"Tell me about it." Luke walked over and pounded on the door himself. "If you don't quit banging on the door, I'm going to bang your heads together when I open it. You will be patient."
Sarah laughed nervously at his attempt to command the situation, but it held no humor. "You know you're wasting your time, right? Your father will have told them to find you at all costs."
"And drag me home, kicking and screaming like a schoolboy. Yes, I know."
"Hey, don't get snippy with me. It's your family."
He pulled her to him and kissed her quiet. "I don't want you to leave like this."
She inhaled his scent. That sexy, spicy, after-sex smell that she knew so well. "Leave like what?"
"Snarky with me. We both knew this was a possibility. Unfortunately, we were right."
"I know," she sighed. "And I don't blame you. It just sucks." She kissed him again. "I better go before they break the door down."
He walked her to the window. "At least they quit pounding." He peered out the glass French doors. "It doesn't seem like they're watching the balcony."
The bonus was they wouldn't be able to see her go outontothe balcony. "Somehow, I doubt it's that easy. I'm going to hang out right outside the doors for a minute until I make sure I have a clear shot. Hopefully once they're in the room, they'll call off any other watchdogs."
"What if they check out there?" Luke was as nervous as she was, because his question was as lame as the one she had asked.
She cupped his face. Sometimes royalty could be dense. "Make sure they don't. It's a big balcony with big plants. I can keep myself pretty well concealed for at least a little bit."
"I'll leave the door open to throw them off." He kissed her before pushing her away. "Go. I'll contact you when it's safe to see you again."
Sarah took one last moment to gaze at her mate. Deep in the pit of her stomach, she knew that things would never be easy for them again. After a year of clandestine meetings and long weekends, their luck had run out. Luke had spent one night too long away from his castle, and his father the king was now clamping down.
She stayed low as she went out onto the open balcony that overlooked the ocean. She crouched in the corner behind a huge potted Sago palm tree and listened through the door that Luke propped open. Hopefully he was right, and they didn't know who she was.
Which would mean they didn't know she was a dragon.
She scanned the beach below to see if anyone was paying particular attention to the top of the building. From her vantage point, it didn't seem that anyone was watching. Thankfully it was a more secluded section of beach, so while there were sunbathers, there were also areas where she could land after shifting into a dragon without being seen. There was no way she was staying in the hotel with the king's men around, even if she was unknown.
"How dare you treat me as you would a servant?"
Luke's voice travelled out the door. Her shoulders drooped. Such a contrast to the soft, sexy sounds he had been making right before the phone call from the hotel lobby to make them aware of the unwanted guests. Things could have been way worse if they hadn't had those few minutes warning before the first thuds on the door.
A voice sounded from the living room. "Your father has tasked us with bringing you home, along with any persons we found with you."
"Do you see anyone else here?"
Sarah squeezed into a tight ball as she heard footsteps approaching. "Why is the door open?"
"Do you not see the beautiful ocean and hear the pounding waves on the beach? Can you not feel that breeze?" Sarah smiled to herself at the performance that Luke was putting on. "When I'm trying to relax, there is no better therapy. Until you buffoons ruined it for me."
"Your father ordered us--"
"For what?" Luke interrupted. "What possible concern can the old man have with me being at the beach? And to have me followed is preposterous."
"We did as we were commanded to do by our king."
"And when I tell him how you have harassed me when obviously there is no cause?"
"You still need to return to the Sacred Gardens with us."
"No shit. You've already ruined my retreat anyhow. There's no sense in me staying here any longer."
The door to the balcony closed, and Sarah heard the lock click into place. The voices became muffled to the point that she could no longer understand what was being said. After a few minutes, she carefully stood and peered over the railing. When she didn't see anyone, she jumped and shifted in mid-air. Instead of heading to an uninhabited area on the beach, though, she rose high into the clouds and headed home.
