by Annie West
Fear petrified him, as strong as in that soul-wrenching moment when he’d seen her in the path of the avalanche.
What if he couldn’t persuade her? Had he hurt her so much he’d destroyed his last tentative hope?
He refused to countenance the thought.
‘I don’t understand.’ She blinked and looked away, as if she couldn’t bear to look at him. He didn’t blame her.
His self-control splintered. He lifted his hand, stroking knuckles down her velvet cheek. His fingers hummed as a sensation like electricity sparked beneath his skin. She gulped and a tiny fragment of hope glowed in the darkness of his heart.
‘I don’t want you to leave. I won’t allow it.’ He cupped her chin and lifted her face till she had no option but to meet his gaze. The jolt of connection as their eyes clashed shook him to the core.
‘You have no right to talk about allowing.’ The belligerent set of her jaw spoke both of pain and strength. His heart twisted as he recognised one of the things that drew him to her was her indomitable spirit.
‘No. I have no right.’ The pain of these past weeks returned full force. ‘But I’m too selfish to give up. I’ll make you stay. Whether I have to persuade you or seduce you or imprison you in the highest tower.’ Her lips parted in shock. The urge to kiss her soft mouth was almost more than he could bear.
‘You’re crazy.’ She stepped away, only to back into the door. Alaric paced forward till a hair’s breadth separated them. Tamsin drew a strained breath and the sensation of her breasts brushing against him made him groan. It had been so long since he’d held her. Too long since he’d kissed her.
‘No!’ She held him at bay.
She didn’t want him after what he’d done.
‘Tamsin, I…’ He hesitated, groping for words to express unfamiliar feelings. Feelings he hadn’t believed in before her.
‘Let me go, Alaric.’ She looked away, blinking. ‘I don’t know what new game this is but I’ve had enough.’
‘Sh, darling, I know.’ Gently he brushed a strand of hair off her face, his heart twisting as she flinched from his touch. But he couldn’t resist tracing the line of her throat down to the pulse hammering at her collarbone.
‘It’s not a game. It’s gone far beyond that. Once, in my complacency, I planned to seduce you.’ Pain wrapped gnarled fingers around his heart as he read her anguish.
‘I told myself it was for the benefit of the nation I kept you close, kept you with me, even kidnapped you.’ He drew a breath that racked his body. ‘But from the start I lied, not just to you but to myself. I plotted to get you into my bed because I wanted you. I needed you as I’ve never needed anyone. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Not your chronicle and your news about the throne, but you.’
He tunnelled his good hand through her hair, revelling in its silk caress and the warmth of her close to him. For the first time since the accident he felt complete.
‘You don’t know how I’ve missed you.’ His voice was a hoarse groan and her eyes riveted to his. He was drowning in warm, amber depths.
‘I fell for you, Tamsin. That’s why I kidnapped you. The rest was an excuse.’ She shook her head but he pressed on. ‘At first you were a problem with your unwanted news. But you were a conundrum, too, a woman I couldn’t get out of my head. You intrigued me. I’ve never met anyone like you.’
‘Because I’m a misfit, is that it?’ Her eyes shimmered, overbright.
‘You? A misfit? The way you charmed ambassadors and aristocrats and commoners alike at the ball? The way you bonded with those teenagers at the community centre? I hear you’ve kept visiting and they love it. And your staff in the archives have nothing but admiration and liking for you.’
‘You’ve been spying on me again?’
‘No!’ It had gone against the grain the first time. He’d never do that again. ‘Their permanent employer wants them back and they petitioned my staff to remain. While you stay they want to.’
He watched her eyes widen. She genuinely had no idea how special she was with her talents, her intellect and above all her passion.
‘I used every excuse I could think of to keep you with me, Tamsin. But the truth is I did it all because I wanted you.’ Even though he didn’t deserve her, he was too selfish to let her go.
‘I still want you. I need you.’ Saying it aloud for the first time Alaric was stunned by the force of his emotions. Emotions he’d never thought to experience. Emotions strong enough to obliterate a lifetime’s cynicism.
She shook her head so vigorously her hair came down to swirl like a dark cloud around her. He wanted to bury his face in it, inhale her sweet scent and lose himself.
