Captured (Gowns & Crowns #2)

by Jennifer Chance

  “I want to fuck you every way there is,” he hissed into her ear, and if anything, she went more liquid in his arms. “Till there’s nothing else you can imagine but me inside you, making you wet with need, making you come.”

  “Yes,” Lauren said and the broken desire in her voice cranked him up another notch.

  He pulled all the way out, leaving her gasping. “Turn over.”

  Surprise flared in her eyes, and he held up a hand, grinning into her face. “My way, remember.”

  She didn’t need much convincing. She turned over, and the sight of her made any other action moot. Grabbing her waist, he slid into her again, the unfamiliar angle and pressure drawing her up short, making it that much easier to shift his hands up to cup her beautiful breasts as he pressed farther into her, spreading her wide, his questing fingers then dropping from her breasts to the sensitive vee—

  “Oh!” she gasped as her body bucked. “I can’t—”

  “You can. My way.” He placed his fingers over her quivering sex and seated himself inside her again. He pulsed inside her as he touched her intimately, shifting his fingers and body in tune to the vibrations of her body, the urgency of her sighs, the staccato need of her groans. When she came apart in his arms a second time, he was ready, surging forward as she cried out incoherently until he triggered his own release, and his sight went whiteout blind for a second as the rush of need and desire and possession swept over him, taking him into oblivion. He growled, pulling free of Lauren and rolling away to rid himself of the condom, then was back again immediately, pulling her into his arms, cradling her close, as she shook and trembled, reaching for him, finding him.

  Finding them both.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lauren stood in the waning afternoon sun, a smile fixed on her face as she stared at Dimitri making a call on his satellite phone. Though they were back in town and cell coverage was unexpectedly boosted by low cloud coverage, he’d insisted on using the sat phone to make this call. From the animated way he used his arms to punctuate his words, she couldn’t tell if the conversation was going well or not. With Dimitri, animation was a part of the equation.

  She shifted her gaze to her own phone. To her surprise, she’d had no incoming texts or calls in the day or so since she’d checked last, but then again, only her sister had the phone number, and the two of them weren’t really close—not yet. Maddie was barely fourteen, and while their relationship was good, life was simply too different for them both to really connect. Even her own friends, Nicki, Emmaline, and Fran seemed a million miles away instead of merely a short boat ride to the mainland.

  Lauren typed out a quick text to Maddie, then stole another look at Dimitri. He continued to gesture wildly, and it was impossible to tell if he was happy or peeved. Turning away, she keyed in another number.

  Nicki picked up on the first ring. “Girl! What is going on—Stefan won’t tell me anything, and we were getting worried!”

  Lauren smiled, warmed more than she would have imagined by Nicki’s voice. Of all the girls, she hadn’t expected to get along with Nicki so much on this trip. She was Emmaline’s friend more so than Lauren’s, the two of them having roomed together in college while Lauren had shared a dorm room with Fran. Nicki had always been so outsized and bold, despite her small frame…and Lauren had always thought it was that small frame that had made her so obnoxiously “extreme-sports girl.”

  Until she’d seen the bottle of meds Nicki had waved at her so casually this past week, and realized the deeper truth. Such a simple thing, but it had changed everything.

  Nicki was—not sick, not really. But her big heart that beat so fiercely as she pounded up mountains and down trails was threatened by a disease she refused to acknowledge beyond a precautionary regimen of beta blockers. Her brother and father had both been diagnosed with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that could stop the woman in her tracks at any moment…or never strike at all. Testing was required to know for sure if she was going to develop the disease, and even that wasn’t foolproof.

  So Nicki had decided not to be tested. And instead to go after life as if it could be swept away from her at any moment.

  As a result, Lauren didn’t look at Nicki any more as some sort of daredevil. She looked at her as a kind of miracle. Or an idiot. Or a ticking time bomb, take your pick. Either way, she was who she was, and Lauren was glad to count her as a friend.

