The Secret That Shocked De Santis

by Natalie Anderson

  ‘You can strike better than that,’ he added, in a deliberately provocative whisper.

  ‘We both know I can. But are you sure you want me to?’ she asked, her voice huskier.

  Oh, yes—he wanted. ‘If you’re going to mark me, don’t make it my face. There were too many awkward questions last time.’

  She drew in a sharp breath. Good. He’d got to her.

  But she stepped up to the mark again. ‘If I hit you now, your soldiers would be here in a second.’

  He smiled at her naïveté. ‘They’re under orders not to disturb me. I don’t need anyone’s help to handle you.’

  Another flash lit her eyes. Another surge of adrenalin hit him.

  ‘Handle me?’ she snapped back. ‘Like I’m some dog that needs obedience training?’

  She did need training. And it would be her choice of carrot or stick. He smiled at the possible interplay, given her unpredictability.

  Having the fine-boned creature of so many dreams finally in front of him, he realised how much he’d thought of her over the last few weeks. How much she intrigued him.

  ‘Why did you do it?’ Not the question he’d been going to ask. He didn’t want her to know he’d spent so long wondering.

  Her lashes lowered, veiling the blue, but she wouldn’t lower her guard. She wouldn’t tell him the truth.

  Why the stab of disappointment? Why would he expect otherwise? No one opened up and confided in him. Not even those he cared most about. Especially not them.

  In turn, Eduardo knew he couldn’t count on other people unless he paid them very well. That unpalatable truth came with being a prince. Loyalty to royalty was a thing of the past. Most people now were out for what they could get—fame and fortune. Both could be attained via a connection with him. And that was all he really had to offer—palace life, wealth, but no real power. No real purpose.

  But riches and recognition were enough reward for some. He’d underestimated that particular hunger before and he wouldn’t make that mistake again. Instead he’d ensure that Stella was satisfied. She might not have told anyone about their tryst on the beach that day, but she’d not come to him when she’d realised the consequences either. Who knew what she’d been planning to do?

  It no longer mattered. He’d buy both her silence and her obedience.

  She’d be happy with the deal—he just needed to get it done before Antonio found out and tried to interfere. As it was, his brother would be highly suspicious of Eduardo’s sudden ‘illness’, which had forced him to cancel all his public engagements for the next few days and withdraw to Secreto Real to recuperate. Eduardo had cancelled only one engagement in his life. The afternoon he’d met Stella.

  He’d not gotten a woman pregnant before her either.

  ‘Why did you do it?’ He wasn’t moving until she answered.

  For a long moment there was only silence and steam.

  ‘Why wouldn’t I want to experience the best that San Felipe has to offer?’

  She still didn’t look at him—at least not higher than his chest. Was it just the fantasy she’d wanted? Unrestrained sex in the surf with the playboy Prince?

  Disappointment bit harder.

  He’d never wanted to be the daredevil spare heir boring cliché. He’d striven to shake it off, initially indulging in the idealistic, ultimately unrealistic ambition of studying law. Then he’d tried the military, only to be thwarted there too.

  The lovely Stella’s father had ruled out any possibility of Eduardo actively serving. He’d argued that it would cost too much to protect Eduardo, and any ‘value’ Eduardo might bring to the battalion would be outweighed by the risk to other soldiers’ lives. Securing Eduardo’s presence would take up too much resource.

  In short, he wasn’t worth it because his princely title was too precious.

  Antonio had sided with the General. In a five-minute, one-sided conversation they’d resigned him to a life of ‘leisure’, reduced to playing tourist in his own country. But, as so many citizens depended on the tourist industry for their economic survival, Eduardo did his very best—as he did in everything. But he did not particularly like General Carlos Zambrano.

  As for his daughter...

  She’d been absent from the General’s palace apartment for years, else Eduardo would have noticed her flaxen hair and her athletic, curved figure so much sooner. She’d been in New Zealand—schooled there, trained there. Yeah...thanks to his security department he knew all the facts, but the dossier they’d prepared didn’t give the detail he really wanted.

