Prince of Scandal (9 page)

‘It bothers you that I didn’t swoon at your feet?’ Yet from the first Raul had got under her skin as no other.

‘If I ever expected that, I know better now. Besides, I prefer you as you are.’ Instead of annoyance, she thought she heard admiration in his voice.

Did her senses conspire to fool her?

His fingers brushed her back and her flesh drew tight. A coiling pulse began low in her belly. He devastated her defences. Luisa drew a sharp breath, seeking control.

‘Won’t you tell me?’ His voice was a dark velvet caress.

She shut her eyes. What would it hurt?

‘When I was sixteen my mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. I looked after her.’

‘I’m sorry. That must have been hard.’

She nodded, her throat tight. ‘At least I was with her. But the point is, just before that some strangers came to the farm, wanting to talk to me. They were sent by my grandfather.’ Even now she had to force that word out. The man didn’t deserve the title.

‘Not to see your mother?’

‘No.’ A sour taste flooded her mouth. ‘His offer was for me alone. He invited me to live with him and learn to be a real princess.’ She paused, clasping unsteady hands as she recalled the grandiose promises and the demands.

‘At first I was excited. I was thrilled to see him, to be in his home. It was like a fairy tale. Even though he kept me busy at the palace, training me, he said, for when I’d be ready to take my proper place with him.’

‘You actually came here? I didn’t know.’

She nodded. ‘No one did. Obviously I wasn’t up to his high standards. But I was here long enough to get his measure and that of the people he mixed with. That put me off ever returning.’ She laughed hollowly. ‘I was naïve. It took a while to realise I was just a puppet to manipulate. No choices. No career. No control over my own destiny.’

The skimming touch of Raul’s fingers was gentle, almost a caress. She knew a ridiculous desire to sink back against him.

‘When news came of my mother’s illness I saw him for what
he really was. He insisted I sever all links with my parents. He hated that my mother had walked out on the life he’d planned for her—a duty wife to some crony. He never forgave her. When I begged for help to get her better care, he was furious. According to him, she’d ceased to exist the moment she’d left her home.’

Luisa shuddered as she recalled the old man’s vitriol. His cruelty.

‘By marrying a commoner she’d diluted her aristocratic bloodlines. It was only his extreme generosity that enabled him to overlook my tainted birth and offer to take me in.’

A stream of low-voiced Maritzian cut the air. No mistaking its furious, violent edge.

‘I knew he was old-fashioned.’ Raul’s voice was a lethal whisper. ‘But that’s just vicious.’

Luisa felt tears prickle, hearing his outrage and sympathy. It wrapped round her like a warm blanket.

She’d never told her parents. Couldn’t bear to repeat it, though she suspected her mum had guessed some of it.

Relief filled her at finally spilling the awful truth.

‘So you went back to the farm.’

‘Mum needed me. And so did Dad. When she died it almost broke him.’

‘Which is when you started taking responsibility for the co-op. I’m sorry, Luisa.’

She stiffened. ‘There’s nothing to be sorry for. I
wanted
to be with them.’

‘I meant I’m sorry your first contact with Maritz was so poisonous. No wonder you hated the idea of the place.’

Her laugh was bitter. ‘You can say that again. I thought the place full of the worst sort of people.’

‘Not just your grandfather?’

She hesitated, aware she’d again strayed into territory she’d never shared.

‘Luisa?’ He paused. ‘Do you want to tell me?’ It was the concern in his tone that did it. The gentleness.

‘There was a guy a little older than me at my grandfather’s
palace.’ She sucked in a breath. ‘No one knew I was the prince’s granddaughter but when we met in the gardens it didn’t seem to matter who I was. We talked and talked.’ She cut herself off. How gullible she’d been!

‘We met daily. And I … fell for him.’ He’d kissed her and she’d believed herself in love. ‘He wanted to elope but I refused.’ She’d wanted her parents at her wedding.

‘That upset him. He tried …’ Foul memories surged, chilling her to the marrow and she was grateful for Raul’s warmth. ‘He tried to force me but I fought him. He left with a black eye, but not before he’d explained the reason he’d bothered with me was because of who I was. He’d found out and decided to use that to his advantage. He was ambitious, you see. Marrying a princess would be a coup.’

‘Luisa—’ Raul’s deep voice was gruff ‘—I’m sorry.’

‘It’s not your fault.’

‘But it’s my country, my people.’ No mistaking his regret and indignation.

A touch feathered between her shoulder blades as if he’d pressed his lips there. She was so tempted to ask him to love her again till the disturbing memories receded and all she knew was ecstasy.

