Free Dark Desires: Deliverance by Kourtney King Page B

made
sure you've had your dinner and the next guard has taken over my post for the
night shift."
    "Okay." She
couldn't think of anything else to say. "Have a goodnight."
    "You too"
with a courteous bow of his head he finally walked out and locked the door
behind him.
    She groaned in
frustration at what an epic failure that attempt had been. She had to come up
with a better list of questions, something like a script, if she was ever going
to get him to really talk to her. As she tucked into dinner, she thought of
what normal people talked about. What were general conversation starters? Then
it hit her. She would ask him about his family or his accomplishments.
Gabriella had mentioned that he was in the military among many other things
that she hoped to use to her advantage. Smiling she ate her food while playing
out the next hypothetical conversation they may have.
     
    Keyaan had been thinking about Valerie more and more lately. After discovering
Gabriella in her room, he had put the whole house under strict directions -
no-one was to enter her room except Mohammed. He trusted his guard explicitly.
He was a good soldier, the best.
    For the first time,
in a very long time, he took off the gold chain that hung around his neck and
slotted the key it contained into the top drawer of his ornate, office desk. He
pulled out the framed picture of the woman who haunted him. My
sweet Ayana . He knew she was gone and that he could never replace
her, but there was something about Valerie that made all the deeply suppressed
memories rush to the forefront. It revived a part of him he thought long dead.
At the same time, it vexed him beyond reason.
    It wasn't the fact
that both Valerie and Ayana were black women. He knew that without a doubt
because Gabriella was black as well, yet she couldn't be more different. In
fact, he couldn't wait for the day that he saw the back of her. Returning the
photograph to its locked shrine, he logged into his security feed to see how
his exquisite prisoner was fairing. The monotonous clips showed that she didn't
do anything extraordinary. All things considered, there wasn't much for her to
do. He should have felt contrite for what he had done - getting an innocent
woman involved in a business that had absolutely nothing to do with her. He
should have been filled with a modicum of regret, but he felt nothing. She was
clothed, fed and in a comfortable residence. It was a far better existence than
most people had in the world, let alone prisoners.
    Something in the clip
caught his attention. It was Mohammed talking to Valerie. A brief exchange but
it left her smiling. Why is she smiling? What did he say to her? He did
not like the look of things and would get to the bottom of what their little
discussion had been about. He called out to his guard, Khalil, who stood on the
other side of the door.
    "Yes Your
Highness" he replied as he stood to attention before his king, looking
ahead but not directly at the man he addressed.
    "I need to see
Mohammed. Now."
    Without a word he
turned to find the man the king had requested. He could not leave his post as
the king's shadow and personal guard, so from the other side of the door, he radioed
in one of the security to summon Mohammed to the king's office. A few minutes
later, he led him in and walked back out.
    Moe had been in his
room preparing for bed when he got the call. Located outside the palace walls were
outhouses that lodged the staff. Luckily he had not changed out of his uniform
and was able to make a speedy appearance. If the sheik wanted to see him then
it must have been of grave importance. He stood at attention waiting to hear
why he had been summoned.
    Keyaan didn't say anything for a long moment. Instead, he stared at his trusted guard
with cool eyes that would cut any man to size. "What have you and Valerie
been talking about?"
    Moe's lashes
fluttered at the question. He thought of the brief words that had passed
between them as of today, yet could not