Читать книгу The Royal House of Niroli Collection - Кейт Хьюит, Пенни Джордан - Страница 37
CHAPTER NINE
ОглавлениеALEX put the towel back down and caught her staring at him. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘No…no, nothing.’ Amelia lowered her gaze and focussed on the table separating them. She’d checked his left arm while he’d changed hands to dry off, but it too was clear of any distinctive birthmarks.
‘What did you come here to tell me?’ he asked into the suddenly crackling silence.
‘It was nothing important.’ She got to her feet and pushed in the chair. ‘I should get going. The last bus leaves at six-thirty.’
‘Wait.’ He came around to her side and stalled her with a hand on her arm. ‘Listen, I know this is going to sound really dumb, but would you consider doing me a favour tonight?’
Amelia met his dark gaze, her heart and stomach still both feeling as if they had just performed a complicated gymnastics routine. ‘W-what is it?’
His hand fell away from her arm, his expression turning awkward again. ‘To tell you the truth I’m a bit nervous about going to the palace tonight. I know it’s a lot to ask, but, since you go there all the time, would you consider coming with me tonight sort of as moral support?’
She stared at him for a beat or two, wondering if he was genuine or whether this was another ploy to get her to go out with him. ‘I don’t go there all the time,’ she corrected him.
‘But at least you’ve met the king and the staff and are more or less familiar with the layout of the place.’
‘If you think I believe for even one second that you are intimidated in any way by royalty, you must think me even more gullible than I thought,’ she said. ‘Besides, the royal aides will escort you in and escort you out. Don’t worry—you won’t get lost and end up in a dungeon with chains around your ankles.’
‘What if I strike up a deal with you?’ he said with a little glint in his eyes. ‘If you come with me to the palace I will give you a ride home and visit your father, free of charge. Will he be home tonight?’
Five minutes ago Amelia would not have bought in to his offer, but now, with his arm showing no sign of the birthmark that would have sent her father to prison, she knew she would have to accept. Without that sign there was nothing to connect her father to the disappearance of the prince all those years ago. She wanted her father to see it for himself, to put his fears to rest. Besides, her last glance at her watch had told her the bus would have long gone. A taxi fare was out of the question even if she could convince a driver to take his car up the somewhat perilous section of road.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘It’s a deal. But I will have to stay in the background. I’m still wearing my uniform.’
‘That’s OK.’ He smiled a victor’s smile. ‘I’m only going to be there for ten minutes or so according to the invitation I received. I’ll just grab a quick shower. Make yourself at home.’
Amelia let out her breath once he had gone to the bathroom and wondered if she should still warn him of the suspicions or leave it for him to deal with if and when they were raised during his visit. No doubt the king would be looking closely for the mark that would establish his lost grandson’s identity. How he would do so she couldn’t even hazard a guess. But she reasoned that if, like her, the king saw the clear skin on Alex Hunter’s arm he might not even raise the topic at all, simply treating the visit as the royal summons as which it was originally portrayed. The rumours would hopefully die down and she would then be able to nurse her father to his final rest without the threat of exposure.
Alex came out a few minutes later looking refreshed and smelling of his aftershave, a heady combination of lemons and spice that reminded Amelia of the sun-drenched citrus orchards on the island.
She felt grubby and uncomfortable in her uniform, especially now he was dressed in a dark suit and tie, the crisp whiteness of his shirt highlighting the healthy colour of his skin and the darkness of his eyes. He had shaved, which she assumed he would have to do twice a day to keep that chiselled jaw smooth. Her skin gave a little all-over shiver as she thought about how his mouth had felt on hers, and the gentle but imminently sexy abrasion of his skin as it had moved over the creamy softness of her face.
She watched as he straightened his tie, the movement of his neck indicating it probably wasn’t his preferred choice of dress.
‘Is my tie tucked in at the back?’ he asked, turning around for her to inspect it.
She had to stand on tiptoe to tuck a thin strip of his tie under the collar, her fingers skating over his skin as if they had a mind of their own. ‘There…that’s it,’ she said a little breathlessly.
He turned back around before she could step away, his eyes locking with hers. Amelia felt the air between them begin to tighten as if an invisible force were drawing her inexorably closer to him. She could even feel the sway of her body towards him, her chest brushing against his as his hands came out to hold her steady.
His eyes grew darker as his head came closer, the warmth of his mint-flavoured breath caressing her up-tilted face. She felt her eyelids dropping as his mouth came down, the first brush of his lips on hers setting her alight like a match to a meticulously laid fire. The combustion was instantaneous and enthralling; there was nothing she could do to hold back her response. It consumed her totally, the sensations rushing through her like a hot river of flame.
