The Bachelor Prince

by Jane Beckenham

  A smile tugged at her mouth as he lowered himself over her and positioned his muscled arms on either side. He held himself above her so that he wasn’t touching her.

  Oh, how she wanted his touch.

  Heat burned off him. A bead of perspiration dotted his brow and trailed slowly down the side of his face. There was a tense expectation in his muscles. Powerful. Potent. Hers.

  For now.

  His mouth found hers again, his kisses drugging her into a sensual stupor she had no ability, or inclination, to deny. He shifted his attention to one nipple and then the other, over and over. Her back arched, willing him closer, her core wet with wanting.

  With a feather-light touch, he trailed kisses across her rib cage, the tip of his tongue delineating each rib, and then moved to circle her belly button. He gazed at her from beneath dark lashes, eyes stormy with heated need. “You said it wasn’t fair we were clothed. Time to remove these, don’t you think?”

  She couldn’t agree more.

  He fingered the lacy edging of her panties, and then slid them down her legs, tossing them to the increasing pile of abandoned clothes. His hand slid along the inside of her leg over the silky stockings, and Cassie’s breathing stopped.

  “Take them off.”

  “Oh no, I don’t think so. I fancy making love to you with them on.” He offered her a broad, sexy smile, and her heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t a virgin, but she’d not paraded herself in front of a lover this blatantly either, and yet with Lucas, it seemed so natural. “Your turn, I think.”

  “Be my guest.”

  She clasped the elastic of his shorts. They hugged him, leaving her in no doubt as to the state of his arousal, a silent acknowledgment of the power she had. She took it slowly, deliberately caressing him as she slid them off.

  Then he was naked. Magnificent. He took her breath away.

  Shifting sideways, he reached for his trousers and quickly produced a condom. Cassie’s eyes widened. So much for responsibility, Masters. Engrossed in lust, she’d completely forgotten.

  “We don’t want any accidents.”

  That one sentence nearly destroyed her. Oh, she knew it was responsible of him, for them. Unwanted pregnancy and princes didn’t go together. And having a baby at this stage in her life would be irresponsible.

  Lowering himself beside her, he drew her into his embrace, and for the first time, they truly touched, skin to skin, hip to hip. “Beautiful,” he whispered once more.

  Heaven, she sighed.

  Now, at last, she finally believed him, because in his arms she felt exactly that. Beautiful.

  Whispering words of passion between tiny kisses that never stopped, Lucas cupped her face and then laced his fingers through her hair. “So beautiful.”

  Heat skimmed the length of her as he caressed her, coming to rest at the junction of her womanhood. He edged a finger into her sleek warmth. “You’re so slick for me.”

  All she managed was a groan as he slipped a second finger inside her. She took him greedily, her body humming with desire as she thrust upward to meet his pulsing ministrations. Cassie knew this was meant to be. She was alive, really alive—her skin, her breathing, her brain, all focused on Lucas, on what he was doing to her, rousing her. “Lucas!”

  “That’s it, sweetheart. Take all the pleasure.”

  She couldn’t refuse. She wanted it all. Clasping his face in her hands, she drew his mouth to hers and kissed him with every ounce of passion she had, her tongue imitating what his fingers were doing. Then it was there, that precious moment as repeated spasms rippled through her, and she tumbled over the brink of no return. For a flicker of a heartbeat she stilled, enveloped by an orgasm beyond anything she had ever experienced. She took it and rejoiced in it.

  Definitely heaven.

  She turned to face him. “Make love to me, Lucas.”

  “With pleasure.”

  “I think the pleasure quotient has already been reached,” she gasped, trying for flippant and gloriously failing.

  “So you want me to stop?”

  “Don’t you dare.”

  His hands were everywhere—massaging her nipples to hard nubs, sliding down her rib cage, grazing over her mound. He moved with an assurance that proved an erotic siege to her body, liquid heat pooling in her core.

  His rock-hard erection pulsed at her entrance, and anticipation surged. Cassie hungered to have him inside her. Full, fast and furious.

  His mouth found hers, and their tongues danced, then he withdrew a moment as he tore open the foil and, in one slick movement, sheathed himself. “You can say no.”

  Cassie reached up to his finely sculpted chest and laved the tip of her tongue over one nipple, biting the sweet bud. “Not on your life.”

  “Hallelujah.” Lucas exhaled a groan and plunged into her fully.

  Cassie didn’t speak—she couldn’t. It was all about feeling him inside her.

  Heaven.

  At last he moved within her, his gaze never leaving her face as he pushed her to the limit. She held him tight, thighs gripping him as her body shuddered beneath his, her climax growing. Never before had she felt this…sensation, this bone-melting pleasure as her climax took hold and forced her over the edge, the flames burning in the fireplace next to them powerless to compete with the inferno raging between them as Lucas too shot to fulfillment.

  Chapter Eight

  Lucas lay on his side, a sleeping Cassie cradled in his arms. Her breathing was far steadier than its erratic dance when they made love.

  It had been a revelation. As she had reached the pinnacle of orgasm, a wave of joy had swept over him. It was unexpected and alien, but a boost to his male pride that he had given her such pleasure. Even more, the intensity of his feelings for her in that quintessential moment rebirthed emotions he’d thought long quashed.

