Their Royal Wedding Bargain

‘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 attraction 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.’

He frowned at her earnest expression. She was either crazy or… ‘How much have you had to drink, Princess, because you’re not making any sense?’

‘I’ve hardly had anything to drink,’ she retorted as if he’d insulted her. ‘I’m perfectly sober.’

‘Then that response before was all you?’ He gave her a lazy smile as her cheeks coloured. ‘Good to know.’

‘I’d rather not talk about that.’ Her lips pinched together. ‘And, given what just happened, now probably isn’t the best time to discuss my proposal. Could we meet tomorrow?’

‘Tomorrow isn’t going to change my mind. Neither will the day after.’

‘Look…’ she held her hands up as if to placate him ‘…I’m not talking about a real marriage. I’m talking about a temporary engagement that works for us both. We won’t even have to spend that much time together. We just need to put out a joint statement, go to a couple of events together and break up amicably at a time that suits us both.’

‘As far as proposals go, this one is definitely novel, but marriage—sorry, engagement—doesn’t work for me at all. Temporary or not.’

‘I know.’ She gave a heavy sigh, tucking a strand of thick silky hair that had come loose back behind her ear. She looked gloriously mussed from where his hands had been and that reminded him of how much he’d like to put them there again. Unwind all that magnificent hair and find out how long it was.

As if they had a will of their own, his eyes followed her as she paced the mahogany-decked reading room, her gown hugging her heavenly curves as she moved. ‘That’s why I chose you.’

‘Chose me?’ He blinked to get his brain back on line.

‘Yes,’ she said with the patience of a mother speaking to a recalcitrant child. ‘I need to get married—or at least engaged—and you have all the attributes I want in a fiancé.’

Curious, Rafe found himself extending the conversation, if only for the amusement factor. ‘Such as?’

‘You follow your own rules, you’re completely disinterested in marriage, and your values in life are questionable.’

‘Questionable?’

‘According to everything that’s said about you, you’re quite the hedonist.’

Rafe leant against the back of a sofa. ‘Really?’

‘I’m paraphrasing. But the point is we’re completely incompatible so it won’t surprise anyone when we don’t go through with the marriage, and no one will be blamed for it not working out.’ Unlike when his brother had called off their engagement and everyone had thought it was her fault. That she hadn’t been woman enough for the King of Santara. ‘It will just seem obvious.’

‘I have to confess,’ Rafe drawled, ‘I’ve never had those reasons put forward by a woman wanting me to put a ring on her finger before. Usually it’s more along the lines of: You’re rich, powerful and a prince.’

‘Oh, the prince part is important to me too. At least that you’re from Santara.’ She frowned as she perched on the edge of the sofa. ‘Women actually say that to you?’

‘I was paraphrasing.’ His eyes glinted mockingly. ‘So why is my being a Santarian prince important to you? I would have thought it was the last thing you would want.’

‘My father is convinced that seeing me happily settled will ease the current tension between Santara and Berenia and help our people move forward from your brother breaking our betrothal. He gave me six months to find someone, but I didn’t realise he was serious. Now he’s planning to take matters into his own hands and arrange a marriage that I don’t want.’

‘Ah, I’m beginning to see the picture.’

She let out a slow breath, her narrow shoulders slumping slightly forward. ‘When my father is like this he’s immovable, and I need more time.’

‘Hmm…’ Feeling a little sorry for her, Rafe offered up the only solution he could think of. ‘You know you could always say no.’

‘No isn’t a word my father understands.’

‘Is doormat a word you understand?’

Her eyes flashed up at him like deep pools of jade backlit by fire. ‘Are you implying that I’m a doormat?’

Rafe shrugged, enjoying her display of defiance. ‘If the shoe fits.’

‘The shoe does not fit,’ she said a little too vehemently. ‘The fact is my father has been through a lot in recent years and I’m not going to add to his problems. And this is partly your brother’s fault. If he had gone ahead with our marriage as he had agreed to do then none of this would be an issue right now.’

‘But nor would you have got to kiss me quite so passionately, so there is that.’

Her feathers well and truly ruffled, the Princess pushed to her feet. ‘You either have a colossal ego or you’re making fun of me.’

