Savage Sweetness (Lost and Found Book 3) Read online

  Dash also would have contacted Marco, Angela, and Callum by now as well. The four of them would be brainstorming on a plan.

  He chuckled, remembering how the five of them had worked together years ago.

  But those memories caused his thoughts to return to Rosalee. Angela had been…well, ‘kidnapped’ seemed like such a benign term for the hell that Angela had endured. Angela was tough and feisty, determined to rid the world of corruptness.

  Rosalee…she was freshness and loveliness. She was soft and gorgeous. She had a very nice ass, too! He almost chuckled at the direction of his thoughts. His body tightened again, just thinking about her in the stables. Or as she’d walked back into the coffee shop. His eyes hadn’t left her until the door had shut. And even then, he kept picturing her soft blushes, the fullness of her lips. He wondered if he’d ever get to kiss her. Would she sigh with pleasure? Or would she moan? Maybe both? He thought of all the ways he could tease her soft curves, bring her pleasure, and make her scream with release. He wanted to do all of those things to her. He wanted to drape her in silks and satins. Then he wanted to strip those materials away so that she was naked. He would gaze at her and appreciate every delectable curve of her luscious body. Then he’d kiss her, taste her, and…!

  He had to stop thinking along those lines. It was becoming obvious about what he was thinking. Thankfully, the road was empty, but if anyone happened to drive by, they’d think he was some sort of pervert.

  He forced his thoughts back to the bombing. What clues had he noticed? Who had done this? Who wanted him out of power enough to actually plan and execute an assassination attempt?

  Who would he have to crush once he discovered the truth?!

  Chapter 4

  “Good morning everyone!”

  The feminine voice startled Kasim awake. Again, the cats were spread across his chest. He didn’t understand why they felt the need to sleep directly on top of him. Wouldn’t they prefer to be by his side? Maybe curled up in the crook of his arm? The chinchillas – who immediately scattered– were perfectly happy to sleep cuddled around his head. Not on top of it, thank goodness!

  Grumbling quietly with irritation, he lifted first one cat, and then the other, off his chest, then carefully turned his head. Because of the way the chinchillas slept, he wasn’t able to move his head at night. Where did they go during the day? Weren’t they supposed to be nocturnal?

  Stretching his muscles, Kasim had to admit that, despite the feline and critter “blankets”, he’d slept better the past few nights than he had in…years! Of course, that might also be due to the fact that he didn’t have aides waking him up to inform him of whatever problem had arisen. He didn’t have endless stacks of reports to review, forcing late nights on him to keep up with everything going on in his kingdom. And he was falling asleep right after dark instead of attending interminable dinner parties or meeting with diplomats from all over the world.

  In fact, this was one of the best vacations he’d ever enjoyed!

  “Guys, I met someone!”

  The female voice, Rosalee’s voice, startled him back to the present.

  Instantly, his mind ripped into a fury. His woman had met someone? Who the hell had she met?

  “He is tall, dark, and incredibly handsome!”

  He heard Rosalee pouring oats into the horse’s bin. “Fox, how did…?” she paused and Kasim wondered if she had noticed that the oats were in a bin suspended higher up on the stable wall. The new mechanism made it easier for her to dump the oats into a bucket rather than lift the heavy bucket up. “Where in the world did that come from?” she whispered, but in the early morning quiet, Kasim could hear everything clearly. “This looks…who…?” He pictured her eyeing the animals suspiciously and had to clench his teeth to smother his amusement. “Did you guys see someone come in to install this?”

  He heard the top of the oat bin flip open and pictured her peering inside. “Wow! This is…so helpful! I love it!” He heard her test out the funnel-like mechanism, then her soft laughter. “Oh, this is going to be a huge help!” She filled Ruppert’s bucket with oats. “Ruppert, did James come over to install this thing yesterday while I was at work?”

  Kasim almost leapt to his feet, enraged at the thought of another man helping his woman. No man was going to assist Rosalee with anything! He was going to help her! Damn it, he was her man! Those blushes yesterday told him that she was attracted to him! Not some James asshole!

