He heard the shower start and groaned, his attention straying from his coffee-making task. She was naked, he thought. Naked and wet and running her soft, delicate hands all over her body!
Tarin leaned against the edge of the counter, willing himself to focus on his task…which was what? Walking into the shower so that he could join her? Watch her hands slide over her dewy skin? Nibble her taut, wet nipples as…!
“This was a bad plan,” he sighed. Shaking himself, he returned his attention to the coffee maker dilemma. There were several appliances lined up neatly along the counter, pressed back against the wall. But which was the coffee maker?
The one with the coffee-pot-looking-thing underneath! Triumphantly, he pulled it out and stared at it. “Okay, you’ve identified the machine, now what?”
Coffee! Yep, a coffee maker needed coffee, right? Or did it have the coffee already in it?
Opening and closing the various parts of the coffee maker, he discovered there was no coffee in it. It also occurred to him that he wasn’t exactly sure what coffee looked like before it was brewed. He knew that coffee was essentially boiled beans but…where were the beans? Where did the beans go in the coffee maker?
He searched through the cabinets and spotted the bag labeled “coffee grounds”, which he opened. That smelled good, he thought with a nod. He even spotted a coffee maker manual and grinned. Flipping through the pages, he rolled his eyes at the warnings, finally coming to the page with the instructions.
“Filter? Why the hell does the coffee maker need a filter?”
A small chuckle behind him warned Tarin that he was no longer alone.
Turning, he spotted her over his shoulder and swallowed a groan. She wore another one of those flowery dresses, this one had a round neck and the extra visible skin drew his eyes. She had the palest, most delicate skin he’d ever seen! Plus, it was dewy from her recent shower. Her hair was twisted up into a towel and she wore no makeup. Tarin had seen his past mistresses done up with their hair like that, but none had looked as sexy as Rachel. He had no idea why, but seeing her like this, with her long neck exposed, his body reacted…predictably.
“Need some help?” she asked innocently, laughter dancing in her eyes.
Pulling his gaze away from her, he stared blankly at the coffee machine manual, unable to read the words, but it was better than staring at her. And wondering what kind of underwear she was wearing under that hideous dress. He shook his head, trying to clear away the thought. “No. Go away. I’ll have the coffee ready in a minute.”
She shifted, tying something behind her. Involuntarily, he turned to watch. This dress was navy blue with big, white tulips all over it. It wrapped around her, cinching tightly around her tiny waist, and showcasing how round and lush her hips were. She didn’t have large breasts, but what she had were perfect. Not too small, not too big. Just perfect. For a long moment, he stared, his mouth watering as he pictured those breasts bare and heaving. Pictured himself touching those breasts and taking them into his…!
“Your Highness?” she asked.
Brutally, he ripped his gaze from her breasts and looked into those amazing green eyes of hers. She wasn’t wearing her glasses at the moment, so he could see her eyes clearly. They looked confused and thankfully, not offended by his lack of discipline.
“Right. Go away. I’m making coffee and it’s going to be good.” He looked down at the manual again, trying to read the words but all he could see were her breasts.
“If you let me, I can have the coffee brewing in just a….”
“I’m on it,” he said firmly, not bothering to look up.
“Fine,” she replied and he heard the soft chuckle. He also thought he heard something along the lines of, “I can get it at the corner store faster than this.” She disappeared back into the bathroom before he could demand that she repeat her comment.
Staring blankly at the instruction manual, he sighed with irritation. A moment later, he tossed the manual back into the cabinet and stormed to the front door. His guards stood in the hallway, alert and tense. “Do either of you know how to make coffee?” he asked.
Both of them blinked at him, confused. “Your Highness?” one of them asked, needing clarification.
“Coffee,” he repeated. “I told Rachel I’d make coffee for her, but I can’t figure out the coffee machine. Either of you know how?”
They shared a bemused glance before one stepped forward slightly. “Come on. I have to hurry before she finishes.”
He heard the hair dryer turn on as the guard followed him into the apartment. He walked over to the coffee machine, eyed the machine, and nodded. “This has a reusable filter, Your Highness. You just add coffee grounds in here, and water in here, then press this button.”
The man efficiently scooped several spoonfuls of coffee grounds into the machine, filled up the carafe with water, then poured it carefully into the reservoir, slid the carafe into the machine and pressed the button. “That’s it, Your Highness.”
He nodded, absorbing the knowledge for the future. “Excellent. Thank you.”
“Anytime, Your Highness,” the guard said, and returned to his post outside. Tarin spotted the man’s smile at his inabilities, but, thankfully, the man didn’t say anything. He simply pulled the apartment door closed, leaving Tarin to search for mugs.
He was sitting down on the sofa with a cup of perfectly brewed coffee, flipping through a magazine when she emerged. He almost laughed at her skeptical expression.
Silently, he took a sip of the coffee.
