The Lost Princes: Darius, Cassius and Monte

She nodded.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying not to cry. “I’ll go check out that powder room now. I’m sure it will be lovely.”

It took all his strength to keep from laughing at her sweet, funny face. He pulled her to her feet by taking both hands in his.

“Come on. You can do it. Others have and lived to tell the tale.”

He smiled down at her as she looked up. He was so close. For a fleeting second or two, she had a fantasy, just the flash of an image, of what it might be like if he would kiss her.

But that was ridiculous. There was no reason for him to kiss her. This was not a kissing situation, and anyway, they weren’t in a kissing relationship. And never would be. Besides, any feeling between them didn’t mean a thing. Hadn’t he said so?

Get it out of your head, she scolded herself silently.

Sure, there had been a couple of hot looks between them when they had struggled over the body search incident. And certainly, his hands on her skin had sent her into some sort of sensual orbit for a moment or two. But that was just natural sexual attraction stuff. It might have happened with anyone.

Maybe.

She had to face facts here. She knew her own nature and was inclined to try to find a little romance in almost anything that happened. When she saw a film or a TV show and there was no love interest, her attention would wander. She wasn’t a deep thinker. Speculative theories could hold her interest for just so long and no longer. What she wanted to see and to think about was people loving each other.

Maybe it was because she’d never had a real romance of her own. She kept hoping, but no one really wonderful had ever come her way.

Until David, a little voice inside was saying.

Well, she couldn’t deny he was pretty darn good. Still, he could never be for her and she knew it. Right now they were thrown together. They were hiding. They were running from someone. They were both taking care of a baby. There wasn’t much romantic in all that, but it did keep them involved. She was just going to have to learn to keep his theory in mind at all times.

No matter what happened, it didn’t mean a thing.

And then, gritting her teeth, she made her way down the hall and found that the bathroom wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d expected. In fact, it was rather cozy, with newer decorations and more accessories than the hotel room itself.

The worst thing was the huge mirror set over a vanity area with a chair and small table. There she was in living color, looking even more horrible and haggard than she’d thought. She was a mess. Her hair resembled a bird’s nest. Her eyes were tired and the dark circles beneath them were epic. She groaned and immediately went to work, splashing water on her face and pinching her cheeks to get some color in them. As she tried to comb her hair into a more pleasing tangle, she realized what she was doing and why she was working so frantically to make herself look a bit better. She cared what David thought of her.

“Doggone-it,” she whispered, staring into her own eyes in the mirror. There was no hope. He’d already seen the worst of her.

She made her way to the corner market and found a brand of formula that looked like it would do. She was standing in line at the cashier when it occurred to her that she didn’t have the right money.

“Uh-oh.” She made a pathetic face to the bored-looking young woman behind the counter. “All I have are American dollars. I don’t suppose…”

The cashier shook her head, making all her many piercings jangle at the same time. “Nah. We’ve had some bad experiences. We don’t accept American money after six.”

Ayme stared at her wondering what difference the time made. “Uh…what if I…?”

“Sorry,” the girl said dismissively, pursing her brightly painted lips and looking toward the customer behind her.

Ayme sighed, starting to turn away. She might as well go back, climb the two flights of stairs, get some proper money from David, and do this all over again. But before she could vacate the premises, someone else had intervened, stepping forward to stop the clerk from going on to the next customer.

“Allow me, madam,” he said with a gracious nod of his head. In his hand was exact change. He gave it to the clerk with a flourish.

Ayme gasped.

“Oh. Oh, thank you so much.” She smiled at him, thoroughly relieved. What a nice man. He looked like her idea of what a composer or conductor should look like—eyes brightly seeing something over the horizon, white hair flying about his head, seeming to explode out from under a smallish felt hat, a supernatural smile as though he could hear music from the heavens. All in all, she thought he looked delightful, and she was so grateful she was bubbling with it.

