‘If you could see your face.’
‘I really hate you,’ she assured him when he dragged her close.
‘Just remind me—what is it they say about hate, again?’
‘You can forget that! On this occasion hate absolutely means—’
His lips crashed down on hers, silencing her. She fought him, but not so hard he’d let her go.
‘Next time I’ll be sure to ask permission,’ Ram assured her as she swiped her swollen lips on the back of her hand.
‘That’s what you think—but there won’t be a next time.’
‘Until the next time?’
He yanked her close and silenced her a second time; this time with a kiss that stole her breath away.
‘You don’t make it easy to understand you, Mia.’
‘Says the sphinx—and anyway, easy’s boring,’ she told him, scowling as she slapped water off her drenched clothes.
‘Do you think I don’t know that by now?’ Ram murmured as he brushed sodden straggles of hair from her eyes.
She wasn’t quite over it yet. ‘Friends owe each other the truth, Ram.’
‘Friends?’ Angling his chin, he raised a brow as he stared down at her.
‘If we were true friends you could tell me things you couldn’t tell anyone else…’ Her voice tailed away. Suddenly she felt very vulnerable indeed, but Ram just smiled his easy smile. ‘Let’s have a picnic,’ he said, ‘and I promise to tell you everything.’
He had brought a rug and some basic supplies on the back of his horse, and when he’d unbuckled the saddlebags and revealed the treats they laid everything out on the relative comfort of a mossy bank just outside the old stone walls. Uncorking the water bottle, he handed it to her, and Mia listened quietly as Ram told her about his childhood friend: a little girl called Leila who was basically the only family he’d known in those lonely days—a little girl he’d played ball with, and who had grown up to become his prospective bride, only to die tragically shortly before their wedding.
‘How can you be so sure it would have been such a disaster to marry Leila?’
‘The same way I’ll know when a girl is right…’
His eyes were glinting with humour and she didn’t want another row. ‘So, tell me about her.’
‘I hadn’t seen Leila since she was little, and in all the years we were betrothed I only met her twice—’
‘Twice?’ Mia interrupted with surprise.
‘The arranged marriage system here in Ramprakesh may seem odd to you, because you come from a very different culture, but Leila’s family and mine were always close.’
‘And you trusted your parents to sort everything out?’
‘That’s just the way it was,’ Ram explained.
‘And what did Leila think?’
‘That she was the luckiest girl in the world, naturally—’
Ram choked as she gave him a whack. ‘And now?’ she said, having allowed some quiet time to pass. ‘How do you feel about Leila now?’
‘I feel sad,’ Ram admitted, ‘because she died so very young.’
She could only feel sorry for Ram’s loss, and for Leila, a girl who had been groomed to be a queen without having any of the freedom and opportunities Mia had enjoyed.
And had been on the point of throwing away, Mia remembered, thinking about her languishing interior design career. She knew then in that moment that she could leave Ramprakesh with or without the contract for Ram’s projects and still pick up her life—
Without Ram…
There wasn’t room for another spear, she told her wounded heart firmly. ‘What about now?’ She dropped the question in casually. ‘How would you feel about an arranged marriage now?’
‘It could never happen. I’m back in Ramprakesh to establish new traditions, not to blindly follow those I don’t agree with.’
‘A rule-breaker?’
‘I’m an individual, Mia. I make my own decisions.’
There was one thing she still didn’t understand. ‘Why did Leila’s death leave you feeling so bitter? I agree it was a terrible tragedy, but it was hardly your fault.’
‘It was an illness, swift and brutal. The man you met at the dockside was Leila’s father. He represents the council as it stands until I introduce a democratically elected government. When Leila died he couldn’t even wait a decent interval before suggesting a list of new prospects.’
‘Maybe he just wanted to keep you here?’
‘I’m prepared to believe that of some people, but not him. He was only interested in promoting those girls whose families he could manipulate.’
‘And continue on with a lifetime of corruption.’
‘Now you understand,’ Ram murmured. Tracing the line of Mia’s cheekbone with his fingertip, he added softly, ‘You always want to think the best of people.’
‘Except you,’ she said wryly. ‘So that’s why you left Ramprakesh—and why, when Leila’s father met me at the dock, he thought I was your new queen. Perhaps he was already trying to work out how he would manipulate me.’
That made Ram laugh. ‘He would discover he had bitten off more than he could chew if he took you on.’
Mia shrugged and smiled, but then her face filled with concern again. ‘Everyone isn’t like Leila’s father, Ram. You’ve seen the people and how they adore you. Don’t turn your back on them—or deny them the occasional festival just because that man used occasions like that to dazzle people so they didn’t look any deeper.’
‘Wise Mia.’
‘I think we’ve both grown up.’ She lay back on the mossy bank. At least Ram’s heart wasn’t taken, so that was good. Where there was life, there was hope—right? She closed her eyes and felt him stretch out his legs alongside her.
‘Shall I fix a marriage for you while you’re here?’ he murmured.
She snapped alert, only to find Ram’s sexy gaze looking down at her. She sat up properly. ‘I’m not some bargaining counter you can dangle under the council’s nose to distract them while you reorganise the country. I’ll marry who I want to marry…’ There was only one man she could ever marry—and as that was out of the question. ‘Or, maybe I’ll never marry.’
