Her Secret Prince

by Madeline Ash

  Ardalan shot Jed a glance. “You look new. Three’s her limit, okay?”

  Jed smiled and inclined his head. When the waiter left, he asked, “Addicted, are we?”

  “Don’t mess with it. Withdrawals aren’t pretty.”

  He laughed softly. Then his humor faded and he leaned forward, folding his arms across the table in front of him. “I think the email is genuinely from my father.”

  Dee focused, adjusting her woolen hat. An email from the father he’d never known? The walls of Jed’s existence must be cracking, letting light in. Meeting this man could change his life. Or break it apart.

  “Okay.” She thought of a cold night, ten years ago. A man scrutinizing her, searching for family resemblance. “You know despite his convivial tone, he could be dangerous.”

  “Yes.”

  “He could be after something. Not a happy father and son reunion.”

  A large hand swiped over his jaw and she imagined the hushed rasp of regrowth. “I know that, too.”

  “Do you want to meet him?”

  His hand lowered and he met her stare, determined. “Yes. I’ve spent my whole life wondering who my father is.”

  Slowly, Dee nodded as Ardalan returned with her latte.

  “Thanks, honey,” she said, distracted, and he moved on. She drained most of it and put it down with a clink. “When are you going to meet him, then?”

  Jed looked uncomfortable and realization crumbled her heart. “Oh. That’s why you haven’t known when you’re leaving me. Depends on when you arrange to see him, right?”

  “Yes. But I was thinking I’d come—”

  “Doesn’t matter,” she interrupted sharply. She’d make it easy for him. For her. “I’m going with you anyway.”

  His features stiffened.

  “I’ll book the tickets now.” She pulled out her phone and opened the browser. “When shall we leave? I could do tomorrow. Let’s try tomorrow.”

  “Dee,” he said, sounding startled. “That place is in Europe.”

  “Exciting, right?” She entered Paris in the destination bar and searched for available flights. “Ooh, there’s an overnight flight to Paris tonight. Perfect.”

  “You’re not serious.”

  “Yeah.” She turned the phone towards him. “See, right here?”

  His answering look was flat. “You can’t pick up and leave on a whim. You must have things planned.”

  “Sure, but I’ll make some calls.”

  “The ticket prices will be outrageous.”

  “Highway robbery.” But she selected two tickets anyway and pressed continue. Return flights could be organized later. “Loading, please wait.”

  “You’re booking right now?”

  “Sure am.” She shot a glance across the table and encountered his unreadable face. Not to be discouraged, she started typing her details onto the webpage. “I’m sensing the need for an explanation.” Jed’s name went into the form, guest number two. “I’m going with you because if Oscar is a threat, I’m sure as hell not going to let you meet him alone.” She hesitated over the form and extended the phone towards him. “Personal details, please.”

  Reluctantly, he took the phone and filled in the blanks. With payment to go, she tugged out her wallet and searched for her credit card. Swiftly, Jed plucked the lot from her fingers and replaced it with his own card.

  “It doesn’t mat—”

  “Don’t argue.” His deepest words yet.

  Giving in, Dee entered his details and hit confirm. Then she placed the phone on the table and leaned back with a sigh.

  He sat, rigid, clearly struggling with such spontaneity.

  She grinned and kicked him lightly under the table. “We’re going to Paris.”

  “Leguarday.”

  “Wherever the hell that is,” she said. “Oh my, I’ll get to see châteaux and eat cheese and listen to everyone speaking a beautiful language I learned at school but have since completely forgotten.”

  After a moment, a grin overtook him. “I can’t believe you.”

  Sometimes, she couldn’t either. Travelling with a man she adored, who no longer adored her back. Masochism at its finest.

  “What are friends for,” she said, “if not travelling across the globe at a moment’s notice?”

  She’d done exactly that with Alexia the year before. The result had been her best friend moving to Byron Bay. Possibility wafted coolly down her spine. In the unlikely event that Oscar turned out to be decent, Jed might decide to stay close, making up for a missed childhood. That’d make two international trips in two years, and two lost companions.