  “Huh! I’ll have to thank him the next time he stops by. This is really helpful.” He heard her footsteps again and knew she was changing out the water. “Anyway, as I was saying,” she began as he heard water splashing, “this guy is seriously hot! He’s so tall and…I don’t know what it is about him, but there’s something appealing. He’s nothing like James. James is wealthy, good-looking, and clearly knows it, you know what I mean? Ken is more…old fashioned, I guess. He’s chivalrous in ways that the men I’ve met in the past couldn’t even attempt to emulate.”

  Kasim relaxed, as he understood. She wasn’t attracted to James, whoever he is. Rosalee was attracted to him! Her comment about the mysterious ‘James’ being wealthy wasn’t important. He was certain that, once Rosalee got to know him, Kasim could overcome her objection to his wealth.

  “The way he touches me…” she sighed. “Fox, you’re probably the same way with Bessie, aren’t you? All soft and sweet, but firm. Like you’re protecting her, right?”

  Ruppert snorted and Rosalee giggled in reply. Kasim was enamored with the way Rosalee laughed. “Right. I know you’d like a ladylove of your own, Ruppert. As soon as I have enough money, we’ll see about getting you a girlfriend.”

  She clapped her hands. “I let Missy run this morning,” Rosalee continued, referring to the deaf dog. “But I’m worried about her guys. She’s been acting really weird, barking at nothing or tilting her head as if she was trying to see something. Last night, she kept running to the window and wouldn’t settle down. Do either of you know what’s going on with her?”

  Ruppert, the traitor, kicked his stall. Kasim was sure the ass was trying to warn Rosalee about his presence here. The beast was never getting a girlfriend, he vowed. The traitor could take cold showers like the rest of us.

  “You want out?” Rosalee asked. “But you haven’t finished your breakfast.”

  Another kick and Rosalee sighed. “Fine. Come on. You can head out into the field. I’m sure that Bessie is already waiting for Fox, so leave her alone, okay?”

  Ruppert snorted in disgust and moved towards the back of the stables. Kasim stiffened, waiting for the obnoxious donkey to reveal his presence. Instead, Ruppert made another noise, almost as if the animal were laughing at him, then Kasim heard the heavy hooves galloping across the packed dirt of the corral.

  “You are much more distinguished, aren’t you Fox?” Rosalee crooned. “You’re just like Ken,” she whispered now. “Ken wouldn’t run away from me. At least, in my dreams last night, he certainly didn’t. But I’ll spare you the details. They were a bit too steamy for your ears! And I know how much you and Bessie make out in the back pastures every day, so that’s saying a lot!”

  So, the horse’s name was Fox, huh? And Fox was in love with a horse in the next pasture? Interesting. But Kasim was more interested in the steamy dreams that were too erotic to share with a horse! Yeah, he’d very much like to hear more about that! He remembered several very nice dreams last night as well!

  “Just thinking about those dreams…it makes me want to find Ken, pin him down, and order him to do all of those wild things and…well, let’s just leave it at that,” she ended in a whisper.

  Damn it! Kasim was so turned on right now, just considering the possibilities. What had she dreamed about? What had he done to her in those dreams that was so intimate, she couldn’t share it with a horse?!

  For half a second, he thought about popping up and demanding an explanation. But he remembered that he was sleeping in her barn without permission. Talk about creepy! Not that Kasim was trying to stalk Rosalee, but it would seem like he was if she ever found out that he was sleeping in her barn, ignoring his responsibilities so that he could listen to her voice and enjoy her gentle smiles.

  No! What the hell was he thinking? Kasim wasn’t here to share innocent moments like this with Rosalee! He was hiding so that Dash and his team could discover who was trying to kill him. Again!

  Closing his eyes, he tried to remind himself of that. But with Rosalee only a few feet away, it was difficult to remember that someone was trying to murder him. She was sweet, innocent, and so fiery hot that it made his body burn for her!

