Reluctantly Royal

by Gillian Archer

  “Yes. There is. I want to know where the car dropped her. I also want you to have security give me their dossier on Ms. Allen. I don’t care what they say. I want a copy. As soon as possible.”

  Her wide eyes gleamed as I detailed my demands, but she never questioned or waivered. “Oui, monsieur. Would you also like me to order some breakfast for you?”

  “I do not give a shit about breakfast. I want someone, anyone, to find Hannah. Now!”

  Now the woman’s lips quivered at my tone, and she took a half step away from me. I gritted my teeth and swallowed back my misdirected ire. It wasn’t her fault. She was just doing her job. Hannah, on the other hand, would have much to answer for when I found her.

  “Je suis désolé, Morgan.” I smiled as her name finally popped into my head. “I’m not myself this morning. Will you please see to my requests and order some breakfast as well?”

  Morgan relaxed and loosened her death grip on the doorway. “Oui, monsieur.”

  “Bon ben. I will shower, and I would like to see Dimitri in the main salon when he returns. In the meantime, I do not wish to be disturbed.”

  Morgan inclined her head and gave me another “Oui, monsieur,” before she closed my bedroom door with a soft click.

  Shrugging off the oppressively thick robe, I walked naked into the bathroom and started the shower. I had to prepare myself for the war I would face when I finally ran Hannah to ground. She wasn’t getting away that easily. She was worth fighting for.

  —

  Sitting in the back of a car in the parking lot of a nondescript apartment complex was not how I’d envisioned the day going. The surprise I’d scheduled for Hannah had to be postponed. I only hoped we had enough time to sort it all out once I knew what the hell was going on.

  If she didn’t show up soon, someone was going to spend the rest of their afternoon with red ass cheeks.

  It was close to noon when an older model red sedan—the vehicle described in the dossier—pulled into the complex. I wanted to wait until the car parked and Hannah got out before I confronted her.

  But it took longer than I expected. Hannah sat in her car clutching the steering wheel for several moments. Everything inside me wanted to race across the asphalt and comfort her—after I shook her for leaving me in the first place—but I didn’t want to spook her while she had the means to make a quick getaway. After a few more moments, she seemed to gather herself as she swiped at her eyes; her shoulders heaved with her breath. Then she grabbed her purse and got out of her car.

  I was a millisecond behind her.

  “Hannah!”

  She flinched, then turned to face me. The panic and dread in her expression were undeniable. “Luc, why are you here? I thought I was clear in my note: I can’t do this.”

  “Actually, you weren’t clear in your note, but we’ll circle back to that. What’s going on? Why were you crying?”

  “I wasn’t—”

  Leaning toward her, I placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up. “How about we each do the other a favor and cut the bullshit? Tell me the truth. What is going on?” I tilted her head to the side. “Why is there a bandage on your neck?”

  Hannah pushed away from me and tossed me a glare. “You don’t get to do that. We’ve known each other a few days. You don’t get to come into my life and start bossing me around. Besides, I thought royalty had better manners than to pick a fight out in the open where anyone could hear.”

  “Who’s going to hear?” I gestured to the empty parking lot around us. The only people in the vicinity were my security detail. “And if someone did hear us, I don’t care. All I care about is you. What the hell is going on? Why did you leave without saying anything to me?”

  “I said what I needed to say in the note. I can’t do this. I’m not comfortable in your world.”

  “What about yesterday was so bad? The helicopter ride? The picnic? The amazing sex? The food you raved about? What part of my life is so abhorrent to you that you left without talking to me first?”

  “I’M SCARED!” Hannah shouted. “Okay? That’s my big secret. You’re making me feel things and you’re a prince and I’m scared. If things keep going on—the way they’re going—I’ll fall for you. And then I’m gonna have my heart broken, because there is no way that this is ever going to work. You’re amazing and sweet and sexy, and there is no way this ends any other way but with my heart broken and me all alone.”

  “Hannah.” I lifted a hand toward her, but she took a step back.

