Insatiable

about jousting.

“I do have a castle, actually,” he said. “A family estate, really. Emil and Mary Lou come

to visit in the summers. I’m certain she’s told you about it—”

Meena held up a hand. She realized belatedly she’d heard way too much about the castle

already.

“Never mind. I already know. In Romania.”

“Outside Sighi oara,” he said with a smile. “And in answer to your other question, no,

I’ve never jousted. I teach.”

“You teach?” If he’d told her he Twittered, she could not have been more surprised.

“You teach what? Bat-attack evasion?”

“Eastern European history,” he said, still looking amused. “At the University of

Bucharest. Evening classes, mostly.”

Meena raised an eyebrow. “Really?” She got the feeling, not just from the fact that he

owned a castle but from the look of the expensive watch he was wearing and the way he

carried himself in general, that Prince Lucien didn’t exactly need the teaching job to support

himself.

His next statement confirmed her suspicions.

“It’s important to me,” he said, “that my country’s rich heritage not be forgotten by the

next generation. You know how caught up the youth of today is in video games and text

messaging. I try to make history compelling for my students, to awaken in them the kind of

love I’ve always had for it. Whether I succeed…” He shrugged modestly.

Meena wanted to applaud. If he turned out to have a pair of bifocals in his jacket pocket,

she thought she might actually jump up and kiss him on the mouth. “And you’re here on spring

break?” she asked.

“No, I’m not, actually,” Prince Lucien said, removing a pair of silver-rimmed reading

glasses from the inside pocket of his cashmere blazer and putting them on. “I’m here for a

lecture series a colleague is giving at the Metropolitan on Vlad Tepes.”

At the sight of the reading glasses, Meena swayed on her spindly high heels and almost

fell down.

“Are you all right?” he asked with genuine concern in his deep voice. “Here, let me help

you.”

She felt his strong arm, so familiar from that night in front of the cathedral, go around

her bare shoulders. A second later, he was steering her gently and expertly toward one of the

countess’s white, cast-iron garden chairs.

She sank gratefully onto the green-and-white-striped cushion, capable of thinking only,

The glasses! The glasses!

He took the glasses off and tucked them hastily back into his pocket, bending over her

with concern. “Shall I get you some water?”

“No,” Meena said, draining the contents of her champagne glass and setting it down on

the wrought iron table beside her. She hurried to say something to change the subject. “Wwhat’s Vlad Tepes?”

“He was the most powerful prince of Wallachia, what is present-day Romania, in the

fourteen hundreds,” he explained. “He’s considered a great hero in Eastern Europe. Are you

sure you’re all right? You really don’t look well.”

She laid a hand over his where it rested on the arm of the chair beside her. She couldn’t

help it. There was something about him that made her want to touch him. She didn’t think it

was only the fact that he’d saved her life, either.

“I’m fine,” she said, thinking that his fingers felt a little cold. But then, it wasn’t exactly

summer outside. She wished she’d brought a cardigan. But they’d already been so late for the

party, she hadn’t had time to look through her closet for one nice enough to go with her dress.

“I’ve just been having a really bad week at work.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” he said, slipping off his jacket and placing it gently over her

shoulders…like this was the most natural gesture in the world.

Meena felt as if she’d been punched in the chest by a fellow shopper at a Marc Jacobs

sample sale.

Calm down, she told herself. He’s a prince. This is what princes do. They’re trained

from birth to act this way.

I mean, look at him. He’s so cool, his jacket isn’t even warm!

“Is that better?” he asked with what sounded like real concern.

Oh, Meena thought. Shoshona. If you could only see me now. How you would cry into

your dressing-free salad.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “It’s a lot better, Lucien. Oh…may I call you Lucien?

Or would you prefer Professor Antonescu? Or Dr. Antonescu? Or Your Royal Highness?”

“Lucien is fine,” he said, smiling some more. He looked almost unbearably handsome

when he smiled, with all that dark hair and those sad eyes. Meena couldn’t help thinking to

herself that Lucien Antonescu was a man who needed a lot of teasing. Maybe a lifetime of it,

to make up for whatever had happened to him to put all that hurt into those brown eyes. “And

what’s caused you to have such a bad week?”

“Oh,” Meena said. “Well, you’ve heard about the vampire war, haven’t you?”

“I beg your pardon?”

For a split second, she could almost have sworn those sad brown eyes flashed red, like

she thought they had that night outside the cathedral. The look he gave her was one of

incredulity mixed almost with…well, anger. His hand slipped out from beneath hers as quickly

as if her skin had singed his.

“Dinner is served,” called the caterer in the blond ponytail and white shirt and black

trousers, smiling at them from the nearby French doors.

Meena had no idea what she’d done to insult the prince. But he definitely seemed

offended. He reached for the champagne glass in which he’d shown not the slightest interest

before that moment and downed its entire contents.

What have I done? Meena wondered. What had she said? What had happened to make

the prince go from tenderly loaning her his jacket to keep her warm to gulping down alcohol

like a junkie reaching for his next fix?

“I-I’m sorry,” Meena stammered. “I just—”

But when he swiveled his head to look at her again, she was relieved to see that his eyes

had gone back to their normal shade of brown.

Of course. She must have imagined the red thing. She did have a pretty overactive

imagination. It’s what had gotten her her job.

“No, I’m sorry,” he said, sounding more like his cordial self. She couldn’t help but feel

like he was controlling himself with an effort, however. The hand holding the champagne flute

was white knuckled. In a second, she thought he might break the glass in half with his grip

alone. “But I don’t think I could have heard you correctly. Did you say vampire war ?”

“Ye-e-es,” Meena said slowly. She noticed the countess coming toward them from inside

the apartment and felt a little relieved. Maybe Mary Lou could help her explain. “I write for

Insatiable . It’s on ABN. We’re getting slaughtered in the ratings by Lust . They have this story

line with a vampire…. I know, it’s ridiculous, really. But this week my bosses announced they

want us to do a vampire story line….”

“Oh,” he said. “ That vampire war.”

“Of course,” she said, laughing a little incredulously. This guy was really intense! She

hadn’t been wrong about his needing to be teased a little. He needed to be teased a lot. “What

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