McKinnon's Royal Mission Read online

  He recognized her instantly. Even if he hadn’t seen her pictures, he would have known who she was—there was just something in the way she carried herself. Regal. Not superior. Not conceited. Just...regal. And composed, as if she knew the eyes of the world were always upon her. She was wearing a kelly green skirted suit that shrieked money. Her long, honey-brown hair was pulled back into a soft chignon at her nape, and there was a small green hat with a curled brim perched atop her wavy locks. She looked complete to a shade and exactly what she was—the kind of woman the paparazzi buzzed around for a very good reason.

  There weren’t any paparazzi here—this area of the airport had been cordoned off, ensuring the princess’s safe and inconspicuous arrival—but Trace made one last check of their surroundings to be sure. The king of Zakhar had made that condition quite plain, despite being couched in diplomatic terms, and the State Department had been quick to agree. Trace wasted a few seconds hoping the princess maintained her anonymity—it would make the job of guarding her so much easier if the general public and the press had no idea who she was. Not to mention anyone who out-and-out wished her harm.

  Then the princess clutched the handrail for a moment to steady herself, and Trace took a step forward, wondering if she was just about to tumble down the stairs. The faint smile remained plastered on her face, but she was deathly white beneath her delicate, understated makeup. He was a second away from making a dash up the stairway to catch her if she fell when she pulled herself together with iron determination, pressed her lips together in a firm line and descended the stairway with her chin tilted up, her hand only lightly touching the rail. One of her bodyguards moved forward to take her arm on the second to last step, but she said something to him in Zakharan. Her voice was clear and light, but cold, and it carried.

  “Do not touch me—I do not need your help,” Trace translated easily. The bodyguard stiffened and stepped back, freeing her arm. She turned abruptly from him toward the US State Department’s representative, who had moved forward to greet her.

  Bitch.

  The word popped into Trace’s head, and he couldn’t erase it. Something about the cold detachment in her voice was all too familiar—it reminded him of the way his grandparents had always spoken to him, the morally outraged grandparents who’d raised their unwanted bastard grandson from a sense of duty, not a sense of love. The grandparents he hadn’t seen since the day he joined the US Marine Corps when he turned eighteen. The grandparents who’d been eager to see Trace walking out their door, never to shame their doorstep again.

  Now his heart went out to the young man who had only been trying to help, but who had been cut off at the knees by a touch-me-not princess. A whole year, he thought grimly. I have to spend a whole year guarding this green-eyed bitch?

  The princess was smiling graciously now, speaking with the State Department representative in English that held only the barest hint of an accent. Trace remembered from her dossier she spoke five languages fluently—one fewer than he did—and had a PhD in mathematics, but he was no longer impressed by her intelligence. Brains, but no heart. I’ll take heart over brains every time.

  “Your Serene Highness, may I introduce Alec Jones and Liam Jones,” the State Department representative said, turning to present to the princess the men who would be guarding her during her stay in Colorado. “And Trace McKinnon. He’s the head of the team, and will be your primary bodyguard.”

  “I am pleased to make your acquaintance,” the princess said with a lovely smile. She shook each man’s hand. The Jones brothers, trained as they were in diplomacy, said all the right things. But when she offered her hand to Trace he looked down at her, remembering how she had withered one of her Zakharian bodyguards with a few carefully chosen words. She won’t wither me.

  He smiled and shook her hand, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Princess,” he said softly. The insulting inflection was so subtle the State Department representative didn’t catch it, but the Jones brothers did, and they both shot sharp glances at Trace. He didn’t care about that. All he cared about in that instant was whether or not the princess got the message. She did. She had been pale before, but Trace could have sworn she went a shade whiter. Her lovely smile faded and her eyes took on a guarded expression.

  “Mr. McKinnon,” she said in a voice that never wavered, that never betrayed what he knew she must be thinking. “I have been told you once spent six months guarding the US Embassy in my country. I would enjoy talking with you about that experience sometime.”

  How the hell does she know that? he wondered in shock. He glanced at the State Department representative who shook her head slightly, indicating that information hadn’t come from them. He recovered quickly. “Special Agent McKinnon,” he corrected her. “And I think you’ll find Colorado reminds you a lot of Zakhar,” he said smoothly. “Especially the mountains.”

  She nodded and turned toward the Rockies, looming smoke blue and haze purple in the distance. When her gaze returned to Trace’s face, her smile returned, too. “That is one reason I chose to teach at the University of Colorado. I hope to soon feel at home here.”

  More people had deplaned during the introductions, including two more men Trace tagged as part of the princess’s security detail, and now there was a sizeable retinue gathered around the princess, including the four men he’d originally pigeonholed as bodyguards. Six altogether, Trace noted approvingly. More than enough. But better too many than too few.

  “This way, Your Serene Highness,” the State Department representative said, indicating several limousines that had discreetly pulled up behind them.

  The princess began walking toward the first limousine in the line, her low heels clicking faintly on the concrete tarmac, but Trace steered her firmly to the second one. “No, Princess,” he said. “It will be safer for you this way. One of my team will ride in the car in front, and the other will ride in the car behind. You’ll ride in here, with me.”