His tongue came searching for hers, drawing it into an intimate tangle of slow but drugging dance-like movements, each intimate thrust mimicking the pulse of his lower body where it was pressed so close to hers. She could feel the imprint of his maleness, the hard evidence of how his body responded to hers. It excited her to think he was still attracted to her, even though she had done her best to spurn him. It showed he wasn’t going to go down without a fight, that he would throw everything he could at their developing relationship no matter what the cost.
But any cost would be hers, she hastily reminded herself. As thrilling at this sizzling attraction was, it wasn’t going to last beyond a month, not unless he was prepared to take her with him, which seemed an impossible dream. He had a life in Australia, a busy career, a loving family and a chance to change the world with this pioneering breakthrough in cardiac surgery.
What place could she have in such a life? She had been reared in poverty and shame, her life so far spent in the service of others.
And yet what made this attraction all the more irresistible was she was no longer a young naïve girl hardly out of her teens. She was a fully grown woman now, with needs and desires that could no longer be ignored. She had thrown herself into hard work to distract herself from the emptiness of her existence, but now it seemed as if that lonely existence was crying out for more. She wanted to feel like an attractive woman again. She wanted to be swept up in the magic of emotion and desire.
She wanted Alex Hunter even if she could only have him temporarily…
Alex pulled back reluctantly, his breathing still choppy. ‘Whoa there, princess,’ he said. ‘I’m drifting out of my depth here.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Hey,’ he said, cupping her face so she couldn’t escape his gaze. ‘Don’t be embarrassed. It’s a good thing. In fact it’s a rare thing. I don’t usually lose my head in these types of situations.’
‘I’m sure you’re just saying that.’
‘I wish I was, truly.’ His expression was surprisingly sincere.
‘I don’t know what to say…’ She lowered her gaze, her tongue running over her lips, tasting him, savouring him.
‘Don’t say anything,’ he said. ‘Let’s just take it one step at a time.’
She raised her eyes back to his. ‘I’m frightened, Alex. I don’t want to let things get out of control.’
He let out a sigh and hugged her close. ‘I know you’re frightened, but you don’t need to be. I want you and I intend to have you. Surely you know that by now?’
She leaned back to look up at him, her stomach quivering at the determined promise of his statement. ‘Is that why you’ve been so persistent?’
‘Have I been persistent?’
She gave him a mock-reproving look, desperately trying to maintain a level head when all she wanted to do was throw herself back into his arms. ‘You know you have,’ she said. ‘You just won’t take no for an answer.’
‘Well, can you blame me? As soon as I met you I felt something drop into place, as if a piece of a puzzle had been missing all this time and now I’d suddenly found it.’
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘So who was the woman who phoned you today?’
‘It was my sister, Megan. She’s backpacking around Europe and wanted to say hi.’
It was impossible to disguise her tiny sigh of relief. ‘She’s lucky to have a brother like you,’ she said.
‘That’s what I keep telling her, but do you think she will listen?’ His smile lit up his eyes.
‘I like you, Alex Hunter,’ she said softly. ‘I really like you.’
‘That’s a start, I guess,’ he said, his dark eyes twinkling. ‘Any chance of an upgrade on that?’
She met his smile with one of her own. ‘Perhaps. I’ll have to think about it.’
‘Well, in the meantime I’ll try and be patient,’ he said and brought his mouth back down to hers.
This time his kiss was even more demanding, the searing thrust of his tongue taking her breath away as his hands skimmed her curves. Her breasts leapt at his touch, even though the fabric of her uniform still covered them. She could feel herself being swept away on the tide of spiralling need that flowed between them. She could feel it in his body, the energy and strength that pulsed there. She could taste it in his kiss, the heat and fire that burned against her mouth as she returned his kiss with fevered urgency. She could feel it in her own body, the ache and throb of unmet needs that refused to be denied any longer.
‘This is crazy,’ Alex said, suddenly pulling away. ‘My timing as usual is way off. I have to be at the palace in ten minutes. That’s not nearly long enough to pleasure you in the way I want to.’
Amelia felt her stomach hollow at his words. ‘We can do this some other time,’ she said, surprising herself more than him. ‘That’s if you still want to…’
He pressed a quick, hard kiss to her mouth. ‘I want to. I’ll be thinking of nothing else the whole time I’m with the king.’
She wrinkled her nose at him. ‘I’m sure he would be very shocked to hear that.’
He smiled down at her. ‘I don’t care if he is. What’s an old man with a medieval castle got to do with me? I’d much rather be with you.’
Amelia decided then to tell him of the rumours. What harm could it do for him to know? At least then he would be able to meet the king’s questions levelly now there was no doubt he was not the prince.
‘Alex…there’s something you should know before you meet the king… Something important.’
Alex frowned at her grave tone. ‘What?’
