The Accidental Heir (3 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

S
HE
HADN
’
T
REALISED
thermals composed of microfibre could transmit sensation quite so effectively. Karl’s fingers were working some sort of special magic and it was clear that he knew exactly what to do. This might be wrong—it certainly wasn’t on the agenda for this trip—but no way was she about to stop him.

‘If you could stop sighing like that, it might help me, Princess.’ he said, his voice strained and his erection growing harder against her.

‘And if you stop doing what you’re doing, I’ll kill you.’ she threatened, only half joking.

Karl managed to skim his hand up underneath her many layers and was now working her nipples with remarkable skill and delicacy for such a big brute of a man. She wondered what else he could do.

Karl laughed softly as he scraped his stubble across her ridiculously oversensitive neck. ‘I didn’t realise you had reinstated royal executions in Hammersvik?’

‘You could be the first....’

He turned up the heat and Astrid responded, issuing a ragged sigh as his hands tracked lower....

‘Do I take it my execution has been postponed?’ he asked huskily.

‘Indefinitely,’ she confirmed.

They’d been in the sleeping bag for what? Two minutes? That was a long time to be up close and personal with a woman like Princess Astrid, and Karl awarded himself a medal for restraining himself for even that long. Just keeping her safe and warm had been his intention—but now? Now it was all about lust and heat and hot hungry need, though the restraints imposed by the bag were testing all his powers of invention.

Somehow he got her thermals down. Astrid helped as much as she could, turning to face him in the process.

‘Ever the Boy Scout,’ she teased him as he held her with one hand and reached into the pocket of his discarded jacket with the other.

‘I like to be prepared,’ he confirmed. By the time he turned back, Astrid’s hair was free and tumbling in wild disarray around her shoulders. She was beautiful...
really
beautiful.

‘Why don’t you let me do that for you?’ she suggested, reaching for the foil packet.

Could a man be this big? Seriously?

She had to be careful. She didn’t want to make a mess of it. She couldn’t let Karl know that her exposure to this sort of thing was very limited.

‘Okay?’ he asked.

‘Yes, sure.’ She sounded a little hoarse. Shock could do that to a person.

While she’d been marvelling at the size of him, Karl had shed what he could of his clothes. His hot, strong body pressed up hard against hers felt amazing, while she was so swollen, so aroused. No wonder, when that bulge she had spied when they first met had given her no idea of Karl’s fully operational size. He was built exactly to scale. It took both her hands to encompass him. Truthfully? She needed a moment to recover from the shock.

‘I promise I won’t hurt you,’ he whispered, brushing his lips against hers.

She wanted that kiss to last—maybe forever. It was such a gentle kiss. She had never been kissed like this before and doubted she ever would be again. She’d never forget it.

‘Astrid, raise your hips and let me touch you.’

If she must....

She absolutely must.

CHAPTER SIX

‘Y
ES
. O
H
,
YES
...’

‘Yes?’ Karl queried with husky amusement in his voice.

‘Yes,’ Astrid insisted on a sigh of pleasure.

Hidden in a polar fleece in such alien surroundings, it was hard to concentrate on anything other than pleasure. One thought niggled at her, though—what were they doing? A prince and a princess, both of whom were loaded with responsibility, getting frisky in a tent pegged down on an ice field beyond the Arctic Circle.

But Karl was a master of sensation, and so...

Easing one massive thigh between her legs, he gained access to her body, while she was muffled up and cosy with her face against his neck, the stillness and the dark all around her making it easy to pretend this was one of her better fantasies.

Fantasy? That delicate touch was real enough.

Parting her moistly swollen lips, Karl stroked and circled the place she needed him the most. A ragged cry of need escaped her as he replaced that skilful finger with the tip of his erection. Surely, she couldn’t—

He lifted her a little bit more. And she could. She had.

She cried out, biting her arm to silence the moment of shock as he gently probed deeper. She should have realised that Karl would soon make her forget. Touching that special place with more than just a little intent, he began circling it rhythmically, so that now she could only associate his shallow thrusts with pleasure.

She whimpered enthusiastically, urging him on.

‘A little more?’ Karl suggested as he dropped kisses on her neck.

‘A lot more,’ she gasped excitedly, thrusting her hips towards him.

Breath shot out of her as he took full possession of her body. How could she be filled and stretched like this? It seemed impossible.

