by Cat Schield
“Nicolas Alessandro, I heard you returned home.” The woman’s cultured voice stopped Brooke dead in her tracks.
She turned aside and spotted French doors leading onto a terrace. Moving in that direction with as much haste as she dared, Brooke chastised herself. What had she been thinking? She and Nic couldn’t act as friends or even acquaintances at this public event. All eyes were on the returning prince. During her self-imposed incarceration, she’d pored over the local gossip blogs and read several news articles speculating on Nic’s abrupt return. The media were having a field day detailing all the women who’d been invited to the royal wedding the following week and speculating on who might be the front-runner to become the next Sherdanian princess.
Not one of the news sources had mentioned a girl from California. For that Brooke was grateful, but if she threw herself at Nic during this party, how long would it be before someone started wondering who she was.
Brooke had about five minutes of solitude on the terrace before she was joined by Olivia.
“Are you all right?” the princess inquired, her concern bringing tears to Brooke’s eyes.
“I almost made a huge mistake out there. I saw Nic and raced through the crowd to get to him.” Her story came out in uneven bursts as her heart continued to pound erratically. “If someone hadn’t beaten me to him, I don’t know what I would have done.” Brooke braced herself on the metal railing as hysterical laughter bubbled up, making her knees wobble. “I am such an idiot.”
“Not at all. You are in love. It makes us behave in strange and mysterious ways.”
Brooke loved Olivia’s British accent. It made even the most impossible statements sound plausible. Already calm was settling back over her.
“I’m so glad I had the chance to get to know you,” Brooke said. “Ariana, too. Nic is lucky to have you.”
“He’d be lucky to have you as well if only you wouldn’t be so eager to rush off.”
“I know you mean well.” Brooke shook her head. “But Nic needs me to go.”
“What if instead he really needs you to stay? He’s been locked in the library since yesterday morning. His mind is a hundred miles away from anyone trying to have a conversation with him. He called Christian and could be heard yelling at him to get home all the way across the palace.”
That didn’t sound much like the Nic she knew, but then he’d been through a lot in the past month. Was it any surprise that having his entire world turned upside down would cause a crack in his relentless confidence?
“It’s my fault,” Brooke said, her own confidence returning. “I dropped a huge bomb on him yesterday when I said I was going back to California without consulting him.”
“You should speak to him. He wants badly to do right by everyone and it’s tearing him apart.”
As it had torn Brooke apart, until she’d concluded that Nic would be better off not knowing about her pregnancy. “But I’m leaving in the morning. It will have to be tonight.” Brooke considered. “Ariana’s friend has a club opening tonight and she wants to go. I’ll have her drop me at the palace. If you’ll let Nic know, I’ll be waiting for him in the library at midnight.”
She didn’t want him to leave the party early. His mother would expect him to spend the evening getting acquainted with all the available women there. Brooke turned to go, but Olivia stopped her.
“If Nic could marry you, would you accept?”
The princess asked the question with such poignant sincerity that Brooke faced her and answered in kind. “I love him with everything I am. Which is why it’s both incredibly simple and impossibly hard to let him go so he can be the prince his family needs him to be.”
Olivia wrapped her in a fierce hug and whispered, “If he asks you to stay, please say yes.”
Brooke smiled at the beautiful princess without answering and then squared her shoulders and went to find Ariana.
* * *
Trapped in a tedious conversation with one of Christian’s former girlfriends, Alexia Le Mans, Nic watched Brooke exit the ballroom for the less populated terrace and was just extricating himself to go after her when Olivia beat him to it. He’d only come to the party tonight in the hopes of seeing Brooke and demanding they have a conversation about the child she carried. He might not be able to marry her, but he’d be damned if the child would disappear out of his life. Nic had seen Gabriel’s regret at not knowing his daughters during their first two years and Nic wasn’t going to let that happen to him.
Ten minutes after Brooke left the room, she was back, and almost immediately he lost her in the crush. He moved to intercept her, but was stopped three times before he reached where he thought Brooke had been headed.
“Nic.”
He turned at Olivia’s voice and saw that she and Gabriel were coming up behind him. “I can’t talk right now, I’m looking for Brooke.”
Olivia exchanged a wordless look with her husband. “Ariana was heading to a club opening and she offered to give Brooke a lift back to the palace. But before she left, she gave me a message for you. She said she’ll be waiting to speak to you in the library at midnight.”
“Thank you.” Nic had no intention of waiting until then to talk with Brooke. “And thank you for all you’ve done for her.”
“No need to thank me,” Olivia said, her smile affectionate. “She’s lovely and I’ve enjoyed being her friend.”
“Yes,” Gabriel added. “Too bad she couldn’t become a permanent fixture in the palace. I think she’d make an outstanding princess.”
The temptation to say something disrespectful to the future king sizzled in Nic’s mind, but he quelled his frustration and thanked Olivia with as much courtesy as he could muster. Bidding them goodbye, Nic headed downstairs to reclaim his car and follow Brooke to the palace.
