The Ambassador's Daughter
by Paige Tyler
© Page Tyler and ABCD Webmasters, 2005
Inarii Kal’yle glanced at her watch and let out a sigh. She was supposed to meet her friends thirty minutes ago at a club across town, but instead she was trapped at a stuffy charity dinner. It may have been for a good cause, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t boring her to tears. The current speaker, an extremely old gentleman, had already spoken for the better part of an hour, and looked like he intended to talk for several more. The worst part was that Inarii had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. She couldn’t even tell if it had anything to do with the charity event.
As the daughter of one of the most well known planetary ambassadors on Andras Prime, she was expected to attend most of these charity events, as well as museum openings, movie premiers, and any other well-publicized gala that caught her father’s attention. Her father’s status and her good looks had made her one of the most sought after guests on the capital planet. The notoriety certainly had its advantages. There wasn’t a club on the planet that she couldn’t get into, and she never had to pay for anything. But there were some distinct disadvantages as well. The biggest one being that her father’s assistants had as much say on her social calendar as they did his, and they were constantly on her about whom she should be seen with and what she should be wearing.
The only way she had time to herself was when she slipped away from her guards and went out with her friends, like she had planned to do that evening. But first, she was going to have to duck out of this dreary event. Which was going to be interesting with all of the paparazzi keeping an eye on her.
If that weren’t enough, Inarii still had to get away from her bodyguard. Which would actually be easier than getting away from the cameras. Though Oland Marsden was one of the more conscientious guards that worked for her father, he’d always considered her the daughter he never had, which made it easy to pull the wool over his eyes whenever she wanted.
She glanced over her shoulder to where Oland stood against the back wall. His weathered, middle-aged face had taken on a bored expression, and she smiled as she watched him stifle a yawn.
Far faster than she’d thought he would, the speaker finished a few minutes later, to her relief. Quietly excusing herself from the table of philanthropists she’d been seated with, she stood and made her way through the crowd of people now milling about the room to where her bodyguard stood. Oland immediately came to attention at her approach.
“Are you ready to leave?” he asked hopefully.
She gave him a rueful smile. “I wish, but I promised my father that I would speak to a few people for him,” she said. “You look like you could use some fresh air, though. Why don’t you wait for me outside? I’ll only be a few minutes.”
He looked like he wanted nothing more than to do just that, but his sense of duty made him hesitate. “I should stay close, I think, in case you have need of me.”
“Don’t be silly, Oland,” she chided. “I’m perfectly safe. Really.”
Still, he hesitated, but after a quick glance around the ballroom, he nodded. “Okay,” he agreed, and then gave her a warning look. “But if you’re not outside in twenty minutes, then I’m coming back in to check on you.”
Inarii felt a stab of guilt as she watched him leave the room. Her father would probably take Oland to task for allowing her to run off, she thought, but then quickly dismissed the idea, telling herself that her father was smart enough to know that poor Oland had been tricked, and so wouldn’t judge him too harshly. Picking up her skirts, she turned and disappeared into the crowd of well-dressed socialites, before making a beeline for the door on the opposite side of the ballroom. One or two of the cameramen caught sight of her exit, but were unable to get a picture of her before she was out the door.
Once outside, she hurried down the empty hallway to the back door of the building. Sensing her presence, it slid open noiselessly. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that she wasn’t being followed, she darted through the door and out into the night.
She’d been afraid there would be a line of people at the transport stand, but to her relief, it was empty. She pushed the button to call for one, and within seconds, a bright yellow transporter dropped down from the sky, floating gently to a halt with just the smallest cloud of dust. She waited for it to completely settle to the ground and the door to slide open, before checking around her one more time to see if Oland had followed her, and then ducking inside.
“Destination, please,” the pleasant male voice said as the transporter’s door slid closed.
“Deep Space Club,” she told the computer, inserting her personal ident-card into the reader.
Once the computer had read her account for sufficient funds, the transporter gently lifted up and merged smoothly with the flow of traffic a few hundred feet above the city streets.
