Page 35 of Claimed
Within minutes they were walking down the paved sidewalk to the waterside, Stefan with his jacket slung over his shoulder, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows. They looked like what they supposedly were—two visitors to the resort city with nothing on their mind but surf and sun and whatever the next day’s adventure would bring.
Except the next day’s adventure would probably bring challenges that would, at a minimum, darken the mood between them. The prince could be behind those walls at the asylum. He could be dead, injured, or damaged beyond recognition. It was unlikely that even if he was alive, he would be the same man who had taken off in that plane nearly a year ago. He might have survived the accident, but he would be irrevocably changed.
“So Omir is warming to the idea of a tour, aided in no small part by Josef’s glowing accounts of his student’s recon trip up there, despite the fact the kid was peeking over the walls.” Nicki said the words casually, gently easing Stefan out of his dark thoughts, as she always did. “He’s thinking about ten a.m. That to me is interesting. If the workers up there are truly scrubs from the asylum next door, I’d think that would be high work time for them.”
Stefan considered that. “It’s possible he doesn’t know the details of the work camp, not intimately,” he said. “He may know that work is getting completed, but not how, specifically.”
She blew out a breath. “Yeah, agreed. The more I think about it, the less realistic I think it would be that he’d be talking about the site at all if there was something hinky going on. Speed is fine. But using prisoners and drunks to build walls and pathways for a tourist destination seems like something thatsomeonewould oppose, no matter what country you’re in.”
Without thinking, Stefan reached for her hand, smoothing over the action by helping her up onto a flight of stairs that led to their hotel. But he didn’t let go when he could have—when he should have, for anyone watching. He didn’t want to let go.
Nicki, being Nicki, rolled with it. “Josef has wrangled me into the expo tomorrow, you should know,” she said, keeping her words light. “It won’t be a big deal, a few runs demonstrating more advanced moves. The wind is always perfect here, and the water shallow, so if I wipe out, I won’t ding myself up too much.”
Her phrasing struck him as odd, and then he remembered—she didn’t want to be a liability. He smiled, shaking his head.
“That’s no problem. If it strengthens your cover—and our purpose here—for you to show off your windsurfing skills, then that’s only to the good. You can’t derail the mission.”
Her hand stiffened a little in his grasp, and she pulled herself free, moving ahead to the railing of the hotel’s wide landing. She rapped on the sturdy wooden crossbar. “Don’t jinx us, not when this is all going so well,” she said, offering him a lopsided grin.
He stared down at her for a moment, half-caught between light and shadows. He didn’t plan to kiss her, not in the open. It wasn’t part of his cover, or hers. It didn’t move the mission forward.
And, strangely, he didn’t give a damn about any of that.
She seemed to know it too, opening her mouth to warn him away and then her face was transfixed, her eyes blinking rapidly as he leaned down. He slid one arm around her, his hand finding her warm skin beneath the silky folds of her dress, and his body responded immediately to the intimate touch. When his lips met hers, the kiss galvanized him, sending all his nerves alight with need—the need to draw her closer, the need to touch every inch of her body, the need to make her his.
Something else overtook him as well. A sudden knowing, a searing awareness that went far deeper than any ordinary connection between a man and a woman. In his arms, Nicki suddenly felt like a spark lit too brightly, flaring bold and fierce in the darkness—and then winking out.
He gasped in real pain, but the devastating vision was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. Nicki swayed in his grasp and pressed closer, her back arching so she could deepen the kiss, her arms up and around his shoulders cradling his head. He bent toward her hungrily and she gave as good as she got, straining toward him on her toes as if she could add another few inches to her already ridiculous shoes.
Stefan’s hands dropped, skimming her waist before curving to her backside. Without thinking, he dragged her against his groin until he could feel his shaft stiffen unbearably. Nicki gave a small, feminine moan and wriggled closer still.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to have sex on a public staircase in Turkey?” she whispered.
Stefan barked a laugh, the sudden impossibility of her words combined with her teasing tone striking him exactly the right way. He pulled away quickly, smoothing Nicki’s hair, shaking his head in surprise at his own actions.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I…I shouldn’t.”
“It’s okay,” she grinned, giving him a broad wink. “I have demigods falling all over me all the time. It happens.”
Their laughter threaded around them, a comforting balm, all the way to the doors of their hotel.
Twenty-Five
They parted at their rooms to complete their separate work, and Nicki fell asleep at her table instead of in Stefan’s bed. This was less than ideal, but when she’d woken she’d at least gotten through the rest of the blogs and videos she wanted to post for the next twenty-four hours. She’d be in the clear to do whatever Stefan needed. And Stefan hadn’t come for her either, which had kind of surprised her. Then again, she supposed he was busy too.
And of course, there was the guard stationed in her sitting room. That sort of put a damper on things as well.
The next morning she learned that Stefan received notice during the night that the tour wouldn’t be possible due to a work conflict—construction involving heavy equipment would be all over the site. Visitors would be strictly forbidden to ensure the high safety standards of the construction company.
Nicki frowned as Stefan relayed the news to her over breakfast. “You think he’s clearing out evidence of undocumented workers?”
“He’s clearing out evidence of something, without question,” Stefan said. “He believes the tour is possible, but only if we go tomorrow, not today. Clearly, he doesn’t think anything isseriously amiss, or he wouldn’t be letting us get anywhere near the site.”
“Fair enough,” Nicki said. “Is it private property though, around it? Josef’s student was able to get pretty close without issue.”
“I suspect there’s probably some security within the site. As to around it, I’d doubt it.” Stefan eyed her over the table. “Why?”
“Well, I have this windsurfing thing later in the day, but I haven’t worked out in an age. Might be nice to, I don’t know, hike around the city?”