The blonde, well-muscled frame of the captain would have drawn the admiration of many of the local beach bunnies if he had chosen to do his rowing later in the morning. But as the man went back to the wooden steps leading from the beach up to a palatial estate, he sighed and grabbed a white terry-cloth robe from the railing. After using the robe to towel off his face and briskly remove the excess moisture from his honey-colored locks, the man threw the robe around his shoulders and grabbed hold of the railing to pull himself up the steps.

{Blood h*ll, you’re out of shape, old man. That’s what 15 months in corporate America will do for you.} As Jax walked slowly across the posh patio of the Malibu beach house, he stopped briefly at a white wrought-iron table to pour himself to a glass of orange juice. Draining the contents greedily, he looked back at the glassy ocean and took a deep breath. {This is the weather I love. A cool breeze from the ocean. No humidity. Warm sunshine.} His thoughts began to stray to mornings spent on the same patio, making love on a large chaise lounge, a fire in the outside mantle rivaling the fire that was being created between Jax and a petite brunette.

As he clutched the glass a little too tightly and the facets cut into his palm, it brought him back to reality and he shook his head, spraying tiny droplets across the concrete. He grabbed another fluffy towel from the table and opened the glass sliding door to go inside the house.

He was still toweling his hair when he heard the sound of the television coming from the living room of the house. {Jax, when will you learn that having noise in every room still won’t take away the loneliness?} He went to turn it off before he headed for his morning shower, but stopped cold when he saw the pictures on the screen.

The television was tuned to CNN, a force of habit from the old days. Morbid curiosity drew Jax closer to the set and he perched on the arm of a chair, still rubbing his face with the towel, as the serious voice of Bernard Kalb announced the news on the hour.

"Our lead story this morning continues to be the political unrest in the tiny Southeast Asian country of Drakar." The screen dissolved from a picture of the anchor to pictures of unruly mobs storming a large, stucco wall. "The royal family of Drakar has been forced to take refuge in the palace as warring political factions struggle for control. The downfall of the ruling family is almost certain, although a large portion of the armed forces still remains loyal to crown prince Rashid."

Jax’s mouth became a grim line as he lowered the towel to his lap. "The American, English, and Canadian embassies have all closed within the past 24 hours. The American State Department released a statement this morning that revealed that any Americans still in the country had been evacuated." The picture again dissolved back to the anchor. "Although Drakar is a very small country, it has been of critical importance in the past to several American businesses with branches located there, the largest being Barrett Industries. However, Harlan Barrett confirmed this morning that all of his employees in the Drakarian capital of Muwai had been evacuated."

Jax slapped the towel against his thigh. {Stupid b*stard. You’re smart enough to pull your employees out, but you won’t make your daughter leave her royal megalomaniac fiancé.}

Jax rose quickly from the chair and flipped a switch to shut off the television. He took a deep breath. {It’s over, Jax. She ended it 18 months ago and moved on with her life. You should do the same.} Grimacing at the truth that was so hard for him to accept, Jax turned from the living room and made his way up to his bedroom and a shower.

As he walked into the large, airy room with one solid wall of glass facing the ocean, his gaze was drawn to the bed. Images began to flood his mind again. He and Brenda, making love to the sounds of the ocean. Brenda, smiling at him sexily from beneath the navy satin cover sheet. As he shed the robe and stomped into the shower, more mental pictures refused to shut themselves off as easily as the television had. The showers they had shared. The long, luxurious bubble baths Brenda used to enjoy, and the sweet lovemaking when he surprised her and scooped her out of the tub. His housekeeper would shake her finger at him for days when she had to unexpectedly change the bed, finding the sheets soaked with the scent of lavender and remnants of bath oil.

By the time Jax had finished his shower, he had had to adjust the temperature controls to icy cold. He strode nude into the bedroom, pausing long enough to grab some sweat pants out of a dresser drawer. As he put them on and still smelled the faint hint of lavender from the pomade Brenda had insisting on putting in all the drawers, Jax’s mind was made up. He slid to the head of the bed and began punching numbers furiously into the phone. He tried to control his breathing as he listened to two rings at the other end.

"World Security Bureau, may I help you?" Jax frowned. He didn’t recognize the voice. Had it really been that long?

"Robert Scorpio, please."

"I’m sorry, sir," the voice said with practiced precision. "Mr. Scorpio isn’t accepting calls this morning. Can I transfer you to some other…."

"Who is this?"

"Excuse me, sir?" The voice sounded flustered. {Of course she is. That’s not one of the questions she’s been trained to answer.}

"You’re new, aren’t you?" Jax sighed in frustration. As she sputtered on the other end, trying to come up with the correct answer that wouldn’t get her fired, Jax interrupted her. "Just tell Robert that Jax is on the line. He’ll take my call."

