by Maya Blake
Zak stared at her with a small frown. With a flick of his hand he summoned the butler. ‘Cancel the coffee and inform Geraldine she’s not to serve coffee at any meal until further notice.’
‘Of course, Your Highness,’ Patrick responded, then swiftly exited.
‘You didn’t need to do that.’
Again he gestured, and the action she used to find so irritating was suddenly the sexiest thing she’d seen.
‘Of course I do. Your comfort is of paramount importance.’
Violet scrambled for her good sense before it fled. ‘You mean the baby’s, of course.’
A weighted emotion crossed his face but was gone the next second. ‘You’re carrying my child but that doesn’t mean your personal well-being isn’t also essential.’ His gaze dropped to her stomach, stayed for a pulse-racing few seconds. ‘I intend to be careful with you both.’
The words burrowed deep, infusing her with warmth and eroding her attempts to guard her vulnerable emotions. She was still struggling when he rose from the table and held out his hand to her.
‘A little fresh air will do you good. Hopefully by the time we return the offensive smell will be gone.’
Unable to argue with that, she placed her hand in his. He laced his fingers with hers, immediately setting off tiny fireworks beneath her skin.
Again, Violet decided to let it be.
Beyond the terrace and pristine gardens they went down shallow steps that led to the beach bathed in moonlight. When he tossed his shoes away and urged her to do the same, she didn’t object. She was sticking to the spirit of their truce, she told herself.
But gradually it became much more than that.
Heavy, sensual tension lingered in the air, the kind that made her aware of every cell in her body.
When it grew too thick to bear, she frantically cast around for something to dissipate it. ‘How long have you owned this place?’
His gaze slanted to her, stayed and lingered over her hair, her jaw, the swell of her bust before he answered. ‘Five years. I’d been looking a long time for a place like this and made the owner an offer he didn’t refuse.’
‘It seems like an it’s-been-in-my-family-since-the-dawn-of-time kind of place.’
One corner of his mouth lifted. ‘Why would you think that?’
She shrugged. ‘Isn’t that the way it goes with royalty?’
He gave a low, husky laugh. The sound settled low in her pelvis, heating her up from the inside out. ‘Am I being pigeonholed again, Violet?’
‘Merely returning the favour,’ she parried.
His smile disappeared, and he tugged on her hand to still her. ‘Explain.’ His voice was terse.
‘Isn’t that how you see me? In a specific way you won’t be swayed from?’ She couldn’t quite keep the hurt from her voice.
‘Several weeks ago, perhaps.’
The unexpected response drew a soft gasp. ‘Are you saying that you no longer think I’m scheming to get my hands on your royal billions?’ she tossed at him.
He studied her as a scientist would a rare and exotic specimen. ‘You may be exceptional in many ways, but I don’t think hiding your true character is sustainable in the long run.’ He stepped closer, saturating her with his power and might and utter gorgeousness. ‘I heard what you said this afternoon, Violet,’ he rasped low and deep.
Heard was one thing. But did he believe her?
She wanted to ask. Wanted to lay bare every fear and secret yearning, every hope and fantasy in a way that scared her enough to pull away, attempt to disentangle her fingers from his.
He held her tight as his hand slowly rose, splayed with reverent gentleness on her stomach. Grey eyes gleaming with an emotion she couldn’t name, he tugged her close once more. ‘We’re going to be indefinitely connected by this unique and sacred experience. Let’s not default to animosity.’
‘I never wanted animosity in the first place.’
His hand shifted, his palm caressing her stomach almost possessively. ‘Good, then let’s address something else. This thing between us,’ he drawled.
Her mouth dried, her senses jumping as she fought her own yearnings. ‘What are you talking about?’
His free hand slid beneath her thick braid to grip her tighter. He pulled her closer, rested his forehead against hers. ‘You’re like a fever in my blood, Violet. I crave you beneath me, satisfying your every need, your beautiful body bare to my every whim.’
A deeper shiver attacked her, unravelling her from head to toe. Zak didn’t miss her reaction, and smiled in pure, arrogant male satisfaction at her response to his words.
‘I... I don’t...’
He grazed his thumb over her lips, dredging another tremble from her soul. ‘Before you deny us, think for a moment, my sweet, of how much better this truce could be if you can have me, without guilt or hesitation, anytime and anywhere you want,’ he urged thickly. His voice oozed pure temptation, so much carnal promise Violet could barely keep her body upright.
Seven days of untold pleasure.
The thought that with one move he’d imprisoned her and with the other he was granting her sexual freedom was almost too much to wrap her head around.
His fierce intelligence had always astounded her, but Zak was demonstrating how he held the world effortlessly in the palm of his hand.
Even the acknowledgement that he’d guided her into the middle of this maelstrom, that she would most likely be annihilated before the tempest was over, wasn’t enough to compel her back from the dizzying edge his words had propelled her to.
Seven days of indulging her every fantasy.
And then what?
She couldn’t lose sight of his ultimate purpose. Everything he was doing was for his child. Well, except maybe the urge to scratch this particular itch.