  “No. We’re just fooling ourselves. And I’m not in the mood for yet another glimpse of the amazing things that I can’t have. You’re like those annoying house decorating shows on TV. It’s fun while I’m watching, but it’s also a gutting reminder of the life I’ll never have. I’m an out-of-work cosmetologist who lives in a fucking apartment. I’ll never have a second home in Tahoe or the money to redecorate it. And I was foolish to think otherwise.”

  I stared at her for a second as I tried and failed to figure out what she was going on about. “I’m lost. What does a house in Tahoe have to do with us?”

  “It’s a metaphor, okay? You’re the house in Tahoe. The thing I’ll never have. It’s like those dinners with my dad. They were fun while we were there, but I never forgot his expression at that last dinner when the check came. Or how we ate canned and frozen food for the next two weeks. We couldn’t afford it. It was so outside our reach that we paid the price for weeks after. You’re the house in Tahoe. You’re the fancy dinner that I can’t afford.” Hannah shook her head, her eyes gleaming. “I’m just cutting my losses before the entrée comes. We’re done.”

  “That has to be the most convoluted and ridiculous argument I’ve ever heard.”

  “Thanks.” Hannah folded her arms and looked away, but not before I saw the tears welling in her eyes. “It’s nice to know how ridiculous you think I am. Yet another reason we’ll never work.”

  I closed the distance between us and buried a hand in the hair near her temple. After pressing a kiss against her forehead, I rested my head on hers. The fact that she let me get so close to her was telling. “I don’t think you’re ridiculous. I think the fact that you’re running so hard from this is ridiculous.” I closed my arms around her and lifted my head so I could look into her tear-soaked eyes. “Why won’t you give us a chance? Why don’t you think you’re worthy of a life with me? You are an amazing, beautiful, challenging woman who can have or do anything you want. I can see that. Why can’t you?”

  Hannah made a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. “I’m just an average girl. I’m not special.”

  “You are to me. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before. You are changing me. You, the out-of-work cosmetologist, are changing me, the annoyingly entitled prince. You make me want to be a better man. You make me want to be worthy of you. You are worth all my time and effort. So if that specter of self-doubt raises its ugly head again, just tell me. I’m a prince; I’m experienced at slaying dragons. It’s in the job description.”

  Hannah laughed as all the tension and angst leached from her body. Then she buried her face in my chest. Her arms came around me and held me tight. “You are silly and ridiculous, and I still can’t believe you want to be with me.”

  “Believe it.” I pressed a kiss on the top her head and squeezed her every bit as hard as she squeezed me. “Now if we’ve successfully conquered all that self-doubt, how about you show me where you live?”

  “You want to see my place? My apartment?” Hannah pulled back slightly, worry wrinkling her brow.

  “Really? After that whole conversation we just had? You think I care what your apartment looks like?”

  “Well, no. I guess not. It’s just—I wasn’t exactly expecting company, and well…You know what? It’s fine. If you’re so certain that you want to be with me, it’s probably best that you see what you’re getting into.”

  I chuckled softly as I followed Hannah down the sidewalk toward h
er building.

  That didn’t sound ominous at all.

  Chapter 15

  Hannah tossed a nervous look over her shoulder as she fumbled with the lock. Her eyes passed over me, standing behind her, to Étienne, who towered over her next to the door. Biting her lower lip, she turned back to the door, jiggled the doorknob, then finally pushed the door open.

  “One moment, monsieur, mademoiselle.” Étienne pushed past us to survey the apartment for threats.

  I rolled my eyes at Hannah and shrugged. “Sorry, he’s the suspicious sort.”

  Before I could finish the sentence, Étienne was back and gave us the all clear. Wow, her place must be tiny. Étienne raised his eyebrows as I passed him in the doorway. I didn’t have much time to wonder what that was about, as it became evident when I crossed the threshold.

  Hannah was a slob.

  Not like a little messy in that she forgot to pick up her shoes. Hannah was a lot messy, as in I was pretty sure most of her clothes were strewn from one side of the room to the other. Judging by the number of outfits in this room alone, she couldn’t have many clothes left in her closet.

  “Like I said, I wasn’t exactly expecting company.” Hannah’s voice sounded small as she took in the room as well.

