Along Came A Prince (14 page)

 …A small \child’s
white casket with cascading roses spread across the top was in place next to the
open grave at a London cemetery. A minister stood reading funeral prayers.
Victoria and the doctor were the only mourners. At the end, the minister handed
Victoria one red rose he had picked from the spray of flowers, then offered her
his sympathy and walked away.

Dr. Fulton led
Victoria, who clutched her rose while tears streaked down her face, back to his
car. She could barely walk and was clearly on the verge of collapse. He opened the
door and helped her in, then went to the driver’s side and slid into the seat.
He started the engine before speaking. “You’re in no condition to be alone. I’m
going to take you someplace else other than home where I know you’ll get the
proper care. You can stay there as long as you like.”  

Victoria opened
her mouth to speak. No words came out.

The car purred
to life as he stepped on the accelerator. They drove out into the country,
farther and farther away from the city life. The beauty of the Yorkshire hills
greeted them. They drove still farther until Dr. Fulton pulled into a long
driveway that led to a beautiful country estate.

He stopped in
front of the mansion. A gray-haired woman about eighty years old, wearing a
long white shawl and supported by a cane, walked down the two steps to the car.

“Grand-mère, be
careful now.” Dr. Fulton got out of the car and rushed to her side. “Let me
help you,” he said.

“Oh, Dean,
don’t be foolish. Who do you think helps me when you’re not here?” His grand-mère
grasped her cane tightly and took small, quick steps to reach the car.

The doctor opened
the door for the grieving Victoria and waited while she stepped out. He guided
her to his grand-mère who promptly took her into her arms.

“There, there,
dear. It’s all over. I’ll help you heal now.” She looked over at her grandson.
“Where’s her suitcase, Dean?”

“We didn’t stop
to pack. I figured if I took her home, she wouldn’t go along with my plan so I
brought her straight here. I thought Diane’s clothes would fit Victoria until I
could send my nurse to her apartment to pack some of hers. She’s devastated,
Grand-mère, emotionally and physically. I don’t know how much more she can
take.” He turned toward Victoria and explained, “Diane is my sister, and she’s
about your size.”

“Let’s stop all
this chattering like we’re a couple of chipmunks and get her into the house. A
nice, warm bath and some good food will make her, at least, comfortable.” Grand-mère
turned to Victoria. “Let me take your hand, dear. You’re not alone anymore...”

♥♥

Before
the next royal dinner, Clay introduced Stacia to Sam Prescott who had just
arrived at SwissDen. His handshake was firm, his manner courteous, and his
smile warm and friendly. The camaraderie that existed between the two men was
apparent immediately.

“My
father and Sam have been friends since I’ve been little,” Clay explained after
Sam left them. “Guess it’s the circumstances of wealth attracting wealth,
although in their case, it’s more like friend liking and respecting friend. And
that’s what they’ve always been – friends, never competitors.”

“It’s
easy to tell how comfortable Mr. Prescott is here.”

“Sam’s life hasn’t
been the greatest. I imagine that’s why he loves to visit us. We’re his family,
and he’s happy when he’s here.”

“Isn’t he
married?”

Clay shook his
head. “He’s alone because he prefers it that way. His wife died years ago after
a long illness. He hasn’t found anyone to take her place, but then again, he
hasn’t been looking either.” Clay raised his arm and gave a quick wave to
someone elsewhere in the room. “We’re being paged, Stacia. Mother’s motioning
to us to join her.”

Stacia looked
around, finding the queen at once, which wasn’t hard to do, because of the
glittering diamond tiara she was wearing.

Moments later, she
found out why they’d been summoned to his mother’s side. The door leading to
the dining room had opened. The king entered first, followed by the queen and
her escort, Sam Prescott. The prince and Stacia were next, in what she’d
figured was probably royal protocol. The king and queen were seated at opposite
ends of the table. Sam was on the queen’s right. Clay and Stacia were seated on
her left. The rest of the guests were then escorted in and shown to their
designated seats.

