Chapter 5

Unable to think of a response to Kalpar's provocative comment, Constance fled towards the bedroom. He didn't try to stop her this time, following her there with his shirt and knives in his hands.

"Well?" he asked, raising an eyebrow when she hesitated in front of her wardrobe. "Do you want me to watch?"

For a moment she was actually tempted. The thought of his silver eyes turning white as he watched her remove her nightgown was unexpectedly appealing, but common sense took over.

"Turn around, please."

His lips quirked as he obeyed, moving in front of the bedroom door as he pulled on his shirt at last. Even though his back was turned, her skin still prickled with awareness as she slipped her nightgown over her head. Keeping a wary eye on his back, she picked a pair of panties from a drawer overflowing with lace and color. They were the one indulgence her father permitted when it came to clothing.

She had first arranged to purchase several pairs not long after her eighteenth birthday, hoping to keep it a secret from him. Instead she'd been summoned to his office the next day.

"Who are these for?" he demanded, holding up a scrap of pink lace.

"No one!" When he only gave her an icy glare, she hurried on. "I know you prefer that I dress modestly but I wanted something pretty. No one will ever see them," she added hopefully.

To her surprise, he'd agreed to let her keep them. He'd adamantly refused to consider any other changes to her wardrobe since then, but she'd taken some solace in her pretty underthings.

As she pulled them on a pair of blue silk panties with a tiny bow at the back, she couldn't help wondering what Kalpar would think of them.

Nothing, she told herself firmly. He's never going to see them.

Next she selected another of her long-sleeved, high-neck gowns. This one had a slightly wider neck than most of them, enough to reveal a hint of collarbone, and his eyes immediately went to the tiny patch of exposed skin when she told him he could turn around again.

She did her best to ignore him as she moved over to the dressing table and released her hair from the tangled bun. Usually she brushed it before she went to bed and then braided it, but she'd been too disconcerted last night to worry about it. I'm paying for that now, she thought, wincing as she started trying to brush out the tangles.

"Do you normally confine your hair?" he asked, startling her.

He had moved silently to her side, staring at the tangled blonde curls cascading down her back.

"Yes. Why?"

"It is quite lovely."

His fingers lightly stroked through her hair until they snagged on a tangle and she winced.

"That's why. I should have braided it last night." She sighed as she checked her wrist com. "It's going to take me forever to get it untangled."

"Allow me."

Before she could stop him, he took the brush out of her hand.

"What are you doing? Give that back!"

"Behave yourself," he said calmly as he set to work.

Almost every nurse she'd ever had had brought her to the brink of tears when brushing her hair. She expected Kalpar would be even more ruthless. Instead he worked patiently but rapidly, starting at the ends of the long strands and working his way higher with no more than an occasional slight, almost pleasant tug. The process was remarkably soothing and by the time he was able to run the brush the full length of her curls, she was floating in a pleasurable daze.

"Your hair is quite remarkable."

He put down the brush and repeated the movement with his fingers before wrapping her hair around his hand and giving it another gentle tug, a little harder this time. Her nipples suddenly peaked beneath her gown, responding to the gesture, and she found herself leaning into his hand, instinctively asking for more.

He inhaled sharply, his eyes briefly flashing white, and she froze. What was she thinking?

"I'd better put it up," she said breathlessly.

He gave an abrupt nod and released her. He watched as she pinned it up with the speed of long experience, his face unreadable. When she stood up, he gestured for her to lead the way and then followed her to the sitting room. The table in the small dining alcove to one side of the room had already been set for breakfast - for one person.

She looked at the single place setting, then sighed.

"Why don't you join me for breakfast?"

"You need food more than I do."

"I'm not going to go hungry if that's what you're worried about." She began pulling the lids off the row of dishes waiting on the buffet. "They always send up far too much food but I stopped fighting it years ago. One of my maids told me they put the extra food to good use."

As he inspected the contents of the dishes, she dug through the cabinet until she found another place setting and added it to the table. She was staring down at it when he came to join her.

"What is it?"

"T-this…" Her voice threatened to break. "This is the first time anyone has ever joined me here."

She'd shared meals with her caregivers while she was in the nursery, but they had been dismissed and she'd been installed in this suite on her twelfth birthday. Since then she'd occasionally entertained a carefully selected female over tea in her sitting room but that had been the limit of her social interactions.

She took a deep breath, willing back the tears that threatened. Kalpar seemed to recognize her struggle, waiting patiently as she wrested her emotions under control. Then to her surprise he pulled out her chair and seated her before taking the other seat, his manners as refined as any of her father's legitimate associates.

They spoke very little as they ate, but she still took pleasure in his companionship. Not a companion, she reminded herself. A paid bodyguard, even if he was the first one to be allowed into her suite rather than standing guard outside it. Even Algar had refused to enter.

After she had finished her breakfast Kalpar asked her about the upcoming hospital visit.

"I mainly go to visit the children. Some of them are so ill they can never leave the hospital and they're lonely. Even if they have parents, they can't always visit them every day and they don't have many playmates. So I spend time with them and read them stories."

"What kind of stories?"

"All kinds. They seem to be most fascinated by tales of adventure."

"Perhaps because they wish for adventures of their own." He glanced down at his wrist com. "We should be leaving if you are still insistent upon going."

"Of course I'm going," she snapped. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow and his doubts proved correct - it took her far more than ten minutes to gather her things. He watched patiently as she assembled her bag of books and the box of brightly decorated cookies the cook had prepared for her.

She would have preferred to make them herself, but although her father had insisted that she learned to cook, he had no intention of letting her mingle with the servants in the kitchens. When she'd asked why he'd bothered to have her taught, he'd coldly informed her that some males required such a skill from their mates.

Would Lord Vexian expect her to cook for him, she wondered bitterly.

Kalpar insisted on carrying both her bag and the cookies as he escorted her to the elevator, then down to the underground parking area. He frowned as he surveyed the area.

"How many people have access to this level?"

"Well, there's my father of course, along with Warshan and his most trusted team. My bodyguards and my father's bodyguards, plus our drivers. I think that's all." She pointed to the wide doors on the far wall. "My father's senior executives have access to that area, but they aren't allowed back here."

He shook his head.

"I don't like it. Too many unknowns."

His words sent a shiver down her back as they crossed the parking area, the large space suddenly seeming cold and threatening. In addition to her father's carefully displayed vehicles, the garage held various pieces of equipment used to service the vehicles, many of them large enough to conceal an intruder, and she found herself edging closer to him.

He looked down at her and a hint of a smile curved his mouth.

"Don't worry, little human. I won't allow anyone else to trouble you."

Anyone else?She was still wondering what he'd meant by that when her driver hurried over to meet them, but she let it drop, preferring to concentrate on the upcoming visit instead.