Music played in the background, a pulsing beat she felt through the soles of her feet.
‘This, mon papillon, is Club Giroud.’
She twisted round to look at him. ‘I didn’t know it was part of the hotel.’
‘Only those who are members know the clubs’ locations, and only those members and the staff who work in them know how to access them. This one has its own elevator from the underground car park.’
Catalina had heard much about these secret members-only clubs Nathaniel owned but, of course, she had never been in one. A club owned by a notorious womaniser had not been considered a suitable establishment for a virgin princess to venture to.
He laughed. ‘What were you expecting? Strippers and topless waitresses?’
‘Something like that,’ she murmured.
‘We do provide entertainment at the weekend which is of the adult variety, but nothing that wouldn’t be fit for the eyes of a princess.’ He leant down to speak into her ear. ‘There’s a back room I hire out to members. A few of those private parties have been known to become rather wild.’
There was something about the atmosphere of the place, the music and the feel of Nathaniel pressed so close to her that made her quite breathless.
‘Come,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘Let me give you the tour and introduce you to everyone.’
For the next hour they socialised. Catalina knew a few of the members, who all betrayed their shock at seeing her there. After a while it amused her.
‘It’s like they can’t believe they’re seeing me out of my natural habitat,’ she whispered to Nathaniel.
‘There’s always been an air of mystique about you,’ he murmured back. His hands brushed against her side. ‘Would you like to see my office?’
‘I’d like to see more than that.’ Where the words came from, she didn’t know. As the days together passed, the greater her longing for him had become. She craved him.
In a few days’ time she would hand her passport, her ticket to freedom, to her father.
There had been so many times she’d opened her mouth to tell Nathaniel what her father had demanded of her but she’d always bitten back the words. She didn’t know how he would react. They might be having hot, passionate sex at every opportunity but that didn’t mean he cared about her on any other level.
She didn’t think she could bear to look in his eyes when he learned that she would never be able to leave Monte Cleure, and to find that he simply didn’t care. Not for her.
But he cared about their baby, of that she was certain.
Once she’d given her passport over to her father, she would confess and tell him her plan. Nathaniel and their baby would be okay. She couldn’t save herself but she could save them.
Now, his eyes gleaming, Nathaniel led her to a door marked ‘Private’ and locked it behind them.
It was just an ordinary office, much like the one in his apartment, dominated by a large desk and not much else.
He didn’t need much else, not when he spent so little time in any one place.
And right then they didn’t need anything but each other.
He brushed his lips against her neck and wound a hand round to grasp a buttock. ‘We don’t have much time. Not unless you want people to wonder what we’re up to.’
A pulse throbbed low in her pelvis, so familiar a reaction it was as if her body was training itself to seek pleasure from his very first touch.
His mouth found the lobe of her ear.
She moaned softly then turned her face to find his lips. ‘If we only have limited time,’ she breathed, ‘I suggest we make the most of it.’
‘You do?’ he murmured, his hand squeezing her sensitised breast lightly before dipping lower to her thigh and bunching the material of her dress between his fingers.
‘Oh, yes. I do. In fact, as a princess of Monte Cleure, I demand it.’
His other hand unzipped his trousers and freed his large erection. It brushed against her thigh, sending another pulsation racketing through her. ‘What do you demand, Your Highness?’
She raised her bottom to allow him to tug her black lacy underwear down. ‘I demand you.’
With little effort on her part, her underwear slid down her legs and fell to the floor.
‘Then you shall have me.’ Then, without ceremony, he plunged inside her, groaning loudly as he filled her in one motion.
Holding her tightly with his hands on her hips, Nathaniel moved inside her with short, hard thrusts that were carnal and utterly erotic. He didn’t kiss her, just stared into her eyes with an intensity that penetrated her as deeply as his thrusts.
Until this moment, they’d always taken their time making love. They’d explored every inch of each other and the few inhibitions she’d ever had around him had been shorn away in their time together. Every coupling had stripped her back a little more and now she was putty in his hands.
He was everything she wanted and everything she needed. She knew now she’d been in love with him for years and couldn’t imagine her life without him.
But she would have to imagine it because that day would come. Until then...
Grabbing his buttocks to drive him deeper inside her, she felt the pulsations in her grow quickly. He knew the exact amount of pressure and the precise amount of friction needed to bring her to a peak. He knew her body as well as she did.
She buried her face in the curve of his neck as she came, her cries of pleasure muffled by the warmth of his musky skin. With the tremors still rippling through her, Nathaniel threw back his head and shuddered, his fingers biting into her flesh until the pulsing abated. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him.
She could feel the strength of his heartbeat, the touch of his fingers through the fabric of her dress as he made little swirls on her back.
She pressed her palms to his cheeks and brought her lips to his, then pulled away a little to look at him.
