Courting His Royal Highness

by Any Hahn

  "You say that, but—"

  "But nothing.” The smoky lust in his eyes irritated her. The answering tightness in her gut irritated her more. “I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH YOU."

  "That's a shame."

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh? And why is that?"

  "Because we have so much fun together."

  He was arrogant, extremely so, and it was obvious he lacked experience with women rejecting his advances. Every woman in the world dreamed about him, dreams that were hardly platonic. His loyal assistant probably carried an oversized black book filled with hundreds of names. He really was James Bond.

  "Do you really like your martinis shaken and not stirred?” she blurted out.

  "What?” He looked at her as if she'd just asked if he had three nipples, or something else just as outrageous. “Martinis? How did we get from talking about making love to cocktails?"

  She lifted one shoulder. “I'm just trying to figure you out."

  He cocked his head. “Oh?"

  "Yeah. Is James Bond your hero?"

  "The movies are fun."

  "So, it's fun how he has dozens of girlfriends and drinks excessively and—"

  "Plays with incredible, mind-blowing toys,” he finished. “You're comparing me to a fictional character?"

  "Well, if the shoe fits."

  "Yes, well, I guess I'm a lot like 007."

  She snapped her fingers in the water. “I thought so. After all, you chose him to impersonate at the ball."

  "It's true I enjoy fancy cars and other gadgets, and I love to travel around the world to exotic locations.” He slid through the water, shortening the distance between them. “But I don't have that many girlfriends. Trust me. I don't have time for it. That's why I'm doing this show. I want to find someone I can spend the rest of my life with. I want to find someone to be my bride and lifelong companion. This bachelor prince stuff is overrated."

  After hearing that, Chloe wanted to throw herself against him and wrap her arms around his neck. It took all her willpower to stay against the wall and watch as he swam to her. She was almost directly beneath the waterfall now, and water splashed against her face and neck. She held her breath as he drew nearer. He stopped inches from her, his nose almost touching hers. If she reached out, she could brush his broad chest with her fingertips.

  "Can I confide in you?” he asked.

  "Of course,” she whispered.

  "I'm beginning to think this show was a ridiculous idea."

  "Really?"

  "Yes.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I don't know what's between us, Chloe, but I want to find out. I can't confess love to you right now. I can't tell you if it's forever. I only know I've never been so affected by anyone my entire life. I know my feelings for you are deep, extremely deep, and I want nothing more than to have time to explore those feelings with you."

  "But we can't,” she murmured, closing her eyes and relishing the gentle caress of his fingers against her wet skin. “We can't."

  "We can."

  She opened her eyes and found herself looking directly into his. “What are you talking about?” Her voice was hardly even a whisper.

  "We have tonight, Chloe. Let's not waste it."

  The tip of his nose touched hers. One of his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her close as his legs entwined with hers. The heat of his body was intoxicating; she loved the feel of her breasts crushed against the planes of his chest. She fanned her hands across his chest and felt the steady beat of his heart.

  "I can't.” She looked down at her hands and noticed they trembled. “I can't, Max. I can't put myself in that position again."

  He lifted her chin with his thumb, and she gazed back into his eyes. “You can."

  She shook her head and tried to pull away from him, but he held her tightly. The last thing she wanted to do was break free of his arms, but she had to in order to protect her heart.

  "Let me go."

  "No."

  She pushed against him with the palms of her hands. When that didn't work, she balled her hands into furious fists and pounded his toned pectorals, again demanding that he release her.

  "No."

  "I can't do this!” she cried out hoarsely. She gazed up at him through eyes glazed with tears. “Don't make this any harder than it already is. Please. It's best if we don't do this. I need more than this. I need so much more."

  "And you don't think I do?” he asked.

  She stopped struggling in his arms; her hands rested on his broad shoulders, and her ankles slid enticingly against his. “What are you saying?"

  "I've already told you, Chloe. I want time to explore these feelings I have for you. Frankly, the timing of our meeting sucks."

