His earlier question about her being French came back to her and she pulled back to stare up at him.
Did he not know who she was?
She’d received so many sympathetic glances during the night from those who knew her to be the jilted Princess of Berenia that her teeth had wanted to grind together.
For him not to recognise her... It didn’t seem possible but...perhaps it was. After all, he’d been off doing his own thing for a decade now, where her life had remained incredibly small by comparison. A bolt of inspiration shot through her. If he didn’t know who she was it would give her a chance to find out how amenable he would be to her plan without having to embarrass herself by asking outright.
His eyes watched her, confident and direct. Sapphire blue surrounded by inky black lashes, they drew her in with the promise of delights she had probably never even dreamed of, drew her in as if he could read every one of her secret wishes and desires and had the power to answer them all. The notion was both terrifying and utterly irresistible.
The prince’s heavy-lidded gaze held an amused glint as if he knew exactly how he was affecting her. Only she didn’t plan to become one of his worshippers so it was best to set the scene early.
‘Are you always this direct?’ she asked, meeting fire with fire.
‘I’m not one to waste time on trivialities.’ His fingers brushed the inside of her wrist, sending an unexpected trail of goosebumps along her arm. She fought off another tremor as she thought about what those fingers would feel like stroking other, more intimate, parts of her body. ‘State what you want and go after it has always been my motto.’
She didn’t doubt it.
But ever since her brother had died her life had been mapped out for her and stripped of any real choice so she rarely, if ever, stated what she wanted, or went after it.
He swung her in a tight circle, the hand at the base of her spine covering the small of her back. ‘It hasn’t failed me yet.’ The smile he gave her was one hundred per cent lupine in nature. ‘I hope it’s not about to.’
‘Are you propositioning me?’
The words were out before she could stop them and she only just managed to stop herself from cringing. No doubt none of the sophisticated beauties he was frequently photographed with would need to ask such a gauche question.
Even white teeth were revealed by a frankly amused smile. ‘I do believe I am.’
‘But you don’t even know me.’
‘I don’t need to know you to know that I want you.’ His tone lowered to a sexual purr. ‘But if names make you feel more at ease I am Prince Rafaele al-Hadrid. Rafe to my intimates, Rafa to my family.’
‘I know who you are,’ she said, blinking hard to defuse the sensual spell he was effortlessly weaving around her. ‘And I also know of your reputation.’
His smile widened. ‘Which one?’
Not sure how to handle the fact that he seemed completely unperturbed by her revelation, Alexa pushed on with her plan to gain information about him. ‘The one that says that you’re not marriage material.’
‘Very true,’ he drawled. ‘I am good at many things but being a husband would not be one of them. And I believe in playing to my strengths.’
So did she. ‘Why wouldn’t you be a good husband?’
‘According to many of the women I’ve seen, I’m emotionally stunted, closed off from genuine affection, afraid of true intimacy and utterly selfish.’ His eyes twinkled down at her with amusement. ‘I did take exception to the “closed off from genuine affection” comment as I happen to think I’m very affectionate when the mood strikes.’
‘I’m sure she was way off base.’ Alexa laughed despite herself.
‘I’m glad you agree.’ He grinned charmingly. ‘But you haven’t introduced yourself,’ he reminded her softly.
‘No, I haven’t.’
His dark brow arched with quicksilver interest. ‘And you’re not going to,’ he surmised accurately. ‘Do you want me to guess?’ His gaze roamed her face, heating her up as it went. ‘You do seem vaguely familiar. Should I know you?’
‘I would say so.’
‘Have we ever—’
‘No.’ She stumbled as his meaning became clear, causing him to bring her into direct contact with his warm body again. Heat that had been simmering away inside her exploded low in her pelvis.
Sensual amusement curved his lips as if he had her right where he wanted her.
Danger, her brain signalled once more, only stronger this time, with the added instruction to retreat. Only she couldn’t because she couldn’t remember why she should. Not with those intense blue eyes lingering on her lips and turning her mouth so dry she had to fight not to moisten it. Her heart felt like a trapped bird trying to break out of its cage, her whole body assailed with a kind of sweet lethargy she’d never felt before.
The drawn-out notes from a violin signalled the end of the musical score they’d been dancing to, and then someone on the end of a microphone announced that the silent auction was about to take place.
Clusters of murmuring guests started making their way towards one of the anterooms, and Alexa was startled to find that she hadn’t moved an inch out of the Prince’s arms. Scrambling to get her brain back on line, it took her a moment to realise that he had taken her hand and was leading her in the opposite direction to everyone else.
‘Where are you taking me?’ She pulled up, digging her spindly heels into the marble floor and gaining no traction at all.
‘Somewhere we can talk.’ The Prince’s enigmatic gaze swept her from head to toe. ‘I made a promise that I wouldn’t cause any scandals this evening and I’m very close to breaking it.’
He steered her through a set of open doors and along a wide corridor before she had the wherewithal to stop him once more. ‘Wait.’
Instantly coming to a halt, he looked back at her.
