Harlequin Presents--June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Dani Collins

  And it did something to her insides she did not want to admit. “I don’t like dressing up.”

  “Yet you do so very well. I will never be anything but proud to have you stand by my side.”

  She frowned. He couldn’t mean that. “I blurt stuff out before I think about it,” she warned him.

  “Do you? Thus far, I’ve noticed you being very careful about what you say and where you say it.”

  That was true in certain circumstances, like the few in which they’d met, but not always. “When I’m comfortable, I lose the filter between my brain and my mouth.”

  “I will look forward to you growing comfortable with me then.”

  “You don’t mean that.” How could he?

  He didn’t quite smile, but amusement lurked in his usually steely gray gaze. “You think I only want people around me who say what I want to hear?”

  “You’re a king.”

  “We’ve established that.”

  “You don’t like people disagreeing with you.”

  “Disagreement is healthy.” He gave her a look she thought might be intended to intimidate. “Disrespect is something else.”

  She wasn’t intimidated, but she was curious. “What if you think I’m being disrespectful when I’m only being honest?”

  “What if you think I’m being neglectful when I am only busy?” he riposted.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Neither do I. Marriage requires trust and compromise from both sides.”

  “Is that what you had with Tiana?”

  Nothing changed in his expression, but there was a new quality of stillness about him and rigidity to Nikolai’s spine. “My first marriage is not something I like to discuss.”

  “Okay.”

  His eyes widened fractionally. “Okay?”

  “I don’t like talking about my childhood either.” Everyone thought they knew what her life had been like because her father had been in the tabloids so much.

  No one but she and her mother knew about the Count’s violent rages, about the mental and physical scars both she and her mother bore because of them.

  His final desertion had embarrassed the royal family and torn their lives apart, but it had also come as a terrible relief. Once they reached the States, her mother had taken out a restraining order against her estranged husband and renewed it after their divorce became final.

  Living in the States, she’d finally stood up for herself and her daughter in a way she’d never been willing to do when their lives were wrapped with the Volyarus royal family.

  “Hearing you say that makes me very curious, kiska.”

  He could be as curious as the proverbial cat, but she wasn’t talking about those dark years when her father had lived with her and Mama in Volyarus.

  Not for anything. “I’m not a kitten.”

  “Oh, I think you are. You’ve proven you have sharp little claws, but you are not vicious with them and I am very much looking forward to petting you.”

  She choked on the wine she’d been sipping. “I can’t believe you said that.”

  “I am a king, not a eunuch.”

  “But you don’t want me.”

  “Don’t I?” His heated expression belied her claim.

  Suddenly, the air around them was charged and she pressed her thighs together under the table. “I don’t look anything like Tiana,” Nataliya blurted.

  Dark brows raised, he said, “You look like yourself and I find you very attractive.”

  “Oh.” She really hadn’t expected that blunt declaration, much less the truth he’d have her believe was behind it. Unexpected heat suffused her face.

  “Nothing to say back to me?”

  “What do you want me to say?” she asked in a tone that was way too breathless.

  “You could tell me if the attraction is one-sided.”

  “Of course, I’m attracted to you.” He was smart, powerful, gorgeous, strong and just downright sexy. “Who wouldn’t be?”

  “I think I’m flattered.” But he didn’t sound too sure about that fact.

  And for some inexplicable reason, that made Nataliya happy. She didn’t like him taking her attraction to him for granted, despite the fact he had to know that most women would find him pretty much irresistible. “Don’t be. You know who and what you are.”

  “Yes, but I was beginning to wonder if you appreciated my attributes.”

  He had to be joking. “I find that hard to believe.”

  She was no actress and right now, Nataliya couldn’t stop thinking how much she wanted to kiss him and try things she’d never tried before with another man. It was all his fault too, the King who talked bluntly about stuff like attraction.

  Which naturally sent her thoughts in a direction they never went. Except around him. And that had been a long time ago.

  Only this was now and although she was no longer in love with him, Nataliya apparently still found Nikolai sexually irresistible.

  And the King’s expression said he knew it too!

  A smile more predatory than amused creased his gorgeous lips. “The look on your face says that our wedding night will be very satisfying.”

  “Like you’d allow it to be anything else,” she blurted with more honesty than common sense. “You’re the guy who always wins.”

  “It comes with the territory.”

  * * *

  Satisfied with how their evening had gone so far, Nik slid into the limousine, taking the seat beside his future bride rather than the one across from her.

  Although she was more stubborn than he’d given her credit for, Nik had no doubt that she would eventually agree to marry him.

  Because Nataliya was that rare commodity in his world—a woman of honor.

  When she made a promise, she kept it. Not like the faithless socialite he’d made his Queen. He’d made the mistake once of bestowing political and social power that rivaled his own on his wife and lived to regret it.

