So what was bothering him? And could that one mining request have something to do with his current kidnapping? The two seemed completely unrelated. Why would someone who wanted to mine in Skyla do something so drastic as kidnap him? It would make more sense to kidnap the head of his Department of Minerals and Mining.
And yet, something was warning him that the two issues were related. Yesterday, when they were trying to get out of the “tree-house”, he hadn’t thought anything about the latest mining request. But now that he was relatively safe and Calista was sleeping in a soft bed where he could see her, could know that she was safe and secure…his mind now had the capacity to think through the details. Yes, something about that request bothered him
He just needed to discover the connection, if there was one. He could just be imagining a connection. Hell, he wasn’t even imagining anything in particular. It was just a gut feeling that the two were connected.
He’d learned to pay attention to his gut. It was never wrong.
Tossing down the rest of his scotch, he turned and looked at Calista, something shifting inside of his chest. She was…so different than what he’d assumed. She was so much…more!
Turning with a sigh, he put his glass down on the dresser and moved into the bathroom. He was definitely too tired to figure this out right now. He needed sleep and to eat some food before he could think properly. And perhaps spend several days alone with Calista, where neither of them got out of bed as they explored each other without all of the restrictions of real life.
He finished drying off and wrapped the towel around his waist. Rubbing a hand over his face, he reached for the razor provided by the resort but…then he set it down. Goran remembered Calista’s comments about his features. What the hell had she said? That he’d looked effeminate? No, her words hadn’t gone that far. She’d merely said that she’d thought he lacked testosterone.
Hell, it was the opposite, he thought as he walked out of the bathroom. He took one of the throw blankets and laid it over her legs. The blanket covered her all the way up to her waist. Adjusting the air conditioning down a couple more degrees, he then went around and turned off all of the lights. Tossing the towel over onto one of the chairs, he moved to the opposite side of the bed and slipped under the covers. Pulling Calista closer. Even after what they’d done at the waterfall earlier today, Goran knew that Calista wasn’t ready for a truly intimate relationship quite yet. He’d let her sleep on top of the covers while he slept under the sheet. If she woke up in the middle of the night, the material separating them would reassure her that he had no intention of taking advantage of her while she slept.
That wasn’t entirely true, he thought as he adjusted her body so that she was draped more completely over his, smiling into the darkness when she snuggled even closer. Hell, his entire body, mind and soul were ready with numerous evil intentions. Okay, maybe not evil as much as naughty. Salacious. Lascivious intentions!
Sighing, he pushed all of those thoughts from his mind. Or, he tried to at least. Where Calista was concerned, he was starting to realize that pushing those thoughts from his mind was an exercise in futility. They came back too quickly. Too easily.
How his world had changed in the past two days! He’d gone from needing to extricate himself from his engagement to this woman, to needing to keep her close.
Ned ended the call and turned, furious at the lack of news. “How the hell did they escape?” he muttered, then walked over to his laptop. He flipped through several news websites. “Nothing!” There was no news about an abduction, but also no news about the leader of Skyla coming back.
He flipped over to a different page, one that contained the sheik’s personal schedule. Getting this information had required massive bribes to several individuals, but the details had been well worth the cost. Unfortunately, the Sheik of Skyla didn’t have any public appearances scheduled for today.
Since he hadn’t heard from his guards in Costa Rica, and the sheik hadn’t arrived back home…? That wasn’t good, Ned thought. He’d counted on his team of highly trained men to keep the sheik and his fiancée tied up and sedated. But after twenty-four hours without any updates, Ned had to conclude that something had gone wrong.
He made another call. “I need you to go out to the coordinates I’m going to send to you,” he told the person who answered the call. “Once you get there, call me back and tell me what you find.”
Ned stuffed his phone back into his pocket, then headed out of his tent. He had work to do. That crap mineral that the old man wanted so badly wasn’t going to miraculously sift itself out of the dirt and sand and pop into the trucks.
Time to start digging!