by Caroline Lee
“Oh. Well…” Alek shifted in his seat, as if uncomfortable. “It’s just about all I know how to make, honestly.”
“That’s okay. It’s all my father knows how to make too, I think.” She bit into the sandwich once more.
Across the table, Alek watched her for a few moments, before picking up his fried egg as well. Was he just making sure she was really eating, or did he honestly care about her opinion? Well, she hadn’t lied; this was good.
For the first time since waking up in his lap—hadn’t that been nice?—she really studied him. How did he manage to be this gorgeous after a kidnapping and imprisonment? He’d shucked his jacket and unbuttoned his tuxedo shirt down to his undershirt, and rolled up the sleeves. He was barefoot, but his pants were still perfectly pressed. He didn’t look any worse for the wear, except his eyes were ringed with exhaustion—when had he last slept?—and his beard needed some upkeep. Well, she’d seen the disposable razor in the bathroom, along with men’s toiletries. Whoever had kidnapped him hadn’t just wanted him to be unhurt, but well-taken care of, too.
To her surprise, Alek continued his story, although he spoke into his mug, which he cradled in two hands. She’d never seen him sit with both elbows on the table like that. There was something comforting about it, to see a rich and powerful man with his shirtsleeves rolled up and his elbows on the table…
“When I was a kid, my parents used to take us on a family vacation. Two weeks, just the eight of us, up in the mountains at a nice little cabin.” He smiled at his tea, as if remembering. “Well, it was actually a complex, with bunks for our security guards, but Mother insisted they be discrete, and allow us our privacy. It was the one time a year we didn’t have maids or nannies or cooks—just the family, a nice view of the lake, and some canoes. My younger brothers used to get into so much trouble.”
It sounded idyllic to Toni. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Did you get into trouble?” she clarified. “Or were you too busy being diplomatic and worrying about everyone else, and trying to make them get along?”
His stormy grey eyes narrowed. “You think you’ve got me all figured out, huh?”
“Well, I thought I did…” She propped her elbows on the table to match him, and waved her sandwich. “Until I discovered you make a mean fried egg.”
His lips twitched. “My mother insisted we learn how to fend for ourselves, at least during those two weeks. My father had been in the army, so while he wasn’t a gourmet chef, he could make plenty of simple meals. Mother was basically hopeless in the kitchen, which is why she wanted us to learn. Father taught us each to make a meal, and we were in charge of dinner one day during the vacation.” He chuckled a little. “Well, except for #5 and Johann—they can’t manage to do anything on their own, I guess, so they each learned to make two meals.”
“And you learned how to fry an egg?”
He looked a little abashed. “Ahh, sort of. The meal Father taught me to make was a pasta in pesto sauce, which I can manage, but it’s not my favorite. A fried egg sandwich is the only thing my mother can make, and she taught me how to do it one time when we got out of a meeting at two a.m. and she wouldn’t allow Maarten to wake any of the kitchen staff.”
The image of the crown prince and the queen huddled together in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning was…endearing. Toni slowly smiled, then began to chuckle, at the picture Alek painted.
“What?”
“It’s…it’s just that’s not at all how you two appear to the public, but it’s really obvious you’re close. I can see why you admire her so much.” And are so conflicted about what you see as her betrayal, Toni silently added.
“She’s taught me to be proper and upstanding in the public eye.” Alek said stiffly, placing his mug down and sitting upright with a little frown. “It’s the way to maintain a healthy image.”
Damn, she shouldn’t have pointed it out. “No, I mean, it’s nice to know you’re not as uptight and arrogant as the media makes you appear.” It wasn’t completely a joke, so she hurried on when his frown deepened. “Spending time together, teaching skills, getting into trouble together, just your family…Forget public image. That’s how you maintain a healthy family life. How you foster love and respect.”
The frown stayed on his lips, but now he was staring down at his tea once more. Thinking about what she had said? Toni finished off the last of her sandwich, trying not to disturb him.
Man, this really is good.
Just as she reached for her own tea, a giant yawn caught her by surprise. She hadn’t realized how tired she was, but having food in her belly, and all her muscles relaxed from that hot shower…bliss. They were still prisoners, but with an endless supply of fried egg sandwiches and her very own intriguing boss—who she wasn’t completely sure she didn’t love—this imprisonment wasn’t so bad.
And Alek wasn’t in danger anymore, so there was that.
Another yawn, and this time he matched it, meeting her eyes. They both dissolved into chuckles, but that meant they just had to make up the yawns with another try.
“Did you sleep at all last night?”
“No,” Alek began to clumsily stack the dishes. “I’ll take care of these, then go lie down a bit.”
She stopped him, her hand on his. “No, they can wait. Go lie down now. Sleep.” He was her client, after all, and she cared about his well-being. Yeah, girl, she snorted at herself. Keep telling yourself that’s why.
He twisted his hand until it was upright and somehow holding hers, fingers entwined. How had that happened? And why didn’t she mind it, not one bit?
“And while I’m sleeping, Toni?”
“What?”
He stared into her eyes, a question on his face. “While I’m sleeping, what will you be doing? Poking around in here, rattling the locks and trying to break the window again? Pacing? Doing pushups?”