  She turned startled eyes on him, and Trace found himself falling into those deep, green depths. “I did not realize,” she said, for his ears only. “Am I really in such danger here?”

  Trace shook his head. “After today there will only be one bodyguard at a time. Other than your Zakharian bodyguards, that is. But until we get you settled in and establish a routine, I’d feel better if we play it safe.”

  She wrinkled her brow. “Play it safe?” she asked. “I am sorry, but I...”

  “Don’t take any unnecessary risks,” he explained. “Take extra precautions.”

  “Oh.” A self-deprecating smile flitted across her face. “Thank you for explaining. My English is—”

  “Your English is probably better than mine,” he replied. “Unless you’re native born, though, a language’s idioms can be difficult to master.”

  “True,” she said, with a smile that invited understanding.

  But Trace wasn’t feeling particularly understanding at the moment. He held the door open for her. “If you please, Princess.”

  Her eyes sought his, and he could see the question she wouldn’t voice engendered by the subtle insult embodied in that one word. What have I done to you?

  He couldn’t tell her he’d heard her cruel words earlier, not without giving away he understood Zakharan. And that would defeat half his purpose in guarding her. I’d better tone it down, he told himself. No matter what I think of her personally, I’ve got a job to do.

  When she was seated inside, he turned to the bodyguard who had tried to help her earlier. “If you want to sit in the front with the driver, go ahead. I’m going to ride shotgun.” And he slid into the seat beside the princess.

  The cavalcade had already begun before the princess asked him, “Ride shotgun?”

  Trace chuckled at the innocently curious note in her voice. He couldn’t help himself. “It actually means sitting beside the driver of a veh
icle, providing armed protection. Like me, now. You’re not driving, but I’m still sitting beside you, armed and ready to do whatever’s necessary to protect you.”

  She said something under her breath he had to strain to hear. “Even though you do not like me.”

  “Yeah,” he said, “even though.” Her head snapped up, as if she was surprised he’d heard her. Or surprised he openly acknowledged his dislike.

  She stared at him for a moment, her green eyes widening. Then she drew a deep breath and said, “I think we have somehow started incorrectly.” There was honest contrition in her face. “If I have offended you in some way, I apologize.”

  Trace couldn’t hide his surprise. An apology? From her? That didn’t jibe with her insulting words earlier to her Zakharian bodyguard. But he couldn’t have misunderstood. It was a knack he had with regard to languages. Just as he had been able to soak up the Afghani language during his tour of duty there, not to mention the various tribal dialects that confused the hell out of most of his fellow soldiers, it hadn’t taken him more than three months to master the rudiments of the Zakharian language. And by the time he’d left Zakhar three months later he was speaking the language like a native.

  No, he couldn’t have misunderstood her. But maybe, just maybe, there was an explanation. It’s not like me to jump to conclusions, he thought. Why did I? He had a suspicion, but he didn’t want to admit it. Especially not with the effect those green eyes were having on him. Safer to dislike her. But it was a tenuous safety at best.

  * * *

  The cavalcade drove through the iron gates of the palatial estate the king of Zakhar had purchased in the Boulder foothills and furnished for his sister’s year-long stay. Even though Trace had been here weeks earlier checking out the security measures and having new ones installed, he still couldn’t help mentally whistling through his teeth at the size and grandeur. But now that he’d seen the number of people accompanying the princess he realized the estate wasn’t too big—not if it had to accommodate a small army.

  Trace had previously gone through every room in the house in minute detail, especially the bedrooms, and in his mind he’d already assigned rooms to the princess and the key personnel he knew were accompanying her. But the princess had other ideas, and wasn’t shy in the least about expressing her opinions.

  “No,” she said immediately when he showed her to the large, sumptuous bedroom he’d picked out for her.

  “Why not?” Trace dug in his heels. Not only was this the largest bedroom, it was the most easily defensible, situated as it was on the east side of the house with a vast expanse of open lawn in front of the long windows, no cover for anyone who might make it past the iron gates.

  “I did not come to Boulder to look at grass,” she said firmly. “No matter how well kept. I wish to see the mountains from my bedroom window.”

  She wandered through the house, oblivious not only to the beehive of activity around her, but also to Trace following behind her like a tall, grumpy shadow. She peered into room after room, commenting favorably or unfavorably on each of them in her native language, and once or twice Trace was hard put not to respond. But he knew she was talking to herself, not to him. And besides, she wasn’t to know he understood.

  “This one,” she said finally in English, surprising him yet again. The bedroom was neither the largest nor the most opulent, although it had its own attached sitting room and luxurious bath. But when he joined her at the window from which she’d drawn back the drapes he realized why she’d picked it.

  The Rockies soared in majestic wonder—layer upon snow-capped layer of blue and purple mountains filling the horizon. All at once Trace remembered Zakhar’s capital city, Drago, nestled deep in a mountain valley surrounded by towering, jagged peaks, and the princess’s words at the airport, I hope to soon feel at home here.

  She turned abruptly, not realizing how close he was behind her, and bumped into him. “Excuse me,” she said, looking up at him with a faint smile. But Trace didn’t back away. The expression on her face in the seconds before she ran into him held him mesmerized. He knew that expression. Knew the emotions it sprang from. He just never expected to see it on the face of a princess.

