Seducing Ethan (Knight Security 6) Read online

  Talia waited only long enough for the other woman to leave the bedroom before sinking down onto the side of the four-poster bed.

  Her life had been pretty strange since she and her father had been forced to flee America over three years ago, but this, being a guest in the palace of a European prince and princess and their young family, was positively surreal.

  “What happened?”

  “Natalya Krechenko.” Ethan didn’t even pretend not to understand Alexandre’s question. The two men were sitting outside on the terrace of the palace watching the sunrise and drinking the strong coffee that was all Ethan could stomach right now.

  Alexandre’s eyes widened. “Talia Morris is Natalyia Krechenko?”

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about her?”

  The other man shrugged. “I remember Asher talking about her father, Ivan Krechenko, when his identity was revealed to you all some years ago now.”

  “He’s gone missing.”

  “I thought he did that three years ago?”

  “But at least Talia was with him at the time and consequently knew where he was.”

  “And now she doesn’t?”

  “No.”

  “The Russians?”

  “Maybe.”

  “You’re going to help her find him?”

  “I’m going to try,” he heard himself answer.

  Because he had decided he was going to help Talia. He was now convinced those men last night had to have been looking for her, and there could be only one reason for that. Whoever had kidnapped Krechenko wanted the billions he had stolen. The kidnappers intended to use Talia as leverage. Ethan had no choice but to help her unless he wanted another dead woman on his conscience. Wanted a dead Talia on his conscience. The woman he had been trying to protect for the past six months.

  “What of Alizoti?”

  Ethan wasn’t surprised Alexandre knew about that situation too. The prince and Asher had been friends for almost twenty years, and there wasn’t much Asher didn’t confide in the other man. “I’ll have to take that risk. But if the two of us being here is going to be a problem—”

  “It isn’t,” the other man assured calmly, green gaze reproving.

  “Sorry.” Ethan winced, realizing he was behaving like an ass. Alexandre wasn’t his enemy. The two of them had known each other for years, and the other man had been a key player in rescuing Ethan’s twin, Caleb, a couple of years ago, and, more recently, the now wife of Ethan’s cousin Ian. “I guess I’m not used to company.”

  The older man’s brows rose. “Your family have all been worried about you.”

  He scowled darkly. “Not knowing where I am has been for their own good.”

  “I don’t believe they see it that way.”

  “No.” Ethan knew exactly how his brothers felt about the way he had virtually disappeared from their lives six months ago.

  They all had wives and children, damn it, and Ethan would not, could not, put any of them at risk.

  Nevertheless, he knew it was only his threat none of them would ever see him again if they tried to interfere in the Alizoti situation that had held his family and friends back from taking action long ago. Ethan had a feeling his brothers’ patience wouldn’t last for too much longer.

  Oh, he phoned them all from time to time, with a burn phone he could dispose of immediately after making the call. He needed to know how they all were as much as they wanted to know he was still alive.

  It had been a close call last night. “I am going to need to speak with Gabriel later today on a secure phone, if that’s possible?” Alexandre’s security was second to none. It should be; it had been installed by Knight Security.

  Alexandre nodded. “Of course.”

  “We won’t stay long, just until I can find a point to start looking for Talia’s father.” That was a conversation he and Talia still needed to have.

  “Stay as long as you wish. You will come to no harm here. No one steps foot on Androcco without my permission,” Alexandre added with the princely arrogance that was an inborn part of his nature. “You may leave Talia here with us, if that would suit your plans better?”

  Ethan had already considered that idea. Getting Talia to agree to it was going to be the problem.

  For one thing, this Talia was more tenacious and resourceful than she had been three years ago, and if he left her here, she was as likely to leave Androcco on her own and continue looking for her father without him.

  Ethan also admitted, at least inwardly, that he would find it hard to leave her behind.

  Talia had been so responsive to his lovemaking last night, no matter what he had demanded of her. And he had demanded a lot. Admittedly, it had started out as punishment for her having dared to seek him out in that way, but it had ended with him almost coming in his jeans merely from the taste and feel of her.

  Some of his own response might be due to the fact he hadn’t been with a woman in over a year, but he had a feeling most of it was simply Talia. She was so damned beautiful, and it was a beauty he no longer had to resist because she was too young. Talia was a big girl now and could make whatever decisions she wanted about who she went to bed with. Once this was over, Ethan wanted that choice to be him.

  “Ethan?”

  He blinked, giving a self-conscious shake of his head as he realized Alexandre was still speaking to him. “Sorry?”

  “We were discussing how it might be for the best if Talia were to remain here,” the other man reminded him.

  “I agree.”

  “But?”

  “But persuading her into doing that and not following after me once my back is turned is going to be the problem.”

  “I think you may safely leave the following after you part to me,” Alexandre drawled. “No one leaves Androcco without my permission either,” he added at Ethan’s questioning glance.

  “I’ll try talking to her,” he answered after trying to suppress a yawn and failing.

  “You are tired too,” the other man sympathized. “We can continue this conversation once you’re rested. Perhaps it might be a good idea to delay talking to Gabriel until later too?”