Ram whistled softly under his breath. ‘Do I have your permission to broadcast that? Only I think men everywhere deserve to know they’re safe.’
‘Just no more talk of arranged marriages.’
‘Unless I do the arranging.’
‘Keep out of it, Ram,’ Mia murmured, suddenly feeling unutterably weary. Brushing a leaf from her face, she fell silent and a kind of peace fell over their casual picnic with its far from casual discussion, and though they were dozing side by side in the warm night air, Mia felt as far from Ram’s heart as she ever had.
Chapter Sixteen
WHEN they woke the moon was like a lantern high in the sky shining down on them, and Ram reminded Mia that the lake was only minutes away on horseback.
‘Shall we ride there bareback?’ she said. ‘Give them chance to cool their legs?’
‘Why not?’
She couldn’t think of a single reason.
The idea to take the horses for a refreshing swim soon developed into one of their adventures. First they had to race each other at full tilt beneath a canopy of stars, and when they finally reached the shore of the lake Mia was forced to admit defeat, but only by a few yards this time. But if they were friends, she reasoned, there was always a chance she could beat him next time.
‘Enjoying yourself?’ Ram asked her as their mounts moved deeper into the refreshing water.
‘So much,’ Mia exclaimed as her game little mare lunged forward and began to swim. Throwing her head back, she dragged deeply on the fresh night air. Surely it wasn’t possible to feel closer to another human being than this—
Or to be more certain that the intimacy of tonight must end and she was again guilty of longing for things she couldn’t have.
So, make the most of it, she told herself silently—this night
was more than most people experienced in a lifetime, and if it only lasted five minutes they would be the best five minutes of her life.
They allowed the horses to swim for as long as they wanted to—neither Ram nor Mia was in any hurry to bring the night time idyll time to an end. It was as if they both sensed life catching up with them, and knew it could never be as straightforward again.
Ram dismounted first and reached for her. ‘Are you going to get down?’ he said when she hesitated.
When she did it would be the end.
She could dodge reality, but she couldn’t avoid it, Mia concluded as she slid into Ram’s waiting arms.
‘You’re cold,’ he said, embracing her. ‘I’ll build a fire and make you warm.’
All he had to do was hold her.
‘Take your wet clothes off,’ he said.
Ram was still half naked and cool from the water, while Mia’s work jeans and shirt felt like a very heavy second skin. ‘Ram, we shouldn’t—’
‘It’s already done,’ he said, tossing her shirt aside. ‘You’ll never get warm if you stay in those wet clothes.’
‘I mean, you can’t keep on doing this and expect me to feel nothing.’
‘That’s not true.’ His lips tugged in a grin. ‘I expect you to feel lots.’
And now she was laughing and aching for his touch, and common sense was out of the window. ‘You can’t,’ she insisted, putting up the weakest protest of all when Ram’s fingers found the fastening on her jeans.
‘Of course I can,’ he argued. ‘In fact, I’m very good at it.’
‘Egotist.’
‘Contrary woman.’
‘Smart ass.’
‘Obstinate—awkward—difficult—’ As Ram was punctuating each of these accusations with a kiss, it was very hard to argue with him. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to,’ she admitted, shifting position to make things easier for him. ‘It’s just that—’
‘Like I said, you’re contrary,’ Ram growled. ‘But I think you want me—am I right? And I know I want you.’
‘Then, why ask a question you already know the answer to?’ she said while she was working feverishly on his belt.
‘Is there something wrong with a healthy appetite?’
‘Nothing at all,’ Mia admitted, shivering with arousal as she felt Ram’s erection, huge and hard, pressing insistently against her.
And if this was all there was—
It would never be enough.
He kissed away Mia’s tension, soothing her down and firing her up just for the sheer pleasure of seeing her so hungry for sex. There were no complications—nothing, except appetite and a long night of love ahead of them. In the morning he had to return to the city and his duties in Ramprakesh, but for now…
Governing Ramprakesh was a fact that had seemed a fiction for far too long—until he’d returned with Mia, he now realised. Seeing everything through her eyes had changed him. He had always known there was a lot to be done, but now he knew he could never leave his people to those who would abuse them.
‘Kiss me,’ Mia insisted fiercely, sensing his distraction.
He needed no encouragement. It was all too easy to lose himself in making love to Mia and allow all his other concerns to drift away. She was always hungry for him as he was for her, and he doubted that they could ever get enough of each other. He’d never met anyone like her, so cool, contemporary and strong—and unpredictable, he registered with pleasure as she muscled him to the ground. He loved everything about Mia. He loved her smooth, damp body, still chilled from the icy lake water, and the quick way she responded to him—
‘Stop thinking,’ she insisted, momentarily pinning him beneath her. ‘You have to stop life dragging you this way and that.’
‘Only you do that,’ he argued, swinging her round so that now he was on top.
‘You’ve always had too much, Ram—that’s your trouble—’
‘Not yet I don’t,’ he argued, stripping off the rest of her clothes.