Reaching up, she took out the pins that held her hair very artfully in place, and shook her long tresses free, running her fingers through the silken strands as they tumbled down her back. Her transformation only partly complete, she reached for the zipper of her dress next. Naked except for her delicate bra and panties, she shoved the ball gown to the side and reached into her evening bag for the little black dress that she’d brought with her. It was short and skimpy, and made for one thing - turning a man’s head. She had to keep kicking the ball gown out of the way as she dressed. Whoever rode in the transporter would get the added bonus of a free designer evening gown, she thought with a smile. Her father would never notice; she owned hundreds of them.
Sitting back, she pulled out her personal communicator and strapped it to her wrist. Her com was one of the latest designer models, and looked more like jewelry than a multi-purpose communicator. She pushed a series of buttons, and while she waited for the com to link, she took the time to apply a fresh coat of gloss to her lips with her free hand.
“Inarii! Girl, where are you? The club is filled with hot guys tonight!”
Inarii could barely hear her friend over the music playing in the background, but she smiled at her dark-haired friend as the girl’s image appeared in a hologram floating in front of Inarii’s face. Deep Space was the newest and trendiest nightclub on Andras Prime; of course, it was filled with hot guys. “It took me a while to get away, but I’ll be there in two nanos.”
“Well, be quick about it!”
A handsome blond guy appeared in the image then to nuzzle her friend’s neck, and Inarii laughed. “Hey, Kat, save one or two of those hot guys for me!”
Kat’Lyn just smiled.
As Inarii thumbed the button that disconnected the link, she couldn’t help but smile as well. Admittedly, getting away from her guards always took some doing, and usually made her feel a little remorseful, but it was always worth it.
To anyone in the club, he was just another guy having a drink at the neon-lit, multi-level bar, but he had come to Deep Space for a purpose. To watch Inarii Kal’yle.
As he’d watched her con the idiot guard she’d brought with her to the charity dinner, he’d almost smiled. Though she was incredibly skilled at getting rid of her father’s guards, she was absolutely clueless about being followed. Which made things ridiculously easy for him.
He had first seen Inarii at a café in the park over a year ago, and since that day, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head. He had to know everything about her - what her name was, where she lived, how she took her coffee, what her favorite food was, what her favorite color was, where she liked to shop, what size she wore, whether she slept naked or wore something so skimpy to bed that she might as well be naked. He smiled at the image. He had learned all those things and more. He had become closer to her than any of her friends, even her father. Though of course, she never knew.
There were probably some that would say he was a little obsessed with her. Perhaps he was.
With a shrug, he picked up his drink and took a sip. This club was certainly not to his taste. It was too loud, with too many lights. But he knew that Inarii like this type of place, so he accepted it. The music was horrible, but the Sakarian whiskey was smooth as it went down, and he savored the taste as he watched Inarii dance. She did so effortlessly, moving her arms gracefully above her head while her hips swayed in time to the music. She was the most beautiful woman in the room, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Nor, he suspected, could any other man. Floating cameras swirled around her head, transmitting her mesmerizing image to large screens all around the club. He had no doubt that quite a few men would be getting into trouble with their girlfriends for staring at that image.
Inarii’s partner pulled her into his arms as the music slowed, and he felt a surge of jealously ripple through him as he watched them dance. His hand tightened on the glass as he struggled to control the emotion, and after a moment, he did. Inarii was his, he reminded himself. The men she danced with meant nothing to her. They were nothing more than accessories to her, like a new bracelet or a pair of shoes. They simply made her look better while she danced.
She danced for a few more minutes before moving off the floor to join her friends at the bar. Her partner leaned in close to whisper something in her ear, then left her side and headed to the back of the bar. Almost immediately, another guy moved in, slipping his arm around Inarii’s waist as if to stake his claim on her. She looked startled for a moment, and tried to step away from the newcomer, but the man only tightened his grip and tried to pull her onto the dance floor.
From his place by the bar, her admirer wondered if he should go to her rescue, but before he could decide, the man she’d been dancing with earlier came back to the bar, and he was forced to watch the drama unfold.