He knew her well. “I’ll be guarding you.” That’s my job, bodyguard.
His grip tightened. “Could you do that from the bedroom, please?”
Toni blinked at the please. It really meant that much to him? “Yeah, sure, I’ll sit watch while you sleep.” She probably didn’t have enough energy to pace anyhow.
He nodded and pulled her to her feet. Once in the bedroom and he finished unbuttoning his shirt and shucked it off, Toni flushed at the sight of him in his undershirt. He doesn’t look any worse for the wear, does he? Just as fine as during their training sessions.
He snagged her hand again, and sat down on the bed. She didn’t think anything of it ‘til he stretched out—on top of the blankets—and tugged her towards him. What?
Her confusion must’ve shown, because he adjusted his head to a comfier position, and said merely, “You can watch over me while you’re lying down, can’t you? You look like you’re about to fall over.”
Did she? Well, she could admit when she was exhausted. She sat beside him, and carefully stretched out on the bed. It really was comfortable.
“Good,” he murmured, right before he rolled over and gathered her in his arms.
She must’ve stiffened in surprise, because he made a soothing noise—halfway between a “shush” and a hum—and curled himself around her.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been in a bed with a man, but it was the first time in a long time she didn’t react with alarm when he pinned her down. Today, now…it was different. With Alek, she didn’t feel pinned down, didn’t feel pressed into the mattress, didn’t feel vulnerable.
She felt protected. Comforted. Cherished.
Slowly she rolled over, her back to him, and wiggled backwards a little until she could just feel this chest. The steady rise and fall was hypnotic, and she found herself breathing along with him.
He hummed again, shifted, and she felt his knee press between hers in the most natural, comfortable position. His arm tightened around her, his breath stirred the hairs at the back of her neck, and Toni realized i
t’d been a long time since she felt this comfortable.
A hell of a discovery, after a kidnapping. Still, this was…nice.
And if she could serve him by lying here with him while he slept, helping him feel better, she’d do it. After all, he watched over her all night, protecting her. The least she could do was lie here with him, listening to his deep breathing, and…keep…watch…
CHAPTER EIGHT
It wasn't until Alek woke up with his arm still around Toni, her sexy little backside snuggled up against his hardness, and the smell of his shampoo in her hair, that he realized he'd never actually slept with a woman before. Oh, he’d had sex with them, but couldn't recall ever sleeping with one of them. Or maybe he had, but the pleasure of having Toni in his arms had wiped the memory from his mind.
As he lay there, reveling in the bliss, he decided that taking a daily nap might just be a pretty good idea. He couldn't remember the last time he napped either—must have been when he was still in the nursery—but it could definitely become part of his routine. At least on the days Toni was on guard!
After his shower—it was nice to finally get out of that tuxedo and into a pair of jogging shorts—he sat on the sofa and watched Toni go over their small apartment with a fine-toothed comb. After some frustrated growls, and inventive, American curses, she came to the same conclusion he had: they were locked in.
Instead of feeling panicked about that realization, Alek felt...well, maybe not at ease, but more like beyond caring. After all, the kidnappers had supplied him with his personal brand of toiletries, changes of clothing in his size, and some of his favorite junk food. There was even a collection of DVDs—all of the latest American superhero movies he hadn't found time to see yet.
“Why are you smiling?” growled Toni as she flopped down beside him on the sofa.
Her voice was still hoarse from the beating her throat had taken, but she sounded better, and was acting like her normal self. Nothing a few more cups of honey tea wouldn’t cure.
He decided that no matter how hot she’d looked in that ball gown, seeing her in his pajama pants and dark ribbed tank top—somehow she had neglected to put on a bra under it—was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. So his grin grew as he leaned back and stretched his arm across the back of the sofa, his fingers playing with the hair at the base of her neck.
“I'm smiling because...well, I guess because I'm relaxed. I can't remember being this relaxed in a long time.”
She nudged him with an elbow. “Morning naps are pretty cool, huh?”
He switched to kneading the muscles in her shoulder. The little noise that escaped her mouth was somewhere between a moan and a sigh, and made him smile again.
“The nap was nice, but I think... I think it's because you're here with me. Being around you...” He swallowed, wondering how to confess it. “It makes me smile, you make me happy.”
She didn't give any indication she understood how hard it was for him to say that. Her eyes were closed, and she wore that little half grin on her lips. “You make me happy too.”
It wasn't a confession of love, or undying loyalty or anything—and since when was he thinking about things like that?—but Alek would take it.
He cleared his throat. “How about I pop some popcorn and we put in a movie?”
“You think that's wise?” she asked.
He made a big show of looking around the room. “Well, it's not like we've got anywhere else to be until ‘the boss’ shows up to have that talk with me.”
She frowned a little, as if maybe she had forgotten about their predicament, and his words had reminded her. Still, when she spoke, it became clear she was willing to let it be.
“I just meant, is it wise to have just popcorn for lunch? And do you think you can manage to pop popcorn without burning this place down? Of course,” she looked up speculatively, “if you were to set off the fire alarm, maybe somebody would come let us out...”