“How did you…?” she asked, then stopped, looking over at the coffee maker. There was another cup set beside the coffee, so she carefully poured a cup. Taking a sip, she sighed happily and nodded her head. “Okay, you did it.” She took another sip, eyeing him over the rim of the cup. “How did you do it?”
“Are you questioning my masculinity by assuming I can’t figure out how to make coffee?”
She smiled at him. “Well, I’m challenging your ability to make coffee,” she replied.
“And yet, you’re drinking said coffee.”
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Did you watch a video online or something?”
He shrugged, not bothering to answer, secretly irritated that he hadn’t thought of that himself. “Are you packed? My pilot is standing by.”
A slow grin curled her lips. “I’ll figure out how you did it, Your Highness,” she warned.
He moved closer. “I’ll tell you if you promise to use my first name.”
Rachel felt the spark of challenge, among all of the other sparks that were fizzling in the air between them. “Eh,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t want to know that badly.”
With that, she opened a cabinet and grabbed her travel mug. She poured the coffee from her mug into the travel one, then filled it up to the top. “You didn’t tell me why we’re going to Paris. I thought we were working on identifying architectural firms that are capable of handling your university project?”
“We are, but I always visit Paris before starting a project like this,” he told her. “Are you ready?”
“Yes. I suppose. Although, I don’t understand your agenda, so I don’t know if I packed appropriately.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said and stepped into her bedroom. “If you need anything, we can get it there.” And with that, he grabbed her suitcase off of her bed and carried it to the door. “Let’s go.”
She followed him down the hallway, carrying her tote bag and computer while he carried her suitcase. Rachel could have handled it herself. But since he wanted to carry it, she saw no reason not to let him. And besides, she liked watching him do it. The task seemed to make him more human somehow. Just like making the coffee, which she was still skeptical about, he was more approachable now. Still overwhelming, but human too.
Chapter 6
“So, what other things do you want to learn?”
Rachel looked up from the laptop she’d been working
on to blink at him. “I’m sorry?”
He’d been on the phone with someone for the past hour. She hadn’t noticed that his phone call had finished. They were flying to Paris and she absolutely loved the luxury of the plane. It was smaller than the plane that had flown her from Padar to Izara, but still amazingly plush and decadent. The royal family definitely traveled in style!
“You told me that you want to learn to dance and ride horses. What other things are you teaching yourself?”
She rested her hands on the leather armrests, her fingers grateful for the rest from the summary she’d been typing up.
“Well, I’ve always wanted to speak French and Spanish fluently. But I can’t seem to find the time to do that. Every once in a while, I study a verb or two, but I haven’t found a way for me to practice often enough for it to make an impact on my progress.”
“What else?”
She shrugged. “I want to know how to defend myself. As a single woman,” she didn’t add that she’d probably be single for a long time. “I know that it’s important to know how to fight off an attacker. So, that’s another skill I want to practice. I don’t have a regular schedule, so I can’t find a self-defense class where I can learn the skills.” She shrugged. “And that isn’t something I can learn online by myself.”
He nodded and she wondered what he was thinking.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for him to explain.
“I’ll teach you,” he announced.
“Teach me?”
“I’ll teach you self-defense in the morning before we start working.”
Rachel stiffened with horror. “Um…no, that’s okay.”
He shook his head, waving aside her argument. “I think it’s an excellent idea.”
Before she could argue further, his phone rang and he took the call. Rachel watched as he stood up, pacing as he spoke, circling the table where they were working.
She was fascinated by the way he moved with such amazing grace for a man so tall and muscular. He looked like a dangerous panther, but she also knew that he was a bit of a tease.
More humanity, she thought with a mental grimace. She needed to stop thinking like that. The man was gorgeous and all that, but he wouldn’t be interested in a mouse like her. She was too timid and she wasn’t glamorous like the women she’d see him paired with in pictures online.
Getting back to work, she focused on the project and not on the man who looked…decadently delicious.
They landed in Paris and were immediately taken to the hotel. But he didn’t give her a chance to open her computer again.
“We need to hurry,” he told her.
She looked up at him, startled once again. “We do?”
“Yep. Come along. You won’t need your work stuff.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, grabbing her tote bag, which also acted as her purse.
“The Eiffel Tower,” he announced.
They were back in the limousine and driving through the gorgeous streets of Paris towards the famous monument. “Why are we going to the Eiffel Tower?”
“Because it’s one of my favorite places,” he replied easily.
“Why?”
“Because I like it. And it fascinates me. I appreciate the way the design connects with the earth and enables the wind. It’s one of the ugliest and most beautiful structures in the world, in my opinion.”
She tilted her head. “Ugly?”
He shrugged. “It’s just a massive steel structure. Did you know that it was built for the World’s Fair?”
“Same with the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington,” she replied.
“That’s another one that I like to visit, but The Eiffel Tower is still my favorite.”