  ‘Just the once was enough for you?’ he asked.

  She flicked the quickest of glances up. ‘As it was for you.’

  Eduardo watched as a pink tide flowed over her cheeks, and unexpected emotion glinted before she swiftly lowered her lashes again. Clenching her jaw, she remained silent. Suddenly so determined not to respond.

  He drew a soft breath and pushed harder against the shower wall to expend the energy threatening to burst through his skin. Did she doubt that he was still hot for her? Primal satisfaction ignited his fighting spirit. But this beautiful warrior woman did not want to admit her attraction to him.

  Why didn’t she want to give in to it again when it would make this nightmare so much more bearable? Their chemistry had been—still was—incredible. He knew to his bones how good it would be when she was exactly where he needed her.

  In her white dress, with his ring on her finger, in his bed. Not a minute before.

  ‘I don’t think once was enough,’ he said softly, unable to resist teasing her.

  ‘You never date a woman for more than a couple of nights.’ Her eyes flashed fire. ‘Am I not just like all the others?’

  There hadn’t been that many others in recent years. Now he was more playful than playboy—lots of flirt, little follow-though. It was safer when he knew how little he could trust.

  Now her hint of jealousy fanned the inferno building within him. Sexual intensity almost overpowered him. He tried not to lower his gaze and drink in her bared beauty, but there were those dusky, tight nipples and the rounded breasts, the tight, flat abs, the tempting thatch of hair at the apex of her thighs, those dazzling droplets of water all over her.

  He wanted to feel her flush against him. He’d have to rip off his saturated shirt and jeans, though, and they were sticking so tight it would take too long, and he needed to feel her now—

  ‘As you can see—’ she interrupted his derailed thoughts with a voice slathered in sarcasm ‘—I’m perfectly fine. So you don’t need to worry. You can leave now.’

  His gaze shot back to hers and his face heated. So caught. But she thought she could order him out...?

  Eduardo was used to getting his own way. And he’d get it this time, because he was sure she was feeling this too. On an angry, lust-driven impulse he slowly, deliberately lowered his gaze again, blistering his senses, blatantly looking his fill at her jaw-droppingly gorgeous body.

  He watched a trickle of water run from her hair to her skin, down the crest of her breast to her nipple, forming a drop there. His mouth was dry as dust and he craved a lick. Just one. Just one kiss.

  His erection strained against his zipper. Lust clamoured a shrill mantra—kiss, kiss, kiss...

  She quivered, the merest movement, as he ate her with his eyes, but she remained silent. Defiantly holding her head high.

  Along with lust and need, another emotion snaked out from his gut—admiration. Then respect. And then regret.

  What was he doing, standing over her like this? Invading her personal space? She was in the shower, for heaven’s sake.

  She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her, let her nudity be a vulnerability. She was all armour. Even when naked she was stiffened with pride and rebellion and courage.

  He wan
ted her. But more than that he wanted her to come to him—as willing and as tempting as she’d been that day on the beach.

  ‘Why did you run away afterwards?’ Why hadn’t she come to him to tell him she was pregnant?

  Her lips parted, her mouth forming a wordless ‘oh’ while her anger burned brighter, melting into something else. But still she gave no damn answer.

  That old disappointment was like salt in a freshly opened wound. But he didn’t move—he’d never been so focused on a woman, never spent so much effort trying to read what he could from the few physical signs she couldn’t help giving away.

  Her hands were fisted at her sides. She was expending a lot of energy so as not to move. Just as he was. What didn’t she want to let herself do? Was she, like he, fighting the urge to reach out and touch? Or did she really want to fight, then flee?

  On paper she appeared the perfect obedient soldier. Until that afternoon with him she’d not put a foot wrong—never left base without authorisation, never fraternised. No boyfriend. No parties. No fun.