Raul made her needy. He made her want things she shouldn’t.

On wobbly legs she stood, clasping the loose dress close. She needed to take control. She’d already revealed enough. Despite the relief of sharing, she felt raw.

‘I can manage now, if you point me to the bathroom.’

‘Let me help.’ From behind he tugged the dress.

Resisting would tear the fabric so she cooperated, only to find her bra had somehow got caught up with the gown. Hurriedly she crossed her arms over bare breasts.

‘That’s enough. I—’

He dragged the cloth down till it pooled at her feet.

Too late she remembered her panties lay in shreds somewhere. She clamped a hand between her legs, feeling moisture
there, a reminder of the sex they’d shared. There wasn’t even a robe or a towel to cover her nakedness.

He circled before her, tall in his exquisite finery while she wore nothing but stay-up stockings. She felt vulnerable, especially before his magnificent height.

‘You’re stunning.’ The thickening timbre of his voice splintered her thoughts. ‘Let me look at you.’

The avid glitter in his eyes, the way his nostrils flared as if to drag in oxygen, spoke of a man at the edge of control. She felt his hands tremble as he took hers. He swallowed jerkily and tendons stood out in his neck.

She’d never been naked before a man. Embarrassed heat flushed her skin. But with it came a buzz of excitement, a rising sense of power.

For Raul looked … enthralled.

Again he swallowed and she saw the rapid pulse in his throat. It mirrored her heartbeat.

He looked like a starving man before a feast, not sure where to begin. She felt again that stirring of power.

With a visible effort he dragged his gaze up. His eyes had a strange unfocused look. Slowly he shook his head. He released her and stepped back.

‘You were a virgin. You’ll be sore. I shouldn’t …’

She didn’t feel sore. Not much. She felt wonderful. Because he wanted her as she wanted him? Or because he cared enough to hold back? To put her needs first.

She hugged the knowledge close. It was a small thing but it felt significant.

When he gently scooped her in his arms Luisa curled into him. She delighted in the steady thump of his heart as he carried her to the bathroom.

Minutes later she sank back with a sigh in warm scented water. It was bliss on the gentle ache of muscles.

Under lowered lashes she watched Raul strip off his jacket, roll up the sleeves of his collarless shirt and reach for a large sponge. Anticipation zinged through her.

His swirling touch with the sponge was impossibly erotic.

She gripped the massive tub rather than reach up to brush back the dark lock tumbling over his forehead. He tended her so gently. As if she were precious.

Sweat sheened his face. It trickled down his throat and she wanted to slide her hand along his skin. But his taut frown and grim mouth deterred her.

Until she noticed the bulge in his trousers. No wonder he looked in pain. No wonder his big capable hands shook so badly he’d dropped the soap more than once.

The knowledge set every nerve ablaze.

‘I’m getting out.’ Luisa struggled to rise.

‘Wait!’ Heedless of the water, Raul hauled her out with an ease that reminded her of the power hidden under his clothes. She sank into him, spreading her hands over his saturated shirt and muscled chest.

‘You need rest.’ His jaw set hard as if with strain.

‘That’s not what I need.’ She tilted her chin and met his gaze. ‘I need you.’

There, she’d said it and the world hadn’t collapsed around her! In fact it felt good.

‘Now.
’ Her fingers curled tight in his sodden shirt. She raised herself on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his.

In a flurry of urgent movement he lifted her, strode out and laid her on the bed. Seconds later he’d ripped his shirt open and shrugged it off. Luisa’s pulse rocketed as she took in his sculpted torso with its smattering of dark hair. His hands went to his trousers as he heeled off his shoes. A moment later he stood naked and imposing.

She forgot to breathe as she surveyed his perfect form, felt the power radiating from him. Then thought ended as he joined her. He was like a furnace, burning hot.

He touched her all over, palms smooth, fingers teasing. He skimmed and stroked and even tickled till she squirmed and tried to reciprocate. But he held her, his thigh clamped her still, his hands capturing her wrists.

The torture began as he used his lips, tongue and teeth on her body. Minutes turned into an aeon of pleasure.

It was as if he tried to compensate for the speed of their earlier coupling. Delight piled upon delight till Luisa was strung out, quivering with need and pleasure. It was too much, too intense.

‘Please, Raul,’ she gasped. ‘Don’t tease.’

He looked up under hooded lids and her breath snagged as he tugged with his mouth at her breast. He held her gaze as his tongue circled her nipple then lapped hard, drawing hot wires of desire through her taut body. She groaned and instantly his hand slid down, stroking at her most sensitive point.

