Prince Not So Charming: A Royal Love Story

by Tawny Taylor

  “My father put an end to it as soon as he found out. He forced me to move to the family’s estate on the other side of the country. I was broken-hearted, but it was far worse for Emelia. She was destroyed. Two months later she took her life. Dead. The world had lost one of the most remarkable women it had ever been blessed with. And all because I’d let myself get carried away by love. I’d been a silly, dreaming fool. I vowed then and there it wouldn’t happen again.”

  Jenna cupped her hands over her mouth. She didn’t know what to say. Nothing would help. So she simply stopped walking, turned to him, and extended her arms.

  He crushed her in his embrace, holding her tightly against him. For the moment, she wouldn’t let them be prince and unemployed American girl. They were simply two souls, clinging to each other. They had found each other and were no longer facing the unknown alone. That was all. Friends. Partners. Standing together.

  “If things were different, I would marry you,” Rafe whispered, his breath creating little puffy clouds in the chill. He leaned back, cupping her cheek in his gloved hand. “I realize we haven’t known each other long. But already I know you’re everything I’ve dreamed of finding in a woman. Intelligent. Resourceful. And most of all… honest. When you admitted that day, which feels like a lifetime ago, that you’d taken the job as my assistant to try to get hired at GLC, you earned my respect. And it was because of that respect that I kept trying not to fall in love with you.”

  A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and dribbled along the side of her nose. Never had she heard such wonderful words. If only she could capture them in her fingers, and cling to them like precious stones. Already they’d evaporated. Like the mist of his breath.

  “I could love you,” he confessed. Her heart practically burst from her body when those words sank in. “But I can’t have you. Not forever. It’s my father. He’s so… there’s no changing him. I’ve tried. I’ve done a lot of things to gain his respect. Rather, I’ve done a lot of things to try to gain his respect. Mostly I’ve failed. I can’t go against his wishes. I have to marry a woman who my father will accept. And the rest of the country.”

  And pop! There went her bubble of happiness.

  No. No, no, no! She would not let anything ruin this for her. Demanding fathers. Prejudiced citizens of foreign countries. To hell with them all.

  They might not have forever. Hell, who did?

  But they had now. Today. Hopefully tomorrow. Maybe even a whole week. That time was precious. Minutes. Hours. Days. And… nights. They could talk. Laugh. Cry. Whatever they wanted. Together. Why wallow in depressing it-isn’t-fair?

  “So what? You can’t have me forever. You wouldn’t, even if we were different people, you a freaking accountant and me a sales girl at a shoe store. Nobody knows how much time they have. Am I right? So to hell with it! We need to live in the now. We have today. And tomorrow. And as long as we’re here. We can do what we want with that time. It’s our choice.”

  He looked back at the lodge.

  “For the next few days, you could be the man you’ve always dreamed. You could be a man, not a prince,” she offered. “And I can be yours.”

  He cupped her cheek. “It isn’t fair to you. When it’s over, when we go back—“

  “Then I’ll have these days to remember and cherish.” She smiled. “I’m not Emelia. It won’t destroy me. I promise.”

  “You won’t regret it?”

  “Did I regret our time on the island? Not one minute. Well, I take that back. I regret when I crashed into you and knocked you into the pool. It wasn’t the best way to start things off.”

  He chuckled, eyes glittering for the first time since the snow had started falling. “I don’t regret that. Not for one second. It’s the moment I fell in love with you.”

  Love? He’d fallen in love with her that first day?

  And had she?

  Yes. Oh God, yes.

  “And I fell in love with you the instant I saw you,” she admitted, flinging her arms around his neck and smashing her body against his. “Those beautiful, strange gold eyes flashing as you looked up at me from the pool. Now, are you going to stand here and talk about balancing accounts or whatever it is accountants talk about? Or are you going to kiss me?”

  He gave her the right answer this time.

