“Dry ice,” she gasped. “Billie, you didn’t?” She turned but the chair next to hers was empty. Then she caught the glint of sunlight on copper curls as Billie slipped out the door. Billie, very obviously, had. And as Kendra’s gaze went back to the disaster the imp had left in her wake, she suddenly broke into whoops of laughter.
She wasn’t alone. The entire cast and crew were convulsed with mirth and Danford’s expression of indignation only added fuel to the gales of laughter rocking the room. Brenna was lying back on the pillows, her body shaking helplessly, and Joel was grinning from ear to ear.
“Where is she?” Danford raved, his eyes searching wildly about the room. “Where’s Billie Callahan? I’m going to cut her heart out.”
Joel made a massive effort and managed to banish the grin from his face before he strode forward. He retrieved Danford’s robe and handed it to him. “I think the lady’s done a flit,” he said lightly. “And there’s no use going after her unless you want to take on her very lethal bodyguard. I think your best course of action is to go back to your dressing room and cool off.” Then as the room once more rocked with laughter, Joel’s lips twitched uncontrollably. “Sorry, that was purely unintentional, I assure you.”
“I bet,” Danford said sourly. He was muttering obscenities as he shrugged into his velvet robe and stomped off the set.
“That’s it,” Joel called, “we’re wrapping for today. There’s no way I could get a performance out of Danford until he has time to repair the damage done to his self-esteem. Everybody be back on the set at six A.M. tomorrow.” He turned to Brenna and helped her from the bed. “Sorry, Brenna, I know you wanted to fly out to London tomorrow.”
“It’s almost worth it,” Brenna said, smiling. “Lord, I wish the camera had been rolling. I’d give anything to have a black market tape of Dirk jumping out of that bed like a scalded cat.” She put on her negligee and patted Joel’s arm. “Don’t be too hard on Billie. It may mean an afternoon’s shooting lost, but I’d be willing to bet we’re going to see a very chastened Dirk Danford once he has time to think. Like I said, it may be worth it.” She made a face. “Now I think I’d better go make a call to Michael and break the news.”
She had no sooner turned away than Joel was striding toward Kendra, a slight smile lingering on his lips.
“Where on earth did Billie get that ice?” Kendra asked, still chuckling.
“Who knows?” Joel’s eyes were twinkling. “She probably charmed somebody in the commissary tent.” He pulled her to her feet. “But as Brenna said, it just might have been worth all the uproar. How fast can you change and be ready to go?” He propelled her toward the door.
“We’re going somewhere?”
He nodded. “I suddenly have no scenes to shoot and no rushes to view.” He glanced down at her and she inhaled sharply at the smoldering need she saw in his eyes. “That means I can do exactly what I want to do.” He touched the curve of her cheek with a gentle fingertip. “If the lady wants to do it, too. Does she, Kendra?”
Abruptly she found it hard to breathe. There was no doubt in her mind what he meant. The sexual tension between them had been too raw and intense in the past few days to mistake. She knew that she’d been as much in a fever as Joel to be in his arms again. “Oh yes, the lady definitely wants it, too,” she said softly.
“Thank heaven for that lovely clear honesty of yours! If you’d gone coy on me, I think I’d have been tempted to drag you to the nearest cave by your hair. And I want to do things right for you tonight, sweetheart. Dinner, conversation, romance, the works.” He swatted her lightly on the fanny. “I’ll tie up a few loose ends here and pick you up in an hour. Okay?”
“Okay.” She turned and walked into the sunlit street, her steps as buoyant as her suddenly soaring spirits.
Kendra gazed at her reflection in the mirror over the washstand. As much as she could tell from the slightly distorted image, the white cotton halter dress with its fitted waist and bodice and graceful full skirt was very flattering. Its pristine white was an attractive foil for the gold of her skin and the shiny chestnut of her hair. And most of all, the dress made her feel deliciously feminine after the jeans and slacks she’d worn ever since she had arrived in Sedikhan.
