Princes of Castaldini: The Once and Future Prince

Then he let her down, stood back, vibrating. She saw his fantasies, imagined each dig of fingers and nip of teeth and flay of breath as he hauled her over his shoulder, stormed into her room, flung her on her bed and ravished her.

With an explosive oath, he turned and strode through the arches of the vast corridor until darkness claimed him.

She didn’t run after him. Something she couldn’t—didn’t want to—define overpowered even the mind-numbing hunger.

She stumbled through her door, fell onto her bed fully clothed and prayed for sleep.

Eleven

Leandro had been right.

This new hunger far surpassed the mindlessness they’d once inspired in each other. It was also so different in nature, in texture. It was vast and powerful, not grabby and frantic. It wasn’t just making them tense, it was making them buoyant, exhilarated.

But he’d been wrong about something else. She had been, too.

This arrangement was no longer what they’d agreed on. It wasn’t an all-out fling to exorcise their hunger. The past week had followed a pattern of escalating enjoyment and rapport, each moment creating trust and understanding and appreciation between them—things that had been grossly lacking in the past.

It made all the difference in their relationship. It was as if each hour was a continuation of a long history of harmony.

But it wasn’t a continuation. This was a beginning. This was magic. Powerful, pure, compelling. She had no doubt it would be ongoing.

And there were more wonders.

As Leandro steered his vast business by remote control, as he handled two threats Castaldini faced, one internal and the other external, she had the chance to analyze his methods and views firsthand and find out how wrong she’d been about them. It was a delight to discover they shared the same belief in the power of logic and the art of the possible, embraced almost all the same convictions. It was exhilarating to explore how alike they were, both negotiators and intermediaries in their own way, when they’d started out so differently in life.

Every day, true to his promise, he made use of her knowledge of Castaldini, probed her insights, sought her opinions, discussed current internal affairs, everything he’d never found out through his investigations into the state of the kingdom. Then he returned the favor, taking her through more magical explorations of the seemingly endless palace complex, the district under his family’s rule and protection that was now under his.

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