  She’d never had sex before either. Which he guessed meant she was not a natural hedonist. Sure, she’d gone full throttle once she’d let herself off the leash, but maybe the intensity had been too much for her?

  It almost had been for him. Goosebumps still riddled his skin when he thought of it, and he was used to sex. She wasn’t. Had she been shaken emotionally? Had he hurt her that way? Was she afraid of him?

  Suddenly he didn’t want to know any more. He wasn’t a man who could offer emotional support. He’d tried. He’d failed. More than once.

  Stella wasn’t the first person not to turn to him in a time of crisis.

  ‘Eat the food I have brought,’ he growled, pushing away from the shower wall and forcing himself to step away from her.

  He ignored the thunderclap of fury from the lust clouding his mind, urging him to stay and press closer. He wanted to make her feel so damn good she wouldn’t be able to stop pleading with him to do it again. But he was going to have to wait a bit longer for that little ego trip. Just till tomorrow.

  ‘Make yourself presentable,’ he said curtly, picking up one of the large white towels from the gleaming gold rail. ‘I will see you in the library.’

  She snatched the towel he rigidly held out and wrapped it around her, hiding her delectable body from his ravenous eyes, leaving him immensely relieved. And viciously frustrated.

  Angered with his fixation, he strode away. ‘Be quick.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  STELLA FELT LIKE taking at least two hours, except years of drills and discipline overruled the petty desire to prove a point. She glanced at the treat-laden tray he’d carried to her room but her stomach was too knotted for her to attempt eating. She opened the door to the walk-in wardrobe and stared. Tags still hung on some items, and they were the right sizes and everything. Did he know her every personal detail? Damn army records.

  Well, she wasn’t wearing anything he provided. She had pride.

  She dressed in less than five minutes, dragging on her jeans again, pulling out a different tee shirt from further down her duffel bag. Then she laced up her trainers. She didn’t care what his idea of ‘presentable’ was.

  But adrenalin scoured her veins. Her body knew she was in danger. Because what she’d forgotten—what she’d refused to admit aloud—was his impact.

  That he could have her forgetting all her hard-earned rights in a heartbeat. She’d wanted to lean back against the wall and let him do whatever he pleased with her. She’d wanted him to be as naked as she. All he had to do was look and in seconds she’d been aching for his touch...

  She’d been around hundreds of men all her life. Men more muscled. Men taller, broader, faster. Never had she been tempted the way that Eduardo tempted her.

  Her weakness infuriated her. Could she really be this shallow? Could her head be so turned just because he was a prince? But she didn’t feel this for Crown Prince Antonio, and wasn’t he the more powerful of the two? No, it was only Eduardo and his irresistible smile, who devastated her.

  How quickly she’d fallen under his spell. How easily he’d seduced her. And he could do it again in seconds. He almost had in that hot shower stall. And she couldn’t let him. Not now there was so much more at stake. She had to keep her head and carve out the right solution for this situation.

  A wedding wasn’t it.

  She dropped to the floor and executed twenty press-ups just to expend some of the energy rioting within her. He’d wanted to know why she’d done it, but she could never admit that she’d long harboured a crush on him, or that he’d represented the kind of free-loving fun she’d never had. She’d wanted one moment just for herself.

  She wasn’t admitting that dreary little dream to him.

  Quickly, quietly, she walked back to the opulent library.

  As she neared the large doorway she moved more stealthily. Maybe she’d hear something interesting—

  ‘Come in, Stella.’

  Grimacing, she moved into the doorway and found him just inside it. His gaze skittered down her clothing. The skin about his mouth and eyes tightened. Yeah, not exactly ‘presentable’.

  But he’d changed too—black jeans again, white tee. Designer casual as opposed to her dumpster casual. Still gorgeous. Still intimidating.

  She wished she had her boots on. Even an extra inch would give her a much needed boost. Then she saw the serious-looking man in a suit seated at the table, with serious-looking papers spread out before him.