At first, it seemed that the men would settle their differences quietly, but then abruptly, one of them threw a punch. The other man went flying back, falling into several people that were still dancing. A drinking glass went sailing across the room, hitting someone else. More punches were thrown as a result. And then, as if all of the nightclub’s patrons were somehow linked together, the fighting spread, and quickly became a brawl.
He heard men yelling and women screaming; one of them could have been Inarii. He saw her and her friends try to get out of the way, but in the crush of people, there was nowhere to go, and he knew it would be up to him to keep her safe. He worked his way toward her, knocking people savagely to the ground. Inarii and her friends were huddled in a corner, and the press of the crowd would not let them out. He grabbed a large man that was trying to slip into the safety of their group and hurled him away. He could see Inarii glance his way, and thought that he saw a smile of gratitude, but before she could thank him properly, the civil protectors arrived.
Everything happened so fast. One minute Inarii was trying to give some jerky guy the brush off, and the next thing she knew, the whole club was fighting, and she and her friends were in the middle of it.
Suddenly, a shrill noise echoed off the walls, so powerful that it almost paralyzed her. Inarii clapped her hands to her ears, as did almost everyone else in the nightclub.
“Put your hands up and sit on the floor!” an amplified male voice boomed out when the sound had dissipated. “Anyone still standing after the next five seconds will be shock-stunned without another warning.”
Inarii stood frozen in place for a moment before her friend pulled her to the floor. She watched in disbelief as dozens of black-clad CP’s stormed into the club. Her first thought was that she could somehow disappear in the crowd and slip out the back, but everyone was so scared of getting stunned that no one moved. If she tried, she’d be seen for sure. And then she didn’t have the chance. A protector was on her faster than she would have thought possible. He was tall and heavily built with arms as big around as marble columns, and the way he was glaring at her behind his riot mask made her cringe involuntarily.
He grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet, then gave her a small shove. “Against the wall!”
Afraid that she would be recognized, Inarii kept her head down. She hoped that they would just toss everyone out of the club without arresting them. But if they recognized her, there was no way her father wasn’t going to find out. She started to do as she’d been told, but Kat’Lyn, who’d had certainly had more to drink, jumped to her feet in front of the towering man.
“Wait a minute!” she said, lifting her chin to look up at him, her hands on her hips. “Do you have any idea who she is?”
All around them, people were being rounded up and cuffed, and Inarii grabbed her friend’s arm. “Kat!”
But Kat’Lyn ignored her. “She’s...”
“I don’t care who she is,” the man growled. “We’ll find out soon enough anyway.”
Grabbing Kat’s hands, he held them together with one meaty hand while he reached into the small pouch at his belt with the other. Taking out a small square transmitter, he slapped it on the girl’s wrist. A pulsating, electronic force field yanked Kat’s wrists together the moment the transmitter touched her skin.
With Kat’Lyn taken care of, he turned his attention to Inarii, cuffing her as well, but she barely felt the band encircle her wrists. All she could think of was how her father would react when he found out. He would be furious. She was an ambassador’s daughter. He overlooked her occasional forays into the clubs, but ambassador’s daughters were not expected to get into brawls, and they most certainly didn’t get arrested!
Maybe they wouldn’t even call her father. She was an adult, after all. This thought revolved around and around in her head as Inarii, her friends, and every other person in the club were herded into the civil protector transports.
Besides, she thought as she was pushed down on a bench, her father was a reasonable, intelligent man. He would certainly see that this was just a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, this reasoning didn’t make her feel any more comfortable as the transporter took off with a heave that knocked everyone into a jumble on the floor.
But her father didn’t see it as a misunderstanding. On the contrary, he was more furious than she’d ever seen, and not only because she’d gotten arrested, either. In fact, Inarii thought he was angrier at the fact that she’d managed to give yet another one of his guards the slip. Though she couldn’t really tell for sure, since her father hadn’t said a word the entire ride back to the house. He’d merely stared straight ahead, jaw tight, expression unreadable.
