Raye Morgan - The Rebel Prince

Emma was racing through a thick forest, dodging trees. That shimmering white vision she’d just barely glimpsed had to be a unicorn. She had to find it. There! Wasn’t that it? She ran faster. You had to be clever to catch a unicorn and now she was tiring, her breath searing her throat. Just a little further. It had to be there. Just beyond that huge ragged trunk…her feet were like stones and the unicorn’s hot breath was on her neck and…

Only it wasn’t that at all, it was a strong male hand on her shoulder and it felt divine. She looked up. It was that tall, handsome man again, the one with the incredible tan and the golden chest hair and the muscles that curled and swelled like waves on a Mediterranean sea. Was she still dreaming? He was really too good to be true.

His face was strong, his features even, and he had the most beautiful golden eyes she’d ever seen. His hair was naturally dark but the ends had been bleached out by the sun, giving him a sort of golden halo effect. That, along with the dark tan, gave mute testimony to a life spent outdoors—either doing manual labor or lazing about at seaside resorts. She had a feeling she knew which it might be.

He was the sort of man women called “hot” and for the first time in her life she thought she really understood what that meant. His touch left tingles behind. She wanted to have that feeling again.

Men like this never paid much attention to girls like her, but she supposed he was only trying to be nice since he’d been the one to knock her down. What would it be like to slip into his arms and hold that beautiful body close to hers? Just thinking of it made her pulse begin to beat a rhythm at the base of her throat. He was looking at her strangely. She had a moment of quick panic—could he read her mind?

No, probably not.

But why did he keep waking her up? She was so tired and it was so hot and humid in this place and she only wanted to close her eyes and let the world go away.

But there was someone else here now. He was testing her out, checking for injuries. His touch didn’t have the same electric charge as the other one, but it had a certain confident comfort to it and she didn’t protest as he examined just about everything there was to examine on her.

“Good lord, Monty,” the new man was saying, teasing. “I’d heard you were losing it. But I didn’t know you’d gotten to the point of having to knock a woman down and drag her off just to get a date.”

Emma had to struggle to open her eyes and see who the newcomer was. But he was worth the effort—a dark-haired, handsome man in riding clothes, bearing a small black bag and looking down at her kindly.

“I didn’t knock her down,” the even more handsome man who’d been staying with her all this time and whose name seemed to be Monty was saying defensively. “Well, not exactly…”

“I heard she got hit by a water-polo ball,” the new man said, slipping a blood-pressure cuff up her arm and starting to pump. “A water-polo ball that you threw. I’d call that a knock-down.”

“We’ve already established the guilt in this situation,” Monty responded acerbically. “But the motives were pure.”

He leaned toward her. “Emma, this irritating man is Dr Will Harris. He’ll get to the bottom of this ‘resting’ business.” He nodded toward the doctor. “Will, this is Emma Valentine. She can’t seem to stop sleeping. Maybe you can find out why.”

“Emma Valentine, ay? Pretty name.” Will smiled at her. “Pretty name for a pretty lady.” He released the pressure and began to take her pulse. “What do you do here at the castle, Emma?”

She blinked at him, then closed her eyes and searched her mind. The facts seemed to have slipped away. What was she doing here, anyway?

“She says she’s a chef.” Monty answered for her. “I didn’t know we were hiring chefs. But then, I don’t know much about what’s going on here these days.”

“Yes, I was surprised to see you back so soon,” the doctor said as he pulled the cuff back off again and took out his stethoscope. “Raring to go, I imagine.”

Monty gave a short, humorless laugh. “Hardly that.”

“Something told me you might not be completely enthusiastic with the changes around here. But I assume you will do what’s expected of you. Right?”

The silence that followed seemed ripe with an emotion she couldn’t understand, but it did seem to spur her memory.

“I’ve been hired for a special job,” she said suddenly and in a surprisingly loud voice.

She smiled. What a relief to have that information back where she could retrieve it. She needed to wake up. She had to wake up. It was her first day on this job and she couldn’t afford to blow it. She had to get herself together, enforce some self-discipline. But her eyelids were so heavy. Struggling, she opened her eyes and turned so that she could see them both.

“The coronation celebration dinners,” she added. “I’m here to plan for the big event.”

“Oh. That.”

She noted the two men give each other a meaningful look but she couldn’t imagine why and she went on.

“I came, actually, to meet with the prince. You know, the one who’s going to be crowned?” She thought for a moment, then brightened. “Prince Sebastian. That’s his name. And now they tell me he won’t be here until the weekend.”

“They told me the same thing,” the doctor said with a grin she didn’t think she was awake enough to analyze.

“Never trust anything ‘they’ tell you,” Monty offered cynically. He wasn’t grinning but he caught her eye and gave her a significant look, too. She had no idea why, and she frowned at him.

“They told me Agatha was coming as well,” Will said with studied disinterest. “Any truth to that rumor?”

“Could be,” Monty replied. “I haven’t talked to her.”

She was half sitting now, while Dr Will checked out her breathing, thumping her chest and listening intently. The entire situation felt so odd and the cavernous space with the gentle lapping of the water in the background only made it more so. She was in a castle, sitting beside an indoor swimming pool and being carefully examined by two of the most attractive men she’d ever seen. It was enough to turn a girl’s head.

But she had to keep hers right where it was. She had a job to do. She had to keep reminding herself of that.

“So what’s he like, anyway?” she asked them.

They both stared at her.

“Who?” they said at the same time.

“The prince.”

“Ah.” Will laughed softly as he put away his stethoscope. “The crown prince, now.”

“The prince?” Monty chimed in, eyes shining with what she took as amusement. “He’s a fine fellow. One of the best you’ll ever meet. The toast of the nation.”

Will snorted, but he went on.

“I’m sure songs will be written about him soon,” he said in a tone she thought might be a bit sarcastic, though she wasn’t certain she was reading him right. “Stories told, legends taken down. After all, he comes from a long line of kings, and he fits the part, if you ask me. Tall as an Alpine cedar, honest as a cloistered nun, strong as a…as a…”

“A blue ox?” Will put in helpfully.

Monty gave him a baleful look.

“Strong as a northern wind, sharp as a…”

“Serpent’s tooth,” Will interjected. “And just as yellow.”

He leaned toward her earnestly. “Don’t listen to Monty. Truth be told, the prince is an ugly bloke. His eyes are small and evil and much too close together for comfort. And he’s got bad breath and he’s a bit of a drooler, if you know what I mean.”

“Really?” Emma was pretty sure he wasn’t being serious. Despite the fact that her mind was still full of cotton, she was alert enough to know when her leg was being pulled. “I’d heard he was quite handsome.”