Modern Romance April 2020 Books 5-8

And as she watched him walk into the shower without a backward glance, why did she feel like he was simply biding his time until he won?

What the hell had he been thinking, making that prediction?

Five days had passed since their torrid little encounter by his shower. Five days of hell when either she plotted to drive him out of his mind or the little witch cast a spell on him.

Zak swiped an arm across his sweaty forehead and stepped back to survey another excellent day’s result. They’d shaved a whole day off their target, building two eco lodges in five days instead of six.

He didn’t apologise for being a harsh taskmaster when the occasion demanded, and the high fives happening behind him suggested the team didn’t mind, either.

Violet’s husky laugh made his stomach clench tight.

He didn’t want to turn around. Didn’t want to be drawn to her attention-absorbing face, her supple, curvy body or those control-wrecking legs she insisted on displaying in the bottom-moulding shorts she favoured.

As for her work ethic…

Contrary to his dim prognosis, she’d delved into every task with wholehearted enthusiasm, more often than not going over and above expectations. Not once had she protested.

Of course, he still had his reservations that she could sustain it in the long run—

A choking cough shattered his thoughts and intentions. He turned and found Violet doubled over, the subject of the team’s humour as she spluttered.

‘A little warning next time, please?’ She laughed through the coughing.

Zak’s gaze narrowed at the volunteer holding the suspicious-looking bottle as he approached, unable to take his eyes off Violet’s legs and plump, shapely behind as she bent over to cough again. The reason for her state became apparent when he caught the scent.

Pombe, the local alcoholic brew, was lethal to the unschooled. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded.

Everyone froze, their gazes avoiding his.

‘We’re celebrating. What does it look like?’ Violet responded, the humour dying from her eyes.

‘Perhaps you should consider celebrating with something a little less…potent?’ he suggested.

While the rest of the team sent him wary glances, Violet shot him a challenge-filled glare. All week she’d treated him to those defiant little looks. Having grown up in a Royal household where most people fell over themselves in deference and yearned to please, Zak found her attitude…uniquely interesting. Perhaps a little too much? Was that why he couldn’t resist needling her whenever the opportunity arose?

He shoved the suggestion away when her chin lifted.

‘Where’s the fun in that?’ she taunted, her eyes still shiny from her coughing episode.

Perhaps it was frustration. Perhaps it was disgruntlement that she wouldn’t fit into the mould he’d cast for her. Before he could stop himself, his fingers were wrapping around her forearm. ‘For those of you who prefer it, I’ve had champagne delivered to the tent to celebrate finishing early. Feel free to go and help yourselves,’ he said to the group.

Predictably, his announcement was met with a chorus of cheers and the team dispersed quickly.

‘Would you please stop manhandling me?’ she sniped as soon as they were alone.

He released her but planted himself in front of her. ‘How much of that did you drink?’

‘Policing my activities yet again?’

‘Only in the sense that you’re inviting a hell of a hangover by indulging in that stuff.’

She swiped the back of her hand across her lips, dragging his attention back to the full, luscious mouth he’d tasted. The mouth he couldn’t get out of his head. ‘Thanks for your concern but that’s my problem, surely? Have I done anything so far to compromise my work?’

He pursed his lips. ‘Not yet, but there’s always a first time.’

A flash of emotion, possibly hurt, darted across her face. ‘And you’re, what, positioning yourself as my champion? To save me from myself? Why?’

‘Because we’re leaving tomorrow. And I’d prefer you to be at your best, not hung over and jet-lagged when we return to New York.’

Her alluring eyes widened, right before she frowned. ‘We’re leaving? But we’ve only been here a week.’

Considering the words spilling from his lips were a surprise to him as well, he absorbed the astonishment well, he thought. Congratulated himself on the inspired thinking, even. ‘Do you think there’s something more you can learn by remaining here?’ he countered.

She bit her lip. ‘No, I’m sure I can put together an eco-lodge in my sleep now. But I thought we…that I was staying to see this project through.’

‘I’ve changed my mind. Why waste more time here when you can gain more experience on the next project?’