Once inside, however, he found his voice quickly enough. “My study, Inarii,” he said curtly.
His tone brooked no argument and she went without a word, making her way down the hallway to her father’s study.
“Well, I hope that you’re pleased with yourself,” he said as he came into the room. “Not only did your actions of this evening get you arrested, but they cost Oland Marsden his job as well.”
Inarii looked at her father in surprise. She had sneaked off before, many times, and never once had her father held any of the guards responsible. “But it wasn’t Oland’s fault,” she protested. “I tricked him into going outside so that I could slip out.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of that, Inarii,” the ambassador said, and she flushed at the censorious tone in his voice. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t hold him responsible. The man should have been used to your antics by now.”
Inarii said nothing. She liked Oland, and felt awful that he’d been dismissed because of her. Of course, she wouldn’t let her father see that. It would be just one more thing that he would try to use to control her.
“Just what the hell were you thinking, Inarii?” her father demanded, and then continued before she could answer. “You were supposed to be at a charity dinner, not gallivanting around and getting arrested at some nightclub!” He was actually yelling, she realized; he never did that.
She met his glare with one of her own. “How was I supposed to know that protectors were going to raid the place?”
His expression hardened. “That’s not the point!” He strode over to his desk and picked up a stack of holographic mail chips, thrusting them in front of her. “Do you know how many threats I get each day, Inarii?”
She did, and though she would never admit it, they made her uneasy. “I don’t see how they have anything to do with me,” she said with a shrug.
“They have everything to do with you!” he snapped. “Do you have any idea how many people would use you to get to me? Dammit, Inarii, you deliberately put yourself at risk when you went traipsing around town tonight without a guard. When you went to that club, did you even consider that someone could make a grab for you, or worse?”
She put her hands on her hips. “What do you want me to do, Father? Live like a recluse and confine myself to my rooms for the rest of my life?”
“I want you to start acting like the responsible woman that you are,” he told her sharply.
“You mean you want me to live like a prisoner,” she muttered.
He regarded her silently for a moment. “I hardly think that you live like a prisoner, Inarii. You’ve attended the best schools, you wear the finest designer clothes, have the most expensive jewelry. You have more than almost anyone else on this planet. Is it too much to ask that you take a guard with you when you leave the house?”
When she said nothing, her father gently put his hands on her shoulders. “Ah, Inarii, why can you not see that it is for your own good?”
She slowly lifted her head to look at him. “Why can you not see how unfair it is that your choice of profession makes me a virtual prisoner in a gilded cage?”
But he made no answer, and she knew that her father would never understand. They had this argument all the time, and he never changed his mind. He said that he wanted her to act like a responsible woman, but what he really wanted was for her to do everything she was told.
The same old argument on top of the arrest tonight almost made her break down, but she wouldn’t let him see that. Stifling a sob, Inarii turned and hurried from the room.
The next day, Chane Kal’yle hired a new bodyguard to protect his daughter. The guards already in his service had proven on more than one occasion that they were not equipped to handle Inarii’s impetuous nature. He needed someone that would not put up with her antics, someone a little bit firmer and not so easily tricked by her. He was hoping that this new guard, Rand Barany, would be that person. The man specialized in personal protection – an actual bodyguard - and had come highly recommended.
Chane Kal’yle was a tall, lean man with graying hair and an uncommonly deep voice when he spoke, and when Rand entered the study, the man immediately offered his hand in welcome. It was an old custom, still done on Earth, where Rand was originally from, and as Chane Kal’yle was from the planet Deuntaie, Rand appreciated the gesture.
“Mr. Barany, please sit,” the ambassador said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk.
Rand did as he was bid, and when they were both seated, it was Ambassador Kal’yle who spoke.
“I must say, your resume is very impressive, Mr. Barany, for someone as young as you are,” he said, reading aloud as he scanned the holo-screen on his desk. “You completed your law degree along with a minor in civil administration in only two years, graduating with top honors. You graduated top of your class at the CP Academy, and then you were with civil protection for four years where you received many commendations for your performance. You were promoted to investigator after only three years. Then you worked with a private protection company for two years before going out on your own.” He turned his gaze on Rand. “You’ve protected quite a few prominent people, Mr. Barany, and all of them speak very highly of you.”
