Free To Have: Vampire Assassin League #19 by Jackie Ivie Page B

there, you would be just as dead as your family thinks you are. But that is not what happened. I was there.”
    “Daron. Um...”
    Evelyn raised her head from his shoulder. It was harder than she suspected, as if her skin even wanted to stay near him. She forced her gaze to his, got snagged by intense ice-blue eyes. He had such amazing eyes! They were especially vivid against his coloring. No wonder women everywhere wanted him.
    “I...need some time to think. Process information. You know. Uh...think.”
    “You wish to return to my chambers? No. I mean
our
chambers?”
    “Um. Actually...I need to be...alone. I’d like to go back to the harem place.”
    “You will not leave me?”
    Her heart palpitated. It could have been the flash of silver that altered his eyes momentarily. It could have been the hitch in his voice. Perhaps the feel of him along her side. Beneath her. His arms still wrapped protectively about her. It could be any combination of things, other than he suspected anything.

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    When planning a devious mission while stuck in a gargantuan palace, owned by an immortal being that couldn’t exist, the last thing a girl needed was a group of giggling harem servants. Evie gave them a hint of her plan when she asked Tamell if there was concealing attire of any kind available. That got her a round of giggles, and an invitation to bathe again in the tub while they searched her wardrobes.
She had wardrobes?
Evie set the question aside. Even if soaking in the pool sounded like an incredibly grand idea, she was on a mission. She sent them on an errand to locate concealing attire, while she looked for the packet she’d secreted in her panties before leaving for the Rocking Horse what felt like a month ago. It wasn’t hard to find. The girls had placed it atop the folded wreck of what had been her perfect ‘snag-a-sponsor’ dress.
    Hmm.
    Nobody offered undergarments. Still. The packet was too big to carry unseen. No worries. Evie fished through her pack, palming her credit card and the twenty dollar bill. She smiled wryly at the condom pack before setting the packet back down. She always carried a large – it kept a man’s ego from getting deflated. But in Daron’s case, not only was it too late, but it wouldn’t remotely fit anyway.
    She was finally dressed in rose-shaded silk trousers, a tunic top of matching fabric in a different shade of pink, with a dark navy
chador
over everything. The cloak was also fashioned of silk, and worse. It had a design sewn into it that was probably done with real silver thread. She’d also changed into a pair of sandals that laced atop her instep and up her calf. They fit much more securely. Unfortunately, the straps were adorned with what looked like real gems. She probably looked spectacular. Exotic. If the harem possessed a mirror, she could have checked.
    She didn’t look remotely covert. Maybe she could hunch down a bit.
    Then again, it depended on where she was. That was the first part of her mission. Discover her whereabouts. Number two – find a phone. Three – call home. Her family deserved better than this. If she really
was
dead, that was one thing. But since she was still living, and breathing, and available to hug, then they needed to know. She wasn’t leaving the prince. Every nerve rebelled at the thought. It wasn’t just the sex...although that had been amazing. No. It was more. She was attuned to him. Linked somehow. Like she was a live wire and he was the grounding circuit. Being near him was addictive. And she wanted more. A lot more.
    But she wasn’t prowling around a palace, or resting in a harem until she had some facts. So. Prince Daron was full of it. Or he was nuts. And it was time to find out.
    He didn’t keep the enormous double doors leading to his harem locked. Good thing. If he’d tried imprisoning her, he’d have earned a fight. The handles were as big as her torso. Evie turned one down and pulled on the door. The handle