  Emotions meant love. Commitment. And he’d been burned.

  Now, panic welled deep, and his need to escape such claustrophobic feelings intensely real. In the past, he’d ignored thinking and feeling about his relationships, instead seeking an adrenaline surge to ward off such moments. It seemed paradoxical that in order to elude the rush of sexual need he had for Cassie, he would choose death-defying sports.

  He’d caught himself fantasizing about kissing the curve of her ear. What it would feel like?

  Now he knew, and still the fantasies continued. Kissing her. Making love again. And again.

  Then what?

  Dragging a hand across his face, he rubbed at the coarse day-old stubble and squeezed his eyes closed for a moment, only to open them straight away as Cassie’s breath feathered across his skin. She turned on her side and laid her hand on his chest as if it were something she had done a thousand times before. He wished she had.

  Wish? His jaw tightened. He didn’t ever wish. Wishes were for those who could afford their luxury, and while he was one of the richest men in the world, he couldn’t afford the extravagance of such idolized dreams—the responsibility of his birthright always in the way.

  It had been a mistake bringing Cassie here. He’d thought seclusion and quiet would take them away from prying eyes, but all it had done was put the fear of God in him. Bit by bit, he could feel his resistance slipping. The strength to follow the path he had determined for himself after that day; the moment in time that linked his life, his mother’s death and the woman he had thought would love him forever, together.

  It haunted him still so that he kept any hint of commitment at bay.

  But now…

  His susceptibility scared the hell out of him. It wasn’t him. Normally.

  He wasn’t a man of such temperament. He saw something and went after it. Straightforward. But with Cassie, somehow everything changed.

  Her breath fluttered across his skin, driving his desire, and his mouth curved into a half smile.


  He could do this. Keep emotions at bay.

  And for now he would enjoy—that was all. No emotions. No commitment.

  Edging forward, he drew away her hair and kissed her sweet skin. See—easy! His gaze roamed the length of her body.

  Really?

  He shifted to the edge of the bed. Cassie Masters was proving addictive, and that could be a problem. Needing some time alone without the temptation of wanting to take her in his arms and make love to her, Lucas eased from the bed. He reached for a pair of sweatpants hanging from a hook in his bathroom and quickly drew them on, slipping from the room and heading for the sanctuary of the lodge’s great room.

  The moment he opened the door, Cassie’s fragrance enveloped him. Lavender and rose. His eyes shuttered, and his hand fisted on the door handle. Flashes of Cassie lying beneath him seized him. A spark crackled in the dying fire, and the vision blurred.

  Shaking off the memory, he strode toward the window, drawn by the shadow of the towering mountains in the distance. A vulnerability instigated by the woman upstairs in his bed plagued him.

  “Lucas?”

  For a moment, he thought he’d imagined his whispered name. He wished he had, because acknowledging her, would be to confront his actions, the way he’d determined to use her, a moment etched deeply across his sense of right and wrong. In the past, he had never turned from a challenge, yet right now he wanted to run from this one, because Cassie Masters stirred emotions in him he hadn’t expected.

  He turned to face her. “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.”

  Dressed in his abandoned shirt, the few remaining buttons undone, she stood in the doorway, the rise and fall of her breasts a teasing reminder of the hours they’d spent making love.

  Concern washed across her soulful eyes—the same uncertainty he’d witnessed the moment before she’d come into his arms. She stepped up to him, and he inhaled the smell of her.

  His Cassie.

  “Are you okay?” Barely a few inches away, she stared at him, searching his soul, and a familiar swell of panic stirred. Damn it. He needed to tell her it was a mistake and walk away. Instead, he reached for her hand and clasped it in his.

  Sweet mercy he was lost.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Dear God, why was he asking her to go with him, when what he should have done was escape—on his own?

  Such a fool!

  She didn’t budge. She was going to turn him down.

  “Now?”

  “Sure. No time like the present.”

  “Lucas, you’re not making any sense.”

  Didn’t he know it. Only hours ago, he’d made love to her, and he wanted her again. He glanced down at her small hand clasped in his, surprised at the simple pleasure that just holding it gave him.

  Ten minutes later, he’d convinced her to dress warmly, finding clothing left at the lodge by his sister Marina, and they headed down the front steps and out into the stillness of a night not yet over.

  “Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “At…” She glanced at her watch, the luminescent dial glowing beneath the moon’s striated rays. “It’s barely five a.m. and still dark.”

  “Not for long. I’ve got something to show you.” He pulled her behind him through the hedgerow bordering the western side of the lodge. The icy air burned deep in his lungs, and the sound of snow crunching beneath their boots echoed in the silence.

  “Are you nuts?”

  Definitely.

  And he’d just made love to the only person he could call a friend.

  As they wove their way farther into the forest, melted snow dripped down from the fir trees and slid beneath Cassie’s jacket collar. “Lucas, what’s going on?”

  “Wait and see.”

