Entangled with the Prince

by Elizabeth Lennox

  Which meant she needed to confront him. Savannah stared at her tote bag, not really seeing it, as her stomach clenched in fear. Confront Gaelen? Was she strong enough to do that?

  Closing her eyes, she knew that she’d have to be. Somehow, she’d need to find the inner strength to talk to him and tell him to leave her alone, give her the peace she needed to heal.

  Of course, she’d have to contain her anger with the bastard in order to do that!

  With renewed determination, she tugged her tote over her shoulder and walked out of the office. On the street, she immediately spotted a man standing next to a black town car. As soon as she stopped, the man opened the back door for her.

  For a defiant moment, Savannah glanced towards the stairs that would lead down into the subway system, wondering what would happen if she just ignored the town car. It wasn’t a limousine, which she was grateful for. But still, a town car and driver seemed outrageously expensive in this city! Or in any city, she corrected.

  With a sigh, she walked to the town car. “Thank you,” she said to the driver, knowing that he was simply doing his job. It wasn’t his fault that Gaelen was manipulating her like this.

  After a short drive over to the same hotel Gaelen had stayed in last time, and where she’d stayed with him often over that three week period, Savannah stepped out of the town car and looked up at the building resentfully. So many memories assailed her that tears sprung to her eyes.

  “Damn you!” she muttered, startling the doorman. “Sorry. Not you,” she assured him, forcing her lips into a smile. “Someone else.”

  The man tilted his hat towards her as he continued to hold the door open.

  Savannah walked towards the elevators, her heart pounding in her chest. This would be the last time she’d see him, she thought with increasing pain.

  One of the guards she recognized from a month ago nodded at her, and had the elevator waiting for her.

  As she rode up the elevator, Savannah thought about what she was going to say. Even as the doors opened, she wasn’t sure.

  But as she stepped out, her heart pounded so hard, words failed her entirely.

  He stood there staring at her, his eyes hungry, but he didn’t come towards her as he used to in the past. He waited. For her?

  “You need to stop,” she told him, her voice cracking. “Please, Gaelen. Please don’t do this to me.”

  He remained in place, his hands at his sides. “I can’t stop. You love me. I know you do.”

  Savannah’s heart ached and she closed her eyes, waiting for the fresh pain to wash over her. Wanting to deny his words, but unable to lie to him, she took a long, slow breath. “Yes. I love you. But…I need more. I need someone who…”

  “You need to fight!” he growled, stepping closer but then stopped himself, visibly restraining his instinct to come closer. “Fight for me, Savannah! Fight for what you want, what you deserve! You want me to be considerate of your needs, then you fight for me to be there for you!”

  She was so startled by his vehemence that she pulled back slightly. Then his meaning hit her and she shook her head. “I can’t fight, Gaelen.”

  His heated eyes wouldn’t let her look away. “You can! But you’re afraid to! You’re afraid to demand something from me because you think I’ll say no.”

  Oh, that did it! She dropped her purse and her tote bag to the floor, her fury rising up to choke her.

  “I asked you to be there for me!” She yelled right back. A part of her was horrified by her unladylike behavior. But another part of her was relieved to be able to yell at him. “I asked and you said you’d be there! Then you weren’t!” Furiously, she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I wasn’t enough for you! Whatever was happening in your world was more important and I refuse…!” Her words caught in her throat. When she pulled herself together again, her voice was lower and she pulled the veil of dignity back around herself, lifting her chin. “I refuse to be someone’s backup plan. I refuse to be the person you come to if you don’t have anything more important to do! I’m important! I’m worthy! I won’t stand by and…”

  Tears overwhelmed her. In that moment, he reached for her, pulling her into his arms. She curled into his warmth and protection. His arms were so strong and she was so tired of being in pain. So tired of being without him!