  That’d be right.

  “Friends.” Jed regarded her, solemn. “So, we’re good?”

  Dee hid her angst beneath a bright smile. She even sent him a light little wink.

  “We’re good.”

  *

  From: Jed Brown

  02-04-2015 (1 minute ago)

  To: Oscar M

  Subject: Re: Gambit

  Hello Oscar,

  I’m unconvinced, but let’s meet. I’ll be in Leguarday in two days. You choose where we meet, and when. I’ll choose whether I sit down and listen.

  Jed

  Across the world, in a stone castle surrounded by the curling fist of winter sleet, a father wept with joy.

  Chapter Four

  ‡

  “I’ll have to take my laptop. I’m on a deadline.”

  Jed sat on the couch while Dee bustled. It was an artless process—pack whatever occurred to her in the moment. He found simple pleasure in watching. No stress involved. No lists. Just plucking objects from around the apartment, like good apples off a tree, until she eventually filled the bag.

  “Toothbrush,” she said next, and headed for the bathroom. She emerged with a toiletries case, heavy weight jacket, and her passport. “Oh, I should tell Pearl.” With that, she headed out into the hall. Within minutes, she was back, making space for a foldup umbrella. Preparing to travel with him, for him, with less than twelve hours’ notice. Regardless of the deadline she had for her next script. Humming under her breath, like it was no big deal.

  It was a big deal to him.

  Dee was one of a kind. She took life in her stride. Forgave easily, but not foolishly. Chose humor over darkness, but when ill moods struck, she embraced the storm and then let it pass.

  She was a strong friend. A best friend.

  She’d make an honest lover. Daring. Passionate.

  With a swell in his chest, he watched her move to the desk, finger in the air, and pull a small notebook from the drawer. She crisscrossed about until the carry-on luggage was full, zipped, and standing next to his duffel bag by the door. No fuss. She packed like someone who knew true valuables were few and far between and couldn’t be contained in a bag.

  She packed like him.

  “Okay.” She nudged her glasses up the bridge of her nose and checked the time. “I’ll change clothes and we’ll be good to roll.”

  The swell grew bigger, doubling over, as she closed the bedroom door behind her. He stared at the wooden crate shelving, muscles tense. He always strove to be a gentleman. Respectful of pace, holding back until his partner was ready. It was a small struggle, but he’d never lost.

  This morning had been a close call.

  She’d come so near. On the tops of her toes and still only as tall as his shoulder. Her breath had nudged his face, unsteady and fresh as mint, as she’d concentrated on his cheek. The lush push of her breasts had raised a fever in his blood. The thick cotton of her dressing gown had folded loosely over her chest, strung together with a single knot. One swipe of his hands could have banished it to the floor. All too readily could he imagine the naked rush, their heated coupling pushing deep into the blankets. The bed had been right beside them. Empty like an upturned palm asking, why not?

  Honesty was why not. Dee deserved to know why he’d knocked on her door. She did
n’t deserve to be seduced into thinking it was to rekindle their adolescent romance. That had never been a part of the plan. A hope, yes, jammed between his crossed fingers, but not the plan. He’d needed to explain the email first. Ask what she remembered. Any other order and she’d be within her rights to think he’d been happy getting some action on the side.

  He’d been honest at breakfast.

  Now he was free to act on the tension tugging like a beast inside him.

  Dee emerged in red tights, wearing a stretchy, snug black dress. Yesterday’s scarf had made a return, along with the chunky black boots. Several necklaces scattered pendants over her chest. A fedora crowned her dark hair.

  “I am le ready,” she announced.

  “Je suis prêt,” he corrected, standing.

  Her head tilted as she picked up her handbag. “You might come in handy.”

  He smiled.

  “Okay.” Turning on the spot, she pointed a circle around her apartment. “And I think that’s everything.” She passed behind the couch and took the handle of her carry on. “Let’s go meet this dad of yours.”