  “Yeah,” Ethan drawled, already knowing that conversation wasn’t going to be any fun. He was certainly going to need his full wits about him when he spoke to his eldest brother; otherwise, Gabriel would tie him up in knots and Ethan would end up saying things he hadn’t meant to.

  Gabriel took his role as head of the Knight family very seriously, and he was already pissed at Ethan because of the threat he’d made regarding any of the family becoming involved in the Alizoti situation. Add into the mix Ethan having decided to help Ivan Krechenko’s daughter, and it promised to be a far from pleasant telephone conversation.

  “Will you and Talia be sharing a bedroom, or shall I have a second bedroom prepared for you?” Stazzi enquired as she stepped out onto the balcony.

  There was a couple of heartbeats of silence, and then Ethan burst out laughing. Only to frown as he realized it was a long time since he’d had anything to laugh about. Trust Stazzi. For all she was now a princess, she could be equally as outrageous as her best friend, Ethan’s sister-in-law, Lissa.

  She gazed at him with innocently wide eyes. “Did I say something amusing?”

  “Darling—”

  “It’s okay, Alexandre,” he assured with a grin. “I’m well acquainted with your wife’s sense of humor by now. And the answer is no, Stazzi, Talia and I won’t be sharing a bedroom.” More’s the pity. Talia was probably regretting ever coming to look for him. He hadn’t exactly been gentle with her last night. Caveman would probably better describe his demanding behavior.

  “If you change your mind…” Stazzi drawled.

  “I’ll be sure not to let you know,” he mocked.

  Stazzi frowned. “So what’s Talia’s story?”

  Ethan stood up. “I’ll leave your husband to tell you about it. I need to get some sleep before talking to Gabriel later.”
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  “When you feel the time is right to leave, my private jet will be available to take you wherever you want to go,” Alexandre offered.

  “I’m probably going to need to take you up on that, so thank you.” He gave the other man’s shoulder a grateful squeeze. “I’m afraid I’m also going to need to arrange for some more clothes, underwear, and sleeping gear as well as everyday clothes, for both Talia and myself.” He looked at Stazzi in appeal. “We left our last place in too much of a hurry to pack.” He seriously doubted Talia did have a spare thong in that backpack, and he had pretty well destroyed her bra when he ripped the front of it so he had easy access to her breasts.

  No point in going into too much detail regarding the fact he and Talia had only met up again last night, or the reason they’d had to leave Majorca so quickly. The less information Alexandre and Stazzi had, the better it would be for them if any of his brothers started asking questions.

  “I’ll make sure some things are delivered here for both of you for when you wake up.” Stazzi stood and kissed her husband. “I won’t be long, darling.” She turned to Ethan. “And while I’m showing you up to your bedroom I think it’s only fair you tell me more about the lovely Talia.”

  “So that you can pass the information on to Lissa?” Ethan strolled along at her side as they made their way across the ornate hallway and up the wide staircase. “I don’t think so. I’d never hear the end of it.”

  “Spoilsport.”

  “Does Alexandre fall for that little-girl pout much?”

  “Not at all.” Stazzi dropped the pout and laughed at herself as she linked her arm with Ethan’s. “It really is good to see you,” she added warmly.

  Ethan hadn’t realized until now how much he’d missed this casual human contact and the teasing. Talia was right, he was a different man than he had been three years ago. Then, he had always been up for anything, always doing something—or someone. These past six months of enjoying none of those things, of evading detection by Alizoti, had been more of a strain than he realized.

  To the point it was time he settled this thing with Alizoti once and for all?

  Definitely.

  But first, Ethan needed to help Talia discover who had taken her father and why. The people who wanted to get their hands on Ivan Krechenko and the money he had stolen were too numerous for this to be an easy fix.

  Even if he managed to get Ivan back, it wouldn’t solve the problem of what Talia was going to do with the rest of her life. But she had to be tired of running by now.

  It was probably too much to hope after his most recent fuckup of accusing her of something she obviously hadn’t done that he might feature in her future.

  It was time for her to stop running, Talia acknowledged as she lay naked beneath the bedclothes in the comfortable four-poster bed. She was absolutely exhausted after the adrenaline rush and then those hours of traveling in the helicopter, but she was also wide-eyed and unable to sleep. And not just because the sun was now shining brightly into the bedroom.

  This palace was something else. Palatial didn’t even begin to describe it. The first thing Talia did was take a shower in the biggest bathroom she had ever seen in her life—and she had lived in some luxurious homes herself over the years. The bathroom adjoining this bedroom was beautiful; the walls and floor were marble tiles of terra cotta color, with a huge glass unit for the shower and a sunken bath that could have accommodated half a dozen people. There was also a cabinet under the double sink with all the toiletries she could possibly need.

  Once showered, Talia had wrapped herself in one of the half a dozen cream bath towels from off the warming rail before walking back to the bedroom and booting up her laptop.

