"Yes." Her heart was beating so hard, she had trouble breathing. "I do like it."
His hands moved over her breasts in a slow massage that was like tongues of flame on her flesh. "That's fortunate. They're going to be on you a great deal in the next three months. I may find it impossible to keep them off you, in fact.
"I hope you don't have any plans that can't be changed. I'm taking you away tonight."
"Tonight!" Her eyes widened. Then she gasped as his thumb and forefinger closed on one burgeoning nipple and pinched just hard enough to send a liquid burning to the center of her being. She closed her eyes until the tremors had abated slightly. When she opened them they were still clouded with emotion. It was difficult to gather her thoughts. "We're leaving tonight? Where are we going?"
His eyes were narrowed and his face heavy with sensual pleasure as he watched her response in the mirror. "To Sedikhan. Where else? I have to meet with Alex Ben Raschid early next month about negotiating a new treaty." He was lazily plucking at her nipples, enjoying the dazed look of pleasure the action was bringing to her. His hands moved around to lift her breasts, and he studied the shape of the nipples pressed against the thin material of the tunic. "God, that's lovely."
He leaned forward, his breath warm on her ear. "This excites you, doesn't it?" he whispered thickly. His eyes were on her reflection in the mirror. "Another frame for you, Pandora. Perhaps I'll radio from the plane and have the servants install a full-length mirror in my suite. I love to see you excited."
Everything he did excited her. Just being in the same room with him excited her. "I have to pack," she said.
"No." His teeth pulled gently at her earlobe. "I'll buy you anything you need. Is your passport in order?" She nodded, her eyes fixed on the image of his dark, sensual face in the mirror. "Good. I'll send Denbrook to your hotel to pick it up and have him meet us at the airport. I want to leave as soon as you're dressed. You know I've never been patient when I wanted something." His tongue touched the sensitive cord behind her ear and a shudder went through her. "And I want you very much, Pandora."
She knew that. She could feel it in the hard tension of his chest as it pressed against her back. "All right." She leaned her head back against him and closed her eyes. What difference did it make? He was taking her with him—that was all that mattered. "I'll come."
"I want to see you again." His voice was a hoarse mutter as his hands left her breasts and fumbled with the back of her tunic. "Does this thing have a zipper? All I could think of last night after you left was how pretty you were jutting out of that black velvet. How good you tasted." There was anedge of frustration in his tone. "How the devil do I get you out of this?"
"It doesn't have a zipper. It slips over my head," she said dreamily. He wanted her. After all the aching years, at last he wanted her.
"Then take it off, dammit. I want to see you."
Her eyes flicked open. "Here?" she asked.
"Anywhere." His eyes were hot and smoky. "I want you. At the moment I wouldn't care if we were out there on that stage in front of your thousands of fans."
She felt a melting in every bone of her body. She didn't think she would care either. "Philip, I'm not..." She was interrupted by a new voice.
"Pandora, will you fasten this damn ..." The door had opened, and through a haze she saw Neal in elegant tuxedo pants and a white dress shirt. He stopped just inside the door when he saw Philip. "Oh, sorry. Did I interrupt something? I just wanted you to fasten these damn cufflinks." He strolled forward. "Be a luv and do them up for me?" He held out his wrist to her.
"What?" She shook her head and the room came back into focus. Philip straightened behind her and his hands fell away from her shoulders. "Oh, yes, of course. Neal, this is Sheikh Philip El Kabbar. Neal Sabine." Neal nodded civilly at Philip. Her hands shook as she fastened the cuff link. "I don't know why you bother to wear them. You never manage to get them fastened."
"Elegance, luv. I like to see the expression of shock on the birds' faces when they see the campy rock star in all this sartorial glory." He held out the other wrist, and while she fastened the cufflink he said genially to Philip, "They're the very devil, aren't they? Are you coming to the promoters' big do tonight?"
"No." Philip's voice was so dangerously soft that Pandora stiffened, and her eyes flew to his face. "And neither is Pandora. Sorry to disappoint you. She's coming away with me tonight." He turned away and crossed the room. "I'll wait for you in the car, Pandora." The door snapped shut behind him.
"He's the one, isn't he?" Neal asked quietly. His blue eyes were fixed musingly on her face. He had never seen her look so glowingly alive, not even when she was on stage performing. "He's the man you wanted to impress with our cozy little setup." His lips twisted ruefully. "If I'd known he was so intimidating, I might have hesitated a moment or two. I wasn't sure if he was going to leave quietly or order me beheaded first."
"They don't behead people in Sedikhan anymore," she said with a shaky smile. "Yes, he's the one."
"You're leaving for good?"
"You won't have any trouble replacing me. You'll find someone else. Maybe shell even have a decent voice."
His face was grave. "We'll miss you. You're sure you won't change your mind?"
"I told you when we started out that it was only temporary, that there'd come a time when I'd walk away from it. It's not my kind of life. It's not what I want."
He bent and kissed her on the cheek. "Then go for what you do want. I'll be rooting for you." He
straightened. "I'll send Gene and Pauly in to say good-bye. We wouldn't want his royal munificence to get impatient, would we?" He stood there a moment, looking down at her. "I remember the first time you walked into that club in Soho where we were playing. You were only sixteen and you looked like a hungry chicken."
"I was hungry," she said. "And scared. God, I was scared."
"I'd never have known it. You were the most boldly alive person I'd ever met." His lips curved in a whimsical smile. "It's a wonder I didn't go completely bonkers over you. Isn't it lucky that I didn't?"
"Yes, very lucky," she said gently. "I refuse to give you too much credit, though. It was probably my froggy voice that turned you off."
"Maybe." His hand touched her hair. All the light in the room seemed to be gathered in that silvery-blond mass. "I always did have a sensitive ear." His hand dropped away. "Well, if things don't work out for you, come back to us. I can always wear earplugs if you offend my sensibilities too drastically. Good luck, luv."
"Good-bye, Neal," she said huskily. "And thank you. Thank you for everything."
His shoulders lifted in a shrug as he turned away. "You gave more than you got. You always do. Keep in touch."
She watched the door close behind him, her throat tight with tears. So many years. She hadn't realized how hard it would be to say good-bye and walk away. She'd had her mind so fixed on the goal at the end of the road, she hadn't realizedwhat treasures she had acquired along the way. She stood up and pulled the ivory silk costume over her head.