Despite her best laid plans, she really had fallen in love with him.
She’d learned from her mother that loving someone wasn’t a choice but Catalina had been arrogant enough to think she was different, that she could make herself immune to the emotion and prevent it from happening by sheer willpower alone.
Was this what her mother had felt for her lover? Had she fought the attraction? She must have done. She’d known the dangers better than anyone. She’d known it could never be.
But love didn’t care for danger or willpower. It crept up on you so subtly that it was burrowed into your skin before you knew it was there.
Once lodged in the heart, love was impossible to remove.
And now that it was there she would care for it with everything she had. If, to protect Nathaniel and their baby, she had to submit her life to the will of her father and brother for ever, then that was what she would do.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE KING’S BIRTHDAY celebrations were something the whole country always looked forward to, and this year’s party was no exception. Catalina doubted anyone was more excited than Clotilde, and she wasn’t even invited.
For Clotilde, the excitement lay in dressing Catalina up as a princess and she was crestfallen when she was told Aliana would be joining them shortly, by order of the King, to help.
‘I normally have three companions,’ Catalina said to her, biting down her amusement. ‘It takes all three of them to get me ready for these occasions, so you’ll have just as much work to do to make me look beautiful.’
‘You’re always beautiful.’ A sly but hopeful expression crossed the young woman’s face. ‘Can I brush your hair?’
Grinning, Catalina handed the hairbrush to her and took a seat at her dressing table.
When Aliana arrived, the two companions sized each other up, both looki
ng to establish their dominance. Catalina was prepared for this and had already written a list of their individual duties.
‘Why does she get to do your manicure and I have to do your pedicure?’ Clotilde demanded in a sulky tone.
‘At the next big palace event, you can swap lists.’
The pair of them bickered throughout the afternoon. It was a welcome distraction. Nerves were growing in her gut. The nausea she’d thought gone for good was back.
Aliana had just placed one last pin in Catalina’s hair and pulled the last curled tendril down when there was a knock on her door.
‘That will be Nathaniel,’ Clotilde squealed, as she ran to open it. ‘I can’t wait to see his face!’
His face was, indeed, something to behold. He took one look at her and his green eyes widened.
‘You look beautiful,’ he said simply.
She wore a floor-length petrol-blue gown with a high neck and thin sequined straps for sleeves. On her feet were silver heels that glittered when the light caught them. It was still too early for her to be obviously pregnant but her body had changed considerably. Her breasts were fuller, her waist thicker; all the signs were there for everyone to see if they paid attention. And she had no doubt there would be attention focused on her tonight. Lots of it.
The only attention she wanted was from Nathaniel, who was looking more handsome than she had ever seen him, wearing a black dinner jacket that made her think vaguely of dangerous spies and hard liquor.
In the weeks since their return from Benasque, they hadn’t spent a night apart.
He stepped into the room and handed her a long, thin box.
Hands trembling slightly, Catalina opened it to find a gold choker with a diamond-shaped sapphire hanging in the centre.
‘This is for me?’ she whispered.
‘Do you like it?’
‘I love it.’
Clotilde was practically bouncing. ‘He made me describe your dress so he could choose something to match.’
Three days ago, Catalina had gone on her first shopping trip, specifically to buy a ball gown. Nathaniel had given her the credit card. When she’d tried to return it, he’d told her to keep it.
Now his lips curved. ‘Shall I put it on for you?’
‘Please.’
She turned her back to him and blinked hard, trying to hold back the tears welling at such an unexpected, thoughtful gift.
When he was done, he placed a kiss to the top of her spine and twisted her around. ‘Are you ready?’
She nodded and fixed the old serene mask in place. She was as ready as she could hope to be.
* * *
The palace shone against the dark Monte Cleure skies. Lines of cars queued up, ferrying their eager guests to the venue. Nathaniel looked out of his window and wondered where the dread resting in his stomach had come from.
He didn’t expect tonight to be easy. It couldn’t be. Everyone would be watching them together, speculating.
Catalina sat silently beside him, clutching her silver bag as if afraid to let it go.
She looked truly dazzling. His true Princess.
But there was something in her manner that made him think her façade was hiding more than usual. He’d felt it since her lunch with her father, and not for the first time he wished she hadn’t been so well trained not to show what she was thinking. She was too good at keeping things close.
He’d hoped she would confide in him and tried to convince himself it really was nothing more than her being upset at the denial of her mother’s jewellery.
He no longer worried that she would flee with their child again. He couldn’t say why he felt such certainty but he did. He was beginning to trust her.
Eventually they snaked their way to the palace courtyard. Courtiers were there to assist them out of the car. When they saw the royal Princess had arrived, their attentiveness tripled and they were whisked inside and on to the reception room without further ado.
The King and his heir were there to greet their guests with a champagne reception. When they saw Catalina and Nathaniel, they came over to them, welcoming smiles on their faces, ice in their eyes.
