Page 25

“It’s Amar. I’m sorry for the late hour—”

"Is Tahira okay?" He tossed aside the covers and swung his legs off the bed to sit up.

The head of the royal guard sighed. "Physically, yes. But I’m afraid she awoke from a nightmare and is very upset. She threatened to scream if they tried to sedate her. She is asking for you and ordered me not to contact her parents. Can—"

"Tell her I'm on my way." Getting to his feet, Darius reached for the T-shirt he'd been wearing earlier and a pair of jeans from a pile of clean laundry he hadn't put away yet.

"Thank you, my friend. I will see you shortly."

Disconnecting the call, he tossed the phone on the bed and quickly got dressed, securing his holstered weapon at his lower back and letting the shirt cover it.

His wallet went into his back pocket before he snatched up his phone and car keys.

He'd only gotten about four hours of sleep, but years of being in the SEALs had taught his body how to regenerate itself quickly during combat naps.

While he could still use another solid eight hours, he was awake enough to safely drive to the hospital.

Tahira had asked for him—needed him. For some strange reason that sent a jolt to his heart, causing it to pound.

Butterflies took flight in his gut. What the fuck?

The woman was a battered rape victim and yet his body was acting like a horny teenager who was going on a date with the head cheerleader. Get a grip, Knight.

After taking a quick trip to the bathroom, he stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a cold bottle of water from the refrigerator on his way out the door.

At the late hour, it only took him ten minutes to reach the hospital.

He parked in the lot and hurried inside.

When a skinny, male security guard sitting at the front desk tried to tell him that visitors weren't allowed at this time of the night, Darius pulled out his wallet and flashed his Trident Security identification.

"I'm with the detail on the fifth floor, private wing. "

The pimply-faced guard, who couldn't he more than twenty years old, sat up straighter in his chair and nodded. "Uh, sure. Go on up."

Darius frowned and leaned forward. "Don't you want to check my name against the list of approved people who are allowed in that wing?"

The kid's Adam's apple bounced several times. "Uh ... um, yeah." He shuffled through some papers until he found what he was looking for. This was the best security the hospital had at night? "Um, w-what's your name again?"

"Darius Knight.” He held his ID closer to the guard’s face. “And if I catch you allowing anyone up on that floor without checking the list, I'll guarantee it will be your last shift here. Understood? There's a reason that's a private wing."

His eyes widened. "Um, y-yeah. Sorry, sir.

It—it won't happen again." He ran his finger down the list of names of the royal guards, TS operatives, Tahira's parents, and a few members of the king and queen's trusted personal staff who'd accompanied them to Florida.

"Um, h-here you are, Mr. Knight. Y-you can go up. "

Glaring at the guard a moment longer to make sure he'd gotten his point across, Darius finally dipped his chin once and put away his wallet.

Without saying anything further, he strode toward the elevator.

Arriving at the fifth floor, he stepped out into the hallway.

Travis "Tiny" Daultry, the head of security at The Covenant and occasional TS bodyguard when needed, was stationed at the door to the private wing with one of the royal guards.

Both men were on high alert, their holstered weapons in full view of anyone wanting to challenge them.

While the six-foot-eight, former professional football player towered over his companion by a good seven inches, Darius was sure the man from Timasur could hold his own if the two sparred.

A smile spread across Tiny's face as Darius approached. "Morning, Batman. This is Haji Mellouk." He gestured between the two men. "This is Darius Knight."

Darius wasn't offended when the other man didn't offer a hand. Instead, they each gave the other a curt nod before Mellouk's attention returned to the quiet hallway. Amar’s men took their responsibilities seriously, even more so since the kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Tiny opened the door to the private wing for Darius. "Amar told us you were coming. He's waiting for you in the princess's room."

"Thanks. When's Henderson due in?" Doug "Bullseye" Henderson was the head of the Private Protection Division at Trident and, in this case, Tiny's superior.