  It wasn’t like it was dirty. As far as I could see the carpet was clean, and she kept the food and dishes in the tiny kitchenette area. It just looked like her closet threw up all over her apartment.

  “Rachel came over to borrow an outfit the night we met you guys. Then there was the next date night—I kept trying on different outfits and nothing looked right. I didn’t want to mix up…Whatever. Come on. It’s cleaner in my bedroom.”

  We passed through the tornado room of clothes, with the tiny attached kitchenette, down a small hallway with two other doors before she pushed one open and pulled me through. It was like stepping into an entirely different apartment. She had a huge sleigh bed that looked like it might’ve been solid mahogany. The dark wood gleamed under an intricate vine-and-thorn chandelier. Large planters in the corners held tree branches decorated with tiny fairy lights. The whole vibe was like something from the end of Sleeping Beauty—the part where Prince Phillip sliced through the thicket of thorns and vines to get to his princess. It was sweet. And looked way too custom for someone who couldn’t afford a fancy dinner.

  Hannah tossed her purse on top of her dresser facing the bed and gave me a nervous smile. “I know it looks a little sweet, but when I was in high school—I was in a car accident. The streets were wet and I took a turn too fast and crashed into a streetlight. It was entirely my fault, and fortunately I was alone in the car so at least no one else was hurt. But the car rolled and I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, so I broke a leg, an arm, and two vertebrae in my back—” Hannah paused and waved her hand when she saw my expression. “I’m fine now. It was scary at first. They didn’t know if I’d walk again, and I spent so much time in the hospital. The hospital bill alone almost bankrupted my parents. Then when they released me to go home, I spent a lot of time in bed recuperating, and my dad wanted to give me something to help me get through it, so he built me this.”

  “Oh, my god, Hannah.” I swept her into my arms and held her tight. The thought of her going through something like that made me sick to my stomach. I’d seen the surgical scars on her back earlier, but then never asked her about them. I felt like a selfish prick. Here I’d been going on and on about my drama when she’d been through so much herself. I held her in my arms and squeezed like I could make all her past hurts go away by my mere presence. “But you’re okay now? Everything healed correctly? Wait, what’s the bandage on your neck for?”

  “Oh, I, uh, burned myself with my curling iron this morning. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

  I let go of my breath in a whoosh of air. “Thank God. Between your story and that bandage and how you cried in your car earlier…I put those three facts together and got something scary. I’m glad I was wrong.”

  “You saw that?” Hannah groaned and buried her face in my chest. Her voice came out muffled against my shirt. “I thought no one could see me.”

  “Apparently those clear things on each side of your car not only let you see out but also let others see inside. You might want to keep that in mind the next time you get in your car.”

  “Shut up.” Hannah pulled back to hit my arm lightly. “How was I supposed to know that I had a stalker lying in wait a few cars over?”

  “The running engine might’ve tipped you off.”

  Hannah smiled and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  “So what’s going on? Why were you crying?”

  “I don’t know. Nothing? Everything?” Hannah stepped out of my arms and walked over to tug on the sky-blue bedspread as she remade her bed. “I cleaned out my station at the salon this morning and had some words with Kennedy. She was being an über bitch like always. And I almost missed an appointment because of it. I was frazzled and stressed-out and wishing that being an adult wasn’t so hard.”

  “Not to mention the pain from the burn on your neck.”

  “What? Oh, yeah. That, too.” Hannah shrugged, then looked up at me shyly. “And I was missing you.”

  “You were missing me?” A smug smile stretched my lips.

  Hannah traced the edge of her bedspread with a delicate finger. “Maybe a little.”

  “Are you missing me now?”

  “Maybe a little.”

  “I think we can do something about that.” I crossed the room and pulled her into my arms. Bending down, I covered her lips with mine, kissing her softly at first. My heart hurt to think of all the upheaval she’d gone through in just a few short days. Losing her job, fighting with her boss, learning I wasn’t who I said I was. I wanted to make her feel better. I pulled away and smiled down at her. “I think we’re both wearing too many clothes.”

