Helvete, he had even hidden his son’s brief existence for the sake of the Crown. The secret gnawed like a cancer deep in Aksel’s heart.
‘I made love to Juliet,’ he said, speaking carefully so that Mina would not mistake his words. ‘For one night I forgot that I belong to an ancient royal dynasty. I was—as you said—just a man who desired a beautiful woman. But in the morning the fantasy ended. You are an actress, and I am a prince and ruler of my country. Our lives are set to follow different paths.’
Mina flinched at his bluntness. She had told herself she had come to Storvhal to clear her name and persuade Aksel that she had not told the press they had spent the night together. But in her heart she knew that her real reason for finding him was because she had felt a deep connection with him when they had made love, and she had been convinced that he had felt it too. His cold words seemed to disprove her theory.
‘In that case why did you invite me to Paris?’ she said stiffly.
‘You looked upset when I told you that I was about to fly back to Storvhal. It seemed kinder to allow you to believe that I was interested in seeing you again, but we hadn’t made a specific arrangement.’
Humiliation swept in a hot tide through Mina. Fool, she silently berated herself. She went cold when she remembered that Aksel had called her Juliet when he had kissed her. At the time she hadn’t thought anything of it, but now she knew that he had been making love to a fantasy woman. He had been captivated by Juliet when he had watched her on stage, not by Mina Hart, the actress who played the role. According to Aksel, he hadn’t felt any kind of connection to her. She had completely misread the situation.
Or had she?
Her mind flew back to the previous night, and the fierce glitter in Aksel’s eyes just before he had climaxed powerfully inside her. For a few timeless moments when they had both hovered on the edge of heaven, she had sensed that their souls had reached out to each other and something indefinable and profound had passed between them.
Last night her hearing aids had been working. Could Aksel really have faked the raw emotion she had heard in the groan he’d made when he had come apart in her arms?
He lifted his glass to his lips and gulped down the fiery akevitt in a single swallow. For a split second, Mina saw him flick his gaze over her in a lightning sweep from her breasts down to her stocking tops, and she glimpsed a predatory hunger in his eyes before he glanced away.
Her heart thudded. Aksel might want to deny that he felt anything for her, but she had seen desire in his eyes. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that when they had made love the previous night it had been special. She had not imagined his tenderness and she was convinced that they had shared more than a primitive physical act.
If he had spoken the truth when he’d stated that he’d just wanted sex with her, why hadn’t he looked into her eyes as he had said it? And why was he still determined to avoid her gaze? Mina was adept at reading the subtle nuances of body language, and the tension she could feel emanating from Aksel suggested that he was not telling her the whole truth.
‘So, you desired the fantasy Juliet, not Mina the real woman?’ she demanded. When he did not look at her she put her hand on his jaw and felt the rough stubble scrape her palm as she turned his face towards her. His eyelashes swept down, but not before she had glimpsed something in his eyes that gave her courage. ‘Prove it,’ she said softly.
His dark blond brows drew together. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Kiss me and prove that I don’t turn you on.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
She stood up on tiptoe and brought her face so close to his that when he blinked she felt his eyelashes brush her skin. Being deprived of her hearing made her other senses more acute and she was aware of the unsteady rhythm of his heart as his breathing became shallow.
‘What are you afraid of?’ she said against his mouth. ‘If I kiss you and you don’t respond, then I’ll know you’re telling the truth and you don’t want me.’
Are you crazy? taunted a voice inside her head. You won’t dare do it! If he rejected her she would die of humiliation. But life had taught Mina that if you wanted something badly enough it was worth fighting for.
If she could only break through Aksel’s icy detachment, she was convinced she would find the tender lover he had been last night. She hesitated with her lips centimetres from his and felt his warm breath whisper across her skin. He had tensed, but he hadn’t pushed her away, and before she lost her nerve she closed the tiny gap between them and grazed her mouth over Aksel’s.
He made no response, not even when she pressed her lips harder against his and traced the shape of his mouth with the tip of her tongue. Desperation gripped her and she began to wonder if last night really had been just a casual sexual encounter for him.
He stood unmoving, as unrelenting as rock, and in frustration she nipped his lower lip with her teeth. His chest lifted as he inhaled sharply, and Mina took advantage of his surprise to push her tongue into his mouth.
He curled his hands around her shoulders and tightened his grip until his fingers bit into her flesh. Mina tensed, expecting him to wrench his mouth free and cast her from him. But suddenly, unbelievably, he was kissing her back.
He moved his mouth over hers, tentatively at first—as if he was still fighting a battle with himself. Relief flooded through Mina and she pressed her body closer to him so that her breasts were crushed against the hard wall of his chest. And all the while she moved her lips over his with aching sensuality, teasing him, tempting him, until Aksel could withstand no more of the sweet torture.
A shudder ran through his huge frame. He loosened his grip on her shoulders and grabbed a fistful of her hair, holding her captive while he demonstrated his mastery and claimed control of the kiss.