  “I hate you!” she sobbed into this chest. “I hate you so much! You said you’d be there! You said that you’d be there to see me graduate! If you didn’t want to be there, then you should have told me that you weren’t ready for that kind of event! But you didn’t say that!” She sobbed so hard, she could barely breathe. She drew in ragged breaths, trying to calm down, but his touch and the wonderful feeling of his arms around her felt too good. “I hate you,” she finished.

  “I know, love. I know.” He carried her to the sofa where he sat down with her in his arms. He didn’t do anything other than hold her as she cried. For a long time, she cried, holding onto him, soaking his shirt with her tears.

  Finally, the tears subsided and her sobs turned to sniffles. A tissue appeared in her line of sight and she wiped her nose and her cheeks. Taking a slow breath, she started to get up. But his hands stopped her. “Please, read this. It’s the note I sent you on your graduation day.”

  Savannah stared at it for a long moment. She didn’t want to read it. Didn’t want to see the words or the excuses.

  He recognized what she was doing, the inner battle she was fighting. With a gentle caress, he kissed her forehead. “I’m fighting for you, Savannah. Open the letter.”

  She looked at him, saw the determination in those fascinating hazel eyes. “Fine,” she grumbled and stood up. Taking several steps, she put some space between them.

  Ripping open the envelope, she unfolded the page and gasped.

  She looked over at him, but his features revealed nothing. So, she looked down again and re-read the words. When she looked up at him, there were fresh tears in her eyes. “Do you mean it?”

  He held out the box, not saying a word.

  Savannah didn’t want to open the box. She wanted to hear him explain the note. But he only folded his arms over his chest, pointedly looking at the box, then up at her, silently telling her to open the damn box.

  With shaking fingers, and without releasing the note, she ripped the paper away to reveal a wooden box. Savannah lifted the latch to reveal…another box. This one smaller! She glanced up at him to find Gaelen looking down at her with a strange look in his eyes. “Is this…?”

  “Open it,” he urged, his voice was gentle.

  She put the larger box down, lifting only the small, square box. When she opened the lid, Savannah gasped at the gorgeous diamond ring inside. She almost dropped it because her hands trembled so badly.

  “I don’t understand,” she whispered.

  He moved closer. “Perhaps I should formally introduce myself, Savannah.” He stepped closer, taking one of her hands into his huge one. “I’m Crown Prince Gaelen el Raminar of Izara. My older brother is Sheik Amit el Raminar of Izara. As crown prince, I have many responsibilities. For the three weeks I was with you, I was negotiating a treaty with the country that borders Izara to the south. I’ve been secretly meeting with Sheik Santos el Fazir of Padar.” He stepped closer still, taking the box from her hands. He pulled the ring out of the velvet cushion. “Several weeks ago, the morning of your graduation, my country was attacked.” He took her hand. “I did everything I could, Savannah. I wanted to be there. I wanted to see you walk up and get your degree. Unfortunately, my life isn’t always under my control. I had to meet with Santos, to discover why he attacked my country when we were negotiating a treaty.”

  He slid the metal over her finger. “Sometimes, my responsibilities will take me away from you. But I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “But…?”

  “And I want you to fight for me, Savannah. Because you’re worthy. And I’m worth the fight. I think that we’re worth the fi
ght. But only you can decide if you agree with me.”

  She stared at the ring, but her gaze returned to the note. She read the words again before she looked up at him. “You love me?” Her voice cracked and she swallowed past the painful lump in her throat. “You asked me to trust you and I didn’t.”

  He nodded. “But I’m fighting for you.” He closed his hands over hers. “Are you willing to fight for me?”

  Her heart swelled with the love she’d been trying to deny. “Yes!” she gasped. Suddenly, she was sure of herself. “Yes. I’ll fight for you.”

  “Good,” he replied, lifting her into his arms. “I’ve missed you so damned much!” He kissed her. “Don’t you ever leave me again!” he ordered roughly as he carried her to his bedroom. “You fight for me! You fight with me! If you don’t like the way I’m treating you, then you damn well are going to tell me, got it?”