Alexa blinked as she tried to regulate her thoughts—and her breathing. At some point she would need to get him alone to go over her proposition with him but, with her body sending a whole host of mixed messages to her brain, she knew she wasn’t ready for that now. Plus, he wasn’t taking her anywhere for them to talk. She might be relatively inexperienced when it came to men, but she already knew that they could be unscrupulous when it came to getting what they wanted.
He looked down at her, amusement lighting his eyes as she gently tugged her hand free of his.
‘I’m not going to kiss you.’ The bold statement slipped out before it had fully formed in her mind and she knew she’d never felt as tempted to do exactly what she said she wouldn’t in her life before.
His sinful lips curved into that devilish smile and a blush stained her cheeks. ‘You don’t like kissing?’
Not particularly, but that wasn’t the point, was it? ‘I don’t kiss strangers.’
‘But I’m not the stranger here; you are,’ he pointed out. ‘And fortunately I have no such reservations.’
His tone was teasing but she sensed his hunger in the coiled strength of his body and the heat that radiated from every pore. The earlier image of a wolf about to pounce returned. This time it was definitely hungry and she was in its crosshairs. Rather than scare her as it probably should, it sent another thrill of sensation down her spine. She shuddered with unexpected anticipation and of course he noticed, his blue eyes darkening, his nostrils flaring slightly with his next breath.
Something exciting and wickedly enticing wound between them.
‘Come with me,’ he invited huskily. ‘I get the impression that your life could do with a little excitement in it.’
She wanted to deny it but his assessment was so accurate she couldn’t. Every hour of her day was usually accounted for with paperwork or meetings and she rarely took time out to just have fun. A roar of laughter from nearby guests broke into her reverie as if to drive the
point home.
Those serious doubts she’d had about going ahead with her plan returned tenfold.
Prince Rafaele was much more lethally male and charismatic than she had anticipated, and the blatantly sexual way he looked at her awoke every one of her senses. She hadn’t expected him to have such an uncontrollable edge beneath the civility of his custom-made tuxedo but it was there—primal and dangerous and totally untameable.
‘Come,’ he coaxed once more, his hand raised towards her. ‘Take my hand.’
It was more command than invitation, the silken gravel of his tone making her forget that her future was on the line this weekend. Making her forget how much she had at stake: the ability to fulfil her royal duty to Berenia her way.
Against all rational thought, Alexa gave into temptation and placed her hand in his, allowing him to lead her through a solid door and into a beautiful, softly lit reading room. Glancing around, she noted that it was empty, the soft furnishings and gauzy curtains in the windows giving the room an odd sense of intimacy that was heightened when she heard the door click closed behind her.
‘I’m not sure this is wise,’ she said, knowing by the wild hammering of her heart that it definitely wasn’t.
He grinned with mischievous intent. ‘Probably not.’
Completely absorbed by the animal grace of his stride as he pushed away from the door and came towards her, Alexa was unprepared for him to invade her personal space and bumped the low table behind her as she unconsciously retreated.
Fortunately, he caught her around the waist, his fingertips spanning her hipbones with blatant possession.
‘Your Highness!’ Alexa exclaimed on a breathless rush, her mind as unbalanced as her body. ‘I told you I’m not—’
‘Kissing me. I know.’ His head lowered to hers, the warmth of his lips ghosting across the line of her jaw as he inhaled her scent deep into his lungs.
A shiver of awareness bolted down Alexa’s spine, turning her knees to water. Her hands flattened against his hard chest as if to hold herself steady, her senses logging the hard heat of his body and the strong beat of his heart through the thick fabric of his jacket.
Despite her four-inch heels, their height difference put her only at eye level with his chiselled mouth and she couldn’t look away, her fingers curling of their own accord into his dinner jacket.
The prince’s hands firmed on her hips. ‘You’ve got exactly three seconds to step out of my arms before I kiss you properly.’
His tone was low and husky with need and Alexa flushed as an answering need flooded her lower body with silken heat. Completely out of her depth, her knees almost too weak to hold her upright, she leant against him in a move that perfectly signalled her desires to a man well versed in reading the play.
‘I’m pretty sure that’s five,’ he murmured, his head bending as his mouth found hers. This kiss was firm, warm, his lips capturing hers with consummate skill and drawing a response from her she didn’t even know she had in her to give.
When she didn’t resist a soft groan left his mouth and one of his hands rose to cup the nape of her neck, his body moulding to hers as he took control of her very will.
Alexa knew she shouldn’t be doing this but she couldn’t seem to organise her thoughts when the desire to taste him was so strong. The prince’s heat and scent surrounded her and soaked into her, his mouth driving out any thought of resisting.
‘That’s it, sweetheart,’ he whispered, ‘open for me.’
Having never been kissed with such carnal expertise, Alexa felt a rush of burning heat as his tongue entered her mouth and licked at her own. The unexpected eroticism of the move made her hands grip his shoulders, her body arching towards his, seeking more. Craving more.
The sensations were so wickedly enticing that when his fingers curved around one of her breasts she moaned, no longer concerned with what she was here to do. This was all that mattered. This man’s mouth fused with hers, his hands caressing her all over and making her burn.