  She laughed at his use of a very American term—she couldn't help herself. And she completely agreed. It did suck. Big time.

  He grinned. “You agree?"

  Chloe nodded. “Absolutely."

  "But there isn't anything we can do about it unless we break our contracts, pay the fee, and say to hell with everyone else."

  The very thought horrified her. It was unacceptable. He'd be in the headlines for a while and EVE executives would be mad at him, but eventually, because of his royal status, he'd be forgiven. She would not. No one gave a damn about her. She had no status, no connections, and no power to redeem herself if her name became mud in the industry.

  He must've seen the horror on her face because he whispered, “I promise I'm not going to do that or demand that you do it. I understand. I'm not promising forever. I don't know if I can."

  She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you."

  "But I still think the chance might be worth it."

  As he spoke, he twirled her around in the water. His right hand splayed at the small of her back; his left lingered lightly upon her hip. She circled her arms around his neck and fought the temptation to wrap her legs about his waist.

  "What's your favorite color?"

  His eyes widened in surprise. “What? You're full of odd questions tonight."

  Chloe brushed her fingers across the base of his neck. She was quite satisfied to see him shiver at her touch.

  "You did say you wanted to get to know me better. So, I thought I'd start by asking you something."

  "I said I wanted to explore these incredible, amazing, wonderful feelings,” he murmured huskily against her ear.

  "Which includes getting to know me better. My likes and dislikes and, well, everything."

  His fingers lightly touched the inside of her thigh, causing her to shudder. Hot desire turned his eyes a darker shade of blue. She tried to disentangle herself from his arms and failed miserably, only seeming to get their legs more tangled. She felt his arousal against her belly and blushed.

  "Stop that.” She slapped his hand away, but underwater it didn't have the same effect. Besides, her fingers lightly touched the bulge in his swim shorts, which caused a whole new cascade of shivers to shudder through her body. And his. She snatched her hand away. “Part of knowing if we have a future together is learning about each other."

  His fingers stopped the playful, erotic dance on her thigh. “So, we do have a future together? You're willing to give it a chance?"

  "You did say we had tonight.” She pushed away from him. He let her slip through his arms. “What is your favorite color?"

  "A game of questions wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend the night together,” he grumbled. “I had much more exciting things in mind."

  The look of crushed disappointment on his face made Chloe smile. He looked adorable. His lower lip jutted out just slightly, making him look like a small boy denied entrance into the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory.

  "Color?” she repeated.

  "Brown."

  "Brown?” She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

  "What's wrong with brown?” He sounded offended.

  "It's not a very attractive color. It's boring."

  "It's my favorite."

  It took
her a second to realize he was studying her intently with his warm eyes. An appreciative smile lifted the corners of his mouth. She had brown hair, a shade so dark it almost looked black. And she had eyes the color of dark chocolate. She loved that her eyes could be compared to chocolate, but for years she'd wanted green or blue eyes instead of her mud-brown ones. She'd never liked the eye color until a casting director told her he thought her dark-chocolate eyes were breathtaking. She'd immediately changed her mind and decided having brown eyes wasn't bad at all; after all, she adored chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Didn't every woman?

  "Is that really your favorite color?” she asked accusingly.

  "Do you think I'm lying?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay, I am. Brown is actually my second favorite color."

  "And your favorite color is?"

  "Pink!” He lunged through the water at her. She squealed and jumped out of reach of his flailing arms. “You look so sexy in that bikini."

  Her pulse raced. Her heart rate accelerated. She tried to move further from him, but he was stronger and faster and a better swimmer than she was. He grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her against him. She struggled, but her heart wasn't in it. She didn't truly mind being caught up in his arms, crushed against his body, his lips tickling her ear. He maneuvered them directly under the waterfall, and she shrieked as cold water washed down over her body.

  He nuzzled her neck with his cheek. “And your favorite color is?"