  Killing. Assassination attempts, he thought again. He needed to call Dash. They needed a plan!

  And he needed money to buy a phone. Without a phone, he’d have to break into Rosalee’s house again to call Dash. He didn’t like doing that. It felt like an invasion of her privacy. Probably because it was an invasion of her privacy. He didn’t have an alternative. So he’d have to be fast.

  “I’m not taking your eggs this morning, guys,” he heard Rosalee telling the chickens. “I’m in too good of a mood to be pecked. So, you’ll just have to suffer a lumpy roost tonight, and maybe tomorrow, you’ll be more considerate when I collect the eggs.”

  With that, she headed off towards the house. Kasim stood up, the better to watch her leave. Well, he was watching her ass in the tight jeans. Admiring her ass in the tight jeans, he clarified!

  He was going to take her out to dinner, he decided after she disappeared into her house. There was a small pizza place down the street from the town square. Or maybe he could make a picnic! Yes, that would probably be better. They could have cheese and crackers, a good bottle of wine, and watch the sun set. They could talk and…if they were alone, he could kiss her. Yes, that would work out much better than a pizza place where the locals would wonder why their local beauty was out with a stranger. It would also lessen the possibility of running into this James fellow. Kasim had enough marks against him. He didn’t need some rich ass coming along, giving Rosalee the opportunity to compare and contrast the two men vying for her attentions.

  But he had some business to attend to first. As soon as he started towards the house, he could hear the dog barking inside. He unlocked the door with the wires he’d found in the barn and made a mental note to buy Rosalee a better door lock with any extra money he had left over after their picnic.

  Picking up the phone, he dialed Dash’s number. Yesterday, he’d had to go through the main lines for his friend’s security company, because Kasim couldn’t remember Dash’s phone number. All of his personal contacts were in his cell phone and he had no idea where that phone ended up. But yesterday, Dash had given him the direct line.

  “I hope this is you,” Dash said by way of a greeting.

  Kasim rolled his eyes. “It could be anyone, you idiot,” he shot back.

  Dash’s deep chuckle was a balm to Kasim’s irritation. “Right on time, as usual. So, here’s what I’ve found out. First of all, your uncle has taken control of the government.”

  Kasim waved that away. “That’s fine. I trust him.”

  “You shouldn’t,” Dash countered immediately.

  That caught his attention. Stiffening, he glanced out the window as his attention focused. “What have you discovered?” he asked, bracing himself for a betrayal.

  “It isn’t something that I’ve actually found. There’s no smoking gun,” Dash explained. “In fact, I can’t really explain why my spidey senses are tingling with this guy. It’s just a gut feeling that he’s behind everything. Possibly even what happened to you years ago.”

  Kasim’s mind whirled with the implications. Rubbing his forehead, he tried to think through all of the problems that this level of betrayal meant, both to him personally as well as the problems to his country. “My sister is still in Alistar!” he growled. “I need to get her out of there!”

  “I’m already on it,” Dash confirmed. “Last time, Taylee was in Switzerland in boarding school. But I know that she’s in the palace now and could be in danger. Here’s my plan,” he explained how he was going to get into the palace.

  When Dash was finished, Kasim threw back his head, laughing. “That sounds perfect! Do you think Marco can arrange it?”

  “Already talked to him. I have a guy flying out tonight. He’ll land on one of Marco’s ships and will get everything in place. Is there a number where I can contact you when everything is ready?”

  “Not yet,” he said, looking around at Rosalee’s tiny house. “I don’t have a cell phone yet.”

  “Tell me where you are and I’ll have one delivered to you.”

  “I can’t….”

  “Stop!” Dash interrupted. “I know you have that hang-up about accepting money or gifts from us. But this is absolutely necessary. You must see that! I’m typing a message to one of my agents now with the coordinates of the phone you’re talking on at the moment. I don’t need your address.”

  Kasim sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “You are one scary dude.”

  Dash merely grunted. “You have no idea. Talk to you later.”