But...it was the same craving she was experiencing. And wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to crack that hardened emotional shell? Heal him even as she attempted to heal herself?
Her insides shook at the gleaming possibility of what could be.
His fingers drifted from her nape to her jaw, caressed her cheek as he tilted her head to meet his. ‘Everything you desire will be yours,’ he vowed thickly.
Did that include his heart?
She shook her head to dissipate the sudden, explosive yearning but it piled higher, dug deeper, frightening her with the strength of it. But even as she fought, she knew she was going to accept Zak’s proposition.
The chance for something more was too tempting.
Lifting a trembling hand, she glided it over his wrist, laid over her cheek, and pressed his touch deeper into her skin.
Flames leapt in his eyes but he remained a solid, desperate foot away from her. ‘Do you agree, Violet?’
‘What do you think?’
‘I think I want the pleasure of hearing you say yes,’ he answered, a sensual edge rimming his voice.
Her heart banged against her ribs. ‘Yes, I agree.’
With a thick groan, he freed their connecting fingers, placed his palm in the small of her back, and tugged her into his body.
Violet experienced a stunning new level of sensuality as his tongue probed raw and deep, with an edge of possessiveness that snatched the breath from her lungs. With effortless ease, he lifted her, plastered her body against his in a shameless demonstration of his physical prowess that had her groaning and clinging to him.
When he urged her legs around his waist, Violet gladly complied, her sense swimming when the action imprinted his thick potent manhood against her heated core.
They both groaned, their breaths growing ragged as they strained together, right there on his perfect beach.
‘I want to lay you here on the sand, share you with the moonlight as I bury myself deep inside you. But not tonight. Tonight I will take you in m
y bed.’
Zak was already moving, only one destination in mind as he strode with gritted-jaw purpose back to the villa.
Violet didn’t take a breath until the doors of his master suite slammed behind them. Then the reality of what she’d agreed threatened to overwhelm her. As if he knew her depths of her emotion, Zak placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
Eyes locked on hers, he walked over to the wide, inviting bed and eased her to her feet. ‘Turn around,’ he instructed gruffly.
Glad for the brief reprieve of not staring at his overwhelming perfection, she obliged him. But the brush of his hand at her nape, the sound of him lowering her zipper created a whole new set of sizzling anticipation.
The dress pooled at her feet, and he inhaled sharply. ‘Once again I find you without a bra. Is it your intention to torture me at every turn?’
She cast a glance over her shoulder. ‘How is this torture?’
‘Because now I’ll spend far too much time obsessing over your state of undress beneath your clothes,’ he griped.
Female satisfaction curled through her. ‘Oh.’
His teeth bared in a smile that was near feral enough to make her toes curl into the carpet, Zak stepped forward, curling one large hand over her bottom. Her breath hitched in her throat as he squeezed her bottom and one breast at the same time.
‘It’s going to drive me insane, you know that, don’t you?’
Violet groaned, the idea of Zak thinking about her in that way not an unpleasant one. In fact, it was so pleasing she smiled.
‘Ah, there it is again, that sassy little acknowledgement of your power. Are you ready to experience mine now, my sweet?’
He plucked one nipple, squeezed and tormented that tight little bud until her body was a column of fire racked with deep, carnal shivers.
Her gasps only spurred him on, his body bowing over hers as he stoked her pleasure with his other hand.
She moaned his name again as he lightly bit the sensitive skin beneath her ear. Expertly manipulating those three little points of sensation was all it took for Violet to tumble over the edge, free-falling into bliss so acute, a wild scream erupted from her throat.
When she came to, her upper body was draped over the side of the bed, Zak’s arm around her waist holding up as he dragged her panties down her legs.
‘I’ve dreamt of taking you like this,’ he rasped, his voice barely discernible through the miasma of lust. ‘Do you want this, Principessa?’
‘Please,’ she begged.
He gave a gruff exhalation, then came the sound of him impatiently disrobing.
One hand caressed her from nape to spine, then with a firm grip on her waist Zak thrust deep into her liquid core.
Pleasure lit up her spine, making Violet toss her head as he stroked inside her.
‘Dio mio, you’re so beautiful. Exceptional.’ Words tumbled from his lips, alternately in English and Montegovan, every time driving her closer to another peak of wonder that robbed her of the ability to breathe.
All she could do was grip the sheets, her cries urging him on until with a soul-deep scream she gave herself over to deeper, more intense bliss.
Zak followed close behind, wrapping his body around hers and holding her tight as his guttural shouts echoed alongside hers, filling the room with the ferocity of their pleasure.
He held on tight to her as she floated, weightless, through her climax. When they were both spent, he eased her back onto the bed before joining her and draping her over his body.
Violet’s heart dipped alarmingly when he drifted soft kisses over her face and tucked her head beneath his chin. It was a world removed from the aftermath of their coming together in Tanzania. So...special that Violet didn’t even want to breathe, lest the moment be ruined.
‘You’re deafening me with how hard you’re thinking, carissima.’ He caught his finger beneath her chin and lifted her gaze to his. ‘Don’t tie yourself in knots over this.’
