Stranded with the Prince
Page 16
You, she wanted to say, but didn’t. Everything seemed so surreal. “It would never work.”
“Explain to me why.”
“I’m not who you need. You’re not who I need.”
“Let me decide who I need,” he said. “Who do you need?”
She used to be clear on that—she’d filled out the same questionnaire for herself that she had all her clients fill out.
“Let me guess,” he said. “You’d like a Lithuanian American, someone who’d help you carry on family traditions. Someone who lives in New York. Someone who respects your business and supports you in it.”
“Exactly. The fact that you don’t meet any of those criteria can’t possibly escape your notice.”
“You want the right man.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“What about a man who would make your heart sing?”
She couldn’t argue with that. Those were her own words, almost exactly. Was he right? Had she been a fool all this time, making the same mistake most of her clients made?
“What about your precious freedom?” she asked.
He’d always said that was the most important thing to him.
“If I’m free to love you, that’s all the freedom I need.”
“And I need an answer that’s not quite that glib.”
“I realized that loving someone is not a prison.
Having your support and companionship wouldn’t close any doors on me. It would open up a world of possibilities. I’ve never talked to anyone like we talked on the island. You made me see things in a different light. You made me understand a lot of things about myself. The truth is, I need you.”
All she could do was stare at him.
He searched her gaze. “You don’t love me. You still think I’m a no-good rake, is that it? I swear I changed.
Let me prove it to you.”
“No, it’s not that.” She knew he had changed. The island had changed both of them. “I do love you. I’ve been in love with you—but—”
He was on his feet the next second, crushing her to him. “Say it again,” he ordered.
She looked up in exasperation and caught sight of that cloud again, the one that looked like her grand mother. She seemed to be smiling.
Her gaze drifted back to the prince. “I love you, but it doesn’t mean—”
“Oh, yes, it does.” And then he kissed her.
It was different from all the times he’d kissed her on the island. He kissed her like a man kisses a woman he wants to marry. His kiss held endless tenderness and love, desire, promises.
And she believed all of it.
So much so that she got completely lost in him, and the next thing she knew, she was in his arms and he was lowering her to the bed, onto the crumpled sheets she’d not long ago vacated.
“Are we rushing this?” she asked him.
He smiled. “How the tables have turned. If I recall correctly, a few weeks ago you were only too happy to rush me into marriage.”
“That was hardly the same.”
“I want to make love to you, only you, every day for the rest of my life,” he told her.
“It’s good to aim high,” she teased, dazed by the passion that enveloped them.
He kissed her again, hard, on the lips. “I aim to please.”
She had no doubt of that whatsoever. He was peel ing her out of her clothes already. Then his hands were on her bare skin, heat and desire swirling through her, making her dizzy.
In another second, he was on the bed next to her, naked.
Wow. Whatever little brainpower she’d still had functioning shut down then—lights out, blinds drawn. She could only feel.
“I love you,” he said again as he explored her body with his hands and lips.
“I love you, too,” she admitted for the first time with out prodding.
And that seemed to be the only permission he needed for thoroughly ravishing her.
“WILL YOU MARRY ME?” he asked much later, with her still sprawled on top of him after their amazing lovemaking, both of them still breathing hard, her body still tingling from the inside out.
“I don’t think I should. I should figure out who I am and what I want to do with my life first.”
“You mean a new career choice?” He kissed the heart-shaped mole on her neck.
She nodded.
He flipped her so she ended up under him. “Why can’t you do that with me?”
“My life is in an upheaval at the moment. It wouldn’t be fair to you. You already have everything figured out.”
“Hardly,” he said. “Except for the part about loving you.”
And her heart softened.
“You know,” he said as he nibbled her bottom lip, “people quit and start new careers all the time. It doesn’t have anything to do with who they’re with. We’re in love with each other, let’s firm that up and get married. Having that sure point will make figuring out the rest of life that much easier.”
He was a smooth talker for sure. The more he kissed her, the fewer objections she could come up with.
“It’s too sudden,” she said in one last-ditch effort, studiously avoiding looking at the ring on the nightstand.
“We’ve known each other for six months and spent a considerable amount of time together each day,” he said.
“Only when you couldn’t figure out how to run away from me,” she reminded him.
“More fool I. From now on, I’ll only run toward you. I promise.”
And she could see it all of a sudden, them coming out of some cathedral, rice being thrown and white doves being released. She could hear the wedding bells.
“And if I say no?” she asked, just to be contrary. He’d given her hell when she’d been trying to get him to marry. He couldn’t very well expect her to make this easy for him.
“You can’t. You make my heart sing.”
“If you call me ‘wild thing’ next, this conversation is over,” she joked, referring to the popular song.
“I’m not going to pressure you in any way,” he said, apparently missing the joke. There definitely was a cultural gap. But it didn’t matter. “I know too well what that’s like,” he went on. “Believe it or not, some people tried to drag me to the altar, not caring a whit how much I was kicking or how loud I was screaming.” He looked at her pointedly. Then dipped his head to her nipple.
Pleasure shot through her. “I refuse to feel guilty for doing my job.”
“I never said you should.” He attended the other nipple, then moved lower. “All I’m saying is that I’m not going to push you, but I will keep making love to you until you agree to marry me.” His tongue outlined her navel.
Heat and need gathered between her legs all over again. “You can’t be serious. We’ve just— It’s impossible.”
“People don’t say that to royalty.” He murmured the words against her lower abdomen. “When a prince wants something, a way is usually found to accomplish it.” His hand was caressing her inner thigh, in circular motions, going higher and higher.
She melted into her pillow as she gave herself over to his ministrations. “Oh. Okay. Fine. I’ll marry you, for love’s sake. Eventually. But I’m not going to rush into anything.”
“Why not? Speed is great.” He kissed her silly and made love to her all over again.
She felt content. Complete. This was it, this was what she wanted. Everything else would work itself out. She’d found love, true love. For the moment, nothing else mattered. He was right—whatever else she needed to figure out, they would face it together.
Then he asked, “Are you sure you want to quit matchmaking?”
“What? Now you don’t want me to?” The man was driving her crazy. “You were the one who got me started thinking about quitting in the first place. You made me question what I want. And I needed that, by the way. So what’s this now?”
He kissed her. “Okay. First, I’m who you want, I’m what you need. Bu
t beyond that…” He kissed her again. “It couldn’t have escaped your notice that I have three brothers who are all confirmed bachelors in their own way,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Maybe you could help them?”
She watched him through narrowed eyes. “You want revenge, don’t you? For them setting you up on the island.”
“I just want them to know the joy of true love. What? What are you laughing at? Honestly!”
And then they sealed the future with a kiss.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5546-7
STRANDED WITH THE PRINCE
Copyright © 2010 by Dana Marton
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*Mission: Redemption
*Mission: Redemption
*Mission: Redemption
*Mission: Redemption
†Defending the Crown
†Defending the Crown
†Defending the Crown