She lost control and came almost at once, wildly, uncontrollably, noisily, bucking and writhing. And then he started to move again, from side to side at first, massaging her where she needed him the most, before moving back and forth, shallow thrusts to begin with, and then deep and firm thrusts. It was that waiting for contact when he sank in deep to the hilt to give her that little extra rub that brought her to the edge again so quickly.

Could she ever get enough of this?

Ever?

No! They didn’t need tripwires for the polar bears. Her screams would frighten them away. Her excitement was indecent—she called out to urge him on with words she’d never used before. She couldn’t get enough of him. Of this. She couldn’t angle herself acutely enough, open her legs wide enough. She could never have this hard enough, fast enough.

Enough of this?

Never.

One night in a tent with Karl could never be enough. She was shrieking with pleasure and so close to the edge. When Karl took a firm hold of her hips in his big strong hands and drove into her, her mind emptied. Sensation ruled. She needed this. She needed him. She needed to let go again!
Now!

‘
Yes!’

‘Greedy,’ he murmured approvingly when she came apart in his arms again. And still she couldn’t stop herself undulating back and forth, and it wasn’t long before she was ready again.

‘So you’re not tired yet?’ Karl commented drily as he brushed kisses across her cheeks and eyelids.

‘No, I’m not,’ she assured him, arching her back to confirm this. ‘I don’t think I could ever tire of—’

Her words were choked off as Karl began taking her again. No distractions. Sensation overload. She had to concentrate.

‘Then at least we have one thing in common,’ he said as she screamed in pleasure.

Perhaps more than one thing, Karl thought the next day as Astrid took to polar exploration with the same enthusiasm she had shown for sex. She had milked him dry not once but many times last night. There had been no danger of them freezing in the night. Even if the water heater had failed, they still would have been in serious danger of overheating, and after spending a day on the tundra with Princess Astrid, he had been forced to revise his opinion of her completely. She was quite a woman. She had undergone survival training at university, Astrid had explained, where she had also gained degrees in geology and metallurgy. She insisted on meeting the indigenous people and through an interpreter had asked about their concerns, discussing these with him afterwards to see what she could do about them. She had spent time playing with the children and had surprised him when she had produced drawing equipment from her bag. It was sensible stuff, too: heavy-duty paper and thick wax crayons that wouldn’t let children down in the cold.

‘I was hoping to meet some children,’ she’d told him, her face glowing with the light of a woman who genuinely cared. ‘I want to thank you for those introductions, Karl.’

They had moved on to view melting glaciers, where Astrid saw for herself the reasons for concern about the territories. They even found themselves close to a polar bear mother and her cubs when the matriarch heaved herself unexpectedly onto the ice. Astrid had remained completely still as he asked her to until this precious but dangerous group of predators walked on by. Following that extraordinary event Astrid had bombarded him with questions about the different species that might need protecting in her territories, prompting him to suggest that she get back in touch with her old friend Britt Skavanga, who was now heavily involved in conservation with her sisters at the Skavanga diamond mine. When she agreed to do this and he stared into her thoughtful face, he had felt a solid punch in his solar plexus. Astrid really was quite special, and for the first time he got an inkling of what a special princess she would make.

But now his time with Astrid was almost at an end, and though this was the last thing he had expected when he set out on this trip, he only wished they had longer. He would have to broach the subject of leaving before they packed up to go.

As it happened, Astrid raised the subject first. ‘This has been an amazing trip, Karl,’ she told him in a wistful tone, as if she could sense impending change. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’

‘You don’t need to thank me. And yes, it has,’ he agreed.

‘Will I be seeing you again?’ she asked casually, but he saw the truth in her eyes.

‘I’ve got a trip to make, but then? Who knows? Dammit! Do we have to do this?’

‘Do what?’ she asked as he grabbed hold of her and brought her in front of him.

‘Must we dance around each other—pretend we don’t care one way or the other if we never see each other again? The facts are these: I’m going to be away for three months on a trip I can’t cancel now, but of course I want to see you again. You know I do.’

‘Do I?’

‘You should.’ He kissed her deeply.

‘Who the hell knows where life will take us?’ he said, releasing her at last.

This was true enough. His personal plans had been unformed before this trip, but one night with Astrid could never be enough for him, and he hoped she would play a part in any future plans he made.

But would Astrid include him in her plans?

CHAPTER SEVEN

Four months later
...

‘Prince Karl is here to see you, Your Royal Highness.’

‘Wonderful!’ Astrid paled with excitement, regret and a whole explosion of feelings. If only she’d had the courage to tell Karl her news in any of their correspondence over the past few months. She never shrank from anything, but she found herself fearing how he would react.