She took a steadying breath. ‘You’re probably going to think this is ridiculous in the extreme, but there have been rumours circulating on the island ever since you arrived that you are in some way related to the king.’
‘Related?’ His frown deepened.
‘You remember the kidnap and murder of the king’s grandson we discussed the other day?’
He gave a brief nod without responding.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘there’s been a recent disclosure that the infant prince was not in fact murdered as first thought, but spirited away to be brought up by someone else.’
‘Someone else where?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know all the details, just that the prince—according to my sources—was well and truly alive the last time…this person saw him.’
‘So what’s all this got to do with me?’ he asked, his brow still furrowed.
‘At the restaurant last night you were mistaken for someone else. You said it had happened ever since you arrived on the island. I thought you should know that the king as well as others has seen a likeness in your features to his dead son, Antonio, and his surviving grandson, Marco. They’ve been wondering if you are in fact the prince.’
His breath came out in a whooshing rush. ‘Amelia, this island is teeming with male look-alikes. There’s hardly a man here who doesn’t have black hair and brown eyes.’
‘I know… I just thought I should tell you, that’s all. It seemed a little far-fetched to me when I first heard, but then when you said you were adopted and that your Italian name was Alessandro I started to wonder about it myself.’
Alex gave a chuckle of incredulous laughter. ‘Far-fetched? It’s bloody ridiculous! Me? A prince? Don’t make me laugh.’
Amelia started to smile. ‘I guess it does sound a bit crazy, doesn’t it?’
‘Just wait till my sister hears about this.’ He grinned. ‘It’s not every day one gets mistaken for royalty. A mate of mine once got mistaken for a famous actor. He even had to sign autographs as the fans just wouldn’t believe he wasn’t the real deal, but I think this is going one better than that.’
‘I hope you didn’t mind me telling you,’ she said. ‘I just thought it would be better to know about it in case they ask you any personal questions at the palace tonight.’
He dropped a quick kiss to the soft bow of her mouth. ‘You did the right thing telling me. To tell you the truth I was starting to get a little spooked by all the weird looks I was getting. Now I can rest easy.’
So can I, Amelia thought as they made their way out to his car. Thank goodness he was plain old Alex Hunter and not the missing prince….
The fourteenth-century castle was situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the main port of Niroli, the hills behind covered with scented orange groves.
Amelia looked up at it standing so majestically over all it surveyed. The palace had its own private beach and boat houses and the views over the wide horizons were breathtaking. As settings went it was surely one of the most spectacular in the region if not the entire world.
‘Quite some beach house,’ Alex remarked from beside her.
She smiled and took a step backwards as the royal officials approached. ‘I’ll wait for you over there,’ she said, pointing to a sun-drenched terrace where a bougainvillea vine was trailing over the balustrade in a scarlet arras.
Alex gave her a wink and made his way towards the castle entrance flanked on either side by the uniformed officials.
Amelia turned to look at the sea sparkling in the distance, the tang of salt reaching her from below.
She turned about twenty minutes later as she heard the sound of footsteps and watched as Alex walked towards her, a hint of a smile reflected in his dark eyes as they met hers.
‘How was it?’ she asked once they were back in his car.
‘As house calls go it was certainly unusual,’ he said. ‘I met with the king and discussed his treatment options. I spoke to him of the risks involved with a patient his age and how I would be prepared to do it at the private hospital as a one-off in a couple of days.’
‘Did he mention anything to you about the rumours?’
‘No and I didn’t bring the topic up. I thought someone was going to at one stage. I was getting some pretty intense scrutiny from the staff as they served drinks, but apart from a few questions about my background things were pretty relaxed.’
‘Did you meet any of the royal family? Prince Marco or Prince Luca or the princesses?’
‘I did, actually,’ he said. ‘If you hadn’t told me what you had, I would have thought it a bit unusual since I was ostensibly there to see the king on a health matter, but I guess they too wanted to check on any likeness. They were very polite and seemed interested in the procedure I’m pioneering, but they didn’t stay long.’
‘Could you see any likeness to yourself?’ she asked.
‘Not so much with Prince Marco or Prince Luca, although of course there are similarities, but I did happen to see a portrait of Antonio and his wife Francesca on one of the walls as I walked past.’
Amelia glanced at him. ‘And?’
His eyes met hers briefly, a small frown bringing his brows together as he returned to the task of driving. ‘I know this is going to sound a bit strange, but I felt like I’d seen them before. Crazy, huh?’
‘Perhaps you’ve seen a photograph of them in the press,’ she suggested. ‘The news of their yachting accident hit the headlines all over the world.’
‘Yeah, that’s probably what it was,’ he said, sending her a quick smile.
Amelia settled back in her seat, but the next time she chanced a glance at him his smile had disappeared…