The Lost Princes of Ambria 06 - Taming the Lost Prince

by Raye Morgan

  “Hey, I’ll come with you willingly,” he noted. “But could we get rid of these handcuffs?”

  She hesitated, looking down at them. Then she gazed up into his eyes.

  He smiled. She sighed.

  “Sure,” she said, wondering if she were risking everything but hardly caring. She looked at the security agents. “Let him go.”

  The sergeant glared at her. “But, Miss…”

  “I’ll take the responsibility,” she said. “If he bolts, I’ll tell the queen it was my fault.”

  The man shrugged and used the key, but he didn’t look happy about it.

  Max smiled and flexed his wrists and looked toward the balcony in the redhead’s room. He could make it in two bounds and be jumping for freedom in seconds. Everything in him was ready to go. Why the hell should he stick around when he knew he was going to hate the results?

  CHAPTER TWO

  KAYLA could read Max’s mind. She knew him too well. She saw the glance as a way out and she moved in smoothly, taking his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. If he was going to run for it, he was going to have to drag her with him.

  “You’re all mine now,” she told him archly. “I’m calling the shots.”

  “Is that right?” he said, looking skeptical, but amused. “I thought I was the one who was supposed to be royal all of a sudden.” He raised one quizzical eyebrow. “You’ve heard, haven’t you? Now they’ve got me pegged as one of the lost princes. Can you believe it?”

  She shook her head, smiling at him. “I’m finding it hard. When I realized it was you …” She shrugged and closed her eyes as she relived those moments, and when she spoke again, her voice was shaky. “Max, I thought you were dead.”

  He looked at her for a moment, then managed a crooked smile. “Which time?” he asked softly.

  Her phone buzzed. She knew it was the queen. Pressing her lips together, she shook her head.

  “We’ll have to talk later.” She reached for her phone but she didn’t let go of his hand. She’d learned a lesson or two over the years, and one of them was to look both ways before stepping off the curb.

  “Yes, Your Majesty. We’re on our way.”

  Ten minutes later they were in Pellea’s public parlor while she flitted about and generally let Max know he was on thin ice with her. Kayla watched, but hardly listened. She knew the queen was crazy about him and was just trying to convince him to behave.

  At the same time, she herself was a bit impatient with all this. She felt as though every nerve ending was vibrating right now. There were so many things to take care of, so much to consider. Max was back and she had to figure out how to fit him into her life again. She had a thousand questions for him. There was so much she wanted to know, so much they’d missed. So much they needed to discuss.

  For instance, had he come close to marrying anyone in the last two years? Was there someone out there? She was hoping there was, but the signs weren’t good. If he had someone serious in his life, she could move on without any lingering doubts. Couldn’t she?

  The funny thing was, she couldn’t imagine him married. He didn’t have a married way about him. His beautiful eyes had a look that said he was always searching for something and not very satisfied with what he’d found. You had a sense that there was something missing in his life, but he wasn’t sure what it was and he knew he hadn’t seen it yet. Just seeing that in him scared her.

  But the queen seemed to have no forbearance left for all that. She knew what she wanted from Max and she wanted it now.

  “The first thing we’re going to do is get you into some decent clothes,” she said, rummaging through her closet.

  “What? You don’t like my style?” He said it in a tone that might have seemed insolent if he hadn’t paired his words with a look of pure innocence that caught Pellea by surprise, making her laugh.

  “Now I see what the problem is,” she told him, shaking her head. “You just don’t know any better. You need to learn a thing or two about being a prince, don’t you?”

  “If you insist.” His mouth twisted but he bent forward in a sweeping bow. “Anything for you, my beautiful queen.”

  Despite everything, Pellea colored slightly, then glanced Kayla’s way. “You’ve got to admit, the boy’s a charmer,” she said out of the side of her mouth. “I think he’s a diamond in the rough, too. We’ll see what we can make of him.” She smirked. “Heat and pressure. That’s how you get perfect diamonds. Are you game?”

  He didn’t answer but she’d already turned away and was hunting through a closet again, muttering about sizes and ruffled shirts.

  He looked at Kayla and shrugged, as though to say, “They’ve got me this time,” and she smiled at him, her heart full of affection for all he’d meant to her in the past. She wasn’t sure what the future would bring. But things were never dull when Max was around.

  Her smile faded as she remembered that there was something more lasting than memories between them, something more precious than life itself. And that was when she decided it was time for her to go.

  “Your Majesty, if you don’t need of me here …”

  Pellea poked her head back out of the closet. “Go ahead, Kayla,” she said. “I know you’ve got work to do. I won’t keep you.”

  “Thank you,” Kayla said, then she turned and gave Max a stern look. “You will be good, won’t you?”

  “At what?” he teased with a lopsided smile.

  She glared at him. “The guard is outside so don’t think you can get away with anything,” she murmured to him out of Pellea’s hearing.

  He gave her a “Who? Me?” look. She shook her head and started for the door. “Have a lovely time at the ball,” she said over her shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll be the star.”

  And she was out the door before he had a chance to say or do anything else.

