Scorched(5)

Still, the journey the two of them would take was well worth traveling.

His hand brushed her hair from her forehead as he looked into her sleeping face. She was a true beauty, a real gem. He would never allow her to escape.





CHAPTER THREE

RACHEL WAS WARM and cozy. As she drifted up from the deep lake of sleep, she struggled to hold on to its blissfulness.

But, no. Something jostled her, and she knew that no matter how badly she wanted and needed to stay asleep, it was over. Stretching her arms, she hit solid muscle. What?

Her eyes finally creaked open and she tried to focus in the harsh light. When the blurriness faded, she locked eyes with Adriane and instantly stiffened. What was she doing sitting on his lap, leaning into him?

“You’re just fine, Rachel. You simply had a little nap,” he said, stroking her back.

Rachel tried to focus on Adriane. Where was she? Why was she with him? As she woke up all the way, the night came back with the violence of a slamming door and she pulled away, nearly falling on her butt in her haste to jump out of Adriane’s arms.

“What’s going on, Adriane?” She looked around the roomy jet in puzzlement.

“You were just having a little dream, darling,” he said. It was obvious she hadn’t quite figured out where she was yet. She’d be a whole lot more upset when that happened.

“I’m not your darling,” she said, and sat down on the chair across from him.

“Oh, Rachel, you most certainly are,” Adriane said.

A shiver passed through her. If only she weren’t so attracted to him — hating him was so difficult. But did she want to hate the father of her child? No. Of course not. She just wanted to find a happy medium, be able to breathe normally in his presence, and then work out what she was going to do next.

“We were in the car,” she said, confused as she again looked around. Adriane could see she was starting to get her bearings. This wasn’t going to end well.

As she looked around the jet, they suddenly hit a pocket of turbulence, and that’s when she noticed the vibration. She looked toward the curtained windows and her eyes widened. This wasn’t a normal room. The curved walls, the small window openings, the confined space…

“Are we on a plane?” she asked with an exasperated gasp.

“You need to remember what the doctor told you back at the villa. You have to keep your blood pressure down, and fighting with me will surely raise it,” he said in a quiet, calming tone.

“I am trying really hard right now not to freak out, Adriane, but I swear by all that’s holy that if you’ve kidnapped me, my blood pressure is going to go straight through my head and explode,” she said, gritting her teeth.

“I’m taking you home for a little while. I have to take care of you.” Adriane prayed that the remark didn’t send her into another faint.

“The doctor said I need to not get stressed or overexert myself, so I’m trying really, really hard not to yell right now, but all I want to do at the moment is reach out and strangle you,” she said, fire returning to her eyes.

“I just want to make sure that all is well with you and our child. It’s important that I look after you. I won’t bring up our wedding until you’re feeling better,” he said, offering his idea of a compromise.

“I will be just fine looking after myself,” she told him.

“Please try to understand. My country is in upheaval right now with the death of my father, and my brother making a play for the throne. I must return home — it is my duty — but I can’t leave you behind if your health and that of my child are not at one hundred percent. You are my duty, too,” he said. He couldn’t back down from this and leave her behind. She was too important.

“I am nobody’s duty, Adriane. I demand that you turn this plane around this second.” She looked toward the cockpit and considered pounding on the thick doors and informing the pilots that their king had kidnapped her. Yeah, right. That would do a lot of good.

In their eyes, as in the eyes of everyone who worked for him, Adriane could do no wrong. She didn’t see that she had a whole lot of choices right now.

Why had she let her exhaustion overwhelm her? If she’d only stayed awake, she wouldn’t be in this mess. Yes, Adriane was stronger than she was, but surely she could outrun him — even tired and pregnant.

OK, she didn’t know if she could, but she would have made a valiant effort.

Her eyes still narrow, Rachel looked from him to all points of exit on the jet. Adriane watched her under his eyelids just in case she tried to do something foolish, but he tried to portray a man at ease. He felt relief enough that she wasn’t screaming, that she didn’t seem to be getting overly upset. Maybe she would compromise with him. As well she might; he was doing her an amazing favor by bending at all. He’d prefer to march her straight to the altar, but she certainly wasn’t making things easy for him even just to talk to her. He was already working on a new strategy.