  “So what has Stefan said, actually?” Lauren asked. “He told you I was still with Dimitri, right?”

  “Yeah, as if that’s a hardship.” The grin in Nicki’s voice was unmistakable. “But then he also tried to give us some bullshit about you needing a holiday from your parents, which we both know is not true. It’s that creeper Smithson, right? He’s the chosen one? He’s a million years too old for you.”

  Lauren laughed in spite of herself. “He’s not that old.”

  “Dude, he’s pushing forty. That’s old when you’re twenty-three. I checked.” Nicki didn’t let her respond to that. “He seemed super pissed when he couldn’t find you the other night, and then he got super…not pissed. It was weird.”

  Lauren’s brows went up. “What do you mean?” she asked. Though she knew the answer. Nicki supplied it for her anyway.

  “Like, all this was a game to him, and you’d simply surprised him with an unexpected move. He seemed, like, delighted. Almost giddy.” She could almost hear Nicki shrug. “Like I said, creeper. I’m glad he split.”

  That made her hand spasm on the phone. “He split? I thought he was part of the search party or whatever.”

  “Jeez, do they tell you nothing? That’s why you’re coming home, I thought. Henry took off last night, back aboard his floating glitter palace, and sailed off into the sunset. Your parents are still freaking out, but creeper man apparently doesn’t give a damn about finding you one way or another.”

  Lauren’s throat closed up. She was glad now for time passing quickly. She needed to get back into the open, back into a place where she would be seen, tracked, surrounded by her security people. If Henry had decamped, that didn’t mean he’d given up on her, far from it. That meant he was planning something else. Something new.

  Probably something bad.

  Nicki said something else, and Lauren’s attention flicked back to the phone. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “I said, when specifically are you coming home? Tonight yet? Tomorrow? We want to have a party. Because, you know, we’re staying in a castle, and that’s what one does.”

  “Tonight,” Lauren said. “I’m pretty sure it’s all going to happen tonight.” Her eyes strayed to Dimitri. He’d finished his phone call and had turned back to her, his grin so wide she thought it would take up her whole world. “I’ve gotta go, Nicki,” she said, feeling her heart lighten at last. “See you guys soon?”

  “You better! I’m sure they’ll be killing the fatted calf in anticipation of your triumphant return. Only, please, God, don’t make me wear another ball gown.”

  Lauren was still laughing as she clicked off the phone, and Dimitri bounded up to her. Before she could ask him what had happened, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the sidewalk café she’d been loitering next to. “Food!” he shouted. “We’re celebrating.” The server closest to the door laughed and gestured to one of the tables. Dimitri was electric with energy as they sat.

  “So it was good news?” Lauren said, drinking in the image of him. He seemed so completely relaxed and unfeigned around her. Back at the villa, they’d lain together for a half hour, dozing in the bed before getting up to shower and head into town. It was as if they’d been dating for years, though she’d known him such a short time. Yet the sight of him filled with genuine joy and excitement was a balm to her nerves. A balm she hadn’t realized she needed so much.

  “It was good news,” Dimitri said, grinning. “They believe me and want us back on the mainland immediately, of course, so they can inspect the watch themselves. I am happy to ob
lige them. There’s no boat on the island now that is secure, however, so we’ll wait until we can have one outfitted and sent over. Should be later tonight.”

  Lauren glanced out to the water. The sun was beginning to set already, so that cut down their time on the island to—what, mere hours? She forced herself not to think about that. “And then what?” she asked. “Will they track down the fisherman?”

  “Already underway. He’ll be picked up at his next port and questioned. Most likely, he didn’t pull the watch off Ari’s wrist himself. He would not be so bold with showing it off otherwise. I expect he bought it off some beachcomber, but if there is any lead—anything at all to indicate what happened to Ari…” He spread his hands, his good mood dimming somewhat. “Well. That would be a blessing for the family. For me.”

