul. Amazing how quickly it can change perceptions and responses and values.”

“It won’t mean anything to them,” Christabel informed her. Money people were only interested in money, she thought cynically.

Sam cocked her head on one side, apparently considering her assertion. “It can come to mean something in hindsight, Christabel, especially to those who underestimate what they’re taking on when they come face to face with the outback. It’s the land that rules, not men. It changes the terms.”

Christabel looked more sharply at her, sensing she was suggesting how Rafael Santiso might be dealt with. “Are you saying...they may be kept here until they see things differently?” she asked incredulously.

“Well, I expect they will learn something about very basic values on this trip.” She nodded some personal satisfaction. “I think your Mr. Santiso will be considering his decisions very carefully before this day is out.”

Or he’d be abducted and given a learning experience? Christabel was still struggling with this concept. “Jared and Nathan and Tommy...”

“Won’t allow you and Alicia to be victimised,” Sam slid in, obviously delivering the bottom line.

“But...” Her hands fluttered in agitation, “...the repercussions.”

Sam shrugged. “I tend to think it will just end up a different ball game. No repercussions at all. The Kings have their own way of protecting their territory and their people. Believe me, you’re
safer
with them than you would be anywhere else.”

Jared believed this. Strangely, Sam’s conviction gave
his
belief more substance, probably because Sam wasn’t quite so personally involved, though she was taking care of Alicia today. Maybe it was being outback bred that gave Sam Connelly this knowing confidence of how this unique part of the world worked.

Her words...
doing whatever has to be done...
kept echoing in Christabel’s ears. Jared had been like that from the beginning, never accepting defeat, constantly edging forward even as she fought each of his intrusions in her life. He didn’t give up. And from what Sam said, neither did Nathan or Tommy.

She had been so caught up in worrying about what Rafael Santiso might do to the King family, she simply hadn’t considered what the King family might do to the man who had haunted her all these years. To use the outback itself as a weapon...a persuader... changing the terms...

She remembered very vividly the primeval feeling of the land she had flown over, the same sense of it here at King’s Eden, and suddenly realised it
would
have to seep into and influence the nature of the people who lived here. She had felt it about Jared each time she’d seen him naked—a powerful primitive entity intent on claiming what he wanted.

Rafael Santiso had always seemed an unstoppable force—but the King family
were
a different breed to the men he was used to dealing with. The prospect of a head-on collision between them made her feel weirdly skittish inside and she was glad when Miranda and Alicia came back, immediately presenting the activity of seeing her daughter off in the helicopter with Sam.

It was good to listen to Alicia’s excited chatter as they all strolled down to the landing strip beyond the big equipment buildings. Her little face was so wonderfully alive and carefree, untouched by the inheritance she knew nothing about. Christabel fiercely wished it could be kept that way, at least for enough years for her character to develop without the influences wrought by great wealth.

A normal happy child flew off with Sam Connelly.

Christabel couldn’t help feeling apprehensive about what her daughter would fly back to and how it was going to affect her.

“It’s all fixed so that Alicia will not meet the men you fear unless you decide it’s okay,” Miranda informed her as they watched the helicopter zoom off into the distant sky.

Christabel looked sharply at her. “How is it fixed?”

Miranda smiled reassuringly. “They won’t be staying here. Tommy will fly them to his wilderness resort, which adjoins the cattle station. You were accommodated in one of the cabins for my wedding, weren’t you?”

“Yes. But I thought it was closed during the wet season.”

“It has resident maintenance staff. Your visitors will be housed in the resort homestead for the duration of their stay at King’s Eden.”

“I doubt they intend to stay long.”

“Well, I expect that will depend on what happens at this morning’s meeting, which, of course, will be under our control.”

Christabel stared into the calm green pools of her hostess’s beautiful eyes. There was not the tiniest trace of apprehension marring her serenity. The King family was arranging their chessboard for the battle ahead, holding Alicia—the queen piece—safe from any possible attack, moving the enemy king and his two rooks where
they
chose, making the opposition aware of the dominant factor of
their
ground, and Christabel suddenly wondered what kind of backup Jared and Nathan were arranging with the Aboriginal tribe.

Alarm streaked through her. So much had been arranged without any consultation with her, but what if Rafael Santiso had organised his own backup before climbing into Tommy’s plane this morning?

“You don’t know these men and what they’re capable of, Miranda,” she shot out, disturbed by a confidence that had no cracks to allow for other outcomes.

“I know
our
men,” she answered feelingly. “I know what they saved me from and how effectively they did it. They are quite fearless in their strength, Christabel. That’s something I don’t think more
civilised
men meet with in their very
civilised
lives.”

It was a different reflection of what Sam had said...the primitive element of survival running through them, taught by the harshness of an environment that demanded they be fit to endure anything. Maybe the land itself did change the terms and the King family could prevail over whatever forces Rafael Santiso mustered.

Still inwardly agitated, Christabel sought more evidence of their strength. “What did they save you from?”

Miranda grimaced ruefully. “From a man who was intent on ruining my life because I wouldn’t play his game. He was the heir to an international chain of hotels, with the power of great wealth behind him. He thought he could use it to influence the King family against me.” She shook her head reminiscently. “It meant nothing to them. So you see, the Kruger inheritance won’t mean anything to them, either.”

She hooked her arm around Christabel’s, lightly pressing a sympathetic togetherness as she started them on the walk back to the homestead. “They will support you. Unequivocally. Through anything that’s thrown at them.”

“It’s asking a terrible lot,” Christabel couldn’t help saying. “The inheritance won’t go away and others will come.”

“Jared loves you.” Miranda’s lovely green eyes glowed with secure knowledge as she added, “Nathan loves me. Tommy loves Sam. Each of them understands what it means to them. There is nothing in this world that would make them give up their women.”

Christabel’s heart quivered at the enormity of such deep, abiding love. Could she accept it, unequivocally, whatever came? She wanted to. It was what she had felt flowing from Jared last night, and her whole being yearned to love and be loved by him for the rest of her life.

No risks, no prizes.

Her gaze turned up to the homestead that had stood as an emblem of endurance for over a hundred years. It was beautifully maintained. The huge white roof glistened in the morning sunshine. The white veranda posts and the decorative iron lace that ran around the eaves lent it the image of a crown, majestically dominating the vastness of the land around it.

A crown for the Kings of the outback, Christabel thought whimsically, feeling they truly were kings of men, deserving of crowns. She hoped they would endure, that she wouldn’t be the one to bring them down, that somehow something could be worked out so she and Alicia could live happily with Jared.

She loved him.

But whether the prize of love would be worth all the risks, only time would tell.