  She laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Got it.”

  “Good! Now tell me that you love me,” he commanded as he lowered her to the ground. He didn’t give her a chance to respond since he was kissing her and stripping her clothes off.

  Savannah gasped, wrapping her legs around his waist. He didn’t hesitate, thrusting into her. She arched her back, her lips trying to form the words, but with every thrust, her body climbed higher and higher. Only when she reached that peak and tumbled over did she scream, “I love you!” She wasn’t aware of her fingernails biting into his back as they both tumbled over into a mind-blowing climax that left them both gasping for breath.

  A long time later, he fiddled with the ring on her finger. “You don’t like the ring, do you?”

  Savannah glanced over her shoulder at him. “I like the note better,” she admitted. “The ring is pretty, but the note…” she beamed and kissed him.

  His arms tightened around him. “You’ll marry me? Even though I’m a prince and have responsibilities?”

  Her eyes brightened in the dim light coming in through the windows from the moon. “I’ll marry you despite your title.”

  “I love you,” he whispered, kissing her gently.

  “I love you too.”

  Epilogue

  “I’m going to kill him!” Savannah grumbled, startling her sister-in-law, Harper. Savannah stalked into her sister-in-law’s office, not seeing the beautiful yellow walls or the pretty flowers.

  “What’s he done now?” Harper asked in amusement as she looked up from her computer and leaned back in her chair.

  Savannah paced back and forth in front of her sister-in-law’s desk. “He…” she clenched her fists, shaking her head. “He bought me a horse!”

  Harper couldn’t help smiling at her fury. “What a horrible monster!”

  Savannah glared at her friend and sister in law. “You don’t understand. I don’t like horses. I don’t want to learn to ride!”

  Harper nodded. “I believe you’ve mentioned that once or twice.”

  Savannah glared at Harper, both of them remembering the argument she and Gaelen had had over dinner a few nights ago. “If you know this, why doesn’t he know it?”

  “Because you’re scared and I won’t let you retreat from something you’re afraid of,” the man in question explained, stepping into Harper’s office.

  Savannah swung around, glaring up at her husband. “I’m not scared!” she told him firmly, even though her heart was pounding. That always seemed to happen, even though she’d been married to the man for more than a year. “I just…I don’t want to ride a horse. It seems cruel and mean!”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “You’re scared. That’s why you’re angry.”

  She huffed as she glared at him. “I’m angry because you’re not listening to me. Remember when you told me to fight for what I wanted? Well this is…oomph!” She felt dizzy suddenly, then realized that he’d flung her over his shoulder and was hauling her down the long hallway. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, her fingers curling around his belt. “Put me down, you jerk!”

  He chuckled, and smacked her bottom. “I love it when you fight for what you want, honey. But admit it. You don’t want to learn to ride because you’re terrified of horses.”

  “I’m not…!”

  He smacked her bottom again. “It’s the same anger you had for me when you wanted me to leave you alone. And I didn’t listen to that either. I love your anger, dear, but it isn’t going to work in this case.”

  She smacked his butt in return, just because. “You only like it when I get angry because it turns you on!”

  He laughed. “You’re probably right,” he admitted, and she heard the door to their bedroom close. “You are not going to…!”

  He swung her down and draped her across the bed. “Careful what you say, my dear,” he warned, his hands smoothing up over her waist. “Because you know how much it turns me on when you stand up for yourself.”

  Savannah’s anger was already fizzling out. Besides, he was right. She wasn’t really angry with him. She was terrified of that stupid horse. Right now, though, she wasn’t terrified of anything. “Gaelen, you’re…”

  “What?” he asked, kissing her lightly. “Going to make love to you? Because you’re beautiful and gorgeous and sexy as hell when you pretend to be angry with me?”

  Savannah sighed, sliding her hands up and over his shoulders. “I’m not riding that horse,” she repeated, and sat up to nibble his shoulder.

