A Prince's Ransom: Kidnapped by the Billionaire (25 page)

Eric pulled her towards the bed and she hastily stepped out of her heels, only to inhale sharply when he picked her up and threw her onto the pillows. He immediately joined her, reaching for the buttons of her blazer and shoving it off of her shoulders. Katherine shrugged out of it willingly, pushing it off the bed and reaching up for him. Her legs were spread out on either side of him, and one of his hands found her thigh. His fingertips brushed along the edge of her skirt before starting to slip up beneath it, while his other hand found the bottom of her blouse again and pressed upward over the delicate curve of her back.

She shivered, biting her lower lip and reaching for the buttons of his shirt. One more time. Just one more time with him, and then she’d let them both go before it hurt any more than it already did. It wasn’t hard to discard his shirt, and she leaned back down into the pillows, her breath quick and her thighs spreading a bit wider—as wide as they could go within her taut skirt. Eric took the invitation, grazing up the inside of her thigh, and then finding the center of her silken panties. Katherine gasped, her hips jerking, as he started to rub her there, slowly at first, and then harder, pressing deeper into the cleft of her lower lips.

Her eyes shut, and he leaned over her; his finger tugged aside her panties, and she cried out as he touched her damp, warm loins. “I love you, Kat…” he murmured into her ear, and slid a finger inside of her.

Katherine had fallen asleep in Eric’s arms, but at some point he had let go of her and rolled over onto his other side so that she was curled up against his bare back, her fingertips resting just beneath his shoulder blades. She had been laying there for a while now, completely awake as she listened to him breathe and tried to keep herself from crying. It wasn’t that he deserved better than her, she told herself. In some ways, he was just as completely messed up as she was, and there would always be a part of him that was a liar and a manipulator and she would have had to deal with that every day. No, he almost deserved someone like her, a screw up who didn’t know what she was doing with her life, who even after all of this didn’t know what she was doing with her life.

Maybe she’d enroll in some political science classes next semester. She’d never really had any interest in politics before and she didn’t know what career path she could take from that. But maybe she’d try.

It was early. Like, four or five in the morning, at most, and it was gray out, which she only realized from the slivers of light that managed to get it through the curtains in Eric’s room. Finally, Katherine made herself get to her feet very carefully, very quietly, tiptoeing to where her clothes had ended up the night before. Her eyes didn’t leave him as he slept, even while she put on as many of her clothes as was necessary to make it back to her room. It would almost be more of a pain now to just leave, because she had her luggage from the hotel. But… she had a few handy tricks around that now.

She crept to the door, her heels clutched to her chest, and paused to look back at him, watching him sleep peacefully, unaware of what she was doing. Katherine couldn’t stand a goodbye. Not with him, not like this. She had never had to say goodbye to anyone so permanently as this and it was already breaking her heart. Struggling to control her breathing, she opened the door and hurried out into the hall. She knew her way around well enough now to be able to head in the direction of her room. And as she had expected, there were a few maids already up and about getting things ready for the day, and she quietly stopped one—asking for someone to come to her room and pick up her luggage, and to bring one of the cars around.

The maid blinked at her slightly. “May I ask where it is you would like to go, mademoiselle?”

“The airport.” With Eric’s parents back, she was no longer basically being held captive. She could leave whenever she wanted. The maid still looked taken aback, but she nodded a little and hurried off to obey the request.

Katherine returned to her room and changed into her own clothes. Her own skinny jeans, her own t-shirt, her own shoes. She glanced at the things Élise had helped her pick out and buy, but as beautiful as it all was, it wasn’t likely she would ever have a place to wear any of it. No more formal dinners, no more balls, no more trying to impress people into thinking she was something she wasn’t. She packed the items she would actually take with her, and then moved over to the desk in the room, sitting down and grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. There was a knock on the door, and she looked up.

