Читать книгу Mr Right All Along - Natalie Anderson - Страница 18

CHAPTER NINE

IT WAS NO longer blood that ran through Eduardo’s veins. It was pure, unadulterated satisfaction. He’d solved this horror situation in the most pleasing way possible. He’d secured the future for several people and he’d just had Stella’s physical surrender. Twice.

It wasn’t enough already. He wanted her hot and demanding, then panting and pleading, all over again. But he had to take it easy on her, lighten the intensity that she felt—that he felt too. He couldn’t launch himself on her again like some insatiable sex-crazed hound.

Food was the perfect displacement activity.

He carefully peeled himself away from her. Sending her a smile, he walked to the silver trolley that had been placed in the corner. It was laden with dishes and drinks—they had enough to keep them comfortable for a few hours yet.

‘Are you hungry?’ he asked, wincing at his unintended double entendre. ‘Thirsty?’ He poured her a glass of juice.

‘Thank you,’ she murmured.

He sat on the edge of the bed and watched as she sipped. She looked dazed, slumbrous, her mouth reddened and swollen from his kisses. He could hardly look at her for wanting her. He’d turned into the ever-freaking-ready bunny.

But then he realised that she was sitting too still. And the look on her face...

He cocked his head, studying her. ‘What are you thinking?’

The blue in her eyes deepened. So did the colour in her cheeks. Was she feeling the same way he was? Hot? Hungry? Wanting more?

She needed to speak up. He wasn’t letting her slide back into silence now.

‘You can touch me any time you want—do you understand?’ He didn’t want her to be shy. He wanted her hot, demanding side unleashed as often as possible. ‘Just touch.’

She swallowed. ‘Okay.’

‘Will you give me the same privilege? Can I touch you?’

‘Yes.’ Her eyes shone brighter. ‘Any time you want to. Anywhere.’

He stiffened. Did she know how she pushed his buttons?

‘You know I’m likely to take that literally?’ he teased, his mind already running away with him. ‘Any part of your body. In any place we may be. At any time.’

‘I don’t just know that.’ Her small smile had a wicked edge. ‘I’m counting on it.’

Her confidence made him hum. And then she suddenly sat up and spread her legs wide...

‘Is that an invitation?’ he asked huskily.

‘It’s an order.’ Her whisper was sultry.

‘That’s what you know best, huh? Issuing and obeying orders? You really think you can order me around?’ He moved up the bed to kneel over her. ‘Be warned—I’ll do as you say until you scream.’

Making her scream was the most rewarding thing he’d done in ages. So he did it then. Again and then again.

‘We can’t stay the night down here,’ he said with a sorry sigh, stretching out his stiffened muscles several hours later.

‘Why not?’ she asked drowsily.

‘Because the tide will soon be in and our bed might float away.’

Amused, he watched her sit bolt upright and stare at the seawater that was pooling on the farthest side of the bed. Soon enough the tide would wash all the way in.

‘Is that why we got married when we did?’ Something in her eyes softened.

‘The time of the ceremony was to match the tide, yes.’ It had seemed a good idea last night—a play on her pirate talk. Now he felt a little embarrassed. ‘I thought you might like it here.’

‘I do.’

She answered so quietly he wasn’t quite sure he’d heard her. He combed her hair back from her face with his fingers and looked into her shining eyes. Luminescent. Honest. Giving. That playfulness, that power, was emerging again.

She’d echoed her vows only a few hours ago. At the time he’d been so intent on having her it had been all he could think about. In truth, it was still mostly all he could think about.

I do.

Now those words moved him differently. This woman he barely knew was his wife. That wild idea had seemed like the best thing at the time. He’d given in to impulse as always. Duty underlay it, sure, but now an unexpected tension coiled within him.

Wife.

The ramification hit—permanence. Because this couldn’t be over in a few days. They’d have to see it through until the birth of the baby and a bit beyond that at least. Pretty much a year, minimum.

Oddly there was no panic—only a hint of regret. For her. She had no idea what he’d set her up for.