  She sighed happily, giving into the moment. “Pink.” The intense azure of his eyes overwhelmed her. She sighed dreamily. “And blue."

  His lips covered hers in a hungry kiss. She responded eagerly, opening her mouth beneath his, plunging her tongue into the hot moistness of his mouth. She never wanted to let him go. She curled her arms tighter around his neck and at last gave in to the impulse to wrap her legs about his waist. He groaned beneath her and deepened the kiss, pulling her snugly against him, both of his hands gripping the feminine curves of her backside. The waterfall's cold water continued to splash over their bodies, but Chloe hardly noticed. If anything, the slippery wetness made their embrace even more erotic.

  "I thought you'd see it my way,” he said against her partially opened mouth. “Women always do."

  His softly mumbled words pulled her out of the passionate world she was so willing to succumb to. Chloe opened her eyes, blinking away the douse of water droplets and looking down into his upturned face. He had the gall to grin at her, an incredibly smug, self-satisfied smile that fizzled her desire and turned it into anger.

  "Arrogant bastard!” she exclaimed. She unbound her legs from around his middle and pushed against him with her feet.

  He sputtered in surprise. “Chloe, I—"

  She gave him a good swat with her hand, and he miraculously let her go. She was completely unprepared for the sudden release and plunged into the deep end of the pool. She allowed herself to sink all the way to the bottom before pushing herself off the pebbled floor with the tips of her toes.

  "What was that all about!” he shouted at her when she broke through the surface.

  "You heard me. You're an arrogant bastard."

  "Hey, I thought we were having a good time."

  "Yeah, until you decided to go all I-am-man-hear-me-roar,” she snapped, flipping long tangles of hair over her left shoulder.

  He held up a hand to ward off her attack. “I confess I'm confused. You do that to me quite a lot. How did we get from kissing to this?"

  She placed her hands on her hips and imitated him in a singsong voice that was most definitely not equal to his deep, timbered baritone, “I thought you'd see it my way. Women always do.” She glared at him from beneath wet, clumpy lashes. Her mascara was probably running full force down her cheeks, but she didn't care. How dare he!

  He looked like he was about to laugh but thought better of it. There was no mistaking the amusement in his eye. “Don't you think you're overreacting?"

  "No. I'm not. You think you can have anything you want just because you're royalty. That fact doesn't give you a free pass to me."

  "That's not true, and you know it. You're just picking a fight with me because it's easier."

  What was he talking about? Fighting was easier? Easier than what, exactly? She continued to glare at him from the other side of the waterfall, sending telepathic messages for him to stay away from her. The problem was, she wasn't telepathic. And he started to move towards her. Damn. Shouldn't her body language tell him that moving towards her was a mad idea? She stiffened as he approached her, gliding through the water like Poseidon. He resembled a deity too. Damn him. Damn him. Damn him.

  "Chloe, you're right."

  She almost sank to the bottom of the pool again. “What did you say?"

  He stopped directly in front of her. “I can be arrogant, but I'm not a bad guy. And I truly like you. A lot."

  Chloe's anger diminished. Oh, he was so cute when he gazed at her like that. And she knew he liked her. The past two days had proved as much, hadn't they?

  "Oh?” She was appalled to hear her voice sounding like a teenage girl's.

  "But I'm not a bastard, certainly not. I can trace my lineage for generations, and I know I was born in wedlock. It's a documented fact—the entire world knows. So, yes, I admit to being arrogant sometimes, but I'm not a bastard."

  One corner of his mouth tilted up, and she giggled. She couldn't help it. He had a way of making her laugh with just a look or one of his foolish grins.

  "I apologize for the bastard part."

  The other side of his mouth tilted up. “Not the arrogant part?"

  "Nope. You did admit it's true."

  "Sometimes I can be insufferable."

  She hooted at the word. “Insufferable? It's not too often I hear that in casual conversation."

