Ransom for a Prince

by Lisa Childs

  “Were they arrested?”

  She shook her head. “No. Evgeny promised he’d find his killer. He also promised he’d take care of me. He said that, with his last breath, Sam had asked him to do that. He told me that Sam wanted the two of us to be together. That was when I accepted his marriage proposal.” She sighed. “I thought I loved him. Maybe I was just scared to be alone. The way we grew up—with our mom’s drug problems—Sam and I had only each other to count on. Losing him was…”

  “Like losing your father, your mother and your brother.”

  “So you’re lucky you have your brother.”

  “Yes, I am.” It was good they’d stayed in the dark, even though it still haunted him that they might have been able to save their parents had they come out sooner. “Antoine and I have never talked about what happened,” he admitted. “But…”

  “Talking about it means reliving it,” he explained.

  “I never talk about…Evgeny, either,” she said. “But just because I haven’t talked about him doesn’t mean that I haven’t relived what happened with him—all the time inside my head.”

  And that was why he had to control his desire for her. She’d been through too much to ever trust again.

  “I’m sorry that I asked you to do this,” he replied. “Maybe you were right to run.”

  “And you were right that I’ll never be able to stop running until Evgeny is stopped.”

  “I will stop him,” Sebastian vowed. “I know that it’s hard for you to trust me. But I’m telling you the truth.”

  “I know,” she assured him. “And I wouldn’t be here—I wouldn’t risk leaving my child without a mother if I didn’t trust you to protect me.”

  He sucked in a breath of surprise. “I hadn’t realized that you did…” And now he had even more pressure to not let her down.

  NOT ONLY DID SHE TRUST HIM—but she was also beginning to fall in love with him. But maybe neither of those was a burden he wanted. He already had a country depending on him; the last thing he needed was more responsibility.

  “Maybe we should just give this up,” she said as she hastily stepped back from him.

  “Do you think Evgeny will give up?”

  “No.”

  “Then neither will we,” he said.

  No matter how much responsibility he had, he was willing to take on more. To take on hers. “I can’t thank you enough…for risking your life for me.”

  But she wanted to try to thank him. So she turned back around and slid her palms up his chest, and she stretched up his body and pressed her lips to his. He lowered his head and kissed her back, his mouth hungrily devouring hers. His tongue slid through her lips and tangled with hers.

  Her skin heated and tingled as passion overwhelmed her. She trembled from the force of it.

  With a deep groan, he pulled back. “I’m sorry…”

  Now the heat of embarrassment rushed to her face. She had been so careful to avoid looking at him the past couple of days so that he would not notice how much she wanted him. But he was so damn handsome and chivalrous. “No. I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re here to protect. I know that’s the only reason.”

  She forced a self-depreciating laugh. “I’m hardly your type.” She glanced down at herself. The faded jeans and T-shirt had been washed so many times the seams were worn out.

  Instead of the hot denial her ego needed, he hesitated a moment before chuckling. “I will admit that I have never dated anyone like you before.”

  “Who do you usually date?”

  “Princesses. Heiresses,” he replied.

  She remembered that he’d told her his grandfather would have only approved of royalty. He would have hated her probably almost as much as he’d hated Sebastian’s father. “I’m no heiress or princess.”

  “That’s not what Samantha thinks,” he reminded her of her daughter’s sleepy proclamation the night she’d awakened to catch them kissing.

  “She believes in fairy tales. I know better,” Jessica said as disappointment clutched her heart. “In the real world, Cinderella would never get the prince.”

  “So you see yourself as Cinderella?”

  She gestured down at her clothes. “Don’t you?”

  “You know what I see when I look at you?” he asked, fixing her with that implacable stare of his. “Not your clothes or your hair color. I see your spirit.”

  “What spirit?” she asked. Evgeny had beaten it out of her years ago, if she’d ever had much to begin with. She’d never been strong and brave like Sam. She’d preferred to bury herself in a book and try to hide from the reality of their hand-to-mouth existence.

  “The spirit that had you nearly dragging me behind your SUV when we first met,” he reminded her with a grin of admiration. “Then had you shoving a shotgun in my face.”

  She had actually done that to a prince. She laughed, then sobered when she remembered why she’d done those things. “I was scared and desperate.”

  “Your spirit is what brought you here,” he said. “You’re scared but you wouldn’t let a female deputy fill in for you. I’ve never dated anyone like you because I’ve never dated anyone as strong and brave and so damn sexy that every time I get close to you I struggle for control.”

  Her heart shifted, kicking against her ribs in reaction to his sweet words. No one had ever said such wonderful things to her. She launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck.

  “It’s that loss of control that I apologized for,” he said, his muscular body full of tension. “After what you’ve been through, you need gentleness—tenderness—and I want you too much to be gentle.”

  She stretched up his body and bit his bottom lip. “I don’t want gentleness. I just want you.”

  When he reached for her, she didn’t flinch or cower. Instead she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his lean waist as he carried her up the stairs. His shoulders banged against the door and then the jamb as he entered her room. With its pale gray walls and lavender curtains and bedding, it had always been a stress-free oasis for her—more so because a man had never stepped inside it than because of its feminine decor. After the violence of her relationship with Evgeny, she had never wanted another man.