  Nataliya had waited ten years on a contract that should have been fulfilled in half that time. And she had not allowed herself to consider getting out of her obligation to marry a prince of his house until she had discovered Konstantin’s propensity for one-night stands.

  Nataliya had very exacting standards and a highly developed sense of honor, both for herself and others. In her view, Konstantin hadn’t lived up to those standards.

  Nikolai understood, even if he did not agree fully. Her attitude was to his benefit.

  And it was those traits that had first made Nik realize she would make his ideal wife. The low-simmering attraction he’d recognized in the agonizing days after his pregnant wife’s death was also welcome. He had no desire to have an icy-cold marriage bed, but even he had not realized how deeply that attraction ran until he started spending more time with Nataliya.

  He’d even been turned on during the confrontation at the Volyarussian palace.

  Not that he would ever acknowledge such a thing.

  Nor would ever lose control of his desire or allow it to drive his decisions.

  He would not make the same mistakes with his second wife he had made with his first.

  Starting with choosing a woman who had bone-deep integrity and absolutely no tolerance for infidelity.

  * * *

  Nataliya allowed Jenna to put the finishing touches to her makeup for the fifth date in three weeks with Nikolai.

  He had stayed in Seattle that first week, managing to see her every day he had been in town.

  The next week he had flown in to take her to the big technology expo. That would have been amazing enough, especially with the VIP treatment attending it with a king had provided. Yes, even Nataliya in all her pragmatism had been impressed. But somehow he had managed an invite for her to the super-secret hackathon she’d been trying to ge
t into for the last three years.

  And the King of Mirrus had not complained even a little when she’d immersed herself in learning new hacking technologies and going up against some of the biggest names in her industry for hours.

  Tonight they were attending a fund-raiser ball for the children’s charity she’d been donating the proceeds of her Courtship Gifts for a Would-Be Princess online auction to.

  It was being held at one of the swankest hotels in Manhattan and Nikolai had arranged for a private plane to fly Nataliya, Jenna, the photographer and even Jenna’s boyfriend to New York.

  Jenna and her boyfriend were excited about going out on the town after Jenna finished styling Nataliya for her date and getting the information the junior fashion editor needed for her blog post.

  “My boss is beside herself with joy in the amount of hits we’re getting on the blog from this series,” Jenna said with satisfaction as she stood back.

  Nataliya smiled at her longtime friend. “Good. You deserve recognition for your creativity.”

  “But it’s your life that’s making this possible. Everyone is keen to follow the courtship of a king and his would-be princess.”

  Nataliya was unwillingly enthralled herself. She spent too much time wondering what his next move would be and thinking about him between frequent texts and phone calls. “I think he’s still expecting the wedding to take place month after next.”

  “Has he said so?”

  “I got the mock-up invitations to approve this afternoon.” But so far, she had not actually agreed to marry him.

  He acted like it was a foregone conclusion. Because she’d signed that darned contract.

  Jenna tried to stifle laughter but wasn’t successful. “He’s very confident you’re going to agree, isn’t he?”

  “The word is arrogant.”

  “I’m pretty sure kings are allowed.”

  Nataliya smoothed a tiny wrinkle in the skirt of her dress. “And I’m very sure that he would be just as arrogant if he were the third son of the King’s second cousin.”

  Jenna’s laughter burst out and Nataliya couldn’t help joining her, but she hadn’t been joking. Not entirely.

  Nikolai was always sure he was right and she’d yet to find an instance in which he was not. She couldn’t even deny that she would ultimately agree to marry him.

  She would like to say that was all due to her sense of duty and the contract she’d signed at the age of eighteen. And she could not deny that it did play a part, but that crush she’d gotten over?

  Not so much in the over department.

  Nikolai treated her like a person in her own right, not just an adjunct to his life. He didn’t dismiss her job or put her down for loving what she did. Nor did he criticize her for having no personal clue about the latest fashions or being mostly ignorant of pop culture.

  Nataliya wasn’t interested in being seen, nor did she have any interest in playing on her current A-Lister status as Jenna called it.

  Nikolai approved of her and supported Nataliya’s interests and opinions in a way even her mom found challenging, Nataliya knew.

  She was nobody’s idea of perfect royalty.

  So why did this King want to marry her?

  What could she bring to the Royal House of Merikov? Other than her womb.

  No question she would be expected to provide heirs plural to the throne. He’d been very frank about that fact. Just as he’d been, oh, so open on that first date about being attracted to her.

  And yet he hadn’t even kissed her. Not once. No kisses, no heated embraces.

  Did he expect to use artificial insemination, or something, to get those heirs he was so keen on?

  The thought was really lowering, but what else was she supposed to think?

  He was so incredibly polite. And she? Wanted to kiss him and try all the things she’d ever read about with him. Sometimes he looked at her with what she thought was desire, but he never acted on it and she couldn’t help thinking she’d got it wrong.

  But did that stop her wanting him?

  No it did not.

  Stifling a sigh at her thoughts, Nataliya obediently looked in the mirror to check out Jenna’s handiwork.