It was no slow build-up of passion but a violent explosion that set them both on fire. Mina wondered if her bones would be crushed by Aksel’s immense strength as he hauled her hard against him. But she did not care. His raw hunger made her melt into him as she responded to his demanding kisses with demands of her own. She curled her fingers into his hair and shaped his skull before tracing her fingertips over his sculpted face and the blond stubble covering his jaw.
He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist while he strode through the cabin and into the bedroom. Mina was vaguely aware of a fire burning in the hearth, and an oil lamp hanging on the wall cast a pool of golden light on the bed. The mattress dipped as Aksel laid her down and knelt over her. His eyes were no longer icy but blazed with desire that matched the molten heat coursing through Mina’s veins.
She felt fiercely triumphant that her feminine instinct had been right and he wanted her. His excuse that he had desired the fantasy Juliet was patently untrue. The erratic thud of his heart gave him away, and his hands were unsteady as he tore open her shirt and pushed it over her shoulders. He slipped a hand beneath her back to unfasten her bra and tugged away the wisp of lace to lay bare her breasts. Mina watched streaks of dull colour flare on his sharp cheekbones, and, even before he had touched her breasts, her nipples tautened in response to the feral gleam in his eyes.
Aksel lifted his head and stared down at Mina. ‘You are driving me insane, you green-eyed witch.’
She read his lips and smiled. ‘Who am I?’
He frowned. ‘You’re Mina.’
‘Not Juliet?’
Now he understood. ‘You’re a witch,’ he repeated. She made him forget his royal status and his life of responsibility and duty. She made him forget everything but his urgent, scalding need that was unlike anything he’d ever felt for any other woman. He cupped her firm breasts in his hands and flicked his thumb pads across the puckered nipples, smiling when he heard her sharp intake of breath that told him her hunger was as acute as his.
Mina gave a choked cry as Aksel kissed her breasts, transferring his mouth from one nipple to the other and lashing the swollen peaks with his tongue until the pleasure
was almost unbearable. She could feel his erection straining beneath his jeans and she fumbled with his zip, eager to take him inside her. There was something excitingly primitive about the way he jerked the denim over his hips; the fact that he was too impatient to possess her to undress properly.
She wrenched his shirt buttons open and spread the material so that she could run her hands through the wiry blond hairs that grew on his chest. He dragged her knickers down her legs, and then his big hand was between her thighs, spreading her wide, touching her where she ached to be touched.
Mina closed her eyes and fell into a dark, silent world where her other senses dominated. The feel of Aksel parting her and sliding a finger into her wetness was almost enough to make her come. She could smell his male scent; spicy aftershave mingled with the faint saltiness of sweaty and the indefinable fragrance of sexual arousal. When he moved his hand she arched her hips in mute supplication for him to push his finger deeper inside her.
It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. She curled her hand around his powerful erection and gave a little shiver of excitement when she remembered how he had filled her last night. She lifted her lashes and studied his chiselled features, and her heart stirred. He wasn’t a stranger, she had known him for ever, and she wondered why she suddenly felt shy and nervous and excited all at the same time. She smiled, unaware that her eyes mirrored her confused feelings of hope and anticipation, but Aksel tensed, and silently cursed his stupidity.
Reality struck him forcibly. There were numerous reasons why he must not allow the situation to continue, but the most crucial was that he could not have unprotected sex with Mina. He never brought women to his private sanctuary and he did not keep condoms at the cabin. Perhaps Mina used a method of contraception, but years ago Karena had told him she was on the pill, and since then he had never trusted any woman. His gut ached with sexual frustration but, even though he was agonisingly tempted to plunge his throbbing erection between her soft thighs, he could not, would not, take the risk of making Mina pregnant.
A series of images flashed into his mind. He remembered looking into Finn’s crib and pulling back the blanket that was half covering the baby’s face. At first he had thought that his son was asleep. He’d looked so peaceful with his long eyelashes curling on his cheeks. The baby’s skin was as flawless as fine porcelain—but his little cheek had felt as cold as marble.
Pain tore in Aksel’s chest as he snatched a breath and forced air into his lungs that felt as though they had been crushed in a vice. There were other reasons why he should resist the siren call of Mina’s body, not least the soft expression in her eyes that was a warning sign she hoped for something more from him than sex. He needed to make her understand that nothing was on offer. His emotions were as cold and empty as the Arctic tundra.
‘Don’t stop,’ she murmured. Her words affected Aksel more than he cared to admit. He wondered if she could hear her own voice, or whether she was unaware of the husky pleading in her tone. He looked down at her slender body spread naked on his bed and could not bring himself to reject her when she was at her most vulnerable.
Helvete! How had he allowed things to get this far? He should have tried harder to resist her, but the sweet sensuality of her kiss had driven him out of his mind. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down, parting her lips in an invitation that Aksel found he could not ignore. He slanted his mouth over hers, and desire ripped through him when he tasted her warm breath in his mouth.
She twisted her hips restlessly, pushing her sex against his hand. It would be cruel to deny her what she clearly wanted, Aksel told himself. He could give her pleasure even if he could give her nothing else.
The little moan she made when he slipped a second finger inside her and moved his hand in a rhythmic dance told him she was close to the edge. He forced himself to ignore the burn of his own desire and concentrated on Mina. Her head was thrown back on the pillows, her glorious hair spilling around her shoulders, and she closed her eyes as tremors shook her body.