He chuckled and stood up. “Let's put a pin in that idea. Whoever locked us in here included microwavable popcorn. Apparently they weren't too confident in my ability to not burn stuff either,” he teased.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“Choose a DVD,” he said, his head already in the fridge, “And I’ll make us a sandwich and some more tea, since you don’t approve of my popcorn lunch choice…”
It was the most enjoyable afternoon he could remember; curled up on the couch with her, eating junk food. She never did make that quiche, because without their phones, they had no way of looking up the recipe online, and it turned out she cooked even less than he did. But the goat cheese and lox on bread made for a fine dinner, and when it came time for bed, she didn’t hesitate to climb in beside him.
It just seemed natural, normal, to lie there wrapped around her, smelling her scent and listening to her breathe. Alek didn’t move all night, but he woke up with a hard-on he could use to cut steel.
Having her in his arms was tormenting and blissful all at once, and he decided he didn’t mind the torture. Yeah, he’d be totally on board if she wanted to climb on top of him and ride him hard, but it had to be her decision. For now, he was just enjoying the feel of her plastered against him in sleep, the way it made him feel like the protector.
Later, he made them both fried eggs for breakfast, and they sat, laughing and swapping stories about their childhoods, over three or four cups of tea. It was nice—like they were normal people, not a prince and his bodyguard. He was surprised how much he liked that.
He was also surprised how little he’d thought of what was going on back home. Detachedly, he realized he should have been frantic with worry about what Mother and the rest of the palace would think, knowing he’d disappeared over thirty hours ago. He should be wracking his brain, trying to figure out what the kidnappers wanted with him, and how he could address that. He should be wondering what Marcia would think, when she found out he’d been kidnapped.
But he didn’t. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, it was just that he was enjoying not having to care, if only for a while.
Holy hell, it had taken a kidnapping for him to take a vacation, and it was hard to be too angry when he was having so much fun with Toni.
After breakfast, she changed into a pair of the jogging shorts, and began to do push-ups. Apparently she was completely recovered from her tussle with the man she’d called “Bruiser.” So Alek joined her, then held her ankles while she did sit-ups. They were both breathing heavily and glistening with sweat when he ran his palms up her calves.
“Wanna grapple?”
He put just enough of a comical leer into the question to make her burst into laughter.
“I can’t decide if you just asked me to kiss you again, or if that was an invitation to spar.”
Alek waggled his eyebrows. “Can’t it be both?” He felt as silly as a teenager. “I’m sure there’s something you can teach me.” About kissing and sparring.
She stared at him thoughtfully for a moment, then held out a hand to be helped up. When they were standing facing one another, only a few inches between them, she said, “Give me your hand,” in a sultry voice.
He might’ve popped his shoulder socket, he complied so quickly. She took his hand, lifted it to her mouth, and made sure he was focused on it before she began to speak.
“Remember the last time we sparred? You punched me in the thigh.”
She turned his hand and tightened the fingers into a fist, kissing each knuckle. Alek thought he might’ve grunted in agreement, but right then, he couldn’t remember any such thing. He couldn’t remember his own name, with her lips so close and her breath tickling his skin. His cock was rock-hard, which meant he had very little blood left in his head for useless things like thinking or concentrating on instructions.
“Alek?”
He made a strangled noise and dragged his eyes back up to hers.
“You remember when you punched me in the back of my thigh from underneath? I recovered, but didn’t ha
ve nearly the strength in that leg afterwards, because it was a solid blow, directed to a small area.”
He did vaguely recall that. “Yeah?”
She tugged at his middle finger, pulling the second knuckle up while pushing the other fingers down into the fist. “So next time, punch like this. A smaller contact point, see?” She kissed the raised knuckle. “It’ll hurt more, and if you do it in a fleshy pressure point—like under his bicep, or even his throat—it can incapacitate an opponent.”
“I…” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t want to incapacitate you,” he whispered.
“Good,” she whispered back. “I didn’t want to incapacitate you, either.”
It wasn’t the most romantic thing ever uttered, but Alek felt his heart leap at her stupid confession. Somewhere over the last few weeks, Toni had become…special. He wanted to be with her, in more ways than one.
He turned his hand until he was the one holding hers instead of the other way around, and used his other arm to pull her closer. She felt so damn right pressed up against him like this, even if they were sweaty and gross.
Still staring down into her lovely blue eyes, he murmured, “I want to kiss you, Toni.”
Without breaking eye contact, she nodded slowly. “I wish you would.”
So he did.
And it was just as nice as last time, only now the feel of her under his lips was augmented by the memory of her in his arms in bed, and his cock leapt to attention once more. He knew she could feel it, because they were both wearing those light jogging shorts…but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she ground her hips against his, and Alek heard his own groan, loud in the silence.
Panting, Toni pulled away. “I need a shower,” she said, still plastered against him, still meeting his gaze.
After that kiss, Alek felt bold. “Do you want company?”
Slowly, she smiled. “You bet I do.”
Best. Shower. Ever.
There’d been more kissing, and so much touching Toni thought she might explode. Soapy hands and warm water made for some of the most erotic sensations she’d ever experienced.