The drive from the hotel where the prime minister’s party had taken place back to the palace only took ten minutes, but Nic discovered Brooke had already disappeared into the visitors’ wing by the time he arrived. He’d hoped to catch her before she went upstairs so they could have their conversation someplace that wouldn’t invite gossip, but that wasn’t going to stop him from tracking her down.
As he knocked on her door, he was a little out of breath from his rush up the stairs to the third floor. Listening to his heart thunder in his chest as he waited for her to answer, he made a note to drink less and exercise more than had been his habit in the past month. But when Brooke answered the door, snatching his breath away as he stared down into her soft gray-green eyes, he knew it wasn’t stamina that had caused his heart and lungs to labor, but excitement at being close to her again.
“Nic? What are you doing here?”
“You wanted to talk.” He stepped forward, forcing her to retreat into her room. As soon as he cleared the door, he shut it behind him. His hands made short work of his tie and slipped the first buttons of his shirt free. “Let’s talk.”
* * *
Brooke’s body immediately began to thrum with arousal at Nic’s apparent intent in entering her room. Her lips couldn’t form protests as he removed his tuxedo jacket and unfastened his gold cuff links. Those went into his pocket before he set the jacket on a convenient chair while still advancing on her.
“Didn’t Olivia tell you midnight in the library?”
“I considered it a suggested time and place.” He pulled his shirt free of his pants and went back to work on the buttons. Each one he freed gave her a more evocative glimpse of the impressive chest beneath. “I prefer this one.”
The gold shards in Nic’s eyes brightened perceivably when his temper was aroused. Because she enjoyed riling him, Brooke had noticed this phenomenon a lot. She could judge the level of his agitation by the degree of the sparkle. At the moment his gaze was almost too intense to meet.
She thought about Olivia’s wor
ds and wished he’d ask her to stay in Sherdana. No, she didn’t. She ached for him to ask her. But he wouldn’t. He shouldn’t. From the start he’d been right to keep her at bay.
Nic closed the distance between them and swept her into his arms. As he bent her backward, his lips gliding along her temple, Brooke’s senses spun.
“Stay in Sherdana a while longer.”
He wasn’t asking for forever, but every second with him was precious. “I don’t belong here.”
“Neither do I,” he whispered an instant before his lips met hers.
With a moan, she sank her fingers into his thick black hair and held on as he fed off her mouth. Desire lashed at her, setting her pent-up emotions free. She met him kiss for kiss, claiming him as he sought to brand her with his passion.
Both were breathing unevenly when he lifted his lips from hers and captured her gaze. With her heart thundering in her ears, Brooke barely heard his words.
“You and I belong together.”
“In another life. As different people. I’d give up everything to be with you,” she murmured, the last of her resistance crumbling as he slid his hands down her back and aligned her curves to his granite muscles. “But not here and now.”
“Yes to here and now,” he growled. “It’s tomorrow and all the days beyond we can’t have. Don’t deny either of us this last night of happiness.”
Brooke surrendered to the flood of longing and the demanding pressure of his arms banded around her body. Tomorrow would come all too soon. She wanted him for as long as possible.
With her face pressed against his bare chest, her ear tuned to the steady beat of his heart, she said, “I love you.”
His arms crushed her, preventing any further words. For a long moment his grip stopped her from breathing, and then his hold gentled.
“You are the only woman I’ll ever love.”
Brooke lifted up on tiptoe and pushed her lips against his. He immediately opened to her and she matched the fierce hunger of his kiss with a desperation she couldn’t hide. He loved her.
Working with deliberation that made her ache, he eased down the zipper of her dress, his lips sending a line of fire along her skin as he went. She’d never felt so adored as he unwrapped her body, treating her as if she was a precious gift. By the time his fingers lifted away the exquisite designer gown, exposing all of her, she was quivering uncontrollably.
Nic stripped away the last of her clothes, pushed her to arm’s length and stared. Looking at her excited him and that set her blood on fire. She licked her dry lips and his pupils flared, almost vanquishing his gold irises. Her legs trembled. She couldn’t take much more without ending up in a heap at his feet.
Without warning he surged back to life, lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the bed. As she floated down to land on the mattress, Brooke’s thighs parted in welcome and Nic quickly stripped off the rest of his clothes and covered her with his body. She expected him to surge inside her, such was the intensity of his erection, but instead, he went back to work on her body with lips and hands, driving her to impossible levels of hunger.
At long last, she’d gone light-years past the point of readiness and gathered handfuls of his hair. “I can’t wait any longer to have you inside me.”
“Are you asking or commanding?” He sucked hard on her neck and she quaked.
“I’m begging.” She reached down and found him. Her firm grip wrenched a satisfying moan from his lips. “Please, Nic.”
