by Leslie North
“It’s a fascinating subject,” Artur agreed, shooting a glance over at Amy. “I’d like to hear more about it, if you’ve got the time.”
“Prince Artur, you don’t have to ask if I have the time.” Veronica grinned up at him, and Amy looked away. They were too much of a handsome couple.
“What do you think, Amy? Should we have some sandwiches brought down so we can hear more from Veronica?”
“I’m—” Veronica was looking at Artur, eyes shining. “I’m happy to go up,” said Amy. “But you’ll have to meet me at the top. So many stairs!” She ran her hands over her belly.
Artur nodded. “Of course. We’ll be right behind you.”
Amy hadn’t planned on an island, but that’s how the day had gone.
Veronica had taken them to a garage with a dune buggy, and the three of them brought sandwiches from a local shop in the back. It was a longer way to the beach, but the scientist had insisted the view would be worth it, and Amy had to admit that it was.
The island was only accessible during low tide, and Amy stood in the sun, letting the ocean breeze play over her face as she tried not to watch Veronica and Artur picnic together at the edge of the sand. A little outcropping of rock rose up out of the water in front of them.
Where were the photographers when you needed one? Amy could see from here that the shot of Prince Artur sitting on a piece of driftwood with Veronica would be media gold. It was her job, after all, to engineer these kinds of opportunities, so she’d take matters into her own hands.
Amy’s own sandwich was long gone by the time she strolled out toward the sea with her phone, pausing next to the rocks. They were...deceivingly close to the ocean. In fact, as the tide rose, they’d be covered up. On one side it was all sand, and on the other, all water. And it was deeper water than Amy had thought. She’d been expecting a few inches of water, but this looked more like a foot. Maybe two.
She turned back toward the couple on the beach, shading her eyes with her hand. “I want to get a photo,” she called over the sea breeze.
Worry flashed through Artur’s eyes. “Don’t we already have photos? From before?”
“You two could be on the cover of a magazine,” she called back. “It’ll just take me a minute.” Amy waved her phone in the air. “Look like you’re still eating lunch.”
Veronica gamely picked up her sandwich, grinning at Amy. “You sure you don’t need a hand up?”
“I’m good,” Amy called. She put one foot on the rocks. They were wet and slippery, but she hadn’t worn high heels, so she’d be fine. One more step, two, then three, and Amy was balancing precariously on the rocks. “Okay!” She brandished her phone in the air. “Just...pose a little bit. Look at her, Artur.” She didn’t love the sight of him gazing down at another woman, but everyone else in the country would, and that’s what mattered.
Amy snapped a few photos, the last one with both of them sunlit and happy, smiling at her from across the sand. “Great! That’s all I—”
At that moment, the breeze picked up, strong enough to throw her off balance. In her nonpregnant days, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but as her center of gravity shifted, Amy felt every shift in the wind these days. She took a step backward to steady herself.
It was the wrong step.
Her feet plunged into the water, up to her waist, and Amy yelped at the cold. It was freezing. So much for summer swimming. An embarrassed heat came to her cheeks as she heaved one foot back onto the outcropping.
“Amy? Amy?” Artur’s voice was frantic.
“I’m fine,” she started to say, but a wave swelled behind her, soaking her entirely...along with her phone. She coughed, sputtering.
Her other foot was stuck.
Artur’s face appeared on the rock above her, and the next thing she knew, he was in the water next to her, lifting her gently in his arms. He didn’t seem to notice when the water crashed into him. Didn’t even blink it out of his eyes. He only turned her until her foot came free and carried her back to the sand.
“Are you all right?” Veronica had run out toward the rocks, her sandwich abandoned at the piece of driftwood.
“I’m fine,” Amy said, teeth chattering as Artur set her on her feet. “But I’ll need a change of clothes.”
It must have been some kind of princely magic, because the return trip to the hotel hardly seemed to take any time at all. Artur said his goodbyes to Veronica and hustled her inside, up to the top floor.
“This isn’t my room,” Amy protested, but Artur didn’t reply as he ushered her through the door and shut it tightly behind them.
“Let’s get you out of those wet clothes and warm you up,” he said.
His concern was genuine as she stripped down to her underwear and he wrapped her in fluffy towels, rubbing his hands briskly up and down her arms. But when she noticed he was shivering, too, and he complied with her instructions to started stripping of his own wet clothes…well…The room warmed up in a hurry.
Artur lifted Amy in his arms, pressing her back against the wall, and when his mouth met hers, she was already ready, already squirming closer. It was fast and furious, their skin still damp with seawater, and Amy relished in the sensation of his muscles working beneath her hands as she held on for dear life.
“I’ve wanted this every moment,” he growled into her ear.
She silenced him with a kiss. All the need she felt was centered between her legs, and there was only one cure.
Artur was it.
He drove deeply into her and her pleasure grew and grew until she exploded, her legs clenching tightly around him. Artur followed her a moment later.
There was a knock on the door.