"Said he'd be here at eight to check on things." The big man's eyes narrowed. "Something wrong?"

"Tell him to talk to the head of hospital security and get that kid at the front desk off the overnight watch.

He's young, green, and useless, and would probably pee in his pants if shit went down.

Tell him not to get him fired but put him where he won't have to confront anyone, like monitoring the security cameras or something.”

"You got it."

As Darius strode down the hall, the heavy wooden door shut behind him.

While it was still quiet in that area, there was some activity going on.

It appeared someone else had been admitted to the private wing because a uniformed Florida state trooper stood outside one of the previously-unoccupied patient rooms. Darius didn’t bother to ask about who the new patient was, since it was highly unlikely he’d be given the information.

At the nurse's station, two women and one man, all dressed in scrubs with their identification tags hanging from lanyards around their necks, were working their way through their shifts.

There were only four patient rooms in this section of the hospital, but they were more like five-star hotel suites.

Each had a full bath and attached living rooms where family members had access to refrigerators, small convection ovens instead of microwaves, coffee machines, large screen TVs, couches, and recliners.

The rooms where the patients recovered from their illness or trauma were soothingly decorated in soft earth tones, with expensive art on the walls.

The wider beds were the nicest ones Darius had ever seen in a hospital, but they still functioned like their commercialized counterparts.

Outside Tahira's room, two more royal guards stood sentry.

Darius recognized them as men he'd met before at the Clearwater Beach estate.

When they both gave him curt nods of their heads, it was obvious they remembered him as well.

Neither stopped him as he pushed open the door just enough for him to ease into the room.

Only one soft light over the bed was on, illuminating the beautiful woman curled up on her side.

She looked so small amid the white sheets and blankets.

Her long, dark hair covered the pillow her head was laying on.

Even though he hadn't made a sound entering the room, her eyes flew open, and her terrified gaze met his worried one.

Darius's heart clenched, and his gut felt like he'd been kicked by a mule.

Subtle movement from a dark corner of the room caught his attention as Amar emerged from the shadows. "If you need me, Your Highness, I'll be in the other room."

The man mutely shook hands with Darius before disappearing into the attached living room, closing the door behind him.

He was probably going to catch up on some much-needed sleep, but that wasn't Darius's concern right now.

He stepped forward and took a seat next to the bed.

Tahira's face was ashen, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Th-thank you for coming, Darius. I am sorry to have Amar call you so late.”

She reached out, and he grasped her tiny, trembling hand in his big calloused one, rubbing his thumb over her soft skin. "Shh. There's no need to be sorry. What happened?"

"I had a nightmare. I was back ... back in th-that bedroom. It was happening all over again. I—I don’t remember most of it, but what I do remember ...”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the mattress. "You're safe. I'm here, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He brushed a lock of her hair back from where it had fallen in front of her face. "Try to get some sleep. I'll watch over you."

Tahira hesitated, then tightened her grip on his hand and tugged. "Would you please lie with me? Like you did before. I—I just need you to hold me."

He really shouldn't, for so many reasons, including the fact this was a hospital and the nurses would probably have a fit, but he couldn’t refuse when he saw the pleading in her gorgeous, brown eyes.

Giving her hand a squeeze, he let go, stood, and rounded the foot of the bed.

Her troubled gaze followed him. After making sure he wasn't disturbing any monitor wires or IV tubing—they’d apparently all been removed since he’d last seen her—he kicked off his sneakers and climbed onto the bed, on top of the covers she huddled beneath.

As he spooned in behind her, making sure there was some distance between his groin and her backside, Tahira reached for his hand again.

She pulled it until his arm was over her waist, then held it against her torso, just under her breasts.

He tried to ignore the fact she was wearing a thin hospital gown over nothing but bare flesh.

Sighing, Tahira closed her eyes. "Thank you, Darius."

He shifted to get comfortable on the full-sized bed, then settled. "Go to sleep, Tahira. You're safe."

Her body relaxed as she whispered, "Only with you."