  Loneliness.

  Why the hell should she feel lonely? It’s not as if she has no one here with her from home—she brought a bevy of people with her. Every one of them here exclusively to see to her comfort and protection. Just like me.

  He stared into her face. Her smile faded and her green eyes widened. And Trace could have sworn the delicate, expensive perfume she wore increased its potency as her pulse points heated up. Something tugged at him again, something he hadn’t felt in years. Not just desire. Not just passion.

  He wanted to run the tips of his fingers along the curve of her cheek and banish the loneliness from her eyes. He wanted to pull the clip from her golden brown hair and have it spill over his hands in a heavy wave, then wind it about his throat, binding them together. And he wanted to draw her into the shelter of his arms and tell her...

  Tell her what?

  His face hardened in rejection of his unprofessional reaction to her and he backed away, muttering a soft imprecation under his breath. Then he turned and abruptly strode out. But not before he saw an expression in her eyes that stabbed through him. An expression he knew would keep him awake that night—and many nights to come—trying to figure it out. An expression so markedly different from the avid one he’d seen in the eyes of countless women over the years that he would never be able to erase it...or her...from his mind.

  She was attracted to him. And it surprised the hell out of her. But that wasn’t what tore at his heart. That wasn’t what would haunt his nights. It was her quiet expectation—and acceptance—of his rejection that told Trace more than words just how little she expected from the men in her life. Princess or no princess, no one as young and lovely as she was, no one with her impressive string of accomplishments and with her whole life ahead of her should feel that way. Ever.

  Chapter 2

  Mara watched Special Agent McKinnon go, watched him walk away from her as she had expected. Why should he be any different? she thought. But she was still surprised deep down...and that surprised her. He had seemed so unique, so different from all the men she knew, men who either treated her with kid gloves and a stultifying protocol, or the ones she had always studiously avoided—men who looked at her with conquest in their eyes, wondering what it would be like to bed a princess.

  Trace McKinnon had done neither. He had reminded her of her brother, Andre. No, that is not correct, she told herself with a little shake of her head, wondering why her first instinct was to liken Special Agent McKinnon to her beloved brother when they were nothing alike. Not in physical appearance, and not in their attitudes toward her.

  Andre had always called her dernya as far back as she could remember, which meant “little treasure” in Zakharan. That had been his pet name for her ever since childhood, because, he said, she was the most precious gift he’d ever received. She’d always tried in word and deed to live up to Andre’s estimation of her, even though it had sometimes meant sacrifices few people would have understood. Andre had never insulted her the way Special Agent McKinnon had, slicing through her defenses with that one word, Princess. But the protective air, the way he’d taken charge, yes, that was Andre. And she knew that despite how Special Agent McKinnon felt about her she was safe with him.

  But there was something more. Just a flicker— perhaps she had imagined it—but for a few seconds she thought his eyes had softened as they gazed at her. Softened, and warmed. Not the way some men looked at her with avarice or sexual conquest in their minds, as if she were a prize to be won. No, his eyes had seemed to plumb the depths of her lonely soul. As if he understood loneliness. As if they shared some special bond. Then he had cursed under his breath and walked away, and the spell had
been broken.

  Who are you, Trace McKinnon? she wondered. What have you seen in life that makes you the man you are?

  She remembered the dossier on him that her country’s secret intelligence service had prepared when they’d been told who would be guarding her during her stay in the United States. There had been dossiers on all three men, but Trace McKinnon’s had been the one that intrigued her right from the start.

  Was it just his incredibly handsome face and honed physique that had caught her attention? She didn’t think so—she wasn’t that susceptible to a handsome face, no matter what kind of body went with it. She’d encountered her share of physically attractive men before, and they’d all left her cold. The other two US agents assigned to guard her were attractive men, too, with tall, reassuringly muscular builds and watchful eyes that told her they took their jobs as seriously as Special Agent McKinnon did.

  No, it wasn’t just the way he looked. And anyway, his pictures didn’t do him justice. The pictures hadn’t prepared her for the sledgehammer impact to her senses when his large, masculine hand had engulfed hers, and those bluer-than-blue eyes had stared down at her from a tanned face that could have been carved by Michelangelo. And his slightly shaggy dark hair hadn’t detracted from that perfection. It merely added just the right touch of dangerous masculinity, which kept him from being too perfect.

  She was tall for a woman, but next to him she didn’t feel tall, she felt just right somehow. As if she would fit into the protective curve of his shoulder without the slightest need for adjustment. As if she belonged there, in his arms.

  And for the first time in her life she knew what it meant to be a woman, understood why nature had designed men to be hard where women were soft. For the first time she had met a man who made her realize something vital was missing from her life. Even though she’d still been recovering from the motion sickness that always overwhelmed her whenever she flew despite the numerous medications doctors had prescribed—none of which really worked for her except by knocking her out, and that she refused to allow—even though she’d still been a little shaky, something deep inside her had responded to his blatant masculinity and those gorgeous blue eyes. Her breath had caught in her throat and her heartbeat had stuttered.