“You are so kind. This is incredible. I wouldn’t accept it but I’m just so tired tonight and the baby is out. But I do have the money. If you’d like to come with me to the hotel room where we’re staying…”

Even as she said the words she realized this wasn’t a good idea. They were supposed to be in hiding, not inviting in strangers. She made a quick amendment to her suggestion.

“Please, give me your name and address so I can make sure you get repaid.”

He waved all her protestations away. “Don’t think twice about it, my dear. It’s not a problem.” He tipped his hat to her and turned to go. “I hope you have a safe journey to the continent.”

“Thank you so much.”

She smiled, but as he disappeared into the crowd on the street, her smile faded. How did he know she was on her way to the continent? She barely knew that herself. But this seaside town was a bit of a launching location for trips across the channel. So maybe she was taking his words too seriously.

Still, it did give her pause.

“I assume we’re going to the continent?” she said as she returned to the room and began to unpack the little bottles of formula. David already had Cici sound asleep in her new car seat, tilted back and rigged as a bed. “Is that our next move?”

“Yes. Tomorrow we’ll be crossing the channel,” he told her. He gave her a quick glance to make sure she was suffering no lasting damage from the earlier trip into a public facility, and the fact that she looked calm and pleasant seemed to confirm that all was okay.

“Heading for France?” she asked hopefully.

France! Paris! She would love to see it all.

But he gave her an enigmatic smile and avoided the issue.

“Possibly,” he said.

“Or possibly not,” she said mockingly, making a face.

He grinned.

“I almost didn’t get the formula,” she told him as she began to set up a feeding for Cici. She explained about the cashier and the white-haired man.

“It was so nice of him,” she said.

Alarms went off in David’s head but he quickly calmed himself. After all, she was a very attractive woman. Any man worth his salt would have stepped forward to help her in a moment of need. He would have done it himself. Hopefully that was all there was to it.

Still, he was wary.

“What did he say?” he quizzed her. “Tell me every detail.”

“Oh, he was just a nice old man,” she insisted, but she told him everything she could remember, and he couldn’t really find anything extraordinary in it.

“Let me know if you see him again,” he told her. He briefly considered changing hotels, but then he decided he was being a bit paranoid. There was really no reason to suspect the man of anything at all. “Right now I want you to lie down on that bed.”

“What?” she said, startled.

His mouth twisted. She was so predictable on certain subjects.

“I want you to get some sleep. I’m going out for a while, but when I get back, I’ll take care of Cici should she waken. We may have to take off at an odd hour. I want you to take this chance to get the rest you need.”

She turned to look at him. He was handsome as ever, but his eyes did look tired.

“But what about you? You’re the one who’s been driving and you need some sleep yourself.”

He gave her his long, slow smile that he only handed out on special occasions. “I never sleep.”

She laughed, charmed by that roguish smile. “Oh, please. What are you, a Superhero?”

“Not quite. But close.”

It occurred to her that she knew precisely what he was—wary and mistrustful of something. What exactly did he think was going to threaten them? What was it he was running from? He’d given her a brief sketch of his theories, but not many specifics. She wished he would tell her so she could worry, too.

“Ayme, do what I say,” he said firmly when she still hadn’t moved. “We don’t have time for long, drawn-out discussions.”

“Aye aye, sir,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“That’s the spirit,” he said approvingly. “Consider this a quasi-military operation. I’m the superior officer. You do what I say without questioning anything.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Oh, that’ll be the day!”

“Indeed.” He shook his head and turned to go. “I have to go out to make a phone call.”

“Why can’t you do it from here? Don’t you have your cell phone?”

“I’ve got my mobile,” he responded. “But it’s not the phone I want to use for this call.”

“Oh.” More likely, she thought, it was a call he didn’t want her to overhear.

“I’ll be back.”

She didn’t bother to ask again. It was confusing at times. For whole moments he would seem to warm to her, and that special connection would spark between them. Then, in an instant, it was gone again. She wished she knew how to extend it.

But she had other things to think about. She got up off the bed and puttered for a bit, putting clothes away in the closet and cleaning off the dresser of things David had thrown there. Cici still slept. Maybe she would be able to get that nap in as David had suggested she do.