  The dress was from an established design house but far from classic. Black lace over a nude slip that stopped midthigh, one shoulder was entirely bare and the other sleeve reached to her wrist. When she shifted, the slit that went right to the bottom of the slip showed her leg. The cut and style made the slit look like it went higher, but it did not in fact show anything but the pale skin of her thigh.

  Thank goodness she did her muscle-toning elliptical every morning, or she would never show so much of her leg.

  Biting her lip, Nataliya met Jenna’s expectant gaze in the mirror. “It looks so risqué.”

  “But nothing that shouldn’t be showing is.”

  “You can see the side of my breast.”

  “No, you think you can but the fashion tape and cut of the gown are both clever enough to keep you covered.”

  “Nikolai is going to have a fit.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “His Highness has been mixing with the glitterati for years while you’ve been happily moldering away at your computer keyboard. He’s seen much more daring gowns.”

  More daring? What were they, see-through? When she asked, Jenna just laughed. “It has been known.”

  “This one looks like it’s see-through.”

  “But it’s not.”

  “The nude slip is an exact match for my skin tone.”

  “That was done on purpose,” Jenna revealed with a tone of pure satisfaction. The clothes being provided by the fashion houses for Nataliya’s dates were a serious coup for her friend. “The in-house designers were happy to provide a personalized gown for this event for you. You’re an A-Lister now, hon.”

  “Only because I’m dating a king.”

  “Um...you do realize you just said that, right?”

  Nataliya shook her head, but the image in the mirror was a woman who could date a king. Even she knew that. “You did good, friend.”

  “I had a great canvas to work with.”

  Now if only Nikolai would not just see Nataliya as a woman who could date a king, but one the said King would want to kiss. And perhaps do other naughty things with, she might feel like crowing.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  NIKOLAI’S INITIAL REACTION was all that Nataliya could have wanted.

  Steel-gray eyes turned molten with hot desire and she prepared herself for a kiss to blow her socks off.

  Good thing she wasn’t wearing any socks because no kiss was forthcoming and the King’s expression shuttered almost immediately.

  “You look beautiful,” he told her, oh, so politely.

  And Nataliya wanted to scream. “Thank you,” she replied in kind, however, none of the frustration she felt bleeding into her voice.

  “Once we are married, however, you will not be styled so provocatively.” He gave her another cursory glance before leading her out of the hotel suite. “It is a good thing you are not enamored with this type of fashion. That will not be a loss for you.”

  Every word he spoke stoked the annoyance simmering inside Nataliya until she felt like a fizzing teakettle.

  “When we are married?” she asked delicately. “Having you dictate how I dress won’t be a hardship for me?” she inquired with even more precise syllables.

  He stopped in the elevator, his gaze flicking to the security detail before coming to settle on her. “Naturally, my opinion on how you dress will be important to you.”

  “Oh, really?” she asked sweetly. “Because, and I know this is going to come as a surprise to you, but I have been dressing myself for years now and I have never once needed a man’s opinion on what I choose to wear.”

  “You will be my P
rincess, and with that honor will come certain responsibilities,” he said repressively, the buttoned-down King she’d gotten to know early on making a full appearance for the first time on one of their dates.

  Somehow, with all the worries she’d had about the responsibilities of becoming a princess, none of them had ever centered around her wardrobe. “Responsibilities like letting you tell me how to dress?”

  “Be honest—would you have chosen that dress on your own?” he asked, sounding like he knew the answer already.

  “I don’t wear high-end designer gowns on a regular basis, full stop.”

  “You could, though, if you wanted. I have never seen your mother wearing anything but.”

  “She accepts an allowance from her cousin.” Hush money Nataliya had no interest in. “I live on the money I earn.”

  “Admirable, but when you are The Princess of Mirrus, you will dress in the top designers’ creations and I do not believe that you will choose clothing as provocative as the dress you are currently wearing.”

  She had this crazy urge to wear nothing but sexually provocative clothing for the rest of her life. Comfortable, or not. “Let me make something very clear, Your Highness.”

  He waited without saying anything, his manners impeccable.

  “I will wear the clothes I like regardless of who I am married to. That means that if I want to wear jeans from a department store, I will and if I want to wear dresses just like this one, I will. No one, not even a king, is going to dictate my choices like a petty fashion tyrant.”

  One of the bodyguards made a suspicious sound that could have been humor, but a look at their faces showed only impassive regard.

  When Nikolai opened his mouth to speak, his eyes narrowed in clear irritation, she held up her hand.

  “I am not finished.”

  “Then by all means, continue.”

  “You have not asked me to marry you. We are not engaged and speaking to me like that is a done deal when you haven’t even given me the courtesy of that one small tradition is not making the outcome you so clearly want more likely.” With that she set her not-so-happy gaze on the bodyguard nearest the door. “Open the doors—this discussion is over.”