She slid her fingers into his hair, tugging him closer, and he groaned again, his hands moving lower to cup her bottom and bring her in closer against his body, his callused palms snagging on the tiny crystals covering her dress.
‘You taste like honey and nectar,’ he murmured, his lips trailing a heated line along her jaw towards her ear.
‘You taste like heat and mint,’ she panted, her neck arching to accommodate his lips, her nipples painfully tight against the fabric of her dress.
He laughed huskily as if she delighted him. It was quite the aphrodisiac after her previous sexual encounter had obliterated her burgeoning self-confidence.
‘Come upstairs with me.’ The Prince’s kisses continued down her neck and she felt him shudder as he gently bit down on the tendons that joined her shoulder. ‘I can’t take you here; we’ll get caught.’
Alexa didn’t know which part of that statement permeated her stunned senses more, but suddenly her hands were firm on the hard balls of his biceps as she pushed him back. Memories of her teenage mistake tumbled into the space between them, tripping up her thoughts as she fought to draw oxygen into her lungs and clear the haze from her brain. ‘We can’t... I’m not... Let me go!’
As soon as the words were out he released her, his chest heaving like bellows as his breath rasped in and out of his lungs.
His dark hair was in disarray around his shoulders and she realised with a mortified groan that her fingers must have done that.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘What’s wrong?’ Her eyes widened at his ridiculous question. ‘We nearly... I just... I didn’t come in here for that.’
Struggling to even out his breathing as much as she was, the Prince’s brows drew together. ‘Why did you come in here then?’
Still experiencing the drugging after-effects of being in his arms, Alexa blurted out the first thing that came into her head. ‘I came in here to ask you to marry me.’
CHAPTER THREE
‘YOU SHOULD HAVE gone with that as your opening line, sweetheart,’ Prince Rafaele drawled. ‘It would have smothered the chemistry between us faster than a Santarian sandstorm.’
Unsure how to handle him as well as her rioting emotions, Alexa frowned. ‘I didn’t expect you to pounce on me as soon as we got here.’
‘Pounce?’ He gave an amused look. ‘I gave you a chance to pull back.’
‘Three seconds?’
His grin deepened. ‘It ended up being five.’
‘You don’t even know my name,’ she said, flabbergasted that he could so quickly switch from arousal to amusement when she was still struggling for composure.
‘I’ve never found that to be all that important when I want a woman.’
Well, that stung. No woman wanted to be just another notch on a man’s bedpost. But what had she expected? This was the exalted Rebel Prince who had attempted to seduce her. Attempted and nearly succeeded! ‘Why?’ she felt compelled to ask. ‘Because you don’t plan on seeing the woman again?’ she challenged.
‘Now that depends on the night. And the woman.’ His eyes narrowed on her face as if he was trying to work something out. ‘So who are you? Because I have to admit you’re damned familiar, although I know I’ve never touched you before.’
She didn’t know whether to be flattered by that statement or not and went with not. ‘My name is Alexa, Crown Princess of the House of Berenia.’ She gave her tone just the right amount of haughtiness to signal her displeasure with him, and was pleased when his eyes widened.
He raked a hand through his hair. ‘You might have mentioned that sooner as well.’
‘I did plan to when we got inside the room, but you kissed me before I could come out with it.’
* * *
Rafe’s gaze dropped to her lips and he cursed under his breath. She was right. He’d never acted on his attr
action for a woman faster. His only excuse being that he’d felt her hunger run as deep as his own and he’d been unable to resist testing that hunger when they were alone. And he’d been right. She’d gone off like a firecracker in his arms. Another few minutes and they both would have been naked and horizontal.
Thank God he’d had enough sense to suggest they go to his room, and the restraint to release her when she’d asked. But he hadn’t wanted to. The inferno that she had lit inside him had been ready to explode. It still was, but this time partly with recrimination. He should probably apologise for pouncing on her as she had accused him of doing. It wasn’t his usual style, which leant itself to more finesse and a small measure of self-control!
And she was his brother’s cast-off, dammit, the daughter of the man who was currently making his brother’s life hell. Jag would just love it if he had witnessed this near blunder. It had been one thing to piss his father off deliberately, but he’d never do that to his brother.
‘Well, I’m not kissing you now, Princess, so I suggest we leave and forget this ever happened.’
If he could. He had a feeling he’d be dreaming about the taste of her mouth and those soft kittenish sounds she’d made as he’d cupped her bottom in his hands for a few nights yet. Even now he wanted to reach for her again.
‘But I was serious about what I said before.’ She drew in a long breath, her lovely breasts straining against the fabric of her gown. ‘And I’d really like to make a time to speak with you about it.’
Rafe sent his mind back and focused on what she’d said that had halted him in his tracks. ‘Marriage?’
‘Well, engaged more than married.’
He shook his head gently, unable to believe that she was actually serious. ‘I don’t do marriage. You’ll have to find someone else to fulfil that fantasy.’
‘I know you don’t do marriage. That’s the point. I don’t either.’
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