Rand inclined his head. “Thank you, Mr. Ambassador,” he said. He and Chane Kal’yle had already spoken earlier in the day, so he knew that he was being hired to protect the ambassador’s daughter. What he didn’t know was why he was being hired. “I’m flattered, Mr. Ambassador, and certainly interested in the job, but I also can’t help being a little curious as to why you would need me when you have your own security.”
Ambassador Kal’yle was silent for a moment before answering. “I’m going to be honest with you, Mr. Barany. My own security is not top of the line; they simply come with the position. But in recent months, the threats I’ve been receiving have become much more serious. I’m involved in several bills and agendas that have made me very unpopular with a few groups within our federated planets’ population. If it were just me, I would not be too concerned, but my daughter has been mentioned in some of the threats, and I am concerned that they will go after her to get to me. My daughter is very headstrong and my security team simply cannot keep up with her. She has gotten very good at eluding them to go where she pleases.” He frowned. “Just last night, she slipped away from her guard to go to some nightclub, and ended up getting arrested when protectors raided the place. That guard has since been dismissed, of course.” He leveled his gaze at Rand. “My daughter needs a bodyguard that she can’t bully and slip away from, Mr. Barany. Someone who will protect her from herself as well as others.”
It sounded more like the ambassador’s daughter needed a good spanking, Rand thought to himself, silently wondering if it had been wise to take on this job. It sounded like this girl was going to be a major pain in the ass. He had agreed to this job simply because protecting an ambassador’s family would be the crowning jewel on his resume, and would ensure that his current one-man company would grow in the future.
So, Rand nodded. “I’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure that she behaves herself, and to keep her safe.”
Chane Kal’yle nodded, apparently satisfied. “I suppose I should introduce you to my daughter, then.” Sitting back, he spoke to the house computer. “Mirlene, please ask Inarii to come to my study.”
“Of course, Ambassador,” the pleasant female voice answered.
A few minutes later, the door to the study opened and Inarii came into the room. Her father rose to his feet and Rand did the same, turning as he did so, only to find his resolve threatening to weaken at the sight of the ambassador’s beautiful daughter.
Though Inarii’s father was Deuntaien, her mother was of Earthen descent, and the combination was exotic looking. She was tall and slender like her father, but with just the right amount of womanly curves in all the right places. Courtesy of her Deuntaien heritage, her eyes were the clearest green he’d ever seen, and her full lips, as ridiculously clichéd as it sounded, looked like they’d been made for a man’s kisses. He had obviously seen many holos of her over the years, but none of them did justice to her actual beauty. She was truly stunning.
Rand felt himself suddenly grow hard as he thought about what else she could do with that mouth, and swore under his breath. He was here to protect the ambassador’s daughter. Keep her in line when necessary. Nothing more.
“Allow me to present my daughter, Inarii,” the ambassador said. “Inarii, this is Rand Barany. I’ve hired him to be your new bodyguard.”
“Bodyguard...?” Her voice trailed off, and Rand saw her frown. “But Father, we already have plenty of guards.”
Chane Kal’yle gave his daughter an indulgent smile. “Guards who have other responsibilities. Mr. Barany’s only job will be to protect you, something he specializes in.” He gave her a pointed look. “He goes wherever you go, Inarii,” he said, and Rand thought that the man actually seemed to enjoy saying that to her.
Inarii’s eyes widened and took on a look of something close to panic as they darted to Rand, before her gaze went back to the ambassador. “But Father...”
“Inarii, I’ve made up my mind on this. You will accept Mr. Barany as your personal bodyguard. If not, I will send you home to Deuntaie, where I’m sure you’ll be safe.”
Her mouth fell open, but no words came out.
“I’ll let you and Mr. Barany get acquainted, shall I?” her father said, coming around the desk and making his way to the door.