Jax didn’t realize he was gripping the phone that tightly until his fingernails began cutting into his palm. As he tried to relax, he heard a series of electronic blips and finally a loud click. "Jasper Jacks, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Jax could practically hear Robert smiling, but he certainly wasn’t in the mood to shoot the breeze with his former employer. "Cut the cr*p, Scorpio. Which one of your incompetent operatives let Harlan Barrett pay him off and let Brenda stay in Drakar?"

"Isn’t it a little early in the morning out there for you to be seeing conspiracies behind every bush, Jax?" Robert’s voice took on the same tension as Jax’s. "Brenda Barrett may be an American citizen on foreign soil….."

"…..soil that’s getting ready to explode any minute," Jax added.

"…..in a potentially volatile atmosphere," Robert continued, clearly annoyed. "But she’s also free, white, and over 21, if you’ll pardon the cliché, and if she’s made up her mind to marry the crown prince of Drakar, that’s between her and Harlan and her future husband."

"Robert, you know that Brenda doesn’t really love that blue-blooded, opportunistic @sshole," Jax argued. "She’s only doing this on the rebound. She doesn’t realize that His Royal Highness will probably use her for her connections to the States and her rich daddy. Then, he’ll give her a number in his harem and do her a favor and let her have sex with him every other Tuesday night."

Robert inhaled, frustration obvious in his tone. "Jax, even if Brenda Barrett was being held against her will in Drakar, and even if her old man got down on bended knee and *begged* us to get her out, we just don’t have anyone free to handle it at the moment." Robert paused as Jax uttered silent obscenities. "Although I guess I could spring Mac from the case he’s been working on ……."

"Mac! Bloody h*ll, Robert, I want Brenda out of there, but not in a body bag!" Jax tried to calm himself a little. "I realize that Mac is your brother, but even *you* have to admit that Mac knows squat about the lay of the land in Drakar."

"We both also know that there’s only *one* operative who is an expert on Drakar, Jax," Robert said sarcastically. "And he quit the bureau 18 months ago. I hear he’s settled down, working for the family conglomerate out of the LA office and living in a beach house in Malibu."

Jax massaged the bridge of his nose. "Comedy is not your forte, Scorpio. Are you asking me to go in there and bring her out?"

"Are you volunteering?" There were moments of silence again, and the continued electronic beeps of the long distance connection. "I get the feeling that you wouldn’t have made this call if the answer wasn’t yes," Robert finally continued. "Let me make a few calls and I’ll get back to you."

"Thanks, mate," Jax murmured into the phone.

"I can’t make any promises, Jax," Robert said earnestly. "And even if you do go in there, it’s *your* theory that she doesn’t really love Prince Rashid. You might be wrong, you know." Robert’s voice gentled. "It may be time you let go, Jax."

"Didn’t you say you have some calls to make, Robert?" Jax’s voice clearly conveyed his annoyance at the direction Robert’s end of the conversation was taking. Before he said another word, the line disconnected. Jax listened to the dial tone for a few seconds before he rose from the bed and moved with determination into the closet. He had a lot of packing to do before he left.

About 90 minutes later, Jax was microwaving some leftover lasagna and checking his gear when the phone rang. "Jax here," he barked, swearing under his breath at the steam burn he got from the plastic lid.

"Harlan Barrett, here," a gruff voice answered him. "I just got off the phone with Robert Scorpio. He says that you’re still crazy enough to think you can go into Drakar and bring my daughter out alive."

Jax glanced up at the clock on his kitchen wall. "Good afternoon to you too, Harlan." He grimaced at the prospect of having to deal with the man again. Jax had gone out of his way to avoid dealing with Harlan Barrett during the year that he and Brenda had lived together. But if there was no other way to bring her safely back to the United States, he would suffer through. "And Robert didn’t quite convey my message correctly. I’m the *only* prayer you have of getting Brenda out of that h*ll-hole alive."

He heard Harlan take a deep breath. "You know that she may not want to leave with you, Jax. She’s determined to marry this Prince Fahid or whatever his name is."

{You know d*mn well what his name is, you pompous @ss. You practically set the thing up yourself.} "I’ll be bringing Brenda back home, sir, whether she’s already the Crown Princess or not. The only future she has in Drakar is being a part of the Prince’s harem, and Brenda never liked playing second-fiddle to anyone."

"She’s my daughter, Jax. I’ve known far longer than you what she likes and doesn’t like," Harlan said curtly. "I’ll send a plane to pick you up in Denver by 6PM tonight. Can you make the connections?"