Something drew her to the side window, and peering down into the gathering gloom, she could see the walkway along the front of the hotel. Suddenly, she caught sight of David. He had a cell phone to his ear and seemed to be carrying on an energetic conversation with someone. She could see him gesticulating with his free hand. As she watched, he ducked into the side alleyway beside the hotel and she lost sight of him. She wondered who he was talking to. Hopefully it was someone who knew Cici’s father.

Funny how she always thought of him that way—Cici’s father—instead of Darius, the Ambrian Prince, or the lost royal. Was that because, deep down, she was pretty sure that either Sam had been fooling her or someone had fooled Sam. The story didn’t really seem to hold together. But maybe David would find out the truth.

It was interesting how she trusted him and she really didn’t want to analyze why that was. She had a feeling it had something to do with a deep need for a sense of stability in her life. She wanted him to be good. Therefore, he had to be good. Simple as that.

She looked at Cici. Babies were so adorable when they slept. She was starting to get a handle on how to care for a baby. At least, she thought she was. She was trying to copy everything that David did. It was obvious that a strong, steady hand, a soothing tone of voice and a sense of confidence made all the difference. Cici hadn’t been crying much at all and that was certainly a relief.

“I’m a fast learner,” she muttered to herself. “I will survive.”

Turning from the window, she lay down on the bed and fell instantly to sleep.

Chapter Seven

DAVID had made a couple of calls, but now he was talking to his brother again. Monte had some information on the requests he’d made earlier. Ayme’s background checked out perfectly. She did have an adoptive sister named Sam who had a few teenage arrests for petty crimes and who had died in a car accident just days ago. But that wasn’t all. The girls’ parents had died in the same accident.

“That’s odd,” David said almost to himself, reacting to the horror of what Ayme must have gone through. “I wonder why she would have held that back from me?”

“Never trust a woman, David. You aren’t falling for her, are you?”

“Hell, no. Give me some credit, okay?”

“Sure, I’m only kidding. I have no doubt about your ability to hang tough. But on to other matters, there is nothing new on the impostor pretending to spread your love about the land. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”

“Thanks.”

“In the meantime, there’s news. Our Uncle Thaddeus has died.”

“Oh, no.” David felt real remorse. He was the last of the old guard. “That’s a shame. I was looking forward to meeting him someday, and hopefully hearing stories about our parents and the old days.”

“Yes, so was I. It is not to be. But his funeral is another matter. We must go to it.”

David frowned “Are you serious?”

“Yes. As luck would have it, the ceremony will be held in Piasa during the clan reunion gathering. It will be a huge affair. He’s considered the patriarch of the Ambrian expat community. Everyone who means anything to Ambria will be there. It’s our chance to begin to step forward and take the reins of the restoration movement. Whoever takes charge at the right time is going to rule the future.” He paused, letting the importance sink in.

“Darius, you must come. I need you by my side.”

“Of course. If you need me, I’ll be there.”

Monte gave him the details. “The town will turn Ambrian for a few days, it seems.”

“Our covers will be blown.”

“Yes.”

David smiled. “Thank God.”

“Yes.”

They both laughed.

“Don’t forget. Italy. Be there or be square.”

“You got it.”

He rang off, bemused and filled with conflicting emotions. He was looking forward to Italy. It was bound to be an exciting, important lesson about his own past, as well as a chance to lay the foundations for a new future. But as he turned back toward the hotel, it was Ayme and the information he’d heard about her parents that filled his thoughts.

He went back up to the room and opened the door quietly. Ayme and Cici were both sound asleep. There was only one light on in the room, in the far corner, and he left things that way, pulling off his sweater and unbuttoning his shirt but leaving it and his jeans on as he came to the bed he was going to share with Ayme.

Looking down, his gaze skimmed over her pretty face, her lovely bare shoulder, the outline of her leg beneath the sheet. She appealed to him, no doubt about it. He waited as the surge of desire swept through him. That he expected. But what surprised him was another feeling that came along with it, a tightening in his chest, a warmth, an unfamiliar urgency. It took a moment to understand what it was, and when it came to him, he closed his eyes and swore softly.