‘Fine, then distract me,’ she said.
It was like offering the Big Bad Wolf a feast. Pure male anticipation dripped from his blinding smile. ‘Oh, the things I have in mind for you...’ He kissed her deep and long, and then reluctantly pulled back. ‘But for now it would please me if you rested.’
Almost as if her body was designed to obey his every command, a pleasant sort of weariness swept over her. And with her arm wrapped tight over his waist she slept.
* * *
While she hadn’t quite doubted his words, Violet had no frame of reference for what Zak meant. She could only bear slack-jawed witness to both his sexual prowess and the sheer depth of his intelligence over the next seven days.
By specific instruction, or simply because they were trained that well, the staff kept a discreet distance as Zak introduced her to sensual pleasure all over his villa.
And they talked. Politics, diplomacy and her favourite subject—conservation. Deep, illuminating conversation that challenged and enlightened.
While he was reluctant to revisit the subject of his father, she gleaned that he adored his mother, perhaps even appreciated her more for her strength in the face of scandal and betrayal.
It was in the aftermath of one such exchange that a kernel of apprehension sprouted. Because it was basking in the spotlight of his full attention, revelling in another heated debate while he caressed her body, and his growing reluctance to leave her side for any length of time that made Violet start to fear for her heart.
In those moments her yearning for him bloomed, threatened to scatter wild and free. To open her most secret emotions to this god of a man with almost overbearing intelligence and faultless pedigree.
The man who leaned attentively closer when she made a point, who challenged her opinion and nodded with appreciation when she succinctly delivered it. Who held her in his arms while she pretended to sleep, the fear that she was losing herself in him leaving her wide awake and terrified. Because she was right, after all. The man beneath the princely surface was the man she wanted for herself. The father she craved for her child.
So it was with mingled relief and trepidation that she opened her eyes on the seventh day since their little tryst and truce began. She struggled not to read anything into the fact that it was the only day she’d woken alone in all that time.
Their lovemaking had been even more intense the night before, the unspoken knowledge that this was their last night together driving the need to extract the most from their last encounter. She’d lost count of how many times she’d shattered with ultimate bliss, had been boneless when Zak had lowered them both into a soothing bath, had washed and dried her body before placing her back in his bed.
The conflicting thoughts stayed with her as she readied herself for breakfast. Dressed in a knee-length yellow wraparound dress, she sat at her dressing table, her fingers tight around her hairbrush.
Zak hadn’t asked her to marry him at any point in the last seven days and, perversely, the absence of it had only made her obsess over it.
Would marriage to him be so bad?
He was a royal with billions at his disposal, but he was as committed to conservation and preservation as she was. Could they make a marriage work based on common interests and amazing sex alone or was she deluding herself?
What about her mother?
Margot had gone suspiciously silent in the last few days. The tabloids had been equally silent on her mother’s activities, an unusual occurrence since Margot lived for the society pages. Unease slid down Violet’s spine as she set the brush down and left the room.
She’d have to face her mother sooner or later. Deliver news of the pregnancy. And then what? Tell her that she’d turned down Zak’s proposal or that she’d agreed?
Her heart flipped over. Was she really considering saying yes? To seeing him every day, to sharing his bed, connecting with someone who s
hared her professional passion?
What about love? The suspicion that ultimately this was only about the child she carried?
She froze as she neared the terrace. Could she marry Zak knowing she was second best behind his need to claim his child? Could she live with that?
Yes, her inner voice urged, even while her spirits dipped.
Could they build on that too, find their way to emotional fulfilment the way they already enjoyed sex and conversation?
She ignored the widening dismay that mocked her scrambled, pathetic excuses. Either she was going into this with her eyes wide open to the fact that Zak didn’t see her as anything other than the womb carrying his child and the woman warming his bed, or this threatening heartache would flatten her harder the—
‘Do you intend to linger in the doorway all day, cara?’
She jumped at the sound of his deep voice and despite the misgivings eating her alive stepped outside, her gaze magnetically drawn to where he sat, resplendent in the sunlight. She went hot all over again not at all surprised when her heart slammed against her ribs at the sight of him.
The thought of losing him sent an acute chill through her, and Violet knew she couldn’t turn her back on whatever Zak’s proposal entailed.
‘What’s wrong?’
The sharp enquiry was edged with the fierce determination in his eyes. Her breath stalled, her tongue clinging to the words she wanted to utter. Registering that his edginess had been present when he’d swept her off to bed last night, that she’d been too caught up to heed the look, never mind uncover what it meant, sent another wave of anxiety over her.
Dragging in a steadying breath, she approached and sat down. ‘Zak, we need to talk.’
Shadows sharpened his features as he raised a laconic eyebrow at her. ‘Do we?’
She slicked her tongue over her lower lip, the enormity of the step she was about to take consuming her whole. ‘You know we do.’
Stormy eyes held hers for another ferocious second before he waved at the table. ‘Geraldine has prepared everything you like. Don’t let it go to waste.’