  Her selfless support amazed him. Jed came to stand behind her. “Dee,” he murmured, taking her hand. Warm and soft, her fingers curled through his as she turned to face him, brows high in surprise. “You’re attracted to me.”

  A guard rose across her face. “Me and the rest of the planet. It’s okay. I’m dealing with it.”

  “How?”

  She looked wary. “Suppression.”

  He shifted closer. Need clawed him with nails straight from fire. She’d been bold once, spreading her thighs around him and asking for love. It was clear she still yearned for love, and for the tight push of his body in hers. She planned on fighting those urges in order to be around him, because apparently some of him was better than none. Jed didn’t subscribe to that theory.

  He wanted all of Dee.

  Firmly, he said, “That won’t work.”

  “It will.” Her blue stare sharpened. “I’m coming with you, Jed.”

  “I know that.” His fingers brushed over the inside of her wrist and she shivered. “I’m saying don’t suppress it.”

  She blinked. “But, you don’t—”

  “I do.” He tipped the brim of her hat higher, opening her face to him. Blue eyes, full lips, and a cute round chin. A face he’d never forgotten and never intended to miss again. “Hand them over. Every desire you’ve got. I want them all.”

  *

  Surprised jolted inside Dee. It pooled as pleasure, low in her belly. Jed’s knuckles grazed her cheek on the way down from her hat. Seemingly by reflex, her hand rose to grip his wrist. “If you’re screwing around—”

  “Never about this.”

  She swallowed hope. “But you’ve been so neutral.”

  Neutral no longer. His stare was as black as a sultry, summer night; heavy as the lust weighing between her thighs. He was close, an embodiment of heat rippling right above flame. Her heart fluttered, drawn and desperate to get closer. She hadn’t let go of his wrist.

  “I didn’t want to mess you up,” he said. “I came here for your memories.”

  “Then what’s this about?”

  “I gave up thinking you’d still want me years ago.” He grinned, small and wicked. “Now I can’t think about anything else.”

  His stare fixed on her mouth and Dee’s breath grew shallow.

  “I lied this morning,” he said, deep voice taking the words slow. “I didn’t sleep well.”

  She managed to raise a brow in question.

  “More thoughts of you.” And his hands came to rest on her hips.

  “What kind of thoughts?”

  His gaze answered for him. He took the whole thing painfully slow. Not skimming any stretch of visible skin, any fabric pulled taut over curves. His head dipped lower, the warmth of his skin close to her cheek. Her breath hitched as his hands adjusted on her hips, wider, firmer.

  “Okay, I get it,” she said, breathless. “Now show me.”

  Jed obeyed and she angled her chin, mouth meeting his squarely and parting in the same moment. No time to play coy, not with the lavish heat of his lips taking hers. Not with lust rearing high, desperate to race to the finish. Definitely not with his hands clasping her butt and jamming her body against his. She tilted her head, taking the kiss deeper, and moaned as flares of reaction lit her core.

  Their first kiss had been clumsy. A new experience for them both. This time, freed of innocence and fumbling, they knew what their bodies wanted and how to get it.

  He pushed, she dragged, and her back hit the door. Implausible to think she remembered his taste, but the hot touch of his tongue shook her. It felt right. She splayed a hand on his cheek, hungry for this man, desperate to know how he’d grown to please a woman.

  A pencil hit the floor as her hands found his hair.

  Her fedora followed a moment later.

  Jed’s palm slid along her jaw, cupping her face as he kissed harder. Tangled in sensation, Dee battled for release. She raised a bent leg, tucking it up against his side. Made him hold it, no arguments there, and shifted until his erection pressed solid against the juncture of her thighs. Jed groaned, tongue still deep in her mouth, as she rolled her hips and slid firmly along him.

  Painfully aroused, Dee burned for him. Burned for his touch, his thrusts. Burned for him to call her name as he shuddered inside her. Her dress was bunched at her waist; her neckline wrenched down, bra along with it, as Jed exposed her breast. A moment’s pause as he admired, then a glorious pressure as his lips closed over her nipple.