This island fantasy would end and reality would return. His reality. No prince and princess fairy tale, more a ‘scary’ tale. And he didn’t have long to prepare her for what she was going to face.

* * *

Stella silently walked barefoot along the beach and then climbed up to the palace. She showered and shrugged on the silk robe left on her bed, then went to find Eduardo.

‘Is this your favourite room?’ she asked as she explored the trinkets on the shelves in the library.

He nodded. ‘I like the view. The books. My chair.’

She chuckled. ‘Old man.’

‘Let me guess—your favourite room is the gym.’ He rolled his eyes.

‘Oh, no.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘I prefer to be outdoors.’

‘So do I—when it’s sunny and warm. So sit here.’ He gestured to a large seat. ‘At least here you can see outside.’

It was a beautiful room. At first glance she’d thought it impersonal and opulent. Now she saw the personal treasures. The old blanket on his favourite chair. It was his nest.

He took the chair beside hers. ‘When we get back to San Felipe...’ He cleared his throat. ‘They’re going to ask questions. They’re going to ask everything.’

‘They?’

‘Everyone. So tell me ten things I don’t know about you.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Yes.’

She frowned. ‘I thought you knew everything from my personnel file?’

‘That’s like saying you know everything about me from the gossip magazines.’

Amused appreciation sparkled within her. ‘So you’re saying we know nothing about each other?’

‘What I know about you so far is not something I can share with reporters.’ He leaned back, wickedness oozing from his pores. ‘We need to fix that. We’re under no obligation to answer any media questions, but the public will ask and I refuse to ignore them. We need to work on some closed answers.’

‘“Closed answers”?’ she echoed with a half-laugh. ‘You’d be the expert.’

‘I mean it, Stella, we need to talk.’

He was suddenly serious. This was the side of Eduardo she knew least.

‘What do you want me to do?’ she snapped. ‘Fill in an online dating questionnaire or something?’

‘You’ve tried online dating?’ He raised an eyebrow.

‘I was twenty-four and still a virgin. Of course I looked into it.’

‘I thought you were all about the army?’ He cocked his head.

‘It was a weak moment.’

‘You were lonely?’ He sent her an unreadable look. ‘Did you go on any dates? It can be risky, meeting an online acquaintance.’

‘No riskier than having sex on the beach with a stranger,’ she pointed out.

‘You knew who I was.’ He shrugged.

‘But you didn’t know me.’

‘I’m working on it,’ He grinned shamelessly. ‘And now I know you tried online dating.’

‘I didn’t try it.’ She threw up a hand grumpily. ‘I thought about it for two minutes. Dismissed it. Because you can’t get to know someone just by interviewing them. People give you the answers they think you want to hear.’ It was actions that revealed a person. What they did or didn’t do.

‘But this is all we can do in the time we have,’ he argued. ‘They’re going to ask lots of questions.’

‘Fine. Then I’ll ask the questions they’re going to ask and you answer them. I’ll remember the answers and repeat them as necessary,’ she said practically. ‘How would we have met?’

‘On a beach,’ he answered promptly. ‘Always the truth, where possible. But it will have to be more than a few months ago. Then we met in private, at the palace. When you were supposedly meeting your father.’

Well, there was a flaw in that story already. ‘I didn’t come to the palace that often.’ About twice since her return to San Felipe.

‘That’s because Antonio was opposed to us dating. A prince is only supposed to marry a princess, or at least a lady, and you’re a soldier—’

‘Is he really that uptight?’ Stella asked curiously. Or was this as much fiction as the rest of the fairy tale Eduardo was concocting?

He briefly met her eyes, a glint of ironic amusement in his. ‘Yes. And you’re supposed to be learning about me—not my brother.’ His smile tightened and that quirk of softness disappeared into a frown. ‘And your father...how will he take it?’

‘I don’t know,’ Stella muttered.

‘You’re not close?’

‘He’s a good man.’ She avoided answering directly. ‘He wants to do what’s right. And he’s very good at his job.’

