His Fair Lady (Invitation to Eden): Soulmates (The Prequel)

by Marian Tee

  The only reason he had allowed himself to be blackmailed into taking a vacation was the belief that he could still do some work even when he was out of the country. But clearly, that was not possible since the island had no goddamn cellphone reception.

  Julian clicked on his phone to pull up his most recent text conversations, reading each message broodingly.

  Don’t get mad, big bro. I’m just taking a page from your book. If you want me and Mom backing you on A-Day, then do this for us. Take a freaking break!

  It would do my heart good to know that you separated yourself temporarily from your obligations. You have done more than enough for the kingdom. Those who think you should have done more do not know what they’re talking about. Please rest, my son – and just once, please put yourself first this time.

  His fist clenched involuntarily at his mother’s message. He loved Elvira as much as he was capable of loving anyone, but he was not like her. Filial love did not make him blind to another person’s faults – and certainly not when it came to his own faults.

  Elvira was wrong. The girl in his dreams was wrong. The whole world was wrong. There was more he could have done, but he had failed. And now, the guilt of his failure would stay with him forever.

  He debated with himself for a moment before forcing himself to click on the Delete button. Keeping Elvira’s message might only end up making him consider giving himself excuses when there were none.

  When Elvira’s message disappeared from the screen, another one appeared.

  Just say the word and I’ll find a way to get you out of there. Ethereal needs you.

  Good old Jose. Although the world thought of Jose as a carefree and flamboyant prince, Julian had always been able to count on his cousin. Only to the family did Jose reveal his more serious side, the one that cared for the kingdom as much as they did.

  Julian tossed his phone on the side table. Straightening in his chair, he weighed his options carefully. He owed it to his sister and mother to truly try having a vacation here in Eden. But if after tonight Julian still felt the same, then he would do whatever it took to leave the island. There were still so many things to be done—

  “Excuse me, mister?”

  The words had been repeated thrice, spoken by the same feminine voice, before Julian realized that he was the “mister” the girl was talking to.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he had been called that. He only moved in exclusive circles, and every person in those circles naturally knew he was of royal blood.

  Pretending he hadn’t heard a thing, Julian closed his eyes and hoped that the intruder would take the hint. Did she really not know he was a prince, or was this just a ploy to get his attention? Either way, this was another annoyance he blamed on Eden’s door. If he had his bodyguards with him, this girl wouldn’t have even gotten within a one-mile radius.

  “Prince Julian?”

  And there it was, he thought coldly. She had known it was really him then. It had been a ploy to gain his attention. He looked up, simply because he had nothing else to do rather than out of curiosity or interest.

  A petite dark-haired girl was looking at him. Again, a nagging feeling that he knew her assaulted him. But that was impossible. Julian never mixed with commoners, and that was exactly what she was. It was not that he was a snob, but he had always known he would marry for the kingdom. Commoners, however interesting they were, would do nothing for Ethereal.

  She was still looking at him, a hopeful and awed expression on her face. She was pretty, with her long wavy hair parted in the center, framing her heart-shaped face and resting against the snug bodice of her peasant-style dress. An island girl through and through, but how much of it was real? For all he knew, she could be an American socialite dressing down in hopes of making her look different from the other women that hounded him.

  “It really is you, isn’t it?” Her voice had become shaky. If he wasn’t so cynical, Julian would have thought she was close to fainting.

  His gaze narrowed. Even her voice sounded familiar. Dammit, had they really met before?

  She took a tentative step towards him. This close, her flowery scent reached him, and his nostrils flared in pleasure. She had such a beautiful mild scent, like the faintest hint of lavender. His eyes went back to her face, and that was when he realized another unexpected thing about her.

  She was blind.

  The realization had Julian drawing his breath sharply.

  The girl reached out to touch his face, and Julian didn’t move a muscle. He was not in the habit of allowing simply anyone to touch him, but something about this girl made him want to see—

  Her fingers grazed his lips.

  The contact produced an electrifying reaction between them, causing her to gasp while he cursed and tried to slow down his suddenly thundering heartbeat.

  It was her. It was her. It was her.

  The faceless girl he had been dreaming of for years. What the fuck was she doing in Eden? Then again, why the fuck should that matter?

  “You.” So many times he had dreamt of her in his bed, her delightfully soft body writhing in his arms. Always, they would be so close to fucking but then it never happened. With her in front of him, in the flesh, Julian completely forgot about the most pressing problems that his kingdom faced. He forgot about wanting to leave Eden, forgot everything because right now, all he could think about was the things he could finally do to her, with her, for her…and all of it required her to be naked.

  Julian’s heart thundered against his chest as he looked at her again. Dammit, was it really her?

  A tremulous smile touched her lips. “Me.”

  It was all the confirmation he needed. Julian pulled the girl down to him, and as she tumbled onto his lap, he covered her mouth with his. After hundreds of dream kisses, it felt damn good to finally taste her sweetness for real.

  Chapter Three

  Julian Rivera might be the most elegant person alive, but there was nothing elegant in the way he kissed.