Jax checked his watch. "I’ll be out the door for LAX within 15 minutes. I can fly one of the corporate jets to Stapleton myself."

"Good luck, Jax. You’ll need it if I know Brenda." Before Jax could answer that he probably *did* know Brenda far better than her father, the line went dead.

True to his word, Jax was locking his front door 15 minutes later. He was clad in black jeans and a navy hooded sweatshirt, with a black t-shirt underneath. He carried a small duffel bag that he tossed quickly into the back of his Explorer, gunning the motor to life with a roar. With any luck, before the week was over, he would be bringing Brenda back from Drakar alive – or he would murder her himself in the process. Because if there was anything in the world that was more stubborn than a Drakarian ox, it was Brenda Barrett.

^*^*^*^

As Brenda stood in the white lattice-work surrounding her window, she watched the palace guards drilling in the courtyard below. She shuddered at the sound of shots in the distance.

As she slowly moved back into the room, she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hide her fear. She went to her dressing table and began brushing her hair, pulling so hard that her scalp tingled. Maybe it would help her to forget how things had changed since she was a little girl…..

Brenda’s mother had never felt that Muwai, the capital city of Drakar, was an appropriate place for a little girl to grow up. But Harlan Barrett had insisted on personally overseeing the building and growth of his corporate branch in Muwai. The Barrett home was built with the American embassy as one neighbor and the royal palace as the other. Harlan assured Veronica that Brenda would come to no harm, particularly when she attended school in the palace with the royal children. When Brenda and Crown Prince Rashid became the best of friends, Harlan was ecstatic.

Their friendship had continued through grade school and into high school, but then, in an abrupt about-face, Harlan had insisted that Brenda attend college back in the United States. Brenda tearfully pleaded with her father to reconsider, but he wouldn’t budge, and Brenda was registered at UCLA. When Brenda and Rashid had to say good-bye, he had held her to his chest and tried to comfort her.

"Don’t be sad, passion flower," Rashid had crooned. "Four years can go by very quickly, and we will write to each other every day. Then after you have graduated, you will come back to me and we will be married, just as we have always dreamed." Rashid tipped her face up to his and wiped a tear away with his index finger. "That is, unless you fall in love with some handsome American movie star back in California!"

"That’s impossible, Rashid! Don’t even joke about such a thing!" Brenda had wailed. "I’ll never love anyone the way I love you!" And in the beginning, Rashid had stayed true to his word. He wrote to her every day -- passionate, flowery love letters that made Brenda the envy of every girl in her dorm. And Brenda had written back in equally glowing prose, affirming her continued love for him.

Then Harlan and Veronica Barrett had returned to California, re-opening their house in Los Angeles and inviting Brenda to come live there during her senior year of college. Harlan held lavish parties for his business associates, and as Brenda began to attend them, some of the business associates’ sons began to notice how attractive Brenda had become. Suddenly, her daily letters to Rashid became once-a-week letters, and then once every-other-week. His letters also slowed with him taking on increased responsibilities for ruling Drakar.

Then, 18 months after she graduated from UCLA, Brenda had met Jasper Jacks. The first time she saw him at one of her father’s parties, she couldn’t believe that he was *just* the son of John Jacks, a prominent businessman with a corporate empire of his own. Jasper Jacks had too much of an air of mystery to him to be just a corporate raider for his father. And as Brenda got to know him better, her suspicions were confirmed.

When Jax saw Brenda for the first time, he felt as though there had been one of California’s 5.0 earthquakes in his heart. He courted her relentlessly, and the first time they made love, Jax knew that he had found the woman he would love for the rest of his life. He convinced Brenda to move into his Malibu beach house with him, and they lived there together for 12 glorious months.

It was during that time that Brenda found out that Jax was really an operative for the WSB. Jax tried to make up to her for the long missions he was sometimes required to go on by taking long leaves of absence, spending the entire time making love to her until neither of them could form a coherent thought. But his loyalty to the WSB ultimately came between them, and proved to Brenda that she would never be his number one priority in life.

The break-up had been extremely hard on her. Brenda moved back into her father’s house, but often would stay in her room for days at a time. Rashid somehow heard of the break-up, and soon afterwards, letters and flowers began arriving for Brenda. He seized the opportunity to heal her broken heart, sending his family’s jet to bring her to exotic places where they would meet. He showered her with expensive jewels, and gave her the attention she craved in the wake of Jax’s rejection. A year after she moved out of Jax’s beach house, Rashid proposed and she accepted.

The political situation began to deteriorate shortly after their engagement was announced, but Brenda insisted on staying on in Drakar with her future husband. However, the violence of the last few days was beginning to scare Brenda, and Rashid had asked her more than once if she was sure that she wanted to stay.