Everything in him wanted to protect her. Every instinct wanted to make sure no one could hurt her.

Where had that come from? He didn’t think he’d ever felt that before. He’d spent so much of his life protecting himself, he hadn’t had the capacity to worry about others. In other words, he was a selfish, self-centered jerk. And he could accept that. So where had this new soft-headed urge to nurture come from?

Maybe it was just because of the baby. Maybe he was blurring the lines between them in a visceral way he couldn’t control. He knew he needed to watch that. It could put him in unnecessary trouble. He didn’t want to go doing anything stupid.

More likely the facts that he’d just learned about Ayme’s parents’ fate had something to do with it. And maybe it was just that he was so damn tired. Could be. He knew he needed sleep. And there was a bed right in front of him. Too bad it was already occupied.

She’d been so shocked by the thought of them sleeping together this way, he sort of hated to spring it on her with no warning, no time for her to prepare. But he wasn’t a predator. He was just a sleepy guy right now. And the bed was just too tempting to pass up. With a sigh, he began to prepare for getting some sleep.

Giving a half turn, Ayme gasped.

There was a man in her bed!

Luckily, it was David. This was just what she’d been afraid of. Could she really allow this? Didn’t she have to make a stand or something?

But maybe not. He still had his jeans on, but his chest was bare. Still, he was fast asleep and completely nonthreatening. She relaxed and went up on one elbow to look at him in a way she hadn’t been able to do before.

She’d been telling the truth when she’d said she’d never had a serious boyfriend. She’d done some dating in college, but it never seemed to come to much. Most men she’d met had either disappointed or annoyed her in some way. The type of man she attracted never turned out to be the sort of man she thought she wanted in her life.

So far David hadn’t annoyed her. But he wasn’t trying to hit on her, either. Her mouth quirked as she realized that if his disinterest went on too long, that in itself might get to be annoying.

“You’re never satisfied,” she accused herself, laughing at the paradox. “Picky, picky, picky.”

No doubt about it, he was about the most handsome man she’d ever been this close to. She liked the way his lustrous coffee-colored hair fell over his forehead in a sophisticated wave that could only have come from a high-end salon. Then she laughed at herself for even thinking that way. This was no time to dilute her Dallas roots.

“Hey,” she whispered to herself. “He’s got a good haircut.”

But the rest of him was purely natural and didn’t depend on any artifice at all. His features were clear and even, his brows smooth, his nose Roman, his chin hard and newly covered with a coat of stubble that only enhanced his manliness. He looked strong and tough, but he also looked like a good guy.

And then there was the rest of him. He had a build to make any woman’s heart beat a little faster—something between a Greek statue and an Olympic swimmer. His skin was smooth and golden and the tiny hairs that ran down from his beautiful navel gleamed in the lamplight. His jeans were the expensive kind and his shirt was crisp and smooth, despite all it had been through in the day. His hands were beautiful, strong but gentle. She leaned a little closer, taking in his clean, male scent and the heat that rose from his body, feeling a sudden yearning she didn’t really understand. It was tempting to lean down and touch her lips to his skin. She leaned a little closer, fantasizing about doing just that, about touching that belly button with her tongue, about running her hand along those gorgeous muscles.

Then she looked back up into his face and found his blue eyes wide open and staring right at her.

“Oh!” she gasped, ready to jump back away from him, but his hand shot out and stopped her.

“Don’t make any sudden moves,” he whispered. “Cici is stirring.”

She stayed right where she was, just inches from his face.

“So,” he said softly, his eyes brimming with laughter. “I guess I caught you checking me out.”

She gasped again and turned bright red on the spot.

“I was doing no such thing,” she whispered rather loudly, her eyes huge with outrage.

“Oh, yes, you were.” He was almost grinning now. “I saw you.”

“No, I was just…” Her voice faded. She couldn’t think of anything good to pretend she’d been doing.