He could tell she was torn between the need to argue and the need to accept the carrot he was dangling. ‘Where are we going next?’

Zak shrugged. ‘I have to return to Montegova at the end of the month. Until then, my itinerary is fluid but it doesn’t lack requests for my presence at various projects. Who knows, perhaps I’ll let you pick the next destination.’

She turned away, casting a longing look over the site and the surrounding landscape. ‘This is a beautiful place. I was looking forward to my half-day off tomorrow to explore.’

Another spur-of-the-moment thought hit him. ‘You’ll have to make do with a visit to the phase two site, provided you can be ready to go immediately?’

She faced him again, surprise reflected in her eyes. ‘I… Of course.’ She looked down at her stained and work-worn clothes. ‘Give me a few minutes to change and clean up and I’ll join you.’

He shook his head, a stab of impatience driving him harder. ‘You’re not attending a red carpet event, Violet. You’re fine as you are. You can shower when we get back. Or, if you insist, there’s a lake you can use to wash up when we get to the site.’

Mutiny rose in her eyes and Zak’s muscles tightened, anticipation flowing through him at the thought of tussling further with her. But she tossed her head and with a shrug waved a hand at him. ‘Fine. Let’s go.’

She headed towards the area where the vehicles were parked. Zak let her go while he issued quick instructions to his bodyguard. The guard nodded and sprinted into action.

‘How long is the drive?’ she asked when he reached her.

‘Normally an hour, but we’re not driving. We’re taking the chopper. Come.’

The pregnant chef had been evacuated two days previously at the first signs of her labour, reducing the likelihood that the aircraft would be needed in the next few hours.

When they reached it, he held the door open for her, unable to resist glancing at her smooth bare legs as she slid into the seat. Her eyes widened when he took the pilot’s seat, leaving three of his bodyguards in the main cabin.

‘You’re flying this thing?’ she asked, tentatively taking the headset from him.

He didn’t miss her scepticism. ‘Courtesy of a full licence from the air force, I’m quite capable of it, Violet. No need to be afraid.’

He was gratified to see the scepticism melt from her eyes, although he wasn’t quite sure how long his groin would sustain the pressure at the sight of her breasts outlined by the dissection of the seat belt.

He was still debating the wisdom of this tour when he lifted off and headed east.

Through the mic attached to the headset, Zak heard her soft gasp as he set down ten minutes later on the flat landscape near the edge of Lake Lengai. Once again Tanzania was showing off its jaw-dropping beauty with another stunning sunset but this time against the backdrop of a cascading waterfall thundering into a shallow pool that fed into the lake below.

He’d chosen this spot for phase two primarily for the ready fresh-water source, but watching Violet dart from the chopper, unabashed joy on her face as she raced towards the waterfall, Zak took a reluctant beat to see the land through her eyes, to appreciate the beauty of his surroundings.

When he joined her, she was straightening from leaning down to run her fingers through the clear water. ‘It’s…beyond spectacular,’ she said a touch reverently, a lot mournfully.

‘Your tone suggests differently.’

‘Because the pool is shallow and wildlife-free. I would’ve brought a swimsuit with me if I’d known.’

Immediately, his brain supplied him with a vivid picture of her clad in a bikini. He shifted, almost growling at his body’s eager response.

His shrug was a masterclass in fabricated calm. ‘We’re both adults, Violet. Unless you’re once again naked beneath those shorts and T-shirt, you can improvise.’

In the fading light, colour washed her cheeks, strumming an elusive thought that faded before he could grasp it. ‘That’s none of your business. Shall we get on with the tour?’

The tour took fifteen minutes, and again she asked pertinent questions, her thoughtful observations backing her conduct on the project so far.

It didn’t prove anything, he told himself.

Her mother was equally as passionate about landing a fat cat for her daughter, preferably one with a title and bottomless wallet. All this…passion could be a carefully orchestrated plan.

Just like the general’s nearly successful strategy in those crucial and terrifying days after his father’s death. Just like the restless factions whose motives and whereabouts were still proving elusive to pinpoint in his homeland.