Eduardo regarded her for a moment. ‘Would you have had him escort you at our wedding?’ he asked. ‘Will he be hurt by that oversight?’

Oversight? ‘You’re only wondering about that now?’ She fiddled with her drink, running a finger around the rim of the glass.

‘There are many things of concern right now. Your relationship with your father is only one of them. Should we summon him to my apartment at the San Felipe palace? We can meet him there before seeing Antonio.’

‘No.’ She didn’t want to deal with her father yet, and she certainly didn’t want to give orders to him. That was his world and no longer hers. If he wanted to know how she was he’d have to step out of service mode.

Neither of those things he ever did.

The truth was she had no real relationship with her father. She’d always disappointed him and he’d dismissed her—in every way possible. There was nothing more she could do.

‘Will he back up our story?’

Stella looked up at Eduardo’s quiet question, realised he was watching her closely, a frown knitting his eyebrows. She pasted on a cynical smile. ‘He would never comment to the media or anyone. He’s utterly dutiful.’ He’d act the part because he always followed the rules and kept up appearances. ‘My father is the perfect emotionless soldier, doing what’s best for the greater good.’

He sacrificed the personal in order to serve the Crown Prince. Every. Time.

‘Is he why you were so determined to succeed in the army?’ Eduardo stood up from his chair and paced to the wide windows, looking out at the sunset.

‘Of course.’ She shrugged and sent her husband a sharp look. ‘I’ve spent my life trying to please him.’

He turned his back to the window and looked down at her. ‘Sarcasm doesn’t suit you. Anyway, some of what you say is the truth.’

It was. But it wasn’t the only truth. ‘I loved my job. I wouldn’t have stuck at it so long if I hadn’t.’ She’d loved the freedom and the strength she got from it. She missed it. ‘My father was almost fifty when I was born. When my mother died he grieved long and hard, and he was left with a child he had no idea how to raise.’ She sighed, suddenly tired. ‘He did the best he could.’

He was still her father. She would always defend him. Because even though his distance and disappointment hurt her she still loved him.

‘He sent you away?’ Eduardo said softly.

Stella frowned. It wasn’t that simple. ‘He ensured that I had an excellent education and that I came to know my mother’s country. That I was well cared for.’

‘By boarding school matrons?’

‘They understood the needs of a young girl better than he ever could.’ She nodded.

‘But you came back? To prove yourself in his world?’ he persisted.

She paused.

‘Because you wanted his approval.’ Eduardo stepped towards her and lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his beautiful eyes.

‘That’s only part of it,’ she whispered, hating this analysis. Life was so much more complicated than he made it sound. ‘I’m not that pathetic.’

‘It’s not pathetic. It’s normal,’ he countered. ‘All children crave the love and approval of their parents.’

‘Did you?’

‘Of course,’ he said simply. ‘My parents were very proper, and it was all just how it always was...but they were there. They loved us both.’

‘And then they died.’ She looked at him, guessing that was a deep-running wound—as it was for her. It was one she could barely think about.

He nodded.

‘You’re not close to Antonio?’

He paused, and she could almost feel him withdrawing. ‘He is very busy. I’m the lucky one. All the weight rests on his shoulders.’

‘Maybe you’re not as carefree as you make yourself out to be.’ She studied him. ‘You couldn’t continue with law...’

He waved his hand dismissively. ‘There are limitations on everyone—many others have worse. Some face huge struggles just to get the right to go to school.’

Yes, but that didn’t necessarily reduce his personal regret or resentment. ‘What else would you have liked to do that you couldn’t?’ she asked.

There was another hesitation. Then he suddenly straightened, looking her in the eye. ‘Your father wouldn’t let me serve in the army. Not on active duty.’

That surprised her. ‘You wanted to be a soldier?’ She knew just how that was—that blanket refusal.

‘Trained for two years. Then they said no to anything overseas.’

‘They?’

‘Your father. My big brother.’