“You like this one even more than the huge, elaborate building designs that have emerged over the past few years?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Think about it. The buildings that are going up now are all done with computers. The architects design something and then a computer does all of the calculations, another computer cuts the materials, and yet another computer monitors the construction. Back in the eighteen hundreds, when The Eiffel Tower was built, there weren’t any computers. All of the calculations were done by hand. They didn’t even have a calculator.” He shook his head, pausing to consider the architectural feat. “It’s amazing. I also think the massive cathedrals around the world are just as remarkable. Those were done by uneducated stone cutters without computers too.” He winked at her. “That’s why we’re also visiting Montmartre this afternoon.”
Her eyes widened. “We are?”
“Yeah. It’s another architectural feat.”
The limousine pulled up outside of the tower and a uniformed staff member smiled in greeting as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Bonjour, Your Highness,” the staff member greeted him. “Je m’appelle Elizabet et…” they had a rapid fire conversation in French while Rachel listened, irritated with herself for not having a better grasp on the language. Meanwhile, Tarin spoke the language like a native, fluently conversing with the woman, who smiled flirtatiously up at him.
At the end of the conversation, he put a hand to the small of Rachel’s back and led her towards the monument. “She said that the officials offered a private tour, but I explained that I’d already visited several times over the years and just wanted to visit the top.”
“And?” she prompted when he didn’t continue.
He looked down at her, amused at her annoyed expression, which only ruffled her further, and went on. “She said that we’ll have a private elevator to the top and can spend as much time as we’d like there, although other visitors will also be present.”
“Is that okay?” she asked, glancing at his guards who were walking in a perimeter around them.
“Of course,” he assured her. But Rachel wasn’t convinced. “But…”
He pulled her closer. “The security team is pretty good at what they do,” he assured her as they stepped into elevator. “But I’m flattered that you care. Maybe if you cared just a bit more, you’d actually use my name.”
She snorted. “Not gonna happen.”
He laughed and she shivered at the sound, hoping that he didn’t understand what that shiver meant. It would be beyond humiliating for him to know how she felt about him.
The elevator doors opened and she pulled back, startled to find they were at the top of the tower.
“Coming?” he asked when she pressed her shoulders back against the wall of the elevator while everyone else stepped out.
“Um…” she peeked out at the city skyline through the protective fencing surrounding the top of the tower. “I think I’ll just stay here,” she told him.
He laughed, taking her hands and slowly leading her onto the landing. “It’s perfectly safe,” he assured her.
“Yeah? When was the last time someone fell off?”
He shook his head. “The only deaths that have occurred here are suicides, honey. Not accidental deaths. It’s very safe.”
Tentatively, she stepped out and looked down. Thankfully, the floor wasn’t made of steel mesh, it was a solid surface. She took one step, then another, slowly inching out of the private elevator. “I guess I should have warned you about my fear of heights,” she said, trying to joke.
If she’d looked up at him, she might have noticed the gentleness in his eyes, but Rachel was too focused on watching her step, then peering out at the horizon, almost as if she needed to make sure that her weight wasn’t tipping the tower over.
“I’m sorry, Rachel. I should have asked. But come with me. I promise it will be okay.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his side, holding her securely against him. “Better?” he asked.
Yes, but she couldn’t admit it because her ability to speak fizzled to a halt. Or perhaps it was her brain that fizzled at his touch. Too terrified to care, she pressed against him, wrapping her arms around his waist in what might be considered a death grip,
but she didn’t care. He rubbed her back, helping to assure her that she was safe.
When she finally found the courage to look up, Rachel gasped. All of Paris was laid out before her, the sun making the city shimmer and gleam. Because it was a clear day with low humidity, the view seemed to go on forever!
“Oh my!” she whispered, her fear of heights pushed away as awe poured over her. “That’s beautiful!”
“Yeah. I agree,” he replied. Tightening his arms around her, he nodded towards the distance. “There’s the Seine over there, which means that Notre Dame is…” he shifted slightly, “over there.” He squeezed her waist. “It doesn’t look like much during the daytime, especially after the fire. I’ll have to bring you back at night, so that you can see everything lit up.”
She shivered just thinking about coming up here at night. “I’m fine right now. Everything is so pretty during the daytime.”
Tarin chuckled, thinking that Rachel was far more interesting than he’d thought. Yes, the sexual attraction was still there, but at the moment, with her fear of heights more prominent in his mind, she was soft and sweet, clinging to him as if she trusted him. For a man, that was a heady combination.
“I love being up here,” he said smiling as her arms tightened around his waist. “It’s such an amazing view, but more than that, the architectural knowledge needed to build this structure is mind-boggling. Plus, I can see all of the other buildings around Paris that were built centuries ago. It’s such a shame about the fire at Notre Dame. I would have liked to show you that.”
Rachel turned her face up to his and, with the wind whipping around them, her body pressed against his, he wanted to lean down and kiss her. The urge was almost overpowering. The moment stretched, their pulses keeping time together. He looked at her mouth, noticed her lips soften, as if she were anticipating his kiss. He moved slightly so that they were facing each other and saw that her gaze had dropped to his mouth. Was she waiting for the kiss as well? Tarin leaned down and….
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