‘Aksel...’ Her keening cry tugged on his heart. He did not understand why he wanted to gather her close and rock her in his arms while the trembling in her limbs gradually eased. The sight of tears sliding from beneath her lashes filled him with self-loathing. She had flown all the way to Storvhal to find him because—in her words—she believed that last night had been special for both of them. The brutal truth was going to hurt her feelings, he acknowledged grimly as he withdrew from her.
Mina watched Aksel get up from the bed, and the languorous feeling following her orgasm turned to excitement as she waited for him to strip off his jeans and position himself over her. Despite the pleasure he had just gifted her she was desperate to take his hard length inside her. She did not recognise the wanton creature she became with him. He had unlocked a deeply sensual side to her nature that she had been unaware of, and she was eager to make love with him fully and give him as much pleasure as he had given her.
But instead of removing the rest of his clothes he was pulling up the zip of his jeans. Her confusion grew when he walked over to the door. She sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. ‘Aksel...what’s wrong?’
He turned around so that she could see his face, and her heart plummeted at the coldness in his eyes. She watched his mouth form words that made no sense to her.
‘This is wrong.’ His eyes rested on her slender figure and rose-flushed face. ‘You should not have come to Storvhal.’
Mina felt sick as the realisation sank in that he was rejecting her. ‘Last night—’ she began. But he cut her off.
‘Last night was a mistake that I am not going to repeat.’
‘Why?’ Mina was unaware of the raw emotion in her voice, and Aksel schooled his features to hide the pang of guilt he felt.
She bit her lip. Her pride demanded that she should accept his rejection and try to salvage a little of her dignity, but she did not understand why he had suddenly backed off. ‘Is it because I’m deaf? You desired me when you didn’t know about my hearing loss,’ she reminded him when he frowned. ‘What am I supposed to blame for your sudden change of heart?’
‘My heart was never involved,’ he said bluntly. ‘Learning of your hearing impairment is not the reason why I can’t have sex with you again.’
‘Then what is the reason?’ The frustration Mina had felt as a child when she had first lost her hearing surged through her again now. She wished she could hear Aksel. It wasn’t that she had a problem reading his lip, but not being able to hear his voice made her feel that there was a wide gulf between them.
‘I can’t have an affair with you. I am the Prince of Storvhal and my loyalty and duty must be to my country.’
Mina suddenly felt self-conscious that he was dressed and she was naked when she noticed his gaze linger on her breasts. She flushed as she glanced down at her swollen nipples—evidence that her body had still not come down from the sexual high he had taken her to—and tugged a sheet around her before she slid off the bed and walked towards him.
‘I understand that you have many responsibilities.’ She remembered the taxi driver saying that Aksel had needed to win the support of the Storvhalian people after his father had been an unpopular ruler. Aksel had admitted that, when they had made love last night, he had been able to briefly forget his royal status.
‘You belong to an ancient royal dynasty, but surely the Storvhalian people accept that you are a man first, and a prince second?’ she said softly.
She was shocked to see a flash of emotion in his eyes, but it disappeared before she could define it, and she wondered if she had imagined his expression of raw pain.
Aksel grimaced as he imagined how his grandmother would react to Mina’s lack of understanding of his role as ruler of Storvhal. It was a role he had prepared for probably since he had taken his first steps. He remembered when he was a small boy, Princess Eldrun had insisted that he must not run through the palace but must walk sedately as befitted the fu
ture monarch. His whole life had been constrained by strict rules of protocol, and he had done his best to fulfil the expectations that his grandmother, his government ministers—the entire nation of Storvhal, it often felt like—had of him.
He had even kept secret his son’s birth—and death.
He stared at Mina and hardened his heart against the temptation of her beauty. ‘I swore an oath promising my devotion to my country and my people. I will always be a prince first.’
‘Do you place duty above everything because you feel you have to make up for the fact that your father wasn’t a good monarch?’
He stiffened. ‘How do you know anything about my father?’
She gave a wry smile. ‘My father says that if you want to hear an honest opinion about politics or any other subject, talk to a taxi driver.’
The gentle expression in Mina’s green eyes infuriated Aksel. She did not understand anything about his life. The sacrifice he had made that would haunt him for ever.
‘Did the taxi driver you spoke to tell you that during my father’s reign many of his own ministers supported a move to abolish the monarchy? There were incidents of civil unrest among the population and the House of Thoresen, who have ruled Storvhal for eight centuries, came close to being overthrown.
‘My father betrayed Storvhal by selling off gold reserves and other valuable assets belonging to the country to fund his extravagant lifestyle. He was called the playboy prince for good reason and the Storvhalian population disliked that their ruler was setting a bad moral example.
‘It has taken twelve years for me to win back the trust of my people.’ Anger flashed in Aksel’s eyes. ‘But now, thanks to your wretched journalist friend and the photographs of me escorting an actress with a dubious reputation into my hotel, rumours abound that I lead a secret double life and I am a playboy like my father.’
A Night in the Prince's Bed Page 9