“Hey, it’s only human to be interested,” he said softly, still teasing her. “Come on, admit it. You were interested.”

“I’m not admitting anything,” she whispered back. “You’re not all that wonderful, you know. I mean, you may be tempting, but I can resist you.”

Somehow that didn’t come out quite the way she’d meant it and she was blushing again. His iron grip on her wrist meant she was trapped staying close. So close, in fact, that she could feel his breath on her cheek. It felt lovely and exciting and her mouth was dry. The laughter in his eyes was gone. Instead something new smoldered in his gaze, something that scared her just a bit. She couldn’t stay here against him like this. She pulled back harder and this time he let her go.

She swung her legs off the bed and sat up, looking back at him. “I…I think I’ll get up for now,” she said. “I think you should get some sleep and…and…”

He pulled up and leaned on one elbow, watching her. “I think sleep is going to be hard to find for a while,” he said dryly as Cici began to whimper. “We might as well both get up.”

She rose and went to the baby and by the time she’d pulled her up and turned back, he was up and putting on his sweater.

“I’ll go down and get some food,” he said. “I’m sure you’re hungry by now. Fish and chips okay for you?”

“More fish?” She wrinkled her nose.

“It’s good for you.” He hesitated. “I could probably find an American hamburger somewhere, if that’s what you want.”

“No, actually I like fish and chips just fine. As long as the fish isn’t kippers.”

He grinned. “Don’t worry. They don’t make them that way too often.”

He left the room and she sighed, feeling a delicious sort of tension leave with him. He’d said it didn’t mean a thing, but she was beginning to think he’d been fooling himself. For her, it was meaning more and more all the time.

The fish and chips were okay and so was the pint of ale he brought back with them. But now it was time to tend to Cici and hope to convince her to go back to sleep so that they could get some rest, as well. After a half hour of pacing back and forth with a baby softly sobbing against her shoulder, Ayme had a proclamation to make.

“I’ve decided I’m not going to have any children,” she said with a flourish.

“Oh.” David looked up from the evening paper he’d picked up with the fish. “Well, it might be best to hold off until you get married.”

She glared at him. “I’m not going to do that, either.”

He smiled. “Right.”

“I’m serious about this,” she insisted. “Babies take over your life. It’s unbelievable how much work they are.”

“It’s true.” He had some sympathy for her state of mind. He’d been there himself. “They do monopolize all your time. But that doesn’t last forever.”

“It certainly seems to last forever on the day you’re doing it.”

He leaned back. “That’s just for the moment. Before you know it, they’re heading out the door with their friends and don’t need you at all anymore.”

She gave him a long-suffering look. “How long do you have to wait for that lovely day?”

“It takes a while.”

“I’d be marking off the days on my calendar.”

He grinned. “It can be hard, but think of the rewards.”

“What rewards?”

Cici stirred in her arms, stretching and making a kitten sound. He watched as Ayme’s fierce look melted.

“You see?” he said softly.

She smiled up at him ruefully. “Yeah, but is it all really worth it?”

He shook his head. How the hell had he become the family practices guru here? Still, she seemed to need some sort of reassurance and he supposed he could do that at least.

“Once you have one of your own,” he told her, “I think you’ll figure that out for yourself.”

He rose and took Cici from her, and as he did, he thought of what Monte had told him. He’d thought from the beginning that there was a sense of sorrow lingering in her gaze, something deeper than she was admitting to. Why hadn’t she told him about her parents? She must have a reason. Or maybe, as Monte hinted, it was a sign that he shouldn’t trust her.

But what the heck—he didn’t trust anybody, did he?

“Ayme, you’ve said you don’t know much about your birth parents and you don’t know much about Ambria. What exactly do you know?”

She scrunched up her nose as she thought about it. “Just a few things I’ve picked up casually over the years.”

“You should know more.”

She looked at him and made a face. “How much do you know?”

“I don’t know as much as I should, either. I should have learned more.”

“So we’re both babes in the woods, so to speak.”