Silk and Secrets(107)

Later there would be time to be grateful that he had not guessed the deeper secret of her identity; at the moment, Juliet was more concerned with escaping unravished. Rather than strike out immediately, she forced herself to hold still while Shahid fondled her, his hot breath quickening.

"You like that, don't you, boy?" He gave a coarse chuckle. "Now I'll show you what a real man is like. You'll never let that whey-faced ferengi touch you again." For a moment he pinned her against the wall with his massive body, his pelvis grinding her into the plaster. Grimly Juliet endured it, knowing that she would have only one chance to overcome his advantage of weight and position, so she must choose her time well.

Her moment came when he reached down for the hem of her robe, his growing excitement and her lack of resistance making him incautious. As soon as his hold slackened, Juliet raised her leg and smashed the heel of her boot back into his kneecap with the force of a kicking mule.

Shahid shrieked in pained surprise and lurched sideways as his knee gave way. His grasp on her arm tightened as he fell, but Juliet was prepared. She wrenched away at an angle that would have broken his elbow joint if he had tried to maintain his grip. At the same time she yanked her dagger from its sheath.

By the time the yawer realized that this would be no easy conquest, she was behind him and her knife was at his throat. Using her most guttural tone and the ugliest Persian obscenities she knew, she snarled, "Filthy swine! If you wish to fornicate, find a sow like the mother who bore you."

When he began struggling to break away, she pressed her razor-edged blade into his windpipe with enough pressure to draw blood. "If you raise your puny rod near me again, I will cut it off and shove it down your throat." She stepped back and gave him a kick in the kidneys to ensure that he would not be able to pursue her any time soon.

As he collapsed, groaning, she turned and resumed walking down the hall, forcing herself to maintain a normal pace, as if she was totally unafraid of what he might do to retaliate. But she kept the dagger ready in her hand and listened hard for the sound of footfalls in case he should recover more quickly than she expected. The force of his furious gaze burned between her shoulder blades until she turned the corner.

When Juliet was out of his sight, she drew a trembling wrist across her forehead before she cleaned and sheathed her dagger. She had been lucky; if Shahid had not underestimated her, she would have been in serious trouble. As long as she was in this house, she would have to be careful, for he was the sort who would take being bested as a mortal challenge.

A pity that killing the head of the household guard would not go unremarked. She smiled shakily and continued on her way. She was not so cold-blooded that she could slit a man's throat in anything short of a life-or-death situation, and this had not been that. Not quite.

But she did not like to think of what would have happened if Shahid had discovered she was a woman. After raping her, he would have claimed her disguise was prima facie evidence that she and Ross were both spies, and then nothing could have saved them.

When Juliet reached their rooms, she found a servant just leaving, so she brushed silently past and closed the door behind her. After dropping the bar in place, she pulled off her tagelmoust and buried her sweaty face in the fabric.

Ross was sitting on the divan with a notebook, but he looked up with quick concern. "Is something wrong?"

"Not really." She managed an uneven smile as she emerged from the folds of her veil. "Shahid Mahmud made an improper advance but misjudged my ability and willingness to defend myself. Fortunately I was wearing boots rather than sandals."

"Damnation!" Ross swore furiously as he swung to his feet and pulled her into a protective embrace. "How did the bastard discover that you're a woman?"

"He didn't." In spite of the late-afternoon warmth, Juliet found herself shaking with relief as Ross's arms went around her. There was nothing like a bit of crisis to reduce a relationship to the essentials of mutual comfort and protection. "He heard enough last night to guess that our relationship is not strictly master and servant, but it didn't occur to him that I could be female."

Ross's embrace tightened. "I see. A pity we can't kill him. At least he can hardly complain to the nayeb that my servant would not allow himself to be raped. I suppose that all you can do is exercise caution and not let him find you alone again, but it might be wise to carry your pistol."

"Avoidance is better. Killing or wounding Shahid would bring about an investigation that we can't afford." Wearily Juliet stepped away from Ross and sank onto the divan.

On the low table was a dew-covered pitcher of the ice and grape-syrup mixture that had just been delivered by the servant. She poured goblets for both of them. "It's time to discuss how we are going to leave Bokhara."