‘Let’s go with the ego theory. A lot less volatile.’ Rafe crossed to the booze cabinet between two arched bookcases and poured himself a whisky. ‘Drink?’ he asked, holding the crystal decanter up for her to see.

She set her top teeth into her plush bottom lip, reminding him of how exquisite her mouth had felt under his, and surprised him with a terse nod.

‘Dutiful does not equal doormat, you know.’ She moved towards him, careful not to touch his fingers as she took the glass. He gave her a small smile that said he knew exactly how nervous he made her and watched her chin come up in response. ‘Not that I expect you to understand that.’

‘I understand it,’ he said curtly. ‘I just don’t adhere to it.’

‘Well, you’re lucky. I don’t have that choice.’

Rafe clinked the ice in his glass, wondering what it was about her he found so enthralling. Because he did find her enthralling—from the way she moved to the feminine lilt in her voice, and definitely in the sexy lines of her body. He suspected that she took life far too seriously, and for some reason he wanted to change that.

‘You’re an intelligent, beautiful woman,’ he began, watching her closely. ‘And a future queen. How hard can it be to find a husband?’

‘It’s not hard at all.’ She sighed. ‘But finding the right husband is.’

‘Do I even want to know what the right husband looks like?’

‘Someone kind, compassionate, caring.’ She took a delicate sip of his brother’s hundred-year-old Scotch, shuddering delicately as it hit the back of her throat. ‘Someone I can respect and who will put Berenia first. Someone who has a similar outlook to me.’

‘Not looking for someone with a sense of humour?’ he enquired lightly.

Alexa frowned. ‘That would go under “similar outlook to me”.’

‘So none then.’ He grinned as her eyes widened. ‘What about love?’

‘I have a sense of humour, thank you very much,’ she defended hotly. ‘And love is not essential.’

Rafe’s eyes widened at that. ‘I think you’re the first woman I’ve ever heard admit that.’

‘Love complicates things and who even knows if it exists? I think it’s made up by Hollywood executives and songwriters trying to make money.’

‘And I thought I was cynical.’ Her brow furrowed and his grin widened. ‘That was a compliment, by the way. But what about passion? Surely that’s on your list.’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘Not essential either. I’m not the most passionate person on the planet, and respect far outweighs passion.’

Contemplating what had put her off passion when his body still throbbed at the memory of her mouth opening under his, Rafe gave her a smile that was pure sex. ‘You felt pretty passionate to me before.’

She moved to sit again on the sofa, unable to meet his gaze. ‘That wasn’t me. I don’t know who that person was.’

‘Whoever she was, she was intoxicating.’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘So will you consider it? I’m not sure how long I have before my father takes the decision completely out of my hands. And, frankly, I’m desperate.’

‘I can see that.’ He was actually sorry he had to turn her offer down. If life hadn’t taught him that he needed to steer clear of matrimonial entanglements at all costs he might even have considered it. But marriage had the potential to inflict pain on the unwary and the innocent. Why would any man deliberately buy into that? Temporary or not. ‘Sorry, Princess, but I’m not that desperate.’

‘You won’t even consider it to help improve relations between our nations?’

Rafe blinked away the dark memories of his past and found himself pinned by a pair of gorgeous green eyes that, if he wasn’t careful, had the potential to suck him in deep and never let him go. ‘See, the problem with that part of your argument is that I don’t care about the issues between Santara and Berenia.’

She blinked as if he’d just said Down with world peace. ‘But how can you not?’

‘I live in London and have done for a decade. I have as little to do with Santara as I can.’

‘Then what about to improve your reputation? Being engaged to me would stop some of the gossip. For a while at least.’

Princess Alexa, he realised, was a real fighter. He liked that. Not enough to agree with her hare-brained scheme, but enough to find that he was enjoying her company. A lot.

‘Who said I wanted the gossip to stop?’

‘But surely some of the things written about you must bother you.’

‘Not particularly.’

‘Why is that?’ Her brow pleated as if his attitude was something she couldn’t contemplate. ‘Because it’s all true?’

Rafe wondered which particular piece of gossip had widened her eyes to the size of dinner plates. Hardly any of it was true but denying the many claims made about him would only give them energy so he rarely bothered. Still, he knew that Alexa didn’t think much of his supposedly ‘hedonistic’ lifestyle and he couldn’t help teasing her a little. ‘Only the really bad ones.’

