Mackenzie's Pleasure by Linda Howard

Author:Linda Howard [Howard, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781597221641
Google: ZFs8AgAACAAJ
Publisher: Wheeler Pub Incorporated
Published: 2006-03-14T13:00:00+00:00

Three days later, she stood in her father’s office with her chin high and her eyes colder than he’d ever seen them. “You told Admiral Lindley to block my requests,” she accused.

The ambassador sighed. He removed his reading glasses and carefully placed them on the inlaid walnut desk. “Barrie, you know I’ve denied you very little that you’ve asked for, but you’re being unreasonable about this man. You know that he’s recovering, and that’s all you need to know. What point would there be in rushing to his bedside? Some tabloid might find out about it, and then your ordeal would be plastered in sleazy newspapers all over the world. Is that what you want?”

“My ordeal?” she echoed. “My ordeal? What about his? He nearly died! That’s assuming Admiral Lindley told me the truth, and he really is still alive!”

“Of course he is. I only asked Joshua to block any inquiries you made about his location.” He unfolded his tall form from the chair and came around to lean against the desk and take her resistant hands in his. “Barrie, give yourself time to get over the trauma. I know you’ve invested this…this guerrilla fighter with all sorts of heroic characteristics, and that’s only normal. After a while, when you’ve regained your perspective, you’ll be glad you didn’t embarrass yourself by chasing after him.”

It was almost impossible to contain the volcanic fury rising in her. Nobody was listening; no one wanted to listen. They kept going on and on about her ordeal, how she would heal in time, until she wanted to pull her hair out. She had insisted over and over that she hadn’t been raped, but she had fiercely refused to be examined by a doctor, which of course had only fueled speculation that the kidnappers had indeed raped her. But she’d known her body bore the marks of Zane’s lovemaking, marks and traces that were precious and private, for no one else’s eyes. Everyone was treating her as if she was made of crystal, carefully not mentioning the kidnapping, until she thought she would go mad.

She wanted to see Zane. That was all. Just see him, assure herself that he would be all right. But when she’d asked one of the Marine officers stationed at the embassy to make some inquiries about Zane, it was Admiral Lindley who had gotten back to her instead of the captain.

The dignified, distinguished admiral had come to the ambassador’s private quarters less than an hour before. Barrie hadn’t yet returned to her minor job in the embassy, feeling that she couldn’t keep her mind on paperwork, so she had received the admiral in the beautifully appointed parlor.

After polite conversation about her health and the weather, the admiral came to the point of his visit. “You’ve been making some inquiries about Zane Mackenzie,” he said kindly. “I’ve kept abreast of his condition, and I can tell you now with complete confidence that he’ll fully recover. The ship’s surgeon was able to stop the bleeding, and it wasn’t necessary to remove his spleen.

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