  She hurried back to the office, hoping to get some work done that she’d neglected while she was off chasing princes. It had been a hectic week. Pellea had sent her to represent the DeAngelis royal family at a financial conference in Paris. She’d hated leaving for a whole week, but the fact that the queen had that much faith in her had been wonderful. She’d worked herself to the bone trying to live up to expectations and she was exhausted.

  And while she was gone, the search for the last of the lost princes of Ambria had struck gold. First Mykal Marten, whom she’d met before she left for the continent, had been confirmed as the fourth prince. And then the news had come that the fifth and last prince had been discovered. When she saw the name—Max Arragen—in a newspaper account, she hadn’t thought much of it, but then she saw a picture. It was blurry and taken from a distance, but the jaunty set of the shoulders had made her think of Max—her Max. She’d gasped and begun to wonder.

  It wasn’t until she’d returned home to Ambria a day ago that she’d seen a good picture and realized that Prince Max really was the man she’d known in Trialta as Max Arragen two years before. And that sent her into a virtual tailspin.

  She’d only known him for about six months, but the time they’d spent together had been crazy and intense. He was her husband’s best friend, and they’d both been working as contract pilots, flying reconnaissance missions against the tyrannical regime of the North African nation of Trialta on the Mediterranean. They’d lived like young people involved in war often do, working hard during the day, partying at night like there was no tomorrow. They were fighting for the rebels and thought they were invincible.

  She couldn’t believe he was back in her life again—at least in a peripheral way. He always managed to inject excitement and surprise into everything, like no one else she’d ever known. She remembered times in Trialta where it had seemed she and Eddie were in the lead vehicle in a continuous car chase—and Max was at the wheel.

  And then came the day when Eddie didn’t return from a mission. The wreckage of his plane was found, and all the parties stopped. Kayla had clung to Max at the time and they’d mourne
d together, hardly believing that the Eddie they both loved so much could be gone forever. No one else could have understood how deep their grief was.

  But that was then. Things had changed, for both of them. Surely he’d had some life-changing experiences since she last knew him. And she’d had a beautiful, wonderful child.

  What would it be like to be friends with Max now? She was a little bit afraid to find out. She wasn’t the wide-eyed innocent she’d been two years before. She had some secrets of her own. And how would she keep them from him, now that he was going to be living right here in the castle?

  She buried her worries in work, staying an hour longer than normal. And then, once she’d put away her papers and shut off her computer, she gave in to temptation and made her way down to the ballroom instead of going straight to her room.

  She took a back entrance and climbed the stairs to a seldom-used interior balcony that overlooked the entire floor area. The orchestra was playing a waltz and the couples swept across the floor, around and around, the women like flowers in their beautiful dresses, the men resplendent in gold-edged uniforms of white or blue or crimson. Despite everything, it took her breath away and made her heart beat faster. A scene like this would make anyone want to be noble, especially if they’d been raised on fairy tales.

  She watched for a few minutes longer, caught up in the magic. How wonderful to be royal and to live as though you were the star of it all. Just being here in the castle made her feel as though she were blessed. But it also made her feel a new and more intense responsibility to her country and her people. She wondered if Max would start to feel a little of that soon.

  She could pick out most of the princes. So handsome, every one of them—so tall and strong. They looked like men who were confident in themselves and ready to take on the world. She could hardly believe Max was about to take his place alongside of them.

  There was Prince Mykal, sitting on the sidelines, still recovering from a horrendous motorcycle accident from a few months before. Prince David, one of her favorites, was dancing with beautiful Ayme, who had recently become his bride. Prince Joe, still looking like a California surfer with his sun-streaked hair, was laughing with Kelly, his own new bride. And newly crowned King Monte had Pellea in his arms and was leading her around the floor with such obvious passion, you’d think the honeymoon was starting that night. That made her laugh softly to herself.

  She searched the crowd. Where was Max? Her gaze lingered a moment on Princess Kim. She was glad to see her looking happy after all that she’d been through on the enemy side of the island with the Granvilli partisans. It was good to have her safe and sound, back in the castle where she belonged. But where was Max?

  At first worried, she began to get angry. If he had slipped away again …!

  And then she saw him.

  Max was standing with a group of men she didn’t recognize. As she watched, the men moved away and a beautiful dark-haired woman was brought up to be presented to him. Kayla felt a tug on her heartstrings, but she tried desperately to suppress it. She couldn’t be jealous. There was no sense behind it. She had to keep it down. Max was not hers and never had been. Never would be, especially now that he was a prince. There was no justification for any jealousy. She couldn’t let it happen.

  She watched as they danced. He moved so well, as if he were floating on air. He was talking to his partner and she was blossoming in his arms. He could have been born for this—and of course, he really was!

  The dance was over. She could breathe again. And now, she really had to go. But she watched for just one minute more, and suddenly his head was tilted up. He was looking right at her. And as she watched, he lifted a glass of champagne and smiled at her, giving her a toast. Her breath caught in her throat and she gasped. He gave her a nod, and then a lascivious wink. Her face felt hot as she pulled back, away from where anyone could see her. She was laughing, though. That wink was guaranteed to keep her warm that night. Trust Max!