That was all it took.

She cried out as waves of ecstasy crested and crashed within her. Still he held her gaze, even as the world swirled around her and she bucked helplessly beneath his touch. It was wonderful; it left her speechless.

But it wasn’t
Raul.

Luisa clutched at his shoulders and finally, as she sagged spent against the mattress, he settled between her thighs. The feel of his hot flesh there sent a spark of energy through her lax bones and a searing sense of familiarity. Of rightness.

This time he slid home easily. She rejoiced in each magnificent centimetre, excitement stirring anew as he propped his weight above her. His solid chest brushed her sensitive nipples. Friction built to combustible levels with each measured thrust.

But it was his eyes that transfixed her. The connection between them was different this time. She read arousal and restraint in his gaze. And more. Something unguarded and raw. Something honest.

Raul moved faster and Luisa tilted her hips to meet him. Pleasure coiled tighter, lashing them together. It reached breaking point and still their eyes locked.

The climax came. Earth-shattering, mind-blowing ecstasy that went on and on. Through it all their gazes held in silent communication.

It felt like they shared as equals.

R
EALITY
hit when Luisa woke.

Last night she’d almost believed they shared more than their bodies. But waking alone in Raul’s bed reminded her where his priorities lay. Their marriage was about his desire for power. Sex was a bonus they shared.

Her chest tightened as she forced herself to think of it as sex.
It had felt like making love.

Yet he’d left it to a maid to wake his bride, discreetly pretending not to notice the rumpled bed or that Luisa was naked beneath the fine linen.

Fire scorched Luisa’s skin as the girl swept up the rumpled wedding gown, folding the metres of fine hand-worked veil with the reverence it deserved.

Memories seared, of Raul flinging the veil away. Of her standing with the dress at her feet as he held her arms wide and feasted on the sight of her. Of their blazing passion, utterly heedless of her exquisite finery.

Thrumming arousal beat low in her body, just remembering. Appalled, Luisa realised the need Raul had awoken was far from sated. How much she’d changed in one night!

She nodded vaguely as the maid, eyes carefully averted, pointed out the door in the panelling connecting to Luisa’s room, for when she wanted to dress.

Luisa hadn’t known the apartments were connected. She hadn’t even recognised the corridor when Raul had brought her here! She’d been so caught up in her response to him.

Alone at last, Luisa stared at the empty pillow beside her.

She had no right to feel disappointed. She’d known what she was doing. She’d initiated it! But through a night of intimacy, curled close in his arms, she’d forgotten.

What they’d shared had been purely physical. Her skin prickled as she recalled how eager she’d been. It had been almost a relief to let anger push her into reckless desire.

She’d given herself,
knowing
where she fitted in his world. Raul viewed her in terms of her usefulness to him. Despite his tenderness, in that he was like her grandfather.

Pain cramped her belly. Her dream of one day finding love like her parents was dead. This—the ecstasy and the loneliness—would be her lot.

Maybe that was why she’d imagined the fragile connection between them: because it was easier than facing reality.

But she couldn’t hide from the world for ever.

Ignoring the breakfast tray, Luisa wrapped a sheet around herself and hurried to the connecting door, determined not to yield to weak regrets. She’d made her bed and now …

She grabbed the door frame and braced herself as sudden realisation smote her. Her knees shook so hard she feared she’d slide to the floor.

They hadn’t used contraception! How could she only just have realised?

It scared her—how much Raul scrambled her thoughts. How she changed when she was with him. He raised passions she’d never known. Her every emotion, from anger to joy, seemed so much more intense because of him.

Giving herself to him surely made her more vulnerable to his potent influence. But it was too late to turn back.

All she could do was try to be sensible, remembering they shared a pragmatic, convenient relationship. She couldn’t afford to fall into the trap of foolish dreams.

She’d begin with contraception. She wasn’t ready to bring a baby into such a situation.

‘Your Highnesses, welcome.’ The mayor bowed low, his bald head gleaming in the sun.

But Raul’s attention wasn’t on the resplendent figure before the town hall. It was riveted on Luisa. In her pale suit and with her golden hair swept up she looked coolly elegant. Yet a darting glance at her full lips and the slenderness of her throat brought waves of memory crashing in on him.

Of Luisa beneath him last night, writhing with a desperate pleasure tinged by innocent wonder that had held him in thrall despite his urgent need for completion. Of her unrestrained passion that blasted through his sophistication and years of experience and reduced him to slavering, uncontrolled need.