And she wanted to be very feminine tonight, she thought happily as she brushed her hair into a shining cloud around her shoulders and stepped into white sling-back high heels. She felt a little of the reckless exuberance she had known that night at Joel’s Rainbow Keep, but this time she knew for certain that it had nothing to do with drugs or alcohol. It was Joel Damon himself who was causing this breathless excitement. Strange that she felt no shyness or restraint about the idea of spending the night with Joel. After a lifetime of total disinterest in the physical act of lovemaking perhaps she was turning into a wanton. No, that couldn’t be, for it was only Joel who could provoke the heady desire and totally incomprehensible wealth of tenderness she was feeling now.
She sprayed her pulse points lightly with Joy, snatched up a lacy white shawl, and tripped through the amber-beaded curtains, where Yusef stood by the table.
“Will you tell Billie…” Her voice trailed off as the room seemed to shimmer and then narrow into a dark box. She gave a frightened cry and was scarcely aware of Yusef’s startled exclamation. Then his arms were around her and he was lifting and carrying her to the wooden chair by the table. He set her down with utmost gentleness and kneeled beside her, his hands holding her steady while the room whirled around her. She clutched desperately at his massive shoulders while she drew in great gasps of oxygen in an attempt to stave off that frightening darkness.
“You have need for,” Yusef paused, searching for the word he wanted, “a physician?”
“No,” Kendra said quickly. The darkness was fading rapidly now and there was no way she was going to let anything interfere with this evening with Joel. “I was only a little dizzy for a moment. I’ve probably been working too hard lately.” But she hadn’t worked at all for the last week and she had had another little dizzy spell like this only a few days ago, she remembered. It had been much lighter and she hadn’t come close to fainting as she had this time, but she had definitely suffered the same vertigo. No, she wouldn’t think about it. She was feeling better every minute.
She sat up straight in the chair and smiled with determined cheerfulness at Yusef, who clearly was worried. “I’m fine now,” she announced as she brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. “Sorry to have worried you. You can let me go, Yusef.”
He reluctantly removed the support of his arms. “You are certain?” he asked, a frown on his face. His keen gaze flicked for an instant to the thrusting fullness of her breasts before returning to her face. “Perhaps you should lie down and rest. At times the faintness returns.”
She cast him a bewildered glance as she stood up. He sounded remarkably knowledgeable, she thought in amusement. Perhaps in that bordello where he’d worked he had become accustomed to thinking of women as weak and persecuted dolls who fainted at the drop of a hat. Well, she was definitely not in that category.
“I’m perfectly all right now,” she said firmly. “I think I’ll just meet Mr. Damon outside.” Yusef still looked uneasy and she wouldn’t put it past him to mention that brief dizzy spell to Joel, if his protective instincts were as aroused as she thought they were. “Tell Billie not to worry if I don’t come back tonight.” Yusef was still frowning as she paused at the door. She smiled at him gently. “You mustn’t be concerned, Yusef. Mr. Damon will take good care of me.”
“Mr. Damon,” he repeated thoughtfully. Then his face brightened with relief. “Yes, he is a man who would care for his own. He will watch over you.”
“Right, Yusef,” Kendra said lightly. “Don’t worry about me. You’ve got your hands full just keeping an eye on Billie.”
“She is one who requires much care, it is true,” he said in a gentle tone. “But you will need me now, too. I will be pleased to help you when your man cannot.??
?
Her man. Joel and she had made no attempt to hide the affection growing between them in the last week, but she hadn’t been aware that Yusef had noticed. It was ridiculous even to begin to think of Joel in terms of that primitively lovely phrase. Still, those two words caused her heart to lift joyously. She closed the door softly behind her. Her man.
SEVEN
JOEL THREW OPEN the door to the hotel room and allowed her to precede him. He smiled when he saw the puzzled expression on Kendra’s face.
“To save you the trouble of asking, let me assure you that, no, this hotel wasn’t chosen by me. I made the mistake of having Billie make my reservations. Instead of the Marasef Hilton, I found myself here. She told me it would be a sinful waste to actually live in a country and not absorb a little of the native atmosphere.” His hand moved in a mocking gesture. “Behold, the real Marasef.”
