A/N -- Thanks to Kate, SuperNerrd, and TLI for the feedback. It's greatly appreciated.

Chapter Three : Never Trust a Politician

Hoshi stood, stretching the kinks of the night out of her neck and shoulders. I wonder how long the stiff Brit has been looking for me, she wondered with a smile. I certainly hope he's sufficiently freaked out.

Sheppard whinnied nervously and nipped at her hair.

"What is it, girl?" Hoshi asked, looking over the rail at the horse's insistence.

"Well, I'll be damned," she cursed, seeing her keeper asleep next to the stall. The bastard had found her after all.

She stared at him, taking the opportunity to observe him. His robe had gaped open in the front and her eyes lingered on the fine black hairs that speckled his chest – not too muscular and not too lean, but just right. He shifted in his sleep and her eyes snapped to his. It would not do to have him catch her lusting after him. Thankfully his eyes were still closed.

Feeling the stirrings of something unfamiliar in her stomach, Hoshi swallowed. Her gaze lingered on his eyes, almost afraid to leave them. Blue. She remembered they were blue, and his eyelashes were long, longer than hers were. It really should be a crime for a man to have eyes that… Beautiful, really didn't describe them. His eyes were unique.

Taking a step closer, Hoshi knelt in front of him, her eyes once again lingering on the even rise and fall of his chest as he continued to slumber.

This was ludicrous. She should be back at the palace, getting ready for appointments, not squatting here and lusting after her bodyguard.

Her gaze traveled the length of his body. Bare feet. Silk pajama bottoms, of course. The bottoms covered him modestly, but left just enough room for her imagination to go wild. Her attention lingered on his silk-covered endowments even as, unbeknownst to her, he had awakened and was watching her.

Her hair fell like a dark velvet curtain, partially hiding the look on her face. Somehow Malcolm resisted the urge to run his fingers through the black tangles and contented himself with watching her look at him.

He should feel exposed, even disconcerted, letting her study him. But he didn't.

The look on her face stirred something inside him. She bit her lip, the expression on her face that of intense concentration and… longing. She wanted him! There was no mistaking it.

Malcolm smirked. "See anything you like?" he asked, watching the instantaneous blush flood her cheeks.

Startled, Hoshi lost her balance and fell forward onto his lap, sputtering indignantly. "Why you –"

"Relax, Princess," Malcolm chuckled. "Your virtue is safe with me."

He used her title with a sneering lilt to it, and Hoshi tried to slap him.

Catching her wrist, he pulled her against him. "Keep it up and I might reconsider."

She pushed against his chest. God, he was warm. "As if –"

"You can feign righteous indignation all you want, but I know what you want more than you know what you want."

She could smell him, the scent going to her head. Or was that the horse? His words confused her and she scoffed, pulling away from him and trying to salvage some semblance of dignity. Standing up, she tugged on her robe. "Oh really! I want you to leave and never come back," she said with a wistful sigh.

"Nice try," Malcolm retorted, standing up and glaring at her. "I'm sure I needn't remind you that if you pull another stunt like last night, I will be forced to take drastic measures to insure your safety, starting with your secret passage."

--

She smirked at him as she sat across from him in the limousine. She had won…kind of. At least her mother had barred her jailer from blocking the passage with cement. Unfortunately there was now a security system installed right outside her passage door. The bastard would know instantly when she tried to make a break for it, which was exactly what she planned to do as soon as she could.

He yawned and her smile grew. Tonight was her free night – a rare occurrence indeed. Free nights happened about once every blue moon. The scheduling megalomaniacs couldn't fill every moment of her life. Instead of staying in and catching up on some much-needed rest, she opted to attend a spur of the moment dinner at Travis' estate.

Travis Mayweather, the son of the Deputy Prime Minister, was a notorious playboy and all-around cad, but Hoshi couldn't help but like him. She'd lost count of how many times he'd tried to seduce her. It was a cat-and-mouse game they both enjoyed. He got to perpetuate his image as a bad boy and she always felt like a woman around him – not a regal royal.

They had literally grown up together, having gone to the same prep school and all.

Her personal guard smothered another yawn.

"You look awful," Hoshi stated smugly. "Did you have a rough night?"

Malcolm merely stared at her, neither commenting nor reacting. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

"Perhaps you should have stayed in and gotten some rest," Hoshi said with a saccharin sweet tone. "Jon would have been more than happy to have filled in for you, but then you would have had to ask him, wouldn't you? I bet that must have hurt last night, asking him for help."

Malcolm grinned then.

Hoshi frowned, finding his sudden amusement unsettling. "What?"

She had no idea she was tagged. Did he dare destroy her illusion and rub it in her face? "Did it ever occur to you how Captain Archer always found you so easily?"

Hoshi contemplated his question but became distracted once the car pulled up to the mansion and the door opened. As she moved to get out of the car, she felt Malcolm tug on her wrist.

"Just remember, Princess, I can stun you if need be," he warned. "So try not to make a scene."

"Evenin', Your Highness," the man holding the door greeted her.

Hoshi jerked her arm away from Malcolm and got out of the car. "Good evening, Captain Tucker," she replied.

The captain of the Mayweathers' security force stepped back and smiled at her. "Fine weather tonight," he commented.

"Yes, it is," Hoshi agreed as she walked past him, gratefully forgetting her shadow.

Walking up to the postern, she sighed. Once past that gate, she could leave her new security guard behind. Too bad it wasn't freezing outside. It would serve Malcolm right if he caught a cold.

"Hoshi!" a rich baritone called out.

Hoshi walked through the grand hall and greeted her host for the evening. "Travis," she said with a faint smile.

"What's wrong?" he asked quickly and grabbed her hands, seeing her expression and knowing her too well.

Doing her best imitation of a carefree smile, Hoshi squeezed his hands. She hadn't realized what a foul mood she was in thanks to "that man." "Nothing's wrong," she stated wistfully. "I'm just happy to be free from my new…jailer."

A dumbfounded expression crossed Travis' face. "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you hear?" Hoshi asked, astonished. "We're 'transitioning' between security guards. Jon's going to stay on in an advisory capacity, and I get to make friends with Mr. Stiffy."

Travis snorted and doubled over with laughter.

"And just what did I say that was so funny?"

"Mr. Stiffy sounds…" Travis gasped, "sounds like…a body part."

Blushing, Hoshi punched Travis on the shoulder. "You've always got your mind in the gutter."

"And your attitude regarding the opposite sex is positively Victorian," he replied, sobering. "You really ought to reconsider letting me help you with your problem." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, grabbed her by the arm, and started walking toward the dining hall.

"My virginity is not a problem," Hoshi retorted softly.

They entered the private dining area and Hoshi looked at the long table. There were only two settings. "I thought there would be more people here."

Travis pulled away from her. "I know you, Hoshi. About now, you can always use a break. If I had ten or twenty people over, you would go into princess mode and that wouldn't be very relaxing for you."

Kissing his cheek, Hoshi took her seat. "Thanks, Travis. You're a godsend."

He smirked and sat in the chair next to her. "So tell me about Mr. Stiffy."

TBC – of course!