  With one hand holding her hair so he could position her head at the right angle, his tongue aggressively delved into her mouth. Another hand was splayed on her bottom as he pulled her closer to his body. Everything about the way the prince touched and kissed her spoke of raw, dirty, red-hot passion.

  And because it was so, Cass was swept off her feet completely, just like she predicted. There was no way for her to think sensibly. All she could do was feel.

  His mouth ravaged hers, hungrily so, almost as if he had missed kissing her. He tasted sinfully sweet, rich, forbidden, and exotic – something…someone she could only have in her dreams.

  Julian could not stop kissing her. The moment he realized it was really her, the girl in his dreams, he had stopped considering all rational thought. Fuck common sense. All that mattered was he had finally met her – the only girl in his life who could make him so hard he was able to forget, even just for a few precious moments, all of his worries over Ethereal.

  Her breathy little moans were exciting to hear, making his cock ache like it had been imprisoned in celibacy for a long time. She sounded so innocent and turned on at the same time, a unique combination that he had never gotten from any other woman.

  He would have undressed her then and there if not for his lifetime training of exercising rigid control in public. Public displays of affection were not for him, not even if it involved the girl he had been having wet dreams about countless times.

  Reluctantly, Julian lifted his head, and his lips curved involuntarily when she gasped for breath. Looking down at her, Julian was a little disconcerted to encounter her vague-like gaze. He had somehow forgotten she was blind. The fact that she was, in all honesty, threw him off. He didn’t know if her blindness should matter or not. It was something worth thinking about, but for now he had something more urgent to discuss.

  The girl wriggled on his lap, and the embarrassed look on her face told him she had just realized how compromising their current positio
ns made them look. The embarrassment was genuine as far as he could tell, which was refreshing. He could not recall dating any woman who still had the ability to blush spontaneously. Most of them faked it.^^

  “I can feel you staring at me,” she said in that sweet, husky voice of hers. She swallowed right after speaking, as if speaking to him took a lot of courage.

  Julian wanted to see her swallow again. It made him think of endless wicked possibilities about what she could swallow and how. That particular train of thought was tempting to follow, but he forced himself to focus on more important things. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Cass.” It felt so odd to tell him her name for the first time. Technically, they had known each other for years but now that she thought about it, he had always called her ‘sweetheart’ or ‘princess’ in their shared dreams.

  She felt nervous when the prince didn’t say anything after, and she heard herself rambling, “I’m the one you’ve been dreaming about.” In her mind, she could hear Sunny groaning. Don’t be too honest! Honesty is not the best policy! And for heaven’s sake don’t talk to strangers!

  Well, she knew that, but Prince Julian, Cass thought defensively, wasn’t a stranger, right?

  Julian did his best to get a grip on things. The girl he had been dreaming about…His lips compressed, the words working like a cold dose of reality. In his mind and heart, Julian knew the words were true. But in the cold hard light of day, the words became irrational. And he didn’t fucking do irrational.

  At that moment, everything in him warned Julian not to pursue this. If he wanted his life to stay on its normal, predictable path, he had to walk away right now and never look back.

  “Don’t leave!” Cass mentally winced as she heard herself blurt out her protest. Oh, darn, darn, darn! She knew she shouldn’t have said that. It would only make Julian distance himself even more from her.

  Julian’s head jerked up at the words. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m…I…” Would he freak out even more if she told him the truth about herself? She swallowed again, unaware of what the gesture did to Julian. “I f-feel like you don’t believe me.” It was her best attempt at lying, but she had a hard time looking in the prince’s direction as she did. “And I…w-want you to give me a chance because…” Her voice trailed off. Why was lying so hard?

  “Because what?”

  She tried to think of a lie and couldn’t come up with one.

  Giving up, Cass mumbled, “Because…I’m the girl you’re destined to marry?”

  It took three full seconds before Julian realized he had indeed heard Cass right. He said flatly, “You must be joking.”

  Cass knew there was an insult in those words somewhere, but it only made her feel like giggling hysterically. She had waited for this day for such a long time, but now that it was happening, she had no idea what to do to convince the prince that they were meant to be together.

  She had been very, very stupid. In her silly fantasies, Cass had dreamt of the prince charging into her life to rescue her like a modern-day Prince Charming in a limousine or a sports car. She had dreamt he would woo her with sweet words, flowers, and chocolates.

  Obviously, if there was going to be any kind of wooing, it would be something she did to keep the prince from calling 911.

  Cass said earnestly, “I know this is hard to believe, but I mean it.”

  Julian shook his head in sheer incredulity at the girl’s words. She even looked like she believed what she was saying. “Are you on drugs?”

  Cass experienced another overwhelming urge to giggle. The Prince Julian in her dreams was exactly like that. Rude. Domineering. An alpha to the core. And if she were honest, she would have to say she liked that about him. His arrogance made him imperfect, and Cass liked that he was imperfect. It made her feel less insecure about herself, made her more certain that the two of them could indeed be together.

  The girl Cass looked like she was on the verge of laughing. Maybe she wasn’t on drugs, Julian thought. Maybe she was just plain old crazy.