“I like it,” Kendra said. It was obviously not a five-star hotel, but it was clean and neat and had a simple charm that was very soothing. “But you’re right. I wouldn’t think it would be quite your cup of tea.” She glanced at him curiously. “Why didn’t you move out and go to the Hilton after you saw it?”
“I planned on doing just that, but it didn’t seem worthwhile for the few days I’d be here before I moved on to the location site.” His lips twisted wryly. “There’s a simplicity, a basic earthiness here that’s very appealing to a man as surrounded by illusions as I am.”
“Perhaps you’re guilty of creating a good many of those illusions yourself,” Kendra said quietly. “Your House of Rainbows doesn’t appear to be the setting of a man who’s very interested in maintaining a sense of reality.” She opened the French doors and stepped out onto a small balcony. The view was delightful: The city, bathed in the glow of the sunset, was straight out of an Arabian nights movie.
“That’s why I brought you here tonight.” He was behind her, his arms encircling her waist and his lips nibbling at her ear. “There’s a time when illusion has to end and reality take over. We started at the wrong end, Kendra. Everything about that first night was based on misunderstandings…except the knowledge that something very special happened to both of us.” He turned her around in his arms; his expression was grave. “I don’t think either one of us recognized it for what it was, but we both knew it was strong enough to scare us silly.” His lips pressed a fairylike kiss on her temple. “But tonight there aren’t going to be any cases of mistaken identity, no rainbow illusions.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m not going to let you have even one glass of wine. Everything is going to be honest and real and as clear as the dawn.” His lips touched her own in a kiss of velvet tenderness. “And I think we’re going to have the answers to some very important questions before the evening is over.”
She laughed shakily. “I thought I was being brought to your lair to be seduced. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that seducers aren’t supposed to be so earnest in the middle of their campaigns?”
“I take my seductions very seriously, indeed,” he said with a grin. He kissed her again. “But this isn’t seduction; it’s something very different, isn’t it, Kendra?”
She felt as if those green eyes were hypnotizing her and she nodded slowly. “Yes, it’s something very different, Joel.”
She loved him. The knowledge was suddenly as clear as the words he’d just spoken. Why hadn’t she seen that quiet golden joy for what it was before? Now it seemed impossible she hadn’t recognized the signs from the beginning, since the first evening at Illusion de l’Arc en Ciel. The physical magic had been so potent that it overshadowed everything else, yet even then she had been aware of something else playing upon her mind and emotions. Perhaps she’d been too frightened then to admit to herself that she had been caught in the sorcerer’s enchanted web. But in Sedikhan she’d discovered the sorcerer was also a man: a man who could feel pain and guilt, who could laugh at himself on occasion, who could be gentle and affectionate with those he cared for. The sorcerer could invoke a frenzy of desire, but only the man could inspire love.
“Hey, snap out of it.” Joel’s eyes were twinkling with amusement as he gave her a little shake. “Don’t you know that a lady’s not supposed to go off into a gray fog when a man’s making a serious declaration? It appears I’ll need to concentrate all my energies on keeping your attention tonight.” His arm slipped around her waist as he propelled her through the French doors back into the room.
“I ordered dinner to be served in our room when I checked in downstairs and I want to get you fed.” His glance appraised her critically. “I thought if I took the pressure off and let you rest for a week you’d put on some weight, but I don’t think you’ve gained an ounce.”
“Just because I wasn’t working, doesn’t mean that I let myself get out of shape,” she said lightly. “I still exercised for three hours before I joined you on the set every day. In my business I can’t afford the indulgence of taking a full week off.”
“Oh, yes, your business.” His tone was sour. “That’s another thing we’ve got to straighten out tonight.” Then, as he saw the troubled frown cross her face, he smiled. “But not right now. Now I want to tell you how beautiful you are. I want to hear you talk to me in that scratchy little whisper.” He sank into the large, cushioned straight-backed chair facing the balcony and pulled her down on his lap, cradling her in his arms with infinite tenderness. “I want to hold you like this and watch the lights of Marasef go on.”