  29

  Jenna

  Thanks to Rafe, Jenna managed the impossible. Within just a few days she learned to enjoy the beauty of winter. The brilliant days with glorious blue skies and sunlight reflecting off the snow.

  But mostly it was the long, dark nights, spent safe and warm in his arms that made her change her mind about the season. He kissed her and held her, and they talked for hours, sharing their wishes, dreams and fears. They touched and caressed. Rafe brought her to the edge of ecstasy over and over. With his mouth. With his hands.

  But there was one thing he would not do.

  He refused to take her fully. Or to take any pleasure for himself, beyond the pleasure he received by making her scream his name as she tumbled head-over-heels into bliss.

  Time passed quickly. Too quickly. She focused on crushing a lifetime of love and happiness into a few days. And with every minute that passed, she became more and more aware that it would soon end, that the plows would get through, or the winds would calm enough for a helicopter to land.

  Today was day five and she wanted to do something to surprise Rafe, to show him how happy she was to share this time with him. But she had no idea what that might be.

  He was in the shower, singing, like a complete dork. She loved that he felt so at ease with her that he could make a total fool of himself in front of her.

  Somehow, she had to come up with something great, meaningful. Something he would hold forever in his heart.

  She stomped into her boots, shrugged into her coat, and stepped outside. The bitter wind nearly took her breath away.

  There’d be no helicopter today. Not if this continued. At least they would have one more night.

  She turned left, stepping onto what looked to be a snow-covered patio. They hadn’t walked that way before. She wondered why. From this vantage, she could see down the mountain. Lights of the village miles below glowed dimly.

  Down there another day had begun. People were rushing off to work or school.

  But not up here.

  It was so quiet. Peaceful.

  She took several more steps. Beneath her feet, something cracked. Plastic, maybe. There was too much snow to tell.

  “Jenna!” Rafe shouted from the house.

  She turned, spotting him at the door. “I’m here!” She waved, the image of his face freezing in her mind.

  And then she was falling. Water crashing in her ears and burning her skin.

  Couldn’t breathe.

  Couldn’t move.

  Body frozen!

  Blue. All she saw was blue.

  Air. She needed air.

  Water. She gulped, fighting the instinct to inhale.

  Lungs burning.

  Growing darker.

  Gray.

  Turning…

  Black.

  30

  Rafael

  No!

  Time crawled, a fraction of a second at a time as if its fabric had been stretched almost to the breaking point. Rafe moved so slowly. Feet punching into the snow, one step, another. Why the fuck couldn’t he move faster? He pushed harder. He had to get to her, had to save her. Or he would die trying.

  The pool. She was in the pool. The water’s surface was still.

  Another step.

  No cries for help. No frantic splashes.

  Another step.

  Were her lungs burning? Or had she already given up and inhaled?

  Another step.

  No! Please God no!

  Another step.

  I’ll do anything if you save her. Anything!

  He halted at the hole, gazed down into the murky blackness.

  So dark. Would he be abl
e to see her?

  He dove in.

  The cold tore through his body, locking his muscles.

  Move, dammit!

  His heart thumped in his chest.

  Slowing.

  Couldn’t feel his body. Legs. Arms. Were they still there?

  All he saw was blackness. He looked left. Right.

  There. Jenna!

  She was suspended in the dark water, arms and legs askew.

  Unconscious.

  She needed him.

  Lungs burning.

  Move, dammit! Move! For Jenna!

  The water thrashed. A hand flopped in front of his face. His hand. Then the other. He was moving! The feeling was dull, but he could somewhat feel his limbs. He kicked his legs, hard. All he had were seconds. Precious seconds.

  He caught her limp form and pushed off the bottom of the pool, dragging her up with him. His head broke through the surface. Air. He wanted air but he couldn’t breathe. He tried to lift Jenna. Damn. So heavy! Couldn’t.

  No, I will!

  He tried again.

  He pushed.