The reminder restored a little more calm, reasserting his sense and control. Enabled him to summon up appropriate dispassion when they returned to the edge of the lake, where his bodyguards, following his instructions, had set up their evening meal.

He walked past a frozen Violet to their picnic blanket. ‘Are you going to just stand there all night or join me?’

Suspicion filled her eyes as she ventured closer. ‘I… You set this up?’

‘I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. The likelihood that there’ll be anything left to eat when we return is slim. Sit down, Violet.’

Four solar lamps were positioned on each corner of the picnic blanket, providing ambient light as darkness fell.

He watched her sink down, fold her long, shapely legs beneath her before plucking a grape from a bowl. ‘You’re a prince. Isn’t it the done thing to summon a chef to prepare a meal from scratch if the fancy takes you?’

‘Of course, just as it’s this easy to arrange a picnic by a lake because I wish it.’

She’d fully expected him to deny her veiled insult, and he watched, amused, as she blushed again. He reached for the champagne bottle set in the ice bucket and worked the cork free, aware her gaze lingered on him.

‘Something on your mind, Violet?’

‘You mentioned your pilot’s licence from the air force. Why did you leave the service?’

Because the man he’d been dying to impress, the man he’d looked up to and called Father, had died unexpectedly, shattering a secret dream and leaving a nightmare in his wake. Not only had his father not been the man he’d thought him to be, his weaknesses had left the kingdom he should’ve been safeguarding in jeopardy. Only by strengthening their foundations in the eyes of the world had they kept from toppling over into the abyss the King had left by his death.

Not a subject he was in the mood to revisit right now. ‘I served my time until I realised I could better serve my kingdom in another role.’

‘But, from that meeting with the minister, it looks like you’re still in charge?’

‘Some matters of national security will always fall within my remit, yes,’ he said, aware his voice was clipped. He ended her questioning by popping the cork. She flinched but accepted the glass he passed her.

‘You were in a celebratory mood earlier. No reason why you can’t raise a toast to your achievements this week.’

‘You say that with a straight face, yet your dry tone mocks the very thing I’m supposed to be celebrating.’

‘Let’s leave the analysis for now, Violet.’

‘Because you don’t like hearing the truth?’

‘Because I’m famished and don’t wish to invite indigestion.’

For the rest of the meal they ate in silence that drew far too much of his attention to her face, her body, the movement of her throat when she swallowed.

The moment they were done, she rose.

‘Where are you going?’

She threw him another defiant glare as she walked away. ‘To take a better look at the lake, after all. At the moment it’s a little more appealing than the company.’

CHAPTER FIVE

HE GAVE HER five minutes while the remains of their picnic were tidied away. Then Zak approached the water.

Flames leapt in his bloodstream when he saw that she’d more than just taken a look. Her T-shirt and shorts were neatly folded on the grass near the water’s edge and Violet was submerged up to her neck, her body turned from him as she performed unhurried breaststroke.

Without stopping to debate the wisdom of it, Zak tugged off his clothes and slipped into the water. The fresh water did nothing to cool the pounding in his groin as she sent him another glare over her shoulder, then purposefully increased the distance between them.

He wanted to breach it, wanted to truly explore why this woman got beneath his skin so effortlessly when every woman before her had failed to even crack his veneer.

He managed to resist the urge for as long as it took her to swim within metres of the waterfall.

‘Are you going to avoid me all night?’

She gave a rich chuckle. ‘Now, there’s a thought worth serious consideration.’

Laughter spilled from his throat, surprising them both, if the slight widening of her eyes was an indication. ‘Have I really been so fearsome?’

‘Don’t flatter yourself. You’ve been disagreeable, discourteous and downright rude, but you’ll have to go a long way to be fearsome. To me at least. Can’t speak for the masses.’

He raised his eyebrow at her list. ‘I’ve been all of those things? How very trying for you.’

‘Like I said, don’t flatter yourself. I can more than handle you.’

The flames leapt higher. ‘Can you really?’

She hesitated, her gaze meeting his for one bold moment before sliding away.