The driver she had requested was standing there, and she smile at him a little. “Just that suitcase and bag there, thank you. I’ll be down in just a few minutes.” He nodded politely and grabbed her things, and she returned to her letter. Her hand was shaking as she wrote it, the only goodbye she could bring herself to make.

Scooping her purse off her bed, Katherine didn’t look behind her as she turned off the light and left, staring sightlessly in front of her until she was down in the main entrance. The driver was waiting for her, and he opened the door with another polite nod. She got in the backseat while he loaded her luggage in the trunk. Her hands were still shaking, and as they pulled out of the driveway and through the front gate, she whispered the words she had written.

Eric,

I know this isn’t going to be enough. It can’t be, it’s awful and I’m a coward for leaving this way. But I know what your mother’s answer is going to be, and I can’t blame her for it. I wanted to try for you, but my heart is already breaking and I don’t have the strength. I wanted last night to be my last memory of you, because it was a good memory. It wasn’t a memory of you angry or upset, or one that left me wondering if it was just another lie, it was just you. The you that you are when I can believe that you truly want me, and that I could be enough for you. I know that’s not enough. But it’s all I can give you.

I love you.

Tears slid down her cheeks, and she shut her eyes. The car continued rolling through the city, the same path they had gone the other day in the parade. They passed the club where she’d first actually met Eric, and the ice cream shop where Élise had tried to help her escape. Her class would still be in the country for another week, but most of them thought she had already gone back to the United States. She would text Tara after she’d gotten a flight and tell her what had happened.

Too soon, they arrived at the airport. The driver got out to open the door for her and get her luggage. He asked her if she wanted him to stay, but she shook her head and headed inside. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to wait long, probably a few hours, which would stink, but hopefully it would be sooner rather than later. Katherine would have to put it on a credit card, but that was what they were for anyway.

And she needed to go. She needed to leave and forget all of this had happened. This wasn’t how she had wanted this trip to go, she had just wanted to have some fun and enjoy herself in a new country without all the stuffy lectures and museums and monuments. Sure, they could be interesting, but she had wanted to experience the people.

Well, she supposed she had done that much, at least.

There weren’t that many people at the airport, this early in the morning. The line to the ticket counter only took about ten minutes to get through. She smiled a little at the woman at the desk, setting her luggage down next to her as she pulled out her ID and wallet.

“Hi. One ticket to Pennsylvania, United States, please.”

“One way or round trip?”

“One way.”

“Alright, let me see… we have an available seat leaving in three and a half hours. Will this work?”

“Yes, that’s fine,” she agreed quietly. Three and a half hours was a little long, but at least she wouldn’t have to rush through security or anything. She handed over her credit card and watched the woman make all the arrangements and plane changes.

“Very good, your ticket has been reserved. Once you make it through security, head to the west side of the airport where your terminal is. You can check in there and drop off your luggage.”

“Thank you.”

She picked up her suitcase again, the wheels rolling loudly across the tile floor as she headed toward the security gate. There was another line here, of course, and she reached down to step out of her shoes. They’d probably have to check her bag, but it’s not like there was anything in it.

“So that’s just it?”

Élise’s voice startled her, and Katherine whirled around immediately, staring at the young princess. “Élise? What on earth are you doing here?” she asked, glancing at the line starting to form around her. Sighing slightly, she got out of line, still holding her shoes, and headed toward the princess. Her bodyguards were standing a little ways back, looking disgruntled that they had been inconvenienced by this stranger again.

“I saw you leaving from my window—I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about this entire mess. You’re just leaving, like that?” The girl’s voice barely contained a hiccupped sob, and Katherine felt guilt like she’d never experienced. Élise must have barely stopped to get dressed when she had seen Kat leavingShe had on a pair of trousers, but that was a nightgown peeking out from the hem of her jacket.