  ‘Take a seat, Stella,’ Eduardo instructed.

  ‘I prefer to stand,’ she answered, glancing to where the Prince had paused at two seats on the opposite side of the table from the suited dude. She wasn’t letting him dictate her every move. ‘Always.’

  ‘Okay,’ he agreed, but something kindled in his eyes. ‘But it is important that you pay attention to what Matteo tells you.’

  ‘Why? You think I can’t read all that for myself?’ she asked softly, gesturing at the paperwork.

  Despite that emotion still flickering, he chuckled and reached out, slowly brushing the tip of his finger over her lips in a sensual action. Stunned, she sucked in a breath and froze at the same time. His touch was gentle, yet firm, and not enough. He dropped his hand. She closed her mouth, holding back her bereft moan. She wanted the erotic sweep of his tongue. Memory surged, scorching her skin. He made her so hot all over.

  His hand pressed on her shoulder and somehow she was sitting, weak-kneed, in the damn chair. Through dazed eyes she stared as he looked down at her with that gorgeous smile. Slowly the calculated alertness in his eyes dawned on her.

  She glanced at the suit man and saw his amusement. He knew she couldn’t resist Eduardo. Just like all his other women. That touch had been for show.

  ‘Matteo and I were at law school together,’ Eduardo explained smoothly, turning the papers around so they were in front of Stella. ‘I am sure you will find everything clear, but if you don’t he will answer any questions you may have.’

  Eduardo had gone to law school?

  ‘Are you paying attention, Stella?’ He smiled at her.

  She made herself stop staring at him and stared at the paperwork instead. The document wasn’t long, and it wasn’t written in convoluted legal speak either. It was all very, very clear. For every year they were married she would be awarded over a million dollars.

  Her eyes widened when she saw the size of the settlement should their marriage end. And the stringent conditions attached to every payment.

  ‘I’m never to speak to the media—or indeed anyone—about the details of our marriage?’ she said. Did he seriously think she would?

  ‘Nor am I,’ he replied calmly.

  But there weren’t penalties for him should he do that. The money was already his.
Hers only if she played by the rules he’d spelt out so clearly here.

  He was trying to buy her. To control her.

  The fire in her belly wasn’t fuelled by desire now. It was all anger.

  ‘I could never accept that much money from you,’ she said quietly, her nose wrinkling in distaste at the divorce payout details.

  ‘We’re staying married, so you won’t have to,’ he soothed, but his gaze sharpened.

  ‘It says here that if we have any children and we divorce, then the children must remain at the palace on San Felipe.’ Her throat tightened as she paraphrased the passage.

  This child would be his. He’d never allow her to have custody should she want to leave. He would control everything—for the duration of their sham marriage and beyond.

  ‘It also says that you would be entitled to an apartment within the palace until any children we have reach the age of majority,’ he nodded.

  So if they divorced not long after their insane marriage—as was most likely—she would have to remain under his roof and watch him with a succession of lovers. A new wife, even.

  That idea hurt more than it should.

  ‘You cannot leave before then.’ He misread the reason for her frown. ‘I do not believe in depriving a child of its mother. But any child of mine will need to be educated within San Felipe. And my child will grow up at the palace.’

  ‘What about your brother?’ she asked. ‘What if he marries and has children?’

  Eduardo’s expression was shuttered. ‘Regardless of my brother’s possible future family, there will always be a place for my children at the palace.’

  ‘What if you marry again?’ she whispered, understanding that he didn’t really want to have this conversation in front of Matteo, but that it needed to be had.

  ‘That is not going to happen. This is only to cover all eventualities.’ He put his hand on her shoulder and his eyes were brilliant blue. He was angry with her for asking these questions. ‘The truth is I will never let you go. And you know it.’

  He slid his hand to the nape of her neck, bent and kissed her. It was a lie for his lawyer friend. But it was a beguiling, passionate lie. His mouth worked to subdue, to tempt, to make her open up and take what he offered.