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“She gave you birth control pills,” Dec said softly.

“Not pills. She gave me a shot. Someone could have seen me taking pills. The shot lasts for three months. She warned me that after that—that after that—”

Dec used his fingertips to wipe away Annie’s tears. “She’s a good woman.”

Annie nodded. She sat quietly in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. After a few minutes, Dec raised her face to his.

“I failed you,” he said in a harsh voice.

“You? Never! You could never—”

“After you hadn’t phoned for a few days, after you hadn’t taken my calls, I went to your apartment.”

She smiled. “My shoebox-size two rented rooms, you mean.”

“I used the key you’d given me to get in. And you were gone. I mean, everything that you were was gone. Your clothes. Your books. The sea shells you used to pick up on the beach…”

Her smile tilted. “The men who came for me said they would see to clearing out all my things.”

Dec leaned his forehead against hers.

“Your landlord said you’d decided to move. That you’d left no forwarding address.”

“Yes. The men who took me—”

“How could I have believed him? You’d never have done something like that. Even if you’d decided to end things between us, you’d have told me.” His voice roughened. “My pride. My ego. Whatever you call it, I let it take over when what I should have done was gone looking for you.”

“And you would have, if only I’d told you the truth.”

He drew her to him. She buried her face against his shoulder.

“Those bastards,” he said softly. “Your uncle. The Tharsalonian king. And now Amjad.”

Annie pulled back. “Declan. Promise me you won’t do anything foolish.”

His lips drew back from his teeth in a wolfish smile. “I won’t do anything foolish.”

“I mean it. My uncle has no scruples. The king of Tharsalonia is greedy enough to be anyone’s pawn. And Amjad…” She framed his face with her hands. “Please, my love, please, promise me you won’t do anything foolish.”

It was the first time she had called him her love. The words sang in his blood, in his heart, but there was no stopping the rage that coursed through him.

“Declan?”

Dec switched off the lantern, then brushed his lips over Annie’s and rose to his feet with her in his arms.

“I promise,” he said. “I won’t do anything foolish.”

He carried her to their bed and lay down with her, wrapping them both in a soft blanket, holding her close as her breathing slowed into the steady rhythm of sleep.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He’d made her a promise and he would keep it.

There was nothing even remotely foolish about eliminating the uncle and the two other men who had chosen to sentence his Annie to what would have been a life of slavery.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The soft patter of rain woke Dec in the middle of the night.

He’d already left the warmth of the bed and the warmth of the woman he loved so he could slip outside to make sure the perimeter was still secure.