He’d waited for the woman for four months, sixteen days and a handful of hours. Keane was fucking done waiting. Patience, his boss and friend, Ivan, had told him. Play the long game. Ivan wanted to make sure his second-in-command could extract the Princess without getting killed. What a joke. Keane had the luck of the Irish. He could hit a palace in some obscure country and be out in a matter of minutes. He had full confidence.
Still, he’d waited. And he’d burned for her. He’d known at their first meeting that she was the one, yet he’d still been forced to let her go. Now, he pined after her like some love-struck pussy. He wanted her in a way he’d never wanted another woman. Sure, he liked to fuck around, had his share of women to keep him occupied. None of them were the Princess. She was a class unto herself and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her for real. No more teasing, as she’d done to him while acting as a companion to Jaya. Ndari was about to become his for real.
Sure enough, minutes after he’d hidden himself in the palace, he heard the whisper of feet against the stone tiles, heading his way. He knew his woman, knew exactly where she would go if she thought the palace was under attack. Shouts halted the progression of the woman coming toward him and then he heard her voice filter through the door as she shouted back.
“Carry on, gentlemen. It’s just a little power outage, I’ll be fine.”
Keane melted into the shadows as she pushed open the heavy door to the jewel room and slipped inside. Her dark head was turned as though she was concentrating on something on the other side of the door. Then she closed and locked it, turning to face the room. A slow grin spread across her face as she surveyed her surroundings. She was visible in the dim lighting of the various display cases.
She was fucking gorgeous, even more beautiful than he remembered. Her dark hair was loose and flowing down her back. Black with streaks of honey and brown. Her big eyes were a stunning, deep velvet brown. Her body was a mouth-watering picture of curves packed into a floor length blue dress with a slit right up to her thigh and running shoes on her feet. Loosely clasped around her shoulders was some kind of strange cloak with feathers. Trust the Princess to wear something completely inappropriate to a kidnapping. Of course, she didn’t know there was about to be a kidnapping.
She approached the first display case, stepping right up to it and pressing her hands against the glass. “Greetings, my children,” she murmured, tilting her head to get a better look. Keane smothered a chuckle at the way her eyes lit up. Woman sure did love her jewels. He would have to make sure she stayed showered in them. The way to his Princess’s heart was through the shiny stuff.
She left the first display case and prowled around the room checking on all the others. She paused here and there but only for a few seconds at a time before stopping in front of a glass case off to the left, the one closest to Keane’s position. She moved around the case until her back was to him, her hands on the glass.
“Here we are little darlings, did you miss your mama?” she asked, her voice bouncy with anticipation. She tapped one long lacquered fingernail against the glass.
“Don’t know if those bits of coloured glass missed you, but I sure as fuck did.” Keane stepped out of the shadows and into the light so she could see him. His heart pounded in happiness and anticipation as she whirled around, her hand clutching her throat.