  Kasim ended the call, then looked around at Rosalee’s house. It was small, but everything was tidy and organized. It was also warm, inviting one to sit down for a cup of tea or to talk while she cooked. There weren’t a lot of knick-knacks lying around, indicating that she wasn’t someone who enjoyed clutter. And somehow, he could actually smell her scent. It was soft and feminine, flowery and pretty. Just like the woman!

  However, he didn’t investigate further. He’d invaded her privacy enough. Kasim slipped out, ensuring that the door was locked again and the dog was still inside after slipping the dog a couple treats. Kasim also tested the dog with the hand signals he’d seen Rosalee give the dog and, sure enough, the animal followed every signal brilliantly.

  His next issue was clothes. He desperately needed a change of clothing. Thinking of the Rutherford guy, Kasim headed in the direction in which Fox had trotted off after his morning breakfast. If Fox was going to visit his ladylove who lived next door, it made sense to follow the horse.

  Sure enough, he found Fox and a pretty mare standing together by a fence line. They were happily munching on a bale of hay that someone had kindly spread out on both sides of the fence. Obviously, Bessie’s owner knew of the romance between her and Fox, and was willing to let the two of them hang out together.

  Points for the ass, as long as he stayed away from Rosalee.

  Looking off in the distance, Kasim spotted a house. An enormous house, actually. Not to mention, several other horses, a well-manicured stable, and even a pool. There was a pool house and another building off in the distance that might be a guesthouse or an office area.

  Kasim watched for several minutes, assessing the area before making a decision. It took him fifteen minutes to make his way around the perimeter of the house, then another five to get into the house. But as soon as he found the owner’s suite, he knew that he’d hit the jackpot. Whoever this “James” person was, he had good taste in clothing and was pretty close to Kasim’s size. He grabbed several shirts and jeans, sure that the man wouldn’t miss them. Then he left the same way he’d come in, with no one the wiser.

  Back at Rosalee’s stable, he walked down to the creek and took a freezing sponge bath, then pulled on the clean jeans and shirt. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but headed towards the road, determined to get to the hardware store as quickly as he could. Maybe he could stop by and grab a cup of coffee from Rosalee’s shop before he started work. He would like to see her smile. It would be a lovely way to start his morning.

  Rosalee watched as the man she’d been thinking about almost non-stop since yesterday entered the coffee shop. He literally took her breath away in dark jeans and a tan shirt, everything tucked into the waistband of his jeans to reveal a lean waist and flat stomach. His shoulders…goodness those shoulders were a work of art!

  “Good morning,” he said with an easy smile.

  Rosalee felt her cheeks turn that embarrassing pink again, but she smiled up at him regardless. “Good morning. You look fresh this morning!”

  One of those dark eyebrows lifted and she realized what she’d said. “ I didn’t mean that in a derogatory way!” she gasped. “I just meant that…I mean…!”

  He smiled and touched her hand with a finger. “I understood, Rosalee,” he told her softly. “You look lovely this morning, too.”

  “Oh!” And her blush intensified. This was humiliating. “Well…um…what can I get you today?”

  “Just a cup of coffee,” he told her.

  “No cream or sugar? How about a dash of chocolate syrup?” she offered.

  He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m afraid I’m one of those boring people who prefers my coffee straight.”

  She twisted her lips, but then smiled again. “I don’t suppose that you’d be interested in one of my chocolate bombs?”

  He blinked at her and cocked a quizzical eyebrow. “What is a…chocolate bomb?” he asked.

  She pointed to the case where large orbs of milk and dark chocolate were on display. “I fill up a big cup with hot milk, then the customer puts one of those in. The hot milk melts the chocolate, revealing more flavors inside the chocolate. I have straight chocolate, mint, raspberry, and white chocolate. During October, I have pumpkin spice chocolate bombs and during February, I mix up some licorice chocolate bombs.” She swiped the counter with a cotton cloth. “I haven’t figured out a good recipe for July 4th, but I’m thinking something spicy. Like a firework.”

  He chuckled. “That’s brilliant! It certainly differentiates your coffee shops from the rest.”