Claimed by the Crown Prince, page 11
‘You didn’t know who I was at first.’
Laia hated it that he’d noticed that. Noticed her little moment of exposure. ‘But then I did.’
‘And you realised I was the Big Bad Wolf so you ran.’
Laia looked at Dax. The man in front of her was the same man who’d been in front of her that night, but this time everything was different.
Very carefully she said, ‘I don’t want to run now.’
* * *
‘What did you say?’
But Dax had heard Laia perfectly well, and his body had heard her too. Every muscle was tense with need. His pulse was racing and his blood was hot.
She was looking at him very directly. ‘I said, I don’t want to run now.’
Dax knew he should be cutting this off, walking away, but a devil inside him made him say, ‘Why don’t you want to run?’
Her cheeks went pink, and in the midst of this heightening tension between them Dax had the urge to reach out and run his knuckles down her cheeks. He clenched his hand by his side. His other hand was tight around the glass.
He wasn’t sure how he’d managed to eat and converse like a normal person over dinner, when all he’d been aware of was that slip of a dress and how it draped forward to expose the upper slopes of Laia’s breasts every time she moved.
She’s doing this on purpose.
Dax tried to exert some control over his body. His head.
But then she stood up straight, faced him directly, and said, ‘I don’t want to run because I want you.’
Dax’s attempts to exert control dissolved in a flood of heat. He gritted his jaw. ‘I can’t deny that I want you too, Laia, but it’s not happening. That kiss was a mistake.’
‘It didn’t feel like a mistake.’
Dax moved back into the kitchen, put his glass down on the counter.
Laia followed him and put her cup down.
No, it hadn’t felt like a mistake...it had felt sweet and sinful all at once.
‘You are marrying my brother.’
Laia waved a hand. ‘Look around you. We’re thousands of miles from Santanger. Does it look like I’m marrying your brother?’
Dax clenched his jaw again. Against the temptation she posed. He had to admit that up until the kiss he’d held out some thread of hope or futile belief that she would somehow come to her senses and return to Europe.
He shook his head, as if that would rearrange his brain cells into forgetting he wanted this woman. ‘I came here to track you down for my brother. I won’t betray him.’
He could see that she looked frustrated. She said tautly, ‘Your brother and I have no relationship to betray.’
Laia’s hair had started to come undone and was falling in tendrils around her face. Her eyes were so green they reminded him of the sea around the island. Her jaw was tight. He could feel the tension in her body, as if connected to her by an invisible thread.
So far, all his little acts of rebellion had never impacted Ari. Dax had made sure of that. He’d always stayed within the bounds of acceptability.
Laia was not the rock he would perish on. She was just a woman he wanted. She was not unique.
So why does it feel like you’ve never wanted another woman? How is that you can’t even picture your last lover?
Like earlier, Dax knew he needed to put distance between them. Now.
He said, ‘I’m not having this conversation. There’s nothing to discuss.’
He turned and went towards the stairs leading up to his suite, where he intended on taking a very cold shower for a very long time. Maybe he could freeze this desire out of his body. In spite of the tropical temperatures.
He had his foot on the bottom step when Laia said from behind him, ‘It’s your fault, you know. It’s your fault I can’t marry your brother.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
LAIA’S HEART WAS thumping so hard she felt light-headed. Dax had gone very still. Slowly, he turned around. His expression was suspiciously blank.
He came back towards her. He stopped a couple of feet away. Laia could feel the tension like electricity crackling between them.
He gritted out one word. ‘Explain.’
Laia swallowed. Dax suddenly seemed a foot taller. Broader. Darker. She hadn’t fully thought through what his reaction might be. Explosive, she was guessing.
‘Laia?’
How did she even articulate this? It suddenly seemed ridiculous that he could have had such a huge impact on her since—
‘You do not get to make a claim like that and then say nothing.’
Dax had folded his arms, which only drew attention to his muscles, pushing against the thin material of his shirt.
‘How is it my fault, exactly? And why am I the only one still talking?’
She spoke. ‘The first time we met...in Paris... You...affected me. I fancied you. I developed a crush on you. A big one. You were the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. And then you told me you were going to be my brother-in-law one day and I felt sick at the thought—because how could I feel such illicit things for my brother?’
Dax’s face lost some of its ferocity. ‘You were only sixteen.’
Laia shrugged. ‘Old enough to form a crush. And then when I saw what you were doing...how you were living your life...all the women... I think I was jealous. But I told myself you disgusted me, because you were so flagrantly disregarding the fact that you were a crown prince and had responsibilities to your King and your people. I felt ashamed that you were attractive to me when I was trying my best to prove to everyone that I could be Queen some day. But that night in Monte Carlo... I couldn’t hide my immediate response to you. I envied your freedom. And then I was angry because I was weak enough to be jealous... The truth is that I convinced myself I disapproved of you to deny admitting how much you affected me. On some very deep fundamental level I knew I couldn’t marry King Aristedes because I wanted you. Not him.’