  “Wow, there’s no in-between with you, is there?” Hannah laughed softly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Seriously? You go from kissing to ‘Let’s take all our clothes off.’ I need a second to catch up.”

  “I’m sorry. We will absolutely go at your pace. You’re the one—what’s the saying? You’re the one driving the boat?”

  “The bus, but I get you. And I know. How about I put on some music to set the mood?” Hannah stepped out of my arms and walked over to the dresser facing her bed. She picked up her purse and pulled out her phone. As she thumbed through the apps, I mentally berated myself. I shouldn’t push so hard. I’d only just gotten back with Hannah, and if I pushed her too hard, she might just run again. A moment later the sound of finger snaps filled the bedroom. Then the thrumming beat of “Lady Marmalade” pulsed from her sound system.

  Hannah turned to me with a mischievous expression. “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”

  I had to laugh at her choice of songs.

  She twitched her hips to the beat as she smiled at me. “It’s the only French song I have and it seemed kinda apt.”

  “It is that.”

  Smiling at me from the other side of the room, Hannah shimmied to the naughty song. I watched spellbound as her tits jiggled. A few moments later, she kicked off her flats in dramatic fashion; they crashed against the far wall. Hannah ran her hands over her breasts, then slowly down her body, over her stomach to her waist. In seconds, her pants slithered down her legs and pooled at her feet. She stepped out of the fabric and turned away from me. Hooking her thumbs into the scrap of fabric still covering her at her hips, she bent over at the waist as she pulled her panties down. I had a quick glimpse of her heart-shaped ass and gorgeous pussy before she stood up and turned to toss me a wink.

  I groaned.

  She did a little shimmy movement as she rucked her top up over her head, and I had to close my eyes against the onslaught of Hannah’s gorgeous body. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Again. Christ. I groaned and reached for her with greedy hands, but she laughed lightly and stepped out of my reach. She recli
ned back on the bed, looking like a siren from my teenage wet dreams.

  “Wow,” I murmured as I stared down at her slight curves. Hannah was completely naked in front of me and totally unselfconscious. She smiled up at me, and one of my hands lifted of its own volition and cupped one of her breasts. My thumb rubbed over the peak ,and Hannah’s eyelids grew heavy. She arched into my hand as she clutched at the bedspread.

  “Oh, Luc.”

  I growled just before I bent down and took her tight little nipple with my mouth. Hannah moaned and arched up toward me. Suckling at her breast, my fingers danced over her body until I found her other hard nipple. I plucked and teased one breast while I laved attention on the other. I was seconds from climbing onto the bed when Hannah spoke.

  “Now you’re the one wearing way too many clothes. Feel like doing anything about it?”

  I ripped my shirt as I pulled it over my head in answer. I didn’t want Hannah to ever question her appeal again. I wanted her now. And again thirty minutes from now. Unlike her sexy dance earlier, mine was a display of need. I had to be naked as soon as humanly possible so I could join her on the bed. But I tried to take my pants off before my shoes, my clothing all got tangled around my feet, and I tripped.

  Hannah laughed huskily from her position on the bed, watching my foolishness. “I think that annoying little voice that made me run away this morning was wrong. Clearly you want me. Maybe more than I want you.”

  I gave her a disbelieving look as I untangled myself. How could she have ever doubted that I wanted her? Finally free, I stalked toward her and crawled onto the bed. Bracketing my arms on either side of her, I stared down at her smiling eyes. “I’ll always want you.”

  Hannah shook her head. “It’s too soon to talk like that. You don’t even know me, really.”

  “I know everything I need to. I’ve never felt this way about a person before. You are everything to me. I’ll move mountains if it means you get to stay by my side. Literally. I can get the Minister of Interior working on it if you’d like.” Then I vaulted onto the bed and took her lips in a soft, gentle kiss as I tried to tell her with my actions how much she meant to me. My lips cruised down her jaw and neck, pausing at the bandage there to place a soft kiss, then continuing down to her pouting breasts. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of playing with those gorgeous nipples. They puckered and seemed to be begging for attention, so I gladly gave it.