But Mia was right. Where they went from here was up to him. The playboy years were behind him and it was time to live a different life. And Mia was right about him having too much. He could have anything he wanted and sometimes even that wasn’t enough for him.
Ram had never made love to her like this before, Mia registered as he eased inside her. He was so gentle and loving…so caring—
Was this the long goodbye?
She had to tell herself not to be so melodramatic, or she would cry—Too late.
‘I hope you’re crying with pleasure,’ Ram growled as he dropped kisses on her cheeks and on her lips and on her nose.
‘You weren’t supposed to see.’
‘Well, I did see. Wasn’t it you who said we shouldn’t have secrets from each other?’
‘I don’t have any secrets, do you?’
‘I have one or two up my sleeve.’
‘How am I supposed to think straight?’ Mia demanded breathlessly as Ram proved that was the case.
‘You’re not supposed to be thinking at all.’
‘And as for keeping secrets up your sleeve,’ she managed between noisy gulps of air.
‘Okay, the place I keep them wasn’t all that accurate.’
‘You don’t say,’ she managed before sensation became her world.
Was she brave enough to pretend that unbelievable sex with Ram was enough for her, and that she didn’t need for ever? Or would longing for Ram become her melancholy theme? She couldn’t think about it now, Mia realised as Ram upped the tempo and she urged him on in a frenzy of desire.
This was enough. It had to be.
It was almost lunchtime the next day when Mia woke with a body aching pleasurably from Ram’s exhaustive attentions. A limousine had collected them from the fort, transporting them back to reality in the early hours of the morning, while grooms took their horses back in a transporter. That was how things were done here; everything was so easy—easy for Ram, that was. But even as she stretched and kicked her brain into gear Mia refused to dwell on things that couldn’t be and made sure she concentrated on things she could do something about—like landing the interior design job, for instance.
She took a shower and then told herself she would not look for Ram crossing the courtyard—nor would she listen for his voice as he strolled with his council in the garden beneath her room…
Like now? Standing outside on her balcony, peering over it with her ears pricked?
Okay, so she’d heard his voice in the distance. And now she could see he was walking with Leila’s father. Both men’s heads were close—though Ram seemed to be doing most of the talking.
Mia’s heart sank. The photo on the front of that day’s Ramprakesh Times had shown Ram standing with Leila’s father, and a young girl.
Why did she always have to learn about Ram’s plans from a newspaper? She backed into the bedroom before she could be seen. And why did Ram have to look so sexy, even when she could cheerfully batter him over the head with the collection of news articles she was steadily building up? How was any woman supposed to think straight in her position, let alone contemplate sharing so much man?
She couldn’t. And that was that.
She had just completed her preliminary chat with the committee Ram had set up to decide who should get the commission to redecorate his yacht and design the interior décor of his new home. Had it gone well? Mia thought it had. She had kept her mind firmly fixed on business, and everyone seemed to like her ideas.
‘Mia.’
Ram had followed her out of the room.
‘You did well in there—better than even I imagined.’
‘You’re too kind,’ she said dryly.
‘You were the final element I’ve been looking for, and now everyone is talking about the benefits of an eco-home and gifting this palace to the people for education and tourism, as well as paring down the court to concentrate on providing more tangible benefits for the country—with the occasional festival th
rown in, of course,’ he added, his lips curving with amusement. ‘In short—they liked your style.’
And she liked his. Concentrating on business was never going to be easy, Mia realised, thinking how well the traditional clothes suited him. The flowing black silk decorated with the finest gold embroidery and precious jewels hinted at the muscular form beneath.
‘Everyone was impressed that you had researched the practical benefits of your design work as well as the aesthetics.’
‘I did get a bit carried away,’ Mia admitted.
‘You were impassioned and yet coolly precise.’
‘Why, thank you, sir.’ She offered him a mock curtsey. ‘Just doing my job.’
‘Accept a compliment for once, will you?’ Ram turned away briefly to acknowledge some servants as they bowed to him.
‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ Mia said cheekily, thinking how magnificent Ram looked in his royal regalia and wondering if he was naked beneath the robe. Needless to say, he felt the vibes.
‘Having exceeded my expectations as well as those of the committee, I can only conclude I’m giving you too much time alone.’
‘Ram,’ she warned him softly as more servants hurried past.
‘There is one condition I must make before you go through to the next stage.’
‘Which is?’ Had she overestimated her success in the committee room? Mia wondered as Ram backed her into a side room.
‘Can’t you guess?’
‘Are you mad?’ She shot a glance at the door. ‘Ram, you can’t do this.’
‘If I didn’t know you better I’d think you were serious.’
‘I am serious.’ She pressed her hands against his chest, surprising herself with her iron resolve. This could go on for ever—if she allowed it to. She couldn’t envisage a time when she wouldn’t want Ram, physically, mentally—in every way there was. But now he had given her a chance to get her life back on track she should take it. ‘I want more than this, Ram.’
‘More?’ he demanded, trying to keep a straight face.
‘More of you…’ Mia’s voice barely made it above a whisper.
‘I’m not sure I have more to give, Mia—you’ve got it all.’
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