Inarii watched him leave the room, staring at the closed door for a moment. She was dressed in the Deuntaien style, the gown sleeveless and belted criss-cross style around her middle to show off her slim waist, and the silky material skimmed over the tops of her sandal-covered feet as she whirled around to face Rand Barany.
She didn’t think she’d ever seen a more handsome man. He was tall and broad shouldered with dark hair, strong, angular features, and a wide, generous mouth. He was, if truth were told, just the type of man she was attracted to, though a bit older than the type she normally went for. But she didn’t need another bodyguard, especially one that followed her everywhere she went, no matter how handsome he was. The sooner she made that clear to him, the better.
“My father is confused, Mr. Barany,” she said stiffly. “He exaggerates the threat against us. Your services would be a waste of time. As I said, we have quite a few guards in our employment, and I truly doubt that we need another. I’m sure that your services could be put to better use elsewhere.”
Rand folded his arms across his chest. “Your father seems to have a completely different opinion,” he said. “But don’t worry, I’ll make this as easy on you as possible. You won’t even notice me.”
Inarii doubted that.
“Your father is only concerned about you,” he continued.
“My father is overprotective,” she countered. “If it were up to him, I would never leave the house.”
If it were up to Rand, she’d never leave his bed, he thought, and swore under his breath again. What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn’t like he’d never seen a beautiful woman before.
Inarii tossed her long, auburn hair over her shoulder and lifted her chin. “Well, if you insist on working for me, then there’s something you should know. I don’t tolerate insolence of any kind. Contrary to what my father thinks, I need my privacy, and I won’t have you following me around everywhere I go.”
Rand clenched his jaw at the imperious tone in her voice. “First of all, I don’t work for you, Ms. Kal’yle, I work for your father, and second of all, there’s something you should know about me. I don’t tolerate insolence, either. When I tell you to do something, it’s for your own safety, so you do it without question. I’m your bodyguard, which means that I’m at your side at all times, so there will be no sneaking off to go shopping at the market, or to go dancing at some nightclub, or to meet a lover for some secret rendezvous, or do whatever it is that you do when you sneak off. Unlike your other guards, I won’t put up with your antics.”
Inarii stared at Rand Barany, wondering where her father had found such an insufferable man, and just how much her father had told him about her? “How dare you...?”
Rand folded his arms across his chest. “Oh, I dare, Ms. Kal’yle. I’m not just your bodyguard, apparently I’m also your babysitter, so I fully expect you to behave yourself and do as I tell you. Do I make myself clear?”
Inarii felt herself blush at the words. “I’m not a child, Mr. Barany, to be ordered around!” she told him hotly.
“Then behave yourself and I won’t treat you like one. Then we’ll get along like two reasonable adults.” He glanced at his watch. “Now, if you’ll excuse me...”
She took an unconscious step back as Rand walked past her and he couldn’t hide the smirk that touched his mouth. He could feel the disdain coming off her in waves. But it didn’t matter. She could despise him for all he cared, just as long as she did as she was told. This job was too important to his career.
Inarii stared at Rand Barany’s retreating back, her pulse racing, her breathing ragged, and a warmth that she didn’t want to put a name to spreading through her. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was attracted to the man. Which was absolutely absurd, of course! Rand Barany was rude and arrogant. He probably never even went to a school of higher education, much less read a book. He was not at all the type of man she would be attracted to. She frowned at that – just minutes ago, she was telling herself that he was exactly the type of man she would be attracted to. But that was before she learned what an ass he was.
Inarii took a deep breath and let it out slowly, smoothing her gown with her hands, trying to calm herself. Getting poor Oland fired had taught her something, at least. All she had to do was make this Rand Barany look like an incompetent imbecile, and her father would have no choice but to fire him. She just had to make it seem like it was Rand’s fault, so that her father wouldn’t follow through on his threat to send her back to their home planet. A threat that she doubted he would follow through on anyway. At that point, she could either convince her father that she didn’t need a bodyguard, or she would keep going through them until there were none left that were willing to work for her father. One thing was for sure; this Rand Barany was not going to get the better of her.