  Until now.

  With passion pumping hot and heavy in her blood, she clawed at Sebastian’s shirt, tearing open its buttons to bare his muscular chest. Golden brown hair dusted golden skin. She skimmed her palms over his chest and abs to the buckle of his belt.

  He rasped out a breath. “Slow down,” he cautioned her, unwrapping her legs from around his waist so that she slid down his body. His erection strained against the fly of his jeans.

  He wanted her, too. Feminine power filled her, but she stepped back from him. And instead of reaching for him again, she opened her blouse, fumbling every button free of the hole until the cotton parted and she could shrug off the shirt. Her bra was lace, so old and thin that her nipples shone through.

  He groaned but didn’t protest when she undid her own belt and unzipped her jeans. She paused a moment before pushing them down. While he stared so intently at her, she was worried about disappointing him. She had stretch marks and her hips had spread after having Samantha. She definitely couldn’t compete with princesses or heiresses. But for him, she wanted to.

  So she eased the jeans over her hips and kicked them off until she stood before him in just her underwear and boots. Then she removed those, too, and stood before him naked. But she’d been naked before him already, when she’d told him about her past.

  And he’d been naked before her when he’d told her about his. They’d already been intimate when they’d shared those painful memories.

  He released a ragged breath. “You are so beautiful….”

  And the way he stared at her made her feel beautiful. Then he dropped his jeans. And she realized what true beauty was. Lean hips and long legs and…

  She licked her lips. Then he did the same, dipping his head and running his tongue
across her lips. He made love to her mouth, sliding his tongue in and out of her lips, tasting her and leaving his own rich flavor on her tongue.

  Heat pooled between her legs. Then his hand was there, stroking through the curls. And his other hand slid over her shoulder and collarbone to the slope of her breast. His mouth followed his hand, spreading kisses like caresses until his lips closed around her taut nipple.

  She cried out at the exquisite sensation. Then he slid a finger into her, winding up a pressure inside her so intense that she almost cried out again—in pain. But the pressure eased as little ripples of pleasure came over her.

  It wasn’t enough, though. She wanted him—all of him—no matter how big and intimidating he looked. She closed her hand around him, stroking her palm up and down the length of the engorged flesh.

  He grunted and groaned. And his control snapped. He lifted her to the bed and followed her down, his body covering hers. He was so big, so strong, but she knew he would not be brutal. Instead of thrusting inside her, he moved over her body. Kissing her lips, her neck and lavishing attention on her breasts. She writhed against the sheets as the pressure built in intensity. She needed more.

  And he gave it with his mouth, sliding his tongue where his finger had gone, stroking her to insanity. When she climaxed, she cried out his name, and he answered her plea, thrusting inside her, bringing her up again. Each thrust brought her closer to an ecstasy she’d never thought possible until it crashed over her and shattered her world.

  He tensed and groaned and panted as if unable to catch his breath. Sweat beaded on his forehead and upper lip and then he thrust one last time. Deep. And filled her.

  With a love she hadn’t thought possible. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close for however long they had. Because forever wasn’t possible—not with a prince.

  “YOU’RE SURE BRENNER and those other men are out there?” Sebastian asked, the untraceable cell phone pressed to his ear. He divided his attention between the window, which was dark now as night had fallen, and the bed in which Jessica lay sleeping.

  “I’ve been checking in with them almost as much as you and Jessica have been checking on me and Samantha.”

  “Is everything all right with her?”

  “Great. I think I’ll give up coruling and become a nanny.” Beneath the sarcasm, there was affection. Just as quickly as Sebastian had, Antoine had fallen for the little girl. But Sebastian hadn’t fallen just for Samantha; he’d fallen for Samantha’s mother, too.

  “I’m sorry this is taking so long,” he apologized to his impatient brother. “I thought Evgeny would come after her right away.”

  “You think he’s changed his mind?”

  “No.” Sebastian understood the man’s obsession with her now. “He’ll never let her go.”

  “Then why’s he waiting?”

  “He’s playing with her,” Sebastian said, “like a cat plays with a mouse, stalking and waiting.” Messing with her head, building her fear of him. The man was more than a narcissist; he was a sadist, too.

  “The guards have not seen anyone at all around the ranch. They haven’t even noticed you.”

  Because he’d known that Evgeny was probably out there, watching, too, Sebastian had been careful to stay out of sight.

  “Then he will come,” he assured his twin. “He won’t be able to resist.”

  Just as Sebastian hadn’t been able to resist falling for Jessica—so hard and so deep that he couldn’t bear the thought of her getting hurt. “I need to get a deputy out here to stand in for Jessica.”

  He could not bear the thought of her in danger, or worse yet, in the clutches of her ruthless husband.

  “Jessica insisted on going with you,” Antoine reminded him. “She said it wouldn’t work otherwise.”

  “You’re right that this was a crazy plan,” Sebastian conceded. “I can’t risk her life.”

  “The guards are out there,” Antoine assured him. “Brenner can be trusted. He has your back.”