His hands spanned her hips and in one swift thrust he answered her plea. She flexed her spine and accepted his full length while he devoured her impassioned groan. Before she could grow accustomed to the feel of him filling her, Nic rolled them over until she sat astride his hips.
This new position offered a different set of sensations and freed his hands to cruise across her torso at will. She took charge of their lovemaking and began to move. Whispering words of encouragement, he cupped her breasts, kneading and rolling her hard nipples between his fingers to intensify her pleasure.
When she came, it was hard and fast. If she could have lingered in the moment forever, she would have known perfect happiness, but such profound ecstasy wasn’t meant to last. And there was a different sort of joy in the lazy aftermath of being so thoroughly loved. As Nic nuzzled his face in the place where her neck met her shoulder, Brooke savored the synchronized beat of their hearts and knew no matter where her body existed, her soul would stay with Nic where it belonged.
* * *
Morning brought rain and the distant rumble of thunder. Nic woke to the soft, fragrant sweetness of Brooke’s naked body curved against his and held his breath to keep from disturbing the magic of the moment. Last night had been incredible. And it had been goodbye. He’d tasted it in the desperation of her kisses and felt it in the wildness of his need for her.
“What time is it?” she asked, her voice a contented purr.
“A little before seven.”
“Oh.” She practically sprang out of bed and began to hunt around for her clothes. “I have to go.”
Nic sat up, automatically admiring the fluid movement of her nude form as she dressed. “Where are you going?”
“Home. My flight leaves in two hours.”
Shock held him motionless and she’d almost reached the door before he caught up with her. If he hadn’t barged into her room and spent the night would he have even known she was gone?
“And if I ask you to stay?” He thought he was ready to set her free, but now that the moment had arrived, he was incapable of saying goodbye.
“Don’t you mean command?” Her smile was both wicked and sad.
Despite his solemn mood, Nic’s lips twitched. “You aren’t Sherdanian. I have no way to make you behave.”
“And throwing me in the dungeon would create an international scandal that would upset your mother.”
“Is that why you’re running away? Because you think either I or my family would be bothered by some adverse publicity?”
Her body stiffened. “I’m not running away. I’m returning to California where I live. Just like you are staying in Sherdana where you belong. Besides, the longer I stay the more I risk becoming fodder for the tabloids and that wouldn’t do your marriage hunt any favors.”
“No. I suppose it wouldn’t. But I still don’t want you to go.”
“And yet I must.”
“You’re breaking my heart,” he said, carrying her hand to his lips and placing her palm against his bare chest.
“I’m breaking your heart?” She tugged her hand from beneath his, but his free arm snaked around her, and pulled her resistant body against him. “Do you have any idea how unfair you’re being right now?”
He knew and didn’t care. Nic tightened his hold, letting his heat seep into her until there was no more resistance. And then he kissed her, long and slow and deep, while in the back of his mind he acknowledged that this would be their final goodbye. By the time he broke away they were both gasping for breath.
Brooke spoke first. “You were right.”
“About?” He nuzzled her cheek, feathering provocative kisses along her skin. His teeth grazed her earlobe, making her shudder.
“Starting something that had no future.” Her pain and grief tore at him.
“I didn’t want there to be regrets between us.”
“I don’t regret it.”
“But you can’t help thinking if we’d never been together that leaving would be easier.” His arms tightened. “And you might be right. But for the rest of my life I will cherish every second we’ve spent together.” And now he had to be strong enough to let her go. Only knowing that their child would connect them together forever gave him the courage to set her free. “There’s no getting you out of my system,” he said. “Or my heart.”
Twelve
“You let her go?” Gabriel Alessandro, crown prince of Sherdana, was furious. “What the hell is the matter with you?”
From her seat behind the ornate writing desk, Olivia watched her husband storm around the living room of their suite, her expression a mask of sadness and resignation.
“Why are you yelling at me?” Nic demanded, pointing at Gabriel’s princess. “She’s the one who arranged to have a car take her to the airport.”
It was shortly before lunch and Brooke’s flight had departed Carone International over two hours prior. By now she would be over the Atlantic Ocean on her way to New York’s JFK airport and her connecting flight to San Francisco.
“It’s not my wife’s fault that she was leaving in the first place. You were supposed to stop her before she ever got into the car.” Gabriel raked his fingers through his hair in a gesture of acute frustration. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”
“I did what the country required of me.”
Silence greeted his declaration, but Nic refused to feel bad that he’d at long last addressed the elephant in the room. He’d let Brooke get away because Gabriel hadn’t acted in the country’s best interest when he’d married Olivia.
“For the first time in your life,” Gabriel shouted back. “How the hell do you think I felt having to carry the burden of responsibility for both you and Christian all these years? Maybe I would have enjoyed being an irresponsible playboy or playing at an impossible dream like building a rocket ship.”
“Playing at—”
“Enough.” Olivia’s sharp tone sliced through the testosterone thickening the air and silenced both men. “Tossing accusations back and forth is not solving our immediate issue.”