“You have to be kidding me,” she whispered into her ear. Artur held her still, resting his forehead on her shoulder.
“Yes?” he called.
“Is everything all right, Your Highness? The wet clothes—” It was one of the assistants for the trip.
“Are taken care of,” Artur said, not letting go of Amy. “Everything’s taken care of.”
9
Artur woke in the king-size bed, stretched...and felt Amy still next to him, the warmth of her still gathered under the sheets. He’d never known that it could be such a joy to wake up next to a woman like this. Of course, he’d woken up next to other women before, but...not one like Amy. Last night, he hadn’t wanted her to leave. Finally, they’d tipped a maid from the hotel to bring some of her clothes discreetly to his room, and she’d stayed the night.
He rolled toward her, only to discover that she was already awake, the sheets hiked high on her chest as she stared at the ceiling.
“Is everything all right?”
At the soft question, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’ve just been lying here thinking about how mortifying yesterday was.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Falling off a rock isn’t mortifying. People do it every day.”
She groaned. “The whole thing interrupted your...meeting.”
Artur laughed. “That’s the only truly embarrassing thing you’ve done since we started the tour.”
Amy scrunched up her nose. “What’s that?”
“Pretending that they’re meetings.” Amy opened her mouth to reply, but he went on before she could. “They’re dates. You know it. I know it. I was there when you initially laid out your plan for them at the big strategy meeting.” He put a laughing emphasis on the word. “I’m not so oblivious that I don’t know how you’ve planned all of them.”
“It’s such a good strategy,” Amy said with a sigh. “It would’ve work, if I could’ve just kept my footing on the rocks and...” Her voice trailed off.
“No.” He reached over and brushed a lock of hair from her face. She looked so beautiful like this, with her dark hair spilling over the pillow and her eyes bright and blue. “It was not going to work at all. There was never any chance that Veronica would have ended up here beside me this morn
ing.”
“Artur...”
“No. It’s over.”
“But you can’t—” Amy protested, but he ran his fingers down the side of her face. She leaned her cheek into his palm and pressed her lips together.
“It didn’t work with Veronica or Dina and it’s not going to work with anyone else, Amy, because I don’t want to go on any more blind dates.”
Her lips looked so kissable. He knew that they were. “I only want you to meet interesting people from your country.”
Artur snorted. “I have no idea why you’re so invested in this lie,” he said. “Though I do see the merit in this kind of plan. I really do. Interesting women would make far better princesses than most of the women I’ve dated in my life.”
“See? We should just—”
“I’ll make a deal with you.” He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder, letting his lips linger there for a long moment before he spoke again. “I’m going to take the day off of dating.”
Amy bit her lip. “That’s...not much of a deal.”
“I want you to come with me.”
She shook her head. “If you’re not going on the date, then where are you going to go?”
“Our next destination is a town on the edge of Stolvenia’s finest national forest, if your itinerary is to be trusted.” He was still brushing light kisses over her skin. “I’ll still go on the tour, but no dates. We’ll just relax and see the sights together.”
“Well,” Amy said, and he could see she was searching for a way to keep him locked into her plan. “How will you know where to go? Our tour guide—”
“I’ll be the tour guide.” He kissed the line of her jaw. “I know the area very well. It was one of my favorite places to visit as a child, before I put all my energy into partying.”
“There’s someone waiting for us, Artur.” She put her hands playfully on his shoulders but didn’t push him away. “We—I—scheduled a tour.”
“You scheduled a date. If it makes you feel better, I’ll agree to go on the tour. But only if you come with me.”
A little smile crept across Amy’s face.
“I want to experience this with you by my side.”
“I’ve been here the whole time.”
“I mean really by my side. Not hovering in the background, hoping I’ll fall in love with another women.”
The air between them seemed to thicken and tense, but then Amy leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. “All right,” she said. “I’ll play along.”
Artur had never been more relieved to see a ring on a woman’s finger than when they met their tour guide for the day, Katerina. She was beautiful, like all three women had been. Amy could insist all she wanted that she’d chosen them based on their qualifications alone, but it was obvious that on some level she’d taken their looks into consideration too.
Katerina looked quickly from Artur to Amy as they were introduced, a sheepish expression on her face as she explained that she’d become engaged just a few days earlier, after Artur had already started his tour. “It was a whirlwind romance,” she explained, pink coming to her cheeks. “We had something of a relationship in college, and when he came back into town—”
Artur held up a hand, keeping the sheer relief off his own face. “Don’t worry about it another moment. We’re here to tour the national park and learn all we can about this area of the country.”
“Oh, thank good—thank you, Prince Artur,” Katerina said. She wore a sleeveless dress and flat shoes. They looked a little too nice to be tromping around in the woods in, but Artur couldn’t blame her for that. Lots of people overdressed to meet the royal family.