But her pain, like a razor wire fence between them, held him back.
‘I’m a novelty. A change from your sophisticated women.’ Bitterness laced her voice. ‘You don’t need me.’
‘You are different.’ He reached for her hand and planted it over his chest, pressing it to his pounding heart. ‘For the first time in so long I feel, Tamsin. It scared the life out of me. That’s why I kept telling myself it wasn’t real.’
‘No!’ Her shout startled them both. ‘Please, don’t. This isn’t real. You feel guilty, that’s all.’
Alaric looked into Tamsin’s taut features, searching for a softening, some proof she cared. But there was nothing, only pain. The tiny flame of hope flickered perilously and his chest hollowed.
Had he lost his one chance of happiness?
‘I love you.’ He swallowed and it was like every broken dream scored his throat. He’d never thought it possible to feel so much and it scared him as nothing ever had.
‘I realised that as I lay in hospital and replayed every mistake I’d made. That’s why I signed myself out early, to come and tell you. I love you.’
She stood like a statue, her brow furrowed and her mouth a tight line.
He’d never felt like this, never told any other woman he loved her.
He’d expected a better response!
Alaric was tempted to kiss her into compliance. He could win her body. Yet he wanted her mind too. Her heart.
‘You don’t believe me?’
‘I…don’t know. It seems so unlikely.’ She looked so dazed his heart squeezed in sympathy. Or was that fear?
‘Then believe this. That scene you walked in on? I wanted it over before I came to you today.’ His lips twisted, thinking how Tamsin always managed to turn his plans on their head. ‘The reason for all the witnesses was because I wanted there to be no question about my actions.’ He drew a slow breath and squeezed her hand. ‘I just signed away my claim to the throne of Maritz. Raul will be king after all.’
‘You did what? Oh, Alaric! You’d make a wonderful king. You mightn’t be able to see it but I can. And I’m not the only one. The—’
He silenced her with a finger on her lips, telling himself soon he’d feel their soft caress with his mouth.
‘It’s all right, Tamsin. I didn’t do it because I feared to take the throne.’ That was well and truly behind him, though it warmed him to have her as such a passionate advocate. Hope flared again and excitement sizzled in his bloodstream.
‘I discovered the king is obligated to marry a princess from Ardissia. I’d have to take on the throne and a ready-made wife. When it came to the crunch I couldn’t do it. I’d accept the kingship and all its responsibilities but I can’t marry another woman. Not when I love you.’
‘You did that for me? You hardly know me!’
‘I know you, Tamsin. I know the real you.’
He’d never known a lovelier woman.
He looked down into her stunned face. Her hair was loose around her shoulders. Her intelligent eyes were bright, her skin glowed and the delicate curve of her cheek made him want to stroke her till she purred. She wore a fitted russet suit he’d never seen before. It skimmed her curves in a way that made his hormones rev into high gear.
‘You’ve bought new clothes.’ He frowned. He wasn’t
sure he wanted her looking good for anyone but him.
‘You really abdicated?’ She cut across him, staring as if she’d never seen him before. ‘But that’s…’
Her lips curved in a tremulous smile that snared his heart all over again and sent heat scudding through every tense muscle. ‘I can’t believe you gave up a crown for me.’
‘In the end it wasn’t the crown I objected to.’ He hauled her close with one arm, his pulse racing. ‘It was the bride. I prefer to choose my own.’
Cool palms slid around his neck as she pressed close, her eyes a blaze of molten gold. It was like staring into the sun. Surely she couldn’t look at him like that and not…
He took his courage in his hands.
‘Tamsin, could you forget the past and start again?’
For what seemed an age she stood silent. He held his breath.
‘I don’t want to forget,’ she murmured. ‘You’ve given me so much.’ Her smile warmed every corner of his soul and his pulse tripped into overdrive.
‘Tamsin.’ His voice was so husky he had to clear his throat. ‘Could you live with a man who’s made mistakes? Who still has to learn to how to settle down? A man with a scandalous reputation?’ He lifted her palm to his lips. ‘A man who has occasional nightmares about the past?’