  “But still, I have to let him get close to her.”

  “Do you?” Antoine asked.

  “Yes, close enough to threaten her.” Or they wouldn’t have grounds for the man’s arrest.

  “But isn’t your real plan to shoot him before he gets close?” Antoine asked.

  “What do you mean? The plan is to get him to come after and threaten her, so she can press charges.”

  “I know that’s what you said, but I know you,” Antoine said. “I know you don’t plan to let that jerk get close to her ever again.”

  “I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I plan on killing him.”

  “You’re going to have to,” Antoine said. “I’ve checked this guy out. Killing him is the only way to stop him from killing you and her.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sunlight, so bright that her lids glowed even before she opened them, warmed her face. She squinted against the glare and turned on her side. Then she blinked again in disbelief.

  He was too handsome to be real. And even naked, he was regal—all arrogant planes of hard muscle rippling under silky-smooth skin. She would have thought last night was a dream if he wasn’t lying beside her. But even as close as he was, he was out of her reach.

  And as soon as he found his friend and who was behind the attack on the royals, he’d go back to his country. He had greater obligations than keeping her safe. A sense of foreboding had the skin prickling on her nape and her stomach muscles tightening; she didn’t feel safe anymore. But the danger came more from the man lying beside her than the one from her past.

  He would hurt her, too. Not physically. But he would hurt her emotionally because he could never return her feelings. Even though his grandfather was dead, it was obvious he wanted the approval the king had denied him. So he wouldn’t make the mistake he’d felt his mother had made; he wouldn’t marry a commoner.

  Only royalty.

  She would never be a princess.

  Being careful to not disturb him, she eased out of bed and quickly dressed. But when she turned back, his eyes were open, and he watched her with that intent stare of his. “Where are you going?”

  “I have to feed the animals,” she reminded him.

  “I hate your going out to the barn by yourself.”

  “Those guards would have warned you if anyone had tried coming onto the ranch.” A man named Brenner kept calling and checking in, assuring him that no one had tried breaching the perimeter.

  “True,” he said, tossing back the blankets. Fortunately he’d pulled his boxers on sometime during the night, but the black silk rode low on his lean hips, tempting her to reach out and push them down.

  Desire heated her blood and her skin, and she wanted nothing more than to run her hands and lips over him as she had again and again in the night. But the day had come and with it reality. Last night had only been a dream, a fairy tale that would never come true.

  She turned away from him and the temptation he presented, and headed toward the door. But he caught her wrist and tugged her back.

  “So because the guards haven’t forewarned us of anyone trying to get onto the ranch, it’s safe for me to take care of the animals. I’ll just stick to the shadows, so no one notices me heading toward the barn.”

  “What shadows?” She glanced toward the window, but the light was almost all gone now, dark clouds having blocked out the sun. “Still, it’s not part of the plan…”

  “I need to get out of the house for a minute,” he admitted. “Get some air.”

  She wasn’t the only one having regrets about their night of make-believe. No one knew better than he did that they had no future. “But you don’t know what to feed the animals,” she pointed out.

  “You wrote out the directions when we were waiting at the hospital with Helen in case someone else had to feed the animals while she recovered.”

  Because she hadn’t planned to come back here. She’d intended instead to take her daughter and run. She should ha
ve done that.

  But Sebastian had gotten to her with his words about her not letting go of Evgeny. She had been carrying the man inside her head even as she’d run from him. So she’d known that no matter how far she ran, she would never get away from him…unless she could stop him from following her. For good.

  But unless she killed him, she would never get rid of Evgeny for good. Prison hadn’t held him the first time; she doubted it could hold him a second.

  “You took the directions?” she asked.

  “I remember what you wrote down,” he replied. “I’ll call and check in with the security team before I leave you alone in the house. Then I’ll sneak out to the barn.”

  Maybe she wasn’t the only one who wanted to run away. She nodded in agreement, no matter which one of them went out to the barn, she would have some badly needed time alone. And when Sebastian came back inside, she’d be packed and ready to leave.

  She was running. And not just from Evgeny…

  SEBASTIAN KEPT TO THE SHADOWS as he moved from the house to the barn. He’d just checked in with Brenner for an update on the perimeter. No one had tried to breach it yet. Perhaps Evgeny wasn’t waiting to get Jessica alone; perhaps he was waiting for her to leave. Then he would grab her on some deserted stretch of road.

  And Jessica would never be seen again. Perhaps the man wouldn’t take her life but he would take her spirit, and that would kill her just as effectively. Sebastian could not let that happen.

  He pulled open the door to the barn. Heat radiated from the dark interior, along with the odor of hay and other less aromatic scents. They had barns at the palace in Barajas. And ever since they’d gone to live there, if Sebastian needed to find Antoine, the barns were usually where he searched first. He would find him with the horses or the other livestock: cows and goats and sheep. When they had taken over as corulers, Antoine kept building more barns and fencing more pastures.

  He would have loved this ranch. Sebastian just wanted to get the animals fed, so he could return to Jessica. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her close. But she hadn’t wanted that this morning. She’d wanted space. Hell, after last night, so had he.