Her cheek rubbed against the linen of his sport coat, and she could smell the familiar scent of soap and spice. He laughed softly and gave her a swift, affectionate hug. “Sometimes you remind me of a sensuous little kitten when you move like that against me. In the back of my mind I know how much strength and stamina there is in that slender frame, but when you’re lying in my arms. I have trouble remembering it.” His lips nuzzled the throbbing pulse point beneath her chin. “God, you’re sweet.” He drew a deep, shuddering breath, “Talk to me, sweetheart. I need something to distract me or I’ll blow all my good intentions and tumble you into bed in a very unromantic fashion.”
She laughed as she nestled closer. “But a very ful-filling fashion,” she said teasingly, gazing up at him through her lashes. “Even if I wasn’t quite myself that night, I seem to remember that you made my first experience quite a satisfactory one.”
“Satisfactory?” He frowned in mock outrage. “It was a hell of a lot more than satisfactory. I’m not a satisfactory lover. I’m superb.” His green eyes were suddenly dancing as his hands slid to cup her breasts. “Perhaps you need something to remind you how talented I am. Just sit still and relax, love. I’m always glad to be called upon for demonstrations.”
She could feel the heat of his hands through the thin cotton of her dress, and she inhaled sharply. “I think I’m going to find it a little hard to relax,” she said breathlessly. Her eyes followed his strong, sensitive hands as they moved across her, stroking her as if she were truly the sensuous kitten he had described.
His breathing was as shallow as hers, Kendra noticed hazily, and she could see the jerky cadence of his heart in the hollow of his throat. “Well, at the moment there are portions of your anatomy that I’d be very disappointed to see relaxed,” he said thickly, his eyes fixed on the territory his hands were arousing so expertly. His thumbs and forefingers began to roll the sensitive tips of her nipples between them and she felt a sudden flash of heat that caused her to cry out.
His green eyes were glazed a smoky emerald as they flew to her face. “Did I hurt you?” Then, as he saw the flushed languor of her face, he gave a pleased laugh that was oddly boyish. He lowered his head to kiss her lips with honeyed sweetness, his fingers plucking at her with a pressure that made her arch against him with a little moan. “Do you know what it does to me to feel you swell to fit my hands like this? To know I can make you feel the same ache that’s ripping me apart?” His hands left her breasts to encircle her waist and pull her close against his arousal. “See ho
w I’m aching for you, Kendra? Do you want me like that, too, love? I need you to want me as much as I want you,” he murmured as his lips pressed a hundred frantic kisses across her throat. “It never mattered to me before. I just took what I wanted from a woman and tried to give her what she wanted. But it’s different with you. I’m burning up and I want you to burn with me.” His hands were running over her in a wild symphony of heat, gliding over her hips, traveling with a sensual rubbing motion over her belly and between her thighs. Then he pressed her to him with bruising strength, his face buried in the side of her neck, his body tense and vibrating with raw need. “Burn, Kendra; I think I’ll go crazy if you don’t!”
“Oh, I am burning,” she gasped, her hands moving desperately over his chest and shoulders, wanting to get closer to him. Then her fingers worked with trembling urgency at his shirt. “Joel, I want to touch you.” Her voice was shaking with frustration as her fingers seemed to be all fumbling thumbs. “Help me to touch you, please!”
He pushed her hands away and the white shirt was suddenly undone. She pressed her face to the hard warm muscles of his chest. She’d forgotten how deliciously sensual the springy mat of hair on his chest felt against the softness of her cheek, and how the thunder of his heart reverberated beneath her ear. Her hands moved over him in erotic slow motion, her eyes closed to isolate the pleasure she drew from the touch and sound of him. He inhaled sharply as she stroked and explored every inch of the sleek muscles, his body tensing as if her gentle voyage of discovery was almost painful. His heart, leaping beneath her sensitive fingertips, seemed to be trying to burst through the wall of his chest.
“Open your eyes and see what you’re doing to me, you little devil.” There was a thread of amusement under the hoarse exasperation in Joel’s voice. When Kendra opened her eyes, there was a hint of that same tender humor in the curve of his lips, even though his face was flushed with passion and his eyes smoldered with the same sensual need.