Fortune Favors by Sean Ellis Page A

before. He reached out with a finger, caressing the bruise gently. “You almost got me killed. Twice.”
    “Believe it or not, you almost got me killed twice, too.”
    “Is that supposed to make me trust you?” He could not entirely mask the bitterness in his tone. “You betrayed me to Jin.”
    “He caught me as I was taking the sapphire. Nick, I had to play along and hope for the best. If he had suspected that I was trying to escape, he would have killed me on the spot.”
    “It didn't look that way from where I was standing...in the tiger pit.”
    “I'm an actress, Nick. It's what I do.”
    “You were awfully convincing.” He sighed, his eyes flashing back to meet hers. “You’re pretty convincing right now. Is this just an act?”
    She took a step forward, close enough that he could almost feel her body heat radiating against his skin. “Am I convincing enough?”
    Kismet felt her hand take his. He drew back as if her touch was venomous, but her eyes did not waver. “Alex told me that I took your stateroom. I’m willing to share.”
    “What the hell do you want from me?” he repeated, his voice a dry rasp.
    She extended a finger, caressing his cheek as he had hers a few moments before. Her eyes held his, their intensity forcing him to look away. “Can't you believe that this is what I want?”
    Her mouth drew close to his, and though every fiber of his conscience screamed that this was wrong, when her lips touched his, he yielded. The kiss filled his mouth with a flavor of sweet tobacco; a lusty fragrance that he drank greedily. His hands moved involuntarily to pull her close, against his body.
    “I'll probably regret this tomorrow,” he whispered, his voice husky with rising passion.
    “Only if you refuse.”
     
    * * *
     
    From the end of the corridor, Alex Higgins watched as Elisabeth and Kismet entered the stateroom, arm in arm. The expression on his face was unreadable, but his eyes remained fixed on the closed portal for a long time. After several minutes, he turned away, entered his own stateroom, and firmly closed the door.
    A second pair of eyes, unseen by Higgins was also watching; watching Kismet and Elisabeth lost in a strange animal passion for each other, and watching Higgins wage a conflict of friendship and jealousy. A faint smile crossed the face of the watcher, the seed of a plan, beginning to germinate.
     
    * * *
     
    Their lovemaking was frenzied; as if, by the ferocity of their passion, they might exorcise the demons that had haunted them from the moment he had appeared in Elisabeth's window. Their fire for each other burned hot, a vain attempt to cauterize the open wound of their mutual distrust; each struggling to give the other a fulfillment that neither really desired. In the end, their mutual volcanic release satisfied a physical craving, but only exacerbated the deeper emotional hurts.
    In the aftermath, Kismet held her in his arms; afraid to pull away, but feeling acutely the discomfort of having taken something he neither deserved nor wanted. As he gazed at Elisabeth's beautiful face, he couldn’t help but feel pity for her. At the same time, he could not quell the deep-seated embers of loathing that smoldered just beneath the surface.
    His inner turmoil quickly subsided as he watched the gentle rise and fall of her breasts; in repose, she seemed so innocent that he felt a pang of self-recrimination. There was so much he felt he needed to say to her, yet he could not articulate a single syllable.
    After a long while, her eyelids fluttered open. She was barely visible in the silvery moonlight that flooded through the porthole. Her smile surprised him; it seemed so genuine that he found himself wanting to apologize for having ever doubted her. He gazed into her eyes, and for a long silent moment they seemed to be daring each other to speak.
    Kismet's lips parted, the beginning of a thought taking shape on his tongue. Then, he saw something that caused him to