Katerina led them through a short loop of the trail. At the farthest point, the trail opened onto a viewing area that looked out over the forest. Artur’s breath caught like it did every time. There were thousands of trees spread out beneath them in a valley that seemed to stretch out forever. Hills rose and fell, carrying the trees with them, and the summer sun shone down on all of it.
“Incredible,” he said, the word full in his throat.
“Yes,” Katerina agreed. “That’s why we need to save it.”
Amy looked over at Katerina. “You’re talking about the deforestation? It’s hard to tell it’s happening at all from this vantage point.”
Deforestation? This was the first Artur was hearing of this.
“It is.” Katerina furrowed her brow. “That’s why it’s so insidious. The companies that are doing this stay out of sight as much as they can, on the fringes of the park, but they’re still doing irreparable damage.”
Artur shot a glance at Amy. “I hadn’t heard that things were this bad.” Or that any of it was happening at all.
“We’re losing hundreds of thousands of acres a year,” said Katerina. “The volunteers here have been trying to get in contact with someone in the royal family, but—”
“How can it have come to this?” Artur said. His jaw was tight. “We’re working on that, Katerina, I promise you.”
“Thank you.” Katerina stepped back a little, giving them some space. “I’ll leave you to enjoy the view.”
Her footsteps retreated down the trail. “I’m sorry,” Amy said as soon as she was gone. “I didn’t realize you didn’t know about the deforestation. I should have shared more of my research with you.”
“It doesn’t make sense, how all this communication slips through the cracks.”
“Honestly,” Amy said, “I think it’s a matter of segmentation. All communication goes into the same pool, and it makes sense that the emergency issues are dealt with first. But that means there’s no specific time set aside to deal with other, less immediately urgent matters. You’ll have to make a plan for which issues you want to address at different intervals, because otherwise it’ll become a deluge. There’s obviously a backlog of things to deal with.”
“You should write up your ideas for how to smooth it out,” Artur told her, trying not to get distracted by how she looked with her dark hair gleaming in the sun.
“Okay—” Amy thought about it. “I’ll take a stab at it. I can give some tips of an organizational nature, but I probably won’t weigh in on the politics. My job is to stay behind the scenes.”
He felt drawn to her, and stepping toward her seemed as natural and as inexorable as the sunset. Artur slipped one arm around her waist and Amy leaned into him. “We’re behind the scenes right now.”
“Oh yes?” Amy’s voice was warm, inviting...sensual.
“Yes. And if you need to be more behind the scenes, I’ll take you there.”
He expected her to protest that they couldn’t possibly do anything here, out in the open, but when she stayed silent and looked intrigued…that’s exactly what Artur did—he took her.
He swept her toward the tree line, out of sight of the trail. He’d worn a jacket for the tour to keep up his princely image, but it was the first thing to hit the ground—next was Amy’s back, cushioned by the expensive fabric. She tilted her head back, offering her lips to him, and he took them gladly.
Then he lowered his head to her neck and sucked lightly at the tender flesh there, knowing all the while they could be caught, knowing they didn’t have much time—
“Oh please,” Amy breathed, the moan as soft as a whisper. “Please—”
It took no time at all to hike up her skirt around her waist and tug her panties aside. He stroked the warm folds between her legs, finding her already wet and wanting, and then it was too much to wait another moment. He unzipped his pants and climbed over her, entering her in a single powerful thrust.
“Oh,” Amy said. “Oh, oh—”
He felt lost in her, in the sheer, sharp pleasure of the air against his skin and her body taking him in, and he tilted his hips forward to get more contact against her clit. It made her shake and shiver beneath him and then she tightened, every muscle contracting, and pulled his head down to draw him into a furious kiss as she came. He followed her not long a
fter.
When he’d caught his breath Artur helped Amy up from the ground, laughing. Her hair was tousled and he helped her smooth it down. They both worked to brush the dirt off his jacket. “Come on,” Artur said. “We need a picture.”
Amy blushed. “Now?”
“Yes. On the overlook.” They went over to the railing and he raised his camera in front of them. “A picture of the date,” he joked. He took one of them together, then told Amy to pose in front of the spectacular vista behind them. She put her hands easily over her bump and grinned into the camera. His heart felt molten.
“We should get back,” she said, with one last look over the forest.
“Not without a souvenir.” He stepped back into the woods and picked up a pine cone from the forest floor. Amy took it from him like it was as precious as a diamond. “For your collection,” he said. For our baby.
10
“You should go on the date.” Amy looked at Artur and was rewarded with nothing more than a sly smile and shake of his head. They’d spent the last two nights together, but every morning, she wondered if it was just...selfish to want these things. If it was selfish to take him up on touring the country together, without any more dates. Shouldn’t she be helping him find the right woman to stabilize his image and help the monarchy?
“I’ve made my stance on your planned dates clear,” Artur said, reaching for her hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “No more.”
“Artur, you haven’t really taken it seriously.” Amy had, after all, put a lot of work into arranging the dates.
Artur laughed. “None of this is serious. It’s only entertainment for the country. That’s what PR is.”