‘Please show him in.’

Instinctively, she ran a hand over her stomach. Her pregnancy wasn’t obvious yet, which would give her a chance to explain—

‘Karl.’

Her heart lurched at the sight of him. She couldn’t stop her breath from quickening or her feet from flying across the floor as she ran to greet him. He had a physical presence that spoke to every pheromone in her body and a depth of character that spoke directly to her heart. He had been on another of his dangerous expeditions, and though they’d kept in touch, it was an indescribable relief to see him return safely. They had communicated by email while he’d been away—light-hearted exchanges that had most definitely not included the mention of an impending royal birth.

She stopped abruptly in front of him. Remembering their respective positions in life, she collected herself and tucked her hands safely behind her back, when all she really wanted to do was throw her arms around him, come clean, share her news and welcome him back with all her heart. But there were people watching—as the ruler of this land she was never truly alone. There were servants walking back and forth bringing afternoon tea for them, and soldiers standing guard at the door. She would never be able to live a normal life again and there was no point thinking she could.

But she could still explain to Karl that thanks to him, she could keep the throne of Hammersvik safe from dangerous impostors whose only thought had been to destroy her country and ruin its people. The reciprocal agreement, struck between them while Karl was away, ensured he would always support her right to the throne as she endorsed his, but this new life would create an everlasting bond between them and their lands that no treaty would ever match.

‘Astrid...’

The tone of Karl’s voice stopped her breath and she only now realised how tired he looked. She had never imagined Karl could look like this. He had shaved in haste, cutting himself in the process. His hair was shining and clean but still damp from the shower. And he had dressed without thought or care, in motorcycle boots and leathers. From that she might assume he was as eager to see her as she was to see him, but Karl’s eyes were deep pools of fury and disbelief.

He knew.

‘What’s this?’ Astrid asked as he handed her a flat package secured with raffia string.

‘I have no idea,’ he said with a shrug. ‘It was outside the gate. What did you think it was, Princess?’ he asked coldly. ‘A demand for my stud fee?’

Her world shattered in tiny pieces. He was angry about the one thing that brought her the most happiness in the world.

Swinging around, she addressed the servants in the same tight voice. ‘Thank you all. I won’t need anything else. Please let it be known that I don’t wish to be disturbed for the next hour—’

‘An hour? Is that all the time you can spare me, Princess?’

‘Karl, please.’ She recoiled as if the contempt in his voice was a slap in the face. ‘Please, won’t you sit down?’ She glanced at the sofa.

‘I prefer to stand, thank you.’ He ignored Astrid’s attempt to coax him across the room and remained as still as a coiled spring.

‘As you wish.’

She would have said more, done more, fought her corner, at least, but the feeling came over her without warning, as it did every morning around this time of day. It would be a miracle if she didn’t have to rush off halfway through her explanation.

‘Karl, I’m sorry—’ Slamming her hand across her mouth, she made a dash for the door.

Karl reached it in front of her and opened it so she could run straight through. He didn’t follow, but she could feel his withering disdain burning her back. He must have heard the rumours about the baby and then learned about the Royal Council demanding an heir. He must think she had duped him. And he hated her for it.

She hated herself for not having the courage for that one time in her life when she really needed it.

Splashing cold water on her face and wiping her mouth, she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror and finally calmed down. What had begun as an accidental pregnancy turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A baby. Her baby. Their baby. But could she make Karl see it that way? Would he believe her when she told him how much she wanted this child?

She felt vulnerable now she was carrying a child. While she would usually fight her corner with vehemence, the idea of a baby slowly taking form inside her filled her with caution and a determination to protect that child with her life.

He hadn’t planned on the words he would actually say. He’d stormed here feeling angry, feeling used, and then he’d seen Astrid and it had changed everything. They were having a baby, and with a child at stake all his slumbering emotions were engaged. He had been determined to leave Astrid in no doubt that if they were expecting, he would take a full part in raising that child. She couldn’t just use him as a stud and continue on as if their baby had nothing to do with him. And why had she tried to keep the news from him?

She was trying to protect her unborn child, he realised with a start. She wasn’t sure if he would reject her and their baby. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know his instinct was to protect. His anger drained out of him all at once. He would never forget what had happened between them that night in the polar tent. Nor could he forget their light-hearted exchanges by email over these past few months—exchanges that had kept him going through the difficult trek. They’d kept him sane. Desperate to share his newfound feelings with Astrid, he suddenly realised she had been gone for quite some time. Where was she? He glanced at his watch. Was she okay?