‘How about we make a deal? For tonight only, you have my word that I’ll be more…accommodating.’

That regained her attention. ‘And what does that entail, pray tell, seeing as it’ll be a complete novelty to me?’

He shrugged. ‘I’ll leave the testing of it up to you. But if you intend to interrogate me, I suggest you come closer. I don’t wish to compete with the mighty waterfall for conversation.’

She glanced from him to the thundering waterfall, then swam in lazy, graceful strokes towards him until she was just beyond arm’s length.

His fingers vibrated with the strongest urge to snatch her, plaster the body that had shattered every night’s sleep since their arrival against his.

It took a monumental effort to resist the urge, to stay put as she eyed him with thinly veiled suspicion. His poker face must have passed muster because she ventured a shade closer. Until he could count every moonlit pearl-shaped drop on her flawless skin. Trace the fullness of her lower lip and watch the sensual sweep of her tongue lick away the droplets that clung to her soft flesh.

His fist bunched as need climbed higher. She saw his reaction and for a moment triumph flashed through her eyes. The foolish little witch… ‘Has no one taught you it’s unwise to play with fire?’

One shapely eyebrow lifted. ‘All I’m doing is swimming, Zak. You’re the one who seems to be…disturbed.’

Even as she said the word her nostrils fluttered, and he was willing to bet the moonlight hid her blush. That innocent reaction triggered an even more urgent question.

‘Do you have a boyfriend, Violet?’ He suspected not, considering her mother’s end goal, and the certainty that if mother and daughter’s goals were aligned, they would be circumspect about publicising such a relationship. But that wasn’t to say Violet, like any other matrimonially ambitious socialite, wouldn’t seek to amuse herself along the way to landing herself a rich husband. The sudden need for confirmation intensified the longer she hesitated. She opened her mouth and he interrupted the heated rebuttal. ‘Or a conveniently clandestine lover, willing to keep your bed warm until he’s no longer of use to you?’

Expecting anger or even a heated denial, all he received was a withering look. ‘This is you on your accommodating behaviour? What is it about me that chafes at you so badly you feel the need to keep picking at my character?’

For the first time in his life, Zak suffered the sting of…shame. He refused to give it another name, refused to consider that this form of attack spoke to a vulnerability in his own character.

‘Or is it because you’re unwilling to admit you’re stumped when it comes to me?’

‘Hardly.’ He infused his tone with as much boredom as he could muster.

Head tilted, she regarded him with something close to…enlightenment. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? All these weeks you’ve been expecting me to behave a certain way, confirm all your suspicions. And I’m not, am I?’

Those last words were uttered so softly the thunder of the waterfall almost snatched them away. But he heard them. Heard and refused to acknowledge even a fraction of them held any truth. He wasn’t stumped. He simply needed more proof.

The last time he’d accepted anyone or anything at face value, he and his family had paid a steep price. Shattered trust was a difficult thing to regain.

While Violet Barringhall may not represent a toppling of his family’s throne or epitomise his personal anguish, Zak had learned not to give any quarter.

‘Your mother has been hounding me with emails, demanding to know how her precious daughter is doing.’

She stiffened, her hands momentarily stilling in the water. ‘What did you tell her?’

‘Nothing, so far. She doesn’t quite rate in my list of priorities. Not yet anyway.’

She tried to hide her relief by glancing away. Zak allowed her a moment’s reprieve before he continued, ‘That’s not to say I won’t send her the response she seems to crave. I was curious about one thing, though…’

Her gaze snapped back to his, apprehension flashing in her eyes. ‘What?’

‘Her continued insinuation that this project, you being out here, is all some sort of perfunctory exercise for you. A stepping stone to what you’re really after.’

Again, emotion flashed in her eyes, frustration and perhaps even hurt. But she mastered her expression, a little too admirably. A different need hammered at him, one that wanted to see her…undone. Unfettered.

‘If you think I’m going to dishonour my mother by maligning her just to prove a point, you’ll be waiting a long time,’ she snapped.

Loyalty. A quality he would’ve admired if not for the disturbing reactions teeming inside him. ‘You want me to make up my mind one way or the other about you, then prove it.’