  He hissed, sliding his hand under her shirt. “We’ll see.”

  Savannah laughed. Oh, how she loved these little skirmishes between them. But this time, she was going to win. This time, she held the winning hand. She hadn’t told him about her pregnancy yet. She’d wait a bit more, loving the arguments they had. Plus, she absolutely loved the way he teased her out of her huffs of anger. She loved just about everything when it came to this man! And oh, he was going to love this baby growing inside of her!

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  If there is a comment that you’d prefer not to leave on a public forum, please feel free to email me at elizabeth@elizabethlennox.com. I read all of the messages and reply to them personally.

  Keep scrolling for a titillating excerpt from Book 3 in The Raminar Family Series – Talia’s story!

  Excerpt from The Sheik’s Scandal

  Talia’s Story

  Release Date: January 15, 2021

  Click HERE to download Talia’s story!

  “Stop!” Santos ordered, causing the SUV to swerve to the curb, cutting across several lanes. Horns blared and his guards swiveled around in their seats.

  “That’s her!” Santos said, sitting up as he watched the elegant woman in a pair of tan slacks, white blouse, and colorful scarf walk into a building. Looking around, he was startled to realize that she’d walked into a school. Was she a mother? Did her children attend this school? The official beside her looked to be someone in authority. Was her child in trouble?

  “We’re going there,” he announced, pointing to the school entrance. “Contact Prince Gaelen and let him know that I’ll be late this morning.”

  Immediately, his aide pulled out his phone and started dialing while the driver pulled into the school, coming smoothly to a stop by the entrance.

  Two guards stepped out to check the neighborhood while another three moved into the building, obviously searching for threats.

  Santos stepped out of the SUV and looked around, buttoning his suit coat as he took in the old-style building. Several students peered curiously out of high windows, but not seeing anything interesting, they moved on.

  Stepping into the large, tiled school lobby, he looked around. One of his guards nodded towards several sets of double doors.

  “She’s in the auditori
um, Your Highness. There is a conference about inner city kids and education.”

  Santos nodded, wondering if she was a teacher. It would make sense, but the clothes she wore seemed too expensive for a schoolteacher. The profession was perpetually underpaid and schools always underfunded. It was something he planned to change in Padar as soon as he could focus on that aspect of improving the country. Hence, his need to get this peace treaty finalized with…Santos pushed Prince Gaelen from his mind, preferring to concentrate on his mystery woman.

  Besides, perhaps he would learn something in this meeting that he could take back to Padar in addition to learning the name of the woman he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind since yesterday.

  Stepping into the auditorium, he paused, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim light. The stage was lit up as someone talked about test scores and graduation rates. Looking around, he allowed his eyes to skim across the backs of the people inside. When he sensed movement to his right, he looked there. In the last row, sitting alone, was the woman! And she was staring at him.

  Finally!

  He moved towards her and knew the exact moment when she stopped breathing. Staring up at him, he captured her gaze, willing her to…what? Talk to him? Not likely. Not in this setting.

  Talia held her breath as the extremely tall man sat down in the chair next to her. Every cell in her body was aware of him, every muscle tense, waiting for...something. She wanted him to speak so that she could hear his voice, praying that his voice was as deep as she imagined, as deep as it had been in her dreams last night.

  But he didn’t speak. Instead, he turned and looked straight ahead, paying strict attention to the speaker. Once again, Talia had the sense that she should know him, but her mind wouldn’t function. She was too overwhelmed, too astounded by his size and his presence.

  “Who…?”

  “Shh!” he whispered, not moving his head.

  Talia quieted, amused at his shushing. Had he really done that? She couldn’t remember anyone shushing her since she’d left for college! Her tutors hadn’t even shushed her. She’d been too quiet and intense during her lessons, loving knowledge and eager to learn more. Okay, maybe not very focused during her math classes, of course. She’d truly hated math, but had eventually figured out how to get through it.