Tempted (erotic) (#4, 101 Nights)

Chapter Seven: George

 Alisha falls asleep in my arms, and I let her sleep for the rest of the afternoon. Exhaustion and emotion both caused the second meltdown since I’ve been around her. While I like how we defused it, I’m also feeling the need to put more distance between us.

This is getting too comfortable, too fast. We haven’t even had sex, and I’m already more interested in her than is natural.

You hurt anyone who gets near you. Her words shouldn’t be playing over and over in my head. I know what I am, and she’s starting to understand that. It should be a relief.

It’s not. If anything, it seems to make this harder.

I dress, eat and pace around the penthouse for an hour before I return to the office and sit in front of the monitors. She’s right about Maya’s phone; it takes me all of sixty seconds to confirm what she’s said. The phone is new, which means we can’t get anything off of it. Maya was smart enough to know to get a new one rather than try to wipe an old one.

Because she knew I’d be looking. Leaning forward, I wipe both hands down my face and pause, the scent of Alisha’s sweet cunt on my fingers. It makes my body warm from the inside, like the memory of drinking from her pussy earlier. It’s even better, sweeter, after a woman comes.

I lower my hands and refocus on the cell, aware we’re running out of time.

It’s one thing to know Maya gave us a bogus phone. It’s another thing entirely to realize that she’s out of the picture for good. There’s no way she’ll resurface, now that we’re onto her. I need to find a new lead.

Closing my eyes, I mentally review everything I learned from her during the short interrogation. When I left, she was in tears, because I reminded her that her old boss is likely going to be gone when this is over, and Elijah will certainly see her banished from the kingdom. He doesn’t have the capacity to forgive those who hurt him and those he loves.

Studious and quiet, Maya isn’t the kind to melt down like Alisha. She’ll likely go to Nijala, where she feels safe, and await Hassan to arrive. Not that her returning to Nijala will necessarily help me. I’ll have to be in Nijala in order to bug her home, but I have friends who can tip me off if she uses her passport to leave the States.

I don’t know Hassan well enough to know his plan. Elijah’s father is erratic at best, which makes him almost completely unpredictable except in one way: he loves to hurt Elijah. The minute Hassan gets to Nijala, his captives are in serious trouble. Layla will be safe, but Natalie …

She’s expendable, more so if Elijah’s father learns of her baby. A second heir to the throne, this one from the son he wants dead? Even if she wasn’t pregnant, Natalie is a threat to a monarchy staunchly opposing moving into the twenty first century. No Nijalan ruler or his consort has been of non-royal blood, and an American queen threatens to galvanize the discontentment of the lower class of Nijala, which suffers the highest level of poverty in the civilized world.

“Whatever route Hassan takes, he’ll end up in Nijala to hand deliver Natalie to EJ’s father.” From there, I can’t begin to imagine what’ll happen and what Elijah will do in response. Father and son couldn’t be more different, except for one trait: neither has any sense of restraint. The two of them in a confrontation could destroy their country and everyone in it.

Restless, I push back from the desk and debate what my next move will be. Thus far, none of the intelligence network I’ve built up over the years has provided any information. Granted, it’s still early, and good leads are likely to pop up soon. Waiting for them, however, is not an option, not with three lives in the balance.