  She flopped out, her legs dangling in the water. He pushed her the rest of the way then clawed his way out. Breathless, and blind from lack of air, he rolled onto her. Was she breathing? Was it too late?

  He looked up. The house was so fucking far. And he was so fucking tired.

  Rest. He needed to rest. And he needed to breathe! Air. Huge lungs full.

  He quaked.

  He hadn’t died of hypothermia yet. But he recognized the signs.

  Don’t give up. Fight. For her. If you think you’re cold…

  He forced himself upright, blinking as the world went black. His arm moved, clumsily smacking Jenna’s still form.

  This was it. He had (maybe) one shot at it. Either he would get Jenna inside the house where she would be warm, or they would both die.

  31

  Jenna

  So cold.

  Jenna’s teeth chattered, and she wriggled, desperate to get warm.

  She was tired. Very, very tired. Bone tired.

  Eyes closed, she pressed against the big, hard something lying beside her.

  That something moved. “Jenna?” a husky voice said.

  Where was she?

  Who was that?

  “Babe?” that voice said.

  She opened her eyes.

  Where was she? And why was she so cold?

  Towering ceilings.

  Massive fire in a huge fireplace.

  A man.

  Rafe.

  Ohmygod!

  She remembered now.

  The water. The ice-cold blackness. The churning.

  Watching Rafe dive in. The hope blossoming and then just as quickly dissipating as she watched him struggle against the frigid water’s bite. His muscles had locked up too, just like hers. He couldn’t swim. She couldn’t either. They were doomed to die. In that dark, cold place. Together. But alone.

  But she wasn’t dead.

  And neither was Rafe.

  They were alive. And… was she… naked? She lifted a bare arm that lead to a bare chest that was smashed up against a bare man.

  “How are you feeling?” the nude man asked.

  “Like I’ve been dragged to hell and back,” she answered, teeth chattering so bad she could barely get the words out.

  “No doubt.”

  She clenched her jaw so she wouldn’t bite her tongue. “Rafe, we’re alive.”

  “Yes, we are.” His voice was low, gritty.

  “How?”

  His hand caressed her arm. “I’m… not exactly sure.”

  “Did someone save us?”

  “No.” He pulled her tighter against his bulky body. “There’s nobody else here. Just us.”

  How could that be? How had he managed? It seemed like a miracle. “You? You saved us? By yourself?”

  “It looks that way.”

  “How? I remember…” She swallowed as an image flashed in her head. “I saw you. In the water. You couldn’t swim.”

  “Not at first. But then the adrenaline kicked in, I think. I got us out of the pool and into the house. I don’t remember much else. I must have torn our clothes off to try to dry off and warm up.”

  Jenna couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  Rafe had done the impossible.

  But more astonishingly, he’d dove into that pool, risking his life. A freaking prince. To save her. A poor, American nobody. Her social standing, or lack thereof hadn’t made him hesitate. Not for one second. “You. Are… the most incredible man in the world.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Rafe, you dove into that water to save me. You almost died.”

  “I couldn’t stand there and watch you drown.”

  “You didn’t think twice about it. You just dove in.”

  “Not the brightest idea. But yes, that’s what I did.”

  She smashed her mouth to his.

  How would she ever thank him for this? She had been given a second chance at life.

  In those moments, as the darkness slowly swallowed her, all she could think about were all the things she hadn’t done yet. The dreams she hadn’t even tried to reach for, like getting married. Having children. Traveling. Finding her place in the world. She was about to die and she’d done nothing to leave her mark.

  But now she had that chance. And she would not take it for granted.

  Starting right now.

  She would never again play it safe. She would be brave. She would embrace risk and live each day as if it was her last. She would reach for the stars!

  And first off, she would fight for Rafe.

  Because she loved him. She loved him so much it hurt.