  His arms coiled about her and curled her into a gentle embrace. “Now admit it."

  "Admit what?” she asked innocently.

  "Admit the only reason you said what you did is because you were trying to ignore your feelings for me and push me away."

  Chloe lifted her chin a notch. “I was not. You really are arrogant."

  "Well, I want to admit something."

  "Confess away."

  He pressed his forehead against hers; his eyes were an amazing color of blue. “I'm sorry."

  "You are?"

  Max nodded. He smoothed a few tendrils of wet hair away from her temples. His eyes were totally focused on her, and his fingers lingered against her skin. “I should've never said what I did. It was arrogant of me. I was an idiot. I was trying to tease you. I honestly don't know what I was thinking."

  Chloe raised a hand to his face and curled a piece of his dark hair around two fingers. “I forgive you,” she whispered. And she did. She wasn't mad at him any more. Maybe she had never been angry with him. Maybe she had been trying to push him away by finding something that made him less than perfect, something that gave her an excuse to end things with him, no matter how utterly stupid it was.

  Max grabbed her hand and turned his lips into her palm. The feel of his mouth moving along her skin caused tentacles of fresh desire to spread through her body, and she trembled for the thousandth time.

  "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to, Chloe. You can trust me. And I can accept not getting something I want. I've been denied things before and survived without a nasty tantrum. But I do want you. I want you more than I've ever wanted any woman. I want you to know that. You have to believe me."

  "I do, Max. I believe you."

  "Good."

  They stared into each other's eyes for a few breathless moments. Chloe waited for him to make the next move, but he didn't; he only held her tenderly in his strong, muscled arms. They floated together, the current from the waterfall moving them about in small circles. She held his face in her hands, her fingers lightly stroking his cheeks, her thumbs caressing his lips.

  "What do we do now?” he aske
d, his low, husky voice barely audible over the splashing of the waterfall.

  She'd been waiting for him to decide, but it wasn't up to him. He was making it perfectly clear that he was giving her the choice. He really was the most wonderful man. And starting tomorrow, she would share him twenty-four hours a day with more than a dozen beautiful women and a camera and production crew numbering somewhere in the twenties.

  There might never be another chance for them.

  And how could she deny herself one last night with the man she knew, beyond a doubt, she loved? She couldn't. Tomorrow didn't matter. Only now mattered. She'd deal with the heartbreak tomorrow and the next day and the next. But now was their moment.

  "Take me to bed,” she whispered. She pressed her lips to his. “Make love to me, Max. Make love to me."

  "I'd hoped for that. I'd so hoped for that.” He returned her tentative kiss ardently. The kiss took Chloe's breath away.

  "Oh, Max.” She sighed softly before collapsing against him, giving herself completely to him. She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes, loving the steady thump-thump sound of his heart.

  He swept her into his arms and swam through the water, hurrying towards the shallow edge. Once there, he carried her up the steps and through the courtyard, into the foyer and up the wide flight of stairs, and finally down the hallway to her bedroom. He turned the knob and flung open the door, stepped inside, and kicked the door shut behind them.

  Chloe laughed as Max tossed her onto the bed with such force the pillows bounced against the headboard and slid to the floor. She watched with wide eyes as he stripped from his swimwear, sliding the black shorts off his slim hips and down his toned thighs and calves.

  Desire flamed bright in his eyes as he looked at her. “I'm going to take you fast, Chloe. I can't wait. I'm too impatient."

  Intense, all-consuming warmth pooled in her middle. She knelt on the bouncy bed and unhooked the top of her bikini, removing it with one hand and dangling it in front of him, giving him an unobstructed view of her breasts. They exchanged seductive smiles before she threw the bright pink top at a nearby lamp, where it attached itself to the lampshade.

  "I don't want to wait either,” she told him. She stood up and slipped the bikini bottom off, twirling it with her big toe before sending it sailing it across the room, where it hit the far wall and fell into a small pink heap by the door to the walk-in closet.