As if
he
was the virgin and she the seducer!

Even the feel of her arm as he guided her over the uneven cobblestones made hunger spring to gnawing life. He had to call on all his experience to mask his feelings.

That was what worried him. The fact that she made him
feel.
Not merely mind-blowing lust. Nor simply relief and gratitude that the crown was assured.

A cocktail of emotions had stirred last night as she’d spoken of her grandfather and her would-be seducer. A fierce protectiveness utterly unlike that he felt for his country. Fury at her hurts. Sadness. Tenderness he’d never known.

And joy so profound it had shocked him to the core and driven him from bed this morning, seeking work as a distraction.

Instinctively he tried to deny the intensity of his emotions. He didn’t do feelings. That was how he’d survived and rebuilt his life in the face of humiliating public speculation and private pain.

What did Luisa do to him?

Even as a youth, when he’d been smitten by what he’d foolishly deemed love, he’d functioned better than this.

The crowd cheered and it was all Raul could do to remember to wave in acknowledgement. For the first time he had difficulty remembering his duty.

The realisation terrified him.
%

Duty had been his life. He’d devoted himself to his country with a dedication other men gave to wives and families. It gave him purpose. Had kept him going in that bleak time when his world crashed around him.

‘Prince Raul, Princess Luisa, welcome.’ The mayor’s eyes gleamed admiringly as he bowed to Luisa.

Raul tensed at his blatant stare. He knew an unreasoning desire to pull Luisa behind him out of sight. Or take her to the castle and lock her in his bedroom.

Now
there
was a thought!

The crisp wind brought colour to her cheeks. Last night’s passion had softened her lips to a lush, inviting bow that played havoc with his self-control and sent blood surging to his groin. Any minute now and the snapping cameras would catch him in rampant arousal.

‘Your Highness?’

A look at the mayor’s puzzled face told Raul they were waiting for him.

Dredging up his control, Raul spoke, finding calm in the give and take of official welcome. Yet the undercurrent of awareness heightening every sense disturbed him. A night of passion should slake desire, not increase it.

The mayor turned to Luisa, holding out a huge ornamental key that signified her free entry to every locked building in the capital.

‘Welcome to our city, Your Highness. I hope you will be as happy here with us as we are to have you among us.’ He spoke in Maritzian then English and the crowd cheered.

She looked sexy as hell. No trace now of the androgynous mud-spattered farmer. Raul imagined unbuttoning her jacket as he’d undone her wedding gown last night and—

‘Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here.’ To Raul’s amazement Luisa spoke in slow but clear Maritzian as she turned towards the people lining the square. ‘It’s kind of you all to come and welcome me to your lovely city. I’ll look forward to discovering it for myself.’

The crowd roared.

It didn’t matter that Luisa had turned from the microphone so the sound blurred, or that her accent wasn’t perfect. The fact that she made the effort to speak Maritzian, when everyone knew from the press release that she wasn’t fluent, endeared her to them.

The mayor beamed. Streamers waved and a ripple of applause rose.

Pride surged as Raul watched her smile at the throng. Only he, beside her, saw the stiff set of her jaw and how her hands shook as she clasped the heavy key.

Only he, the man who’d forced her into leaving everything she knew and adopting a role she’d rejected time and again, guessed what it cost her to put on this façade.

Razor-sharp pain speared through him. He’d done what he must for his nation and Luisa had been the one to suffer.

A memory flashed of her pain last night as she’d spoken of her grandfather’s manipulation. Raul’s hands balled to fists. His own demands must have been like an echo of that dreadful time. The knowledge stirred an uncomfortable, unfamiliar sensation.
Guilt.

He’d plucked her from her world, one where she was loved and appreciated, and dropped her into an alien place. Into a role even those born to it found challenging.

Last night they’d shared physical pleasure. But he’d persuaded and challenged her into it. Would she have come to him of her own volition?

‘Here, let me.’ He took the key, disturbed at the shame he felt. He wasn’t used to questioning his actions. He’d spent so long sure in the knowledge he acted for the public good.

‘It’s almost over,’ he murmured. ‘Just back to the car and that’s it.’

Finally Luisa met his eyes and shock sucker-punched him. Gone was the wonderment and warmth that, despite his attempts to rationalise, had turned last night into something remarkable. Something he refused to analyse.

For the first time since she’d agreed to marry, Luisa’s gaze was coolly remote.

Inexplicable loss filled him. He’d thought they’d begun to share something more than an acceptance of duty. Instinctively Raul reached for her but she moved away.