Dax’s voice was a little hoarse. ‘You haven’t even given him a chance...’
Laia shook her head. ‘I saw him after my father’s funeral. I felt nothing for him. Nothing. And he dismissed me. He’s not interested in me at all. On any level. And that’s not good enough. I’ve measured every man I’ve met against you, without even realising what I was doing. That’s why...it’s your fault.’
Dax took a step closer. His eyes were piercing her all the way down to where Laia had nothing left to hide. She’d exposed herself spectacularly. There was no going back.
Dax said, ‘Ari is a good man. He would respect you and treat you well. You would want for nothing.’
‘Except passion.’
Now Dax’s cheeks flushed. ‘You want a lot from your marriage. Passion and love?’
Laia felt defensive. ‘I don’t think that’s too much to ask. After I leave here, my life will not be my own ever again. Not really. Is it so selfish to want something for myself while I can still have it? When I’m hidden from the world and no one will ever be any the wiser?’
Dax’s jaw clenched. ‘And then you can get on with your life and find this true love? This paragon of a mate who will fulfil all your needs? Why don’t you just wait for him?’
‘Because I don’t think I’ll be able to move on until—’ She stopped.
‘Until?’ Dax prompted.
‘Until I’ve known you.’
‘You mean until we’ve had sex?’ Dax said crudely.
Laia winced. ‘Not like that.’
Except it was exactly like that.
For the first time Laia felt vulnerable. She doubted herself. Maybe she wasn’t a match for Dax’s control after all.
‘I truly didn’t know this would happen. That you would be here like this. But now the thought of meeting you at some future event or place and realising how much I want you, not having known you, it terrifies me...’
‘Laia, Ari is—’
She cut him off. ‘Not the man I want. Ever. I will never be with him. That’s what I realised on a very deep level all those years ago. I can’t be with him when I want you.’
Dax seemed to struggle with something for a long second, and then he said, with almost palpable reluctance, ‘The truth is that you’ve haunted me since I saw you in Monaco. And until I saw you again I’ve had no interest in much at all.’
Laia had to lock her knees to stay standing. Her legs were turning to jelly. Was she part of the reason he’d disappeared from the scene?
Feeling emboldened, she took a step closer to Dax. She could feel his heat. And his scent, a potent mix of wood and musk and something uniquely him, tickled her nostrils.
She said, ‘Let me put it this way. If I told you to send me to your brother right now, to become his Queen, would you be happy to let me go to him?’
Laia took a deep breath and made the biggest gamble of her life.
‘Because if you say yes, then I’ll go. Leave now. Not to go to him, but I’ll go home and let the chips fall where they may. I’ll never see you again.’ She lifted her chin. ‘I have some pride, Dax. I won’t beg.’
Dax closed the distance between them. There was barely an inch now. He was all she could see.
Laia bit her lip. If he said Yes, go now she might very well die a little inside.
But he didn’t say anything for a long moment, and then he lifted his hand and tugged her lower lip free from her teeth. Laia held her breath. Dax’s gaze was on her mouth.
He said, almost to himself, ‘Would I be happy to let you go to him...?’
He shook his head, and then he looked at her and she could see fires blazing in his eyes. A slow surge of euphoria made its way into her blood.
‘No, Laia, I wouldn’t be happy to let you go to him, or to anyone else. Because I want you and I’m done fighting it. You’re mine.’
Laia trembled. She’d campaigned for this—she’d asked for it...all but begged for it. But was she really ready for it?
A kaleidoscope of pictures flashed through her head: seeing him that first time in Paris, all the tabloid images she’d pored over for years, Monte Carlo and now here. This moment. This man.
Yes.
She put her hand on his chest, over his heart, and said, ‘Then make me yours, Dax.’
* * *
Dax had tipped over the edge of any control he possessed and was walking through fire. Let this woman go? Walk away? Without tasting her?
The thought made him feral.
He finally understood that Laia absolutely meant what she said. She had no intention of ever marrying his brother. In truth, he’d understood it for a while, but he’d been fighting his own desire because he’d never, ever gone against Ari in his life.
But something Laia had said had resonated with him. She selfishly wanted to take something for herself. While the eyes of the world were turned away.
In doing this, Dax would be embarking on the most selfish thing he’d ever done. And in many ways the worst thing he’d ever done. Taking his brother’s promised bride.
If he’d felt tainted and damned by the past before, now he would be tainted and damned in the present. But there was no turning back. He knew Ari had no real appreciation for this woman. He’d always known it. Laia was right—Ari just saw her as the next step.
Even so, Dax knew he was crossing a line and he would never forgive himself. He would have to add this to the line he’d crossed that day of the car crash. He was good at crossing lines and accepting guilt. He’d accepted that a long time ago.
And there was no way he could hold back from what this woman was offering. She was sweet and pure and light—and, fatally, he was drawn to her as if she could offer him some kind of absolution. He did not deserve this. But he was taking it.
There was no other choice—there never had been. He could see that now—he was filled with a primal need to possess that he’d never experienced before.