“Élise, I don’t have a choice,” she murmured quietly, swallowing back her own sob. “Your mother is not going to let me stay and be with Eric. She told me so. And I understand that, I really do. I am
not
queen material and I will make a fool of myself sooner or later. I… I can’t just—”

“Just what? Let yourself love my brother? Is that why you are running away, and giving up?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Because I do love him. Because I can’t pretend that it’s not breaking my heart the longer I stay with him, already knowing how this week is going to end. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him that way. I know him, I know he would refuse to lose, he would fight harder than anything to win. He’s already threatened to give up the throne and name you as heir, and I don’t want him to do something so foolish on my account. He’s not bound to Brigitte anymore, he’s free to marry anyone he wants—but it should be someone who can actually help him run a country, and not me. I am nothing, I have no idea how to do any of this.”

“But you were doing it anyway!” Élise insisted frantically. “You were dealing with the people during the parade and answering their questions. You may not have seen it, but there was an article that ran yesterday in the newspaper praising the addition of an outsider’s perspective on the questions. And I heard how you dealt with our despicable cousins, even though they were doing nothing but insulting you.”

Katherine scoffed and shook her head. “I am used to guys insulting me because they see me as a whore, that’s nothing. That’s not running a country or knowing what to do, that’s just… me.”

“And you are enough! My mother is wrong! You could be a queen. And I have never seen Eric fight so hard for anything in his life, regardless of winning or losing. You are losing so much more by giving up, though. He will never forgive you for giving up.” There were tears in the princess’s eyes—but then, there were tears in Katherine’s eyes as well.

“He doesn’t have to forgive me. I’m never going to see him again, remember? He doesn’t have to forgive me for anything.”

“That is good enough for you? That is enough for the man you love to be left with? For the man who loves you to be left with? He does love you. I have seen it—I know Eric can be cruel and callous and that he is always thinking of himself. But he has only ever done those things because of his belief that his way is what is best for this country. He thinks you are one of those things,” she answered, stepping toward Katherine and catching her wrist—the one that was holding her shoes. “Don’t give up this way. Don’t let Brigitte and Raoul and Julien and my mother win.”

“No, please don’t think that! Your mother isn’t trying to win. She has a duty to Montavian, to do what is best for its people and its wellbeing.”

Élise licked her lips. “What could possibly be better for the country than making sure that its prince, its king, is happy with the woman he loves and knows she is supporting him? Do you think Brigitte or any of the others who are waiting to dig their claws into a crown would be good for my country...or my brother?”

A tear slid down the princess’s cheek and Katherine felt a whole new type of heartbreak. “Please, Katherine. Eric is a better man with you than I have ever seen him in my life. And I don’t care that I’m only fifteen. I want him to be happy. I want you both to be happy. So please…
please
, come back and fight.”

Katherine was silent, looking down as she thought, watching the sock feet of the other passengers making their way through security. It would be so simple, all she had to do was step to her left—just a few feet away—and get back in line. This would all be over, no matter how much it hurt.

Instead, she huffed a breath and looked away. “I must be out of my mind—your mother is still going to send me away!”

“No. Not this time. She won’t this time.” Élise, without elaborating more, pulled her back toward her royal bodyguards and out the main doors of the airport. Katherine barely had time to put her shoes back on before her luggage was back in the trunk and they were pulling out of the airport parking lot, getting back on the road and heading toward the city again. She hadn’t even realized that it had taken nearly an hour to get to the airport. She had just been thinking about Eric. But now her heart was pounding in her ears as she thought about what Élise had said. Was the princess right? Could she convince Annette that she was right for both Eric and Montavian?

She spent the car ride back anxiously looking out the window and glancing at Élise, who didn’t say anything else but kept looking at her reassuringly. They were moving too slow, even though they were a few notches above the speed limit. She ran her fingers through her hair as she saw the top of the hotel in the window, and they pulled out onto the road that led to the palace. The gates were already open when they finally reached them, waiting for them to come back inside. Katherine had no idea where the car she had come in was. The driver of the princess’s car came to help them out, though, but Élise was already grabbing her hand and pulling her back inside. That was when—