  “Do you want this?” His voice was strained, muffled, as the motion of their hips grew. A sensual roll of hers and a hard shove of his.

  “Yes,” she whispered, eyes closing as her head thudded back against the door. Yes. All she wanted was to feel. Every tingling burst, every hard lash of pleasure. With one hand in his hair, she pushed the other under his shirt, finding the skin of his stomach and searching for the erection beneath his waistband. She found it. Instinctively his hips pulled back, and at her grasp, he surrendered her nipple to turn his face into her hand.

  Heat jumped hard between her thighs as his grip on her leg shifted, gliding down to her inner thigh. Her fist moved over his length as his hand cupped her, a firm clutch that had her breath catching and her body aching to open, right here, and let the thrills engulf her. She’d never stopped wanting him, even the shadows, the dark corners he’d always pushed back to make room for her. She’d be seeking access to those corners in time, but for now, she’d take this bursting light.

  She’d been waiting all her life for Jed.

  At that thought, hurt seized her throat. Jed was all she wanted. And here she was, rushing in, like always. God, would she never learn?

  “I’ve forgotten something,” she gasped suddenly. A moment to disentangle, and she was stumbling free of him. “I’ll be back.” She ignored Jed’s heavy breathing, his startled silence, as she crossed the room swiftly and closed the bedroom door behind her.

  Shaking, she sat on the edge of the bed and commanded herself to think past the desire spiraling in her veins.

  Moving too fast was her downfall. Aside from holding out for Jed at sixteen, she’d always rushed into sex. Now that she knew her all-in approach gave the impression of insignificance, she had to be careful.

  It didn’t matter that lovers and partners were one and the same to Jed. Perhaps he’d never rushed with women. She might be his first brush with urgency, and therefore the first woman he assumed only wanted a fling.

  It didn’t mean nothing could happen. Just not yet.

  Too many lovers had passed on her. She had to hold back. It was a respectable plan that could save her the heartbreak of being loved and left by her perfect man. Yes, an adulthood of failing to be important to her lovers had thickened her skin. She’d bounced back time and time again. But this was different.

  It’d ruin her to mean nothing to Jed.


  *

  Jed had finished kicking himself by the time Dee emerged. Didn’t take a genius to figure out he’d moved too fast. That was what he got for losing himself in the only woman who’d ever made him feel alive. She triggered the beat of his heart, the swell of his lungs. Her touch awakened a primal ache, the powerful force to make her his own. Judging by the way she’d commanded his touch, the same force had overtaken her.

  But the body could move much faster than the heart.

  She stopped outside her bedroom door, running her hands over her thighs. Dress back in place and hair combed.

  “Sorry, Dee,” he said quietly. He stood by the kitchen bench, giving her space to reach her luggage without him looming large and expectant beside her.

  “Oh, no.” She smiled brightly, not looking at him. “But do you mind if we stop there?”

  “You don’t have to ask.”

  “I’d hate to miss our flight, that’s all.”

  Jed nodded, though he knew they’d have time. With a mutual desire that reckless, they’d always have time.

  Her gaze flicked to his as she crossed the room. Then it dropped to his form, a slow drag down his chest, stomach, before halting at his groin, calling back the bulge he’d only just fought down. Jed shifted, inflamed by her look of unashamed desire.

  The direction of her gaze said she was okay moving fast. There was something else.

  “I thought you wanted to stop,” he murmured.

  She looked up, a bold snap of her eyes. “I do. But discipline has never been my strong suit.”

  “Don’t look at me for help.”

  “You’re right.”

  He smiled, loving her bluntness as she tugged her eyes away and grabbed her luggage.

  Pulling open the front door, she said, “It’ll work if I just don’t look at you at all.”

  *

  “Okay, this isn’t working. You need to tell me not to sleep with Jed.”

  Dee stood in line for the women’s bathroom at New York airport, on the phone to Alexia. The flight from LA had been excruciating. No touching, no teasing, and with Jed’s minimalist approach to talking, no distractions from her body’s ache to have him inside her. The onward flight to France didn’t bear thinking about.