‘I thought I already had this past week.’

‘Work is work, and I’ve yet to make up my mind on that score. Like you said, this is personal. Prove that all this isn’t some sort of tedious playing-hard-to-get game.’

Her beautiful eyes narrowed and she expelled a stunned breath. ‘Reverse psychology? Really? What do you want? For me to prove I can indulge myself with you for a few minutes, then walk away instead of begging for a ring on my finger the way you believe I yearn to?’

The curiously husky note in her voice intensified the pressure in his groin. The scenario wasn’t as deplorable to her as she pretended.

He smiled, the voice whispering at the back of his mind that he was enjoying this far too much ignored as he replied, ‘It doesn’t necessarily have to be a few minutes. A fraction of time to show me you can operate with no strings attached. An hour or two will suffice.’

She gasped, and this time he swore he saw the colour suffusing her face. Either the challenging Lady Barringhall was prone to blushing or her innocence was more than surface deep.

The hot coil of possessiveness and need was totally misplaced and deeply unwelcome. And yet there it was, sinking twin talons into him as he watched her alluring face.

‘You want to kiss me as much I desire you to, Violet. There’s no shame in admitting it,’ he stated boldly. ‘Or perhaps it’s the begging part that worries you? Would it please you if I took that off the table too?’

She inhaled sharply. But despite her desire to cling to outrage, Zak read her interest loud and clear. Saw the way her gaze dropped to linger on his mouth before darting away. ‘You can have any woman you want, according to the giddy tabloid headlines. Why are you here, needling me, Your Highness?’

Never had his title sounded so sultry, so insistently arousing, falling from a woman’s lips. He wanted to hear her breathe it all over his skin, wanted her gasping it when he buried himself deep inside her.

His fists bunched beneath the water as the powerful surge of need momentarily stunned him. ‘I could never resist a challenge. Perhaps I wish to see how long you can truly hold out.’

Her eyes glinted and for a moment Zak feared he’d finally pushed her too far.

In the next moment, however, Violet tripped him up completely by slicing through the water. She came straight at him, one hand sliding up his nape to fist his wet hair while the other curled around his shoulder.

And because he absolutely didn’t want to spook her into changing her mind, Zak held stone-still, watching a touch of confusion then resolution settle on her face. Held his breath as she levered herself closer, plastered her chest against his.

And slid her lips over his.

One moment. Two. Five excruciating seconds he managed to hold out.

Then he sealed her in his arms, glorying in the smooth, supple feel of her skin as he locked her to him and took over her far too tentative exploration.

She tasted even headier than before, the sensual slide of her tongue when he breached her sweet lips a lightning bolt to his system.

Dio, how was she doing this to him? Even as he tasted and savoured, his hunger built, threatening to shatter his control. A soft, throaty moan left her mouth. The sound curled around him, hardening his already rock-hard shaft.

She registered her effect on him, gasped against his lips as he groaned, and deepened the kiss until he was unsure where her body ended and his started.

Until only his lazy kicks kept them afloat.

Until Zak suspected nothing would douse the flames leaping within him save for the ultimate act. The thought staggered him, made him wonder if he was willing to take things that far.

Si, his charged libido insisted. She’d accepted his challenge.

Perhaps he needed to prove his own point, deliver a message to the Barringhalls and every grasping leech out there that the Montegovas weren’t to be trifled with.

They were both consenting adults. Even if one of them exuded innocence that hinted she might be unschooled in some aspects of sex.

Again the thought sent a pulse of primitive possession smashing through him, even though he refused to believe it. Made his caresses bolder, hungrier as he cupped her breast and toyed mercilessly with the stiff peak. Her unfettered shiver and sharp cry drove him even further into insanity. Drowned him in the urge to devour her.

He growled in protest when her fingers slid out of his hair. About to command her to return them, to pull tighter…harder, he stopped when she dropped her hands to his shoulders. Anticipating more, Zak trailed his lips down her throat, tongued that leaping pulse he’d been thirsting for all evening. Gratified when she gave another delicious shudder.