hurt.
“Sarah, I didn’t mean—”
She got up and moved forward, her slender back stiff. Within minutes she was gone from his sight.
Rafferty stared out over the water, his muscles taut until his body ached. Unforgivable. What he’d said was unforgivable, and not something either of them could forget. And the worst of it was that Rafferty knew it was purely and simply impossible for Sarah to do what he’d suggested. Such a thing was alien toher nature. But he hadn’t stopped to
think
at all, he’d just blurted out a hollow accusation born in fear for her and the jealous vision of another man who would be desperate for her love.
And if Andrés Sereno had truly been “wild” about his Sara, then it would probably be inevitable that the man would transfer that emotion to her look-alike. And Sarah would have to cope with that. Sarah, who was so damned vulnerable, so newly awakened that she was like a butterfly fresh from its cocoon, desperately fragile and susceptible to untold damage.
It scared the hell out of Rafferty.
What frightened him most, he asked himself? That Sarah would be hurt somehow while “occupying” the Kadeira president? Or that the charismatic Sereno would fire her awakened senses and capture her heart for his own?
Rafferty knew only too well that his own hold on Sarah was a tentative one. She was attracted to him, perhaps even something more. But she was also aware of the dangers of “shipboard” romances, and Rafferty himself hadcompounded the problem by proposing to make a game of seduction.
Pretense surrounded them, and pretense was an insidious danger. What would Sarah choose as her reality? Emotions sparked on a moonlit beach with a virtual stranger? Or the adoration of a charming island president? Unusually sheltered and innately shy, would Sarah prefer the golden cage of an extraordinarily powerful and wealthy man’s possessiveness to the more normal life that Rafferty could offer?
He was, Rafferty realized, conjuring up horrors. Sarah was here to do a job, to complete an assignment, and he believed that alone would motivate her. Surely she wouldn’t be so swept away that she’d forget the ruthless ambition of Sereno
and
his apparent welcome, if not approval, of terrorists in his country. She wouldn’t forget that.
Would she?
Slowly, worried and uncertain, Rafferty went in search of her. He passed both Tom and Dick, who were industriously polishing chromethat was already gleaming, and passed Captain Siran, who looked at him for an unreadable instant before smiling briefly and meaninglessly.
Sarah wasn’t topside, so Rafferty went below. He found her in their cabin, in the bedroom, where she was busy unpacking. He could read nothing in her delicate face, and it occurred to him then that there was indeed a depth to Sarah even she hadn’t plumbed.
“Sarah?”
“Captain Siran says we’ll be just outside Kadeira by Wednesday morning,” she said, not looking at him. “We won’t go in until Thursday, though. Hagen was definite about that.”
“Sarah, I’m sorry.”
She moved past him to hang several garments in the roomy closet, saying impersonally, “All right.”
Rafferty caught her wrist as she tried to pass him again. “Sarah! I didn’t mean what I said. I know you’d never—Sarah, it just shook me up, that’s all. Sereno could hurt you.”
“I’m supposed to be married, remember?”She gazed steadfastly at the third button of his shirt.
“You think he’ll care about that? If he wants you, Sarah, a piece of paper and a husband won’t stand in his way.”
F OUR
H ER FACE SEEMED to quiver for just an instant. Tonelessly, she said, “I’m not going to seduce him, Rafferty. I’m just going to distract him long enough for us to get that information. That’s my job.”
Rafferty realized then that she was scared, that sheer bravado had carried her this far and that precious little of her fragile courage was left now. He reached out, suddenly hating
“Sarah, I didn’t mean—”
She got up and moved forward, her slender back stiff. Within minutes she was gone from his sight.
Rafferty stared out over the water, his muscles taut until his body ached. Unforgivable. What he’d said was unforgivable, and not something either of them could forget. And the worst of it was that Rafferty knew it was purely and simply impossible for Sarah to do what he’d suggested. Such a thing was alien toher nature. But he hadn’t stopped to
think
at all, he’d just blurted out a hollow accusation born in fear for her and the jealous vision of another man who would be desperate for her love.
And if Andrés Sereno had truly been “wild” about his Sara, then it would probably be inevitable that the man would transfer that emotion to her look-alike. And Sarah would have to cope with that. Sarah, who was so damned vulnerable, so newly awakened that she was like a butterfly fresh from its cocoon, desperately fragile and susceptible to untold damage.
It scared the hell out of Rafferty.
What frightened him most, he asked himself? That Sarah would be hurt somehow while “occupying” the Kadeira president? Or that the charismatic Sereno would fire her awakened senses and capture her heart for his own?
Rafferty knew only too well that his own hold on Sarah was a tentative one. She was attracted to him, perhaps even something more. But she was also aware of the dangers of “shipboard” romances, and Rafferty himself hadcompounded the problem by proposing to make a game of seduction.
Pretense surrounded them, and pretense was an insidious danger. What would Sarah choose as her reality? Emotions sparked on a moonlit beach with a virtual stranger? Or the adoration of a charming island president? Unusually sheltered and innately shy, would Sarah prefer the golden cage of an extraordinarily powerful and wealthy man’s possessiveness to the more normal life that Rafferty could offer?
He was, Rafferty realized, conjuring up horrors. Sarah was here to do a job, to complete an assignment, and he believed that alone would motivate her. Surely she wouldn’t be so swept away that she’d forget the ruthless ambition of Sereno
and
his apparent welcome, if not approval, of terrorists in his country. She wouldn’t forget that.
Would she?
Slowly, worried and uncertain, Rafferty went in search of her. He passed both Tom and Dick, who were industriously polishing chromethat was already gleaming, and passed Captain Siran, who looked at him for an unreadable instant before smiling briefly and meaninglessly.
Sarah wasn’t topside, so Rafferty went below. He found her in their cabin, in the bedroom, where she was busy unpacking. He could read nothing in her delicate face, and it occurred to him then that there was indeed a depth to Sarah even she hadn’t plumbed.
“Sarah?”
“Captain Siran says we’ll be just outside Kadeira by Wednesday morning,” she said, not looking at him. “We won’t go in until Thursday, though. Hagen was definite about that.”
“Sarah, I’m sorry.”
She moved past him to hang several garments in the roomy closet, saying impersonally, “All right.”
Rafferty caught her wrist as she tried to pass him again. “Sarah! I didn’t mean what I said. I know you’d never—Sarah, it just shook me up, that’s all. Sereno could hurt you.”
“I’m supposed to be married, remember?”She gazed steadfastly at the third button of his shirt.
“You think he’ll care about that? If he wants you, Sarah, a piece of paper and a husband won’t stand in his way.”
F OUR
H ER FACE SEEMED to quiver for just an instant. Tonelessly, she said, “I’m not going to seduce him, Rafferty. I’m just going to distract him long enough for us to get that information. That’s my job.”
Rafferty realized then that she was scared, that sheer bravado had carried her this far and that precious little of her fragile courage was left now. He reached out, suddenly hating
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