So, no to his first choice of career, limitations in the second. Now he spent his time opening new tourist destinations.

‘Are you feeling sorry for me now? The spare heir, living a meaningless, untameable life? Poor Prince Eduardo!’ He mimicked the headlines that were frequently splashed over glossy magazines.

‘Sarcasm doesn’t suit you either,’ she said. ‘And there’s truth in what you say.’

‘So I am meaningless and untameable?’ He laughed at her expression. ‘I’m luckier than so many. And I accept the things I cannot change.’

‘Have you ever tried to change them?’ she asked. ‘Ever tried to do what everyone says you can’t? Thought, To hell with it... I’ll show you?’

He placed both hands on the arms of her chair and leaned down to gaze into her eyes. A funny smile quirked his lips. ‘Perhaps I am not as brave as you.’

‘Perhaps you’ve not found anything you’re that passionate about yet.’ If he’d really wanted to do it, wouldn’t he have fought harder?

‘You see?’ He released her chair and straightened, reverted back to Prince Charming mode. ‘We’re getting to know each other already.’

Not enough. She’d always known he felt some constraint in his role—now she wanted to understand more.

‘Why did we have Matteo and Giulia as our witnesses?’ she asked.

‘Because they’re the two people I trust most in the world.’ He glanced back at her. ‘And I don’t think the newspapers are going to ask us that question.’

‘Why not your brother?’ She ignored his attempt at deflection. She wanted to know more about their relationship, because while Eduardo had hinted at disharmony he was unquestionably loyal.

For a moment he said nothing. ‘Not for this, no.’ He turned and shot her a distracting smile, held his hand up as if he were holding a microphone. ‘What was it that first drew you to Prince Eduardo?’

Yes, he was very loyal. The fact that he wouldn’t discuss Antonio with her drew respect. So she let herself be distracted and smiled back archly. ‘You’re just fishing for compliments.’

‘You’re going to be asked that question a lot.’

‘No.’ She laughed ruefully. ‘I’m not. It’ll be you being asked what you saw in me.’

‘Your ego is as hungry as mine!’ He held his hand out to her and winked. ‘Come sit with me and I’ll tell you everything.’

But when she stood he stood too, then picked her up and carried her to his bedroom.

* * *

At five the next morning Stella didn’t want to drag herself out of bed, but if she didn’t she’d lose more than her inhibitions in Eduardo’s arms. She’d never felt so wanted, so desired. But aside from sex there was nothing between them. Even the desire couldn’t be as strong for him, because if she hadn’t got pregnant she’d never have seen him again.

This wasn’t real and it wasn’t going to last. Just because he was showing her one kind of affection it didn’t mean it would become more.

Carefully she slipped out from under his heavy arm and dashed to her bag.

She wasn’t afraid of many things—not of travelling to foreign places nor suffering intense physical strain. But what Eduardo made her feel... Sure, it might be easy—but it was still too good. She didn’t want to want it too much, because it wasn’t lasting.

‘What are you doing?’ His voice was arctic.

‘What does it look like?’ She fastened her bra and reached for her trainers.

‘You have a problem—you know that?’ He groaned and rolled onto his side.

‘I like a routine. You’ll get used to it.’

She averted her eyes from his tousled gorgeousness. The urge to slide back into bed was almost irresistible. But she could resist it—that was the point of this run. To prove to herself that she could control her own desire. She could have him. Or she could choose not to.

To her slight surprise—and disappointment—he didn’t try to stop her. Instead he reached for his phone.

She headed for the track.

Yes, soon enough Eduardo would be busy being Prince Eduardo, and when he was sick of the sex she’d have to settle in to her new life as his ex-wife and mother of his child.

She ran the circuit of the small island three times.

He was waiting for her on the step when she returned. He ordered her into the shower. Followed her there. His playfulness made her forget the future and unleashed her own friskiness again. She leaned into his touch.

She’d proved herself, right? She could turn her back and take time out from him whenever she wanted. She could say no to him.

She just didn’t want to right now.