Page 18 of Company of Thieves
“No,” I interrupted, and moved closer to him, so close that my toes touched his. I put my hand on the part of his arm that wasn’t covered in leather armor. “Imagine you are a woman. You have no skills, no talents, are trained for nothing of any use in this world. Everything you worked for in the past is gone.”
“How—”
“It doesn’t matter, just imagine it.” I waited until he nodded. “You are an adult. You’ve lived on your own for more than fifteen years. You’ve been married, divorced, seen relationships come and go. You are a responsible, reasonably intelligent woman, and some man, a man who has had opportunities never given to you, tells you that he will not share some of his knowledge with you unless you get permission from someone else, another man who has also had opportunities denied to you. Now, how do you feel?”
His eyes seemed to see deep into me, straight through to my soul. “I would be frustrated.”
“Bingo.” I smiled.
“Your objection is against society, however, and not the individual from whom you seek training.”
“Argh!” I yelled, slapping both hands on his armor.
“You will write to your brother to tell him where you are. If he poses no objection to you being in my company ...” The muscle in his jaw worked a couple of times. “Then I will train you.”
Protest after protest rose, but I kept them behind my teeth. He was right in that I couldn’t change societal norms simply because I didn’t like them. I would just have to give in to the absurd notion that my brother had a say in my life ... and immediately pushed down the uncomfortable notion that Jack would never agree to letting Alan teach me.
I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. “As it happens, I don’t have to write to Jack. He should be at El Kef. At least, that’s where they were going, and I believe the plan was to spend the night somewhere near there before moving on.”
“Indeed.” His eyes turned speculative.
“If you were thinking about attacking my brother’s ship,” I said, buffing a fingernail, “you should be aware that they have some pretty big guns. They picked them up in Cairo. They’re some sort of superpowerful guns that are the latest in aether technology.”
He pursed his lips, which just made me look at his mouth, thinking about that kiss, and how soft his mustache was, and whether I wanted to be so hasty in my no-sex policy. Once I got the agreement from him to teach me, perhaps then I could indulge in a little dalliance. “Thank you for the warning. I will keep that in mind.”
“Plus they don’t have any valuable cargo,” I said hastily, feeling I’d better toss that out in case he thought I was exaggerating the firepower of theEnterprise. “They dropped that off at Annaba. Can we start now?”
“Start ... training?” He looked startled, but recovered quickly. “You have not yet spoken to your brother.”
“No, but come on. It’s going to take, what, another four hours to get to El Kef? Once we’re there, I’ll find Jack and talk to him, but what were you planning on doing until then?”
His eyes seemed to go liquid. “I thought we might go to my cabin and resume the discussion of sexual needs and desires.”
I thought about it. I really thought about it. I eyed the width of his shoulders (impressive), the strength of his neck going down to that chest (drool-worthy), and on down to the legs that were even now braced apart so as to move with the ship (his thighs were a work of art). “Would you be offended if I said I’d rather have you start the training instead?”
He laughed, actually tipped his head back and laughed a long, hearty laugh, one that was filled with so much humor that it made me smile. “My male pride is wounded, yes,” he finally said, wiping the corners of his eyes, “but I believe I will survive. Very well, we will have an introductory lesson, but if your brother does not agree to your plan, that will be the only one.”
“Deal,” I said, and followed him when he gestured. He didn’t take me to the hold, as I expected, but to one of the rooms in the crew quarters.
I hesitated at the doorway of the cabin when he strode in and looked around, his hands on his hips, before he said, “Ah,” following which he glanced at me. “Come in, come in.”
“We’re going to train in here?” I asked, reluctantly entering the small cabin.
“No.” His gaze raked my body. “You can’t fight in that bit of nothing.”
I brushed a hand down my silk and linen tunic. “This is a very nice outfit. I had several made based on the original. It’s flattering, and easy to wear, and yes, it gets wrinkled a lot, but nothing that a little steam can’t take care of.”
“I have no complaints about the aesthetics of it,” he said with what was very close to a leer, “but the practicality of it is another matter. Let’s see what Leila left.”
“Leila?” I felt annoyed just hearing the name. I had absolutely no doubt that a man as handsome as he was, one with such a fabulous butt, and who came damn close to steaming out my tunic wrinkles with just one kiss, had any number of castoffs left by old girlfriends. “One of your harem?”
He knelt down before a wood and leather chest, digging through the contents, pausing to slide me a speculative look. “What do you know of my harem?”
My eyes widened. I had been joking, but to have him confirm it left me feeling prickly and itchy. And spoiling for a fight. “The only thing I know is that I’ll never be one of them, your insanely gorgeous behind aside. I don’t really want to wear clothing left by one of your no-doubt countless lovers.”
“That’s a shame, because I think this might very well suit you,” he said, pulling out a leather breastplate, one clearly meant for a woman. He eyed me again, then gestured toward his chest with both hands. “Although I think she had bigger ... er ...”
I crossed my arms, just daring him to make a comment about my breasts. “My breasts are not lacking, if that’s what you’re about to imply.”