At the last moment he remembered to thank the mayor. By the time he’d finished Luisa was ahead of him, her spine erect and poise perfect. That hadn’t been learned in the last week. Her mother’s teaching?

He followed, his gaze drawn to the slim skirt that shifted over her curves with every step. That was why he didn’t see the bustle on the edge of the crowd. The next thing he knew, one of the security staff lunged across the open space while another hurried forward. Instantly alert, Raul raced across the cobbles, adrenalin pumping, ready to protect her.

He skidded to a halt beside her as she bent. That was when he saw the ragamuffin dog, all hair and lolling tongue, gambolling at her feet.

Raul’s heart crashed against his ribs. When he’d seen the security men swing into action he’d feared the worst. If anything had happened to her.

‘Luisa, he’s filthy.’ The words were brusque, sharper than he’d intended as relief flared. His wife gave him a wide-eyed stare.

His wife! The world shifted beneath his feet and Raul couldn’t tell if it was from shock or reaction to the reproach in her eyes.

‘He’s just a harmless puppy.’ She cradled the mongrel, looking down and murmuring in a soft tone that made the beast wriggle in ecstasy.

If Luisa smiled at him that way, whispering and rubbing his belly, Raul would lap it up too. His groin tightened. Damn it! This was ridiculous. She only had to smile and he got as hard as a randy teenager. He didn’t understand it.

A commotion caught his eye. A small boy was trying to get past Raul’s staff. Raul nodded to them to let him pass.

The kid cast a fearful glance over his shoulder then hurried forward. Raul saw a scowling red-faced man in the crowd where the boy had been.

For an instant memory side-swiped Raul. Of his own father wearing that same expression on one of the few occasions he’d deigned to spend time with his young son. Raul couldn’t remember what he’d done to earn his father’s wrath. Scuffed his shoes perhaps or earned a less than perfect mark in his studies. It hadn’t taken much to disappoint the old man.

Bitterness welled on his tongue and his eyes narrowed.

The boy stopped before them, his head sinking low.

‘Is this your dog?’ Raul had to wait for a silent nod and felt Luisa’s hand on his arm.

What? Did she think he’d rip into the kid?

‘Yes, sir. He means no harm, sir. The cord broke and—’

‘Completely understandable,’ Raul said. ‘With all that noise it’s not surprising he got overexcited.’

The boy raised his head and stared, as if unable to believe his ears.

‘He must have sensed the Princess likes dogs.’ Raul found himself talking just to reassure. He’d had no idea Luisa liked dogs till he saw her cuddle this one. She smiled at the boy and crouched down to his level.

Good with children and dogs. Raul watched the boy’s nervousness disappear under the warmth of Luisa’s approval and realised she was a natural with both. She’d make a great mother—warm and affectionate. He watched her hand the pup over and pat the kid reassuringly.

Raul could imagine her with an unruly brood, unfazed by soccer in the gloomy royal portrait gallery on a wet winter’s day or kids who wanted to run outdoors instead of perfecting their Latin before they were allowed dinner.

Something scooped a hollow deep in Raul’s belly at the thought of Luisa with children.
They’d be his children.

For the first time the idea of fatherhood appealed, even though he had no experience of real family life.

He tried to imagine Luisa carrying his child and found the notion strangely satisfying. Though not as pleasurable as having her to himself, naked and needy.

‘It’s time to go.’ He took her arm and helped her rise. Then
he steered his wife and the boy towards the beet-faced man at the front of the crowd.

He wanted his wife to himself, had wanted her since he’d forced himself to leave her this morning. But first he had business to attend to.

Luisa raised a hand to wave at the crowd pressed close to the road. Safer to look at them than the man beside her who continually bewildered her.

Self-conscious, she crossed her legs over the ladder creeping up her stockings where the pup had scratched. Then she wiped at the muddy stains on her designer suit.

‘Don’t fidget with your clothes. No one else can see the dirt.’

Startled, she turned. She’d thought Raul focused on the crowd on the other side of the road. Even now he didn’t turn. She had a perfect view of his austere profile as he waved. Luisa found her gaze lingering on his full lower lip as she remembered the way he’d kissed her last night.

Heat spiralled inside and she swallowed hard. It didn’t do any good. She couldn’t quench the need he’d ignited.

Obviously Raul wasn’t similarly bothered. He was utterly composed. No doubt displeased by her behaviour in picking up a grubby little dog that was anything but pedigree. Her eyes shut as she imagined the press pictures. Raul looking regal and she with a ladder in her stockings.