Watching the wings of colour heat her cheeks almost made him want to rescind his words so that she’d think better of him. Then he wondered why he cared and remained silent. He didn’t like that he’d already delayed this conversation for the pure pleasure of listening to her speak. Adding to his uncharacteristic behaviour would only make things worse.

‘So your answer is no?’

‘My answer is no.’

She blew out a breath and set her glass on the table abutting the sofa. ‘Then there’s nothing more to say.’

There was plenty more to say, starting with enquiring which room she had been allocated so they could revisit that kiss, the sensations of which were still echoing inside his veins. But instead he said, ‘What are you going to do now?’

She raised her chin and gave him a look he imagined she gave international dignitaries she had no further use for. ‘Find someone else, of course.’

Find someone else? Rafe scowled at his fogged-up reflection as he stepped from the shower the following morning. Just how many men did she plan to approach with her absurd proposal? And, more importantly, had she found someone who had taken her up on her offer last night?

He didn’t want that question running through his head but he was unable to banish it. After she had walked away from him he’d spent another hour at the party looking for her, to no avail. Presumably she’d gone to bed, so he had done the same, thinking about her all night as he’d known he would.

Even though he had no intention of countenancing her proposal himself, he knew that someone would eventually agree to it. What sane man wouldn’t? With that face and body…

Rafe dropped his towel on the floor and padded back to his room to dress. He’d turned her down, hadn’t he, and he was a sane man.

Yes, but he was sane and smart. Smart enough to know that her problems were none of his business and that he should let it go.

And he would. As of now.

His jet was waiting to fly him back to London and he planned to stop downstairs long enough to grab an espresso, wish his sister-in-law well in her pregnancy and tell his siblings he’d see them some time in the future.

What he wouldn’t do was think about the beguiling Alexa any more today.

Pleased to be back on track, he pulled a clean shirt over his head, stepped into his jeans and shoved his feet into his boots.

Women just shouldn’t go around proposing to men who were basically strangers and expect that it would all work out exactly as they wanted it to. Especially not future queens who looked like cover girls. Alexa was asking for trouble.

Trouble that had nothing to do with him.

And why was she back in his head again? So she’d surprised him when so few people did any more—so what? At the end of the day she was just a beautiful woman he’d wanted to take to bed. And she’d wanted to be there too. The way she’d caught fire in his arms…her response to his touch… Grinding his teeth, he zipped his overnight bag closed. What she’d done was drive all rational thought from his head, and kept him up way too long last night.

But it wasn’t just the chemistry that had kept him awake. It was the puzzle she represented. She’d gone up like a flame in his arms but then claimed that she didn’t have a passionate nature, dismissing the desire between them as an anomaly. And what about her belief that love might not exist? Presumably something, or someone, had put that in her head and he’d like to know who or what. Not that he disagreed with her. He didn’t. He didn’t believe in love either, but something about the way she’d said it made him think that she was either lying to him, or lying to herself. And yet she’d seemed so honest…so sincere…

Scowling at the procession of questions that wouldn’t say die, Rafe grabbed his phone. Time to push Princess Alexa from his mind and think about something else. Because thinking about her made no sense. She wasn’t someone he planned to pursue—not with marriage on her mind—and added to that she was his brother’s ex, for God’s sake.

Assailed by a sudden wave of jealousy he’d never before felt for his brother, Rafe nearly put a hole in his pocket shoving his phone into it. He didn’t share his women. Ever.

And since when is a woman yours after one kiss?

Leaving that ridiculous question unanswered, he slammed out of his room and made his way to breakfast. He needed coffee before his mood deteriorated any further.

Refusing to wonder if he’d meet up with the beguiling Alexa, he heard a message arrive on his phone and homed in on it like a drowning man reaching for a life vest. Unfortunately, it was only a stock commodity update and he was in the process of closing it when he nearly barrelled into Jag as he rounded the corner of his private hallway.

Instantly alerted by his brother’s taut, exhausted expression, Rafe frowned. ‘What is it? Is there something wrong with Regan?’

Rafe might not have much to do with his brother any more but he could still read him and he couldn’t think of anything else that might put that ragged look on his brother’s face other than his wife, or all-out war.

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