Everyone in the room was watching them.
‘Happy birthday, Father,’ Catalina said, curtseying to him. She nodded imperceptibly at her handbag, indicating the location of her passport.
The King took his daughter in his arms and kissed both of her cheeks, then extended his hand to Nathaniel, who shook it.
Dominic then offered his hand too along with a grin that looked like something a lion would give before it devoured its prey. Nathaniel contented himself with squeezing the Prince’s hand hard enough to break bone then had to watch while Dominic kissed Catalina on both cheeks.
She returned the greeting, taking his hand as she did so and whispering something in his ear that made Dominic smile.
Only Nathaniel saw the slight wrinkling of her nose. They were both too well practised in public displays of sibling affection to do anything but perform. And, he had to admit, they both performed admirably. They looked as close as two siblings could be.
No one there to witness this greeting could think that this was anything other than a happy family.
Catalina’s spirits sank with every passing minute and she fought hard to keep the smile on her face. She was out of practice; that was all.
Seeing all the champagne flutes being passed around made her wish she could have a glass or five herself. It would make getting through the evening, her first public appearance since her wedding, more bearable.
As the reception filled up and more guests made their way over for an introduction, the harder she found it to hold onto her mask. She was used to scrutiny but tonight it felt magnified, as if a lens had been placed on her and everyone were peering through it, dissecting her body.
‘I need to borrow your husband for a minute,’ her father said, as the guests started making their way to the ballroom.
She met Nathaniel’s eyes.
His gaze was steady. I’ll be fine, the look he gave her seemed to say.
And he would be. She would make sure of it. She was making sure of it.
Her heart thumping, she watched them depart together, Dominic trailing in their wake.
Just as she thought the evening couldn’t get any worse, the second she entered the ballroom, Marion appeared at her side.
‘You look fabulous,’ her cousin and former companion cried. ‘I can see you’re already eating for two.’
What she wouldn’t give to slap that supercilious smile off Marion’s face.
‘There is so much to tell you,’ Marion continued, oblivious to Catalina’s private feelings, and proceeded to impart all the gossip she had missed out on in her time away from the palace.
It was nothing but insubstantial idle chatter but listening to it and hearing the venom and glee behind each sorry tale was like having barbs cast into her skin. People were still coming over to her, interrupting Marion’s monologues to say hello to the Princess and see for themselves if there was any truth to the hundreds of rumours that were circulating.
Her lungs seemed to be shrinking, the air around her thickening.
‘I need some air,’ she said to Marion, unable to hear one more poisonous word or take another sweaty handshake or an assault of someone else’s scent.
She didn’t give her cousin time to respond, but promptly turned on her heel, escaping back through the reception room and through to a wide corridor.
Passing a few courtiers with a smile, she stepped out onto the terrace that overlooked the palace’s private beach and breathed in the salty air, lifting her face to the wintry breeze that cooled her skin.
Any peace she hoped to find was snatched away when heavy footsteps closed in on her.
&n
bsp; ‘If it isn’t pretty Catalina.’
‘Go away, Dominic.’ She wasn’t in the mood for her brother’s version of niceties.
‘That’s not a nice way to talk to your brother.’ He leant against the stone balustrade beside her.
She gave a slight shake of her head, wishing she could swat him away like a pesky fly.
‘Do not ignore me,’ Dominic said with menace in his voice. ‘Have you brought your passport with you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Hand it over.’
‘I’ll give it to Father.’
‘I’m telling you to give it to me.’
She took a breath and faced him. ‘I’ll give it to Father later. You don’t own me, Dominic. Not any more. I belong to Nathaniel and I don’t have to take orders from you.’ Whatever happened in the future she would never allow her brother to bully her again.
His hand whipped out to grab her wrist before she knew what was happening. ‘You’re always so calm and collected,’ he derided. ‘The perfect little Princess; the people’s favourite. But I always knew the truth about you.’
‘Let go of me,’ she snapped.
His grip tightened. ‘You are in no position to tell me to do anything.’
‘If you don’t let go of my wrist I will scream.’
His eyes narrowed. He wasn’t used to her talking back. If she screamed then people would come running. They would see.
‘Get your hands off my wife.’
Dominic froze.
Standing two feet away from them, towering over them menacingly, stood Nathaniel.
Dominic’s hold on her wrist dropped and he straightened.
Nathaniel closed the gap between them. ‘If you ever lay a finger on my wife again, I will...’
‘What?’ Dominic said with a sneer. ‘You’ll hit me over this worthless slut?’
Something dark flashed across Nathaniel’s face. Then his elbow drew back before his arm shot forward like a bullet, his fist connecting with Dominic’s abdomen with such force the Prince doubled over on the spot and fell to the floor with a thud.
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