‘I could.’ She looked so solemn, as if making a vow. ‘If you’re sure?’
The doubt in her eyes made him vow to prove to her, daily, how much she meant to him. ‘Never more so, my love.’
‘A scandalous reputation sounds intriguing.’ Her expression grew tender. ‘And as for nightmares…they’ll pass with time and help.’
She leaned up on tiptoe, her mouth brushing his in the lightest of kisses.
‘I love you, Alaric. I fell for you the night we met. I still can’t believe—’
He slanted his mouth over hers, relief and triumph and love overwhelming him.
She was his! He’d silence the last of her doubts. He’d devote his life to making her happy.
Much later, when the flare of passion threatened to roar out of control, Alaric stepped away.
‘What are you doing? Alaric! Your leg!’
Ignoring the pain he finally managed to settle on his good knee. He held her hand tight in his, their fingers threaded together.
‘I’m proposing. I want to do this right.’
‘Oh.’
She looked stunned. He’d finally found a way to silence her. But she confounded him by dropping to the floor in front of him.
‘Yes,’ she said, her voice breathless.
‘I haven’t asked you yet.’ He couldn’t prevent the grin that split his face. Joy welled in an unstoppable flood.
‘I’m saving time. You have to get off that knee.’
‘In that case…’ He pulled her off balance as he toppled back onto the thick carpet. She sprawled over him and his unruly body stirred.
‘Alaric!’ Tamsin gasped as he pulled her down hard over his groin. ‘We can’t. We shouldn’t. You’re just out of hospital!’
‘We can. We will.’ He kissed her soft lips and sighed his pleasure. ‘You can spend your life reforming me.’
‘Never. I love you just the way you are.’
She kissed him and Alaric silently gave thanks. In Tamsin he’d found the one perfect woman to make his life complete. He’d found love.
EPILOGUE
THE Gothic cathedral glowed as afternoon sunlight poured through the stained-glass windows. The scent of candles mingled with expensive perfumes and the fragrance of fresh flowers that were massed everywhere.
It was like a dream, walking down the aisle, the focus of every look. The place was crowded. Aristocracy from all around Europe, diplomats and community leaders, plus members of the public who’d been lucky enough to win a ballot to attend. But among them Tamsin spotted familiar faces: her colleagues, friends from the youth centre, Alaric’s old comrades, smiling as they nodded encouragingly. Even her parents, looking proud and slightly bewildered.
But she’d barely been able to tear her gaze from the man who watched her every step with an intensity that sent heat and excitement spiralling through her.
Alaric. Tall, proud and handsome in his uniform.
His cousin Raul had stood beside him, stunningly good looking with his killer smile and black as night hair. Yet Tamsin had barely spared him a glance, her whole being focused on the man she was to marry.
Seeing the love in Alaric’s eyes had made it all real as nothing else had. The luxuriously embroidered crimson velvet gown and its long train had felt unfamiliar and daunting as it trailed impressively behind her. The weight of the delicate beaten gold diadem had made her nervous, as had the filigree collar of gold and rubies circling her throat.
When she’d entered the cathedral to the triumphant blare of trumpets and swelling organ music she’d felt like an impostor, a little girl pretending to be a princess.
But from the moment Alaric’s gaze had locked with hers joy had sung in her heart and the world had righted itself.
This was so right she almost cried with happiness.
Now, with the ceremony over, they faced the congregation. Alaric stood behind her and in defiance of all protocol wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
‘Tamsin?’ Pleasure skated through her at the intimate purr of his voice saying her name.
‘Yes?’ She struggled to focus on the smiling throng and not Alaric’s hot breath feathering her neck.
‘No regrets?’
‘Never!’ She twisted round in his arms to see his indigo eyes dark with love. Neither heard the jubilant roar of the crowd as she kissed him full on the mouth and he responded emphatically.
Afterwards everyone present attested Prince Alaric and his bride had broken tradition and married for love.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8465-8
PROTECTED BY THE PRINCE
Previously published in the U.K. under the title PASSION, PURITY AND THE PRINCE
First North American Publication 2011
Copyright © 2010 by Annie West
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