  But as she turned and left the balcony, her amusement evaporated. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t be watching Max from afar and reacting every time he noticed her. Nothing good could come of this. Much better that she should stay as far away from him as she could get. If he really wasn’t attached, it would be his duty to find a bride as soon as possible. Watching him fall in love would be tough to take. And if he ever found out …

  No, keeping in touch with Max was much too dangerous. She had to find a way to avoid it.

  She hadn’t eaten since breakfast and she was starving. Glancing at her watch, she knew it was too late to pick up Teddy before he went to sleep. Her heart ached as she thought about that. She missed him. Her baby was only a little over a year old and she missed him when she had late days like this. Sighing, she knew she had to speak to Pellea about it. She really didn’t want to be away from her child this long. At the same time, she was so lucky to have this job …

  She stopped in at the all-night café and got a salad to eat once she got home.

  Then she headed for her sister Caroline’s room, just two doors down from hers.

  “Hi,” she called softly, opening the door with her own key. “How are they?”

  “Sleeping like lambs,” Caroline said, rising from the couch where she’d been reading and coming to give her sister a hug.

  Just two years apart, they looked enough alike that there was always someone who asked if they were twins. Caroline wore her blond hair short, pixie-style, and had a more sleepy, languid look about her, but otherwise, they were practically replicas and had always been especially close.

  They stood together looking down at where the two little boys, one dark-haired like his father, the other as blond as his mother, lay side by side, sound asleep.

  Caroline’s husband, Rik, was a rising star in the Ambrian royal guard. Right now he was on a mission on the Granvilli side of the island and would be gone for a few days. Luckily, whether Rik was home or not, Caroline loved having Teddy in to play with her own boy.

  “Why don’t you leave him here for the night?” she suggested. “He’s used to sleeping here after the last week when you were in Paris. And it was so hard to put them down tonight, I hate to wake them up and have to start all over again.”

  “Are you sure?” Kayla felt guilty, but she was so tired, it sounded like a good thing to do.

  “Absolutely. You’re only two doors down. I can get you over here fast if I need you. Just come on over first thing in the morning and it will all be good.”

  She stayed for half an hour, sharing her salad with her sister while they talked, watching her baby while he slept.

  And then she was back in the corridor, on her way home and looking down toward the public area, wondering how the ball was going. It was interesting to live this way, with everything happening so close at hand. The castle lifestyle was growing on her. She had been new to it a year before when she’d come to work here, but she was used to it now and it seemed a comfortable way of life. She compared it to living on a huge cruise ship.

  She opened her own door and went in, yawning and kicking off her shoes as she did. A tap on a switch turned on a soft light in the kitchen, which did enough to light the path to her bedroom. She made her way slowly through the apartment, casting off clothes as she went, first her jacket, then her skirt, then her sweater.

  She was thinking about crashing straight onto her bed and closing her eyes and not opening them again until morning. Heavenly peace. No dreams, please. Just wonderful sleep. Her eyes began to droop in anticipation.

  But it was not to be. Two steps short of her destination, just as she was reaching back to unhook her bra, a dark hulk rose from her overstuffed chair in the corner.

  “You know,” the hulk said ruefully, “I’d love to let you go on with this, but I have a feeling you’d hate me in the morning. Just a hunch.”

  She screamed, grabbing her sweater back again and pressing it to her chest. At the same time, Max jumped forward and took her by the sh
oulders.

  “No, don’t scream,” he said urgently. “I get into so much trouble when women scream.”

  She glared up at him, quickly pushing him away, startled and exasperated all at once. She could smell alcohol on his breath, but that was hardly surprising. Still, she was wary enough to be careful.

  Handsome men, liquor and a moonlit night—the recipe for disaster.

  “Then don’t jump out at them from dark corners, maybe,” she suggested sharply.

  He shrugged as though anxious to make up for scaring her. “Okay, okay. It’s a deal.”

  “Oh, Max.” She glared at him as she tried to keep covered in all the most delicate areas. “Why did you let me get this far before you said anything?”

  His eyebrows rose. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Oh!” She shook her head, but she was calming down. “Look that way,” she insisted, pointing to the wall. “And don’t turn around until I tell you to.”

  He turned obediently and she began to search her drawer for fresh clothes to wear. “What are you doing here?” she demanded at the same time.

  “I wanted to see you. We need some time to talk. Old times and all that.”

  She pulled on a comfortable top.

  “Maybe call first next time,” she suggested grumpily as she dug for something to pull over her legs. “How did you get in here anyway?”

  He chuckled. “Princes pretty much rule around this castle. You tell people you’re a prince and they want to do things for you. The housekeeper couldn’t wait to do me a favor.”

  “That’s a problem.” She sighed. “Okay, you can turn around.”

  He turned and looked at her and he was knocked out. Here he’d just come from a royal ball filled with beautiful women who’d all spent half the day in the beauty shop and were dressed to kill and no one he’d seen there turned him on the way Kayla did wearing a simple sweatshirt and black leggings, with her hair looking like a tornado had just come through.

  “I think I love you,” he said, taking in all her rumpled glory and smiling. “I know I’ve missed you like crazy. It’s so good to see you again.”