Another loud explosion outside pulled Brenda out of her reverie. As she was going to the window to see what had happened, Rashid entered the room, causing her to jump.

"Rashid! I didn’t hear you knock!" she said nervously.

"I came to make sure that you were not frightened by all of the noise outside, passion flower," Rashid said confidently. As he approached her, Brenda had to admire his dark, handsome appearance. His swarthy good looks had caused many of her friends to swoon with jealousy. He was not a tall man, possibly 4 inches taller than Brenda herself. He didn’t tower above her like……

Brenda shook her head ever so slightly, trying to make the mental image of a blonde, muscular man disappear. As Rashid took her chin between his fingers, she shivered a little. "I guess you just surprised me – I’m still not accustomed to you entering my bedroom without knocking."

Rashid traced a line from one of her cheeks, down around her chin, to the other cheek. His finger then lazily trailed down to her lips, outlining them. "I am your fiancé, Brenda. Once we have dealt with this annoying rebellion, you and I will be married. There is no reason for me to have to announce myself when I enter your bedroom."

As Brenda smiled at him weakly, she saw his mouth descending towards hers. She threaded her hands up to his shoulders, but when his lips touched hers, she couldn’t bring herself to warm to his touch.

{What’s the matter with you, Brenda? You’ve known this man since you were a kid. You’ve loved him ever since puberty. Why doesn’t his kiss make you weak in the knees? Why aren’t you aching for him to touch you?}

Brenda desperately tried to make herself respond to Rashid’s touch. When he felt her body relax against his, he was encouraged in his amorous advances and he moved one of his hands down to gently cup her breast. As his thumb began to make its way towards her nipple, she gasped and pulled away from him, her chest heaving.

"Rashid! We shouldn’t be doing this!"

Rashid’s face began to cloud with anger. "Why, Brenda? Because of what is going on outside?" He moved closer to her, touching the place above her heart with his index finger. "Or because of what is going on in here?"

Brenda looked behind her, suddenly very aware that the bed was only several feet to the rear. "I don’t think I know what you mean, darling," she lied, trying to move to the side of him. "I just think we should wait until after we’re married to be intimate."

Rashid recognized her ploy and grabbed her left arm, pulling her against him. "It hurts me, Brenda," he hissed. "It hurts me that you were willing to play the slut for Jasper Jacks but you’re not willing to do it for me."

Brenda’s eyes widened, both in fear and surprise. She swallowed hard. "You…..you know?" Brenda had never told Rashid everything about the cause for her broken heart. Although she realized that he was trying to take her mind off of her sadness, she never imagined that he knew about Jax.

"I know everything, my little passion flower," he continued angrily. "I know that you lived with the man for a year. I know that you and he engaged in long bouts of premarital sex. Would you like me to tell you where in his house you spread your thighs for the man and how many times?"

Brenda struggled in earnest now. "You *spied* on me? You had me watched?" She tried to pull free of his grasp, but he was stronger than she was. "You had no right!"

Rashid pulled her to the bed. "I had every right, Brenda. I knew that someday he would tire of you and you would come back to me. I knew, ever since we were children, that one day you would become one of my wives."

As he tried to pull her down with him, Brenda’s anger grew. "ONE of your wives? You told me you would discontinue your father’s practice of polygamy! I always told you that I had to be your only wife!"

Rashid finally pulled her off balance and threw her to the bed. "Then if you intend to be my *only* wife, Brenda, it’s high time you started acting like it!" As Brenda landed on her back on the bed, Rashid followed her down and easily grasped both of her wrists in his left hand. He pulled her hands above her head, and although she continued to struggle, he began to unbutton her blouse with his right hand.

"RASHID! LET ME UP RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I’LL SCREAM!" Brenda was beyond panic and truly began to fear that the man she had sworn to love and cherish was going to rape her. She twisted her body to the right and left, but Rashid’s dominant position enabled him to continue to pull her blouse open for his attentions.

"Go ahead and scream, little one," he smiled malevolently. "Fight me. It will increase the pleasure for both of us."

"LET ME UP, YOU SICK B*STARD!" Brenda screamed as he flipped the sides of her blouse apart.

"Ahhhh," he growled, "I love this western style lingerie with the hooks in the front!" As he loosened the fastener on her bra, allowing her breasts to spill out, Brenda inhaled in fear, struggling harder to pull her hands free. When Rashid lowered his head to the valley between her breasts and began to lick his way towards her nipple, Brenda cut loose with a scream that probably was heard all the way in the foothills of Drakar.

Neither one of them heard the door of Brenda’s room opening softly.

To be continued…….