Page 58 of Silver Angel

“Now, my lord?” Haji questioned, afraid his slave would receive the brunt of Jamil’s displeasure tonight, since he was obviously determined to direct it away from the girl.

“Yes, now.”

“As you wish.”

Derek had finished yet another glass of the brandy-wine combination before the younger eunuch knocked for admittance. The door opened hesitantly to his growled command to enter, but the giant black man who stepped inside displayed no fear, though his eyes refused to focus on Derek. He bowed with a measure of dignity, rather than prostrating himself. Derek couldn’t have cared less, for he was too fascinated with Kadar’s battered face.

“By Allah, she’s a regular little wildcat, isn’t she?” And he burst out laughing, surprising Kadar enough that their eyes met now.

“The little English, my lord?”

“Yes, the little English,” Derek replied, a smile settling on his lips even as he shook his head incredulously. “Did she really give you that black eye?”

“She did not mean to,” Kadar protested quickly.

“Oh, I’m sure, just as she didn’t mean to leave those gouges on your cheek.”

“Truly—”

Derek stopped him immediately. “You don’t have to protect her with excuses, Kadar, not to me, but I’m glad to see you try. In fact, I’m going to make it your sole responsibility, protecting her.”

“I don’t understand, my lord.”

“I believe I can persuade Haji Agha to give you to Shahar. Would you like that?”

“To serve the little English?” Kadar beamed. “It will be my greatest pleasure, lord. Thank you!”

“I wouldn’t thank me. I doubt it will be an easy job, serving such a contrary female, but that wasn’t what I had in mind. She’ll have others to serve her. Your job will be to see that she comes to no harm when she’s not with me.”

And when she is with you?Kadar wanted to ask but didn’t dare. “I will protect her with my life,” he said instead.

“That’s all I can ask. But see that you protect her from herself as well.”

“My lord?”

“She panicked tonight. I don’t want that to happen again. The sooner she accepts me, the sooner she will accept life here and find a degree of happiness. Do we understand each other?”

Kadar was afraid they did, though he didn’t know howhecould persuade the little English to accept her lord when no one else had been able to, including Jamil Reshid.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Derek came awake slowly to a tickling on his chest and an unfamiliar weight resting against him. He reacted badly for a moment, with no memory coming forth for an explanation until he raised his head and saw the platinum locks spilling across his chest. He relaxed back into his pillow, a strange contentment settling over him.

At least in sleep Shahar didn’t hate him. She wasn’t exactly curled up next to him, but she was using his chest as a pillow, her knees bent and braced against his hips, one hand pressed flat against his side, the other somehow tucked under his back. His hand had been resting on her side, too, just beneath her breast. He didn’t move it, didn’t move at all, afraid she would wake up and pull away.

He hadn’t meant to sleep with her. At some time during the evening he had placed her under the covers, removing only the jewels she wore. Removing anything else had been out of the question with how he had been feeling. She hadn’t wakened then, and he had sat on the bed a long time just gazing at her, until he’d remembered that he wasn’t alone with her.

The ever-present Nubians had been in their customary positions on each side of the bed, so silent it was no wonder he had forgotten their presence in the room. They might not hear his conversations with Shahar, but they had eyes, and they were able to communicate with anyone who knew their silent language of hand signals and body movements, which meant just about anyone raised in the palace. Which was also why he had concluded he would sleep with Shahar. It was either that or send her back to the harem, for Jamil would never give up his bed, even if it was occupied with a passed-out concubine. And Derek had been loath to have her carried away, regardless of how disturbing her presence was to him.

But it had been a long time before he’d been able to bring his body sufficiently under control, enough to trust himself to lie next to her. Thekanyakcertainly hadn’t helped, and he had given up on it when he was still cold sober, after the first bottle had been emptied. Which was fortunate now, for he felt no aftereffects, but hadn’t been fortunate last night, for it had taken a hell of a long time for him to finally fall asleep, as well as to will away the tumescence that had sprung to life again with his proximity to the sleeping beauty.

He could feel it happening again, more strongly than ever. Derek groaned, unaware that he squeezed Chantelle’s side, enough to waken her.

Her reaction was much worse than his had been upon waking. She was frankly horrified at the sight of bare skin beneath her cheek, and she didn’t have to wonder whose it was. She knew instantly. She just couldn’t account for how it had gotten there.

“So you are awake?”

Had she moved? She thought she was too paralyzed to move a muscle. Or had the fact that she had stopped breathing given her away?