  “You’ll find something.” Lauren reached out and grasped Dimitri’s hand. That too seemed natural, as did the roughness of his palm as he closed his other hand around hers. He pulled her close and kissed her, laughing again as they were interrupted by the server bringing hummus and bread and olives.

  They had eaten about half the meal before Dimitri leaned back, and she tensed as his gaze moved over her. He was about to shift tactics, she was certain.

  She was right.

  “So tell me, what will you do when we return? Stefan said your admirer has left, probably to plot another day. How will you stop him completely?”

  Lauren sighed “I think he’ll eventually stop himself,” she said, staring at the glass in her hand to avoid looking at him directly. “He’s, above all, a proud man. Though I’m sure the story was controlled, the idea of me fleeing the scene to avoid him probably has leaked out in the communities he actually cares about. Eventually, he’ll start feeling like the rejected suitor if he keeps after me without success, and that won’t sit well with him. Better for him to go on to other conquests and decide if he still wants me.” She glanced up again. “If he does, well, I’ll deal with that then.”

  Even as she spoke the words, she was surprised at how sane they sounded. How smart, even. Henry Smithson could arguably have any woman in the world. They were probably lining up for him. He was also, as Nicki so helpfully pointed out, pushing forty. If he truly was ready to settle down, chasing her around the globe had to be getting a little boring, or galling, or both.

  Dimitri seemed to agree. “I can understand him not wanting to let you go,” he said, with so much bold declaration to the words that it caught her off guard. “But you’re right. Eventually, a man wants to draw in his nets and return to port, and not fish all day. I haven’t asked Stefan about the media spin. We will determine that and see if what you suspect is true.” He grinned at her, rolling his glass in his hand. “And then what? Say this man marries another, no longer worries about you. What will you do? You have the whole world at your feet.”

  Lauren laughed. “I’ll work,” she said, waving off Dimitri’s startled scowl. “Hey, I enjoy working, and I haven’t been able to focus recently as much as I have needed to do.”

  “Work!” he scoffed. “There will always be work to do. You should live!” He slapped the table. “What do you do for fun? Besides playing drinking games in countries where you should know better. You go dancing, yes? Meet with friends?”

  Lauren smiled ruefully. For as long as she could remember, her social life had been carefully monitored to ensure maximum visibility with minimal effort. And always—always, with a tight crowd of friends and hangers-on. To keep her insulated, protected. Protected from Henry. What would it be like to not have that as a concern anymore? “I go out with friends all the time,” she said, hedging.

  “What else? What do you do that you enjoy?” Dimitri was grinning at her, disarming her further.

  “I have charity work, and social engagements, and—”

  “Those are with other people. Say it is you, on your own, and you have the whole world to yourself. What would you do? Where would you go? To Paris? London?” He gestured with his glass. “There must be somewhere.”

  “What are you hounding me for?” She laughed. “Someplace like this, I guess. But with Wi-Fi. Someplace beautiful and near the sea. That’s where I would go.”

  “Then you are very wise.” Dimitri waved at the server, then turned to Lauren, fighting hard not to let her see the intensity of his gaze. “There are many beautiful places by the sea you should visit.”

  “Well, I’d want to see every one of them.” Her full lips twisted, and he did his best not to stare at them. “I actually thought about focusing my work on something to do with resort cities, beachside hamlets—something. But the tourism market is already played out. Starting something new in that sector would take someone with a lot more experience than I have.”

  “Experience means nothing in the face of passion.” Dimitri shrugged. “You want something, you do it. You should know that more than anyone. I cannot think you have let anything stand in your way for long, with the life you lead?”

  He watched her closely as she tilted her head and laughed. There, it was happening again. A precision to her movements and words since he’d started asking her questions about the future. She didn’t believe she would have a future, at least not one that didn’t involve the threat of Smithson if she should ever be alone. Which meant she was still running scared.