  Oh Lord, Cass thought, dismayed and helplessly amused at the same time when she saw an image of her in a straitjacket popping up in the prince’s mind. She really should be worried now, but strangely, she wasn’t. She just knew, deep in her heart, that there would come a time that they’d reminisce about this day together and laugh about it.

  But for now, she needed to think of a way to convince him of the truth…preferably without making the prince think of her as either high or insane.

  I’ve been celibate far too long, Julian thought. That was the only plausible way to explain why he strangely found the determined look on Cass’ face, coupled with the way she pensively chewed on her lip, a huge turn on. Either that or maybe this island was making him delusional—

  Cass, hearing the prince’s thought, blurted out, “Nope.”

  Julian was startled when Cass suddenly spoke out, and he asked stiffly, “Beg your pardon?”

  Cass crossed her fingers behind her back. “You were thinking that Eden was, umm, giving you strange thoughts and I said ‘nope’?” She paused, telling herself to shut up since her words had only made the prince look at her even more oddly. Another second passed, and unable to help it, she added, “You’re not being delusional, I promise you.” She gave him her most winning smile. “We’re just really attracted to each other.”

  Julian didn’t hesitate. “You’re high and you’re mad.” How could this girl be the same one he had been dreaming about for years? She was nothing like the girl in his dreams. That woman had been sophisticated and elegant, graceful and sensible. She was nothing like this...waif, like the fictional orphan Annie, only she had grown up into a sexy as hell brunette.

  Cass tried not to give in to the urge to nibble the ends of her hair. Maybe Sunny was right and she shouldn’t be too honest with him. But…she didn’t really want to lie, and especially not to him!

  “I’ve never taken drugs, okay? And I’m not certifiable. I just…” To lie or not to lie? She took a deep breath. “I...”

  Julian raised his brow. “You…?”

  She took another deep calming breath. “I read minds.”

  He threw his hands up in surrender. “You have got to be fucking joking. Do you really think I’m the kind of guy who’d fall for that kind of B.S.?”

  “But I’m not lying!” An idea occurred to her, a way to convince him that she was indeed telling him the truth about everything, and she said rashly, “Give me a try. Think of something – anything – and I’ll be able to guess your thoughts.” It was a risky gamble, but she was betting on their connection not to fail her. They were destined to be together. Surely it would be easier to read his mind than any of the others?

  Julian’s gaze narrowed. “Fine.” Yellow daisies.

  “You’re thinking of…yellow…flowers?”

  Julian absolutely refused to let himself feel stunned. Just a lucky guess, he told himself as he tried to come up with another random thought. Red velvet cake.

  “A dessert, something that’s…” Cass had a hard time remembering the name of the cake she saw in Julian’s mind since she didn’t have much of a sweet tooth. “Umm, raspberry? Strawberry? Just something red on top.”

  Julian’s heartbeat was starting to race. Impossible. This was impossible. If he accepted her words as truth – that she could truly read minds – then did it mean that they were destined to marry?

  No.

  One truth did not automatically lead to another truth. Maybe it was something genetic or some kind of weird brain chemistry that allowed her to interpret brain patterns. Her ability to read minds did not mean she also had the ability to see the future. Telepathy, Julian could probably find it in himself to accept. But clairvoyance?

  No.

  “Do you b-believe me now?”

  He said slowly, “I need one more test.”

  Cass’ heart nearly burst with hope. “Anything.”

  Julian focused on an image
.

  An embarrassed gasp broke out of Cass.

  The prince was thinking of her naked in his arms…

  Fucking her on his bed—

  Fucking her against the wall—

  Fucking her right here, straddling his lap as she took his cock into her—

  She gasped again, mentally shutting the door on the stream of images his mind blasted to her. “That’s wicked!”

  Julian smiled, male satisfaction flooding him as he took in the lovely flush on her delicate cheeks. She might be embarrassed, but she was also turned on.

  And she might be lying about seeing the future – of knowing that they were “destined” for each other like some fucking Romeo and Juliet – but his instincts told him that she was at least telling the truth about her ability to read minds.

  He considered his options.

  First was to stay the hell away from her since she could undoubtedly be the greatest complication in his life.

  Second was to slake his lust and have a fling with her while he was on vacation.

  Cass sensed that the prince was thinking about whether or not he should spend more time with her. What, she thought agonizingly, would she do if he chose to turn his back on their destiny? Worry had Cass licking her lips and swallowing convulsively.

  Seeing Cass do those unbelievably sensual things without being aware of the tempting picture she presented did it for Julian.

  Unable to wait, Cass asked again, “Do you believe me—”

  “Yes.” He started to pull her down again, intent on kissing her once more. He planned to do much more, but since they were still out in public, kisses would do for starters.

  Cass hurriedly braced her hands against the prince’s chest. “Wait,” she exclaimed, excitement and passion making her voice breathless. She was so tempted to let him kiss her again, but she knew she couldn’t – at least not until she was sure they were on the same page.

  Julian scowled. His body was burning with desire for her, his cock practically trying to tear a hole out of his trousers. He was not used to waiting at all, but for Cass he exerted an effort to rein his impatience in. “What is it?”