“You may start a
new game with
London Affair
, Stacia,” the queen commented. “I know I’ve
been playing it since Clayton explained the concept of the remake.”

“And what is the
game you’ve invented, Mother?” Clay questioned.

“I enjoy trying to
match old movies and their stars with those of today who could play their same
roles.”

“Stacia already
plays your game. She’s good at it too.”

The queen and
Stacia began to choose their star choices and soon everyone around the table
joined in which opened the door to the formal dinner progressing in a casual
manner. Stacia thought the lively conversation made the delicious dinner even
more enjoyable.

Later, Stacia and
Clay strolled to the pond, crossed its bridge to the center and rested their
elbows on the railing. The moonlight shimmered through the clouds. The swans
and other birds slept on the shore.

“It’s funny how
you don’t even notice the domes when you’re here,” Stacia said. She looked up
into the sky as she spoke. “They’re almost invisible.”

“That’s my mother
at work again. She wants the view to be as clear as she can make it at all
times, so the cleaning crew is kept busy at night while the guests are
sleeping.”

“Your mother’s an
incredible woman. She’s nice and friendly, yet she commands respect at the same
time.”

“You’re also an
incredible woman, Stacia, not only because of your beauty, but for what you
have accomplished in your life as an actress. And you’re nice and friendly too,
yet you command respect at the same time.”

“Thank you, but –”

“No buts. So, you
need proof, huh? Well, for one thing, here we stand, the two of us alone, under
the moon and stars, romance beaming down at us, and we talk about my
mother
!
And I respect you enough to allow it to happen, instead of taking you in my
arms and kissing you, which is what I really want to do.”

“I thought we had
an agreement.”

“And I thought
we’d negotiated a few kisses in there.”

“I just don’t want
things to get serious between us. I value the relationship we have right now.”

“Hey! I got over
wanting a sister a long time ago.”

“Why can’t we just
be comfortable with each other?”

“Maybe because you
have long, red hair, green eyes the color of the sea that bewitch me with your
every glance.” He tilted her face upward until their eyes met. “A mouth that’s
soft and
very
kissable – I know from experience. Should I go on?” Clay
stopped. “You know, I may be a prince, but more than that, I am all man. A man
who knows the woman he wants, and unfortunately for you, that person is you.
And unfortunately for me, you don’t want me.” He started to walk away from her.
“We might as well head back. I’m out of the mood for moonlight and romance. If
it’s only friendship you want, than that’s what you’ll get from now on.”

♥♥

Tears stung
Stacia’s eyes as she lay in her bed in the castle. Questions began to pop into
her mind. Why had she resisted Clay? Why couldn’t she separate sex and
marriage? What was it about the possibility of getting serious enough to consider
marriage that scared her? Perhaps he wasn’t interested in marriage anyway.
Maybe all he wanted was the chase and the opportunity to make out with her –
like most every guy she’d ever dated. After all, someday he’d be the king. How
could she possibly fathom for an instant that she could be his queen? That only
happened in story books. In real life a
little
farm girl didn’t marry
the
big
prince. Even Grace Kelly came from an extremely rich family and
was very famous as an actress before she married Prince Rainier. She was the
exception, and Stacia was the rule against it.

Well, she’d made
it this long without sleeping with anyone, and if marriage wasn’t going to
happen, maybe she should try the experience with someone she was immensely
attracted to – Prince Clayton Alexander. What would it hurt? Everyone else did,
why not her? The answer to that was easy enough. She’d never followed what
everyone else did in her whole life. She’d walked to her own beat. And because
of it, she was an actress in Hollywood, while most of her friends had started
their families years ago, and some had moved on to their second husbands.

So, should she
make love with Clay? Was love even the right word? Why was she afraid? Probably
because she didn’t want to spoil what they had. It could be that simple, but
she knew she was just skimming the truth. There was another reason deep down
inside her, buried so deep she couldn’t dig it out. Well, why worry about it? Why
not just give Clay what he wanted? Kisses. As many as he wanted. If it
developed into more, she’d just go along with it. And it would, that much she
was certain of, because she knew she was as sexually attracted to him as he
claimed he was with her.