He put his hand over Laia’s on his chest. The way she did that...it pierced something inside him, some of the darkness. He threaded his fingers through hers and then, taking her hand, he led her through the villa and up the stairs.
The night was warm and soft around them. Only the night chorus of insects and small animals broke the peace.
But Dax couldn’t even hear that. All he could hear was the pounding of his blood. And his heart.
* * *
Laia felt as if she was in some kind of dreamlike state as she followed Dax up the stairs, her hand in his, fingers entwined, as if they’d been lovers for years.
There was no hesitation.
The lights were low, infusing everything with a low golden glow, and Dax led her into his bedroom and closed the door. He let her hand go and went over to the shutters, pulling them closed. Then he dropped the net around the bed.
Laia watched him. He turned around and came towards her. He stopped in front of her.
‘Turn around.’
Laia did as he said. He pulled her hair free, so that it fell down her back. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her again to face him. Her skin felt so sensitive.
But he didn’t touch her straight away. He said, ‘I’ve suspected something, but I need to know...’
Laia knew what he was going to say, and she knew it would be futile to pretend otherwise. So she swallowed her self-consciousness and said, ‘I’m not experienced. At all.’
A muscle pulsed in Dax’s jaw. ‘No lovers?’
She shook her head.
‘Laia...are you sure you don’t want to do this with the man who will be your husband?’
She shook her head.
‘I’m not naive enough to confuse sex with love.’ She made a face. ‘If my father’s affair has taught me anything it’s that. This...this thing that’s between us. You said it’s rare. I might never feel this again, even with the man I choose to marry. I know that.’ Just so he was in no doubt, she said, ‘I choose you to be my first lover, Dax. But don’t worry, I won’t fall in love with you.’
His mouth twisted. ‘No. Because I’m not really a suitable consort for a queen, am I?’
His words sank in and suddenly it felt as if the earth was tilting sideways. She put out her hands to find balance, but Dax was already holding her steady, his hands on her arms.
He was frowning. ‘Okay?’
Laia nodded. ‘Just a little rush of blood...’
But she knew something had just happened. Something profound that she couldn’t—or didn’t want to—analyse just yet. A desire for him to be hers in spite of all the reasons why he couldn’t—because he had no intention of settling down.
Desperate to avoid thinking about that, Laia said, ‘Kiss me, Dax.’
He brought one hand up, over her arm and shoulder, under her hair, and cupped her neck, tugging her closer. ‘Now, that I can do.’
He seemed to take for ever to touch his mouth to hers. Laia had the slightest glimpse of his wicked smile and she was about to scowl or beg. But then everything was forgiven, because his mouth was on hers and Laia’s entire body was suffused with heat and electric excitement.
She’d thought she’d made too much of their kiss earlier...that it couldn’t possibly have been that transformative...but it was happening again. And it was even more profound, because now she was even hungrier for it. Desperate.
She hadn’t even realised she’d twined her arms around Dax’s neck, arching her body against his, wanting to feel that whipcord strength against her body, hard against soft.
She’d never considered herself a very girly girl, but she’d never felt more feminine than she did in this moment. Never been so aware of the differences between a man and a woman.
Dax’s other hand was splayed across her back, and she could feel him moving it up now, over her bare skin, finding one of the straps of her dress and slipping his fingers underneath to dislodge it.
But then he tensed and stopped. Pulled back.
Laia opened her eyes. Her mouth already felt swollen. Breath fast and choppy. ‘What is it?’
Dax’s face was flushed, eyes glittering. ‘I don’t have anything with me...’ He cursed softly and let her go.
Laia struggled to make her sluggish brain work. ‘You don’t have what with you?’
He put his hands on his hips. ‘Protection. I don’t have protection. We can’t do this. I’m not risking getting you pregnant. That’s a scandal too far even for me.’
Finally what he’d said sank in, and with it came a wave of relief.
She said, ‘Wait there.’ And fled back across the hall to her room, fingers clumsy with the key to the door. Eventually it opened and she almost fell inside. She went straight to where she’d stashed the box of condoms and picked it up.
She brought it back to Dax and handed it to him.
He took it and looked at it. And then her. He said, ‘The delivery earlier today?’
Laia nodded, feeling self-conscious. ‘I only thought of it when...after the kiss... Obviously I can’t risk getting pregnant...’
Dax shook his head faintly. ‘Not many women have ever surprised me... No, scratch that—actually no woman has ever surprised me as much as you have.’
Laia said, ‘Is it...are there enough?’
Dax looked at the box and huffed out a laugh. He opened it and took out one foil-wrapped sheath.
‘Let’s start with one and see how we go, okay?’
Laia had never felt so gauche or out of her depth.
Dax seemed to take pity on her. He put down the protection and led her over to the bed.
He stood in front of her. ‘Laia, I don’t want you to regret this. You’re about to become Queen. Life for you and my brother is different. When you meet the man you’ll marry he’ll probably expect you to be—’