  Agon Alizoti wasn’t even trying to hide who or what he was: the head of the Albanian mafia in Georgia. Obviously, Ethan had done something to piss the other man off if he was hunting Ethan. The only thing that looked even remotely connected was the fact Alizoti’s son, Vaso, had died in a car accident six months ago. The same amount of time Ethan had been on leave from Knight Security and living mostly on Majorca.

  Although how Ethan could have been involved in Vaso Alizoti dying in a car crash, she had no idea.

  Frustrated and more than a little annoyed with Ethan for being so secretive, she had thrown open the French doors and stepped out onto the balcony. A glance along the front of the palace showed her that all the bedrooms had similar balconies looking out over the beautiful landscaped gardens. The smell of the abundance of flowers growing outside was intoxicating.

  No doubt there were half a dozen of the prince’s bodyguards out there in the gardens somewhere, but they weren’t visible from the balcony.

  She left the doors open when she came back inside, folding and placing the towel back in the bathroom before snuggling beneath the fluffy duvet. A warm breeze now wafted into the bedroom through those open doors and the softly billowing sheer curtains, bringing with it the heady perfume of the flowers outside. Which should have but wasn’t helping her to relax and fall asleep.

  And there was a good reason for that.

  She had put off thinking too deeply about the lovemaking between her and Ethan the previous night. Until now, alone here in bed, when she couldn’t seem to think of anything else.

  Making love with Ethan had been more wickedly delicious than she had ever imagined in any of the fantasies she’d had about him over the years. He was more wicked than she could ever have fantasized, his lovemaking as raw and intense as he now was.

  If Talia closed her eyes she could once again feel his lips and hands touching her, caressing her, inside her. Her breasts ached at the memory, her nipples becoming engorged, and she could feel a slickness between her thighs merely from thinking of having Ethan’s mouth on her there.

  He had been so angry with her for invading his solitude, his suspicion adding to that anger, and that emotion had bled into the fierceness of his lovemaking.

  A shiver of pleasure now ran down the length of her spine as she recalled the intensity of feeling when she climaxed, not once but twice. She could feel that excitement again as she stroked the tips of her naked breasts before one of her hands moved lower to stroke through her curls and over her throbbing clit, and then down to her moist nether lips.

  How many times had she pleasured herself over the years while thinking about Ethan? Too many. But now she had some reality to add to those fantasies. She now knew exactly what Ethan’s hands felt like brushing over her skin. How enjoyable it was to have him stroke and pull on her nipples. How the heat of his tongue felt as it rasped over her clit, with the stubble on his chin causing an extra friction against that sensitive flesh.

  She could now feel the pleasure building inside her again as she arched up into the caress of her own fingers—

  “I would really like to be the one doing that for you.”

  Talia froze, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, and hoping—praying—that when she opened them again and dared to turn and look toward the balcony of the bedroom, which was the direction from which the voice had come, that Ethan wouldn’t really be standing there.

  He was.

  It was obvious he had come in through the open doors, but how had he gotten onto her balcony in the first place? More to the point, how long had he been standing there? Long enough, apparently, to have seen her pleasuring herself.

  How humiliating was that?

  “Talia?” he prompted softly at her silence.

  “I’m going to pretend you aren’t really standing there, and that when I wake up, this will all have been a dream.” More like a nightmare!

  He gave a soft chuckle. “If I join you in bed, I’ll make sure you know it’s very real. I’ve taken a shower, even if I’ve had to put the same clothes back on.”

  Talia held the duvet over her breasts as she sat up against the pillows. “How did you get onto my balcony?”

  He shrugged. “Stazzi put me in the bedroom next door, so I climbed over.”

  “I
see— You climbed over?” She frowned as she realized what he’d said. There had to be at least six feet between her balcony and the ones either side.

  “There were plenty of finger and toe holds.” He stepped farther into the bedroom.

  “Why didn’t you just knock on the door?” Like a normal person would have, she wanted to add, but didn’t.

  “Because, knowing Stazzi, she has enough eyes and ears in the palace to know within minutes if I did that,” he answered dryly. “She would share the information with Lissa, and they would both share it with my sister, Lily, and then there would be no end to them all teasing me about it.”

  “Do grown women actually do that?”

  He gave a snort. “It’s obvious you’ve never had a sister or sister-in-law.”

  She’d never really had any close female friends either. Even before she and her father had needed to disappear, friends were not something her father encouraged her to invite into their home. She hadn’t realized why that was at the time. That knowledge had come much later. As a consequence, Talia had friends she saw at school, but not outside of that time. She’d had slightly more freedom when she went to university in London, but the other students were reluctant to invite her to join them when they went out in the evening, loath to have Talia’s two bodyguards trailing along behind them.

  She frowned. “It’s broad daylight outside. You could have been seen climbing onto my balcony.”

  “I was willing to take that risk.”

  “Why?”

  “I thought we needed to talk.”

  “And it couldn’t wait?”

  “No.”

  Talia gave an incredulous shake of her head. “These bedrooms are on the third floor of the palace. You could have been seriously hurt if you’d fallen.”

  “Worried about me, Talia?” he taunted.

  “More for the flower beds you would have crushed when you landed!”