  She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to go back to bed where it was warm, and preferably with Lucas at her side. Scanning the night sky littered with a million jewel-like stars, she halted. “This is all very pretty, but who in their right mind goes into snowy mountains on foot in the middle of the night?”

  “Dawn’s not far away.”

  “And it’s dark and cold.” As if to reiterate that fact, a snowdrop dropped onto her neck and trailed a wet path down her spine, triggering a shiver to ripple through her in quick pursuit. Her chest felt tight, the cold air lingering in her lungs and forcing out puffs of white air with every breath she exhaled.

  “Where’s your adventurous spirit?”

  “Adventure. This whole being-engaged thing is too much adventure as far I’m concerned.” And hurt could only come of it. She should be winging her way to New Zealand, not playing with a prince on a snowy mountaintop.

  Sleeping with her boss was way out there on the Richter scale of adventure. And dumb, and beautiful, and heavenly.

  Oh God, she had to leave—and soon. Tina needed her far more than Lucas ever would. She shook her head. “Okay. I get it. This is one of those daredevil times you’re renowned for, but do me a favor, Adrenaline Boy, how about next time you choose a warmer place, or at least during daylight hours.”

  Beneath the wash of the moon glimmering through the towering treetops, Lucas reached for her hand again. She offered no protest and took delight as his gloved fingers linked with hers and he pulled her toward him. She came up against his body and luxuriated in the instant heat of him and, just for a moment, they simply stared at each other.

  “Thank you for taking up the challenge.” His voice was quiet, sincere. “I know it is an odd thing to do.”

  “A spur-of-the-moment thing.”

  He tugged off one glove and brushed the pad of his thumb along her hairline and down the curve of her cheek to the tip of her chin. The wispy white of his breath fanned her cheek, and her body heated, blood roaring in her veins.

  Remember this moment, Cassie. Hold on to it.

  His smile quirked, highlighting a dimple in his right cheek. “Something like that.”

  The hoot of an owl reached out from the darkened forest, and then his lips were on hers, warm and teasing. Her heart soared.

  She loved him, and she was so lost.

  Wrapped in his arms, Cassie gave herself to the moment, taking what she desired beyond all reasoning, knowing love would never be returned. She was no longer the same woman she had been. She’d changed, inside and out. Good changes? Cassie wasn’t sure.

  Finally, breathless, his hands resting on her shoulders, Lucas gently pushed her away, then drew the small backpack he’d been carrying from his shoulders and unzipped it. He withdrew a large sheet of plastic and laid it on the snow. Redoing the zip, he slung the backpack over his shoulders, then sank down onto the sheet and patted the spot in front of him. “Come on.”

  Confusion whirred in Cassie’s exhausted brain. “Where to?”

  “Here.” He again patted the space in front of him. “We’re going for a ride, and I promise you it’ll be the ride of your life.”

  She already felt like she was on the ride of her life. She eyed the black plastic and the steep grade of the snow-covered hillside in front of them. It was the only way down.

  Lucas held a hand out for her. She took it because she trusted him. “In for a penny.” She positioned herself between his legs, then leaned back as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “Hold on.” Using his free hand, he clawed repeatedly at the snow, forcing them forward. Within seconds, their makeshift sled took flight, and they were off.

  Wind whipped at her face, laughter bursting from her as they raced at breakneck speed down the hillside with Lucas somehow guiding them. He held her tight. She felt safe. Cared for.

  The lodge came into view as a secluded speck silhouetted against the dawn. He leaned sideways, but their speed increased dramatically, and Cassie’s fear overshot her excitement.

  “
Lucas!”

  Too late. He grabbed her with both hands, and together they tumbled sideways, skidding, sliding and surging down the snow-clad mountain track, tumbling over and over.

  She was going to die. Die! And she hadn’t had the chance to tell Lucas she loved him.

  Her shrieks burst through the silence as she slammed against a rocky outcrop and came to a grinding halt. Breathing labored, not one sound formed on her tongue as pain overrode every cohesive thought.

  “Cassie! Cassie!” Lucas scrambled to his feet and reached for her. “Are you okay? Shit!” He fell to his knees, grabbing at her hands.

  She opened one eye, then another. Heaven and Lucas. Couldn’t get any better than that. “Am I alive?”

  Pain powered through her body. Yep, she was definitely alive.

  Warm hands slid over her. Tell him. Tell him you love him.

  “I’m sorry. I’m a bloody fool. When the hell will I learn?”

  “Lucas, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

  His hands stopped their exploration, concern shadowing his expression. “Really? Are you sure?”

  Pushing herself upright, she held on to him as he helped her to her feet, only to wince and blink back pain-fueled tears as she put her left foot to the ground.

  “You’re not. You’re hurt.”

  “I’m okay. Bruised, I think.”

  “God, I could have killed you.”

  “You wouldn’t have let that happen.”

  In one swift movement, he lifted her into his arms and held her close to his chest.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking you home.”

  “But I can walk,” she lied. What she really meant was she wasn’t okay with being in his arms. That made her vulnerable, and made her want him all over again. The man, darn it, was just far too tempting.

  “Not now you can’t. You’re in pain.”

  “Just a bit,” she admitted.

  “You could have broken something.”