  “Rafe.” Using every part of herself, fingertips, tongue, and everything in between, she told him how much she loved him. And he kissed her back with as much passion as she gave. Within minutes, she was burning up inside, all the shivers and quivers no longer coming from cold but from pleasure. Delicious pleasure. Pleasure so overwhelming, she whimpered into their joined mouths.

  He rolled on top of her, wedging his hips between her thighs. The rigid length of his cock rubbed against her dampening center. Heat pounded. Delicious. Wonderful. Liquid heat. It was right there. So close to her entry. Would he pull his hips back and plunge his thick rod into her at last? Or would he hold back?

  She wriggled beneath him, hoping to shift her position just enough to let that happen.

  He broke the kiss and stared down into her eyes. “If we do this…” His gaze slid from her face, shifting to her neck then settling on her breasts. He cupped one, thumb flicking her nipple, sending little pinpricks of pleasure marching up her spine.

  “It’s okay. I want you. I want you in every way.” She reached for him, splaying her hands on his hard pecks.

  He gathered her wrists into one hand and pinned them to the floor, above her head. The way he commanded her body thrilled her. With the index finger of his free hand, he drew a line from her tit up, over her collarbone, which was surprisingly ticklish, up the slender column of her neck, which was also ticklish, to the uber-sensitive skin just under her earlobe. “You are so beautiful.”

  Her pounding heart literally leapt inside her chest at the way he said those words to her, as if he were in awe. Though he had it wrong--it was he who was perfect and gorgeous and unforgettable--she didn’t correct him. Instead, she whimpered, rocking her head to the side, hoping he might use his magical tongue once again to carry her away to that enchanted place where her body became one flaming, pulsing ball of bliss. He fisted her hair, surprising her and pulling her from the sleepy cloud of lust. Yanking, her forced her head to the side.

  He was rough and yet gentle. Caring and yet possessive. Lustful and yet restrained. A bundle of conflicting behavior that kept her on edge and her blood pounding and her heart thumping.

  Ohmygod, she loved that.

  “If I take you now, you will be mine. Only mine.”
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  She was good with that. More than good!

  His eyes narrowed. “Do you understand?”

  She nodded.

  Of course she understood! His. Only his. What he didn’t understand was that she was already his. Had been. Since that first day, that first touch. That first kiss.

  “No other man can touch you. This is mine.” He cupped her chin, holding it in place before bending down to press his lips to hers. But he didn’t kiss her. Not like she’d expected. Instead he lightly nipped her lower lip then drew it into his mouth, suckling for a second or two. “And this.” He moved to her jaw, kissing, licking, nibbling, and lower, down her neck. Goose bumps prickled her left side. “And this.” He grazed her collarbone with his teeth before traveling lower, to her breast, pushed up in the air as her spine arched.

  “All mine.” He flicked his tongue over her nipple until it was a burning, piercing point. Releasing her wrists, he flattened his hands over her tits, both of them. “Mine.”

  This possessive thing was insanely hot.

  His. Yes. She was all his. Every part of her. For as long as he wanted. Forever.

  He licked and nibbled his way down her stomach next, the light, teasing touches making her muscles clench and tremble. The tension in her core rocked her hips forward and her mound up. Tingling sensations burned in her soft folds. Lower. He needed to move lower. Touch her lower. Taste her lower. Take her lower.

  As if he read her mind, he slid down, the prickly stubble on his chin scraping her sensitized skin and making it burn even more. He dragged his tongue down her slit, making her quake from head to toe. “This.” He shoved two fingers inside her and she bucked from the sudden and unexpected invasion. He hooked those fingers, putting just the right amount of pressure on her upper wall. A massive tidal wave of heat slammed through her and she came. Hard. Her pussy spasmed around his fingers as wave upon wave of pleasure crashed through her.

  Through the haze of the unrelenting, overwhelming sensations blazing up and down her body, she felt him move, his hard, big body press to hers, his arm snake around her waist, his cock prodded at her entrance. And then, as she screamed out in ecstasy, she felt his thickness drive deep inside.