Rosalyn
exited the hospital, her high spirits giving a swing to her step as she
headed toward a nearby cabstand. A light breeze tugged at her hair,
loosening a few of the curls that she’d secured at the nape of her neck
with a clip. She hadn’t gone more than a dozen paces when a black
stretch limo pulled up beside her. She sensed who it was even before
the door swung open to reveal Prince Lander.
Dismay filled her. So
he’d found her. She shouldn’t be surprised. It was bound to happen.
Her grip tightened on her briefcase as she inclined her head. “Your
Highness.”
“Please, get in, Ms.
Rose,” he said. “We need to talk.”
Just because he was a
prince didn’t mean she had to go with him. She’d made enough of a fool
of herself the previous evening without making it worse in the harsh
light of day. “No, thank you. I think we said everything we needed to
last night.”
“Perhaps.” He paused a
telling moment. “But we didn’t do everything we planned, did we?”
She fought to control the
flush that heated her cheeks. “Fortunately. Now if you’ll excuse me—”
“I’m not going anywhere.
And neither are you.” Determination settled into the hard lines of his
face. She recognized that expression. She should. Her brother, Joc,
wore it often enough and it always signaled an unwillingness to budge
from his position. “Now are you going to get in, or do I continue to
draw attention to us by following you?”
He couldn’t have found a
more effective way of convincing her to join him. Caving to the
inevitable, she slid in beside him, carefully placing her briefcase
between them. Let him read whatever he wished into that small,
pointless gesture.
“Okay,
speak.” She closed her eyes, drawing on every ounce of self-control.
“Please excuse me, Your Highness. I apologize if that sounded rude.
How can Arnaud’s Angels be of assistance to you?”
“I’m not interested in
your charitable work,” he bit out. “I’m interested in you, as you damn
well know.”
“Yes, sir. I believe you
explained that last night. Perhaps we didn’t have an opportunity to
finish that conversation, after all. So allow me to finish it now.”
She forced
herself to turn and offer her coldest stare. It was a major mistake.
She’d mapped out precisely what she’d intended to say, worked it almost
like a mathematical equation—the words, the intonation, the expression
she’d use. But in the space of the two heartbeats it took for her to
fall into his intense gaze, every last thought vanished from her head.
She could only stare at him in complete and utter bewilderment.
“Fine,” he
prompted. “Finish it.”
“Finish
it.” She moistened her lips. “Right. I’ll do that right now.”
Held by
those brilliant hazel eyes, she wracked her brain, struggling to
remember what she was supposed to finish. Something. Something about .
. . finishing. Her confusion must have shown because his mouth
twitched. And then a chuckle rumbled deep in his chest. “Hell, woman.
We do have a bizarre effect on each other, don’t we?”
She
couldn’t help it, his laughter proved too contagious. Shaking her head,
she gave into her amusement. “What am I going to do about you, Your
Highness?”
“Whatever
you want. And make it Lander.”
For some
reason their shared amusement had her relaxing enough for her brain to
function again. “I remember what I was going to say.”
“Something
about finishing?” he offered with a slight smile.
She nodded
gravely. “Finishing things between us.”
“Excellent. I’ll instruct my driver to drop us off at the palace so we
can finish what we started last night.”
She fought
to keep from laughing again. She didn’t want to be charmed by him. Yet
she was. Utterly charmed. Enthralled. Entertained. Filled with an
impossible yearning. It had to stop, and stop now. “I meant finishing,
as in ending things between us,” she clarified.
“Why?”
The simple
question caught her off guard. “Last night . . . It wasn’t meant to
happen.”
“But it
did. You wanted me. You can’t deny that.”
Honesty
came hard, but she refused to shy from it. “I don’t deny it. I wish I
could blame it on the moonlight. Or on too much to drink.”
“It wasn’t
even close to a full moon. And you didn’t have anything alcoholic.”
“No, I
didn’t.” If only she had, it would be some balm to her pride. “I take
full responsibility for what happened.”
“Noble,
but unnecessary.” Irony laced his words. “I seem to recall you weren’t
alone in that garden.”
“But I let
you—” She’d let him kiss her. Incredible, amazing kisses. And he’d
touched her. Just remembering had her aching to have his hands on her
again.