  She hadn’t been precise when he’d been with her at the beach. Or when she’d been in his arms. She’d been lopsided and messy and glorious, the abandon with which she’d thrown herself into him a marvel to see. He yearned to see that expression on her face again, or perhaps the casual confidence and open-eyed wonder he’d seen when she was at the cove, pushing her way through all the hanging items of ocean debris. It was as if she was on vacation from her own life, but she would never admit that her life was one she needed to escape. No one was more aware than Lauren Grant of exactly how lucky Lauren Grant was.

  But how lucky was anyone when they couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t include working in some godforsaken office somewhere, always in the center of a crowd, if only to avoid a bogeyman that no one else feared? That was no way to exist.

  The silence between them had apparently gone on too long, so she went on the offensive. Something else she did with grace and precision, and long years of practice, he suspected. “What about you? You’ll be heading back into service, won’t you, once your babysitting detail is over?”

  He lifted both brows. “I would not call what I’ve done here babysitting.”

  “You know what I mean.” She smiled. Perfectly. “What is your next assignment, or whatever—or is your military more of a reactionary model, called into action only if needed?”

  “There is always a need, whether on our own borders or for our allies.” Dimitri shook his head. “We’ve had trouble with insurgents from Turkey of late, but that is nothing new. Refugees are a constant challenge for a country of our size and limited resources as well. There is a fine line between humanitarian aid and being overrun. So I will review the status of our current military outposts, and see what needs are greatest. Cyril may have assignments in the works as well. He usually does.” He eyed her. “There is also already talk of how to protect Emmaline when she returns to the US.”

  “If she returns.” Lauren’s smile was wistful for the barest moment before she modulated it again. “Who’s to say Kristos won’t marry her before the week is out?”

  “The queen, for one.” Dimitri grimaced. “She is entranced with Emmaline’s musical abilities, and if I know the woman at all, she will not rest until she sees her officially installed in an American orchestra. Emmaline seems to think that will require additional schooling?” Lauren nodded, and he curled his lip. “You Americans should do more without asking.”

  She laughed. “The program she got into is very prestigious! She would learn a lot and get back into the practice of playing on a regular basis. And be near her family. Nearer, anyway.”

  Dimitri nodded. “The queen thought the same.” He grima
ced. “But where Emmaline goes, Kristos will want to follow, and that gets more complicated. So there are decisions to be made there.”

  “Uh-huh.” Lauren eyed him with speculation. “Queen Catherine isn’t considering the possibility that their infatuation will play out, is she? Because I know Emmaline pretty well. And I don’t see that happening.”

  “No one is more dedicated to romance than Queen Catherine, or enamored of the idea of a royal wedding within the next year.” Dimitri grimaced. “But she also is fully aware that decisions made in haste must be lived with for a time to really ensure that they are the right course. So anything that builds time into the equation for Kristos and Emmaline, she will embrace.”

  “Hmm, maybe.” Lauren sat back, her eyes alight with mischief that for once was not carefully vetted. “Kristos in America would certainly cause a stir.”

  “Not only him.” Dimitri shook his head. “He’d have a security detail—and not me.” He cut her off before she asked the obvious question. “Someone has to actually be the military, not simply talk about it.”

  “Uh-huh.” Her laughter was once again sincere, direct and refreshing. “And your dedication to home and country has nothing to do with your desire to stay close to the ongoing investigation into Ari’s disappearance, I’m sure.”

  “I will, of course, be on hand for however the Crown needs me.” He kept the words light, but he didn’t miss Lauren’s use of the word disappearance instead of death. He wasn’t sure when she’d changed her characterization of Ari’s plane crash, or if she was conscious of it. But he appreciated it no matter how it came to be.

  Now she was looking at him with open frankness. “Is there really a chance? In all truth? For Ari to be alive after so long?”

  Dimitri blew out a long breath. “In all truth? There is very little chance,” he said. The words, so long unspoken, didn’t hurt him as much as he thought they would. “Ari was as fiercely loyal to his family and country as any man ever was. He would not rest but would be struggling to return. Where there is struggle, there is always a story.” He shook his head. “There have been no stories about a man fighting to find his way home.”