Stacia’s last
thought before she fell asleep brought a smile to her face.
So, why stop the
inevitable from happening? Why not help it along?

♥♥

In the morning
when she awoke, Stacia’s decision stayed the same. The idea that she could kiss
Clay as much as they both wanted, and possibly go further, agreed very much
with the sexual feelings running rampant through her at the present time. If he
hadn’t turned her temperature up to past the boiling point, perhaps she would
have discarded her little seduction scene. However, the only question, which
remained now, was how should she begin her temptress role? Simple. Just like
she did for every movie role – research the part.

Well, she knew he
liked her hair long, so, that’s how she’d wear it. She went over to the mirror
and began fluffing her hair. Maybe a few curls around her face would help. He’d
said her lips were kissable. They sure didn’t appear that way now. She wet them
with her tongue. That’s right, she remembered one way to tease a guy was to wet
her lips slowly in front of him. She practiced in the mirror, until she started
laughing. She looked so silly.

Get
serious
,
she reminded herself. She reached for her cosmetics, grabbed a pink glossy
lipstick and applied it. Then she pouted her lips, one way, then another. She
slanted her head to the left, then the right and pursed her lips some more. Same
result. She still looked silly! She wondered how the media could ever call her
a sex goddess.

He’d mentioned her
green eyes. The color of the sea, huh? Well, she knew what to do about that.
She took out her green eye shadow to complement her eyes even more and applied
it much heavier than usual. Then, she went to her suitcase and pulled out a
green strapless tank top, one she normally wore under a blouse because it was
so low-cut and skimpy.

Well
, she
thought
. I’d better get my best underwear out.
Red, she considered, then
tossed out the idea. With a green shirt and red bra, she’d feel like a
Christmas tree.
Well, I could be his little Christmas present!
She grinned
at that idea. Black would be better, she decided. That was always sexy. So she slipped
into a pair of her black panties. Going without a bra was sexier, and she
pulled the snug tank top over her head without one.

She walked back to
the mirror. She peered into it, trying to consume the entire picture of the new
seductress, Stacia Saunders. Green, low-cut tank top and all. She did a small
pirouette and decided that was the best she could do in the clothing
department.

Reaching for her eye
liner, she used that first, then came the mascara, which she applied coat after
coat, like the makeup pros at the studio had taught her to do, until she reached
the effect she wanted. “All right, now what’s next? Ooh, don’t forget the
eyebrow pencil. Got it.”

When she finished
the last of her makeup, she stood back to survey her new creation. Then she
started laughing so hard tears came to her eyes, and she had to reapply some of
her makeup. This might be the most challenging role of her career.
And the
most fulfilling in more ways than one
, she added to her thoughts
.

Realizing she’d
better wear a blouse over her top sent Stacia back to her suitcase. She’d shed
the blouse when they got to the woods. Anyway, she couldn’t imagine what the
king and queen would think if she came to the breakfast table in just that
green top with her nipples sticking out. “Let’s see, where’s my tightest
pants?” she asked talking out loud to herself. She dug in her suitcase again
and came up with a pair that should enhance the image she was striving for.
“And high heels, they’re a must.” She slipped on a pair of black stiletto
heels.

“Well, that’s it.
I’m done.” And when she looked in the mirror again, she decided the effect
wasn’t bad after all. It had come together nicely, and despite her hard work to
resemble a harlot, she still felt like the virgin she was inside. “Okay, Prince
Charming, I’m ready for your kisses whenever you are.” She sashayed out the
door and went down to breakfast.

♥♥

Once there, the
butler informed Stacia that the king and queen had already eaten. He also said
Prince Clayton was waiting for her in the atrium when she finished her breakfast.
Hunger wasn’t what was on her mind at the moment. So with a quick thanks, but
no thanks reply, she headed into the atrium to find Clay. She was feeling quite
good about the fact that she didn’t have to face the king and queen, so they
couldn’t figure out her mission to entice their son.