He studied
her, pinning her with a look that had her brain misfiring again. “There
can be only one reason you want to end things between us. It’s
because of who I am, isn’t it?”
She
couldn’t hold his gaze. “Yes.”
“Hell.”
She could hear the ripe frustration vented in that single expletive.
“You’re probably the first woman I’ve ever met who didn’t want to have
anything to do with me once she knew who I was.” He gave an
impatient shake of his head. “I’ll take you home.” Before she could
protest, he signaled his driver. “Samson Apartments,” he instructed.
“How do
you know where I live?” When he simply smiled, she released her breath
in a sigh. “Why do I bother asking? You’re Prince Lander, Duke of
Verdon. I suppose all you have to do is wave your royal scepter and
your every command is granted.”
“If that
were true, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We’d both be in my
suite at the palace and you’d be gracing my bed.”
There was
nothing she could say to that, so she simply closed her mouth and turned
her head to stare out the window. The drive through the city was
accomplished at a record pace and in short order they pulled up outside
her apartment complex.
“I guess
this is good-bye,” she said, reaching for the door handle.
“It is.”
He paused a beat. “If that’s what you really want.”
“We
settled this already.”
“You can
leave.” He shifted closer and covered her hand with his, preventing her
escape. His breath stirred the curls at her temple while his voice
murmured seductively in her ear. “You can get out and we’ll never see
each other again. Or you can stay. Think about it. We can have one
evening together before we go our separate ways. No one has to know. I
can arrange that. No media attention. No spotlight. Just a man and a
woman doing what men and women have done throughout the ages. One
night, Juliana.”
One
night. The insidious words were all too tempting. She could see it, as
clearly as though it had already happened. A night she’d never forget,
held within the arms of a man who filled her with a desire beyond
anything she’d ever before experienced. Limbs intertwined. Heated
flesh sliding against heated flesh. An intimate exploration as soft and
gentle as it was hard and fierce. She’d never allowed herself to give
in to such basic, primitive demands. For the first time, she wanted to.
“Don’t,”
she whispered.
“Because
you’re not interested in what I’m offering?”
She shook
her head. “Because I am.”
He tucked
a lock of hair behind her ear, his mouth following the same path as his
fingers. “Then why resist?”
She fought
back a moan. It was an excellent question. Why did she resist? She
was far from home. No one knew her true identity. Nor did anyone know
about the various scandals in her past. Hadn’t she been cautious her
entire life, watching every step she took? And even that hadn’t
prevented her from tripping. Now she had an opportunity that would
never come her way again. A chance to seize what she wanted. Have the
sort of fling she’d never dared indulge in before—never been tempted to
indulge in.
“If I come
with you,” she began hesitantly. “What would you expect from me? Where
would we go?”
“I expect
nothing more than what you’re willing to give. And we can go anyplace
you’d like.”
He
interlaced her fingers with his and lifted them from the door handle.
She allowed it, realizing as she did so that she’d just committed
herself to insanity. She didn’t know whether to laugh at her daring or
call herself every sort of fool. Perhaps both.
“Can we go
somewhere other than the palace?” she asked.
He
inclined his head in agreement. “Someplace private.”
“You’re
actually allowed privacy?”
“Allowed?
No. But every once in a while I take what I need.” His smile came slow
and deliberate. “And right now what I need is you.”
He cupped
her chin in response. Lifting her face, he took her mouth in a slow,
deliberate kiss. She was curious to see what would happen, whether
she’d react to him the same way as before. To her dismay she found it
far different.
Last night
she’d been lost. Totally and utterly lost. It had been like
discovering a glorious private world, filled with beauty of sound and
taste, scent and sensation. She’d been intrigued by what she’d
discovered, but able to explore only the smallest part. Last night
she’d barely stepped into that world.
Today it
exploded around her, everything twice as intense, twice as spectacular,
twice as overwhelming. And it left her utterly bewildered. A kiss was
supposed to be just a kiss. A sweet joining of lips. A mild physical
pleasure. Not this blistering desire that melted all intelligent
thought. That had never happened to her before.
Lander
reluctantly released her. “We’re in serious trouble. You realize that,
don’t you?”
“We can
handle it,” she insisted. Did he catch the hint of desperation in her
voice? “One night. That’s all I can spare. After that, we go our
separate ways.”
