Rebecca Winters - His Majesty's Marriage

Over at the entertainment center she noticed a pile of video cassettes on top of Roger’s VCR. The label on the top one caught her attention.

“You climbed Everest this year!”

“In the spring,” came the deep voice behind her.

“Th-that’s incredible. I’d like to see it.”

“Perhaps after breakfast.”

Not wanting Raoul to get anywhere near her, she moved out of the way and took off her jacket, laying it over a chair. There was an odd gleam in his eyes as he studied her actions.

Frightened that he could read her mind, she blurted, “You obviously brought me here for a reason. Please-” She swallowed hard. “Tell me what it is you want to know.”

“I think we’ll save that until we’ve eaten. The kitchen is beyond the archway. After you.”

Lee didn’t need to be urged. She was famished and Raoul knew it. Besides, the way she was feeling right now, the kitchen was a much safer place for the two of them.

As it turned out, the small dining nook provided enough space for two people. He told her to sit down at the drop table and he’d serve her.

It was her turn to watch him navigate the room. He pulled things out of cupboards and the refrigerator as if he were at home, evidence of a long-term friendship with Roger.

Seeing him like this, you’d never know he came from a titled European family that had specific expectations passed down from father to son. The life of Prince Raoul was one of privilege. That made him forbidden to a woman from the American West whose impoverished ancestors had come to the New World in order to survive.

Lee looked away, suffocated by this kind of proximity to a man who was off limits to her for more reasons than his engagement to Sophie.

Before long he’d treated them both to a feast of warm brioches, ham, hard-boiled eggs, fresh fruit, yogurt-literally anything she wanted. Despite the heavy tension in the room, food had never tasted so good. She ate everything.

His eyes glittered over the rim of his coffee cup as he watched her munch on a banana for dessert. No doubt about it. He was fattening her up for something that could put her friendship with Sophie in grave jeopardy.

Lee struggled to find interest in anything other than him. But it was impossible not to take the occasional glance. In a navy turtleneck, his coloring and rugged features made a devastating impact on her senses. If her heart would just behave long enough to let her see this through and get on the train, away from him…

“Another roll?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t. Thank you anyway.”

“Then I suggest we go in the other room.” After wiping his mouth with a napkin, he got to his feet and came around to help her.

“Sh-shouldn’t we put things away first?” she stammered as she started to get up from the chair. The action inadvertently brought her cheek against his. When she jerked away from the contact, she lost her balance.

His quick reflexes saved her from falling, but in the process his strong arms went around her, bringing their faces within centimeters of each other. She never heard the answer to her question.

Suddenly their mouths and bodies were gravitating toward each other, seeming to possess a will all their own.

“Raoul-” She moaned his name, helpless to stop her response as he coaxed her lips apart and then began kissing her with a shocking hunger that matched her own. Long, drugging kisses that couldn’t possibly be viewed as tentative or accidental.

Deep inside she’d been wanting this, and could no more call back her desire than she could stop breathing.

“Lee…I’ve needed to taste you like this since the first moment I saw you,” he confessed on a groan before before reclaiming her lips.

Lost in sensual ecstasy, she gave herself up to Raoul, never wanting him to stop. As time passed, their kisses grew more passionate. Her craving for him was becoming insatiable.

Forgetting where it could lead, she clung to him, wanting fulfillment from this man more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

It wasn’t until she felt her back against the kitchen wall that she remembered this was Sophie’s betrothed who was kissing her into oblivion.

In eight weeks her best friend would be the woman who had the right to get tangled in his arms, delirious with longing.

In panic, Lee wrenched her mouth from his. “We can’t do this!”

“We already are.” His breath sounded ragged. “It’s the reason you’re here with me. Don’t be afraid to admit it.” He covered her face with kisses before burying his lips in her silvery-gold curls.

“I admit Sophie sent me here on a mission,” she whispered in anguish. “If you’ll let me go, I’ll swear I’ll tell you everything.”

He eased away from her. The moment she was free, she ran out of the kitchen. He followed at a slower pace.

Now they stood in the living room facing each other like adversaries. Those incredible eyes had narrowed until she couldn’t see the blue. He lounged against the built-in bookcase. It didn’t seem possible that a minute ago they’d been so enthralled with each other they’d forgotten the world for a little while.

“Any time now you can begin telling me about this mission of yours.”

It was maddening to her that he could sound so in control when she was a writhing mass of emotions.

She realized that what she was about to do would sever her relationship with Sophie for good. But she’d reached the point of no return. So had Raoul.

“The Princess doesn’t want to marry you,” Lee confessed in a quiet voice. She didn’t dare tell him about Luciano. Sophie would have to do that herself when the time came.

He stared at her for an endless moment, yet his enigmatic expression gave away nothing of his thoughts.

“Why couldn’t she have told me that herself instead of deputizing you to speak for her?”

Lee needed support and found the nearest chair. Her heart had started to run away with her and wouldn’t slow down.

“She sent me to Zermatt for the express purpose of getting you to come on to me.”

At those words Raoul moved closer. “For what end?”

“S-so I could report back to her parents that not only were you unfaithful during your engagement, you didn’t care if the woman in question was Sophie’s best friend. She counted on my testimony to carry weight with her parents so they’d call off the wedding.”

Lines darkened his striking features. “It appears your loyalty to the Princess knows no bounds.”

“This time it went too far. I’m deeply ashamed.”

“You shouldn’t be,” he mused ironically. “Sophie knew exactly what she was doing when she sent you. I congratulate you on a very convincing performance. Incredible to think that what went on in the kitchen was playacting from start to finish.”

Nervousness caused Lee to clasp and unclasp her hands. “I admit I got carried away in there. You’re the first man I’ve been with s-since my fiancé was killed three years ago.” She averted her eyes. “It felt good to be in a man’s arms again. Obviously I’m more vulnerable than I realized.”

Please God, let that be the truth. Otherwise I’m in over my head.

“Not so vulnerable that you didn’t stop us in time,” he said in a thick-toned voice. “I’m afraid if it had been left up to me we’d have graduated to the bedroom and wouldn’t have surfaced until Roger demanded entrance.”

Flame scorched her cheeks. He shouldn’t have said that. It had started up a familiar ache that would never go away now.

“Raoul-” She tossed her head back to look at him. “Whether you believe me or not, I would never have gone to Sophie’s parents to tell them anything.”

His penetrating eyes searched her features, as if looking for something elusive. “Then why bother with any of it?”