Secret Fire by Johanna Lindsey Read Free Book Online Page B

change her mind. This I can swear to. You might as well let her go and inform Prince Dimitri so he can make other arrangements for tonight.”
    “No, he will have his first choice,” Vladimir said stubbornly, handing her a little string-tied pouch. “Mix some of this in the food for her dinner.”
    “What is it?”
    “Bulavin’s magic potion. From what he claims, the Prince will be most pleased.”

Chapter Six
    T he bath was delivered late in the afternoon, or was it early evening already? There was no clock in the room. And the little watch Katherine always carried in her pocket was still in the morning gown she had tossed to Lucy so many hours ago.
    She had watched warily as a trio of servants had come and gone. They had carried in the porcelain tub and filled it with steamy water and oil from a small vial, which permeated the room with the scent of roses. No one had asked her if she wanted a bath. She certainly didn’t. Not a stitch of clothes was she going to remove in this house.
    But now Vladimir Kirov came into the room. He tested the water, smiled. Katherine did her best to ignore him. She sat stiffly in a chair, her fingers sounding an angry tapping on the arms.
    He came to stand in front of her, his bearing as commanding as his tone. “You will bathe.”
    Katherine slowly looked up at him, and then in the most condescending way, glanced away again. “You should have asked before going to all this trouble. I do not bathe in strange houses.”
    Vladimir had had enough of her arrogance. “It was not a request, wench, but an order. You will make use of the bath on your own, or the men outside this room will assist you. While theymight enjoy that, I do not think you would find it a pleasant experience.”
    He was pleased to see how quickly he had regained her attention. Her eyes, large and oval, flared enormously. They were her best feature by far, brilliant in color. Beautifully unique, they dominated her small face, giving her a look of quaint innocence. Could that be what had appealed to Dimitri? But no, he couldn’t have noticed the eyes at such a distance.
    The unbecoming dress would have to go. Its severe black washed out her coloring, leaving her face a sickly white. The pink tinge suffusing her cheeks at the moment was an improvement, but it wouldn’t last. She had good skin, smooth and unblemished, almost translucent, but she could benefit from a little makeup. He would order it if he didn’t think she would have to be restrained to have it applied. He wanted no bruises on her body that the Prince would object to.
    The soft lighting and the lime green bed sheets would have to be her only enhancements. Vladimir was satisfied he had everything in order. The woman perfumed from her bath, drugged from her dinner soon to arrive, and left vulnerable without her clothing.
    “Avail yourself of the water while it is still hot,” Vladimir continued with his orders. “I will send in a maid to assist you. Your dinner will arrive shortly, and this time you will eat, or you will be helped to do so. It is not our intention you go hungry while you are here.”
    “And how much longer must I be here?” Katherine said through her teeth.
    “When the Prince leaves you, I will have you taken wherever you wish to go. It would be unusual for him to require your company for more than a few hours.”
    It would take only a few minutes for her to upbraid the lecher, Katherine thought furiously, and then she could go. “When will he come?”
    Vladimir shrugged. “When he is ready to retire for the evening.”
    Katherine lowered her eyes as warm color stained her cheeks again. She had heard sex discussed more today than in all her twenty-one years, and all in such a natural, unembarrassed way. These servants of Alexandrov’s must do this sort of thing all the time to have no shame whatsoever. It was as if they saw absolutely nothing wrong in kidnapping an innocent woman off the streets to serve up to their